Surely the more obvious issue is why the Japanese attacked the United States rather than the Soviet Union? I mean if the axis powers were serious as allies.
Japan wanted control of the Pacific and the US had that control, not Russia. Pearl Harbor almost defeated the Americans. They came very close to naval defeat.
Really? Their four carriers were away and therefore intact. Their submarines were unaffected. The repair facilities were untouched. The ships sunk were mostly battleships that as Prince Of Wales and Repulse proved rather brutally a few days later would have been useless anyway.
Sure, the Allied navies suffered horribly but the US Navy wouldn't have been able to mobilise in time to be much help.
Japan were the country left viewing Pearl Harbor as a disaster.
If the Japanese had sunk the entire American Pacific fleet, down to the last row boat, irretrievably... The Americans would have regained overwhelming naval superiority in 1943.
This was due to their vast naval building program. They were building stuff, like the Alaskas on the basis of "it would be nice to have these kind of ships to keep *that* group of Admirals quiet". In fact, in our world, they started cutting Naval ship building in late 1943, because it was getting ridiculous.
This wasn't a secret. You could read about it in the NY Times...
While Yamamoto didn't say the Sleeping Giant quote, he did say that in the event of a successful surprise attack he could run wild for 6 months, but after that....
Perhaps the Japanese mistake was less that they thought they could defeat the Americans militarily, but that they thought the Americans wouldn't want to fight. If they believed that the American public could be disheartened and discouraged by early defeats, then they may have believed they would not have the will to continue the fight. After all, France gave up, and there were those in Britain who wanted to do so.
This is one of the crucial questions that Putin and Xi will be asking. How willing are the Americans to fight? Would the American public unite in the face of external aggression, or are the domestic divisions now so great that is not currently possible?
Arguably all of the last three American Presidents have shown an unwillingness to fight. Obama over Crimea and the Donbas in 2014, Trump with the withdrawal from Syria, and Biden with the fall of Kabul.
In 1942 the US had nearly 50% of the world’s industrial capacity, a figure only matched by the UK at the peak of empire. Only a complete idiot would even contemplate taking that on.
Fortunately, leaving aside the Japanese, Hitler was a complete idiot.
Since it's now the evening, here's an interesting story: A man climbs the highest mountain in Libya, Bikku Bitti, which no-one had climbed before. It takes him three attempts in two years, during one of which he nearly dies. The mountain is on the Libya/Chad border, hundreds of kilometres from the nearest village (and that is in rebel hands). it is very hot and arid, with few oases.
Surely the more obvious issue is why the Japanese attacked the United States rather than the Soviet Union? I mean if the axis powers were serious as allies.
Japan wanted control of the Pacific and the US had that control, not Russia. Pearl Harbor almost defeated the Americans. They came very close to naval defeat.
Really? Their four carriers were away and therefore intact. Their submarines were unaffected. The repair facilities were untouched. The ships sunk were mostly battleships that as Prince Of Wales and Repulse proved rather brutally a few days later would have been useless anyway.
Sure, the Allied navies suffered horribly but the US Navy wouldn't have been able to mobilise in time to be much help.
Japan were the country left viewing Pearl Harbor as a disaster.
If the Japanese had sunk the entire American Pacific fleet, down to the last row boat, irretrievably... The Americans would have regained overwhelming naval superiority in 1943.
This was due to their vast naval building program. They were building stuff, like the Alaskas on the basis of "it would be nice to have these kind of ships to keep *that* group of Admirals quiet". In fact, in our world, they started cutting Naval ship building in late 1943, because it was getting ridiculous.
This wasn't a secret. You could read about it in the NY Times...
While Yamamoto didn't say the Sleeping Giant quote, he did say that in the event of a successful surprise attack he could run wild for 6 months, but after that....
Perhaps the Japanese mistake was less that they thought they could defeat the Americans militarily, but that they thought the Americans wouldn't want to fight. If they believed that the American public could be disheartened and discouraged by early defeats, then they may have believed they would not have the will to continue the fight. After all, France gave up, and there were those in Britain who wanted to do so.
This is one of the crucial questions that Putin and Xi will be asking. How willing are the Americans to fight? Would the American public unite in the face of external aggression, or are the domestic divisions now so great that is not currently possible?
Arguably all of the last three American Presidents have shown an unwillingness to fight. Obama over Crimea and the Donbas in 2014, Trump with the withdrawal from Syria, and Biden with the fall of Kabul.
In 1942 the US had nearly 50% of the world’s industrial capacity, a figure only matched by the UK at the peak of empire. Only a complete idiot would even contemplate taking that on.
Hermann Kahn noted that Stalin was more impressed by Detroit than the atomic bomb. He remarked that it was probably fortunate that the US had both.
On topic, Erdington is known for 'Six Ways'. Confusingly, the Six Ways roundabout only has five roads joining it. The sixth 'way' joins one of the others just prior to the roundabout.
N.B. Do not mix up Erdington Six Ways with Five Ways, which is in a different part of the city.
Lol, in Woking we have an actual six crossroads roundabout:
On topic, Erdington is known for 'Six Ways'. Confusingly, the Six Ways roundabout only has five roads joining it. The sixth 'way' joins one of the others just prior to the roundabout.
N.B. Do not mix up Erdington Six Ways with Five Ways, which is in a different part of the city.
Does anyone know why Birmingham constituencies are named after one of the four wards which comprise them? And how do they choose which one? And why isn't it Birmingham Sutton Coldfield? The kind of thing I'm interested in. Sad I know.
Which peace-time by-election holds the record for the lowest turnout?
Manchester Central in 2012, 18.2% turnout.
I was one of the 754 people who voted Conservative in that by election.
You had the chance to vote OMRLP, and you didn't take it?
I was doing my best for Dave and George, it was the height of the omnishambles budget and I wanted to show my support.
Pasties!! God the government would kill a random scientist for a scandal like that now.
The steaks were smaller then.
Was it not the potatoes?
Anyway, it’s a useful reminder that a media getting hysterical about a relatively trivial matter is nothing unusual. Indeed it is the norm. In modern times the government is always on the edge of collapse, at least in some minds.
“Minds” implies that the bods at the Glasgow Herald are capable of thought.
Since it's now the evening, here's an interesting story: A man climbs the highest mountain in Libya, Bikku Bitti, which no-one had climbed before. It takes him three attempts in two years, during one of which he nearly dies. The mountain is on the Libya/Chad border, hundreds of kilometres from the nearest village (and that is in rebel hands). it is very hot and arid, with few oases.
Quebec will introduce a tax on those who won't get vaccinated within weeks. Fee not yet announced. I believe this is a first, but many on here have suggested similar.
BBC Look North, our local TV news station, say they invited ALL Lincolnshire and E. Yorks Tory MPs to appear tonight to comment on Boris Johnson's partying but ALL declined. https://twitter.com/BardneyBoy/status/1480984146843471875
Since it's now the evening, here's an interesting story: A man climbs the highest mountain in Libya, Bikku Bitti, which no-one had climbed before. It takes him three attempts in two years, during one of which he nearly dies. The mountain is on the Libya/Chad border, hundreds of kilometres from the nearest village (and that is in rebel hands). it is very hot and arid, with few oases.
Surely the more obvious issue is why the Japanese attacked the United States rather than the Soviet Union? I mean if the axis powers were serious as allies.
Japan wanted control of the Pacific and the US had that control, not Russia. Pearl Harbor almost defeated the Americans. They came very close to naval defeat.
Really? Their four carriers were away and therefore intact. Their submarines were unaffected. The repair facilities were untouched. The ships sunk were mostly battleships that as Prince Of Wales and Repulse proved rather brutally a few days later would have been useless anyway.
Sure, the Allied navies suffered horribly but the US Navy wouldn't have been able to mobilise in time to be much help.
Japan were the country left viewing Pearl Harbor as a disaster.
If the Japanese had sunk the entire American Pacific fleet, down to the last row boat, irretrievably... The Americans would have regained overwhelming naval superiority in 1943.
This was due to their vast naval building program. They were building stuff, like the Alaskas on the basis of "it would be nice to have these kind of ships to keep *that* group of Admirals quiet". In fact, in our world, they started cutting Naval ship building in late 1943, because it was getting ridiculous.
