Pretty much everyone with a technology or finance background has the same view of cryptocurrency, or at least cryptocurrencies currently available.
A view which isn’t helped much, by the fact that the people pushing them hard were mostly selling Majorcan timeshares three years ago.
Bitcoin (and perhaps one or two others) is unusual in that it functions as a commodity, whereas most other cryptos are esssentially unregulated securities - penny stocks, pump and dump scams. NFTs are just speculation + money laundering.
The reason why bitcoin is interesting is because it is the first example of digital scarcity and a solution to the byzantine generals problem. This, along with the power expended to secure the network, give it value (how much value is up to the market to determine).
It's dangerous to lump all crypto into the "worthless" pile just because 99% are unregulated securities and scams. Most of them are pale imitators of the original, which has value due to the above.
We are in the pets.com era of the crypto bubble, most cryptos will fade away and be nothing more than footnotes in a decade, but there will likely be a FAANG group of cryptos that rise out of the current speculative mania and go on to become a part of daily life for most people around the globe.
Three valuable use cases are the ability to bring banking to the unbanked (huge in developing nations), remit money without paying 25% western union fees (again, huge in developing nations) and valuable in countries where the currency is weak or subject to hyperinflation (which is why places like Turkey have tried to ban it).
The idea that crypto is nothing more than rampant speculation without an underlying use case is a very western, developed world-centric viewpoint.
IF bitcoin has a value, its surely to hide assets from kleptocracies? That's why China banned it, surely. They don't want an asset class they can't track or confiscate from people who incur their displeasure.
Yes, that is another use case. Although it's questionable since places like China have banned it and Russia are in the process of banning it. So while you can "hide" your wealth and transport it across borders, the government can make it very hard for you to purchase the crypto in the first place. A good analogy would be trying to buy dollars during the USSR era.
I was focusing on some of the other, lesser discussed use cases to point out bitcoin's value to people the current system impoverishes. Globally, about 1.7bn people are unbanked, a bitcoin wallet with lightning integration means anyone with a mobile phone can be their own bank and transfer money anywhere in the world quickly and cheaply. That is truly revolutionary IMHO.
The speed at which crypto has gained a foothold in Nigeria, for example, is of far more interest to me than some timeshare scammer shilling million dollar NFTs.
Things to note: 1. Elderly people are the dominant group in Covid deaths 2. Elderly people would very, very often have some other condition that would merit at least a 'contributing' cause on the death certificate.
So it is unsurprising that very few people have only Covid on a death certificate. Many with other causes listed were still, very definitely, killed by Covid
(For background, I've worked with ONS death data derived from death certificates for a number of years. The cetificate fields are interpreted differently and filled in differently by different people. They have their uses, but you need to be aware of the limitations around e.g. cause of death)
Edit: So, if you have absolutely no comorbidities then you're likely at very low risk from Covid (which, of course, we knew already). You're also at very low risk of being elderly
"If a prime minister resigned suddenly or died, and there was a majority government, it would be up to the cabinet to recommend an immediate successor to the Queen. This could be done with the expectation that his or her role would be temporary, pending the election of a new party leader. However, while political parties usually have the ability to appoint an ‘acting leader’ if the leader resigns or is incapacitated, there is no formal ‘acting prime minister’ role. He or she would be prime minister until they chose to resign or if their cabinet forced them out."
So for those betting on Next PM markets or Next CP leader market, would Raab count?
It depends. What does your bookmaker say? Betfair will settle on whoever is named on the government's own web site. The Raab/May school of thought is they might be the actual Prime Minister for a brief period between Boris flouncing and a new leader being elected.
What's the sequence if Boris is removed as party leader but refuses to resign as PM? I assume it goes Tory party leadership election -> vote of no confidence in government (whipped by new party leader to vote NC) -> HMQ invites new Tory party leader to form a government? Could be interesting if the membership vote returns a party leader backed by only a minority of Tory MPs.
Who would institute a VONC in that scenario? It has to be the official Opposition. Am not aware that the leader of the Tory Party has that gift.
I don't think that's right. It may be that the convention is that the government is only obliged to give Parliamentary time for the VONC if it's instigated by the opposition. Looking into it further, though, I am not sure what happens under FTPA if the PM refuses to resign. A VONC leads to an election within 14 days unless there's a subsequent VOC in the same or an alternative government. If the PM hasn't resigned, and HMQ doesn't fire him, can an alternative government be in place to be voted upon?
It would be a massive abuse of constitutional convention for a PM to refuse to resign in this situation, of course, but that doesn't really provide any comfort in the case of Boris.
Sub-variant of Omicron being investigated by UK health agency Scientists have said they are investigating a sub-variant of Omicron known as BA.2.
In a tweet posted on Friday lunchtime, the UK Health Security Agency said BA.2 had been designated as a variant under investigation - though case numbers were "currently low".
The UKHSA, the government agency responsible for public health protection, said the original Omicron variant, known as BA.1, remained the dominant form of Covid in the UK.
Further analyses would be undertaken into the new variant, the UKHSA said.
Dr Meera Chand, incident director at the UKHSA, said: "It is the nature of viruses to evolve and mutate, so it's to be expected that we will continue to see new variants emerge as the pandemic goes on.
"Our continued genomic surveillance allows us to detect them and assess whether they are significant."
I pity the fool that gets over excited by this new variant.
Exactly. If they were more like me, they would have spotted this variant about a month ago, and would now be fully apprised of its potentialities - and/or lack
PB should pay me as a kind of human early warning system
I'm sure plenty of us would pay you to never talk about Covid-19 again.
Either is good. PayPal?
Yebbut would the slack be taken up by UFOs and stachoos?
If so am oot.
Of course they wouldn't. The correct term is UAPs.
Pretty much everyone with a technology or finance background has the same view of cryptocurrency, or at least cryptocurrencies currently available.
A view which isn’t helped much, by the fact that the people pushing them hard were mostly selling Majorcan timeshares three years ago.
Bitcoin (and perhaps one or two others) is unusual in that it functions as a commodity, whereas most other cryptos are esssentially unregulated securities - penny stocks, pump and dump scams. NFTs are just speculation + money laundering.
The reason why bitcoin is interesting is because it is the first example of digital scarcity and a solution to the byzantine generals problem. This, along with the power expended to secure the network, give it value (how much value is up to the market to determine).
It's dangerous to lump all crypto into the "worthless" pile just because 99% are unregulated securities and scams. Most of them are pale imitators of the original, which has value due to the above.
We are in the pets.com era of the crypto bubble, most cryptos will fade away and be nothing more than footnotes in a decade, but there will likely be a FAANG group of cryptos that rise out of the current speculative mania and go on to become a part of daily life for most people around the globe.
Three valuable use cases are the ability to bring banking to the unbanked (huge in developing nations), remit money without paying 25% western union fees (again, huge in developing nations) and valuable in countries where the currency is weak or subject to hyperinflation (which is why places like Turkey have tried to ban it).
The idea that crypto is nothing more than rampant speculation without an underlying use case is a very western, developed world-centric viewpoint.
IF bitcoin has a value, its surely to hide assets from kleptocracies? That's why China banned it, surely. They don't want an asset class they can't track or confiscate from people who incur their displeasure.
The notion BTC is untrackable is actually one of the biggest falsehoods. Its the opposite, it is so easy to track people who are shifting large amounts, even with tumblers.
China bans are about control and the fact the miners were causing issues with power supply, not they can't track it.
But that's tracking the trades though, right? not tracking who owns what? I imagine the latter would take a huge amount of time and manpower in the country China's size.
Sub-variant of Omicron being investigated by UK health agency Scientists have said they are investigating a sub-variant of Omicron known as BA.2.
In a tweet posted on Friday lunchtime, the UK Health Security Agency said BA.2 had been designated as a variant under investigation - though case numbers were "currently low".
The UKHSA, the government agency responsible for public health protection, said the original Omicron variant, known as BA.1, remained the dominant form of Covid in the UK.
Further analyses would be undertaken into the new variant, the UKHSA said.
Dr Meera Chand, incident director at the UKHSA, said: "It is the nature of viruses to evolve and mutate, so it's to be expected that we will continue to see new variants emerge as the pandemic goes on.
"Our continued genomic surveillance allows us to detect them and assess whether they are significant."
I pity the fool that gets over excited by this new variant.
I see Pagel still hasn't got the memo. Apparently its still too risky to consider getting rid of restrictions.
How does she ever leave the house? Does she ever leave the house?
"If a prime minister resigned suddenly or died, and there was a majority government, it would be up to the cabinet to recommend an immediate successor to the Queen. This could be done with the expectation that his or her role would be temporary, pending the election of a new party leader. However, while political parties usually have the ability to appoint an ‘acting leader’ if the leader resigns or is incapacitated, there is no formal ‘acting prime minister’ role. He or she would be prime minister until they chose to resign or if their cabinet forced them out."
So for those betting on Next PM markets or Next CP leader market, would Raab count?
Depends on the rules applicable to each individual bookmaker/market, I would imagine. The Betfair rules for next Conservative leader, for example, stipulate the announcement of the next permanent leader after Boris Johnson, so that clearly excludes Raab acting up. The next PM market, OTOH, would apparently be settled on the basis of whomsoever is next stated to be the PM on the gov.uk website after Boris Johnson, so Raab would presumably count if nominated as a caretaker in the event that Johnson resigns before the Tory party can elect a new leader.
Is right. For this reason I've done Raab to complement my Starmer/Sunak/Mordaunt positions on Next PM.
