Go away then and stop jumping on a negative and abusive bandwagon. Every time in recent weeks i have offered and tried to discuss issues with you and you dont go there....
I think you are not being honest. He left for complex reasons. We have been in email contact since....
Now you are telling me to grow up??? i was simply saying that your overriding interest in this forum is political and we all know what you enjoy doing on these threads... i have tried again and again to engage you in some sort of debate on the issues... and you have not been prepared to discuss the issues.. just your usual one-line polemics..
An interesting piece about democracy in the UK and how it is failing the public. http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-40245805
Democracy is a process not an end product. The minute you say 'we have it', it is gone. This is why so many countries say 'we are a democracy', without ever defining the term - they know that the best way of stopping people from fighting for something is to convince them they have it already. You can, at best, be 'democratizing'.
Again, spinning reality to suit your own sensibilities. I don't know how many times that I have to type that I left because of the hypocritical double standards on here, particularly from the Liberal Left clique, not because of my views on Brexit. You could re-read the PM we all had nearly 12 months ago - my tipping point was the tasteless comment from Toby to SH about getting a one away Easyjet ticket to Geneva and not one of you said a word. I agree that Lenny would not consider himself as Right Wing, but he would consider himself as a Capitalist and a Remainer. But his leaving is because he was also fed up with the clique on here rounding on anyone with differing views and ignoring the vile abuse from the likes of Toby and his henchmen Dan Starkey. You may recall Lenny stopped posting for a while after they thought it was really funny to post jokes about the suicide of Gary Speed. I contact Lenny regularly by email and I know exactly why he no longer posts here and it is not because of his previous spat with SH.
Why don't you try debating with us, actually reading other people's texts and answering them, and presenting your own views in return - which we can also answer. Rather than spending the whole time criticizing us. As long as you don't do this you will continue to see us all as a homogenous mass - a 'left wing clique', without realizing that we also have differences between us. Since you have come back you have shown no inclination to actually debate - rather only to release your scorn in all directions, why ? I have also been in communication with Leo, and I agree that there was no one single reason for his leaving - but rather an accumulation of different factors. If you had read through every single post on here you would realize that SH. has managed to insult, or belittle, at least 9 different posters on here - posters who were not all left wing. It is hardly surprising that those posters would tend to club together a little, regardless of their politics - and you could hardly accuse Frenchie of being left wing. I agree that Toby can be a bit tactless at times, but he is a rare visitor to our forum SH. isn't.
If you see my comment above w_y you will see that I also know plenty from contact with Lenny, but that is private and I do not discuss it here. The real point I was making however was about the suggestion that there were a long list of people who had left because they had been ganged up on, but the numbers do not support it. It is an open forum, people can join without having to take a test on where they stand on any issue. Most try to put forward reasoned points as to why they take the view that they do. Repetition of soundbites adds nothing to a debate. Debate should be about listening and seeing if there is anything you can gain from it as well as putting forward your own view. Saying "I am right and everyone else is wrong" all the time, is not debate.
You were happy to insult me, along with SH. I never posted jokes about GS on here, but feel free to spout more lies.
I did and was labelled a racist, idiot, moron and likened to a Nazi - and the response from the great and the good on here? The silence was deafening. What is the point when the debate is so loaded in one direction? When have any of you actually debated and disagreed? All you do is nod away when someone posts.
Well if the numbers that have been pushed away are about the same as those that still regularly post on the Political threads then it is material - you could have twice as many contributors. The fact that Asimov never posted again is not something to ignore, it shows how somebody that argues a differing view is picked upon by the group so they hardly feel welcome to stay. Funny that soundbites do not add anything to a debate, yet one of you have added soundbites, copies of tweats, videos, copies of pictures all very anti-Tory on many non-political threads and not one word has been said. As I say, double standards.
I've been labelled a moron on here more times than I care to remember. I can only assume that I must also be part of this so-called clique? Not sure how that is as I don't "know" anyone here and I'm pretty certain that I do not hold identical political views to anyone here. There are occasions when I veer sharply to the right. But, to be clear, I've seen little debate and far too much mud-slinging of late. That's more a reflection of the current political divide in the wider world which has obviously polarised our views than on us as individuals. I've had some cracking debates here on religion, music, and yes, politics, where people have expressed their own opinions in their own words. The mudslinging starts when part rhetoric, sound-bites and newspaper column inches are the preferred method of debate. All rather sad, but that's how it is. Some people don't like answering (or at least try to answer) the awkward questions and choose to ignore the facts when presented. Why is the debate seemingly loaded in one direction is probably a better question to ask?
If you would not lump people together there might be some room to discuss this. SH was asked for example some time back not to cut and paste huge swathes of e-copy to make his points. On the other hand some pictures , soundbites and tweets can illustrate a point... just as you wanted to make a point with your video-clip. There are also a couple of satirical threads where i have encouraged people to put up their jokes etc... and that is a good place for them. On the thought for the day thread... people can put things that are meaningful for them. I have asked people to stop political debating on that thread and reminded people not to bring politics into the Nest.
Just a thought. It is reported that the DUP want more money for N. Ireland as part of the agreement to support the government. If that money is given to them is it a case of buying votes, which is illegal?
They are just popping over to register their names so they will continue to get paid and claim expenses for them and their staff.
I was actually in the process of messaging Aberdeen..as I always found him a decent bloke with very differing views. and found this on his page: So not hounded out by a lefty clique ?