This wasn't a secret. You could read about it in the NY Times...
While Yamamoto didn't say the Sleeping Giant quote, he did say that in the event of a successful surprise attack he could run wild for 6 months, but after that....
Perhaps the Japanese mistake was less that they thought they could defeat the Americans militarily, but that they thought the Americans wouldn't want to fight. If they believed that the American public could be disheartened and discouraged by early defeats, then they may have believed they would not have the will to continue the fight. After all, France gave up, and there were those in Britain who wanted to do so.
This is one of the crucial questions that Putin and Xi will be asking. How willing are the Americans to fight? Would the American public unite in the face of external aggression, or are the domestic divisions now so great that is not currently possible?
Arguably all of the last three American Presidents have shown an unwillingness to fight. Obama over Crimea and the Donbas in 2014, Trump with the withdrawal from Syria, and Biden with the fall of Kabul.
The Japanese leadership, indeed, told themselves that the Americans wouldn't fight. Because if the Americans fought they would lose. And they couldn't lose.
They were pretty much in denial. To a clinical point.
Hitler's decision to go to war with the UK and France is understandable: a political path to victory was possible, and a military one only slightly less possible. He very nearly got the former.
Hitler's decision to declare war on the US after Pearl Harbour is harder to explain. He could have chosen not to, and the hopes of Japan opening an eastern attack on Russia to reduce troops in the west was rather optimistic. It does make sense if he felt that, like in WW1, the US entering the war was inevitable (and to be fair, the US had been arming the anti-Axis powers).
Japan's decision to declare war on the US was insane. The only way they could have won is if the US chose not to fight - and that was a dramatic misreading of the American psyche, despite the isolationists.
Since it's now the evening, here's an interesting story: A man climbs the highest mountain in Libya, Bikku Bitti, which no-one had climbed before. It takes him three attempts in two years, during one of which he nearly dies. The mountain is on the Libya/Chad border, hundreds of kilometres from the nearest village (and that is in rebel hands). it is very hot and arid, with few oases.
Gove. Hmm. I still very much doubt it, except in caretaker capacity.
Thought he was good this week on Today after the stuck in a lift episode. Particularly skilled at deploying the 1 word answer which gives the interviewer not much to go on.
Gove. Hmm. I still very much doubt it, except in caretaker capacity.
Thought he was good this week on Today after the stuck in a lift episode. Particularly skilled at deploying the 1 word answer which gives the interviewer not much to go on.
That lift story ended in a terrible tragedy when somebody let him out.
Since it's now the evening, here's an interesting story: A man climbs the highest mountain in Libya, Bikku Bitti, which no-one had climbed before. It takes him three attempts in two years, during one of which he nearly dies. The mountain is on the Libya/Chad border, hundreds of kilometres from the nearest village (and that is in rebel hands). it is very hot and arid, with few oases.
Since it's now the evening, here's an interesting story: A man climbs the highest mountain in Libya, Bikku Bitti, which no-one had climbed before. It takes him three attempts in two years, during one of which he nearly dies. The mountain is on the Libya/Chad border, hundreds of kilometres from the nearest village (and that is in rebel hands). it is very hot and arid, with few oases.
Total bollocks. The summit had a cairn and there were several other cairns around the nearby secondary summit. Who built those? The fairy folk?
Typical white supremacy tale: no one else has ever been here on a hill in bongo bongo land because you can’t buy a journal of their ascent in the Hampstead branch of WH Smith.
Since it's now the evening, here's an interesting story: A man climbs the highest mountain in Libya, Bikku Bitti, which no-one had climbed before. It takes him three attempts in two years, during one of which he nearly dies. The mountain is on the Libya/Chad border, hundreds of kilometres from the nearest village (and that is in rebel hands). it is very hot and arid, with few oases.
On topic, Erdington is known for 'Six Ways'. Confusingly, the Six Ways roundabout only has five roads joining it. The sixth 'way' joins one of the others just prior to the roundabout.
N.B. Do not mix up Erdington Six Ways with Five Ways, which is in a different part of the city.
Does anyone know why Birmingham constituencies are named after one of the four wards which comprise them? And how do they choose which one? And why isn't it Birmingham Sutton Coldfield? The kind of thing I'm interested in. Sad I know.
Sutton Coldfield was an independent Borough until 1974. Since then it has been amalgamated into Birmingham City Council. Since then all the wards in Birmingham Sutton Coldfield have Sutton in their name.
BBC Look North, our local TV news station, say they invited ALL Lincolnshire and E. Yorks Tory MPs to appear tonight to comment on Boris Johnson's partying but ALL declined. https://twitter.com/BardneyBoy/status/1480984146843471875
C4News had Charles Walker. I’m guessing they had a lot of refusals before they asked him.
Obviously i’m not against Northern Accents as I’m intending to be the first Gen Z PM! But Rayner doesn’t convince me in her delivery either to camera or in commons.
And she needs a hair cut. There’s only two places for hair that long, on someone half her age, or someone in the Victorian Era. At the least she should wear it up not down the front like that.
Laugh if you want, but if people can’t make the right hair decisions (like I do) how do you trust them with affairs of state?
What is your view of Boris's hair?
We have discussed Boris cut, you obviously missed it, I’ll summarise
I think he was forced into it by increasing baldness meaning days of his trademark winning Love Actually hair are behind him. The new cut isn’t as suited to his face and head as that trademark, someone replying said it made him look more thuggish which summed up very well.
Your hair is 93.4% of your sexual appeal, regardless the sexuality you feel you are. Also, anyone who has been an MP has been told voters are forming opinion of you less on what you are saying more so on your appearance. So hair loss is difficult for male politicians.
Which makes Angela’s crimes all the greater. Unless her values are Victorian she shouldn’t have Victorian hair. Since the Victorian era we have had the 60s. No, forget I said that, her bangs are straight out the sixties. She should simply get a lob, if it’s over the eyes and face like mine so much the sexier, as hiding a bit a away for peek a boo adds to the appeal.
Since it's now the evening, here's an interesting story: A man climbs the highest mountain in Libya, Bikku Bitti, which no-one had climbed before. It takes him three attempts in two years, during one of which he nearly dies. The mountain is on the Libya/Chad border, hundreds of kilometres from the nearest village (and that is in rebel hands). it is very hot and arid, with few oases.
Since it's now the evening, here's an interesting story: A man climbs the highest mountain in Libya, Bikku Bitti, which no-one had climbed before. It takes him three attempts in two years, during one of which he nearly dies. The mountain is on the Libya/Chad border, hundreds of kilometres from the nearest village (and that is in rebel hands). it is very hot and arid, with few oases.
Total bollocks. The summit had a cairn and there were several other cairns around the nearby secondary summit. Who built those? The fairy folk?
Typical white supremacy tale: no one else has ever been here on a hill in bongo bongo land because you can’t buy a journal of their ascent in the Hampstead branch of WH Smith.
'Twas ever thus. Thinking of Coleridge climbing Scafell.
BBC Look North, our local TV news station, say they invited ALL Lincolnshire and E. Yorks Tory MPs to appear tonight to comment on Boris Johnson's partying but ALL declined. https://twitter.com/BardneyBoy/status/1480984146843471875
They must’ve seen the latest Redfield & Wilton split for Yorkshire & Humber:
Gove. Hmm. I still very much doubt it, except in caretaker capacity.
Thought he was good this week on Today after the stuck in a lift episode. Particularly skilled at deploying the 1 word answer which gives the interviewer not much to go on.
That lift story ended in a terrible tragedy when somebody let him out.
LOL. He was basically selling a bit of extortion by which the government bullies those vaguely involved but with money to cough up £4bn or face punitive taxation. Not a particularly Tory thing to do but highly populist. He’s not to be under estimated.
Since it's now the evening, here's an interesting story: A man climbs the highest mountain in Libya, Bikku Bitti, which no-one had climbed before. It takes him three attempts in two years, during one of which he nearly dies. The mountain is on the Libya/Chad border, hundreds of kilometres from the nearest village (and that is in rebel hands). it is very hot and arid, with few oases.