In happier news. My 100% record of having mildly disappointing food (on my one previous Sri Lankan trip) has been easily shattered. It’s all good so far. Black Pork Curry lunch here was absolutely excellent
Colombo is a strange city. Poor, scruffy, yet in places intensely civilised. And stunned by the sun and heat into an amiable complacency
Are there still lots of stray dogs lining the streets? Was when I was there. Plagued with them - a bit off-putting.
In other Sri Lankan news I have discovered that my hotel - which is very nice, and ridiculously cheap at about £40 a night (thankyou, Covid) has, along with its enormous rooftop infinity poo,
I really don't care Sean.
You must be a very sad man indeed to feel the need to show off about your international holidays on a UK political betting site.
In happier news. My 100% record of having mildly disappointing food (on my one previous Sri Lankan trip) has been easily shattered. It’s all good so far. Black Pork Curry lunch here was absolutely excellent
Colombo is a strange city. Poor, scruffy, yet in places intensely civilised. And stunned by the sun and heat into an amiable complacency
Are there still lots of stray dogs lining the streets? Was when I was there. Plagued with them - a bit off-putting.
Not one that I’ve seen. Not cats. In fact a decided absence by “3rd World” standards (are we still allowed to say 3rd World? What’s the replacement?)
Perhaps there was a cull
In other Sri Lankan news I have discovered that my hotel - which is very nice, and ridiculously cheap at about £40 a night (thankyou, Covid) has, along with its enormous rooftop infinity pool, a rooftop bar, rooftop jacuzzis, a louche little rooftop restaurant, and a decidedly, ah, unlaced atmosphere compared to the rest of slightly uptight Colombo
No one is exactly policing the swimming costume policy in the hot tubs
My hotel. I recommend it heartily, at this Covid price
It would be considerably less appealing at £150 a pop
Huh, is there a correlation between poverty and street cats?
See hundreds of them in Greece and Turkey.
Sicily too. A friend of ours lives near Palermo and runs a rescue service taking in stray cats and bringing them to Munich (her other base) for re-homing (after vet checks, vax etc of course).
Pretty much everyone with a technology or finance background has the same view of cryptocurrency, or at least cryptocurrencies currently available.
A view which isn’t helped much, by the fact that the people pushing them hard were mostly selling Majorcan timeshares three years ago.
Bitcoin (and perhaps one or two others) is unusual in that it functions as a commodity, whereas most other cryptos are esssentially unregulated securities - penny stocks, pump and dump scams. NFTs are just speculation + money laundering.
The reason why bitcoin is interesting is because it is the first example of digital scarcity and a solution to the byzantine generals problem. This, along with the power expended to secure the network, give it value (how much value is up to the market to determine).
It's dangerous to lump all crypto into the "worthless" pile just because 99% are unregulated securities and scams. Most of them are pale imitators of the original, which has value due to the above.
We are in the pets.com era of the crypto bubble, most cryptos will fade away and be nothing more than footnotes in a decade, but there will likely be a FAANG group of cryptos that rise out of the current speculative mania and go on to become a part of daily life for most people around the globe.
Three valuable use cases are the ability to bring banking to the unbanked (huge in developing nations), remit money without paying 25% western union fees (again, huge in developing nations) and valuable in countries where the currency is weak or subject to hyperinflation (which is why places like Turkey have tried to ban it).
The idea that crypto is nothing more than rampant speculation without an underlying use case is a very western, developed world-centric viewpoint.
IF bitcoin has a value, its surely to hide assets from kleptocracies? That's why China banned it, surely. They don't want an asset class they can't track or confiscate from people who incur their displeasure.
The notion BTC is untrackable is actually one of the biggest falsehoods. Its the opposite, it is so easy to track people who are shifting large amounts, even with tumblers.
China bans are about control and the fact the miners were causing issues with power supply, not they can't track it.
But that's tracking the trades though, right? not tracking who owns what? I imagine the latter would take a huge amount of time and manpower in the country China's size.
No, its been shown time and time again that law enforcement even in the west don't have that hard a time finding out who owns a wallet if they really want to.
And of course China spy on everybody a lot more than the west. They only have to catch you once logging into a wallet somewhere and they got you.
Also I said large amounts. Yes, if you are sticking $100 in here and there, its probably a big pain in the ass, that even the Chinese don't care about that. But trying to onboard and offload millions, you will be found out if they want to.
But they didn't ban it because of this. They banned it, because they want to force everybody to use their single digit currency, which they control. They don't really like weChat pay etc because of this. They want to eliminate that and replace it with their digital currency.
In happier news. My 100% record of having mildly disappointing food (on my one previous Sri Lankan trip) has been easily shattered. It’s all good so far. Black Pork Curry lunch here was absolutely excellent
Colombo is a strange city. Poor, scruffy, yet in places intensely civilised. And stunned by the sun and heat into an amiable complacency
Are there still lots of stray dogs lining the streets? Was when I was there. Plagued with them - a bit off-putting.
In other Sri Lankan news I have discovered that my hotel - which is very nice, and ridiculously cheap at about £40 a night (thankyou, Covid) has, along with its enormous rooftop infinity poo,
I really don't care Sean.
You must be a very sad man indeed to feel the need to show off about your international holidays on a UK political betting site.
Although an infinity poo doesn't sound very attractive.
Oh dear, he'd have been very high risk given his age combined with weight. A true musical legend either way, but I hope he wasn't an unvaccinated Darwin Award winner. RIP either way but sad if that is the case.
He didn't confirm that he was vaccinated but last year when the vaccines were being rolled out he said he wouldn't be controlled, so I'm guessing he was unvaxxed.
In shocking news, he wasn't a fan of masks either,
Shakes head....another glimpse that in the US handling of COVID all round from the top to the bottom has been terrible, from federal to individuals.
As I noted at the start of this thread, while most developed countries now suffer a fraction of the deaths in this wave despite enormous numbers of cases, the US deaths are basically as high as wave one, and still not seen Omicron deaths really kicking in yet.
Given his age and weight you would have thought he would have willingly taken the vaccines but you cannot always reason with stupidity.
Meatloaf was a genuine superstar. If he died of Covid because he was unvaccinated then I hope what happened to him will give a nudge to those who still have not been vaccinated.
Nothing seems to shift the view of many anti-vaxxer Americans.
They don't get much of a view from six-foot under.
In happier news. My 100% record of having mildly disappointing food (on my one previous Sri Lankan trip) has been easily shattered. It’s all good so far. Black Pork Curry lunch here was absolutely excellent
Colombo is a strange city. Poor, scruffy, yet in places intensely civilised. And stunned by the sun and heat into an amiable complacency
Are there still lots of stray dogs lining the streets? Was when I was there. Plagued with them - a bit off-putting.
In other Sri Lankan news I have discovered that my hotel - which is very nice, and ridiculously cheap at about £40 a night (thankyou, Covid) has, along with its enormous rooftop infinity poo,
I really don't care Sean.
You must be a very sad man indeed to feel the need to show off about your international holidays on a UK political betting site.
Although an infinity poo doesn't sound very attractive.
In happier news. My 100% record of having mildly disappointing food (on my one previous Sri Lankan trip) has been easily shattered. It’s all good so far. Black Pork Curry lunch here was absolutely excellent
Colombo is a strange city. Poor, scruffy, yet in places intensely civilised. And stunned by the sun and heat into an amiable complacency
Are there still lots of stray dogs lining the streets? Was when I was there. Plagued with them - a bit off-putting.
In other Sri Lankan news I have discovered that my hotel - which is very nice, and ridiculously cheap at about £40 a night (thankyou, Covid) has, along with its enormous rooftop infinity poo,
I really don't care Sean.
You must be a very sad man indeed to feel the need to show off about your international holidays on a UK political betting site.
Although an infinity poo doesn't sound very attractive.
I believe a big problem with attracting top notch people to become an MP these days isn't just the money, it is the personal invasion. With everybody having a camera phone and social media, you will be under the magnifying glass every time you step out in public, not to mention all the abuse you constantly get online.
While at the same time, you could be working a decent job, earn more than an MP, while nobody have a clue who you are.
True. Before social media you could be an MP and remain almost anonymous if you wanted to.
I believe a big problem with attracting top notch people to become an MP these days isn't just the money, it is the personal invasion. With everybody having a camera phone and social media, you will be under the magnifying glass every time you step out in public, not to mention all the abuse you constantly get online.
While at the same time, you could be working a decent job, earn more than an MP, while nobody have a clue who you are.
A CE of a Housing Association will earn 5 times as much as an MP. They provide a product for which there is unlimited demand so it cannot be that hard a job. And nobody knows who they are.
In this modern social media world I have no idea why anyone would want to be a MP.
Sub-variant of Omicron being investigated by UK health agency Scientists have said they are investigating a sub-variant of Omicron known as BA.2.
In a tweet posted on Friday lunchtime, the UK Health Security Agency said BA.2 had been designated as a variant under investigation - though case numbers were "currently low".
The UKHSA, the government agency responsible for public health protection, said the original Omicron variant, known as BA.1, remained the dominant form of Covid in the UK.
Further analyses would be undertaken into the new variant, the UKHSA said.
Dr Meera Chand, incident director at the UKHSA, said: "It is the nature of viruses to evolve and mutate, so it's to be expected that we will continue to see new variants emerge as the pandemic goes on.
"Our continued genomic surveillance allows us to detect them and assess whether they are significant."
I pity the fool that gets over excited by this new variant.
I see Pagel still hasn't got the memo. Apparently its still too risky to consider getting rid of restrictions.
How does she ever leave the house? Does she ever leave the house?
