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The banning EU mineral water story is surely a spoof – politicalbetting.com

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  • TimTTimT Posts: 6,468
    Cookie said:

    Just back from York. I have managed to lose my glasses twice in one day - in the first instance, leaving them in a cafe (from where I managed to retrieve them half an hour later) and in the second, I think, having them fall out of my pocket on the tram on the way home. Most annoying. Happily I am picking up a new pair tomorrow so not disastrous, but still.

    This is why I buy 5 pairs at a time at the Dollar Store. No point me buying expensive glasses.
  • darkagedarkage Posts: 5,398
    Alistair said:

    I shudder to think what beer one might be drinking where the 50p per unit minimum makes a difference to the price

    It would affect the bulk crates of Fosters at the supermarket. Cans I was looking at yesterday at Asda (in England) work out at about 70p each, they are about 2 units so would cost £1 in Scotland. There are even cheaper cans that work out at about 25p each, so they would be ruled out. Obviously you have got to be pretty well off to be an alcoholic, in Scotland.

  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,251
    edited October 2021
    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    I was gonna read that new book about human origins, but then I discovered that the late writer was an anarchist and a communist and this, according to an Atlantic review, is one of his discoveries


    ‘But the authors’ most compelling instance of urban egalitarianism is undoubtedly Teotihuacan, a Mesoamerican city that rivaled imperial Rome, its contemporary, for size and magnificence. After sliding toward authoritarianism, its people abruptly changed course, abandoning monument-building and human sacrifice for the construction of high-quality public housing.’

    Yes. That’s a typical trait in meso-American societies, they abandon their orgies of child murder, ritual cannibalism and heart extrusion, so as to really focus on surprisingly upscale apartments for everyday folk

    Are you saying they were incapable of multitasking?
    ‘I’m thinking of moving to Teotihuacan.’

    ‘Jesus what? Are you mad? - they slaughter people on top of pyramids by pulling out their beating hearts and then they wear your flayed skin in crazed dances as everyone else turns your bones into combs and buttons.’

    ‘Sure, but they have really high quality public housing, and their carbon footprint is impressively low.’

    *Ancient Human-Bone Sculptors Turned Relatives Into Tools*

    https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/100810-science-archaeology-ancient-mexico-human-bones-teotihuacan
  • TimTTimT Posts: 6,468
    Leon said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    I was gonna read that new book about human origins, but then I discovered that the late writer was an anarchist and a communist and this, according to an Atlantic review, is one of his discoveries


    ‘But the authors’ most compelling instance of urban egalitarianism is undoubtedly Teotihuacan, a Mesoamerican city that rivaled imperial Rome, its contemporary, for size and magnificence. After sliding toward authoritarianism, its people abruptly changed course, abandoning monument-building and human sacrifice for the construction of high-quality public housing.’

    Yes. That’s a typical trait in meso-American societies, they abandon their orgies of child murder, ritual cannibalism and heart extrusion, so as to really focus on surprisingly upscale apartments for everyday folk

    Are you saying they were incapable of multitasking?
    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    I was gonna read that new book about human origins, but then I discovered that the late writer was an anarchist and a communist and this, according to an Atlantic review, is one of his discoveries


    ‘But the authors’ most compelling instance of urban egalitarianism is undoubtedly Teotihuacan, a Mesoamerican city that rivaled imperial Rome, its contemporary, for size and magnificence. After sliding toward authoritarianism, its people abruptly changed course, abandoning monument-building and human sacrifice for the construction of high-quality public housing.’

    Yes. That’s a typical trait in meso-American societies, they abandon their orgies of child murder, ritual cannibalism and heart extrusion, so as to really focus on surprisingly upscale apartments for everyday folk

    Are you saying they were incapable of multitasking?
    ‘I’m thinking of moving to Teotihuacan.’

    ‘Jesus what? Are you crazy, they slaughter people on top of pyramids by pulling out their beating hearts and then they wear your flayed skin in crazed dances as everyone else turns your bones into combs and buttons.’

    ‘Sure, but they have really high quality public housing, and their carbon footprint is impressively low.’

    *Ancient Human-Bone Sculptors Turned Relatives Into Tools*

    https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/100810-science-archaeology-ancient-mexico-human-bones-teotihuacan
    Now, don't you go getting ideas about knapping those bones, Leon.
  • JBriskin3JBriskin3 Posts: 1,254
    darkage said:

    Alistair said:

    I shudder to think what beer one might be drinking where the 50p per unit minimum makes a difference to the price

    It would affect the bulk crates of Fosters at the supermarket. Cans I was looking at yesterday at Asda (in England) work out at about 70p each, they are about 2 units so would cost £1 in Scotland. There are even cheaper cans that work out at about 25p each, so they would be ruled out. Obviously you have got to be pretty well off to be an alcoholic, in Scotland.

    "Obviously you have got to be pretty well off to be an alcoholic, in Scotland."

    I've got the choice between heating and drinking.

    I've chosen drinking.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,251
    edited October 2021
    TimT said:

    Leon said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    I was gonna read that new book about human origins, but then I discovered that the late writer was an anarchist and a communist and this, according to an Atlantic review, is one of his discoveries


    ‘But the authors’ most compelling instance of urban egalitarianism is undoubtedly Teotihuacan, a Mesoamerican city that rivaled imperial Rome, its contemporary, for size and magnificence. After sliding toward authoritarianism, its people abruptly changed course, abandoning monument-building and human sacrifice for the construction of high-quality public housing.’

    Yes. That’s a typical trait in meso-American societies, they abandon their orgies of child murder, ritual cannibalism and heart extrusion, so as to really focus on surprisingly upscale apartments for everyday folk

    Are you saying they were incapable of multitasking?
    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    I was gonna read that new book about human origins, but then I discovered that the late writer was an anarchist and a communist and this, according to an Atlantic review, is one of his discoveries


    ‘But the authors’ most compelling instance of urban egalitarianism is undoubtedly Teotihuacan, a Mesoamerican city that rivaled imperial Rome, its contemporary, for size and magnificence. After sliding toward authoritarianism, its people abruptly changed course, abandoning monument-building and human sacrifice for the construction of high-quality public housing.’

    Yes. That’s a typical trait in meso-American societies, they abandon their orgies of child murder, ritual cannibalism and heart extrusion, so as to really focus on surprisingly upscale apartments for everyday folk

    Are you saying they were incapable of multitasking?
    ‘I’m thinking of moving to Teotihuacan.’

    ‘Jesus what? Are you crazy, they slaughter people on top of pyramids by pulling out their beating hearts and then they wear your flayed skin in crazed dances as everyone else turns your bones into combs and buttons.’

    ‘Sure, but they have really high quality public housing, and their carbon footprint is impressively low.’

    *Ancient Human-Bone Sculptors Turned Relatives Into Tools*

    https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/100810-science-archaeology-ancient-mexico-human-bones-teotihuacan
    Now, don't you go getting ideas about knapping those bones, Leon.
    ‘What happened to Uncle Jim, anyway, I liked him?’

    ‘Oh, we sacrificed him last month, we all did psychedelic mushrooms and Mum tore out his beating heart in the hall but we’re using his femur as a rolling pin, if you miss him?’

    ‘No, it’s ok. This is a lovely council flat.’
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,251
    BROOKSIDE, THE TEOTIHUACAN YEARS
  • Leon said:

    BROOKSIDE, THE TEOTIHUACAN YEARS

    Why bury someone under the patio when you can recycle them into new tools?
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,229
    UK cases by specimen date

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  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,229
    UK cases by specimen date and scaled to 100K

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  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,229
    UK local R

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  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,229
    UK cases summary

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  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,229
    UK hospitals

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  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,229
    UK deaths

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  • Leon said:

    BROOKSIDE, THE TEOTIHUACAN YEARS

    Why bury someone under the patio when you can recycle them into new tools?
    Have you ever read “Use of Weapons”?
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,229
    Age related data

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  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,229
    Age related data scaled to 100K

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  • maaarshmaaarsh Posts: 3,590
    MattW said:

    maaarsh said:

    MattW said:

    Stocky said:

    Scott_xP said:

    Petrol prices have hit a record high across the UK in what the RAC has described as a 'truly dark day for drivers' https://trib.al/oAY3RBj

    The record prices can only be nominally.

    Prices in the late 90s when we had the fuel protests were about 90p per litre I think. £1.40 now doesn't sound expensive to me, 20 + years later, when you account for inflation.
    We've had an effective tax freeze for umpteen years.
    It's not been very effective. Duty is frozen by VAT of course goes up with inflation.
    According to the IFA, it is now costing the Exchequer £11.2bn a year in lost revenue.
    https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-fuel-duty-freeze-has-increased-uk-co2-emissions-by-up-to-5-per-cent

    15 months ago my view on how to recover from COVID govt finance plunge was restore that to where it would have been, cancel CGT relief on main dwelling, and kill the triple lock - to get around 50bn a year of extra revenue.
    The logic that everything belongs to the taxman unless they allow someone to keep it is utterly alien to me. Presumably not imposing a 100% flat tax on everything is costing the Exchequar c. £1,400bn a year in lost revenue.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,180

    Alistair said:

    The Cornoavirus dash board is sooooo slow just after publication. I presume because everyone is hammering the API for data.

    Yes, they are. I implemented a slow loop for calls, and exponential backoff on attempts (with an additional randomised time element).