I think JJ is referring to the cairns... Someone must have built them!
I find that utterly intriguing. No-one is recorded as having been up there. So who built them, and how old are they? Are they a relic of some recent army from Chad, Libya or elsewhere, or much more ancient? Is building cairns on high points an ancient phenomena?
Nine Standards Rigg is an interesting example - not that I've ever been there.
It's a shame I can't find a photo of Bikku Bitti's summit to see how large these cairns are. Are they just a few stones arranged together, or something larger?
On topic, Erdington is known for 'Six Ways'. Confusingly, the Six Ways roundabout only has five roads joining it. The sixth 'way' joins one of the others just prior to the roundabout.
N.B. Do not mix up Erdington Six Ways with Five Ways, which is in a different part of the city.
Does anyone know why Birmingham constituencies are named after one of the four wards which comprise them? And how do they choose which one? And why isn't it Birmingham Sutton Coldfield? The kind of thing I'm interested in. Sad I know.
Sutton Coldfield was an independent Borough until 1974. Since then it has been amalgamated into Birmingham City Council. Since then all the wards in Birmingham Sutton Coldfield have Sutton in their name.
Dr Hans Henri Kluge, the WHO regional director for Europe, said people should be doing "everything possible not to get infected in the first place".
From the Telegraph article on how the UK has probably already moved to an endemic state of the virus.
Really shows how wrongheaded the thinking is. It's completely unrealistic to try and avoid getting the virus, especially now that Omicron is in the frame. Asymptomatic protection from Omicron after three doses is probably close to zero.
BBC Look North, our local TV news station, say they invited ALL Lincolnshire and E. Yorks Tory MPs to appear tonight to comment on Boris Johnson's partying but ALL declined. https://twitter.com/BardneyBoy/status/1480984146843471875
C4News had Charles Walker. I’m guessing they had a lot of refusals before they asked him.
Obviously i’m not against Northern Accents as I’m intending to be the first Gen Z PM! But Rayner doesn’t convince me in her delivery either to camera or in commons.
And she needs a hair cut. There’s only two places for hair that long, on someone half her age, or someone in the Victorian Era. At the least she should wear it up not down the front like that.
Laugh if you want, but if people can’t make the right hair decisions (like I do) how do you trust them with affairs of state?
What is your view of Boris's hair?
We have discussed Boris cut, you obviously missed it, I’ll summarise
I think he was forced into it by increasing baldness meaning days of his trademark winning Love Actually hair are behind him. The new cut isn’t as suited to his face and head as that trademark, someone replying said it made him look more thuggish which summed up very well.
Your hair is 93.4% of your sexual appeal, regardless the sexuality you feel you are. Also, anyone who has been an MP has been told voters are forming opinion of you less on what you are saying more so on your appearance. So hair loss is difficult for male politicians.
Which makes Angela’s crimes all the greater. Unless her values are Victorian she shouldn’t have Victorian hair. Since the Victorian era we have had the 60s. No, forget I said that, her bangs are straight out the sixties. She should simply get a lob, if it’s over the eyes and face like mine so much the sexier, as hiding a bit a away for peek a boo adds to the appeal.
I think a few PBers get a lob at the thought of Ms Rayner, but that has nothing to do with their haircuts.
Since it's now the evening, here's an interesting story: A man climbs the highest mountain in Libya, Bikku Bitti, which no-one had climbed before. It takes him three attempts in two years, during one of which he nearly dies. The mountain is on the Libya/Chad border, hundreds of kilometres from the nearest village (and that is in rebel hands). it is very hot and arid, with few oases.
I think JJ is referring to the cairns... Someone must have built them!
I find that utterly intriguing. No-one is recorded as having been up there. So who built them, and how old are they? Are they a relic of some recent army from Chad, Libya or elsewhere, or much more ancient? Is building cairns on high points an ancient phenomena?
Nine Standards Rigg is an interesting example - not that I've ever been there.
It's a shame I can't find a photo of Bikku Bitti's summit to see how large these cairns are. Are they just a few stones arranged together, or something larger?
Or from ancient times when the climate was more genial water-wise.
Gove. Hmm. I still very much doubt it, except in caretaker capacity.
Thought he was good this week on Today after the stuck in a lift episode. Particularly skilled at deploying the 1 word answer which gives the interviewer not much to go on.
That lift story ended in a terrible tragedy when somebody let him out.
LOL. He was basically selling a bit of extortion by which the government bullies those vaguely involved but with money to cough up £4bn or face punitive taxation. Not a particularly Tory thing to do but highly populist. He’s not to be under estimated.
It’s been a long time coming a policy on this. How realistic and practical was what he said though? As time is of the essence how quickly can the money go to the people who need it saving them from their stress? Could the government itself not do more in the meantime?
Since it's now the evening, here's an interesting story: A man climbs the highest mountain in Libya, Bikku Bitti, which no-one had climbed before. It takes him three attempts in two years, during one of which he nearly dies. The mountain is on the Libya/Chad border, hundreds of kilometres from the nearest village (and that is in rebel hands). it is very hot and arid, with few oases.
Total bollocks. The summit had a cairn and there were several other cairns around the nearby secondary summit. Who built those? The fairy folk?
Typical white supremacy tale: no one else has ever been here on a hill in bongo bongo land because you can’t buy a journal of their ascent in the Hampstead branch of WH Smith.
Certainly in Scotland the tradition is that you add 1 stone to the cairn. Not sure about Libya but very probably a lot of local people.
If by some chance the tories don't remove Johnson, and assuming the Met/CPS don't prosecute him, then I really do think the tories are heading for big trouble.
Christopher Hope📝 @christopherhope · 6m NEW Strong rumours in Parliament from two Government sources tonight that Boris Johnson will make some sort of statement tomorrow lunchtime about partygate just before Prime Minister's Questions.
It worked the last time round so Boris is going to try it again.
The Speaker should just reject it as it was asked about today..
Unless the statement is "I resign" how does this help?
BBC Look North, our local TV news station, say they invited ALL Lincolnshire and E. Yorks Tory MPs to appear tonight to comment on Boris Johnson's partying but ALL declined. https://twitter.com/BardneyBoy/status/1480984146843471875
C4News had Charles Walker. I’m guessing they had a lot of refusals before they asked him.
364 if they settled on him.
Given there are only 361 Tory MPs and that includes the Deputy Speaker you must rate him pretty low...
Christopher Hope📝 @christopherhope · 6m NEW Strong rumours in Parliament from two Government sources tonight that Boris Johnson will make some sort of statement tomorrow lunchtime about partygate just before Prime Minister's Questions.
It worked the last time round so Boris is going to try it again.
The Speaker should just reject it as it was asked about today..
Unless the statement is "I resign" how does this help?
I was at the party, but didn't inhale...
Surely when we talk about Boris it would be 'but she didn't swallow?'
Since it's now the evening, here's an interesting story: A man climbs the highest mountain in Libya, Bikku Bitti, which no-one had climbed before. It takes him three attempts in two years, during one of which he nearly dies. The mountain is on the Libya/Chad border, hundreds of kilometres from the nearest village (and that is in rebel hands). it is very hot and arid, with few oases.
Total bollocks. The summit had a cairn and there were several other cairns around the nearby secondary summit. Who built those? The fairy folk?
Typical white supremacy tale: no one else has ever been here on a hill in bongo bongo land because you can’t buy a journal of their ascent in the Hampstead branch of WH Smith.
Clearly some Scots had been there if there were cairns ...
Obviously i’m not against Northern Accents as I’m intending to be the first Gen Z PM! But Rayner doesn’t convince me in her delivery either to camera or in commons.
And she needs a hair cut. There’s only two places for hair that long, on someone half her age, or someone in the Victorian Era. At the least she should wear it up not down the front like that.
Laugh if you want, but if people can’t make the right hair decisions (like I do) how do you trust them with affairs of state?
What is your view of Boris's hair?
We have discussed Boris cut, you obviously missed it, I’ll summarise
I think he was forced into it by increasing baldness meaning days of his trademark winning Love Actually hair are behind him. The new cut isn’t as suited to his face and head as that trademark, someone replying said it made him look more thuggish which summed up very well.