Yes she recently went on a jolly to Cumbria, while skyping into the media saying how dangerous it was to leave the house.....
Sub-variant of Omicron being investigated by UK health agency Scientists have said they are investigating a sub-variant of Omicron known as BA.2.
In a tweet posted on Friday lunchtime, the UK Health Security Agency said BA.2 had been designated as a variant under investigation - though case numbers were "currently low".
The UKHSA, the government agency responsible for public health protection, said the original Omicron variant, known as BA.1, remained the dominant form of Covid in the UK.
Further analyses would be undertaken into the new variant, the UKHSA said.
Dr Meera Chand, incident director at the UKHSA, said: "It is the nature of viruses to evolve and mutate, so it's to be expected that we will continue to see new variants emerge as the pandemic goes on.
"Our continued genomic surveillance allows us to detect them and assess whether they are significant."
I pity the fool that gets over excited by this new variant.
I see Pagel still hasn't got the memo. Apparently its still too risky to consider getting rid of restrictions.
How does she ever leave the house? Does she ever leave the house?
In happier news. My 100% record of having mildly disappointing food (on my one previous Sri Lankan trip) has been easily shattered. It’s all good so far. Black Pork Curry lunch here was absolutely excellent
Colombo is a strange city. Poor, scruffy, yet in places intensely civilised. And stunned by the sun and heat into an amiable complacency
Are there still lots of stray dogs lining the streets? Was when I was there. Plagued with them - a bit off-putting.
In other Sri Lankan news I have discovered that my hotel - which is very nice, and ridiculously cheap at about £40 a night (thankyou, Covid) has, along with its enormous rooftop infinity poo,
I really don't care Sean.
You must be a very sad man indeed to feel the need to show off about your international holidays on a UK political betting site.
Although an infinity poo doesn't sound very attractive.
Years ago in NZ a friend of a friend decided to host a pool party. Sadly there was a typo on the invite. Not many fancied a poo party. But some did.
I believe a big problem with attracting top notch people to become an MP these days isn't just the money, it is the personal invasion. With everybody having a camera phone and social media, you will be under the magnifying glass every time you step out in public, not to mention all the abuse you constantly get online.
While at the same time, you could be working a decent job, earn more than an MP, while nobody have a clue who you are.
Less than 5% of the UK population earns more than an MP does and the average reality or TV or film star gets papped far more than the average MP
That's why I said top notch people. A top notch person in their field in the UK can earn as much if not more than an MP in terms of base salary. Even if restrict it to a bit less than an MP, they still have massive more privacy nor have to put with abuse or doing a surgery or hosting an event for this or that.
Yes but how many people top of their fields have ever swapped it to become an MP? Maybe Archie Norman, Dominic Grieve, Enoch Powell, Harold Wilson, Vince Cable, Rishi Sunak, arguably Starmer and beyond that I am struggling.
Plus the skills to be a top businessman, top lawyer etc are not always the same as being a top politician
I believe a big problem with attracting top notch people to become an MP these days isn't just the money, it is the personal invasion. With everybody having a camera phone and social media, you will be under the magnifying glass every time you step out in public, not to mention all the abuse you constantly get online.
While at the same time, you could be working a decent job, earn more than an MP, while nobody have a clue who you are.
Less than 5% of the UK population earns more than an MP does and the average reality or TV or film star gets papped far more than the average MP
That's why I said top notch people. A top notch person in their field in the UK can earn as much if not more than an MP in terms of base salary. Even if restrict it to a bit less than an MP, they still have massive more privacy nor have to put with abuse or doing a surgery or hosting an event for this or that.
Yes but how many people top of their fields have ever swapped it to become an MP? Maybe Archie Norman, Dominic Grieve, Enoch Powell, Harold Wilson, Vince Cable, Rishi Sunak, arguably Starmer and beyond that I am struggling.
Plus the skills to be a top businessman, top lawyer etc are not always the same as being a top politician
Your vested interest as a party partisan is that only those who arselick the party apparatus for years deserve to be selected as candidates - not those who actually have interesting skills.
Sub-variant of Omicron being investigated by UK health agency Scientists have said they are investigating a sub-variant of Omicron known as BA.2.
In a tweet posted on Friday lunchtime, the UK Health Security Agency said BA.2 had been designated as a variant under investigation - though case numbers were "currently low".
The UKHSA, the government agency responsible for public health protection, said the original Omicron variant, known as BA.1, remained the dominant form of Covid in the UK.
Further analyses would be undertaken into the new variant, the UKHSA said.
Dr Meera Chand, incident director at the UKHSA, said: "It is the nature of viruses to evolve and mutate, so it's to be expected that we will continue to see new variants emerge as the pandemic goes on.
"Our continued genomic surveillance allows us to detect them and assess whether they are significant."
I pity the fool that gets over excited by this new variant.
I see Pagel still hasn't got the memo. Apparently its still too risky to consider getting rid of restrictions.
How does she ever leave the house? Does she ever leave the house?
Yes - to go to her holiday home in Cumbria...
She drove, presumably, and didn't stop at all on the way?
In happier news. My 100% record of having mildly disappointing food (on my one previous Sri Lankan trip) has been easily shattered. It’s all good so far. Black Pork Curry lunch here was absolutely excellent
Colombo is a strange city. Poor, scruffy, yet in places intensely civilised. And stunned by the sun and heat into an amiable complacency
Are there still lots of stray dogs lining the streets? Was when I was there. Plagued with them - a bit off-putting.
In other Sri Lankan news I have discovered that my hotel - which is very nice, and ridiculously cheap at about £40 a night (thankyou, Covid) has, along with its enormous rooftop infinity poo,
I really don't care Sean.
You must be a very sad man indeed to feel the need to show off about your international holidays on a UK political betting site.
Although an infinity poo doesn't sound very attractive.
In happier news. My 100% record of having mildly disappointing food (on my one previous Sri Lankan trip) has been easily shattered. It’s all good so far. Black Pork Curry lunch here was absolutely excellent
Colombo is a strange city. Poor, scruffy, yet in places intensely civilised. And stunned by the sun and heat into an amiable complacency
Are there still lots of stray dogs lining the streets? Was when I was there. Plagued with them - a bit off-putting.
In other Sri Lankan news I have discovered that my hotel - which is very nice, and ridiculously cheap at about £40 a night (thankyou, Covid) has, along with its enormous rooftop infinity poo,
I really don't care Sean.
You must be a very sad man indeed to feel the need to show off about your international holidays on a UK political betting site.
Although an infinity poo doesn't sound very attractive.
Years ago in NZ a friend of a friend decided to host a pool party. Sadly there was a typo on the invite. Not many fancied a poo party. But some did.
Sub-variant of Omicron being investigated by UK health agency Scientists have said they are investigating a sub-variant of Omicron known as BA.2.
In a tweet posted on Friday lunchtime, the UK Health Security Agency said BA.2 had been designated as a variant under investigation - though case numbers were "currently low".
The UKHSA, the government agency responsible for public health protection, said the original Omicron variant, known as BA.1, remained the dominant form of Covid in the UK.
Further analyses would be undertaken into the new variant, the UKHSA said.
Dr Meera Chand, incident director at the UKHSA, said: "It is the nature of viruses to evolve and mutate, so it's to be expected that we will continue to see new variants emerge as the pandemic goes on.
"Our continued genomic surveillance allows us to detect them and assess whether they are significant."
I pity the fool that gets over excited by this new variant.
I see Pagel still hasn't got the memo. Apparently its still too risky to consider getting rid of restrictions.
How does she ever leave the house? Does she ever leave the house?
Yes - to go to her holiday home in Cumbria...
She drove, presumably, and didn't stop at all on the way?
LOL how the mighty have fallen. He can’t even put his camera the right way round.
Now, Cameo was a funny pandemic-era way to get an out-of-work actor or comedian to say happy birthday to your friend, but surely this sort of stunt raises all sorts of questions about advertising regulations?
It's amusing as I've said before I think we pay our politicians too much and it'd be better if their pay was more closely linked to citizens pay in general. I believe in the 90s an MP typically got two times average income and now it's three times and I don't think that's healthy.
Others have said they think MPs are underpaid compared to the private sector.
While a tiny, tiny minority of the private sector may be worth more than MPs that's far from the case for all MPs as the likes of Bercow etc whoring themselves post politics helps demonstrate. As does the desperation in many MPs to do anything to stay loyal to the Party and keep their seat, because if they lose their seat they lose their job and there £84k+ salary they'd never achieve in the real world.
Above average intelligence, middle class background at least, graduate from good uni, driven and ambitious, energetic, robust and thick skinned, gift of the gab, alert to opportunities to get ahead.
The above being the typical profile of an MP, there's little doubt in my mind that most of them would have been able to earn more if they'd choosen a career in the private sector.
In happier news. My 100% record of having mildly disappointing food (on my one previous Sri Lankan trip) has been easily shattered. It’s all good so far. Black Pork Curry lunch here was absolutely excellent
Colombo is a strange city. Poor, scruffy, yet in places intensely civilised. And stunned by the sun and heat into an amiable complacency
Are there still lots of stray dogs lining the streets? Was when I was there. Plagued with them - a bit off-putting.
In other Sri Lankan news I have discovered that my hotel - which is very nice, and ridiculously cheap at about £40 a night (thankyou, Covid) has, along with its enormous rooftop infinity poo,
I really don't care Sean.
You must be a very sad man indeed to feel the need to show off about your international holidays on a UK political betting site.
Although an infinity poo doesn't sound very attractive.