    Quite a few morons didn't.
    I must be a moron, because I didn't understand any of what you just said!

    :smiley:
    Sorry.

    Instead of looping round in milliseconds and trying like a mad chimp, my software runs the sequence of calls to the API slowly (10s of seconds).

    If it hits an "unavailable because of too much traffic", it doubles the time for each retry. So waits longer and longer between tries.

    Further, it adds a bit of randomness to the growing time between retries to make sure that I'm am not doing the calls to the API in a pattern that matches what anyone else is doing.

    All of this is pretty standard stuff.

    But some people out there have written code that is bringing the API to it's knees....
    On tests I note the daily tests and "cumulative" don't err match...

    Which is more accurate though ?
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,307
    For all those Keira Knightley fans - https://youtu.be/zfv8pgOnvP4

    Or perhaps not......
  • Cyclefree said:

    For all those Keira Knightley fans - https://youtu.be/zfv8pgOnvP4

    Or perhaps not......

    I wouldn't mind having Keira nightly :blush:
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,368

    The former cabinet minister David Davis has pledged to lead a rebellion against the government’s changes to judicial review, calling them a worrying assault on the legal system and attempt to avoid accountability.

    Before the first major test of the judicial review and courts bill when it is debated in the Commons on Tuesday, Davis wrote in an article for the Guardian that ministers’ plans would “tip scales of law in favour of the powerful”.

    He cited the power of judicial reviews to give “a voice to victims”, pointing to the overturning of the Parole Board’s decision to release the serial rapist John Worboys. The Haltemprice and Howden MP also praised the campaigner Gina Miller for challenging the government’s position at the start of the Brexit process that article 50 could be triggered without parliamentary authorisation.

    An overhaul of the judicial review process was promised in the 2019 Conservative manifesto, which said the mechanism should be “available to protect the rights of the individuals against an overbearing state”, but promised it would not be “abused to conduct politics by another means or to create needless delays”.

    Davis said judicial review “delivers for individuals on matters affecting everyday life” and was constantly being used “to correct fundamental and dangerous errors of law”.

    “Such attempts to consolidate power are profoundly un-conservative and forget that in a society governed by the rule of law, the government does not always get its way,” he said.

    Davis also addressed suggestions that so-called Cart judicial reviews could be abolished, which would let the high court review a decision to refuse someone permission to appeal a case. Davis said ministers viewed these as “expensive and unsuccessful”.

    “While the attack on judicial review, and in particular Cart judicial reviews, is a worrying assault on our legal system, it is only part of the picture,” wrote the former Brexit secretary, whose former chief of staff Dominic Raab is now the justice secretary.

    Davis said ministers were in effect trying to “deny a court jurisdiction in a certain matter” through a mechanism known as an “ouster” clause.


    https://www.theguardian.com/law/2021/oct/25/david-davis-vows-lead-rebellion-judicial-review-changes

    I was tempted to joke about vanity by elections in Haltemprice and Howden, but he's right!

    Good for Davis.
  • So the BP on the A12 Eastern Avenue eastbound has prices 2p more than the BP on the Eastern Avenue westbound - they are directly opposite one another!
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,399
    Good evening.
    I see the Italian for hitchhiker is "autostoppista".
    And that "Queen's Gambit the Board Game" is out for Christmas.
    Would have expected that to be chess. But isn't.
  • Farooq said:

    I left you earlier talking about cider with curry and now we're onto hacking the still-heaving hearts from the bone chambers of living victims.

    You see how quickly things descend when you pair the wrong drink with the right food?

    Now, if you're going to eat that throbbing cardiac muscle, please serve it with an imperial stout. We aren't animals, you know.

    Ever tried beans on naan?
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,399
    edited October 2021

    Cyclefree said:

    For all those Keira Knightley fans - https://youtu.be/zfv8pgOnvP4

    Or perhaps not......

    I wouldn't mind having Keira nightly :blush:
    Jane Austen made that joke.
    200 year old gags. You getting hip?
  • darkagedarkage Posts: 5,398
    Farooq said:

    The former cabinet minister David Davis has pledged to lead a rebellion against the government’s changes to judicial review, calling them a worrying assault on the legal system and attempt to avoid accountability.

    Before the first major test of the judicial review and courts bill when it is debated in the Commons on Tuesday, Davis wrote in an article for the Guardian that ministers’ plans would “tip scales of law in favour of the powerful”.

    He cited the power of judicial reviews to give “a voice to victims”, pointing to the overturning of the Parole Board’s decision to release the serial rapist John Worboys. The Haltemprice and Howden MP also praised the campaigner Gina Miller for challenging the government’s position at the start of the Brexit process that article 50 could be triggered without parliamentary authorisation.

    An overhaul of the judicial review process was promised in the 2019 Conservative manifesto, which said the mechanism should be “available to protect the rights of the individuals against an overbearing state”, but promised it would not be “abused to conduct politics by another means or to create needless delays”.

    Davis said judicial review “delivers for individuals on matters affecting everyday life” and was constantly being used “to correct fundamental and dangerous errors of law”.

    “Such attempts to consolidate power are profoundly un-conservative and forget that in a society governed by the rule of law, the government does not always get its way,” he said.

    Davis also addressed suggestions that so-called Cart judicial reviews could be abolished, which would let the high court review a decision to refuse someone permission to appeal a case. Davis said ministers viewed these as “expensive and unsuccessful”.

    “While the attack on judicial review, and in particular Cart judicial reviews, is a worrying assault on our legal system, it is only part of the picture,” wrote the former Brexit secretary, whose former chief of staff Dominic Raab is now the justice secretary.

    Davis said ministers were in effect trying to “deny a court jurisdiction in a certain matter” through a mechanism known as an “ouster” clause.


    https://www.theguardian.com/law/2021/oct/25/david-davis-vows-lead-rebellion-judicial-review-changes

    Davis is a rock of our political landscape. You can always predict where he'll stand on an issue and he doesn't care whether he's at odds with his own party. More of this kind of politician please.
    Agreed; Not just on things like JR reform, but it is largely because of politicians like Davis that the draconian COVID laws have sunset clauses in them.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 19,454
    Petrol so expensive right now its killing me
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,251
    ‘The woman was accused of letting a five-year-old enslaved Yazidi girl die of thirst after her husband, an IS fighter, chained the child up in a courtyard without protection from the desert heat as punishment for wetting her mattress, prosecutors said.’

    It’s good the Germans have jailed this Isis witch. But why didn’t she get life?

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/25/german-court-jails-is-woman-for-yazidi-girls-death-in-iraq?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
  • TimTTimT Posts: 6,468
    Leon said:

    ‘The woman was accused of letting a five-year-old enslaved Yazidi girl die of thirst after her husband, an IS fighter, chained the child up in a courtyard without protection from the desert heat as punishment for wetting her mattress, prosecutors said.’

    It’s good the Germans have jailed this Isis witch. But why didn’t she get life?

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/25/german-court-jails-is-woman-for-yazidi-girls-death-in-iraq?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

    Getting traction this side of the pond too. According to the WP: "The prosecutor had recommended that Wenisch be imprisoned for life. However, the court found that the accused had only a limited ability to end the enslavement of the woman and her child. Wenisch’s husband, Taha al-Jumailly, is on trial in Frankfurt."
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 4,574

    So the BP on the A12 Eastern Avenue eastbound has prices 2p more than the BP on the Eastern Avenue westbound - they are directly opposite one another!

    Can you choose which one to turn into, or is there a barrier?
  • https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-59033165

    China postpones Beijing marathon due to Covid surge
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,129
    edited October 2021
    Leon said:

    ‘The woman was accused of letting a five-year-old enslaved Yazidi girl die of thirst after her husband, an IS fighter, chained the child up in a courtyard without protection from the desert heat as punishment for wetting her mattress, prosecutors said.’

    It’s good the Germans have jailed this Isis witch. But why didn’t she get life?

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/25/german-court-jails-is-woman-for-yazidi-girls-death-in-iraq?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

    It's manslaughter rather than murder.

    And it reminds me of this story: http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2013/11/hana_williams_the_tragic_death_of_an_ethiopian_adoptee_and_how_it_could.html

    Edit to add: actually, it's not clear to me why she was being tried in Germany. I would have thought a more appropriate place would be where she had committed her crimes. And reading the list, it seems like life would be a highly appropriate sentence.
  • JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 6,240
    Cookie said:

    Just back from York. I have managed to lose my glasses twice in one day - in the first instance, leaving them in a cafe (from where I managed to retrieve them half an hour later) and in the second, I think, having them fall out of my pocket on the tram on the way home. Most annoying. Happily I am picking up a new pair tomorrow so not disastrous, but still.
    Anyway: one further observation about York apart from its ferocious busyness: in a gift shop I noticed cat toys in the shape of unflattering models of world politicians. You could choose between Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin or Nicola Sturgeon. Impressed that Nicola has made it into that particular echelon.

    I lost some specs a few weeks ago. In the house. I had been suffering from a bit of eye soreness so decided to take them to work in case I wanted to take my contact lenses out. Somewhere between the bathroom and my work bag they have disappeared. Like you I was getting new ones in a couple of days so it didn't really matter, I'm more annoyed at losing the case as it is much more compact than the standard Specsavers issue.
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 10,758
    The Afghans really could be cricketing greats if their nation could get it's act together. Whatever the Taliban do, cricket should be encouraged. (Womens cricket too)
  • carnforth said:

    So the BP on the A12 Eastern Avenue eastbound has prices 2p more than the BP on the Eastern Avenue westbound - they are directly opposite one another!

