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Swine 'flu and the Gurkhas dominate exchanges at PMQs
Jonathan Isaby's verdict: A subdued session of PMQs, dominated as it was by swine 'flu and then the Gurkhas. Cameron was right to anticipate Clegg going on the Gurkhas and to take up the issue himself as well; and the Prime Minister's replies to both leaders on the issue were, as Nick Clegg said, "deeply evasive".
12.30pm Tory MP David Gauke highlights Labour manifesto pledge breaches on the EU referendum and tax rises. Brown prays in aid a quote from Ken Clarke on the Lisbon treaty; on tax Brown says that it is right that those who have benefited from increases in income should pay a little more.
12.23pm 1922 committee chairman Sir Michael Spicer asks: "Now that fiscal probity is back in vogue, why do we need a Labour Government?" Brown reels of a list of statistics in reply.
12.20pm Clegg says the answer comes from someone leading a government without principles.
12.18pm Nick Clegg also raises the Gurkha issues, claiming the PM has been "deeply evasive" in his answers. "If some one is prepared to die for this country, surely they've a right to live in this country?". Brown says he is making progress on the issue and there is "more justice" for the Gurkhas now than there was before 1997.
12.17pm Labour MP Martin Salter adds pressure on Brown to "deliver justice on Gurkhas at last".
12.15pm Cameron says if the figures were robust, then the Gurkhas would not have been gathering outside the Commons and dying as they wait for a response from the Government. He reiterates his proposal to change the Immigration Bill. Brown says of course he will always look at proposals being made. Proposals must be based on proper facts and figures, he said.
12.12pm Cameron says that a new category should be introduced in immigration guidelines for those who have served in the armed forces, primarily aimed at the Gurkhas. Brown does not accept the figure of 100 which the Gurkhas' spokesmen say is how many fit the current government criteria.
12.10pm Brown says the first action to help the Gurkhas has happened since 1997, creating equal pay and pensions for them, and doubloing the pensions for the pensions for those in Nepal. Brown says he keeps the matter of how many Gukhas to allow to settle in Britain "under review". He points out there ere no rights if settlement pre-1997.
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April 29, 2009 at 11:28 in PMQs | Permalink | Comments (35)
David Cameron and Gordon Brown trade pre-Budget blows on the economy at PMQs
Jonathan Isaby's verdict:
"A solid performance by David Cameron, acting as a warm-up for his response to Darling later on - including that excellent slap down of Brown regarding the activities of advisers".
12.21 Nadine Dorries asks Gordon Brown to apologise for Smeargate. Brown says he has done and that he has written to her and that what happened has no part to play in the politics of this country,
12.17 Brown says that the Chancellor's Budget will answer many of his questions...
12.15 Clegg says that Brown spouts meaningless headlines and promises on which he doesn't deliver. Do the one million new jobs he has promised exist or not?
12.14 Nick Clegg asks about the jobs Brown is promising and asks how many new jobs have been created so far, but gets no substantive reply.
12.12 Cameron has another go at asking the PM to admit that he failed to abolish boom and bust... and Brown again evades it.
12.11 Brown talks again about it being a global banking crisis...
12.09 Brown reels off a list of facts about the recession in the 1990s and teases Cameron for having been Norman Lamont's adviser. Cameron suggests: "perhaps we can talk about some of your chief advisers and what they've been up to". And he invites Brown to admit that he didn't abolish boom and bust.
12.08 Cameron says Brown has shown a complete failure to address the facts. No other country in the G20 has figures as bad as the UK on borrowing. Are we in the deepest recession since the Second World War, Cameron asks.
Continue reading "David Cameron and Gordon Brown trade pre-Budget blows on the economy at PMQs" »
No killer blows in a low key PMQs
Jonathan Isaby's verdict: "A low key PMQs, with neither Cameron nor Brown firing on full cylinders given the distraction of President Obama et al. A no-score draw in my view".
12.23 Tory David Heathcoat-Amory attacks Brown for having sold off British gold as Chancellor. Brown says it was agreed with banks around the world and that he bought euros "which have now gone up in value".
12.18 Clegg attacks the VAT cut as a mistake; Brown says you have to use all weapons at your disposal and reels off everything the Government is doing.
12.16 Brown says he is dealing with tax havens and that he will do "whatever he can" on green issues.
12.16 Nick Clegg agrees that world leaders need to work together but that Brown needs to practise at home what he preaches abroad, accusing the fiscal stimulus of not being green enough and not acting against tax havens. Doesn't leadership start at home?
12.14 Brown parrots lines about Tory plans to cut child benefit, pensions etc
12.13 No country is following the advice of the Conservative Party, the "do-nothing party of the past". Cameron says that that attack is not helping - the Tory ratings have been increasing since Brown started using it. Cameron again asks about sorting out the pubic finances: isn't the lesson that we should never leave Britain this exposed again?
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Harriet Harman refuses to answer William Hague's questions on Mervyn King at PMQs
Jonathan Isaby's verdict: "Another incredibly pedestrian and repetitive performance by Harriet Harman deputising for Brown. William Hague asked her the crucial question of the day - would she agree with Mervyn King on fiscal stimulus - no fewer than three times and she utterly failed to give an adequate answer".
12.25 Is Gordon Brown trying to upstage Harriet Harman?! He is now live on the BBC News Channel addressing an audience in New York!
12.23 Philip Dunne asks why it is the armed forced do not know if they will be getting a pay rise next week. Harman says that the Defence Secretary will doubtless address the issue in a forthcoming Commons debate.
12.22 Tory MP Julian Brazier asks how many foreign terror suspects have been deported; 150, Harman says.
12.17 Cable asks for a tax cut for the lowest paid, but Harman fails to address that point in her answer.
12.16 Harman speaks about the need to work together internationally and decides to mention that Labour made the BoE independent.
12.15 Vince Cable also goes on the BoE governor and asks what freedom of manoeuvre the Government now has.
12.13 Harman again refuses to answer and talks about Brown meeting with world leaders as the Tories go to the fringes of European politics (a reference to the EPP withdrawal) and accuse the party of having a "millionaire's manifesto".
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March 25, 2009 at 11:41 in PMQs | Permalink | Comments (37)
Cameron targets Brown's lethal combination of hyperactivity and ineffectiveness
Verdict: Narrow win for David Cameron although (1) he must stop breaching Commons rules and (2) I think Nick Clegg chose the right topic - the death of patients in Staffordshire because of Government targets.
Highlights, not verbatim:
12.27pm: Bill Cash says the Government's response to the Mid Staffs hospital disgrace is inadequate. He calls for managers to be replaced and not just suspended on full pay.
12.17pm: Asking the question I expected Cameron to ask, Nick Clegg invites the Prime Minister to accept that his Government's frenzied targets were part of the reason for the deaths at Mid Staffordshire hospital (see also Julia Manning's CentreRight post). Mr Clegg points to doctors who said they were obliged to abandon the very sick to tend patients with relatively minor ailments. Brown apologises for the deaths and promises a review to find out what happened.
12.13pm: Labour is displaying a lethal combination of hyperactivity and ineffectiveness says David Cameron. The Speaker orders the Tory leader to withdraw his attack on Gordon Brown as "phoney". This Government has presided over the fastest rise in unemployment in British history says Cameron and has done so without a hint of apology. The Tories are wanting to cut spending in a recession, charges Brown, and its first priority on tax is an inheritance tax cut for the very wealthy.
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House of Commons is subdued as David Cameron returns and questions focus on terrorism in Northern Ireland
12.16pm: Nick Clegg asks about EU defence capacity and France's return to NATO.
12.13pm: David Cameron asks about the Binyam Mohamed torture allegations. Mr Brown says that the Government completely opposes torture and will investigate the allegations made by Mr Mohamed. Pressing the Prime Minister, Mr Cameron calls for a wider investigation that looks at Britain's procedures to protect against torture ever happening. The PM says that the Commons' Security Committee has already looked extensively at these procedures. [William Hague has written for MailOnline on this subject: "The Government cannot continue to allow these allegations to stand without either answering them unequivocally, or ensuring they can be reviewed impartially and independently. A judicial inquiry would provide the necessary independence from Government - which is essential to restoring public confidence."].
12.08pm: David Cameron returns to PMQs and thanks other MPs, the Prime Minister and people across the nation for their good wishes which has meant a "great deal". The Tory leader attacks the "callous killers" of Northern Ireland. Speaking in a very low voice in a hushed Commons Mr Brown welcomes Mr Cameron back, welcomes the united attacks of NI's political parties against these acts of terror and promises to do "everything we can" to improve the security of Northern Ireland.
It's 12.03pm and PMQs still hasn't started! Has Michael Martin lost his watch?
Hague trounces Harman at PMQs
With Gordon Brown in the US, David Cameron on compassionate leave and Nick Clegg on paternity leave, it was Harriet Harman, William Hague and Vince Cable stood in for their leaders at PMQs today.
Jonathan Isaby's verdict: A clear win for William Hague, who demonstrated that he retains that command of the House which we so enjoyed and admired at PMQs every week when he was up against Blair as Opposition leader. Harman was out of her depth and kept repeating the same soundbite; Hague anticipated her responses, had some killer facts to throw at her and had far superior rhetoric, one-liners and soundbites.
12.30 Geoffrey Robinson raises a laugh by asking Harman to congratulate his "very good friend in another place" - ie Lord Mandelson, to whom he once lend several hundred thousand pounds.
12.28 Plaid Cymru's Elfyn Llwyd asks who nominated Sir Fred Goodwin for a knighthood and why. Harman says she understands it is was not related to his work in banking, but rather related to the service he had given to the Prince's Trust.
12.25 Tory backbencher Ann Winterton asks if it is true that part-privatisation of the Royal Mail is directly related to orders from the European Union. Harman says not.
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Statements from Brown, Hague and Cable to replace PMQs today
As a mark of respect to David Cameron and his family in the wake of the death of his son, Ivan, there will be no weekly Prime Minister's Questions today.
Instead, there will be brief statements from Gordon Brown, William Hague and Vince Cable (who is deputising for Nick Clegg, who is on paternity leave), which we cover below.
Gordon Brown began by paying tribute to those recently killed in action overseas. He then expressed his sorrow at the death of Ivan Cameron, saying he knew "he brought joy to all those around him" He went on: "The death of a child is an unbearable sorrow that no parent should have to endure".
William Hague thanked Gordon Brown for his words on behalf of David Cameron and for initiating the cancelling of PMQs. He added that he had spoken to David Cameron this morning and also passed on gratitude to all the NHS staff and care workers who had cared for Ivan during his short life.
Vince Cable expressed his condolences on behalf of the Lib Dems and his hope that the Camerons would be given the space and privacy to grieve.
Michael Martin then expressed his own sympathies and suspended the Commons as a mark of respect to Ivan until 12.30pm.
February 25, 2009 at 11:32 in PMQs | Permalink | Comments (69)
Cameron accuses Brown of incompetence and arrogance at PMQs
EDITORIAL VERDICT: An unmemorable PMQs. Unfocused questions from David Cameron.
12.12pm: Nick Clegg reminds Brown of various broken promises. He accuses the Prime Minister of being a "say anything, do nothing" politician. [Alan Duncan is overheard repeatedly saying "a very bad hair day" during the Liberal Democrat leader's questions].
12.09pm: This is a government that gets its facts wrong and never apologises, says David Cameron. Incompetence plus arrogance equals two million unemployed. Brown responds by quoting a previous speech by David Cameron in favour of lower regulation. His judgment is consistently wrong, he says.
12.07pm: Does the PM agree, says David Cameron, with Ed Balls that we are in the worst economic shape for 100 years? The Prime Minister doesn't answer the question but says the Conservative Party opposed the rise in child benefit, in pensions, in infrastructure spending and of a cut in VAT.
12.05pm: No apology about boom and bust. No apology about Britain's deep recession. The bankers apologise. Why won't the Prime Minister apologise for appointing this man to a senior post? [The Speaker issues a stern warning to David Cameron for another use of "You" towards the Prime Minister].
12.02pm: Does the PM not accept, says David Cameron, that he was guilty of a serious error of judgment in appointing a man to the FSA - Sir James Crosby - who may have fired a HBOS whistleblower? Gordon Brown urges the Conservative Party not to rush to judgment.
Noon: Sir James Crosby has resigned from the FSA. As Nick Robinson notes on BBC1, there are lots of just-in-time-for-PMQs resignations on Wednesday mornings!
Is 'Tories are talking Britain down' the new attack from Labour?
12.52pm: Martin Day notes Brown's "depression" gaffe.
TIM MONTGOMERIE'S VERDICT: "An unexceptional PMQs with David Cameron and Gordon Brown agreeing on the need to oppose protectionism but Cameron failing to get an apology from the Prime Minister for his British Jobs for British Workers remark. Gordon Brown ended his final answer to David Cameron with a big attack on the Conservatives for 'talking Britain down'. I wonder if that's Labour's new attack line?"
12.30pm: Brian Binley notes that a quarter of all council tax is now used for pensions. He describes this as a "national pension outrage". Brown says Tories should not attack local authority employees.
12.22pm: Labour MP (don't know who - nor did the BBC or Sky captioners) asks a question about unregulated capitalism while chewing gum. Unbelievable!
12.15pm: Nick Clegg asks about The Guardian's investigation into British companies avoiding corporation tax. Isn't it time, he says, for 'British taxes for British companies'? Brown responds by saying he'll work internationally to clamp down on tax avoidance and wonders why the Liberal Democrats haven't returned a donation from a tax-dodging donor.
Continue reading "Is 'Tories are talking Britain down' the new attack from Labour?" »
The economy dominates another PMQs
No killer blows from David Cameron today, but he certainly scored more highly than Brown. The Prime Minister's twin mantras about how the Tories would "do nothing" and it being a "world recession" are getting a little tedious week after week.
12.30 Sir Peter Tapsell asks about the value of gold today compared with when Brown started selling it as Chancellor. Brown says iut was right to "diversify our portfolio" and points out that he bought euros which are now worth more.
12.29 Andrew Selous (Con): Why has the pound fallen so sharply against the dollar and the euro? Brown cautions against the idea of targeting sterling.
