The Iron Lady died of a stroke BBC reports.
No poll tax for her!
At least she had time to pose for a statue of her handbag.
Be ironic if she gets a state funeral.
Whether one agreed or disagreed with her politics, it is undeniable that she broke the unions (which practically controlled the country which was evident during the Winter of Discontent under Labour). It is also undeniable that this “daughter of a greengrocer” was probably the less class conscious Prime Minister, had little time for inherited wealth, and opened City merit-based Finance jobs up to the masses with the massive deregulation. It is also undeniable that she helped combat Communism along with Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II.
The Iron Lady was Britain’s best PM in the 20th Century. Ralph Klein and Thatcher in the less than 2 weeks! Sad indeed.
Apparently George Osborne said in his Eulogy,“Her determination is our generations’ inspiration”. I may be remembering wrong but wasn’t that the spoken part of the song “Pass the dutchie on the left hand side” ??? 
[quote=“ceevee369”]The Iron Lady died of a stroke BBC reports.[/quote] :bravo: :braveheart: :yay:
I see Taiwan/China have got their finger on the pulse with Margaret Thatchers death. Or am I reading this wrong? Top reporting skills.Maybe 
It is telling that her best friend and staunchest political ally was that other great bastard, Ronald reagan.
She would have been completely dead politically and resigned to a footnote in history as “that autocratic tyrant” were it not for the fortuitous intervention of the Falklands War to rally the nation behind.
(Of course the falklands are British, but she milked the situation for all that it’s worth to overcome the debacle of the Community Charge. The last community charge resulted in riots of even greater severity during the peasants revolt hundreds of years before…)
[quote=“urodacus”]It is telling that her best friend and staunchest political ally was that other great bastard, Ronald reagan.
She would have been completely dead politically and resigned to a footnote in history as “that autocratic tyrant” were it not for the fortuitous intervention of the Falklands War to rally the nation behind.
(Of course the falklands are British, but she milked the situation for all that it’s worth to overcome the debacle of the Community Charge. The last community charge resulted in riots of even greater severity during the peasants revolt hundreds of years before…)[/quote]
She lowered the 83% tax rate for the very rich (halved it), she crushed the miners, she privatized bloated government entities, she formed alliances with Reagan, the Pope and Gorbachev that ended the USSR, she led the Falklands War with her resolute leadership, and she proved that there was no glass ceiling for women. 
She was the most important British leader of the 20th Century–even more than Churchill in my opinion. She opened City jobs to everyone (through deregulation), she went after commies that were protected by the old boys club (e.g., Anthony Blunt), and she understood the special US-UK relationship.
Presidents such as Reagan and PMs such as Thatcher transformed politics. Clinton and Blair afterwards only got elected because they adopted much of what was changed by these predecessors from the opposite side of the political spectrum. That’s how much impact Thatcher and Reagan had.
Urodocus dislikes them because their actions ended his 1960s hangover/sophomoric lifestyle! :raspberry: They broke his “idealism cherry.” 
whydopeoplehatethatcher.com/all
When workers protested against policies affecting their communities she used the Police as her army and had them attacked.
Source: guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/apr….
She advocated and pushed for the 2003 War in Iraq.
Source: online.wsj.com/article/0,SB10242650….
She was fully briefed on what happened when 96 people died at Hillsborough, but intentionally distorted the truth because the Police were responsible.
Source: liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-ne….
She gave the order to sink a ship that was retreating away from the Falklands, killing 323.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARA_General_Be….
She played off hatred of foreigners to become more popular with National Front voters.
Source: guardian.co.uk/society/2002/apr/….
Her tax policies gave large companies a break while the poor paid more.
Source: books.google.co.uk/books?id=7qaMqwGR….
Prior to her intervention it was considered normal for growing schoolchildren to get milk at school, regardless of household income. She stopped that.
Source: news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/uk/2000….
Her ‘Care in the Community’ scheme left vulnerable people to fend for themselves, resulting in increased homelessness, crime and suicide.
Source: libcom.org/news/article.php/nhs-cuts….
Her ‘Right to Buy’ scheme was a massive sell-off of council housing to private landlords, including many Tory donors.
Source: mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/right-….
Far from being a feminist icon, she opposed equal rights for women and enacted policies that hit women more strongly.
Source: books.google.co.uk/books?id=8qgrUNv9….
She deregulated school meals, lowering nutritional standards for children.
Source: tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/….
Under her reign, inequality rose. The poor got even poorer but the rich continued to get richer.
Source: guardian.co.uk/politics/datablog….
She called General Suharto, mass-murdering dictator of Indonesia “one of our very best and most valuable friends.”
Source: guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/200….
She spent £1bn of government money propping up Saddam Hussein during the 1980s.
Source: guardian.co.uk/world/2003/feb/28….
She sold off government assets and community resources to private companies.
Source: news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4061613….
She supported apartheid and considered Nelson Mandela’s ANC a terrorist organisation.
Source: sahistory.org.za/dated-event/it-….
She used her political power to censor the media with the goal of distorting public opinion.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_in_….
She supported laws which made homosexuality a taboo subject and closed gay and lesbian support centres.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_28
Her so-called ‘poll tax’ was hated because it shifted the tax burden from the rich to the poor.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_Char….
The economic policies she resolutely stuck to left thousands of families in poverty.
Source: guardian.co.uk/politics/datablog….
She praised and supported Pinochet long after it was known he was responsible for killing hundreds of dissidents.
Source: news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/304516.stm
She aided the Khmer Rouge while they were killing millions of Cambodians.
She supported laws which made homosexuality a taboo subject and closed gay and lesbian support centres.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_28
And she was friends with Jimmy Savile.
Yet she started constructive dialogue with the Russians, befriended Gorbachev and was catalytic in bringing down communism. She said one of her greatest achievements was creating “New Labour” and it is telling that, three decades after she broke the NUM, unions continue their decline throughout the OECD, as do privatizations.
It’s funny to look at what a mess the Eurozone has become today and wonder, as Thatcher would have done, what all the European governments are going to do once they’ve run out of other people’s money.
I gather from Twitter that the hash tag #nowthatchersdead is trending
Shame - Cher was a great singer, what with that Titanic song and all
[quote=“antarcticbeech”]Yet she started constructive dialogue with the Russians, befriended Gorbachev and was catalytic in bringing down communism. She said one of her greatest achievements was creating “New Labour” and it is telling that, three decades after she broke the NUM, unions continue their decline throughout the OECD, as do privatizations.
It’s funny to look at what a mess the Eurozone has become today and wonder, as Thatcher would have done, what all the European governments are going to do once they’ve run out of other people’s money.[/quote]
The UK is a mess too mate.
Ding Dong the Witch is Dead, from The Wizard of Oz, is racing up the British singles charts, currently at #4.
Ledgendary broadcaster Pat Summerall dies at 82
[quote]DALLAS – Pat Summerall was the calm alongside John Madden’s storm.
Over four decades, Summerall’s deep, resonant voice described some of the biggest games in America. Simple, spare, he delivered the details on 16 Super Bowls, the Masters and the U.S. Open tennis tournament with a simple, understated style that was the perfect complement for the “boom!” and “bang!” of Madden, his partner for half of the NFL player-turned-broadcaster’s career.[/quote]
[quote=“IdeaRat”]http://news.yahoo.com/divinyls-leader-singer-chrissy-amphett-dead-53-105858025.html
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Classic song,except I can’t help visualising Austin Powers every time I hear it.
Shame to die so tragically. RIP