In happier news. My 100% record of having mildly disappointing food (on my one previous Sri Lankan trip) has been easily shattered. It’s all good so far. Black Pork Curry lunch here was absolutely excellent
Colombo is a strange city. Poor, scruffy, yet in places intensely civilised. And stunned by the sun and heat into an amiable complacency
Are there still lots of stray dogs lining the streets? Was when I was there. Plagued with them - a bit off-putting.
Not one that I’ve seen. Not cats. In fact a decided absence by “3rd World” standards (are we still allowed to say 3rd World? What’s the replacement?)
Perhaps there was a cull
In other Sri Lankan news I have discovered that my hotel - which is very nice, and ridiculously cheap at about £40 a night (thankyou, Covid) has, along with its enormous rooftop infinity pool, a rooftop bar, rooftop jacuzzis, a louche little rooftop restaurant, and a decidedly, ah, unlaced atmosphere compared to the rest of slightly uptight Colombo
No one is exactly policing the swimming costume policy in the hot tubs
My hotel. I recommend it heartily, at this Covid price
It would be considerably less appealing at £150 a pop
Have you ridden an elephant yet? I love riding elephants!
And we went to Gaul. And we stayed up in hills that was completely artistically inspiring. And curry all day even for breakfast though it was mostly mild and sweet. I think they even do pineapple curry. And one evening we went to see the famous Pygmy fire walker perform. Singhis Thingamabob. It’s amazing what you don’t forget.
Just don’t let an elephant catch you naked on the roof Leon. It will wonder how you can feed yourself with your little misplaced trunk
I believe a big problem with attracting top notch people to become an MP these days isn't just the money, it is the personal invasion. With everybody having a camera phone and social media, you will be under the magnifying glass every time you step out in public, not to mention all the abuse you constantly get online.
While at the same time, you could be working a decent job, earn more than an MP, while nobody have a clue who you are.
Less than 5% of the UK population earns more than an MP does and the average reality or TV or film star gets papped far more than the average MP
That's why I said top notch people. A top notch person in their field in the UK can earn as much if not more than an MP in terms of base salary. Even if restrict it to a bit less than an MP, they still have massive more privacy nor have to put with abuse or doing a surgery or hosting an event for this or that.
Yes but how many people top of their fields have ever swapped it to become an MP? Maybe Archie Norman, Dominic Grieve, Enoch Powell, Harold Wilson, Vince Cable, Rishi Sunak, arguably Starmer and beyond that I am struggling.
Plus the skills to be a top businessman, top lawyer etc are not always the same as being a top politician
Boris? He must have been among the more highly paid journalists (if you can call him that) in the country.
In happier news. My 100% record of having mildly disappointing food (on my one previous Sri Lankan trip) has been easily shattered. It’s all good so far. Black Pork Curry lunch here was absolutely excellent
Colombo is a strange city. Poor, scruffy, yet in places intensely civilised. And stunned by the sun and heat into an amiable complacency
Are there still lots of stray dogs lining the streets? Was when I was there. Plagued with them - a bit off-putting.
In other Sri Lankan news I have discovered that my hotel - which is very nice, and ridiculously cheap at about £40 a night (thankyou, Covid) has, along with its enormous rooftop infinity poo,
I really don't care Sean.
You must be a very sad man indeed to feel the need to show off about your international holidays on a UK political betting site.
Although an infinity poo doesn't sound very attractive.
Bravo. After a long day that made me chuckle.
It’s a pool! Obviously the line went down between here and there. Maybe the Russians shot it down.
In happier news. My 100% record of having mildly disappointing food (on my one previous Sri Lankan trip) has been easily shattered. It’s all good so far. Black Pork Curry lunch here was absolutely excellent
Colombo is a strange city. Poor, scruffy, yet in places intensely civilised. And stunned by the sun and heat into an amiable complacency
Are there still lots of stray dogs lining the streets? Was when I was there. Plagued with them - a bit off-putting.
In other Sri Lankan news I have discovered that my hotel - which is very nice, and ridiculously cheap at about £40 a night (thankyou, Covid) has, along with its enormous rooftop infinity poo,
I really don't care Sean.
You must be a very sad man indeed to feel the need to show off about your international holidays on a UK political betting site.
Although an infinity poo doesn't sound very attractive.
Bravo. After a long day that made me chuckle.
It’s a pool! Obviously the line went down between here and there. Maybe the Russians shot it down.
Here?
Are you logged into the wrong account/outing yourself as Leon?
LOL how the mighty have fallen. He can’t even put his camera the right way round.
Now, Cameo was a funny pandemic-era way to get an out-of-work actor or comedian to say happy birthday to your friend, but surely this sort of stunt raises all sorts of questions about advertising regulations?
It's amusing as I've said before I think we pay our politicians too much and it'd be better if their pay was more closely linked to citizens pay in general. I believe in the 90s an MP typically got two times average income and now it's three times and I don't think that's healthy.
Others have said they think MPs are underpaid compared to the private sector.
While a tiny, tiny minority of the private sector may be worth more than MPs that's far from the case for all MPs as the likes of Bercow etc whoring themselves post politics helps demonstrate. As does the desperation in many MPs to do anything to stay loyal to the Party and keep their seat, because if they lose their seat they lose their job and there £84k+ salary they'd never achieve in the real world.
Above average intelligence, middle class background at least, graduate from good uni, driven and ambitious, energetic, robust and thick skinned, gift of the gab, alert to opportunities to get ahead.
The above being the typical profile of an MP, there's little doubt in my mind that most of them would have been able to earn more if they'd choosen a career in the private sector.
I believe a big problem with attracting top notch people to become an MP these days isn't just the money, it is the personal invasion. With everybody having a camera phone and social media, you will be under the magnifying glass every time you step out in public, not to mention all the abuse you constantly get online.
While at the same time, you could be working a decent job, earn more than an MP, while nobody have a clue who you are.
Less than 5% of the UK population earns more than an MP does and the average reality or TV or film star gets papped far more than the average MP
That's why I said top notch people. A top notch person in their field in the UK can earn as much if not more than an MP in terms of base salary. Even if restrict it to a bit less than an MP, they still have massive more privacy nor have to put with abuse or doing a surgery or hosting an event for this or that.
Yes but how many people top of their fields have ever swapped it to become an MP? Maybe Archie Norman, Dominic Grieve, Enoch Powell, Harold Wilson, Vince Cable, Rishi Sunak, arguably Starmer and beyond that I am struggling.
Plus the skills to be a top businessman, top lawyer etc are not always the same as being a top politician
Your vested interest as a party partisan is that only those who arselick the party apparatus for years deserve to be selected as candidates - not those who actually have interesting skills.
Well we have a party based system, that is how you ensure you get your manifesto through if you win
In happier news. My 100% record of having mildly disappointing food (on my one previous Sri Lankan trip) has been easily shattered. It’s all good so far. Black Pork Curry lunch here was absolutely excellent
Colombo is a strange city. Poor, scruffy, yet in places intensely civilised. And stunned by the sun and heat into an amiable complacency
Are there still lots of stray dogs lining the streets? Was when I was there. Plagued with them - a bit off-putting.
In other Sri Lankan news I have discovered that my hotel - which is very nice, and ridiculously cheap at about £40 a night (thankyou, Covid) has, along with its enormous rooftop infinity poo,
I really don't care Sean.
You must be a very sad man indeed to feel the need to show off about your international holidays on a UK political betting site.
In happier news. My 100% record of having mildly disappointing food (on my one previous Sri Lankan trip) has been easily shattered. It’s all good so far. Black Pork Curry lunch here was absolutely excellent
Colombo is a strange city. Poor, scruffy, yet in places intensely civilised. And stunned by the sun and heat into an amiable complacency
Are there still lots of stray dogs lining the streets? Was when I was there. Plagued with them - a bit off-putting.
In other Sri Lankan news I have discovered that my hotel - which is very nice, and ridiculously cheap at about £40 a night (thankyou, Covid) has, along with its enormous rooftop infinity poo,
I really don't care Sean.
You must be a very sad man indeed to feel the need to show off about your international holidays on a UK political betting site.
Although an infinity poo doesn't sound very attractive.
Bravo. After a long day that made me chuckle.
It’s a pool! Obviously the line went down between here and there. Maybe the Russians shot it down.
Here?
Are you logged into the wrong account/outing yourself as Leon?
Here in London. Which is not warm today. Him over there.
LOL how the mighty have fallen. He can’t even put his camera the right way round.
Now, Cameo was a funny pandemic-era way to get an out-of-work actor or comedian to say happy birthday to your friend, but surely this sort of stunt raises all sorts of questions about advertising regulations?
It's amusing as I've said before I think we pay our politicians too much and it'd be better if their pay was more closely linked to citizens pay in general. I believe in the 90s an MP typically got two times average income and now it's three times and I don't think that's healthy.
Others have said they think MPs are underpaid compared to the private sector.
While a tiny, tiny minority of the private sector may be worth more than MPs that's far from the case for all MPs as the likes of Bercow etc whoring themselves post politics helps demonstrate. As does the desperation in many MPs to do anything to stay loyal to the Party and keep their seat, because if they lose their seat they lose their job and there £84k+ salary they'd never achieve in the real world.
Above average intelligence, middle class background at least, graduate from good uni, driven and ambitious, energetic, robust and thick skinned, gift of the gab, alert to opportunities to get ahead.
The above being the typical profile of an MP, there's little doubt in my mind that most of them would have been able to earn more if they'd choosen a career in the private sector.