Your hair is 93.4% of your sexual appeal, regardless the sexuality you feel you are. Also, anyone who has been an MP has been told voters are forming opinion of you less on what you are saying more so on your appearance. So hair loss is difficult for male politicians.
Which makes Angela’s crimes all the greater. Unless her values are Victorian she shouldn’t have Victorian hair. Since the Victorian era we have had the 60s. No, forget I said that, her bangs are straight out the sixties. She should simply get a lob, if it’s over the eyes and face like mine so much the sexier, as hiding a bit a away for peek a boo adds to the appeal.
I disagree. I think that hair is only 93.3% of your sexual appeal.
Since it's now the evening, here's an interesting story: A man climbs the highest mountain in Libya, Bikku Bitti, which no-one had climbed before. It takes him three attempts in two years, during one of which he nearly dies. The mountain is on the Libya/Chad border, hundreds of kilometres from the nearest village (and that is in rebel hands). it is very hot and arid, with few oases.
Total bollocks. The summit had a cairn and there were several other cairns around the nearby secondary summit. Who built those? The fairy folk?
Typical white supremacy tale: no one else has ever been here on a hill in bongo bongo land because you can’t buy a journal of their ascent in the Hampstead branch of WH Smith.
Oh, don't be a silly fellow. You can only go on recorded ascents, and it's an achievement for *anyone* to make their way there. The guy also seemed rather unfazed by the discovery, as it was only the last in his aim to climb the highest peak in every African country.
🥳15/05/20 No.10 cheese and wine party 🥳20/05/20 BYOB party 🥳13/11/20 Leaving drinks 🥳13/11/20 Johnson’s flat party 🥳25/11/20 Treasury drinks 🥳27/11/20 Another leaving drinks 🥳10/12/20 Department of Education drinks
Christopher Hope📝 @christopherhope · 6m NEW Strong rumours in Parliament from two Government sources tonight that Boris Johnson will make some sort of statement tomorrow lunchtime about partygate just before Prime Minister's Questions.
It worked the last time round so Boris is going to try it again.
The Speaker should just reject it as it was asked about today..
Unless the statement is "I resign" how does this help?
I was at the party, but didn't inhale...
Surely when we talk about Boris it would be 'but she didn't swallow?'
BBC Look North, our local TV news station, say they invited ALL Lincolnshire and E. Yorks Tory MPs to appear tonight to comment on Boris Johnson's partying but ALL declined. https://twitter.com/BardneyBoy/status/1480984146843471875
C4News had Charles Walker. I’m guessing they had a lot of refusals before they asked him.
364 if they settled on him.
Given there are only 361 Tory MPs and that includes the Deputy Speaker you must rate him pretty low...
The wrong numbers at Dyno Rod, Domino's and Madame Niagara's Shower services turned it down as well.
Since it's now the evening, here's an interesting story: A man climbs the highest mountain in Libya, Bikku Bitti, which no-one had climbed before. It takes him three attempts in two years, during one of which he nearly dies. The mountain is on the Libya/Chad border, hundreds of kilometres from the nearest village (and that is in rebel hands). it is very hot and arid, with few oases.
Total bollocks. The summit had a cairn and there were several other cairns around the nearby secondary summit. Who built those? The fairy folk?
Typical white supremacy tale: no one else has ever been here on a hill in bongo bongo land because you can’t buy a journal of their ascent in the Hampstead branch of WH Smith.
Clearly some Scots had been there if there were cairns ...
Vous saurez qu’on dit en proverbe Que d’écossais, de rats, de poux, Ceux qui voyagent jusqu’au bout Du monde en rencontrent partout.
Christopher Hope📝 @christopherhope · 6m NEW Strong rumours in Parliament from two Government sources tonight that Boris Johnson will make some sort of statement tomorrow lunchtime about partygate just before Prime Minister's Questions.
It worked the last time round so Boris is going to try it again.
The Speaker should just reject it as it was asked about today..
Unless the statement is "I resign" how does this help?
I was at the party, but didn't inhale...
Surely when we talk about Boris it would be 'but she didn't swallow?'
Oh, pleeeease. I haven't had dinner yet.
Imagine how desperate you’d have to be to let De Pfeffel stick his tongue in your mouth. Jeeez… Surely any sane woman would prefer a vow of chastity.
BBC Look North, our local TV news station, say they invited ALL Lincolnshire and E. Yorks Tory MPs to appear tonight to comment on Boris Johnson's partying but ALL declined. https://twitter.com/BardneyBoy/status/1480984146843471875
C4News had Charles Walker. I’m guessing they had a lot of refusals before they asked him.
364 if they settled on him.
Given there are only 361 Tory MPs and that includes the Deputy Speaker you must rate him pretty low...
The wrong numbers at Dyno Rod, Domino's and Madame Niagara's Shower services turned it down as well.
Are we talking golden showers here, or just holding a Mira up to Tory sleaze?
Dr Hans Henri Kluge, the WHO regional director for Europe, said people should be doing "everything possible not to get infected in the first place".
From the Telegraph article on how the UK has probably already moved to an endemic state of the virus.
Really shows how wrongheaded the thinking is. It's completely unrealistic to try and avoid getting the virus, especially now that Omicron is in the frame. Asymptomatic protection from Omicron after three doses is probably close to zero.
I think that the WHO is rather more worried about Eastern Europe than Western Europe, albeit that I doubt NPIs are going to make that much difference anywhere against Omicron (to say nothing of what happens if or when something even more transmissible rocks up to replace it.)
None of which will, of course, dissuade some people from wanting to inflict restrictions "protections" upon entire nations for years on end, if not forever.
Overheard in Westminster: "When Boris goes they should open up Downing Street to the public so everyone can take a look at the wallpaper. Like the palace of a deposed ruler after the fall of the Soviet Union." https://twitter.com/HugoGye/status/1480951026232537090
Christopher Hope📝 @christopherhope · 6m NEW Strong rumours in Parliament from two Government sources tonight that Boris Johnson will make some sort of statement tomorrow lunchtime about partygate just before Prime Minister's Questions.
It worked the last time round so Boris is going to try it again.
The Speaker should just reject it as it was asked about today..
Unless the statement is "I resign" how does this help?
I was at the party, but didn't inhale...
Surely when we talk about Boris it would be 'but she didn't swallow?'
Oh, pleeeease. I haven't had dinner yet.
Imagine how desperate you’d have to be to let De Pfeffel stick his tongue in your mouth. Jeeez… Surely any sane woman would prefer a vow of chastity.
Since it's now the evening, here's an interesting story: A man climbs the highest mountain in Libya, Bikku Bitti, which no-one had climbed before. It takes him three attempts in two years, during one of which he nearly dies. The mountain is on the Libya/Chad border, hundreds of kilometres from the nearest village (and that is in rebel hands). it is very hot and arid, with few oases.
Reminds me of a Munro we climbed many years ago now. Thick cloud and deep snow. We were totally lost but worked on the basis if we kept going up we had to find the top. After a couple of grim hours there was no more up. God knows if it was the actual top but it was close enough. We settled down for a cup of hot soup feeling pretty satisfied with ourselves. Until the thick cloud split and this guy wanders through with his Labrador and an arran jumper. “Afternoon” the cheery bastard said and promptly disappeared back into the cloud.
Obviously i’m not against Northern Accents as I’m intending to be the first Gen Z PM! But Rayner doesn’t convince me in her delivery either to camera or in commons.
And she needs a hair cut. There’s only two places for hair that long, on someone half her age, or someone in the Victorian Era. At the least she should wear it up not down the front like that.
Laugh if you want, but if people can’t make the right hair decisions (like I do) how do you trust them with affairs of state?
What is your view of Boris's hair?
We have discussed Boris cut, you obviously missed it, I’ll summarise
I think he was forced into it by increasing baldness meaning days of his trademark winning Love Actually hair are behind him. The new cut isn’t as suited to his face and head as that trademark, someone replying said it made him look more thuggish which summed up very well.