12.21 Nigel Dodds of the DUP raises the "obnoxious" proposal of a £12,000 payment to relatives of victims on all sides in the Ulster conflict. Brown says the Government will consider the relevant report and decide what action to take in due course.
12.19 Graham Stuart (Con) is forced to withdraw a remark suggesting that the Prime tried to cover up MPs' expenses claims last week. He then asks if Brown believes that Labour is whiter than whiter over the "peers for hire" allegations. Brown cites Baroness Royall's article this morning calling for changes to the rules in the Lords.
Continue reading "The economy dominates another PMQs" »
January 28, 2009 at 11:24 in PMQs | Permalink | Comments (30)
David Cameron captures the national change of mood on the economy at PMQs
VERDICT: "A clear victory for David Cameron. Not just because his performance was strong - and it was - but I sense we've reached a tipping point. The country has realised that all of the massively expensive government activity is not preventing the developed world's worst recession and a potentially devastating loss of international market confidence in the pound and the wider UK economy."
12.25pm: In a ridiculous intervention Dennis Skinner blames "Tory fat cats" for the banking crisis. In a different times, says the Beast of Bolsover, they'd be called "the enemy within".
12.23pm: Edward Garnier (the man who nearly became Shadow Attorney General) presses the PM again on transparency of MPs' expenses. It is particularly offensive, he says, for MPs to be hiding their expenses at a time when so many are losing their jobs.
12.18pm: Nick Clegg warns that the UK economy is on the edge of a cliff and Labour's half measures are not helping. Brown lists Labour's initiatives on recapitalisation, the VAT cut and lending guarantees as consistent with other international governments' initiatives.
12.16pm Cameron concludes his questions by saying that the country has lost confidence in the government and a recovery is impossible without such confidence. An angry Brown says that Cameron is bringing no new ideas to fighting the recession. He is out of step, the PM says, with all other world governments and out of his depth.
12.13pm: Cameron asks Brown to confirm that the taxpayer has already lost £20bn on the recapitalisation policy. Brown doesn't answer but responds by saying that the Tories are isolated internationally with no other serious party supporting fiscal restraint at this time. Cameron comes back with the line that Brown is isolated in Britain as the only person thinking he is doing a good job.
12.10pm: David Cameron says that Brown has been behind the curve on all economic issues. Conservatives, he continues, have been setting the pace on insuring bank lending and calling for changes to the terms of bank recapitalisation. Responding to Labour jibes about Ken Clarke he says that the difference between Ken Clarke's legacy and Brown's is that one Chancellor bequeathed a golden legacy and the other wrecked it. In return, Brown quotes Ken Clarke's words that Tory European policy as "dotty" and "crackpot".
12.08pm: David Cameron responds by saying that neither did Obama propose a National Insurance-style hike on medium income workers. Picture of Ken Clarke on Tory frontbench.
12.04pm: Cameron gets to his feet: Today's rise in unemployment, the pound falling and debt rising we have had fresh confirmation that the UK economy is least well-placed to weather the world recession. What is the Prime Minister's response to a lack of confidence from world markets in the Government's policies? After listing some of Labour's measures Brown says one thing Obama did not say is 'My fellow Americans, Let's do nothing."
12.02pm: Douglas Carswell MP asks Mr Brown why he is whipping Labour MPs to keep certain expenses details secret. Why should there be one rule for members of the public and one for MPs? Brown replies by saying that transparency will be greater in the UK Parliament than in many other legislatures.
I'm hoping for some anger from Mr Cameron today. I got angry after reading Fraser Nelson's column yesterday in which he struggled to communicate the seriousness of Britain's economic plight. Mr Cameron could try Policy Exchange's 100 Reasons Britain Needs To Change.
Economy dominates first PMQs of 2009
"A score draw between Brown and Cameron, I think. The trading of Ken Clarke quotes only serves to bolster my view me that having him in the shadow cabinet would be a very divisive move and cause regular headaches for David Cameron and the Conservative Party. Also interesting to note Gordon Brown trying to play the world statesman by mentioning all the other world leaders he is regularly talking to - five or six got a namecheck today."
Continue reading "Economy dominates first PMQs of 2009" »
Live blog of PMQs
EDITORIAL VERDICT: One of the most uneventful PMQs for some time. ToryBear finds that the Hague is still Tory leader site is owned by William Hague!
12.20pm Nigel Waterson urges Harriet Harman to address the "nonsense" of the Government assuming 10% interest on savings when pensioners are tested for benefit entitlements. No social group has benefited more from this Government than pensioners replies Labour's Deputy Leader.
12.17pm: Vince Cable asks about home repossessions. The Government's house repossession initiative is only reaching 1-in-10 of those in arrears.
12.13pm: Unemployment, debt and taxes are rising says Hague, good businesses are going to the wall. If this is what happens when Brown saves the world I dread what will happen when he moves on to the entire solar system. We'd rather have "Superman" leading our party, says Harriet Harman, than a party led "by a joker". She then jokes about this William Hague website which still describes the current Shadow Foreign Secretary as Leader of the Conservative Party.
12.09pm: This House won't be sitting for another month, says Hague: How many people will lose their jobs while the Government is dithering over whether to underwrite bank lending? At this crucial time, says Harriet Harman, Tory plans to "cut public spending" will be devastating to the economy. Tory ideas, she says, are not worth the press releases they are printed on. She then misrepresents Tory policy by saying that the Conservatives are only concerned about lowering interest rates.
12.05pm: In his second question William Hague says that the Government must follow the Conservatives in offering to underwrite bank lending to businesses. Ms Harman lists a variety of measures that the Government is taking to help businesses.
12.03pm: William Hague rises. Why hasn't anyone been arrested for leaking the news of British troops withdrawing from Iraq? After that rhetorical question Mr Hague says that it is clearly time for a full inquiry into the war. There is no excuse for further delay. Harriet Harman says there will be an inquiry once our fighting forces are home.
December 17, 2008 at 11:58 in PMQs | Permalink | Comments (21)
PMQs: Brown makes 'We not only saved the world' gaffe
EDITORIAL VERDICT: Clear win for David Cameron. Brown was put on the defensive over underwriting bank lending. DC is determined to make it clear that the Conservatives are not the 'do nothing' party on the economy. But PMQs won't be remembered for the serious exchanges but for Brown's 'We not only saved the world gaffe'. Thanks to Crown Blogspot it's already on YouTube. Watch it here.
12.24pm: Replying to a question from on the programme that will broadcast an assisted suicide, the Prime Minister says he has always opposed legislation to introduce assisted dying. Programmes have a duty to cover these sensitive issues without sensationalism.
12.15pm: Clegg raises the case of a single parent who came to his constituency surgery with young children [before he could go any further there is much laughter - you can guess why] facing legal action because of Brown's "cruel, bureaucratic and confusing" tax credits system. He calls for a new system of simple and fixed payments. A fixed system, says Brown, would mean that people would not receive extra help when they hit severe difficulties.
12.12pm: Brown is on the wrong side of maths, counters Cameron. Labour is only supporting 0.2% of potential lending to business. Brown has brought Britain to the brink of the deepest recession in the G7. Brown says Tories are not fit for government because they are trapped in the 1980s.
12.10pm: The key issue, reiterates Cameron, is to get bank lending flowing again. That's the Bank of England Governor's view. The VAT cut is pointless. Will the Prime Minister endorse our National Loan Guarantee Scheme? The IoD, CBI and FSB all have. On the day that Labour is copying Tory welfare ideas this is another idea that the Government should copy. Brown says that Labour already operate schemes that underwrite financing to businesses. Nothing will help the economy, the PM concludes, without a supporting fiscal stimulus. The Tories are on the wrong side of history.
12.08pm: If things are going so well why is the Council of Mortgage Lenders talking about about "conflicted" government policies? Brown says Tories would let recession take its course.
12.06pm: David Cameron says all over the country there are businesses having overdraft facilities withdrawn. The world is NOT copying the details of the Government's recapitalisation plan. The Government is lending to banks at 12% but insisting that they lend at 6%. Brown responds by defending his fiscal stimulus. The Tories are clinging to the failed policies of the 1980s, he says.
12.04pm: David Cameron asks about getting bank lending flowing again. Recapitalisation's main aim was to get credit flowing again and it has failed. Brown replying accidentally says "we not only saved the world"! Hysterical laughter from Tory benches.
A solid performance from David Cameron at PMQs
Jonathan Isaby's verdict: Time and again Brown refused to admit the extent of the debt into which he is taking the country and was forced to accept, under questioning from David Cameron, that the VAT rise to 18.5% had effectively been considered. A solid and confident perfomance by Cameron, whom I would deem to have won the encounter, albeit not by a huge margin.
12.29pm Tory MP David Jones asks why the value of the £ against the $ has fallen by a quarter since July. Brown uses the same line as at a recent PMQs, when he said Lady Thatcher said that Britons should never talk down the currency.
12.28pm The Speaker prevents Brown from quoting Andrew Lansley again.
12.28pm Tory MP Douglas Carswell tries to get Brown to admit that national debt will double to £1 trillion, as David Cameron had done unsuccessfully before. But he wouldn't, merely saying that the figures were oin the PBR.
12.22 pm Nicholas Soames seeks an assurance that the defence budget not be cut. Brown does not give a straight answer.
12.20pm Brown announces that April 2nd will see the next meeting of the G20 in London and that President Obama expects to be there.
12.19pm Labour backbencher Ian Davidson reopens the class war by saying those born with silver spoons in their mouths can't understand the problems of most people.
12.17pm Cleggs says Brown's answer was bluster and calls for fair tax cuts by closing pensions loopholes for millionaires, for example, saying he toyed with the hope of British people and let them down.
12.15pm Nick Clegg says Alistair Darling's PBR included the word fairness eight times, but that it wasn't fair.
12.12pm Brown's pre-prepared taunt at Cameron is that he s a "do nothing leader of a do nothing party".
12.11pm Soundbites of the day from Cameron: "This Prime Minister has given us the debt levels of Italy and the accounting practices of Enron" and "The country's going bankrupt, he's be found out and New Labour is dead".
12.10pm Cameron compares debt levels to those seen when Denis Healey was Chancellor. Brown again asserts that the Tories want to do absolutely nothing and let the recession take it course.
1 2.09pm Brown taunts Cameron with a quote from Andrew Lansley that recession "Could be good for us". Cameron points out that Lansley has apologised - unlike Brown for what he has done to the economy.
12.08pm Cameron repeats the question about doubling the national debt.
12.06pm DC asks whether Brown's plans double the national debt. Brown replies by saying that it will still be lower as a proportion of GDP than many other European countries.
12.04pm Cameron quotes the VAT document that was available on the internet. He says the party may make some FoI requests on the issue, asking if an even higher rise was considered. Brown says all kinds of things were considered and instead asks what the Toires would do. DC says he'd freeze council tax and various other schemes the Tories have announced.
12.03pm David Cameron asks why the treasury minister signed the document suggesting a VAT rise to 18.5%. Brown claims he has learnt lessons from when the Tories raised VAT in the past.
12.01pm Long-serving Tory MP Sir Peter Tapsell kicks things off by asking for an apology from Brown for wrecking the British economy. 'Tis not forthcoming...
November 26, 2008 at 11:16 in PMQs | Permalink | Comments (88)
Cameron takes on Brown over the economy at PMQ
Jonathan Isaby's verdict: A far calmer session than last week, and no surprise that David Cameron went on the economy. No knockouts on either side - a score draw in my view.
12.30pm Final question is from Jamie Reed (Lab, Copeland) who merely asks whether the spending plans from the Tories would be bad for the country. The Speaker should have ruled it out of order, but doesn't.
12.29pm Mark Durkan of the SDLP asks about pensioners suffering in these difficult economic times and Brown suggests that extra resources are needed to help them and that the Tories are unwilling to do so.
12.26pm Tory Andrew Selous points out that whilst employment of British workers has reduced by 300,000, employment of migrant workers has gone up by 900,000.
12.22pm Alistair Burt doesn't hear the Speaker calling him and has to be prompted for a second time to ask his question.
12.21pm Patsy question of the day is from Labour's Anne Begg, who congratulates the PM on the recent announcement on the post office card account.
12.18pm Brown says it is, but Clegg, unconvinced, asks for ways of lending more serious money to businesses.
12.16pm Nick Clegg has had a haircut. He asks if the bank bail-out is working.
12.14pm Brown repeats the suggestion that Labour wants to help people through the economic difficulties and the Conservatives do not.
12.12pm Brown suggests that Tory plans will hamper people trying to cope in the difficult economic circumstances. Cameron quotes former government economic adviser Derek Scott as having said that it was "drivel" that the recession was not the Government's making.
12.10pm No answer forthcoming from Brown, Cameron tells the House that Brown "loves to lecture on economics, but it's all about the politics". he adds that the Tory plans for spending restraint are the right thing to do.
12.09pm Cameron then suggests that it is clear the Government wants to go on a "borrowing binge". He asks Brown if taxes will have to rise.
12.07pm Brown says he will look into any individual cases of which Cameron has knowledge, but in general will do all he can to help companies get loan capital. Cameron accuses him of not answering his question.
12.05pm Cameron then raises concerns coming from small businesses about being charged exorbitant amounts for overdraft facilities or losing them altogether.
12.03pm David Cameron thanks Brown for giving him the inquiry he asked for into Baby P.
12.01pm In answer to a question from Tory Philip Dunne about the devaluation of the pound, Brown prays in aid the advice of Margaret Thatcher, saying that she said that it was "un-British" to talk down the pound.
Last week David Cameron used all six questions on the issue of Baby P and the failures of Haringey children's services.
In the wake of his latest pronouncements on spending and taxation, one might expect him to tackle the economy today.
We'll be live-blogging today's encounter at noon.
Punters flock back to Tories after yesterday's PMQs
That's the observation of an insightful post at PoliticalBetting.
We all need to remember that Brown may be winning plaudits for his response to the economic crisis but the next election will be decided on a wide range of issues - immigration, crime, social breakdown and a powerful sense of it being 'a time for a change'. Cameron proved yesterday that he has the range of skills to win the big debates. That's why we are confident that - with constant dedication - the Conservatives will triumph whenever the election comes.