In happier news. My 100% record of having mildly disappointing food (on my one previous Sri Lankan trip) has been easily shattered. It’s all good so far. Black Pork Curry lunch here was absolutely excellent
Colombo is a strange city. Poor, scruffy, yet in places intensely civilised. And stunned by the sun and heat into an amiable complacency
Are there still lots of stray dogs lining the streets? Was when I was there. Plagued with them - a bit off-putting.
In other Sri Lankan news I have discovered that my hotel - which is very nice, and ridiculously cheap at about £40 a night (thankyou, Covid) has, along with its enormous rooftop infinity poo,
I really don't care Sean.
You must be a very sad man indeed to feel the need to show off about your international holidays on a UK political betting site.
Bartholomew originally wanted to say that Germany should be doing better on homelessness than the UK because Germany has had "significantly lower net migration" than the UK for many years.
Ignoring the crapness of the argument (and the fact that nobody is sure whether or not Germany is in fact doing better or worse on homelessness), Bartholomew was unable to even provide any kind of source for the claim that the UK has had significantly more net migration than Germany, hence bizarre straw men
Are you serious?
Source: Google's population statistics
Germany population 2000: 82.21 mn people. Germany population 2020: 83.24 mn people. Net increase in population in 20 years: 1.03 mn people = 1.25%
UK population 2000: 58.89 mn people UK population 2020: 67.22 mn people. Net increase in population in 20 years: 8.33 mn people = 14.14%
Now in my world a 14% increase in population in a generation causes a bigger housing crisis than a 1% increase in population in a generation. Your mileage may vary.
Population change is not the same as migration, so don't try to slide a change in the category in under the radar. Defend your migration statistics.
Checking the stats on wikipedia* (data from the ONs and its Germany equivalent), the UK and Germany have both had about 15m live births 2000-2020 (UK: 15.6, Ger 15.1), but Germany has had more deaths (18.3m to 12.4m). So Germany population, purely on births/deaths, has a deficit of 3m while the UK has a surplus of 3m. So that's six million of your 7m surplus straight away. The same sources have the crude migration change figures, which are a bit higher per 1000 for the UK than Germany, giving a figure of around 1m more migrants in the UK. So, a difference, but nowhere near what nyou;'re claiming by sleight of hand.
Sub-variant of Omicron being investigated by UK health agency Scientists have said they are investigating a sub-variant of Omicron known as BA.2.
In a tweet posted on Friday lunchtime, the UK Health Security Agency said BA.2 had been designated as a variant under investigation - though case numbers were "currently low".
The UKHSA, the government agency responsible for public health protection, said the original Omicron variant, known as BA.1, remained the dominant form of Covid in the UK.
Further analyses would be undertaken into the new variant, the UKHSA said.
Dr Meera Chand, incident director at the UKHSA, said: "It is the nature of viruses to evolve and mutate, so it's to be expected that we will continue to see new variants emerge as the pandemic goes on.
"Our continued genomic surveillance allows us to detect them and assess whether they are significant."
I pity the fool that gets over excited by this new variant.
I see Pagel still hasn't got the memo. Apparently its still too risky to consider getting rid of restrictions.
How does she ever leave the house? Does she ever leave the house?
Yes - to go to her holiday home in Cumbria...
She drove, presumably, and didn't stop at all on the way?
In happier news. My 100% record of having mildly disappointing food (on my one previous Sri Lankan trip) has been easily shattered. It’s all good so far. Black Pork Curry lunch here was absolutely excellent
In happier news. My 100% record of having mildly disappointing food (on my one previous Sri Lankan trip) has been easily shattered. It’s all good so far. Black Pork Curry lunch here was absolutely excellent
Colombo is a strange city. Poor, scruffy, yet in places intensely civilised. And stunned by the sun and heat into an amiable complacency
Are there still lots of stray dogs lining the streets? Was when I was there. Plagued with them - a bit off-putting.
In other Sri Lankan news I have discovered that my hotel - which is very nice, and ridiculously cheap at about £40 a night (thankyou, Covid) has, along with its enormous rooftop infinity poo,
I really don't care Sean.
You must be a very sad man indeed to feel the need to show off about your international holidays on a UK political betting site.
My infinity poo, just for you
X
If you have been doing an infinity poo, no wonder you have been here less often recently!!
LOL how the mighty have fallen. He can’t even put his camera the right way round.
Now, Cameo was a funny pandemic-era way to get an out-of-work actor or comedian to say happy birthday to your friend, but surely this sort of stunt raises all sorts of questions about advertising regulations?
It's amusing as I've said before I think we pay our politicians too much and it'd be better if their pay was more closely linked to citizens pay in general. I believe in the 90s an MP typically got two times average income and now it's three times and I don't think that's healthy.
Others have said they think MPs are underpaid compared to the private sector.
While a tiny, tiny minority of the private sector may be worth more than MPs that's far from the case for all MPs as the likes of Bercow etc whoring themselves post politics helps demonstrate. As does the desperation in many MPs to do anything to stay loyal to the Party and keep their seat, because if they lose their seat they lose their job and there £84k+ salary they'd never achieve in the real world.
Above average intelligence, middle class background at least, graduate from good uni, driven and ambitious, energetic, robust and thick skinned, gift of the gab, alert to opportunities to get ahead.
The above being the typical profile of an MP, there's little doubt in my mind that most of them would have been able to earn more if they'd choosen a career in the private sector.
In happier news. My 100% record of having mildly disappointing food (on my one previous Sri Lankan trip) has been easily shattered. It’s all good so far. Black Pork Curry lunch here was absolutely excellent
Sub-variant of Omicron being investigated by UK health agency Scientists have said they are investigating a sub-variant of Omicron known as BA.2.
In a tweet posted on Friday lunchtime, the UK Health Security Agency said BA.2 had been designated as a variant under investigation - though case numbers were "currently low".
The UKHSA, the government agency responsible for public health protection, said the original Omicron variant, known as BA.1, remained the dominant form of Covid in the UK.
Further analyses would be undertaken into the new variant, the UKHSA said.
Dr Meera Chand, incident director at the UKHSA, said: "It is the nature of viruses to evolve and mutate, so it's to be expected that we will continue to see new variants emerge as the pandemic goes on.
"Our continued genomic surveillance allows us to detect them and assess whether they are significant."
I pity the fool that gets over excited by this new variant.
I see Pagel still hasn't got the memo. Apparently its still too risky to consider getting rid of restrictions.
How does she ever leave the house? Does she ever leave the house?
Yes she recently went on a jolly to Cumbria, while skyping into the media saying how dangerous it was to leave the house.....
Have just sent the client's HR manager an email translated into Romanian. Hopefully it won't be like John Cleese's phrasebook in Monty Python's tobacconist sketch...
I believe a big problem with attracting top notch people to become an MP these days isn't just the money, it is the personal invasion. With everybody having a camera phone and social media, you will be under the magnifying glass every time you step out in public, not to mention all the abuse you constantly get online.
While at the same time, you could be working a decent job, earn more than an MP, while nobody have a clue who you are.
Less than 5% of the UK population earns more than an MP does and the average reality or TV or film star gets papped far more than the average MP
That's why I said top notch people. A top notch person in their field in the UK can earn as much if not more than an MP in terms of base salary. Even if restrict it to a bit less than an MP, they still have massive more privacy nor have to put with abuse or doing a surgery or hosting an event for this or that.
Yes but how many people top of their fields have ever swapped it to become an MP? Maybe Archie Norman, Dominic Grieve, Enoch Powell, Harold Wilson, Vince Cable, Rishi Sunak, arguably Starmer and beyond that I am struggling.
Plus the skills to be a top businessman, top lawyer etc are not always the same as being a top politician
Boris? He must have been among the more highly paid journalists (if you can call him that) in the country.
He was never really seen as a serious journalist though by his peers
In happier news. My 100% record of having mildly disappointing food (on my one previous Sri Lankan trip) has been easily shattered. It’s all good so far. Black Pork Curry lunch here was absolutely excellent
Colombo is a strange city. Poor, scruffy, yet in places intensely civilised. And stunned by the sun and heat into an amiable complacency
Are there still lots of stray dogs lining the streets? Was when I was there. Plagued with them - a bit off-putting.
In other Sri Lankan news I have discovered that my hotel - which is very nice, and ridiculously cheap at about £40 a night (thankyou, Covid) has, along with its enormous rooftop infinity poo,
I really don't care Sean.
You must be a very sad man indeed to feel the need to show off about your international holidays on a UK political betting site.
My infinity poo, just for you
X
If you have been doing an infinity poo, no wonder you have been here less often recently!!
Not long ago I thought his infinity poo had also started posting under its own alias
In happier news. My 100% record of having mildly disappointing food (on my one previous Sri Lankan trip) has been easily shattered. It’s all good so far. Black Pork Curry lunch here was absolutely excellent
LOL how the mighty have fallen. He can’t even put his camera the right way round.
Now, Cameo was a funny pandemic-era way to get an out-of-work actor or comedian to say happy birthday to your friend, but surely this sort of stunt raises all sorts of questions about advertising regulations?
It's amusing as I've said before I think we pay our politicians too much and it'd be better if their pay was more closely linked to citizens pay in general. I believe in the 90s an MP typically got two times average income and now it's three times and I don't think that's healthy.
Others have said they think MPs are underpaid compared to the private sector.
While a tiny, tiny minority of the private sector may be worth more than MPs that's far from the case for all MPs as the likes of Bercow etc whoring themselves post politics helps demonstrate. As does the desperation in many MPs to do anything to stay loyal to the Party and keep their seat, because if they lose their seat they lose their job and there £84k+ salary they'd never achieve in the real world.