Your hair is 93.4% of your sexual appeal, regardless the sexuality you feel you are. Also, anyone who has been an MP has been told voters are forming opinion of you less on what you are saying more so on your appearance. So hair loss is difficult for male politicians.
Which makes Angela’s crimes all the greater. Unless her values are Victorian she shouldn’t have Victorian hair. Since the Victorian era we have had the 60s. No, forget I said that, her bangs are straight out the sixties. She should simply get a lob, if it’s over the eyes and face like mine so much the sexier, as hiding a bit a away for peek a boo adds to the appeal.
Most convincing argument I’ve ever read on here frankly.
Christopher Hope📝 @christopherhope · 6m NEW Strong rumours in Parliament from two Government sources tonight that Boris Johnson will make some sort of statement tomorrow lunchtime about partygate just before Prime Minister's Questions.
It worked the last time round so Boris is going to try it again.
The Speaker should just reject it as it was asked about today..
Unless the statement is "I resign" how does this help?
I was at the party, but didn't inhale...
Surely when we talk about Boris it would be 'but she didn't swallow?'
BBC Look North, our local TV news station, say they invited ALL Lincolnshire and E. Yorks Tory MPs to appear tonight to comment on Boris Johnson's partying but ALL declined. https://twitter.com/BardneyBoy/status/1480984146843471875
They must’ve seen the latest Redfield & Wilton split for Yorkshire & Humber:
Lab 63% Con 25% LD 8% Refuk 3%
Those Con MPs need Boris gone. And gone fast.
That looks like a regional poll from about 1983, not 2019.
Since it's now the evening, here's an interesting story: A man climbs the highest mountain in Libya, Bikku Bitti, which no-one had climbed before. It takes him three attempts in two years, during one of which he nearly dies. The mountain is on the Libya/Chad border, hundreds of kilometres from the nearest village (and that is in rebel hands). it is very hot and arid, with few oases.
Total bollocks. The summit had a cairn and there were several other cairns around the nearby secondary summit. Who built those? The fairy folk?
Typical white supremacy tale: no one else has ever been here on a hill in bongo bongo land because you can’t buy a journal of their ascent in the Hampstead branch of WH Smith.
Clearly some Scots had been there if there were cairns ...
Vous saurez qu’on dit en proverbe Que d’écossais, de rats, de poux, Ceux qui voyagent jusqu’au bout Du monde en rencontrent partout.
And I thought the French were the Scots' allies!!!
They also say that at the bottom of every hole in the ground you'll find a Cornishman. Not sure which is a better place to be - the bottom of a hole, or 'au bout du monde'
Among the students of Arabic at the FCO in 1981-2, Aden was known as the arsehole of the universe, and Sana'a to be 400 miles up it. Oh they did laugh when I got news of my posting - Sana'a.
BBC Look North, our local TV news station, say they invited ALL Lincolnshire and E. Yorks Tory MPs to appear tonight to comment on Boris Johnson's partying but ALL declined. https://twitter.com/BardneyBoy/status/1480984146843471875
They must’ve seen the latest Redfield & Wilton split for Yorkshire & Humber:
Lab 63% Con 25% LD 8% Refuk 3%
Those Con MPs need Boris gone. And gone fast.
Didn't R&W have a +5 Labour lead. So what is offsetting a +38% in Yorks and Humber? That is a c. +20% swing vs a 8% swing nationally on those numbers
Christopher Hope📝 @christopherhope · 6m NEW Strong rumours in Parliament from two Government sources tonight that Boris Johnson will make some sort of statement tomorrow lunchtime about partygate just before Prime Minister's Questions.
It worked the last time round so Boris is going to try it again.
The Speaker should just reject it as it was asked about today..
Unless the statement is "I resign" how does this help?
I was at the party, but didn't inhale...
Surely when we talk about Boris it would be 'but she didn't swallow?'
Oh, pleeeease. I haven't had dinner yet.
Imagine how desperate you’d have to be to let De Pfeffel stick his tongue in your mouth. Jeeez… Surely any sane woman would prefer a vow of chastity.
A classic example of ignoring the overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
Gove. Hmm. I still very much doubt it, except in caretaker capacity.
Thought he was good this week on Today after the stuck in a lift episode. Particularly skilled at deploying the 1 word answer which gives the interviewer not much to go on.
That lift story ended in a terrible tragedy when somebody let him out.
Dr Hans Henri Kluge, the WHO regional director for Europe, said people should be doing "everything possible not to get infected in the first place".
From the Telegraph article on how the UK has probably already moved to an endemic state of the virus.
Really shows how wrongheaded the thinking is. It's completely unrealistic to try and avoid getting the virus, especially now that Omicron is in the frame. Asymptomatic protection from Omicron after three doses is probably close to zero.
I think that the WHO is rather more worried about Eastern Europe than Western Europe, albeit that I doubt NPIs are going to make that much difference anywhere against Omicron (to say nothing of what happens if or when something even more transmissible rocks up to replace it.)
None of which will, of course, dissuade some people from wanting to inflict restrictions "protections" upon entire nations for years on end, if not forever.
The issue is that everyone who can be vaccinated is eligible to get one in Europe. I'm not really sure what NPIs to dodge cases achieves at this point.
Since it's now the evening, here's an interesting story: A man climbs the highest mountain in Libya, Bikku Bitti, which no-one had climbed before. It takes him three attempts in two years, during one of which he nearly dies. The mountain is on the Libya/Chad border, hundreds of kilometres from the nearest village (and that is in rebel hands). it is very hot and arid, with few oases.
Total bollocks. The summit had a cairn and there were several other cairns around the nearby secondary summit. Who built those? The fairy folk?
Typical white supremacy tale: no one else has ever been here on a hill in bongo bongo land because you can’t buy a journal of their ascent in the Hampstead branch of WH Smith.
Certainly in Scotland the tradition is that you add 1 stone to the cairn. Not sure about Libya but very probably a lot of local people.
I'm a paid up member (well, would be if there was such a thing) of the cairn destruction society.
A small summit cairn is fine, but sometimes these things are just a menace and an eyesore.
Christopher Hope📝 @christopherhope · 6m NEW Strong rumours in Parliament from two Government sources tonight that Boris Johnson will make some sort of statement tomorrow lunchtime about partygate just before Prime Minister's Questions.
It worked the last time round so Boris is going to try it again.
The Speaker should just reject it as it was asked about today..
Unless the statement is "I resign" how does this help?
I was at the party, but didn't inhale...
Surely when we talk about Boris it would be 'but she didn't swallow?'
Oh, pleeeease. I haven't had dinner yet.
Imagine how desperate you’d have to be to let De Pfeffel stick his tongue in your mouth. Jeeez… Surely any sane woman would prefer a vow of chastity.
I'll leave that for the female PBers to assess.
Female, cisgender or otherwise, AND of a heterosexual persuasion I think you mean.
Christopher Hope📝 @christopherhope · 6m NEW Strong rumours in Parliament from two Government sources tonight that Boris Johnson will make some sort of statement tomorrow lunchtime about partygate just before Prime Minister's Questions.
It worked the last time round so Boris is going to try it again.
The Speaker should just reject it as it was asked about today..
Unless the statement is "I resign" how does this help?
I was at the party, but didn't inhale...
Surely when we talk about Boris it would be 'but she didn't swallow?'
Oh, pleeeease. I haven't had dinner yet.
Imagine how desperate you’d have to be to let De Pfeffel stick his tongue in your mouth. Jeeez… Surely any sane woman would prefer a vow of chastity.
I'll leave that for the female PBers to assess.
Female, cisgender or otherwise, AND of a heterosexual persuasion I think you mean.
Thank you - I am corrected. Main thing is, they are better judges than I am, which was my intent anyway ...
Gove. Hmm. I still very much doubt it, except in caretaker capacity.
Thought he was good this week on Today after the stuck in a lift episode. Particularly skilled at deploying the 1 word answer which gives the interviewer not much to go on.
That lift story ended in a terrible tragedy when somebody let him out.
it was just wrong on so many levels.
That is a truly brilliant pun. It has elevated the conversation.