November 13, 2008 at 10:23 in Betting, PMQs | Permalink | Comments (26)
Cameron and Brown clash at PMQs over Baby P
Jonathan Isaby's verdict: A relatively rowdy session during which the Speaker had to slap down Labour MPs for barracking David Cameron as he raised a very serious point about the investigation into children's services at Haringey council. Brown's decision to accuse Cameron of making party political points clearly angered Cameron, and seemed to persuade him to drop his questions about the economy in favour of pursuing the points on Haringey. Brown failed to answer the substantive point every time it was put and allowed Cameron to come out on top.
12.29pm Tory 1922 committee chairman Sir Michael Spicer asks a brilliant, short, sharp question: "What was the economic theory behind the end of boom and bust?" Brown's reply was waffle.
12.28pm Brown mocks George Osborne and Tory policy over the fuel duty stabiliser in answer to a patsy question from Labour's Mark Todd.
12.27pm Labour backbencher Andy Slaughter raises his concerns about the third runway at Heathrow, with Brown saying that yesterday's Commons debate was an important opportunity to debate the issues.
12.26pm Tory James Arbuthnot raises the issue of the post office credit account and Brown claims the Government is doing all they can to support the Post Office network.
12.24pm Lib Dem Greg Mulholland highlights the level of funding of research into dementia as "appalling" but Brown claims that more money is being invested in all kinds of medical research.
12.20pm The SNP's Angus Roberston asks for British troops to be withdrawn from Iraq and for an inquiry into the war.
12.18pm Lib Dem Bob Russell asks about giving British residency rights to Gurkhas; Brown says the Government is studying the recent high court judgment on the issue.
12.17pm Labour MP Claire Curtis-Thomas expresses disappointment that Lord Mandelson has withdrawn an offer to meet her and constituents to discuss an issue; Brown says he is sure Mandelson would be happy to see her.
12.16pm Clegg repeats his demand for tax cuts for ordinary people; Brown repeats his attack on Lib Dem policy.
12.15pm Nick Clegg asks why anyone should believe what Gordon Brown says on tax. Brown says that if he'd listened to the Lib Dems, he'd be cutting public spending by £20 billion this year.
12.13pm Cameron again asks the substantive question as to whether it is wrong for someone to be investigating their own department's conduct. Brown again fails to give a straight answer to the question.
12.11pm The Speaker has to call for order as Cameron again demands Brown withdraw the accusation that Cameron was playing party politics.
12.08pm Brown fails to give a straight answer, instead accusing Cameron of trying to make it into a patry political issue. Cameron calls that remark "cheap" and asks Brown to withdraw it.
12.05pm Cameron asks about the Baby P case, wondering if Brown agrees that it is unacceptable that the person in charge of the childrens' services department is investigating her own department. Brown prevaricates and Cameron attempts to ask the question a third time.
12.04pm Cameron: "Only the Prime Minister could be quite so smug on the day that 142,000 people lost their jobs"
12pm Tory Richard Ottaway asked if Gordon Brown would buck the historical trend and that unemployment would be lower when Labour leave office than when they came to office. Brown claimed to have created 3 million jobs and mocked the Tories for having previously described unemployment as being "a price worth paying".
November 12, 2008 at 11:31 in PMQs | Permalink | Comments (127)
David Cameron: Did you tell the President-Elect that this is no time for a novice?
EDITORIAL VERDICT: David Cameron's confidence seemed to be back today. He hit hard Gordon Brown hard and successfully for the 'no time for a novice line'. Overall a clear victory to the Tory leader. Well done to Nick Clegg, too, for highlighting the potency of Barack Obama's tax-cutting message.
12.22pm: Bernard Jenkin asks why the Government doesn't force the banks it owns to pass on rate cuts to consumers. Brown replies that he wants the banks to pass on rate cuts.
12.17pm: Nick Clegg says that the central policy of Barack Obama was to cut taxes for the low-paid, funded by the wealthy. When can Britain have the same? Brown says Obama did not fight the election on £20bn of spending cuts (the LibDem policy).
12.15pm: On the day America voted for change, says Cameron, how long will the British people have to put up with more of the same? Americans, retorts the PM, voted for progressive politics - including a fiscal stimulus, tax credits, regulation of pensions and tax credits - all opposed by the Conservatives.
12.13pm: The only change the Tories represent, says Brown, is a change of policy every week.
12.10pm: Brown laughs at Cameron quoting the EU. Lists other nations that are in recession. Says total overall debt isn't as bad as David Cameron suggests.
12.05pm: David Cameron joins the congratulations to Barack Obama and congratulates John McCain on his campaign, too. America is a beacon of hope, opportunity and change says David Cameron. Did the PM tell the President-Elect that this was no time for a novice? Brown gets up to interrupt. "You" voted for no change when you bottled the election, he continues, pointing that the Labour benches. He then asks a question about the recession and why Britain is so badly prepared for it. Our recession is forecast to be deeper, he says, quoting EU analysis - beating only Estonia and Latvia. Two countries that escaped the grip of Stalin. We're still in it.
12.02pm: Loud cheers as Brown welcomes Barack Obama's election and looks forward to a continuing close relationship between Britain and America.
PMQs dominated by questions of debt and borrowing
VERDICT: Another poor PMQs that taught us little about what the Government or Opposition will do to tackle the recession. Brown was at its worst in not answering questions but Cameron did not deliver any big blows.
12.17pm: Philip Hollobone asks the PM to condemn the Black Police Association for discouraging ethnic minorities from joining the Met. Brown replies by promising to look into the matter. (David Davies MP delivered the message to the Black Police Association yesterday that it was behaving irresponsibly).
12.15pm: Sir George Young asks why the House of Commons sits so infrequently. Brown says he has given Parliament more powers - including approval of the nation going to war.
12.13pm: Nick Clegg calls for the PM to distinguish between good public spending and any public spending. The LibDem leader calls for big tax reliefs for people on ordinary incomes - paid for by closing tax loopholes. The PM says that the LibDem policy of cutting £20bn from public spending is the wrong policy for this time.
12.10pm: The Prime Minister has been caught red-handed, spinning that he would be spending to get out of recession but having no plan to do so. The Prime Minister's irresponsible boom has become a bust. Brown counters that the Tories have no policy to take Britain out of recession. They are not ready for Government, he concludes.
12.08pm: Cameron asks if the PM believes that you can spend your way out of recession? Brown doesn't answer. Cameron then reminds him of words from 1997 when he said that you "can't spend your way out of recession".
12.06pm: David Cameron says that Brown's fiscal rules have been broken. Brown responds by saying that the Tory position on borrowing is unclear. The Tories don't know if they favour more borrowing or less.
12.04pm: David Cameron says it's impossible to believe that we're not in a bust when 120 homes are being repossessed every day and the Bank is forecasting that 1.2 million will be in negative equity. If he can't admit his errors noone will listen to him about the future. Brown attacks Cameron for partisanship and for failing to end Punch and Judy politics.
12.02pm: David Cameron asks (again) if the PM still thinks he has abolished boom and bust. The PM responds by recording key Labour 'achievements'.
October 29, 2008 at 11:48 in PMQs | Permalink | Comments (53)
Live blog of PMQs from noon: Cameron challenges Brown on return of 'boom and bust'
VERDICT: "Cameron edged it but only just. Brown is more confident when the subject matter is the economy. David Cameron needs to refine his economic critique. It is plausible for Brown to say that voters won't believe that Labour caused Britain's economic problems. Most will see the recession as a global phenomenon. The Conservatives must focus their attack on Labour's failure to leave much room for Britain to take recession-averting actions. Not a good day for The Speaker either. Dennis Skinner has a record of attacking Osborne. In calling him Michael Martin was inviting the attack on George Osborne that the 'Beast of Bolsover' did indeed make. The Speaker also called more MPs from the non-Tory opposition backbenches than from the Tory backbenches."
12.30pm: Dennis Skinner raises the Osborne issue: Can the PM promise that he won't approach Russian billionaires to rescue the Labour finances? The PM replies by saying that this is a serious manner and should be investigated.
12.27pm: Graham Stringer invites the PM to cancel plans for a congestion charge for Greater Manchester and simply bring forward investment in the tram system. The PM doesn't answer the question.
12.21pm: John Whittingdale invites the Prime Minister to reinstate Empty Property Relief.
12.19pm: Nick Clegg says the Government is all at sea on economic policy - even if it isn't on a luxury yacht (boom! boom!). Brown says the Government will look at all ideas that will help the economy. He attacks the LibDems for promising £20bn of cuts in public services.
12.17pm: Nick Clegg asks what the Government will do to help the real economy. Will it wait until things are as bad as they got for the banks? What, in particular, will the Government do about fuel poverty? Brown makes a joke about Nick Clegg not knowing the real level of the pension. Vince Cable smiles naughtily at this joke!
12.15pm: Brown says the issue is the judgment of David Cameron and the Shadow Chancellor. Neither he says are offering any real solutions to Britain's economic problems.
12.11pm: The Prime Minister asks me to name the causes of recession, we're looking at them says David Cameron - pointing at the Labour benches. He invites the PM to again admit that he hasn't abolished 'boom and bust'. Brown again doesn't answer the question and says that noone other than the Opposition believes that this is a UK-made recession.
12.09pm: David Cameron: For years the Chancellor talking about prudence with a purpose, now it's borrowing without limit. Will the Prime Minister finally admit that he didn't abolish 'boom and bust'. Brown replies by accusing Cameron of talking down the economy.
12.06pm: Cameron says the problem with Labour's borrowing was that it was undertaken in good times. He says too much of Britain's debts are off balance sheet, notably PFI. "Britain is being governed by a master of dodgy accounting". Half of OECD nations have surpluses that they can use to beat recession. Does he not regret that Britain does not?
12.04pm: Cameron rises with Osborne sat next to him. Cameron asks if it was a mistake to have such high borrowing. Brown replies by saying that Britain can afford to borrow because it has such low overall debt levels.
Noon: Brown announces something on repossessions. Missed the detail.
Back to the real issues at PMQs?
Tim Montgomerie writes:
The Westminster village loved yesterday. After weeks of heavy economics stories they could get back to what they loved most; a story of Westminster intrigue and personality clashes.
I don't like George Osborne's choice of holiday company - nor his briefing against Peter Mandelson after a private dinner - but Conservatives should not be under any illusions that Labour hates George Osborne and would love to bring down our master strategist - a case I make on GuardianOnline.
Much more coverage was given to the fact that George Osborne hadn't received a donation from Russia's richest man (and denied soliciting one) than was given to the previous day's story that Britain is borrowing more than at any time since the 1930s.
David Cameron has the opportunity to change the focus again today at PMQs. My hope is that he gets angry on behalf of the British people stuffed by Labour's economic mismanagement. Labour's failure to put money away for a rainy day means that there is very little room to boost the economy. A tough recession now looks inevitable. He should bring to the Commons the stories of small business people, homeowners, exporters, local councils and taxpayers who face enormous difficulties because of Labour's mismanagement. He should get real and a little bit angry.
October 22, 2008 at 07:34 in Economic Policy, PMQs | Permalink | Comments (27)
Live blog of PMQs from noon
12.27pm Harman reassures a Labour backbencher that government spending on public services and benefits will not be impacted by the credit crunch. A few minutes later she states that the government's aim of abolishing child poverty by 2020 would also be unaffected.
12.24pm Conservative MP Philip Davies argues that the Prime Minister egged on the housing bubble by claiming to have ended boom and bust. Will he now accept some of the blame for the financial problems Davies' constituents face? Harman says the problems are global, and not to be blamed either on those who have bought homes in the last decade or on the Prime Minister.
12.20pm Conservative MP David Borrowes asks if, following the bail out of banks, the government will now compensate Equitable Life policy holders? Harman responds that the difference is the government's measures to protect banks were taken not to help individuals but to prevent an overall economic collapse. Crispin Blunt follows up on this question two minutes later, blaming the government's regulatory framework for the problems Equitable Life failed. Harman argues that prior to this government, there were seven separate regulatory agencies, since rightly merged into one, the Financial Services Authority.
Continue reading "Live blog of PMQs from noon" »
VERDICT: "Given the Tories' decision to back Labour's bailout David Cameron had little room for political opportunity today and chose a bipartisan path. On another occasion the Conservatives must make it clear that Labour has left Britain more vulnerable than most other economies to the global financial chaos. Labour must not be allowed to disguise its own serious errors behind that chaos for much longer. But that is for another day. Brown was in command of PMQs today."
12.19pm: Nick Clegg backs Government's package. Says when a ship is sinking you don't ask who steered it towards rocks, only to help reach for the lifeboats. Brown says he spoke to President Bush yesterday and there will be a meeting of international leaders soon. Clegg concludes by calling for tax cuts for low income workers. Brown replies by quoting existing government assistance programmes including the Winter Fuel Allowance and action on pre-payment electricity meters.
12.13pm: Cameron asks what action will be taken to stop banks paying bumper bonuses. Conditions will be added replies Brown and the FSA will be issuing wide guidance on how remuneration packages should manage risk. Cameron comes back on this issue twice; warning against "rewards for failure". The Tory leader then asks for the Bank of England to have new powers to oversee debt levels in the economy.
12.08pm: The real test of the success of these measures says David Cameron is that small businesses and homebuyers can access money again. How will the PM be measuring progress? Gordon Brown replies that Government is aiming to pay Small and Medium-sized Enterprises within ten days to help their cashflow.
12.06pm: David Cameron gets up. Says that the banking system is so important to the whole economy that it cannot be allowed to fail. Brown thanks David Cameron for his support.
12.05pm: Gerald Kaufman refers to Gordon Brown as "my Prime Minister"!
Noon: INTEREST RATES HAVE JUST BEEN CUT BY 0.5%.
Greg Hands wants David Cameron to go in hard.