    Can you choose which one to turn into, or is there a barrier?
    You can safely turn around at Newbury Park station, but you would think one company would have the same prices!
  • CookieCookie Posts: 13,776

    Cookie said:

    Just back from York. I have managed to lose my glasses twice in one day - in the first instance, leaving them in a cafe (from where I managed to retrieve them half an hour later) and in the second, I think, having them fall out of my pocket on the tram on the way home. Most annoying. Happily I am picking up a new pair tomorrow so not disastrous, but still.
    Anyway: one further observation about York apart from its ferocious busyness: in a gift shop I noticed cat toys in the shape of unflattering models of world politicians. You could choose between Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin or Nicola Sturgeon. Impressed that Nicola has made it into that particular echelon.

    I lost some specs a few weeks ago. In the house. I had been suffering from a bit of eye soreness so decided to take them to work in case I wanted to take my contact lenses out. Somewhere between the bathroom and my work bag they have disappeared. Like you I was getting new ones in a couple of days so it didn't really matter, I'm more annoyed at losing the case as it is much more compact than the standard Specsavers issue.
    An update to this tale: to get me through the next 18 hours I have been to Tesco, which sold me 2 pairs of reading glasses for £6.50. Now they look, well, OK at best, and aren't a great fit for my massive head - but oh the comfort for reading suddenly! Already looking forward to a book tonight in a way I've suddenly realised I haven't for ages.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,582
    Omnium said:

    The Afghans really could be cricketing greats if their nation could get it's act together. Whatever the Taliban do, cricket should be encouraged. (Womens cricket too)

    The ICC should insist on a women’s team being fielded, as a condition of entry of the men’s team into their competitions.

    This is supposed to be the rule already, for exactly the reason you think it should be.
  • kjhkjh Posts: 11,782
    kjh said:

    Farooq said:

    kjh said:

    Farooq said:

    Selebian said:

    Scott_xP said:

    Approval of the government's handling of the pandemic has fallen 8pts since mid-Oct to just a third

    Handling well: 34% (-8 from 14-15 Oct)
    Handling badly: 59% (+8)

    https://yougov.co.uk/topics/international/articles-reports/2020/03/17/perception-government-handling-covid-19 https://twitter.com/YouGov/status/1452627605669167106/photo/1

    64% of Britons now say the COVID-19 situation in the UK is getting worse, up from 35% less than two weeks ago

    https://yougov.co.uk/topics/international/articles-reports/2020/05/26/perceived-national-and-global-covid-19-outlook https://twitter.com/YouGov/status/1452627611214131206/photo/1

    Those figures are going to reverse as we see reductions to approx. 5,000 cases per week by Christmas, as per the London School of Hygiene and Tropical medicine

    https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-cases-could-fall-significantly-in-november-even-without-plan-b-modelling-suggests-12444117
    Modellers say we'll be ok? Now I'm worried! :wink:
    I just have an instinctive feeling that we are heading down towards much reduced infections

    I would just add that Rishi's budget on Wednesday, followed by COP26 is going to dominate the headlines for the next 2 weeks and by mid to late November I expect we will all be a lot happier about covid, though I doubt some on here know the word 'happy'
    Almost on topic.

    I'll have a pint of whatever you're drinking.
    Well I am sorry to disappoint you but I am not a drinker, but do enjoy a good cup of coffee

    I need a clear head to analyse my opinions but age tends to get in the way at times
    Me neither these days, although I like a beer with a curry occasionally. On topic, I don't drink bottled waters at all either, from wherever they may be sourced. Dwr Cymru from the tap for me everyday of the week.
    I will have a cider with a curry occasionally but I absolutely agree with your comments on bottled water v tap water
    Cider.
    With Curry.
    Cider with curry.

    I have to say, that confirms everything about you I have hitherto only suspected.
    Why

    I rarely have curry and but when I do I quite like a cider

    I might try that. I am having a curry tonight and my daughter has left a can of cider in the fridge. Look what you have started.
    I'm surrounded by barbarians!
    I might not enjoy it though. Let you know later.
    @Farooq and @Big_G_NorthWales l can report that the cider went down a treat with a curry. A new discovery. Might try the ginger beer next. You never know what you are missing.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,251
    edited October 2021
    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    ‘The woman was accused of letting a five-year-old enslaved Yazidi girl die of thirst after her husband, an IS fighter, chained the child up in a courtyard without protection from the desert heat as punishment for wetting her mattress, prosecutors said.’

    It’s good the Germans have jailed this Isis witch. But why didn’t she get life?

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/25/german-court-jails-is-woman-for-yazidi-girls-death-in-iraq?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

    It's manslaughter rather than murder.

    And it reminds me of this story: http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2013/11/hana_williams_the_tragic_death_of_an_ethiopian_adoptee_and_how_it_could.html

    Edit to add: actually, it's not clear to me why she was being tried in Germany. I would have thought a more appropriate place would be where she had committed her crimes. And reading the list, it seems like life would be a highly appropriate sentence.
    I’m sorry, I just think of that 5 year old girl, chained in a courtyard under the desert sun, slowly dying of thirst (one of the most dreadful deaths, by all accounts). And then I put it in context. Why was the girl there? Because these ISIS scum regard Yazidis as subhumans, so they slave them and rape them

    They should have given this woman life. Personally I’d hand her back to the Iraqis, who would probably hang her. So be it

    Edit to add: I see you have had 2nd thoughts and we largely agree. Good
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 51,604
    Farooq said:

    kjh said:

    kjh said:

    Farooq said:

    kjh said:

    Farooq said:

    Selebian said:

    Scott_xP said:

    Approval of the government's handling of the pandemic has fallen 8pts since mid-Oct to just a third

    Handling well: 34% (-8 from 14-15 Oct)
    Handling badly: 59% (+8)

    https://yougov.co.uk/topics/international/articles-reports/2020/03/17/perception-government-handling-covid-19 https://twitter.com/YouGov/status/1452627605669167106/photo/1

    64% of Britons now say the COVID-19 situation in the UK is getting worse, up from 35% less than two weeks ago

    https://yougov.co.uk/topics/international/articles-reports/2020/05/26/perceived-national-and-global-covid-19-outlook https://twitter.com/YouGov/status/1452627611214131206/photo/1

    Those figures are going to reverse as we see reductions to approx. 5,000 cases per week by Christmas, as per the London School of Hygiene and Tropical medicine

    https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-cases-could-fall-significantly-in-november-even-without-plan-b-modelling-suggests-12444117
    Modellers say we'll be ok? Now I'm worried! :wink:
    I just have an instinctive feeling that we are heading down towards much reduced infections

    I would just add that Rishi's budget on Wednesday, followed by COP26 is going to dominate the headlines for the next 2 weeks and by mid to late November I expect we will all be a lot happier about covid, though I doubt some on here know the word 'happy'
    Almost on topic.

    I'll have a pint of whatever you're drinking.
    Well I am sorry to disappoint you but I am not a drinker, but do enjoy a good cup of coffee

    I need a clear head to analyse my opinions but age tends to get in the way at times
    Me neither these days, although I like a beer with a curry occasionally. On topic, I don't drink bottled waters at all either, from wherever they may be sourced. Dwr Cymru from the tap for me everyday of the week.
    I will have a cider with a curry occasionally but I absolutely agree with your comments on bottled water v tap water
    Cider.
    With Curry.
    Cider with curry.

    I have to say, that confirms everything about you I have hitherto only suspected.
    Why

    I rarely have curry and but when I do I quite like a cider

    I might try that. I am having a curry tonight and my daughter has left a can of cider in the fridge. Look what you have started.
    I'm surrounded by barbarians!
    I might not enjoy it though. Let you know later.
    @Farooq and @Big_G_NorthWales l can report that the cider went down a treat with a curry. A new discovery. Might try the ginger beer next. You never know what you are missing.
    You just made the list.
    Are you basing your opinion of cider on Strongbow?
  • Morris Dancer didn't tell us about his appearance on Tipping Point.

    Ben Shephard Can't Hide His Amusement As Tipping Point Confuses Ancient Greek Poet With Homer Simpson

    https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/tipping-point-homer-poet-simpson-doughnuts_uk_6176dd35e4b066de4f65ea9a

    https://twitter.com/graemedouglas/status/1452661320227168263
  • kjh said:

    kjh said:

    Farooq said:

    kjh said:

    Farooq said:

    Selebian said:

    Scott_xP said:

    Approval of the government's handling of the pandemic has fallen 8pts since mid-Oct to just a third

    Handling well: 34% (-8 from 14-15 Oct)
    Handling badly: 59% (+8)

    https://yougov.co.uk/topics/international/articles-reports/2020/03/17/perception-government-handling-covid-19 https://twitter.com/YouGov/status/1452627605669167106/photo/1

    64% of Britons now say the COVID-19 situation in the UK is getting worse, up from 35% less than two weeks ago

    https://yougov.co.uk/topics/international/articles-reports/2020/05/26/perceived-national-and-global-covid-19-outlook https://twitter.com/YouGov/status/1452627611214131206/photo/1

    Those figures are going to reverse as we see reductions to approx. 5,000 cases per week by Christmas, as per the London School of Hygiene and Tropical medicine

    https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-cases-could-fall-significantly-in-november-even-without-plan-b-modelling-suggests-12444117
    Modellers say we'll be ok? Now I'm worried! :wink:
    I just have an instinctive feeling that we are heading down towards much reduced infections

    I would just add that Rishi's budget on Wednesday, followed by COP26 is going to dominate the headlines for the next 2 weeks and by mid to late November I expect we will all be a lot happier about covid, though I doubt some on here know the word 'happy'
    Almost on topic.