Since it's now the evening, here's an interesting story: A man climbs the highest mountain in Libya, Bikku Bitti, which no-one had climbed before. It takes him three attempts in two years, during one of which he nearly dies. The mountain is on the Libya/Chad border, hundreds of kilometres from the nearest village (and that is in rebel hands). it is very hot and arid, with few oases.
Total bollocks. The summit had a cairn and there were several other cairns around the nearby secondary summit. Who built those? The fairy folk?
Typical white supremacy tale: no one else has ever been here on a hill in bongo bongo land because you can’t buy a journal of their ascent in the Hampstead branch of WH Smith.
Certainly in Scotland the tradition is that you add 1 stone to the cairn. Not sure about Libya but very probably a lot of local people.
I'm a paid up member (well, would be if there was such a thing) of the cairn destruction society.
A small summit cairn is fine, but sometimes these things are just a menace and an eyesore.
Dr Hans Henri Kluge, the WHO regional director for Europe, said people should be doing "everything possible not to get infected in the first place".
From the Telegraph article on how the UK has probably already moved to an endemic state of the virus.
Really shows how wrongheaded the thinking is. It's completely unrealistic to try and avoid getting the virus, especially now that Omicron is in the frame. Asymptomatic protection from Omicron after three doses is probably close to zero.
everything possible not to get infected in the first place
Since it's now the evening, here's an interesting story: A man climbs the highest mountain in Libya, Bikku Bitti, which no-one had climbed before. It takes him three attempts in two years, during one of which he nearly dies. The mountain is on the Libya/Chad border, hundreds of kilometres from the nearest village (and that is in rebel hands). it is very hot and arid, with few oases.
Total bollocks. The summit had a cairn and there were several other cairns around the nearby secondary summit. Who built those? The fairy folk?
Typical white supremacy tale: no one else has ever been here on a hill in bongo bongo land because you can’t buy a journal of their ascent in the Hampstead branch of WH Smith.
Clearly some Scots had been there if there were cairns ...
Vous saurez qu’on dit en proverbe Que d’écossais, de rats, de poux, Ceux qui voyagent jusqu’au bout Du monde en rencontrent partout.
And I thought the French were the Scots' allies!!!
They also say that at the bottom of every hole in the ground you'll find a Cornishman. Not sure which is a better place to be - the bottom of a hole, or 'au bout du monde'
Among the students of Arabic at the FCO in 1981-2, Aden was known as the arsehole of the universe, and Sana'a to be 400 miles up it. Oh they did laugh when I got news of my posting - Sana'a.
They were just delighted they didn’t find les anglais.
Dr Hans Henri Kluge, the WHO regional director for Europe, said people should be doing "everything possible not to get infected in the first place".
From the Telegraph article on how the UK has probably already moved to an endemic state of the virus.
Really shows how wrongheaded the thinking is. It's completely unrealistic to try and avoid getting the virus, especially now that Omicron is in the frame. Asymptomatic protection from Omicron after three doses is probably close to zero.
France is reporting 370,000 cases TODAY
Given that they aren't the world's biggest testers, that suggests maybe even a million French people caught Omicron in one day. This bug is insane. It rips through populations like a wildfire through drought-stricken prairie corn
This is bad and good, obvs. Bad because the pressure on economies and health systems is intense. Good because the intensity is really quite brief
It's a thunderstorm, not a weather depression. Stand firm on the main deck!
If the PM admits to breaking the law & he decides to resign (no definite sign this is the plan btw)… it’s very difficult for him to stay in as acting PM while there is a leadership contest https://twitter.com/REWearmouth/status/1481000582156591107
Gove. Hmm. I still very much doubt it, except in caretaker capacity.
Thought he was good this week on Today after the stuck in a lift episode. Particularly skilled at deploying the 1 word answer which gives the interviewer not much to go on.
That lift story ended in a terrible tragedy when somebody let him out.
LOL. He was basically selling a bit of extortion by which the government bullies those vaguely involved but with money to cough up £4bn or face punitive taxation. Not a particularly Tory thing to do but highly populist. He’s not to be under estimated.
It’s been a long time coming a policy on this. How realistic and practical was what he said though? As time is of the essence how quickly can the money go to the people who need it saving them from their stress? Could the government itself not do more in the meantime?
The problem is that the developers are not at fault either. This cladding met the regulations of the time.
None of government, leaseholders, freeholders, developers really were to blame, though possibly some of the manufacturers were. In effect Grenfell retrospectively altered building standards.
If the PM admits to breaking the law & he decides to resign (no definite sign this is the plan btw)… it’s very difficult for him to stay in as acting PM while there is a leadership contest https://twitter.com/REWearmouth/status/1481000582156591107
But he's never taken responsibility for anything properly in his life. There's a first time for everything, I suppose, but I still wonder if he might just try and tough it out and an on, each time battling on until the next time Cummings pulls a rabbit out of the hat, with his position just getting progressively worse and worse each time.
I'm tempted to say 'let them pay'. I can't get over the line though.
I don't really think we should let them die
But pay? Yes, absolutely. Tax them, unless they are medically exempt. A Covid jizya on the anti-vaxxers
Just saw the movie about Meyer Lansky. His innovation for the mob was counsel enforcers not to maim or kill those who owed money, but to help them make more money so you could take more.
Cameron. Saved the Conservative government by promising to hold the referendum. Then saved the Conservative Party by losing it. Pasties and gay marriage counting for scandal. Rose garden sunshine to whistling a happy tune in 6 years. What a rum life it is.
May. Hmmmm…. #brexitmeansbrexit obviously. Three years of nationwide head scratching, followed by Oliver Letwin’s Wikipedia page shooting up the Google rankings. And then Dancing queen. All seems like good fun with the passage of time. Apart from the hand holding with Trump. Yuck.
Johnson. Saved the Conservative government by dismantling the conservative (small c) party. Was good for business of spider brooch makers and bad for pub landlords (except Grabcoque’s obvs). #getbrexitdone to Happy Birthday (sung twice) in 3 months. And then two years of plodding. Here’s hoping there’s an amusing denouement.
Dr Hans Henri Kluge, the WHO regional director for Europe, said people should be doing "everything possible not to get infected in the first place".
From the Telegraph article on how the UK has probably already moved to an endemic state of the virus.
Really shows how wrongheaded the thinking is. It's completely unrealistic to try and avoid getting the virus, especially now that Omicron is in the frame. Asymptomatic protection from Omicron after three doses is probably close to zero.
France is reporting 370,000 cases TODAY
Given that they aren't the world's biggest testers, that suggests maybe even a million French people caught Omicron in one day. This bug is insane. It rips through populations like a wildfire through drought-stricken prairie corn
This is bad and good, obvs. Bad because the pressure on economies and health systems is intense. Good because the intensity is really quite brief
It's a thunderstorm, not a weather depression. Stand firm on the main deck!
Indeed, but the WHO seems incapable of saying that countries should no longer bother trying to stop the spread and instead concentrate on keeping essential services going. Omicron is just too much to handle in democratic countries, governments can't weld doors shut and have soldiers forcibly relocate people to quarantine centres with the threat of violence.
If the PM admits to breaking the law & he decides to resign (no definite sign this is the plan btw)… it’s very difficult for him to stay in as acting PM while there is a leadership contest https://twitter.com/REWearmouth/status/1481000582156591107
But he's never taken responsibility for anything properly in his life. There's a first time for everything, I suppose, but I still wonder if he might just try and tough it out ond an on, each time battling on until the next time Cummings pulls a rabbit out of the hat.
Can there possibly be anything more to come out? This feels like the endgame. Either he is toppled (by his own side and the sheer weight of anger) or he endures, and will probably continue until 2024
I agree with the markets that the former is likelier, some time this year, but he is a great survivor
BBC Look North, our local TV news station, say they invited ALL Lincolnshire and E. Yorks Tory MPs to appear tonight to comment on Boris Johnson's partying but ALL declined. https://twitter.com/BardneyBoy/status/1480984146843471875
They must’ve seen the latest Redfield & Wilton split for Yorkshire & Humber:
Lab 63% Con 25% LD 8% Refuk 3%
Those Con MPs need Boris gone. And gone fast.