A couple of 'Ming' posters from Luke 'Ming' Flanagan. They date from the 1997 General Election in Galway West and 1999 European Elections in Connaught-Ulster.
I've no idea who won the Frank Fahey look-a-like competition.
Ming The Merciless was campaigning for the legalisation of Cannabis at the time. He now of course is one of the most popular and respected councillors in Roscommon.
More 'Ming' Posters are located here.
Thanks to Liam Byrne .


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Arms Continue to Flow into Darfur, Security Council Expert Panel Finds
UN News
The Sudanese Government and rebel groups in Darfur continue to violate the Security Council arms embargo, sending heavy weapons, small arms, ammunition and other military equipment into the war-torn region over the past year, a panel of experts set up to monitor the ban says in a new report
The panel finds that the Government has shipped arms and equipment – including military airplanes and helicopters – by air into the airports of Darfur's three provincial capitals, El Fasher, Nyala and El Geneina. This occurred even though the Government did not submit any requests for approval or exemption to the Security Council committee set up in 2005 as part of the arms embargo, the report states, covering the period from the end of September last year to the end of August this year.
Government warplanes also made numerous offensive overflights in Darfur, and engaged in aerial bombardments, although the panel notes that the frequency of aerial attacks has declined since April. Several non-State armed groups have also received weapons, including assault rifles, rocket launchers and anti-aircraft guns, that were bought in an unnamed country and then transported through Eritrea and later Chad to reach the rebels in Darfur, which lies on Sudan's western flank. The panel says it is still awaiting responses from several Member States concerning that shipment, as well as other shipments to non-State armed groups.
It reiterates its earlier recommendation to expand the arms embargo to cover Sudan's entire territory and issues a fresh recommendation calling for a ban on the sale and supply of arms and related materiel to non-State armed groups located in or operating from neighbouring Chad. Turning to the targeted financial and travel-related sanctions, the panel states that the Sudanese and Chadian Governments have failed to fully implement the resolutions relating to the ban, such as by monitoring the financial accounts of individuals named by the Council.
The panel also finds that both the Sudanese Government and Darfur's major rebel groups have impeded the peace process, whether by conducting ongoing hostilities, placing lengthy pre-conditions on participating in peace talks or by failing to disarm other groups under their control. Several rebel groups, including the National Redemption Front (NRF) and the Minni Minawi faction of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) have also actively targeted the African Union peacekeeping mission currently operating in Darfur.
For its part, the Government had used white aircraft in many of its offensive overflights in Darfur, including in at least one instance a plane with "UN" markings. All sides, including local Arab tribal militia, are not enforcing any accountability for breaches of the laws and rules of war, while the panel states that rape is being widely used as an instrument of warfare.
More Information on the UN Security Council
More General Analysis on Small Arms and Light Weapons
More Information on Small Arms and Light Weapons
More Information on Sudan