    I'll have a pint of whatever you're drinking.
    Well I am sorry to disappoint you but I am not a drinker, but do enjoy a good cup of coffee

    I need a clear head to analyse my opinions but age tends to get in the way at times
    Me neither these days, although I like a beer with a curry occasionally. On topic, I don't drink bottled waters at all either, from wherever they may be sourced. Dwr Cymru from the tap for me everyday of the week.
    I will have a cider with a curry occasionally but I absolutely agree with your comments on bottled water v tap water
    Cider.
    With Curry.
    Cider with curry.

    I have to say, that confirms everything about you I have hitherto only suspected.
    Why

    I rarely have curry and but when I do I quite like a cider

    I might try that. I am having a curry tonight and my daughter has left a can of cider in the fridge. Look what you have started.
    I'm surrounded by barbarians!
    I might not enjoy it though. Let you know later.
    @Farooq and @Big_G_NorthWales l can report that the cider went down a treat with a curry. A new discovery. Might try the ginger beer next. You never know what you are missing.
    Good to achieve a convert
  • Somebody else who doesn't have a good grasp of history.

    Joey Barton will escaped formal sanctions after sparking outrage by comparing a poor performance by his Bristol Rovers side to the Holocaust.

    Fabian Breckels, a Bristol councillor and associate member of the Jewish Labour Movement, said the former England player's comments were "appalling".

    However, Barton declined to apologise after telling reporters following a 3-1 defeat to Newport: "I said to the lads during the week, 'the team's almost like musical chairs'. Someone gets in and does well but then gets suspended or injured. Someone gets in for a game, does well but then has a Holocaust, a nightmare, an absolute disaster."

    His comments have been scrutinised by the Football Association, but a fine or ban has been ruled out as the comments are not said to constitute an aggravated breach of its rules.

    Instead, Barton may receive a letter from the FA reminding him of his responsibilities as manager of the League Two club.


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2021/10/25/joey-barton-escapes-punishment-comparing-bristol-rovers-performances/

    I swear to Allah that when I become the UK's first Directly Elected Dictator my first priority will be to make history lessons mandatory for everybody.
  • TimTTimT Posts: 6,468
    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    ‘The woman was accused of letting a five-year-old enslaved Yazidi girl die of thirst after her husband, an IS fighter, chained the child up in a courtyard without protection from the desert heat as punishment for wetting her mattress, prosecutors said.’

    It’s good the Germans have jailed this Isis witch. But why didn’t she get life?

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/25/german-court-jails-is-woman-for-yazidi-girls-death-in-iraq?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

    It's manslaughter rather than murder.

    And it reminds me of this story: http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2013/11/hana_williams_the_tragic_death_of_an_ethiopian_adoptee_and_how_it_could.html

    Edit to add: actually, it's not clear to me why she was being tried in Germany. I would have thought a more appropriate place would be where she had committed her crimes. And reading the list, it seems like life would be a highly appropriate sentence.
    War crimes and crimes against humanity = universal jurisdiction. Can be tried anywhere by any court for acts committed anywhere against anyone.
  • JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 6,240

    Petrol so expensive right now its killing me

    Divvent gan, then.

    When conditions change, change what you do.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,251
    TimT said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    ‘The woman was accused of letting a five-year-old enslaved Yazidi girl die of thirst after her husband, an IS fighter, chained the child up in a courtyard without protection from the desert heat as punishment for wetting her mattress, prosecutors said.’

    It’s good the Germans have jailed this Isis witch. But why didn’t she get life?

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/25/german-court-jails-is-woman-for-yazidi-girls-death-in-iraq?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

    It's manslaughter rather than murder.

    And it reminds me of this story: http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2013/11/hana_williams_the_tragic_death_of_an_ethiopian_adoptee_and_how_it_could.html

    Edit to add: actually, it's not clear to me why she was being tried in Germany. I would have thought a more appropriate place would be where she had committed her crimes. And reading the list, it seems like life would be a highly appropriate sentence.
    War crimes and crimes against humanity = universal jurisdiction. Can be tried anywhere by any court for acts committed anywhere against anyone.
    The NYT has more grisly details

    ‘The girl’s mother, who is part of a witness-protection program and whose identity has not been revealed out of concern for her safety, testified that as she realized what was happening to her child [ie, dying], she began crying in distress. She told the court that in response, Jennifer W. had threatened to shoot her if she did not stop.’

    Credit to Germany for taking responsibility. But again I cannot see why this isn’t a life sentence. Aside from the tortured and murdered girl, the defendant was convicted of slavery, crimes against humanity, joining a terror group - and doing it eagerly.

    ‘Once she arrived [in Syria], prosecutors said, she joined the Islamic State and swiftly rose through the ranks, becoming a member of the Hisbah, the morality police, patrolling the parks of Falluja and Mosul.’

    https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/25/world/europe/germany-isis-yazidi-child.html
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,859

    So the BP on the A12 Eastern Avenue eastbound has prices 2p more than the BP on the Eastern Avenue westbound - they are directly opposite one another!

    Watch closely and see if it’s the other way around during the morning rush hour?
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,129
    edited October 2021
    Has anyone else got one of these combined toaster over / airfryer things? They're like magic. Stuff that says it'll take 15 minutes to cook only takes 5 minutes. The only issue is that you have to watch stuff like a hawk to stop it turning all black and charred.
  • Sandpit said:

    Omnium said:

    The Afghans really could be cricketing greats if their nation could get it's act together. Whatever the Taliban do, cricket should be encouraged. (Womens cricket too)

    The ICC should insist on a women’s team being fielded, as a condition of entry of the men’s team into their competitions.

    This is supposed to be the rule already, for exactly the reason you think it should be.
    One of the things The Hundred ended up getting right (albeit I think by accident) was the mens/womens double header thing.

    Next step (which I know wouldn't work, but would be kinda interesting) treat the two games as a single two-innings match- possibly with some tactical choices about the order you play your innings in.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,129

    Somebody else who doesn't have a good grasp of history.

    Joey Barton will escaped formal sanctions after sparking outrage by comparing a poor performance by his Bristol Rovers side to the Holocaust.

    Fabian Breckels, a Bristol councillor and associate member of the Jewish Labour Movement, said the former England player's comments were "appalling".

    However, Barton declined to apologise after telling reporters following a 3-1 defeat to Newport: "I said to the lads during the week, 'the team's almost like musical chairs'. Someone gets in and does well but then gets suspended or injured. Someone gets in for a game, does well but then has a Holocaust, a nightmare, an absolute disaster."

    His comments have been scrutinised by the Football Association, but a fine or ban has been ruled out as the comments are not said to constitute an aggravated breach of its rules.

    Instead, Barton may receive a letter from the FA reminding him of his responsibilities as manager of the League Two club.


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2021/10/25/joey-barton-escapes-punishment-comparing-bristol-rovers-performances/

    I swear to Allah that when I become the UK's first Directly Elected Dictator my first priority will be to make history lessons mandatory for everybody.

    Doesn't Joey Barton have... form?
  • TimTTimT Posts: 6,468

    Sandpit said:

    Omnium said:

    The Afghans really could be cricketing greats if their nation could get it's act together. Whatever the Taliban do, cricket should be encouraged. (Womens cricket too)

    The ICC should insist on a women’s team being fielded, as a condition of entry of the men’s team into their competitions.

    This is supposed to be the rule already, for exactly the reason you think it should be.
    One of the things The Hundred ended up getting right (albeit I think by accident) was the mens/womens double header thing.

    Next step (which I know wouldn't work, but would be kinda interesting) treat the two games as a single two-innings match- possibly with some tactical choices about the order you play your innings in.
    Have mixed gender teams?
  • paulyork64paulyork64 Posts: 2,507
    Leon said:

    BROOKSIDE, THE TEOTIHUACAN YEARS

    Changing the subject but thanks for the war film recommendation on a previous thread. Not watched it yet but I will.
  • maaarshmaaarsh Posts: 3,590
    TimT said:

    Sandpit said:

    Omnium said:

    The Afghans really could be cricketing greats if their nation could get it's act together. Whatever the Taliban do, cricket should be encouraged. (Womens cricket too)

    The ICC should insist on a women’s team being fielded, as a condition of entry of the men’s team into their competitions.

    This is supposed to be the rule already, for exactly the reason you think it should be.
    One of the things The Hundred ended up getting right (albeit I think by accident) was the mens/womens double header thing.

    Next step (which I know wouldn't work, but would be kinda interesting) treat the two games as a single two-innings match- possibly with some tactical choices about the order you play your innings in.
    Have mixed gender teams?
    Not sure the best female bowlers in the world getting treated as buffet bowling would be particularly helpful to the long term commercial appeal of women's cricket.
  • darkagedarkage Posts: 5,398
    Leon said:

    TimT said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    ‘The woman was accused of letting a five-year-old enslaved Yazidi girl die of thirst after her husband, an IS fighter, chained the child up in a courtyard without protection from the desert heat as punishment for wetting her mattress, prosecutors said.’