Above average intelligence, middle class background at least, graduate from good uni, driven and ambitious, energetic, robust and thick skinned, gift of the gab, alert to opportunities to get ahead.
The above being the typical profile of an MP, there's little doubt in my mind that most of them would have been able to earn more if they'd choosen a career in the private sector.
I am actually quite surprised the average is that high after 5 years.
I do wonder whether the base stats are on all degrees, including Masters (and MBAs) and PhDs etc. That would boost the numbers up a bit. Depending on data too, if it's survey based (how else?) then likely to be a differential response with lower earners less responsive? Don't account for that and you get high numbers.
Five years after first graduating I was doing a PhD on a £15k stipend, so I'm happy to believe those numbers are high
(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 1h On the South Africa debate. People can try and re-write history as much as they like. Chris Whitty said "there are several things we don't know, but all the things that we do know, are bad". That statement simply wasn't accurate.
LOL how the mighty have fallen. He can’t even put his camera the right way round.
Now, Cameo was a funny pandemic-era way to get an out-of-work actor or comedian to say happy birthday to your friend, but surely this sort of stunt raises all sorts of questions about advertising regulations?
In happier news. My 100% record of having mildly disappointing food (on my one previous Sri Lankan trip) has been easily shattered. It’s all good so far. Black Pork Curry lunch here was absolutely excellent
Colombo is a strange city. Poor, scruffy, yet in places intensely civilised. And stunned by the sun and heat into an amiable complacency
Are there still lots of stray dogs lining the streets? Was when I was there. Plagued with them - a bit off-putting.
Not one that I’ve seen. Not cats. In fact a decided absence by “3rd World” standards (are we still allowed to say 3rd World? What’s the replacement?)
The Global South. Not to be confused with the pop group of that name.
The Global South is surely far more insulting than “3rd World” (which is an antique Cold War term, I readily confess)
For a start there are plenty of once-developing countries in the “Global South” which would really resent that characterization;. Chileans are quite haughty about being compared to Argentina, let alone Sudan. Indonesia is equally proud, likewise Costa Rica, the Maldives, Mauritius, what even is “the Global South”?
(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 1h On the South Africa debate. People can try and re-write history as much as they like. Chris Whitty said "there are several things we don't know, but all the things that we do know, are bad". That statement simply wasn't accurate.
It was just a ridiculous statement when all the evidence from SA (including a statement from their Health Minister) was showing that Omicron was much milder.
(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 1h On the South Africa debate. People can try and re-write history as much as they like. Chris Whitty said "there are several things we don't know, but all the things that we do know, are bad". That statement simply wasn't accurate.
That's Dec 15. Depending how high a bar you have for 'know' it's defensible. We knew it had some vaccine escape and was more easily transmitted. There was some evidence on lower severity (probably, by then?) but I'm not sure I'd have said we 'knew' that at that point.
In happier news. My 100% record of having mildly disappointing food (on my one previous Sri Lankan trip) has been easily shattered. It’s all good so far. Black Pork Curry lunch here was absolutely excellent
Colombo is a strange city. Poor, scruffy, yet in places intensely civilised. And stunned by the sun and heat into an amiable complacency
Are there still lots of stray dogs lining the streets? Was when I was there. Plagued with them - a bit off-putting.
In other Sri Lankan news I have discovered that my hotel - which is very nice, and ridiculously cheap at about £40 a night (thankyou, Covid) has, along with its enormous rooftop infinity poo,
I really don't care Sean.
You must be a very sad man indeed to feel the need to show off about your international holidays on a UK political betting site.
My infinity poo, just for you
X
Wow. That’s infinity and beyond
Yes, that’s the Indian Ocean beyond. I’m not sure what the little lights are. Fishing boats?
We had the announcement of the battery factory funding. I missed this,
Wayve, a London-based startup creating autonomous driving technology based on computer vision and machine learning, has raised a $200m Series B funding round to help get self-driving cars onto the road faster.
Bartholomew originally wanted to say that Germany should be doing better on homelessness than the UK because Germany has had "significantly lower net migration" than the UK for many years.
Ignoring the crapness of the argument (and the fact that nobody is sure whether or not Germany is in fact doing better or worse on homelessness), Bartholomew was unable to even provide any kind of source for the claim that the UK has had significantly more net migration than Germany, hence bizarre straw men
Are you serious?
Source: Google's population statistics
Germany population 2000: 82.21 mn people. Germany population 2020: 83.24 mn people. Net increase in population in 20 years: 1.03 mn people = 1.25%
UK population 2000: 58.89 mn people UK population 2020: 67.22 mn people. Net increase in population in 20 years: 8.33 mn people = 14.14%
Now in my world a 14% increase in population in a generation causes a bigger housing crisis than a 1% increase in population in a generation. Your mileage may vary.
Population change is not the same as migration, so don't try to slide a change in the category in under the radar. Defend your migration statistics.
Checking the stats on wikipedia* (data from the ONs and its Germany equivalent), the UK and Germany have both had about 15m live births 2000-2020 (UK: 15.6, Ger 15.1), but Germany has had more deaths (18.3m to 12.4m). So Germany population, purely on births/deaths, has a deficit of 3m while the UK has a surplus of 3m. So that's six million of your 7m surplus straight away. The same sources have the crude migration change figures, which are a bit higher per 1000 for the UK than Germany, giving a figure of around 1m more migrants in the UK. So, a difference, but nowhere near what nyou;'re claiming by sleight of hand.
The higher deaths in Germany over the 2 decades are interesting. How did mid 20th Century events impact on the population pyramids of the 2 countries prior? There must have been a female to male population mismatch from 1940 onwards, with high male deaths in the cohorts born before 1930 or so.
I believe a big problem with attracting top notch people to become an MP these days isn't just the money, it is the personal invasion. With everybody having a camera phone and social media, you will be under the magnifying glass every time you step out in public, not to mention all the abuse you constantly get online.
While at the same time, you could be working a decent job, earn more than an MP, while nobody have a clue who you are.
Less than 5% of the UK population earns more than an MP does and the average reality or TV or film star gets papped far more than the average MP
That's why I said top notch people. A top notch person in their field in the UK can earn as much if not more than an MP in terms of base salary. Even if restrict it to a bit less than an MP, they still have massive more privacy nor have to put with abuse or doing a surgery or hosting an event for this or that.
Yes but how many people top of their fields have ever swapped it to become an MP? Maybe Archie Norman, Dominic Grieve, Enoch Powell, Harold Wilson, Vince Cable, Rishi Sunak, arguably Starmer and beyond that I am struggling.
Plus the skills to be a top businessman, top lawyer etc are not always the same as being a top politician
Your vested interest as a party partisan is that only those who arselick the party apparatus for years deserve to be selected as candidates - not those who actually have interesting skills.
Well we have a party based system, that is how you ensure you get your manifesto through if you win
Sub-variant of Omicron being investigated by UK health agency Scientists have said they are investigating a sub-variant of Omicron known as BA.2.
In a tweet posted on Friday lunchtime, the UK Health Security Agency said BA.2 had been designated as a variant under investigation - though case numbers were "currently low".
The UKHSA, the government agency responsible for public health protection, said the original Omicron variant, known as BA.1, remained the dominant form of Covid in the UK.
Further analyses would be undertaken into the new variant, the UKHSA said.
Dr Meera Chand, incident director at the UKHSA, said: "It is the nature of viruses to evolve and mutate, so it's to be expected that we will continue to see new variants emerge as the pandemic goes on.
"Our continued genomic surveillance allows us to detect them and assess whether they are significant."
I pity the fool that gets over excited by this new variant.
I see Pagel still hasn't got the memo. Apparently its still too risky to consider getting rid of restrictions.
How does she ever leave the house? Does she ever leave the house?
Presumably with her mask on.
Masks perform a similar psychological role for Covid as recycling does for environmental issues.
As to which one is more useful I leave that as an argument for a quieter news day.
I read this tweet and my immediate thought was why they were only using an 8-bit system (apologies to non-geeks).
British Army's new Apache helicopters that can detect 256 potential targets at once and prioritise threats in a matter of seconds are undergoing test flights at Wattisham Flying Station. With a top speed of 186mph, the new fleet can detect targets up to a range of 10 miles https://twitter.com/jjgiddens/status/1484494710043512835
As an aside last Summer we went for a break staying close to that base. Every day we had at least one flypass from Apache helicopters.
It can only engage 16 targets so it's probably pointless acquiring more than 256. And in a situation where there are over 200 targets the crew are going to be dead soon enough anyway.
The tories have just scrapped 16 Apaches.
As a matter of interest, how effective are "fire and forget" heatseeking anti-tank weapons against low flying helicopters?
It depends on the weapon, range, countermeasures, etc. It's impossible to generalise.
However if you get close enough then anything is effective hence the single bullet shoot down of a US AH-64 at Karbala by an Iraqi farmer.
Or, as the farmer concerned put it - no, I didn't. Unless there were two of these, and one was real.
Minqash told the paper that he had come across the aircraft in his field early one morning.
"I didn't shoot down an Apache or anything else. All that happened was that I went to the field, as I usually do early in the morning, and was surprised to find some bodies on the ground.
"I began to rub my eyes to make sure that what I was seeing was true or whether I was imagining it," he said.
"When I realised that it was really true, I was overcome by fear and rushed to the nearest government post to inform them that there was a plane in my field.
"A large number of [Baath] party members and security men came with me to investigate. They told me that it was an American Apache aircraft and made me stay with them until someone who they said was a senior official arrived. I didn't know who he was.