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


If you're like millions of Americans today, you may be considering a move to an independent living community. One of the most helpful ways to gather information is by touring some of the properties that appeal to you. While you experience the communities and all they have to offer, make sure you gather as much information as possible. Asking the right questions will help you decide on the right independent living community and steer you away from locations that aren't a good fit. We sat down with a few residents to find out how they made the decision to move, and what information was helpful as they toured.
1. How do I feel when I'm here?
First impressions can tell you a lot, so pay attention to how you feel as you take in the property. Ask yourself, "How do I feel when I'm in this community?" Consider the atmosphere and whether it feels comfortable and inviting. Reflect on the interactions with current residents—do they seem open and friendly? An extra-smart tip is to schedule your tour during an active time of day to get a more accurate read on the community.
2. Could this feel like home?
Of course, any community will feel different than where you might be now, but isn't that the point? Making a change is about freeing yourself of responsibilities of homeownership you no longer need or want. Having the sense of "home" is not something you should give up. As you take in the tour, try to visualize yourself living on the property. Imagine your daily routine and how it would unfold if you were to live in this community. Ask yourself, "Can I imagine living here and making it my home? Could I comfortably invite my friends and family to this place?
Most of us have a specific vision for how we see our lives unfolding. Don't forget to ask the staff about the amenities that matter to you, like accommodations for visitors, pet-friendly policies, and on-site dining options.
3. What are my dining options in this community?
While many independent living communities offer dining rooms with set hours, they often aren't operating chef-driven restaurants with flexible menus and hours. Depending on your needs, ask about dining hours and flexibility—can you choose when and where you eat, or are you tied to a schedule?
4. What makes this community different from others?
While touring independent living communities, you may start to notice some similarities. Most offer dining and recreational options. However, it's the intangibles—the factors that are harder to define—that can set one property above the rest. During your tour, ask yourself, "Can I have this experience or lifestyle someplace else? Or does this community offer something others don't?" Pay attention to how the property and its surroundings make you feel. One way to help determine if a community is unique in its offerings is to inquire about the amenities that make it one-of-a-kind, like on-site, state-of-the-art gyms, entertainment options, and learning opportunities. Asking these types of detailed questions helps get to the root of what makes a location unique and helps you see how you'd fit in.
5. What does my monthly rent get me at this community?
An obvious, yet often over-looked, question is: where does my money go? While location, demographic of residents, and amenities will play a big role in your final decision, for many individuals, it comes to the numbers. Ask to see a comparison of the costs of homeownership versus what is included in your monthly rent. Most communities will include utilities, housekeeping and dining in your monthly rent, so you'll want to understand what sets theses services apart from one community to another. Make sure you understand what is and is not included in your rent so there are no surprises or unexpected costs.
6. Does the community encourage a culture of wellness?
The MacArthur Foundation study on aging found that 70% of how we age is due to lifestyle choices we make. Successful aging is more than a calendar of events, so it is important to find a community that embraces holistic wellness in everything from their menus to their activity programs. Ask what types of groups exist, or will be created, within the community and the process for joining them. Are there on-site coordinators or instructors leading engaging social, educational and physical activities? Will there be opportunities to form meaningful relationships with new neighbors and friends?
Choosing an independent living community is a big decision and should be backed by research and information. Set yourself up for success by reviewing some key questions and don't be afraid to speak up during tours. And check out our helpful checklist for things to consider during your tours.
Call 855.338.0835 today to learn more and schedule your personal tour!


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Why Modern Warfare 3 Can't Do Weapon DLC Like Battlefield 3
by Fahed Jaradat
June 14, 2012 12:31 am in News
A couple of weeks ago, Infinity Ward took to Facebook asking for feedback on whether a double weapon XP event would interest Modern Warfare 3 players. Shortly after, the first double weapon XP event was announced.
The interesting thing about the Facebook tease was the image Infinity Ward picked to go along with the message. The image includes the AK-74u, as you can see below, from Modern Warfare 3's single player.
This prompted many fans, including our forums, to predict that the weapon would be making its way to MW3's multiplayer. Also, let's not forget, former creative strategist Robert Bowling did tease about weapons DLC in January and March.
Infinity Ward's Executive Producer Mark Rubin, who's been rather chatty lately, clarified that the AK-74u will not become available in Modern Warfare 3's multiplayer. It was a "rumor that started when Tina Palacios posted a pic of all the weapons from MW3," Rubin confirmed via Twitter.
As for the lack of weapon DLC in general, Mark Rubin explained that "the main issue is RAM. All of the weapons, characters, models, textures, and geo have to live in RAM. There is only 512 [MB] on the consoles. The problem then is adding weapons adds memory, and there isn't much or any left."
This led fans to wonder why Modern Warfare isn't able to do weapon DLC when DICE's Battlefield 3 has seen 20 weapons released in DLC form thus far. Rubin stated, "[it] just means their [Battlefield's] maps, character models, weapon models, etc are smaller. We both have the exact same amount of available RAM."
"It's not size of the map. It's texture space, unique models etc. So more/larger textures on small map = more mem[ory] than fewer/smaller textures on a larger map," Rubin clarified to Twitter user, Weston Kaszer.
"Not everyone wants new weapons. But for those that do. I'd rather not put it in DLC. I'd rather give them away for free," Mark Rubin assured.
With all that being said, Rubin left the door open a crack for weapon DLC when he stated, "I would love to [introduce new weapons]. Seriously. I'm going to be review the roadmap for MW3 during the next few weeks. We'll look into it. I just didn't want to set unreasonably expectations for anyone. I'm trying to be as upfront and honest as I can."
"I don't think we can do Gun DLC, but I want to look at the possibility but I don't have high hopes for it." He added, "I would love to do Gun DLC, and we will look at what it would take, but I think the tech issues are too high. We'll see," he concluded.
If the folks at Infinity Ward manage to find a way around the RAM issues, what guns would you like to see added to Modern Warfare 3?
Tags: Battlefield 3 Featured Gun DLC Infinity Ward Mark Rubin Modern Warfare 3 Weapon DLC
Rockstar to Banish Max Payne 3 Cheaters to the "Cheaters Pool"
New Modern Warfare 3 Elite Drops Now Live on PS3, Collection 2 Up For Pre-Order