    It’s good the Germans have jailed this Isis witch. But why didn’t she get life?

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/25/german-court-jails-is-woman-for-yazidi-girls-death-in-iraq?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

    It's manslaughter rather than murder.

    And it reminds me of this story: http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2013/11/hana_williams_the_tragic_death_of_an_ethiopian_adoptee_and_how_it_could.html

    Edit to add: actually, it's not clear to me why she was being tried in Germany. I would have thought a more appropriate place would be where she had committed her crimes. And reading the list, it seems like life would be a highly appropriate sentence.
    War crimes and crimes against humanity = universal jurisdiction. Can be tried anywhere by any court for acts committed anywhere against anyone.
    The NYT has more grisly details

    ‘The girl’s mother, who is part of a witness-protection program and whose identity has not been revealed out of concern for her safety, testified that as she realized what was happening to her child [ie, dying], she began crying in distress. She told the court that in response, Jennifer W. had threatened to shoot her if she did not stop.’

    Credit to Germany for taking responsibility. But again I cannot see why this isn’t a life sentence. Aside from the tortured and murdered girl, the defendant was convicted of slavery, crimes against humanity, joining a terror group - and doing it eagerly.

    ‘Once she arrived [in Syria], prosecutors said, she joined the Islamic State and swiftly rose through the ranks, becoming a member of the Hisbah, the morality police, patrolling the parks of Falluja and Mosul.’

    https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/25/world/europe/germany-isis-yazidi-child.html
    What is interesting about this is that, as a woman, she was able to rise through the ranks of ISIS and join the police. I thought that women were told to stay at home under the Islamic State?

    I don't know the full details but this sentence looks like a mistake. She could spend a few years in jail and then be very dangerous when released.
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 38,794
    rcs1000 said:

    Somebody else who doesn't have a good grasp of history.

    Joey Barton will escaped formal sanctions after sparking outrage by comparing a poor performance by his Bristol Rovers side to the Holocaust.

    Fabian Breckels, a Bristol councillor and associate member of the Jewish Labour Movement, said the former England player's comments were "appalling".

    However, Barton declined to apologise after telling reporters following a 3-1 defeat to Newport: "I said to the lads during the week, 'the team's almost like musical chairs'. Someone gets in and does well but then gets suspended or injured. Someone gets in for a game, does well but then has a Holocaust, a nightmare, an absolute disaster."

    His comments have been scrutinised by the Football Association, but a fine or ban has been ruled out as the comments are not said to constitute an aggravated breach of its rules.

    Instead, Barton may receive a letter from the FA reminding him of his responsibilities as manager of the League Two club.


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2021/10/25/joey-barton-escapes-punishment-comparing-bristol-rovers-performances/

    I swear to Allah that when I become the UK's first Directly Elected Dictator my first priority will be to make history lessons mandatory for everybody.

    Doesn't Joey Barton have... form?
    Yes, he beat up his black team mate in what could realistically be described as a racially aggravated assault. On the bloody pitch.
  • TimT said:

    Sandpit said:

    Omnium said:

    The Afghans really could be cricketing greats if their nation could get it's act together. Whatever the Taliban do, cricket should be encouraged. (Womens cricket too)

    The ICC should insist on a women’s team being fielded, as a condition of entry of the men’s team into their competitions.

    This is supposed to be the rule already, for exactly the reason you think it should be.
    One of the things The Hundred ended up getting right (albeit I think by accident) was the mens/womens double header thing.

    Next step (which I know wouldn't work, but would be kinda interesting) treat the two games as a single two-innings match- possibly with some tactical choices about the order you play your innings in.
    Have mixed gender teams?
    Doubt that would work- some Uni friends of mine played a thing called Korfball, which I think is about the only sport designed to work with mixed teams. What I was thinking was more that you keep the men's and women's teams, but the final result is the sum of their scores.

    So if the Eastern Examiners play the Western Wildebeest, and the scores are
    EEM 145/6
    EEW 138/4

    WWM 142/8
    WWW 150/3

    The score for the match is EE 283 - WW 292
    and the Western Wildebeest win by 9 runs.

    The tactics of which team you send out first might be interesting. The downside is that the game becomes The Two Hundred for practical purposes, and no longer fits in three hours.
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,656
    197 of the last 198 Polls have not had a Labour lead.

    Therefore SKS is a useless nonentity
  • AslanAslan Posts: 1,673
    darkage said:

    Leon said:

    TimT said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    ‘The woman was accused of letting a five-year-old enslaved Yazidi girl die of thirst after her husband, an IS fighter, chained the child up in a courtyard without protection from the desert heat as punishment for wetting her mattress, prosecutors said.’

    It’s good the Germans have jailed this Isis witch. But why didn’t she get life?

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/25/german-court-jails-is-woman-for-yazidi-girls-death-in-iraq?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

    It's manslaughter rather than murder.

    And it reminds me of this story: http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2013/11/hana_williams_the_tragic_death_of_an_ethiopian_adoptee_and_how_it_could.html

    Edit to add: actually, it's not clear to me why she was being tried in Germany. I would have thought a more appropriate place would be where she had committed her crimes. And reading the list, it seems like life would be a highly appropriate sentence.
    War crimes and crimes against humanity = universal jurisdiction. Can be tried anywhere by any court for acts committed anywhere against anyone.
    The NYT has more grisly details

    ‘The girl’s mother, who is part of a witness-protection program and whose identity has not been revealed out of concern for her safety, testified that as she realized what was happening to her child [ie, dying], she began crying in distress. She told the court that in response, Jennifer W. had threatened to shoot her if she did not stop.’

    Credit to Germany for taking responsibility. But again I cannot see why this isn’t a life sentence. Aside from the tortured and murdered girl, the defendant was convicted of slavery, crimes against humanity, joining a terror group - and doing it eagerly.

    ‘Once she arrived [in Syria], prosecutors said, she joined the Islamic State and swiftly rose through the ranks, becoming a member of the Hisbah, the morality police, patrolling the parks of Falluja and Mosul.’

    https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/25/world/europe/germany-isis-yazidi-child.html
    What is interesting about this is that, as a woman, she was able to rise through the ranks of ISIS and join the police. I thought that women were told to stay at home under the Islamic State?

    I don't know the full details but this sentence looks like a mistake. She could spend a few years in jail and then be very dangerous when released.
    Not the police but the morality police. Islamic morality police usually have women's units to police women's private behavior, in places men cannot go.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,251

    Leon said:

    BROOKSIDE, THE TEOTIHUACAN YEARS

    Changing the subject but thanks for the war film recommendation on a previous thread. Not watched it yet but I will.
    The Forgotten Battle?

    It’s really good. Also, just for once, the British guy is an unabashed hero. Which is nice
  • AslanAslan Posts: 1,673
    MaxPB said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Somebody else who doesn't have a good grasp of history.

    Joey Barton will escaped formal sanctions after sparking outrage by comparing a poor performance by his Bristol Rovers side to the Holocaust.

    Fabian Breckels, a Bristol councillor and associate member of the Jewish Labour Movement, said the former England player's comments were "appalling".

    However, Barton declined to apologise after telling reporters following a 3-1 defeat to Newport: "I said to the lads during the week, 'the team's almost like musical chairs'. Someone gets in and does well but then gets suspended or injured. Someone gets in for a game, does well but then has a Holocaust, a nightmare, an absolute disaster."

    His comments have been scrutinised by the Football Association, but a fine or ban has been ruled out as the comments are not said to constitute an aggravated breach of its rules.

    Instead, Barton may receive a letter from the FA reminding him of his responsibilities as manager of the League Two club.


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2021/10/25/joey-barton-escapes-punishment-comparing-bristol-rovers-performances/

    I swear to Allah that when I become the UK's first Directly Elected Dictator my first priority will be to make history lessons mandatory for everybody.

    Doesn't Joey Barton have... form?
    Yes, he beat up his black team mate in what could realistically be described as a racially aggravated assault. On the bloody pitch.
    Barton is clearly a complete dick, but I don't see the problem here. He described it as "a holocaust" not "the Holocaust". "Holocaust" is a perfectly reasonable term in the English language and does not need to refer to the genocide of the Jews. See the "nuclear holocaust" in Terminator 2.
  • AslanAslan Posts: 1,673
    rcs1000 said:

    Has anyone else got one of these combined toaster over / airfryer things? They're like magic. Stuff that says it'll take 15 minutes to cook only takes 5 minutes. The only issue is that you have to watch stuff like a hawk to stop it turning all black and charred.

    Yes, we have one and it also automatically turns off after you set the cooking time so don't have your problem. They are also fantastic for reheating fried things without them going soggy.

    My biggest problem with it is we got rid of our toaster and it takes too long to make toast.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 51,604
    Aslan said:

    My biggest problem with it is we got rid of our toaster and it takes too long to make toast.

    The quickest way is with a blow torch.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,251
    darkage said:

    Leon said:

    TimT said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    ‘The woman was accused of letting a five-year-old enslaved Yazidi girl die of thirst after her husband, an IS fighter, chained the child up in a courtyard without protection from the desert heat as punishment for wetting her mattress, prosecutors said.’

    It’s good the Germans have jailed this Isis witch. But why didn’t she get life?

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/25/german-court-jails-is-woman-for-yazidi-girls-death-in-iraq?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

    It's manslaughter rather than murder.

