In the news

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ttip-leak-could-spell-the-end-of-controversial-trade-deal-say-campaigners-a7009896.html

Although I find the link to Brexit being somewhat tenuous - the idea that the current lot (or, likely, any Blairites) wouldn't have signed it in a heartbeat, if we weren't in Europe seems unlikely

This.is fascinating and troubling in equal measure
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/04/donald-trump-2016-campaign-biography-psychology-history-barrett-hurt-dantiono-blair-obrien-213835?o=0

Italian Supreme Court in being human shocker:

Italian court rules food theft 'not a crime' if hungry

Stealing small quantities of food to satisfy a vital need for food did not constitute a crime, the court wrote.

"The condition of the defendant and the circumstances in which the seizure of merchandise took place prove that he took possession of that small amount of food in the face of an immediate and essential need for nourishment, acting therefore in a state of necessity," wrote the court.

Les Miz is now ruined AND half of Australia can return to these shores. Thanks EU!

The brexitters seems to think it's easy to refuse such agreements if the UK leaves the EU.

(as the European commission can be a touch undemocratic)

But is it? Others say the EC proposals still have to be voted on by the member states. I can't remember being asked about the veto of Cameron on Chinese steel market protection for the EC countries...

It took me a second to work out what you'd done there :)

Why is Francis Maude pretending to be someone else? Is he undercover?

Good link that.
I remember a couple of years ago some muppets tried to start this thing of getting media to 'start speaking openly about suicide' so that we could finally break down one of 'the last taboos' in our modern society.
Well, those guys can just fuck off.

Wow. That took four years (from 2011 to 2015) in the original case, plus nearly another year for the appeal.

A sinkhole apparently over a former chalk mine in Plumstead:

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/residents-evacuated-after-giant-sinkhole-appears-in-southeast-london-a3238691.html

and Tom and Jerry cartoons.

The policy is that asylum seekers must seek asylum in the country
where they first reach Europe.

No. No such rule.

I said it was a policy, not a rule. But, yes, I oversimplified.

The recast Dublin Regulation establishes a hierarchy of criteria for identifying the Member State responsible for the examination of an asylum claim in Europe. This is predominantly on the basis of family links followed by responsibility assigned on the basis of the State through which the asylum seeker first entered, or the State responsible for their entry into the territory of the EU Member States, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.

And he was also arrested and kept in detention for 18 days in Birmingham, before they let kill himself.

And then again who is worse the Tories or the joyful indifference of their vile supporters?

Beg pardon. Lots of people think there's a rule but it isn't straightforward:

So if you are a genuine refugee your claim will not be rejected on the
basis that you did not claim asylum in the first country you came to,
but you may be passed from one country to another before your claim is
determined and the effect of the 2004 act is that it is extremely
difficult for an asylum seeker to challenge removal from the UK to a
country deemed to be "safe" – particularly if the removal is pursuant
to Dublin II.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/libertycentral/2010/sep/21/claim-asylum-uk-legal-position

Indeed, it's all very complicated and not much fun on the sharp end of it.

And it's pointless because if you get leave to remain in any EU country, isn't it the case that you can then go and live in any of the others anyway?

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/may/03/luxury-flat-developers-reuben-linked-to-46000-of-donations-to-zac-goldsmith

Seems like kind of a small sum for him...

John Kasich has bailed out of the race for the Republican nomination. That's it, they now basically have the following choices; a) Back Trump as their candidate for the presidency or b) completely abandon their current form of democracy and just pick someone that they, as the elected members of the party, don't find nauseatingly unpalatable. To some, that latter option will be very tempting but the irony may not be lost on them that this is far closer to the Iranian system.

The reality is that America is facing an election that is between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. One thing the primary process has indicated is that it will, once again, be a very close race. So now we have the daunting prospect of the presidency of the USA being effectively decided between two groups of people; closet democrats who can't vote for a ranting lunatic and closet republicans who can't vote for a woman.

One thing the primary process has indicated is that it will, once again, be a very close race.

How's it shown this?

Beyond what may or may not have been shown, and acknowledging the fallibility of polls, all polls show Trump getting trumped.

Clinton doesn't need any Republicans to win the presidency. Nonetheless, she will likely get a bunch. As well as most of the centre and undecided.

After doing a bit more reading on Ted Cruz, I have to say I found myself breathing a sigh of relief that Donald Trump is doing so well at the primaries. And I most certainly do not think that Trump would be a good POTUS, but Cruz and his ideology is just terrifying.

Hilary is going to win it by some margin. Trump will only win the states that are Republican strongholds/overwhelmingly white populations.

At least Cruz had an ideology that could be analysed and argued against. Trump is just a fog of bluster and shifting sands - a staid career politician like Clinton isn't used to fighting someone whose arguments are likely to involve making blow-job actions during presidential debates and ripping into her about her record. Worst case scenario is she may find it hard to land a glove on him because he has no record.

Trump can't open his mouth won't giving himself a black eye. Those who will support him inspire of this is not a plurality of the US population.