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Sharing interesting knowledge as we build a worldchanging educational institution.
Category Archives: Mathematics
1905: Annus Mirabilis – Brownian Motion
This is the second in a series of posts that will cover the outcome of the 4 fundamental papers published by Albert Einstein in 1905, the so-called "Annus Mirabilis", or miracle year. This article was originally published at the sent2null blog and is reposted here courtesy of David Saintloth. The remaining 2 posts in the series are to follow.
In the second of the series of posts covering the ground breaking advances made by Albert Einstein we will discuss the incredible phenomena of Brownian motion. It may seem that this phenomena didn't have the revolutionary muscle behind it that the other discoveries of Einstein's great year but that is an illusion. We need to understand what was known about the world of the subatomic at this time.
Basically nothing.
There was much conjecture about what the world was possibly made and amazingly through the work of the al-chemists humans gained amazing blind facility with creating new molecules from their very scant understanding of how elements could be mixed in measure to induce various reactions but little was really known about what exactly matter was made up of.
Of course going back to the Greeks the idea of what it was made up of was given by smart people like Democritus who stated:
"The more any indivisible exceeds, the heavier it is."
Well that settles the matter doesn't it? Well not really, the conception of atoms that the ancients had was a bit different from that put forward by modern thinkers, but the general idea of spherical elements interacting in large amounts to constitute the macroscopic materials of which they were made is clear. The problem was is that no one was able to *prove* that this was so, even Newton used the conception only so far as it was useful to allow him to create measures for describing his idea of optics but that didn't rely on any real understanding of the light being made up of particles (or as he called them "corpuscles").
A bit later the Roman Lucretius stated this wrote this incredibly prescient statement:"Observe what happens when sunbeams are admitted into a building and shed light on its shadowy places. You will see a multitude of tiny particles mingling in a multitude of ways… their dancing is an actual indication of underlying movements of matter that are hidden from our sight… It originates with the atoms which move of themselves [i.e., spontaneously]. Then those small compound bodies that are least removed from the impetus of the atoms are set in motion by the impact of their invisible blows and in turn cannon against slightly larger bodies. So the movement mounts up from the atoms and gradually emerges to the level of our senses, so that those bodies are in motion that we see in sunbeams, moved by blows that remain invisible."
However, this is incorrect as dust particles have their chaotic motions controlled by wind currents than by the bombardments of individual atoms.
Nearly 2000 years later, JJ Thompson added some solidity to the idea of atoms by harnessing the electrons which we know today are part of atoms and are the constituent particle of electrical current flows. He won the Nobel prize in 1906 for his work in describing the ratios by which current flows could be deflected using electric fields.
Thomson believed that the corpuscles emerged from the atoms of the trace gas inside his cathode ray tubes. He thus concluded that atoms were divisible, and that the corpuscles were their building blocks. To explain the overall neutral charge of the atom, he proposed that the corpuscles were distributed in a uniform sea of positive charge; this was the "plum pudding" model—the electrons were embedded in the positive charge like plums in a plum pudding (although in Thomson's model they were not stationary, but orbiting rapidly). "
However, note he didn't win that prize until after Einstein's miracle year, it's difficult to suppose why but in many ways Brownian motion wasn't just about determining that atoms existed. It was pretty much agreed that they did, but formalizing how their masses varied and how that could be inferred from group dynamics was wide open. Thus the real power revealed by Einstein's theory is summarized by this passage in the Brownian motion article at wikipedia:
But Einstein's predictions were finally confirmed in a series of experiments carried out by Chaudesaigues in 1908 and Perrin in 1909. The confirmation of Einstein's theory constituted empirical progress for the kinetic theory of heat. In essence, Einstein showed that the motion can be predicted directly from the kinetic model of thermal equilibrium. The importance of the theory lay in the fact that it confirmed the kinetic theory's account of the second law of thermodynamics as being an essentially statistical law. "
So, the power of Einstein's theory was that it used thermodynamic means to infer atomic presence and attributes such as mass. So what ?
Thermodynamic analysis allowed Einstein's theory to refine the methods by which chemistry could measure the size of molecules of various types.
This result enables the experimental determination of Avogadro's number and therefore the size of molecules. Einstein analyzed a dynamic equilibrium being established between opposing forces. "
This is a *huge* result as it allowed molecular chemistry to proceed forward at a pace that it had not yet achieved prior to application of these methods to determine precise measures of necessary components and percentages to creating new molecules. It would be at least another 20 years before the full truth of atoms and their chemistry important subatomic constituents would be fully revealed but explaining Brownian motion took Chemistry mostly from a guess work Science to one of precision. The 20's, 30's and 40's stand testament to the revolution that was enabled by understanding at a molecular level what atoms were doing and how they could be combined.
Companies like DuPont, Bayer, BASF, Dow Chemical should ring a bell as much of their innovations in the 30's and 40's that fueled the war efforts on both sides of the planet were induced by innovations in artificial molecules that were made possible by the more refined chemical fidelity enabled by fully understanding the interactions of atoms. From Nylon to Polyurethane to Polyester exist because of this innovation, considering that you are likely wearing clothes that contain one of these substances as you read this it stands testament to how extensive Einstein's theory was.
Links:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brownian_motion
http://www.caimateriali.org/index.php?id=32
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Nature_of_Things
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democritus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JJ_thomson
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avogrado%27s_number
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyurethane
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nylon
This entry was posted in Mathematics, Science, Technology on February 26, 2013 by David Saintloth.
1905: Annus Mirabilis – Photoelectric effect
This is the first in a series of posts that will cover the outcome of the 4 fundamental papers published by Albert Einstein in 1905, the so-called "Annus Mirabilis", or miracle year. This article was originally published at the sent2null blog and is reposted here courtesy of David Saintloth. The remaining 3 posts in the series are to follow.
1905 was a great year for physics – in this year a 24 year old patent examiner in Bern, Switzerland published 4 fundamental physics papers in 4 disparate areas of the field. The topics included special relativity, the relationship between energy and matter, Brownian motion, and the subject of this post, the photoelectric effect.
Next to his paper on Brownian motion, Einstein's paper on the photoelectric effect was probably the most practical: it provided an answer to a long-standing problem in electromagnetic theory at the time that had stood as an embarrassment to particle physics. This embarrassment was a legacy of the work of James Clerk Maxwell and his fundamental equations of electromagnetism: by using a continuous wave analog to describe the energy of propagating fields, Maxwell was able to astonishingly explain the riddle that was the relationship between electricity and magnetism in clear mathematical terms. He was also able to show how light itself must be an electromagnetic wave, by showing that all such waves are limited by the speed of light (c), roughly 186,000 miles per second.
This entry was posted in Mathematics, Science, Technology on January 4, 2013 by David Saintloth.
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Glenshee…it's a stupid grin sort of day!
Keeping a positive attitude and making the most of whatever the weather decides to throw at us is part and parcel of being a Scottish skier. Lets face it, every day in the snow is a stupid grin sort of day. Even if it's ridiculously grim out there! Saturday had provided a perfect bluebird day with 12cms of fresh powder at Glenshee. I however missed this. I had a fun day teaching in Edinburgh so I wasn't too heartbroken. Two hours of race training, a two hour private then two hours of Super Sliders – basically zooming round the hill with a group of kids, not teaching, but getting some mileage under their ski's whilst doing fun stuff.
Sunday was a very different day. It's crazy how rapidly the weather and snow pack can change overnight. The drive north was full of hope. There was plenty of snow at the roadside and the further north we went the thicker it became. The large puddles and torrents of water flowing along a number of the roads didn't deter us. There was clearly a big thaw on. However, there was still enough white to make things alright.
The weather was pretty wild at times. I experienced some of the strongest gusts of wind I have ever skied in. On a couple of descents I was stopped dead in my tracks midway through high speed turns. It is a pretty weird experience to be zooming down the mountain one minute then the next to be at a total standstill because of the wind. Lets hope all the wild weather brings some more snow our way and doesn't just strip the mountains bare again. Even if things pick up on the snow front, I will always remember the winter of 2012/2013 as the storm season.
5 Beginners, 5 hours – Learning to ski in one day!


On the 6th day of Chinese New Year 2011, a group of us went over to Chualeo aka Leonard Chua's rock star house for a potluck CNY party!
One of the activity that night was the Chinese Calligraphy session!
it's me! the pro in Chinese calligraphy! hahahahhaa~!
This is Leonard Chua, the host of the night.
and here's a group photo of ALL of US with our Chinese Calligraphy arts.
Happy CNY, lol. see you again next year!


Dr. Heck is a licensed psychologist practicing in Chestnut Hill and in Center City, Philadelphia. She specializes in psychotherapy for adults with a wide range of concerns, including depression, anxiety, grief, stress, identity issues, relationship problems, and life transitions. She typically works with individuals, couples, and parent-infant pairs.
Dr. Heck has extensive training in a variety of psychotherapy approaches and techniques, including psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, existential, gestalt, relational, and humanistic therapies. Although she tends to favor a psychodynamic approach, she likes to combine what she knows in a way that suits each person. She will work with you to find a style that is simultaneously comfortable for you and also effective at helping you to reach your goals.
Please take a moment to explore Dr. Heck's website. If you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to contact her by phone or e-mail.
Dr. Heck frequently contributes to written and online communications. Here is a sample of her writing from Psychology Today about fatherhood. Check the "Podcasts and Links" page for more!
Check Dr. Heck's "Podcasts and Links" page for recent episodes of her routine guest appearances as the "in-house therapist" on G'Town Radio, as well as for a link to her blog!