    And it reminds me of this story: http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2013/11/hana_williams_the_tragic_death_of_an_ethiopian_adoptee_and_how_it_could.html

    Edit to add: actually, it's not clear to me why she was being tried in Germany. I would have thought a more appropriate place would be where she had committed her crimes. And reading the list, it seems like life would be a highly appropriate sentence.
    War crimes and crimes against humanity = universal jurisdiction. Can be tried anywhere by any court for acts committed anywhere against anyone.
    The NYT has more grisly details

    ‘The girl’s mother, who is part of a witness-protection program and whose identity has not been revealed out of concern for her safety, testified that as she realized what was happening to her child [ie, dying], she began crying in distress. She told the court that in response, Jennifer W. had threatened to shoot her if she did not stop.’

    Credit to Germany for taking responsibility. But again I cannot see why this isn’t a life sentence. Aside from the tortured and murdered girl, the defendant was convicted of slavery, crimes against humanity, joining a terror group - and doing it eagerly.

    ‘Once she arrived [in Syria], prosecutors said, she joined the Islamic State and swiftly rose through the ranks, becoming a member of the Hisbah, the morality police, patrolling the parks of Falluja and Mosul.’

    https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/25/world/europe/germany-isis-yazidi-child.html
    What is interesting about this is that, as a woman, she was able to rise through the ranks of ISIS and join the police. I thought that women were told to stay at home under the Islamic State?

    I don't know the full details but this sentence looks like a mistake. She could spend a few years in jail and then be very dangerous when released.
    Yes, even in practical terms it’s a foolishly short jail term. She’s 30. She doesn’t sound very penitent. She could be out in 7 years, radicalising others

    Also, the more you read the worse it gets. She and her husband went to the Mosul slave market and ‘purchased’ the woman and her child. The defendant assaulted the slaves daily

    Just a monster. Let the Yazidi people have their justice in an Iraqi court. Where they were slaved by this witch. I doubt that court would be so lenient
  • 197 of the last 198 Polls have not had a Labour lead.

    Therefore SKS is a useless nonentity

    Corbyn gave us only 202 seats in 2019, therefore Corbyn is a useless nonentity.
  • AlistairAlistair Posts: 23,670

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-59033165

    China postpones Beijing marathon due to Covid surge

    For a country that secretly was totally prepared for the Covid outbreak that it started they sure do keep locking down portions of the country with severe restrictions.
  • maaarshmaaarsh Posts: 3,590

    Aslan said:

    My biggest problem with it is we got rid of our toaster and it takes too long to make toast.

    The quickest way is with a blow torch.
    maybe a commercial one. Most available for home cooks work about as quick as sunburn.
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,656

    197 of the last 198 Polls have not had a Labour lead.

    Therefore SKS is a useless nonentity

    Corbyn gave us only 202 seats in 2019, therefore Corbyn is a useless nonentity.
    How do you mean us

    You voted Tory
  • 197 of the last 198 Polls have not had a Labour lead.

    Therefore SKS is a useless nonentity

    Corbyn gave us only 202 seats in 2019, therefore Corbyn is a useless nonentity.
    How do you mean us

    You voted Tory
    I voted Labour in 2015, remember?
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,129
    Alistair said:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-59033165

    China postpones Beijing marathon due to Covid surge

    For a country that secretly was totally prepared for the Covid outbreak that it started they sure do keep locking down portions of the country with severe restrictions.
    Well, duh.

    Otherwise it would be obvious.
  • paulyork64paulyork64 Posts: 2,507
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    BROOKSIDE, THE TEOTIHUACAN YEARS

    Changing the subject but thanks for the war film recommendation on a previous thread. Not watched it yet but I will.
    The Forgotten Battle?

    It’s really good. Also, just for once, the British guy is an unabashed hero. Which is nice
    Yep. Thnx.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,129
    Aslan said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Has anyone else got one of these combined toaster over / airfryer things? They're like magic. Stuff that says it'll take 15 minutes to cook only takes 5 minutes. The only issue is that you have to watch stuff like a hawk to stop it turning all black and charred.

    Yes, we have one and it also automatically turns off after you set the cooking time so don't have your problem. They are also fantastic for reheating fried things without them going soggy.

    My biggest problem with it is we got rid of our toaster and it takes too long to make toast.
    Yeah. But what do you set the cooking time to be?

    Take this morning. I was heating up some frittatas. The instructions send 15 minutes at 425 Fahrenheit.

    So I did five minutes at 375. And it was still too long. I think maybe four minutes tat 350 would have been perfect.
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,656

    197 of the last 198 Polls have not had a Labour lead.

    Therefore SKS is a useless nonentity

    Corbyn gave us only 202 seats in 2019, therefore Corbyn is a useless nonentity.
    And yet every real election since SKS took over Labour have done worse than under Corbyn

    Therefore if Corbyn was a useless nonentity SKS is an even more useless even more nonentitity failure
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,656

    197 of the last 198 Polls have not had a Labour lead.

    Therefore SKS is a useless nonentity

    Corbyn gave us only 202 seats in 2019, therefore Corbyn is a useless nonentity.
    How do you mean us

    You voted Tory
    I voted Labour in 2015, remember?
    Once does not an us make you are most frequently a Tory voter which probably explains your admiration for SKS
  • AslanAslan Posts: 1,673
    rcs1000 said:

    Aslan said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Has anyone else got one of these combined toaster over / airfryer things? They're like magic. Stuff that says it'll take 15 minutes to cook only takes 5 minutes. The only issue is that you have to watch stuff like a hawk to stop it turning all black and charred.

    Yes, we have one and it also automatically turns off after you set the cooking time so don't have your problem. They are also fantastic for reheating fried things without them going soggy.

    My biggest problem with it is we got rid of our toaster and it takes too long to make toast.
    Yeah. But what do you set the cooking time to be?

    Take this morning. I was heating up some frittatas. The instructions send 15 minutes at 425 Fahrenheit.

    So I did five minutes at 375. And it was still too long. I think maybe four minutes tat 350 would have been perfect.
    Are you putting in food for the warmup time? That would mean you are getting the extra cooking that it shouldn't be in for. Should be an alarm when it reaches temperature and food only goes in then.
  • AslanAslan Posts: 1,673
    maaarsh said:

    Aslan said:

    My biggest problem with it is we got rid of our toaster and it takes too long to make toast.

    The quickest way is with a blow torch.
    maybe a commercial one. Most available for home cooks work about as quick as sunburn.
    As an Anglo-Celt in the sub-tropics, that is pretty damn quick. I got sunburnt last week. It's October!
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 51,604
    rcs1000 said:

    Alistair said:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-59033165

    China postpones Beijing marathon due to Covid surge

    For a country that secretly was totally prepared for the Covid outbreak that it started they sure do keep locking down portions of the country with severe restrictions.
    Well, duh.

    Otherwise it would be obvious.
    They're not exactly transparent with their data, but if they're only now seeing a wave of the Delta variant, they will have big problems over the next couple of months to contain it.
  • 197 of the last 198 Polls have not had a Labour lead.

    Therefore SKS is a useless nonentity

    Corbyn gave us only 202 seats in 2019, therefore Corbyn is a useless nonentity.
    How do you mean us

    You voted Tory
    I voted Labour in 2015, remember?
    Once does not an us make you are most frequently a Tory voter which probably explains your admiration for SKS
    Once? Fake News!

    I also voted Labour in 1997!
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,364

    197 of the last 198 Polls have not had a Labour lead.

    Therefore SKS is a useless nonentity

    Corbyn gave us only 202 seats in 2019, therefore Corbyn is a useless nonentity.
    How do you mean us

    You voted Tory
    I voted Labour in 2015, remember?
    Once does not an us make you are most frequently a Tory voter which probably explains your admiration for SKS
    Once? Fake News!

    I also voted Labour in 1997!
    So you voted Labour once, as Tony Blair’s party wasn’t Labour?
  • ThomasNasheThomasNashe Posts: 5,331

    197 of the last 198 Polls have not had a Labour lead.

    Therefore SKS is a useless nonentity

    Corbyn gave us only 202 seats in 2019, therefore Corbyn is a useless nonentity.
    How do you mean us

    You voted Tory
    I voted Labour in 2015, remember?
    Once does not an us make you are most frequently a Tory voter which probably explains your admiration for SKS
    Yes, we definitely don’t want Tory voters voting Labour! Might end up winning an election.
  • BBC reporting £192 billion was spent on the NHS in England alone in 2020/21

    This is 44% of all public spending up from 27% in 2020

    This is not sustainable and we need a serious discussion on the future role and funding for the NHS

    I would add I have no idea how this is addressed when even a 1.25% increase in NI next Spring is so angrily dismisses by many
  • 197 of the last 198 Polls have not had a Labour lead.

    Therefore SKS is a useless nonentity

    To be honest Boris and Rishi are standing fair and square on their territory and where have labour left to go

    And misreading the July freedom and now demanding restrictions and vaccine passports just as we seem to be on out way out is not going to help them one bit
  • AlistairAlistair Posts: 23,670
    rcs1000 said:

    Alistair said:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-59033165

    China postpones Beijing marathon due to Covid surge

    For a country that secretly was totally prepared for the Covid outbreak that it started they sure do keep locking down portions of the country with severe restrictions.
    Well, duh.