Didn't R&W have a +5 Labour lead. So what is offsetting a +38% in Yorks and Humber? That is a c. +20% swing vs a 8% swing nationally on those numbers
Cameron. Saved the Conservative government by promising to hold the referendum. Then saved the Conservative Party by losing it. Pasties and gay marriage counting for scandal. Rose garden sunshine to whistling a happy tune in 6 years. What a rum life it is.
What saved the Conservative Party was the extraordinary line that while he was leader of the party and Prime Minister, the party wasn't obliged to support him in the referendum.
This official neutrality allowed Conservatives to fight on both sides of the referendum campaign yet somehow the Party didn't appear split (which it obviously was).
The question to ask is whether Cameron would have been as magnanimous in victory as May was in defeat. One for another day as there's a lot going on at the moment.
If the PM admits to breaking the law & he decides to resign (no definite sign this is the plan btw)… it’s very difficult for him to stay in as acting PM while there is a leadership contest https://twitter.com/REWearmouth/status/1481000582156591107
Of course, in that event there must be a Prime Minister, so getting Raab to just fill in is a non-starter. Now, does Johnson then have to nominate a successor for the Queen to summon, or is that up to the Cabinet?
I'm tempted to say 'let them pay'. I can't get over the line though.
I don't really think we should let them die
But pay? Yes, absolutely. Tax them, unless they are medically exempt. A Covid jizya on the anti-vaxxers
Wouldn't hurt them anyway I guess as most of them (4/4 in my acquaintance) are poor anyway. Seems to be a religious connection too, and an astonishing familiarity with the activities of Bill Gates and George Soros. Brushes across the realm must be rising up to claim their not-bottom-of-the-pile status.
Since it's now the evening, here's an interesting story: A man climbs the highest mountain in Libya, Bikku Bitti, which no-one had climbed before. It takes him three attempts in two years, during one of which he nearly dies. The mountain is on the Libya/Chad border, hundreds of kilometres from the nearest village (and that is in rebel hands). it is very hot and arid, with few oases.
Total bollocks. The summit had a cairn and there were several other cairns around the nearby secondary summit. Who built those? The fairy folk?
Typical white supremacy tale: no one else has ever been here on a hill in bongo bongo land because you can’t buy a journal of their ascent in the Hampstead branch of WH Smith.
Certainly in Scotland the tradition is that you add 1 stone to the cairn. Not sure about Libya but very probably a lot of local people.
I'm a paid up member (well, would be if there was such a thing) of the cairn destruction society.
A small summit cairn is fine, but sometimes these things are just a menace and an eyesore.
As first world problems go, that’s right up there.
True. Although it rather defeats the object of having wild places.
There have been deaths on Ben Nevis attributed to the proliferation of cairns, although following cairns without checking your bearing is not a winning move in winter.
If the PM admits to breaking the law & he decides to resign (no definite sign this is the plan btw)… it’s very difficult for him to stay in as acting PM while there is a leadership contest https://twitter.com/REWearmouth/status/1481000582156591107
Who would become acting PM in that scenario? Raab? Gove? Sunak? Truss? JRM?
Conservative MPs are watching Boris Johnson stonewall over allegations of pandemic rule-breaking parties at his office with horror — and a degree of gallows humor https://trib.al/LRS5dJ8
Personally I think he might just do a runner one day.
No big resignation announcement, no podium moment, no TV interview or PMQs or whatever. Just one day, no-one can find Boris. All the journos, all the cabinet, everyone just going "where's the PM? He's not turned up for the thing and he missed the last thing".
2 days later and some fax comes in from Outer Mongolia that he's stepped down and X is now in charge. Never to be heard from again.
Cameron. Saved the Conservative government by promising to hold the referendum. Then saved the Conservative Party by losing it. Pasties and gay marriage counting for scandal. Rose garden sunshine to whistling a happy tune in 6 years. What a rum life it is.
What saved the Conservative Party was the extraordinary line that while he was leader of the party and Prime Minister, the party wasn't obliged to support him in the referendum.
This official neutrality allowed Conservatives to fight on both sides of the referendum campaign yet somehow the Party didn't appear split (which it obviously was).
The question to ask is whether Cameron would have been as magnanimous in victory as May was in defeat. One for another day as there's a lot going on at the moment.
Continuity Remain Conservatives were either politically homeless or glumly voted as they always do. Continuity Brexit Conservatives on the other hand would have been a destructive force in British politics like we’ve rarely seen.
Cameron. Saved the Conservative government by promising to hold the referendum. Then saved the Conservative Party by losing it. Pasties and gay marriage counting for scandal. Rose garden sunshine to whistling a happy tune in 6 years. What a rum life it is.
What saved the Conservative Party was the extraordinary line that while he was leader of the party and Prime Minister, the party wasn't obliged to support him in the referendum.
This official neutrality allowed Conservatives to fight on both sides of the referendum campaign yet somehow the Party didn't appear split (which it obviously was).
The question to ask is whether Cameron would have been as magnanimous in victory as May was in defeat. One for another day as there's a lot going on at the moment.
It’s a slow-motion split with half of the remainers swallowing their pride and principles and becoming born-again leavers (just in time for that ship to sink) and the other half being pushed or walking away, underlying the Tories’ current troubles in the south.
They’ve got away with it, until now, because they’ve collapsed back the nuttier right-wing vote back into their column and borrowed the votes of many formerly Labour leavers. But the latter looks like shaky ground and the former hinges upon Farage continuing to enjoy his retirement.
Overheard in Westminster: "When Boris goes they should open up Downing Street to the public so everyone can take a look at the wallpaper. Like the palace of a deposed ruler after the fall of the Soviet Union." https://twitter.com/HugoGye/status/1480951026232537090
How much public or donated money will it take to tear down the godawful Lulu Lytle wallpaper?
Dr Hans Henri Kluge, the WHO regional director for Europe, said people should be doing "everything possible not to get infected in the first place".
From the Telegraph article on how the UK has probably already moved to an endemic state of the virus.
Really shows how wrongheaded the thinking is. It's completely unrealistic to try and avoid getting the virus, especially now that Omicron is in the frame. Asymptomatic protection from Omicron after three doses is probably close to zero.
France is reporting 370,000 cases TODAY
Given that they aren't the world's biggest testers, that suggests maybe even a million French people caught Omicron in one day. This bug is insane. It rips through populations like a wildfire through drought-stricken prairie corn
This is bad and good, obvs. Bad because the pressure on economies and health systems is intense. Good because the intensity is really quite brief
It's a thunderstorm, not a weather depression. Stand firm on the main deck!
Indeed, but the WHO seems incapable of saying that countries should no longer bother trying to stop the spread and instead concentrate on keeping essential services going. Omicron is just too much to handle in democratic countries, governments can't weld doors shut and have soldiers forcibly relocate people to quarantine centres with the threat of violence.
There is no evidence yet that even a Chinese style lockdown - creating instant Gulags of metal containers and forcing tens of thousands to hide inside them - can truly halt Omicron. They squashed it for a bit in Xi'an, and yet it still spreads to other cities, forcing more lockdowns. 20m Chinese are now in full quarantine, another 14 million in some kind of lockdown, with no idea of an end
It is one of the most transmissible diseases we have ever encountered as a species, almost as if it was deliberately engineered to be so
Speaking of which, the latest evidence on lab leak continues to look pretty convincing - and bad for Fauci et al. Early on they themselves reckoned it was probably an engineered virus, but they said nothing: instead they tried to squash the evidence "for the reputation of science"
"We've released never before seen emails showing Dr. Fauci may have concealed information about #COVID19 originating from the Wuhan lab & intentionally downplayed the lab leak theory.
Christopher Hope📝 @christopherhope · 6m NEW Strong rumours in Parliament from two Government sources tonight that Boris Johnson will make some sort of statement tomorrow lunchtime about partygate just before Prime Minister's Questions.
It worked the last time round so Boris is going to try it again.
The Speaker should just reject it as it was asked about today..
Unless the statement is "I resign" how does this help?
I was at the party, but didn't inhale...
Surely when we talk about Boris it would be 'but she didn't swallow?'
Oh, pleeeease. I haven't had dinner yet.