LONDON, 28/3/18: The Global Sourcing Association (GSA), the industry association for strategic sourcing and outsourcing professionals, has launched its new #ReshapingOutsourcing campaign intended to improve and futureproof the outsourcing model. At an extraordinary meeting held in London on March 26th, over 80 senior professionals from across the industry convened to discuss the challenges facing outsourcing – including a welter of media and political criticism, a wave of disruptive technologies and the emergence of new partnership and contractual models – and possible solutions designed to improve service quality and outcomes and to shore up the reputation of this critical sector.
Prior to the event, a GSA survey of the community showed that over 80% of respondents desired change in the industry (with only six per cent believing no change at all is necessary), and breakout sessions on Monday showed a clear desire for fundamental improvements in areas as diverse as communications, hiring, public relations, upskilling sourcing professionals, preparing for the future working landscape and more.
The discussions generated at the event will now be used as the basis for working groups, to meet regularly over the course of the next few months, designed to formulate a series of actions which will combine to form a coherent programme of work to be unveiled at the GSA UK Symposium & Awards, to be held in London on November 22, 2018. Kerry Hallard also informed the conference of a range of new GSA activities to run alongside these working groups under the broad remit of 'Reshaping Outsourcing', as well as an expansion of the GSA's workshop programme to provide an immediate boost to the upskilling imperative expressed by the group.
The GSA is now calling for members of the strategic sourcing and outsourcing space who were unable to attend Monday's meeting to throw their support behind the campaign, including by joining the nascent working groups to help shape the future of the industry. Those interested should contact Kerry Hallard, CEO, GSA UK, at kerryh@gsa-uk.com or on +44 (0)7774 690447.
For more information on the GSA UK Symposium & Awards 2018, see https://www.gsauksymposium.com/ or contact Natalie Milsom at nataliem@gsa-uk.com or on +44 (0)7817 040202.
For information on the GSA's workshop programme – including forthcoming sessions on design thinking and intelligent automation – please contact Debbie Mackay at debbiem@gsa-uk.com or on +44 (0)7398 262548.


text:
package com.yummy.permission.controller;

import java.util.List;
import java.util.Map;

import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
import org.springframework.context.annotation.Scope;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Controller;
import org.springframework.ui.ModelMap;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMapping;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.ResponseBody;
import org.springframework.web.servlet.ModelAndView;

import com.yummy.common.controller.BaseController;
import com.yummy.core.mybatis.page.Pagination;
import com.yummy.permission.bo.RolePermissionAllocationBo;
import com.yummy.permission.bo.UPermissionBo;
import com.yummy.permission.service.PermissionService;
import com.yummy.permission.service.RoleService;
/**
 *
 * 用户权限分配
 */
@Controller
@Scope(value="prototype")
@RequestMapping("permission")
public class PermissionAllocationController extends BaseController {

	@Autowired
	PermissionService permissionService;
	@Autowired
	RoleService roleService;
	/**
	 * 权限分配
	 * @param modelMap
	 * @param pageNo
	 * @param findContent
	 * @return
	 */
	@RequestMapping(value="allocation")
	public ModelAndView allocation(ModelMap modelMap,Integer pageNo,String findContent){
		modelMap.put("findContent", findContent);
		Pagination<RolePermissionAllocationBo> boPage = roleService.findRoleAndPermissionPage(modelMap,pageNo,pageSize);
		modelMap.put("page", boPage);
		return new ModelAndView("permission/allocation");
	}

	/**
	 * 根据角色ID查询权限
	 * @param id
	 * @return
	 */
	@RequestMapping(value="selectPermissionById")
	@ResponseBody
	public List<UPermissionBo> selectPermissionById(Long id){
		List<UPermissionBo> permissionBos = permissionService.selectPermissionById(id);
		return permissionBos;
	}
	/**
	 * 操作角色的权限
	 * @param roleId 	角色ID
	 * @param ids		权限ID,以','间隔
	 * @return
	 */
	@RequestMapping(value="addPermission2Role")
	@ResponseBody
	public Map<String,Object> addPermission2Role(Long roleId,String ids){
		return permissionService.addPermission2Role(roleId,ids);
	}
	/**
	 * 根据角色id清空权限。
	 * @param roleIds	角色ID ,以','间隔
	 * @return
	 */
	@RequestMapping(value="clearPermissionByRoleIds")
	@ResponseBody
	public Map<String,Object> clearPermissionByRoleIds(String roleIds){
		return permissionService.deleteByRids(roleIds);
	}
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Climate catastrophe
On burning forests
By Stephen Wright
This is the second time I've been part of a climate emergency. The first was in 2017 when the town of Lismore in Widjabul country in northern New South Wales was hit by catastrophic floods. It was a flood that couldn't happen.
Lismore is no stranger to floods, the colonisers having built the town on a floodplain at the confluence of two rivers which, unusually, then flow inland. But floods of similar size in 1954 and 1974 were preceded by prolonged periods of wet weather, a La Niña event, and a cyclone much further north disintegrating as it travelled south. The 2017 floods had only one cause: a massive dump of rain over 24 hours caused by a cyclone that had crossed the coast 1200km away. In an 18-hour period, Lismore received 325mm of rain, with much bigger falls in the wider catchment area. Terania Creek, famously the site of successful environmental protests in the 1970s, and which was threatened by the catastrophic bushfires in Nightcap National Park received over 620mm in a 24-hour period.
In the same way that Lismore shouldn't flood because of a day's rain, the Nightcap forest north of Nimbin where I live, about 40 minutes from the regional centre of Lismore, shouldn't burn. It's thought the current fire was started by a lightning strike. When I lived on the edge of Nightcap fifteen years ago, the idea of it burning from a lightning strike was as likely as a sponge being ignited by a match. But when I showed up there last weekend to do a volunteer patrol of the burned zone, I was sent looking for reigniting bush, smouldering logs, trees, stumps – all the hot detritus a fire leaves behind – in what was once a lush, often sodden landscape that used to receive well over two metres of rain a year. As one local put it to me as we sat in the ash on Saturday night drinking bottled water, the joke about living around the Nightcap forests is that you generally can't get a fire to light even when you want one.
Nightcap is one of the wettest places in Australia. And if the Nightcap forests can burn then anywhere can burn. And probably will. The Nightcap fire is not an ordinary bushfire, just as Lismore in 2017 was not an ordinary flood. It is climate catastrophe happening here and now. As I write the Nightcap fire has been stopped on the very edge of two multiple occupancies – the 130+ household Tuntable Falls Co-Op and the much smaller Siddha Farm – by the frankly heroic efforts of under-resourced local firefighters aided by teams of untrained volunteers, but is still heading east and north across the ranges. At one point it looked as though the fire was going to go right through those communities and then head down the mountain toward Nimbin.
It's difficult to describe to the rest of Australia, most of whom live in cities, what it's like watching a climate disaster unfold right before your eyes. On 29 March 2017, I went home after work under threatening but unexceptional skies, and on 31 March, the street outside my workplace in Lismore CBD was two metres deep in flood water, the river below my office having risen eleven metres in a day. By 2 April, the water had subsided and the CBD was utterly shut down, with no food or water being available. By the third day of April, sodden rubbish was being piled three and four metres high in the streets. It was like the aftermath of a battle, and Lismore has still not recovered.
Two years later and it's hard to imagine it has ever rained here at all. The smoke from the burning old-growth forests of Nightcap is heavy, omnipresent, and unbelievably thick. It smells stale and acrid and scratches at the back of the throat hour after hour. The wind never seems to stop, even at night, and the wind's continual hissing, the dense pall of smoke, the eerie light, the relentless dry heat, give an apocalyptic cast to our lives. It's like being continually caught up in a state of dissociation. Ancient forests are burning, people are fleeing for their lives, everyone is scared, but the phone companies still send phone bills, I have to be at work by 8am, I forgot to buy milk, the tyre repair company that fixed my car last week send me texts asking cheerily 'How did we do?', and the supermarket still plays muzak and ditties about how delightful it is to shop at Woolworths. Right now, the wind is blowing outside my window and I never imagined the sound of a stiff breeze in spring or summer could be such a terrifying sound.
We are just leaving the pre-Apocalypse of course and about to the enter what might be called the Apocalypse Proper. What's happening in rural areas like northern NSW is just the beginning and places like Lismore and Nimbin will wear the terror and the damage first, as climate change makes our towns and villages unliveable. Media coverage of climate change often focuses on what rising sea levels will do to cities. But by the time the rising seas do their stuff to urban Australia, the rest of the continent may well be ashes.
The government infrastructure to respond adequately to climate disasters just doesn't exist, and when it does kick in, it's already overburdened health and welfare agencies that have to drop whatever else they happen to be doing to prioritise catastrophe clean-up. Neither state nor federal bodies are doing anything to address unprecedented disaster. In a year of increasing appalling weather conditions and the known threat of catastrophic fires, Gladys Berejiklian's government cut tens of millions of dollars from the budget of the NSW Fire services. It was an act of stupidity and contempt that is hard to fathom, not because it's unexpected but because acts of violence against the defenceless are always hard to viscerally understand.
But the amazing thing about both climate disasters I've witnessed has been the community response. Currently the firefighters at Nightcap and their small army of volunteer helpers are being fed and watered by a mighty community effort coordinated by some remarkable women of the Nimbin Country Women's Association and many other community members who are also supporting the evacuation site at Nimbin showgrounds. For a community that has experienced a lot of poverty and hardship but is used to collective activism and organised self-help, it is unsurprising. After the 2017 flood, with Lismore's supermarkets shut down, a stream of community groups and individuals came into town and distributed food and drink to those of us involved in the massive clean-up. And as fantastic as this is, it's also because if the Nimbin CWA didn't step up, the firefighters would be in serious trouble.
It's not news that two-and-a-half centuries of racist colonial-infused capitalism, and its mandate for exploitation, outright theft and transnational pillaging is entirely responsible for the unfolding cataclysm. As I was nervously kitting up for my shift, one of the locals who had been battling the fire for a week under very dangerous and frightening conditions, lifted up the bottle of water she was drinking that had been donated by Woolies and said, 'Here we are drinking bottled water, taken from our own landscape by a multinational so it can be sold back to us, but graciously donated to us by another multinational while we sit in the middle of a disaster created by the behaviour of multinationals.'
On Monday in an op-ed about the current fire emergency in The Sydney Morning Herald, former NSW Fire and Rescue commissioner Greg Mullins wrote, 'I'm confident that our national government, when the smoke and dust settles, will finally see the obvious and understand the word "unprecedented". I'm sure it will then start to take decisive action.'
Greg Mullins has most likely seen a lot more climate catastrophes than I at close range, but I feel as certain as I can be about anything that even if the smoke and dust do settle – which seems unlikely at this stage given the long-range weather forecast – federal and state governments will do absolutely nothing about climate change. It's a dispiriting thought, to say the least, and I don't have any answers. Whatever a practical response looks like, even if there is one, in Australia it will have to be predicated on the return of country to Aboriginal people, the acknowledgment of Aboriginal sovereignty and a lot more besides. Dr Chelsea Bond once said that racism in Australia won't end until the colonisers go home. She is probably right. Dismantling this racist, proto-fascist nightmare, creating the conditions for its demise, is the only job there is.
The first thing you understand in the midst of a disaster is that we can't keep doing what we have always done.
As I was leaving my shift late on Saturday night, I ran into an old neighbour who was starting the 11pm to 7am shift. He told me how he'd been preparing for the fire and evacuation, when he heard a sound like a low-flying jet coming closer and closer. It was the fire, racing up the hill toward his house. If I imagine climate change having a sound, that would be it.
A million years ago in his book Revolution of Hope the psychoanalyst Erich From wrote:
There is no sense waiting for that which already exists or for that which cannot be. Those whose hope is weak settle down for comfort or for violence; those whose hope is strong see and cherish all signs of new life and are ready every moment to help the birth of that which is ready to be born.
It's probably not much to offer you. But as the wind changes yet again, and the smoke of an incinerated ancient forest and its millions of inhabitants blows into my house, it's all I've got.
Image: Controlling the burn line above Hilltop, 13 November 2019. Photo by Michael Colin Birch.
Overland is a not-for-profit magazine with a proud history of supporting writers, and publishing ideas and voices often excluded from other places.
If you like this piece, or support Overland 's work in general, please subscribe or donate.
Stephen Wright's essays have won the Eureka St Prize, the Nature Conservancy Prize, the Overland NUW Fair Australia Prize and the Scarlett Award, and been shortlisted for several others. In 2017, he won the Viva La Novella Prize. His winning novel, A Second Life, was published by Seizure, and also won the Woollahra Digital Literary Prize for Fiction.
More by Stephen Wright
From Keira McKenzie on 22 November 2019 at 3.02 pm
thank you. As I sit in Perth, awaiting our own fires, I am filled with grief for all the horror you are experiencing. The deaths of so many trees, of birds and reptiles, the possums and wombats and koals and all the animals that called those areas home. And my grief feeds alternate rage, despair and I wonder where the hope is. Rainforests so ancient won't grow again, not in this climate. I grieve.
From gilbert potoroo on 23 November 2019 at 12.05 am
the difference between misery and happiness depends on your attention to climate change detail
From Christine Simons on 23 November 2019 at 8.58 pm
I was born in Lismore in the late 1940s, but grew up in Melbourne. My father's family had been in the Northern Rivers area since the 1860s. In my childhood our linen was stained by flood waters, but fire? I have no memory of fire. Flying over the area in the early 2000s I was shocked by all the land clearing along the coast for housing. That area was, until white settlement ,The Big Scrub, thick, impenetrable rainforest. What humans do, changes things.
From ciannait on 26 November 2019 at 11.22 am
Kiera, taking action helps turn rage into passion. Planting, and importantly caring for trees is a good way to change the climate on the local level. Water storage is also something you can do to help. The water that runs off towns and cities (and denuded rural areas) should be stored to provide water for local-appropriate tree-planting schemes at the very least. The more trees, the more rain.
From Ian Curr on 20 December 2019 at 7.11 pm
You don't hear the four shots fired out – echoing along the ridge. Or the heavy thuds of three horses collapsing, one taking that second bullet to fold down: 'An act of kindness,' she'll tell you later, try to explain to anyone who'll listen. 'I couldn't let them burn.' – from 'A Constant Hum' by Alice Bishop about Black Saturday Fires in Victoria in Feb 2009
237 Summer 2019 out now