    Otherwise it would be obvious.
    As i understand it they've locked down various ports several times of the last year. Which for an export focused nation seems pretty sub optimal..
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,393

    BBC reporting £192 billion was spent on the NHS in England alone in 2020/21

    This is 44% of all public spending up from 27% in 2020

    This is not sustainable and we need a serious discussion on the future role and funding for the NHS

    I would add I have no idea how this is addressed when even a 1.25% increase in NI next Spring is so angrily dismisses by many

    I suspect a lot of that is extra funding due to Covid. So vaccines, testing etc. Still huge though. The country really needs an honest debate about personal responsibility, healthcare, funding etc.
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 38,794

    BBC reporting £192 billion was spent on the NHS in England alone in 2020/21

    This is 44% of all public spending up from 27% in 2020

    This is not sustainable and we need a serious discussion on the future role and funding for the NHS

    I would add I have no idea how this is addressed when even a 1.25% increase in NI next Spring is so angrily dismisses by many

    I suspect a lot of that is extra funding due to Covid. So vaccines, testing etc. Still huge though. The country really needs an honest debate about personal responsibility, healthcare, funding etc.
    I think vaccines are funded from the cabinet office.

    But agree, the nation needs to have a conversation about unlimited health liability insurance being funded by the taxpayer. The QALY formula is badly in need of an update.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,368

    197 of the last 198 Polls have not had a Labour lead.

    Therefore SKS is a useless nonentity

    Corbyn gave us only 202 seats in 2019, therefore Corbyn is a useless nonentity.
    How do you mean us

    You voted Tory
    I voted Labour in 2015, remember?
    Once does not an us make you are most frequently a Tory voter which probably explains your admiration for SKS
    Yes, we definitely don’t want Tory voters voting Labour! Might end up winning an election.
    I thought BJO had already nailed his colours to the Socialist Boris Johnson's mast. Newly minted Corbyn Tories don't count as Labour Party supporters either in my opinion.
  • BBC reporting £192 billion was spent on the NHS in England alone in 2020/21

    This is 44% of all public spending up from 27% in 2020

    This is not sustainable and we need a serious discussion on the future role and funding for the NHS

    I would add I have no idea how this is addressed when even a 1.25% increase in NI next Spring is so angrily dismisses by many

    True, though that's more because public spending that isn't health, pensions (and to an extent) schools have been ruthlessly squeezed for a decade or so.

    In the medium term, things cost what they cost and politicians who try to buck the market get found out. In the UK, we've had a fairly long run of politicians (certainly back to Thatcher, maybe even earlier) who have been able to promise something for nothing by offering the public services which aren't properly paid for by taxes. And a lot of that excess cash has gone on pumping up house prices.

    Unfortunately for Johnson and Sunak, they've ended up in Downing Street when the music is stopping. The stable solution is, bluntly, to pay more for the quality of health, social care and public realm (libraries, parks and whatnot) that we want. The nature of those functions means that there's a fairly low limit on how much efficiency you can squeeze out of the processes.But that isn't going to be popular.

    In Johnson's case, at least, it couldn't happen to a nicer chap.
  • TomsToms Posts: 2,478
    On topic, a useful contribution to taming climate change would be essentially eliminating the sale of bottled water in places where tap water is ok. Why would we pay 1000 times too much for perfectly ordinary water in plastic? Many labels say "bottled at source", which probably means from their tap and not yours. Then too, I expect chemicals dissolve out from the plastic over time.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,251
    edited October 2021
    Book recommendation

    Conquerors, by Roger Crowley. The story of how Portugal forged an empire in the Indian Ocean. Superb

    https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25255039

    It’s traditional, narrative, swashbuckling history at its best. But also scrupulously researched. And it’s a tale I’ve not heard told. The Portuguese took on enemies 100 times the size and won. Mainly through the medium of unparalleled aggression and heedless violence. They would seize towns on the Indian coast and kill everything alive. Like the mongols but with ships. Astonishing

    And now they are mainly known for custard tarts?

    Anyway, it’s a rip-roaring read
  • Leon said:

    Book recommendation

    Conquerors, by Roger Crowley. The story of how Portugal forged an empire in the Indian Ocean. Superb

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/Conquerors-Portugal-Forged-Global-Empire/dp/0571290906/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1WRLCVLUYZG0Y&dchild=1&keywords=conquerors+how+portugal+forged+the+first+global+empire&qid=1635191828&sprefix=Conqu,aps,644&sr=8-1

    It’s traditional, narrative, swashbuckling history at its best. But also scrupulously researched. And it’s a tale I’ve not heard told. The Portuguese took on enemies 100 times the size and won. Mainly through the medium of unparalleled aggression and heedless violence. They would seize towns on the Indian coast and kill everything alive. Like the mongols but with ships. Astonishing

    And now they are mainly known for custard tarts?

    Anyway, it’s a rip-roaring read

    Read this too:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Goa
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 38,794

    BBC reporting £192 billion was spent on the NHS in England alone in 2020/21

    This is 44% of all public spending up from 27% in 2020

    This is not sustainable and we need a serious discussion on the future role and funding for the NHS

    I would add I have no idea how this is addressed when even a 1.25% increase in NI next Spring is so angrily dismisses by many

    True, though that's more because public spending that isn't health, pensions (and to an extent) schools have been ruthlessly squeezed for a decade or so.

    In the medium term, things cost what they cost and politicians who try to buck the market get found out. In the UK, we've had a fairly long run of politicians (certainly back to Thatcher, maybe even earlier) who have been able to promise something for nothing by offering the public services which aren't properly paid for by taxes. And a lot of that excess cash has gone on pumping up house prices.

    Unfortunately for Johnson and Sunak, they've ended up in Downing Street when the music is stopping. The stable solution is, bluntly, to pay more for the quality of health, social care and public realm (libraries, parks and whatnot) that we want. The nature of those functions means that there's a fairly low limit on how much efficiency you can squeeze out of the processes.But that isn't going to be popular.

    In Johnson's case, at least, it couldn't happen to a nicer chap.
    Who pays for it though? We've already got a huge tax burden on working people and businesses. Even if we taxed old people properly and wealth in a way that wouldn't impact investment and saving there would be a huge gap.

    The answer isn't more tax it's less spending. It's time to take an axe to what the NHS is responsible and start clawing back the state pension from higher rate taxpayers in retirement. Once again, no one wants to admit it, even on here where there's no such thing as an unapproachable subject, the NHS can't keep chasing life expectancy gains. If people die at 86 instead of 88 then that's got to be accepted as the cost of having universal healthcare safety net. Investing money into hugely expensive life extending treatment and drugs needs to be discussed properly and we as a society should be a bit more comfortable with the idea that we all die.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,399
    edited October 2021
    MaxPB said:

    BBC reporting £192 billion was spent on the NHS in England alone in 2020/21

    This is 44% of all public spending up from 27% in 2020

    This is not sustainable and we need a serious discussion on the future role and funding for the NHS

    I would add I have no idea how this is addressed when even a 1.25% increase in NI next Spring is so angrily dismisses by many

    True, though that's more because public spending that isn't health, pensions (and to an extent) schools have been ruthlessly squeezed for a decade or so.

    In the medium term, things cost what they cost and politicians who try to buck the market get found out. In the UK, we've had a fairly long run of politicians (certainly back to Thatcher, maybe even earlier) who have been able to promise something for nothing by offering the public services which aren't properly paid for by taxes. And a lot of that excess cash has gone on pumping up house prices.

    Unfortunately for Johnson and Sunak, they've ended up in Downing Street when the music is stopping. The stable solution is, bluntly, to pay more for the quality of health, social care and public realm (libraries, parks and whatnot) that we want. The nature of those functions means that there's a fairly low limit on how much efficiency you can squeeze out of the processes.But that isn't going to be popular.

    In Johnson's case, at least, it couldn't happen to a nicer chap.
    Who pays for it though? We've already got a huge tax burden on working people and businesses. Even if we taxed old people properly and wealth in a way that wouldn't impact investment and saving there would be a huge gap.

    The answer isn't more tax it's less spending. It's time to take an axe to what the NHS is responsible and start clawing back the state pension from higher rate taxpayers in retirement. Once again, no one wants to admit it, even on here where there's no such thing as an unapproachable subject, the NHS can't keep chasing life expectancy gains. If people die at 86 instead of 88 then that's got to be accepted as the cost of having universal healthcare safety net. Investing money into hugely expensive life extending treatment and drugs needs to be discussed properly and we as a society should be a bit more comfortable with the idea that we all die.
    In many areas and classes folk aren't dying at 86, though. They are dying much, much earlier. And usually at greater cost, both financially and socially.
    This country has been historically abysmal at prevention.

    Edit: And yes, our attitude to death really needs to shape up.
    The only socially acceptable thinking on it seems to be financial. Insurance, funeral fees, wills.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,897
    MaxPB said:

    BBC reporting £192 billion was spent on the NHS in England alone in 2020/21

    This is 44% of all public spending up from 27% in 2020

    This is not sustainable and we need a serious discussion on the future role and funding for the NHS

    I would add I have no idea how this is addressed when even a 1.25% increase in NI next Spring is so angrily dismisses by many

    True, though that's more because public spending that isn't health, pensions (and to an extent) schools have been ruthlessly squeezed for a decade or so.

