Originally Posted by Gordon Booth (Post 1037818)

I'm afraid it's typical of those who has spent their lives isolated in academia that they feel there is their view(the correct one) and the views of those who don't agree with them(through lack of understanding, poor things). That's one of the problems of our education system today.
Of course the USSR had some remarkable achievements, if you keep a state of almost 300 million people short of food,clothing,housing etc and work them like slaves there will be lots of money left for some 'remarkable achievements'.
For almost 30 years Stalin was the USSR and the USSR was Stalin. If Stalin was a lunatic(agreed) he was ruling a lunatic state because the two were one.
You concentrate on a few physical achievements-the nations efforts and sacrifices during the war-yes. The T34-yes(well designed for massive rapid production to overwhelm the Panzers). The Ak47-yes(brilliantly designed for the job it was intended for). The first man and woman in space-yes. The Lada- well, you can't get them all right, can you?Vodka- I like it. The Soyuz- a marvellous workhorse for space.

But lets look at how the USSR(don't just blame Stalin) treated its reason for existing- its people.
Between 3 and 10 million people starved to death under the 'Collectivization of Agriculture' policy .
Two and a half million peasants who didn't starve exiled to clear the land.
3.7 million sentenced for 'revolutionary crimes' in 2 years,0.6 million of them shot, 2.4 million sent to labour camps.
The 'Great Purge'-1.5 million arrested, 700,000 of them shot.
80,000 of the top military and its officers shot because Stalin was worried about them. Leaving the armed forces without experienced leadership just before a war started.

You quote a few physical achievements- I quote the price the people paid. The price was far in excess of the achievements. And the Soyuz, the man and woman in space, most of its post war achievements, destroyed it by bankrupting it.
Little to praise or admire.

Originally Posted by Eric (Post 1037824)

If you are looking for a boogey man to scare the children away from socialism, forget about Stalin ... He's been an embarrassment to the Soviet Union and the Russians since at least the time of the secret letter.

Oh, and don't forget the more than 30 million who died fighting Nazism ... another notable achievement. Or is that something else that requires little praise or admiration.

Originally Posted by Guinness (Post 1037717)

And we go full circle to the standard 13 years of labour rule argument.

If the rest of your post about GJ were true, which I don't think it is, why would it bother you so much...after all in your ethos its not about being paid your value and worth but getting what you can by any means as long as its legal, and you also forfeit the right to criticise Gordon Brown for non attendance or in fact any MP who makes a spurious expense claim as long as they don't break the law. You can't have it both ways

Originally Posted by jaysay (Post 1037839)

Well you must agree that in those 13 years they did little to change all those so called wrongs imposed by the Tories,

Originally Posted by Guinness (Post 1037826)

If he's looking for a bogeyman he's looking at the wrong empire..

A moral audit of the British empire | openDemocracy

Deny the British empire's crimes? No, we ignore them | George Monbiot | Comment is free | The Guardian

That Good Old British Empire? « Lila Rajiva: The Mind-Body Politic

Using Gordons own words..little to praise or admire

Originally Posted by Less (Post 1037842)

If they did little in your standard 13 years to alter what had been done by the Tories and the Tories are as perfect as you claim then what they had put in place would have carried us not only through those 13 years with hardly a glitch but on to a British paradise that should have lasted at least 1,000 years.

P.S. have you set up a macro so that whenever a criticism of the Tories appears on site, the 13 years speech is automatically brought into play?

Got to admit it's nowhere near as interesting as putting together real thoughts such as Eric and Guinness have done.
:)

Originally Posted by cmonstanley (Post 1037863)

well looks like its the end of an independent police force and the tories will get revenge over the mitchell affair. G4S chief predicts mass police privatisation | UK news | The Guardian

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington (Post 1037858)

when you get older( I use that term advisedly) we spend time living in the past because the future we have, could be very limited...and the past is something that we have lots of.

There is no country in the world that can rejoice and say it has a clear conscience....and until they can look at their own mistakes and denounce those too, then they should shut up and move on.
The past cannot be altered, however many tears are shed over the happenings.

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington (Post 1037879)

Power to your elbow John...keep having something to look forward to, it is often the way to keep going....even though it is creakily, it is way better than the alternative.

Originally Posted by jaysay

not unmitigated claptrap from spurious links from rags like the Guardian:mad:

Originally Posted by Guinness (Post 1037826)

If he's looking for a bogeyman he's looking at the wrong empire..

A moral audit of the British empire | openDemocracy

Deny the British empire's crimes? No, we ignore them | George Monbiot | Comment is free | The Guardian

That Good Old British Empire? « Lila Rajiva: The Mind-Body Politic

Using Gordons own words..little to praise or admire