Imagine how desperate you’d have to be to let De Pfeffel stick his tongue in your mouth. Jeeez… Surely any sane woman would prefer a vow of chastity.
A classic example of ignoring the overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
You consider all Johnson’s burds to be sane? Well, it is a point of view.
Comments
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Six+Crossroads+Roundabout,+Woking/@51.3343685,-0.5457461,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x4875d8119bb907dd:0xa0b868b52fce8a6e
And why isn't it Birmingham Sutton Coldfield?
The kind of thing I'm interested in.
Sad I know.
I believe this is a first, but many on here have suggested similar.
It might not happen this week, this month but I do now think it will happen this year.
After the May locals perhaps.
https://twitter.com/BardneyBoy/status/1480984146843471875
Hitler's decision to declare war on the US after Pearl Harbour is harder to explain. He could have chosen not to, and the hopes of Japan opening an eastern attack on Russia to reduce troops in the west was rather optimistic. It does make sense if he felt that, like in WW1, the US entering the war was inevitable (and to be fair, the US had been arming the anti-Axis powers).
Japan's decision to declare war on the US was insane. The only way they could have won is if the US chose not to fight - and that was a dramatic misreading of the American psyche, despite the isolationists.
Total bollocks. The summit had a cairn and there were several other cairns around the nearby secondary summit. Who built those? The fairy folk?
Typical white supremacy tale: no one else has ever been here on a hill in bongo bongo land because you can’t buy a journal of their ascent in the Hampstead branch of WH Smith.
Chris has won, Topping has lost.
Happy to doublecheck when I know what their bet was but it's unlikely to change anything.
I think he was forced into it by increasing baldness meaning days of his trademark winning Love Actually hair are behind him. The new cut isn’t as suited to his face and head as that trademark, someone replying said it made him look more thuggish which summed up very well.
Your hair is 93.4% of your sexual appeal, regardless the sexuality you feel you are. Also, anyone who has been an MP has been told voters are forming opinion of you less on what you are saying more so on your appearance. So hair loss is difficult for male politicians.
Which makes Angela’s crimes all the greater. Unless her values are Victorian she shouldn’t have Victorian hair. Since the Victorian era we have had the 60s. No, forget I said that, her bangs are straight out the sixties. She should simply get a lob, if it’s over the eyes and face like mine so much the sexier, as hiding a bit a away for peek a boo adds to the appeal.
Lab 63%
Con 25%
LD 8%
Refuk 3%
Those Con MPs need Boris gone. And gone fast.
Nine Standards Rigg is an interesting example - not that I've ever been there.
It's a shame I can't find a photo of Bikku Bitti's summit to see how large these cairns are. Are they just a few stones arranged together, or something larger?
From the Telegraph article on how the UK has probably already moved to an endemic state of the virus.
Really shows how wrongheaded the thinking is. It's completely unrealistic to try and avoid getting the virus, especially now that Omicron is in the frame. Asymptomatic protection from Omicron after three doses is probably close to zero.
May - failure. Ended by Brexit.
And Boris Johnson.
Johnson - failure. Ended by …. Boris Johnson. (Who failed to “get Brexit done.”)
I think we can be confident the group of people who picked 3 failed PMs can deliver a 4th.
https://twitter.com/gavinesler/status/1480995324952985605
https://twitter.com/helenebismarck/status/1480984425324322820
This is an example of why:
https://twitter.com/PippaCrerar/status/1480901078937911308?s=20
I am genuinely suprised Boris has managed to avoid it.
🥳15/05/20 No.10 cheese and wine party
🥳20/05/20 BYOB party
🥳13/11/20 Leaving drinks
🥳13/11/20 Johnson’s flat party
🥳25/11/20 Treasury drinks
🥳27/11/20 Another leaving drinks
🥳10/12/20 Department of Education drinks
Next slide please…
https://twitter.com/darrenmccaffrey/status/1480870241500647427
Que d’écossais, de rats, de poux,
Ceux qui voyagent jusqu’au bout
Du monde en rencontrent partout.
None of which will, of course, dissuade some people from wanting to inflict restrictions "protections" upon entire nations for years on end, if not forever.
https://twitter.com/HugoGye/status/1480951026232537090
Until the thick cloud split and this guy wanders through with his Labrador and an arran jumper. “Afternoon” the cheery bastard said and promptly disappeared back into the cloud.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10390747/Doctor-reveals-critically-ill-Covid-patient-treated-hospital-unvaccinated.html
They also say that at the bottom of every hole in the ground you'll find a Cornishman. Not sure which is a better place to be - the bottom of a hole, or 'au bout du monde'
Among the students of Arabic at the FCO in 1981-2, Aden was known as the arsehole of the universe, and Sana'a to be 400 miles up it. Oh they did laugh when I got news of my posting - Sana'a.
https://electionresults.parliament.uk/election/2019-12-12/results/Location/Region/Yorkshire and The Humber
A small summit cairn is fine, but sometimes these things are just a menace and an eyesore.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/oct/30/ben-nevis-visitors-urged-not-to-build-mini-cairns
Very China.
Given that they aren't the world's biggest testers, that suggests maybe even a million French people caught Omicron in one day. This bug is insane. It rips through populations like a wildfire through drought-stricken prairie corn
This is bad and good, obvs. Bad because the pressure on economies and health systems is intense. Good because the intensity is really quite brief
It's a thunderstorm, not a weather depression. Stand firm on the main deck!
https://twitter.com/REWearmouth/status/1481000582156591107
None of government, leaseholders, freeholders, developers really were to blame, though possibly some of the manufacturers were. In effect Grenfell retrospectively altered building standards.
But pay? Yes, absolutely. Tax them, unless they are medically exempt. A Covid jizya on the anti-vaxxers
May. Hmmmm…. #brexitmeansbrexit obviously. Three years of nationwide head scratching, followed by Oliver Letwin’s Wikipedia page shooting up the Google rankings. And then Dancing queen. All seems like good fun with the passage of time. Apart from the hand holding with Trump. Yuck.
Johnson. Saved the Conservative government by dismantling the conservative (small c) party. Was good for business of spider brooch makers and bad for pub landlords (except Grabcoque’s obvs). #getbrexitdone to Happy Birthday (sung twice) in 3 months. And then two years of plodding. Here’s hoping there’s an amusing denouement.
Who would you prefer as head of state
Queen Elizabeth II
President Boris Johnson
I agree with the markets that the former is likelier, some time this year, but he is a great survivor
Only YouGov correctly weight geographical subsamples.
This official neutrality allowed Conservatives to fight on both sides of the referendum campaign yet somehow the Party didn't appear split (which it obviously was).
The question to ask is whether Cameron would have been as magnanimous in victory as May was in defeat. One for another day as there's a lot going on at the moment.
There have been deaths on Ben Nevis attributed to the proliferation of cairns, although following cairns without checking your bearing is not a winning move in winter.
No big resignation announcement, no podium moment, no TV interview or PMQs or whatever. Just one day, no-one can find Boris. All the journos, all the cabinet, everyone just going "where's the PM? He's not turned up for the thing and he missed the last thing".
2 days later and some fax comes in from Outer Mongolia that he's stepped down and X is now in charge. Never to be heard from again.
Or something.
They’ve got away with it, until now, because they’ve collapsed back the nuttier right-wing vote back into their column and borrowed the votes of many formerly Labour leavers. But the latter looks like shaky ground and the former hinges upon Farage continuing to enjoy his retirement.
It is one of the most transmissible diseases we have ever encountered as a species, almost as if it was deliberately engineered to be so
Speaking of which, the latest evidence on lab leak continues to look pretty convincing - and bad for Fauci et al. Early on they themselves reckoned it was probably an engineered virus, but they said nothing: instead they tried to squash the evidence "for the reputation of science"
"We've released never before seen emails showing Dr. Fauci may have concealed information about #COVID19 originating from the Wuhan lab & intentionally downplayed the lab leak theory.
@RepJamesComer
&
@Jim_Jordan
want Fauci under oath. Time for answers. 1/2"
https://twitter.com/GOPoversight/status/1480909671082901504?s=20
https://twitter.com/zerohedge/status/1480937872656154628?s=20