    In the medium term, things cost what they cost and politicians who try to buck the market get found out. In the UK, we've had a fairly long run of politicians (certainly back to Thatcher, maybe even earlier) who have been able to promise something for nothing by offering the public services which aren't properly paid for by taxes. And a lot of that excess cash has gone on pumping up house prices.

    Unfortunately for Johnson and Sunak, they've ended up in Downing Street when the music is stopping. The stable solution is, bluntly, to pay more for the quality of health, social care and public realm (libraries, parks and whatnot) that we want. The nature of those functions means that there's a fairly low limit on how much efficiency you can squeeze out of the processes.But that isn't going to be popular.

    In Johnson's case, at least, it couldn't happen to a nicer chap.
    Who pays for it though? We've already got a huge tax burden on working people and businesses. Even if we taxed old people properly and wealth in a way that wouldn't impact investment and saving there would be a huge gap.

    The answer isn't more tax it's less spending. It's time to take an axe to what the NHS is responsible and start clawing back the state pension from higher rate taxpayers in retirement. Once again, no one wants to admit it, even on here where there's no such thing as an unapproachable subject, the NHS can't keep chasing life expectancy gains. If people die at 86 instead of 88 then that's got to be accepted as the cost of having universal healthcare safety net. Investing money into hugely expensive life extending treatment and drugs needs to be discussed properly and we as a society should be a bit more comfortable with the idea that we all die.
    Then bang goes the Redwall if NHS spoending is slashed and the state pension is axed. Bang goes the Tory majority too.

    The Tories can afford to lose a few socially liberal libertarians like you to the LDs or Reform UK in the wealthiest parts of London and the Home Counties and still win a narrow majority.

    They cannot afford to lose working class Leave voters in the Redwall to Labour and higher earning pensioners in the Home Counties to the LDs as if they do then the Tory majority goes with them and the Tories likely lose power
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 19,454
    HYUFD said:

    MaxPB said:

    BBC reporting £192 billion was spent on the NHS in England alone in 2020/21

    This is 44% of all public spending up from 27% in 2020

    This is not sustainable and we need a serious discussion on the future role and funding for the NHS

    I would add I have no idea how this is addressed when even a 1.25% increase in NI next Spring is so angrily dismisses by many

    True, though that's more because public spending that isn't health, pensions (and to an extent) schools have been ruthlessly squeezed for a decade or so.

    In the medium term, things cost what they cost and politicians who try to buck the market get found out. In the UK, we've had a fairly long run of politicians (certainly back to Thatcher, maybe even earlier) who have been able to promise something for nothing by offering the public services which aren't properly paid for by taxes. And a lot of that excess cash has gone on pumping up house prices.

    Unfortunately for Johnson and Sunak, they've ended up in Downing Street when the music is stopping. The stable solution is, bluntly, to pay more for the quality of health, social care and public realm (libraries, parks and whatnot) that we want. The nature of those functions means that there's a fairly low limit on how much efficiency you can squeeze out of the processes.But that isn't going to be popular.

    In Johnson's case, at least, it couldn't happen to a nicer chap.
    Who pays for it though? We've already got a huge tax burden on working people and businesses. Even if we taxed old people properly and wealth in a way that wouldn't impact investment and saving there would be a huge gap.

    The answer isn't more tax it's less spending. It's time to take an axe to what the NHS is responsible and start clawing back the state pension from higher rate taxpayers in retirement. Once again, no one wants to admit it, even on here where there's no such thing as an unapproachable subject, the NHS can't keep chasing life expectancy gains. If people die at 86 instead of 88 then that's got to be accepted as the cost of having universal healthcare safety net. Investing money into hugely expensive life extending treatment and drugs needs to be discussed properly and we as a society should be a bit more comfortable with the idea that we all die.
    Then bang goes the Redwall if NHS spoending is slashed and the state pension is axed. Bang goes the Tory majority too.

    The Tories can afford to lose a few socially liberal libertarians like you to the LDs or Reform UK in the wealthiest parts of London and the Home Counties and still win a narrow majority.

    They cannot afford to lose working class Leave voters in the Redwall to Labour and higher earning pensioners in the Home Counties to the LDs as if they do then the Tory majority goes with them and the Tories likely lose power
    So what’s the plan?
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 38,794
    dixiedean said:

    MaxPB said:

    BBC reporting £192 billion was spent on the NHS in England alone in 2020/21

    This is 44% of all public spending up from 27% in 2020

    This is not sustainable and we need a serious discussion on the future role and funding for the NHS

    I would add I have no idea how this is addressed when even a 1.25% increase in NI next Spring is so angrily dismisses by many

    True, though that's more because public spending that isn't health, pensions (and to an extent) schools have been ruthlessly squeezed for a decade or so.

    In the medium term, things cost what they cost and politicians who try to buck the market get found out. In the UK, we've had a fairly long run of politicians (certainly back to Thatcher, maybe even earlier) who have been able to promise something for nothing by offering the public services which aren't properly paid for by taxes. And a lot of that excess cash has gone on pumping up house prices.

    Unfortunately for Johnson and Sunak, they've ended up in Downing Street when the music is stopping. The stable solution is, bluntly, to pay more for the quality of health, social care and public realm (libraries, parks and whatnot) that we want. The nature of those functions means that there's a fairly low limit on how much efficiency you can squeeze out of the processes.But that isn't going to be popular.

    In Johnson's case, at least, it couldn't happen to a nicer chap.
    Who pays for it though? We've already got a huge tax burden on working people and businesses. Even if we taxed old people properly and wealth in a way that wouldn't impact investment and saving there would be a huge gap.

    The answer isn't more tax it's less spending. It's time to take an axe to what the NHS is responsible and start clawing back the state pension from higher rate taxpayers in retirement. Once again, no one wants to admit it, even on here where there's no such thing as an unapproachable subject, the NHS can't keep chasing life expectancy gains. If people die at 86 instead of 88 then that's got to be accepted as the cost of having universal healthcare safety net. Investing money into hugely expensive life extending treatment and drugs needs to be discussed properly and we as a society should be a bit more comfortable with the idea that we all die.
    In many areas and classes folk aren't dying at 86, though. They are dying much, much earlier. And usually at greater cost, both financially and socially.
    This country has been historically abysmal at prevention.
    But a lot of that stems from the taxpayer carrying unlimited liability for the nation's healthcare. It creates an entitlement culture where people stop caring for their own health when they know someone else will fix them up and other people will suffer the cost of doing so.

    My health insurance in Switzerland gave me an annual refund based on my actual usage, and because I'm a generally pretty healthy person I got a refund. In the UK people like me, regardless of income, are punished for being healthy because not only do we pay over the odds for our own healthcare needs, we subsidise the obese, the smokers, the anti-vaxxers and all the other people who are a huge burden on the NHS.

    So once again, we as a nation need to have a big and wide ranging discussion about what the NHS should do and whether universal healthcare is a net positive for the nation. Is it right that the healthy poor subsidise a smokers to get lung cancer treatment, I mean they have enough money to waste on cigarettes so they can bloody pay for private insurance to cover all smoking related treatment requirements.

    Once again, this is the result of our creation of a society without consequences for poor decision making and now we can't afford it.
  • MaxPB said:

    BBC reporting £192 billion was spent on the NHS in England alone in 2020/21

    This is 44% of all public spending up from 27% in 2020

    This is not sustainable and we need a serious discussion on the future role and funding for the NHS

    I would add I have no idea how this is addressed when even a 1.25% increase in NI next Spring is so angrily dismisses by many

    True, though that's more because public spending that isn't health, pensions (and to an extent) schools have been ruthlessly squeezed for a decade or so.

    In the medium term, things cost what they cost and politicians who try to buck the market get found out. In the UK, we've had a fairly long run of politicians (certainly back to Thatcher, maybe even earlier) who have been able to promise something for nothing by offering the public services which aren't properly paid for by taxes. And a lot of that excess cash has gone on pumping up house prices.

    Unfortunately for Johnson and Sunak, they've ended up in Downing Street when the music is stopping. The stable solution is, bluntly, to pay more for the quality of health, social care and public realm (libraries, parks and whatnot) that we want. The nature of those functions means that there's a fairly low limit on how much efficiency you can squeeze out of the processes.But that isn't going to be popular.

    In Johnson's case, at least, it couldn't happen to a nicer chap.
    Who pays for it though? We've already got a huge tax burden on working people and businesses. Even if we taxed old people properly and wealth in a way that wouldn't impact investment and saving there would be a huge gap.

    The answer isn't more tax it's less spending. It's time to take an axe to what the NHS is responsible and start clawing back the state pension from higher rate taxpayers in retirement. Once again, no one wants to admit it, even on here where there's no such thing as an unapproachable subject, the NHS can't keep chasing life expectancy gains. If people die at 86 instead of 88 then that's got to be accepted as the cost of having universal healthcare safety net. Investing money into hugely expensive life extending treatment and drugs needs to be discussed properly and we as a society should be a bit more comfortable with the idea that we all die.
    The problem with the NHS is that its like running on a treadmill that increases speed the faster you go, but can't be slowed down.

    No matter how fast you go, no matter what effort you put in, you're never actually going to get anywhere until you get off the treadmill.

    If we keep people alive for longer that's great but they don't get 'cured' of their ailments, they just get more and more chronic ailments the NHS has to deal with.

    As people age the only point the NHS no matter how much the NHS invests in 'treatments' the only point it will stop spending money on people is when they die.
This discussion has been closed.