LOL how the mighty have fallen. He can’t even put his camera the right way round.
Now, Cameo was a funny pandemic-era way to get an out-of-work actor or comedian to say happy birthday to your friend, but surely this sort of stunt raises all sorts of questions about advertising regulations?
It's amusing as I've said before I think we pay our politicians too much and it'd be better if their pay was more closely linked to citizens pay in general. I believe in the 90s an MP typically got two times average income and now it's three times and I don't think that's healthy.
Others have said they think MPs are underpaid compared to the private sector.
While a tiny, tiny minority of the private sector may be worth more than MPs that's far from the case for all MPs as the likes of Bercow etc whoring themselves post politics helps demonstrate. As does the desperation in many MPs to do anything to stay loyal to the Party and keep their seat, because if they lose their seat they lose their job and there £84k+ salary they'd never achieve in the real world.
Above average intelligence, middle class background at least, graduate from good uni, driven and ambitious, energetic, robust and thick skinned, gift of the gab, alert to opportunities to get ahead.
The above being the typical profile of an MP, there's little doubt in my mind that most of them would have been able to earn more if they'd choosen a career in the private sector.
I am actually quite surprised the average is that high after 5 years.
I do wonder whether the base stats are on all degrees, including Masters (and MBAs) and PhDs etc. That would boost the numbers up a bit. Depending on data too, if it's survey based (how else?) then likely to be a differential response with lower earners less responsive? Don't account for that and you get high numbers.
Five years after first graduating I was doing a PhD on a £15k stipend, so I'm happy to believe those numbers are high
So 22 years after PhD I'm just touching 50K, but thats a middle ranking academic salary. Just shows that I do it for love and not for the cash...
LOL how the mighty have fallen. He can’t even put his camera the right way round.
Now, Cameo was a funny pandemic-era way to get an out-of-work actor or comedian to say happy birthday to your friend, but surely this sort of stunt raises all sorts of questions about advertising regulations?
It's amusing as I've said before I think we pay our politicians too much and it'd be better if their pay was more closely linked to citizens pay in general. I believe in the 90s an MP typically got two times average income and now it's three times and I don't think that's healthy.
Others have said they think MPs are underpaid compared to the private sector.
While a tiny, tiny minority of the private sector may be worth more than MPs that's far from the case for all MPs as the likes of Bercow etc whoring themselves post politics helps demonstrate. As does the desperation in many MPs to do anything to stay loyal to the Party and keep their seat, because if they lose their seat they lose their job and there £84k+ salary they'd never achieve in the real world.
Above average intelligence, middle class background at least, graduate from good uni, driven and ambitious, energetic, robust and thick skinned, gift of the gab, alert to opportunities to get ahead.
The above being the typical profile of an MP, there's little doubt in my mind that most of them would have been able to earn more if they'd choosen a career in the private sector.
Some may become partners in law firms and banks, directors, surgeons etc and earn more than MPs but they are the minority
But they're only 26 years old. And you don't need to make partner or equivalent to beat an MP's remuneration. Also, like I say, you need some particular traits to make it to (and at) Westminster, traits which would be likely to earn you more in the private sector than an MP gets.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying MPs are a bunch of hugely talented heroes doing us all a favour, but this oft-heard notion that they would struggle to earn the same money "in the real world" is imo a nonsense.
Eg and to personalize. I've known lots of people on £100k+ in the private sector in my time and very few of them had what it takes to become and perform as an MP. Conversely most MPs I observe *would* have been able to earn £100k+ in the private sector if they'd chosen that alternative.
(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 1h On the South Africa debate. People can try and re-write history as much as they like. Chris Whitty said "there are several things we don't know, but all the things that we do know, are bad". That statement simply wasn't accurate.
It was just a ridiculous statement when all the evidence from SA (including a statement from their Health Minister) was showing that Omicron was much milder.
In retrospect, on this point you were MUCH more clear-headed and foresightful than Professor Whitty. Chapeau
I am glad Whitty is finally being dethroned. |He deserves none of the rude abuse he has received, but neither does he deserve the gongs. He’s done his job as a boffin and in some ways he’s done it well and in some ways - like this - he’s done it bad.
Frankly, we should never have enthroned scientists in the first place. Never again. From lab leak to questionable lockdowns this entire pandemic has seen science look wobblier than I’ve ever known. The one enormous thing on the plus side of the ledger is the vax. There, science excelled
I must confess that I though Begum was an extremely rare case but it appears not. The success of the government in the Supreme Court on this suggests to me that these powers are too extensive and profoundly undemocratic.
The old "Well, we have this power. So obviously we *have* to use it"....
Indeed, and a Supreme Court who's view of the law is much more based upon form than substance. This is an interesting article about how the Supreme Court has developed under Lord Reed's leadership and it has several harsh things to say about the Begum decision: https://lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v44/n02/conor-gearty/in-the-shallow-end
I think traditionalists may give Reed higher marks than the author and rather deprecated Baroness Hales' inclination to meddle but for me the indifference about the implications for those whose plight is before them is a concern. The law has to be human or it simply becomes a weapon of oppression.
Very interesting article, particularly the final sentences regarding the ossification of the common law. Indeed, the idea that Parliamentary sovereignty is the traditionalist view is interesting, not least because the Common Law predates that concept by a few hundred years.
Thank you for posting, there's a lot to think about in there. Alas a Zoom Meeting calls and I have no time to get my thoughts down properly.
Awful as it is to see images of these women enjoying themselves it isn't a surprise. You can't work at a camp specifically designed for genocide - one partying with the guy who designed the gas chambers and crematoria FFS - without being committed and thinking it normal. SO of course they partied.
They were the master race were they not? Genetically superior, the thousand year reich! Where to be tall, blond haired and blue eyed was the goal as set out as by the short black haired brown eyed Austrian.
In happier news. My 100% record of having mildly disappointing food (on my one previous Sri Lankan trip) has been easily shattered. It’s all good so far. Black Pork Curry lunch here was absolutely excellent
Colombo is a strange city. Poor, scruffy, yet in places intensely civilised. And stunned by the sun and heat into an amiable complacency
Are there still lots of stray dogs lining the streets? Was when I was there. Plagued with them - a bit off-putting.
Not one that I’ve seen. Not cats. In fact a decided absence by “3rd World” standards (are we still allowed to say 3rd World? What’s the replacement?)
The Global South. Not to be confused with the pop group of that name.
The Global South is surely far more insulting than “3rd World” (which is an antique Cold War term, I readily confess)
For a start there are plenty of once-developing countries in the “Global South” which would really resent that characterization;. Chileans are quite haughty about being compared to Argentina, let alone Sudan. Indonesia is equally proud, likewise Costa Rica, the Maldives, Mauritius, what even is “the Global South”?
Personally, I would favour describing countries as low income, middle income and high income.
Low income, and more unequal middle income countries can be great value for travellers, because pay rates are so low. Obviously not so good if you are a Sri Lankan etc...
(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 1h On the South Africa debate. People can try and re-write history as much as they like. Chris Whitty said "there are several things we don't know, but all the things that we do know, are bad". That statement simply wasn't accurate.
That's Dec 15. Depending how high a bar you have for 'know' it's defensible. We knew it had some vaccine escape and was more easily transmitted. There was some evidence on lower severity (probably, by then?) but I'm not sure I'd have said we 'knew' that at that point.
SA Doctors were saying about the significant lower severity 3 weeks before his statement.
LOL how the mighty have fallen. He can’t even put his camera the right way round.
Now, Cameo was a funny pandemic-era way to get an out-of-work actor or comedian to say happy birthday to your friend, but surely this sort of stunt raises all sorts of questions about advertising regulations?
It's amusing as I've said before I think we pay our politicians too much and it'd be better if their pay was more closely linked to citizens pay in general. I believe in the 90s an MP typically got two times average income and now it's three times and I don't think that's healthy.
Others have said they think MPs are underpaid compared to the private sector.
While a tiny, tiny minority of the private sector may be worth more than MPs that's far from the case for all MPs as the likes of Bercow etc whoring themselves post politics helps demonstrate. As does the desperation in many MPs to do anything to stay loyal to the Party and keep their seat, because if they lose their seat they lose their job and there £84k+ salary they'd never achieve in the real world.
Above average intelligence, middle class background at least, graduate from good uni, driven and ambitious, energetic, robust and thick skinned, gift of the gab, alert to opportunities to get ahead.
The above being the typical profile of an MP, there's little doubt in my mind that most of them would have been able to earn more if they'd choosen a career in the private sector.
I am actually quite surprised the average is that high after 5 years.
I do wonder whether the base stats are on all degrees, including Masters (and MBAs) and PhDs etc. That would boost the numbers up a bit. Depending on data too, if it's survey based (how else?) then likely to be a differential response with lower earners less responsive? Don't account for that and you get high numbers.
Five years after first graduating I was doing a PhD on a £15k stipend, so I'm happy to believe those numbers are high
So 22 years after PhD I'm just touching 50K, but thats a middle ranking academic salary. Just shows that I do it for love and not for the cash...
In happier news. My 100% record of having mildly disappointing food (on my one previous Sri Lankan trip) has been easily shattered. It’s all good so far. Black Pork Curry lunch here was absolutely excellent
Colombo is a strange city. Poor, scruffy, yet in places intensely civilised. And stunned by the sun and heat into an amiable complacency
Are there still lots of stray dogs lining the streets? Was when I was there. Plagued with them - a bit off-putting.
Not one that I’ve seen. Not cats. In fact a decided absence by “3rd World” standards (are we still allowed to say 3rd World? What’s the replacement?)