The Sweden Experts. Guiding For Conservation.
Why not get a group of friends together for a week's top-class migration birding? Or celebrate that important anniversary with your partner in the beautiful Swedish nature during a long weekend with everything taken care of?
AviFauna Nature Tours will be happy to provide you a free quote based on your needs. Just send us an email detailing the desired dates, number of persons, type of accommodation and what kind of bird-watching, plant studying or nature observation you wish to do. We work with all types of accommodations, from hostel-type to luxury. If we may decide ourselves, we prefer those special places that combine green thinking with local produce on their menues and that have that special ambiance.
We can sell international flight tickets, but we can never get as cheap tickets as you may find on your own. We can pick up at any Swedish airport, please see the destination section for suitable airports for the different tours.
Responsible for content: AviFauna i Sverige AB.


text:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
         xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>

    <groupId>com.team</groupId>
    <artifactId>nice</artifactId>
    <packaging>pom</packaging>
    <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
    <modules>
        <module>team-web</module>
        <module>team-service</module>
        <module>team-common</module>
        <module>team-api</module>
    </modules>

</project>


text:
Everything About Sara Evans Feet and Legs
Here you can see the beautiful pictures of Sara Evans feet and legs. She is an American country music singer and songwriter. She has also worked as an actress and written a book. She has sold over six million albums and had five songs that were number one on the Billboard country songs chart.
The Billboard country chart now has ten songs in the top ten, including "I Could Not Ask for More," "I Keep Looking," and "Cheatin'." "Saints & Angels," "Backseat of a Greyhound Bus," and "As If" are all songs that made it into the top 20 on the charts. The Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association have both given her awards. She has also been nominated by both groups for a number of other awards, such as Female Vocalist of the Year and Single of the Year.
Evans' albums Born to Fly (2000), Restless (2003), and Real Fine Place (2005) were her most successful in the 2000s (2005). Each of the CDs sold more than a million copies. "Born to Fly," "Suds in the Bucket," and "A Real Fine Place to Start" were all number one country songs. Evans was a contestant on Dancing with the Stars in 2006, but he later quit the show.
Sara Evans put her music career on hold to focus on her family, and it wasn't until 2008 that she put out a collection of her best songs. She got her career back on track with her sixth studio album, Stronger, which came out in 2011. It was helped by the single "A Little Bit Stronger," which was number one for two weeks. Evans left RCA after the 2014 release of Slow Me Down and started her own record label.
In 2017, she put out her first album with the label. It was called "Words." Evans's early music was influenced by honky tonk and neotraditional country. After her second album, however, she began to focus more on country-pop ballads. Her body of work has been met with mixed reviews, but many critics have praised the strength and twang of her singing voice.
Sara Evans Wiki, Age, Feet Size, Relationships
Beautiful Pictures of Sara Evans Feet and Legs
Full name Sara Lynn Evans
Nickname Sara
Date of birth February 5, 1971
Place of birth Boonville, Missouri, United States
Profession Singer-Songwriter
Feet/Shoe Size N/A
Boyfriend/Spouse Jay Barker (m. 2008–2021), Craig Schelske (m. 1993–2007)
Martial Status Married
Instagram @Sara Evans
TV Shows/movies N/A
Everything About Jackie Figueroa Feet and Legs
Everything About MyAnna Buring Feet and Legs


The Federal Government's anti-graft war, which many have dismissed as below average, may collapse as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, one of the agencies saddled with the responsibility of prosecuting the campaign, is said to be broke, THE PUNCH has reported.
Investigations by the newspaper revealed that the EFCC had been finding it difficult to meet its obligations to the lawyers handling cases on its behalf.
The most affected, the paper found, are senior lawyers in charge of cases against influential politicians/ suspects who are either involved in high profile money laundering or outright stealing.
One of the lawyers, who disclosed this to paper on condition of anonymity, said he and some of his colleagues, were not happy with the turn of events.
He said that some of them had not been paid their professional fees for long, adding that this was capable of affecting their performance in court.
PUNCH also gathered that the cash crunch had seriously affected the commission to the extent that its enlightenment programmes on radio and television stations had been suspended.
The programmes called Zero Tolerance, is used to educate Nigerians on the evils of corruption in the society.
Apart from that, the commission needed for also uses the programmes to inform Nigerians about its activities and ongoing cases in court.
The presenters of the programmes, especially those on television, interview notable people in the society on the evils of corruption.
But the inability of the commission to pay the affected stations, our correspondent gathered, made it to suspend the programmes.
A top source in the commission said, 'It is painful that we could be in this mess. Imagine an agency fighting corruption to be financially incapacitated? It is bad.
'The programmes we suspended were designed to project the commission and also keep Nigerians abreast of the activities of the commission.
In the last edition of the magazine, former President Olusegun Obasanjo had berated those running the commission, saying there were areas they were not doing well.
He said because of this, they should be ashamed of themselves.
Obasanjo said in the interview, which was published in the magazine, 'I feel concerned about Nigeria and I will never stop feeling concerned and that's why occasionally, I speak up.
'Even now, I am speaking up to say that all of you in EFCC, there are areas where you should be ashamed of yourselves.
Attempts to get an official response from the Spokesman for the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, were unsuccessful as he did not pick calls to his mobile telephone.
Uwujaren also did not respond to a text message sent to him on the subject as of9pm on Tuesday.


text:
all things about webx

# Views
  - src/main/java/<appname>/module/screen/MainView.java, execute()
  - src/main/webapp/<appname>/templates/screen/somefile.vm

# Dal
  - mybatis generator

# FE
  - react
  - webpack


Founded by Richard Allen in 1792, this site is the oldest piece of property continuously owned by African Americans. A small museum is located on the lower level, where the tomb of Richard Allen and 19th-century artifacts also can be found. The archives contain original copies of The Christian Recorder, a newspaper that began publishing before the Civil War.