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  1. I got a phone call from Governor Deval Patrick (Massachusetts) today! He left me a nice voicemail thanking me for my volunteer work!!
  2. Originally posted by yuri31:[..]

    Very much indeed.

    In response to what Harry posted earlier, I did catch some info about the protests and was wondering how the students feel about LibDem, who got massive support among the youth as far as I know, now that they are in the government and tuition fees are going to be higher despite them promising such thing would not occur.


    Wasn't it Torries as well that the students were upset about?

    But man, those students caused a riot. Windows smashed, people injured. They managed to get on the roof and started letting off fire extinguishers then someone threw an empty one from the rooftop. Could have killed someone. I suppose, they have to get a point across. Done very well I may say.


  3. Well no one told me that I couldn't reopen old threads did they?

    I can't be expected to abide by the rules if I don't know them.

    And can you just ban certain members from posting in the thread?
  4. I read these 4 pages and decided I really don't want to have anything to do with this topic. So this is my one and only post.

    Have fun fighting each other...
  5. Originally posted by yuri31:In response to what Harry posted earlier, I did catch some info about the protests and was wondering how the students feel about LibDem, who got massive support among the youth as far as I know, now that they are in the government and tuition fees are going to be higher despite them promising such thing would not occur.

    Originally posted by KieranU2:Wasn't it Torries as well that the students were upset about?

    But man, those students caused a riot. Windows smashed, people injured. They managed to get on the roof and started letting off fire extinguishers then someone threw an empty one from the rooftop. Could have killed someone. I suppose, they have to get a point across. Done very well I may say.

    Indeed. The protest was against the rise in tuition fees being put forward by the coalition government, so yeah, most of us students are generally pissed off with the Lib Dems AND the Tories at the moment; the Lib Dems moreso because nearly all of those who won seats signed a pledge before the elections to vote against any proposed hikes in fees (as did a fair few Labour candidates and a few Tories), and hey presto, what happens when they got in? Most are going against the pledge. That and the fact they won a lot of seats in student-heavy constituencies because of the pledge signed. Doesn't do much to help the profile and reputation of British politicians, which has been pretty hammered in recent years. The Lib Dems have lost massive support (students have historically never been overly keen on the Tories generally speaking), and in light of the Phil Woolas scandal (Labour MP who's - in all likelihood - about to lose his seat because he put false information in his campaign leaflets regarding his opponents, one of whom has now used some age-old unknown loophole to have him prosecuted by the courts), there's a campaign being mooted to call re-elections in those constituencies where Lib Dem MPs won seats should the rise be voted for by Parliament.

    Re. the violence, it was a minority who actually caused the damage, and quite frankly, shame on them all. I know a lot of people who went on the march, and they did it in the proper manner. The stuff at Millbank etc. was, in my opinion, completely irrelevance to the protest itself and the goals they set out to achieve - it was just a cheap stunt by attention-seeking arseholes who wanted to make a scene. I'm lead to believe by those that went that some of those who caused the damage were anarchists, and it's beautifully ironic to think that the only thing they achieved was to invoke insurance claims for the damage, which will be paid for by the British taxpayer. The protest was not to get media coverage or anything, and I think anyone who went with that frame of mind shouldn't have gone because they had completely the wrong intention - it was to warn the politicians sat in Parliament that there are a lot of pissed off people in the country at the moment feeling betrayed, and if they continue to spit in our faces, we're going to start taking action, i.e. calling for by-elections and the like. The aggressive behaviour was unnecessary and futile in achieving political ends - it might have got the TV cameras of the world media on them, but that's not going to change the government's mind, because as far as I can tell, no one else outside the UK gives a flying toss about uni. tuition fees. The people who the protest was aimed at heard it, and would do well to take heed.

    I hope it's clear that I feel pretty passionately about the whole business
  6. Originally posted by WojBhoy:[..]
    [..]
    Indeed. The protest was against the rise in tuition fees being put forward by the coalition government, so yeah, most of us students are generally pissed off with the Lib Dems AND the Tories at the moment; the Lib Dems moreso because nearly all of those who won seats signed a pledge before the elections to vote against any proposed hikes in fees (as did a fair few Labour candidates and a few Tories), and hey presto, what happens when they got in? Most are going against the pledge. That and the fact they won a lot of seats in student-heavy constituencies because of the pledge signed. Doesn't do much to help the profile and reputation of British politicians, which has been pretty hammered in recent years. The Lib Dems have lost massive support (students have historically never been overly keen on the Tories generally speaking), and in light of the Phil Woolas scandal (Labour MP who's - in all likelihood - about to lose his seat because he put false information in his campaign leaflets regarding his opponents, one of whom has now used some age-old unknown loophole to have him prosecuted by the courts), there's a campaign being mooted to call re-elections in those constituencies where Lib Dem MPs won seats should the rise be voted for by Parliament.

    Re. the violence, it was a minority who actually caused the damage, and quite frankly, shame on them all. I know a lot of people who went on the march, and they did it in the proper manner. The stuff at Millbank etc. was, in my opinion, completely irrelevance to the protest itself and the goals they set out to achieve - it was just a cheap stunt by attention-seeking arseholes who wanted to make a scene. I'm lead to believe by those that went that some of those who caused the damage were anarchists, and it's beautifully ironic to think that the only thing they achieved was to invoke insurance claims for the damage, which will be paid for by the British taxpayer. The protest was not to get media coverage or anything, and I think anyone who went with that frame of mind shouldn't have gone because they had completely the wrong intention - it was to warn the politicians sat in Parliament that there are a lot of pissed off people in the country at the moment feeling betrayed, and if they continue to spit in our faces, we're going to start taking action, i.e. calling for by-elections and the like. The aggressive behaviour was unnecessary and futile in achieving political ends - it might have got the TV cameras of the world media on them, but that's not going to change the government's mind, because as far as I can tell, no one else outside the UK gives a flying toss about uni. tuition fees. The people who the protest was aimed at heard it, and would do well to take heed.

    I hope it's clear that I feel pretty passionately about the whole business


    Yeah, I heard from a few people who were there that there was nowhere near as much violence as reported. You can't have a demo anywhere in the world without the anarchists and Trotskyites showing up eager for a bit of biff. But the Daily Fail and its ilk will always blow it up so the middle class folks have something to tut over while they're drinking their tea.
  7. This thread is kinda pointless. Any political news worth noting, can just be posted in the generael chat.


  8. Oh come on.

    On a different note, what do you people think of the massive protests that surrounded the French pension reform?
  9. Originally posted by yuri31:[..]

    Oh come on.

    On a different note, what do you people think of the massive protests that surrounded the French pension reform?


    I think they should count there blessings. There retirement age is still way lower than it is here.
  10. Lobbyists used the crisis to raise the retirement age.

    Protesting doesnt help, just make sure you put money aside yourself if you want to stop earlier.
  11. Originally posted by vanquish:Well no one told me that I couldn't reopen old threads did they?

    I can't be expected to abide by the rules if I don't know them.

    And can you just ban certain members from posting in the thread?

    No, we didn't. But when a thread is closed, it's closed for a reason. You might have PMed some crew member to ask, first.

    Not knowing a rule/law doesn't exempt you from obeying it. Basic law basis, you know.

    No, we can't. But...
  12. Originally posted by JRlovesU2:I read these 4 pages and decided I really don't want to have anything to do with this topic. So this is my one and only post.

    Have fun fighting each other...

    Oh, no. Please stay. It won't get ugly again, just stay and share your opinions with everyone - judging by what you said in the Aung thread, they're surely far more interesting than some of the usuals here .. . . .