The Global South. Not to be confused with the pop group of that name.
The Global South is surely far more insulting than “3rd World” (which is an antique Cold War term, I readily confess)
For a start there are plenty of once-developing countries in the “Global South” which would really resent that characterization;. Chileans are quite haughty about being compared to Argentina, let alone Sudan. Indonesia is equally proud, likewise Costa Rica, the Maldives, Mauritius, what even is “the Global South”?
Personally, I would favour describing countries as low income, middle income and high income.
Low income, and more unequal middle income countries can be great value for travellers, because pay rates are so low. Obviously not so good if you are a Sri Lankan etc...
Not so good? I’d have thought it would be win win. Cheaper travel, and more money for the local economy.
In happier news. My 100% record of having mildly disappointing food (on my one previous Sri Lankan trip) has been easily shattered. It’s all good so far. Black Pork Curry lunch here was absolutely excellent
Colombo is a strange city. Poor, scruffy, yet in places intensely civilised. And stunned by the sun and heat into an amiable complacency
Are there still lots of stray dogs lining the streets? Was when I was there. Plagued with them - a bit off-putting.
Not one that I’ve seen. Not cats. In fact a decided absence by “3rd World” standards (are we still allowed to say 3rd World? What’s the replacement?)
The Global South. Not to be confused with the pop group of that name.
The Global South is surely far more insulting than “3rd World” (which is an antique Cold War term, I readily confess)
For a start there are plenty of once-developing countries in the “Global South” which would really resent that characterization;. Chileans are quite haughty about being compared to Argentina, let alone Sudan. Indonesia is equally proud, likewise Costa Rica, the Maldives, Mauritius, what even is “the Global South”?
You asked what the term now is and I told you - The Global South. But please note it doesn't mean below the equator. It's pretty much a straight replacement for 3rd World. It's a development measure not a geographic one. Insulting? No, the whole point is that 3rd World was, but this isn't. Everyone is happy and onboard with it.
In happier news. My 100% record of having mildly disappointing food (on my one previous Sri Lankan trip) has been easily shattered. It’s all good so far. Black Pork Curry lunch here was absolutely excellent
Colombo is a strange city. Poor, scruffy, yet in places intensely civilised. And stunned by the sun and heat into an amiable complacency
Are there still lots of stray dogs lining the streets? Was when I was there. Plagued with them - a bit off-putting.
Not one that I’ve seen. Not cats. In fact a decided absence by “3rd World” standards (are we still allowed to say 3rd World? What’s the replacement?)
The Global South. Not to be confused with the pop group of that name.
The Global South is surely far more insulting than “3rd World” (which is an antique Cold War term, I readily confess)
For a start there are plenty of once-developing countries in the “Global South” which would really resent that characterization;. Chileans are quite haughty about being compared to Argentina, let alone Sudan. Indonesia is equally proud, likewise Costa Rica, the Maldives, Mauritius, what even is “the Global South”?
Personally, I would favour describing countries as low income, middle income and high income.
Low income, and more unequal middle income countries can be great value for travellers, because pay rates are so low. Obviously not so good if you are a Sri Lankan etc...
Not so good? I’d have thought it would be win win. Cheaper travel, and more money for the local economy.
With the crypto crash, I have definitely fallen into the low income bracket ;-)
I don't get this "if something is free, demand is infinite" thing. I have worked in offices with free coffee, but have never managed more than about 6 cups a day.
Nor me.
You just get some people who skim read The Ladybird Little Book of Economics (large print edition) and suddenly think the whole world can be crammed into a tinpot theory encapsulated in a one line rule.
In happier news. My 100% record of having mildly disappointing food (on my one previous Sri Lankan trip) has been easily shattered. It’s all good so far. Black Pork Curry lunch here was absolutely excellent
In happier news. My 100% record of having mildly disappointing food (on my one previous Sri Lankan trip) has been easily shattered. It’s all good so far. Black Pork Curry lunch here was absolutely excellent
Colombo is a strange city. Poor, scruffy, yet in places intensely civilised. And stunned by the sun and heat into an amiable complacency
Are there still lots of stray dogs lining the streets? Was when I was there. Plagued with them - a bit off-putting.
In other Sri Lankan news I have discovered that my hotel - which is very nice, and ridiculously cheap at about £40 a night (thankyou, Covid) has, along with its enormous rooftop infinity poo,
I really don't care Sean.
You must be a very sad man indeed to feel the need to show off about your international holidays on a UK political betting site.
My infinity poo, just for you
X
Wow. That’s infinity and beyond
Yes, that’s the Indian Ocean beyond. I’m not sure what the little lights are. Fishing boats?
Just a bit of light leaking around the edge of the Truman Show-esque dome you're living in.
Hope you've enjoyed the Covid storyline of the last couple of seasons. Brought the viewing numbers back up nicely. You won't believe what we've got in store for you this year
In happier news. My 100% record of having mildly disappointing food (on my one previous Sri Lankan trip) has been easily shattered. It’s all good so far. Black Pork Curry lunch here was absolutely excellent
In happier news. My 100% record of having mildly disappointing food (on my one previous Sri Lankan trip) has been easily shattered. It’s all good so far. Black Pork Curry lunch here was absolutely excellent
Colombo is a strange city. Poor, scruffy, yet in places intensely civilised. And stunned by the sun and heat into an amiable complacency
Are there still lots of stray dogs lining the streets? Was when I was there. Plagued with them - a bit off-putting.
Not one that I’ve seen. Not cats. In fact a decided absence by “3rd World” standards (are we still allowed to say 3rd World? What’s the replacement?)
The Global South. Not to be confused with the pop group of that name.
The Global South is surely far more insulting than “3rd World” (which is an antique Cold War term, I readily confess)
For a start there are plenty of once-developing countries in the “Global South” which would really resent that characterization;. Chileans are quite haughty about being compared to Argentina, let alone Sudan. Indonesia is equally proud, likewise Costa Rica, the Maldives, Mauritius, what even is “the Global South”?
You asked what the term now is and I told you - The Global South. But please note it doesn't mean below the equator. It's pretty much a straight replacement for 3rd World. It's a development measure not a geographic one. Insulting? No, the whole point is that 3rd World was, but this isn't. Everyone is happy and onboard with it.
"Everyone is happy and onboard with it."
Not true....its far from settled issue.
‘Global South’, a term frequently used on websites and in papers related to academic and ‘predatory’ publishing, may represent a form of unscholarly discrimination. Arguments are put forward as to why the current use of this term is geographically meaningless, since it implies countries in the southern hemisphere, whereas many of the entities in publishing that are referred to as being part of the Global South are in fact either on the equator or in the northern hemisphere. Therefore, academics, in writing about academic publishing, should cease using this broad, culturally insensitive, and geographically inaccurate term.
Erondu says she's embarrassed if she inadvertently uses the term during a workshop in one of the countries in Africa where she works on health care issues. Why? "Because people in Nigeria don't refer to themselves as the 'global south.' It's something someone named them."
Apparently Google translate does a "very good" job putting my northern into Romanian.
Which really demonstrates for me the differences in the two languages with regards to grammar and phrasing, as some of their emails / catalogues / back of pack translations into English are bloody awful...
In happier news. My 100% record of having mildly disappointing food (on my one previous Sri Lankan trip) has been easily shattered. It’s all good so far. Black Pork Curry lunch here was absolutely excellent
Colombo is a strange city. Poor, scruffy, yet in places intensely civilised. And stunned by the sun and heat into an amiable complacency
Are there still lots of stray dogs lining the streets? Was when I was there. Plagued with them - a bit off-putting.
Not one that I’ve seen. Not cats. In fact a decided absence by “3rd World” standards (are we still allowed to say 3rd World? What’s the replacement?)
The Global South. Not to be confused with the pop group of that name.
The Global South is surely far more insulting than “3rd World” (which is an antique Cold War term, I readily confess)
For a start there are plenty of once-developing countries in the “Global South” which would really resent that characterization;. Chileans are quite haughty about being compared to Argentina, let alone Sudan. Indonesia is equally proud, likewise Costa Rica, the Maldives, Mauritius, what even is “the Global South”?
Personally, I would favour describing countries as low income, middle income and high income.
Low income, and more unequal middle income countries can be great value for travellers, because pay rates are so low. Obviously not so good if you are a Sri Lankan etc...
Sri Lanka feels, in many ways, like Thailand about 35-40 years ago
Yes it’s a lovely place to travel as an affluent westerner (or indeed affluent anyone with a hard currency) you get great quality at silly prices
But the potential is also the same as Thailand. Largely beautiful country, Buddhist and smiley, nice people, relatively crime free, fine cuisine (I am finally discovering), blissful tropical climate (if that’s what you like), endless cracking beaches. No history of massive industrialization (so no scarring).
They’ve been held back by 1. The civil strife which turned into 2. the Tamil wars followed in succession by 3. the GFC and then 4. the tsunami and then 5. Covid
A pretty astonishing run of bad luck. But I wonder if their bad luck is about to run out. They have all the ingredients for success, despite the horror stories about Covid poverty and debt collapse
From the rooftop bar where I write this I can see three skyscrapers rising, and a whole new financial centre off shore - literally, being built by the Chinese to mimic the Palm in Dubai. Colombo resembles Bangkok in about 1985 to an uncanny extent
In happier news. My 100% record of having mildly disappointing food (on my one previous Sri Lankan trip) has been easily shattered. It’s all good so far. Black Pork Curry lunch here was absolutely excellent
Colombo is a strange city. Poor, scruffy, yet in places intensely civilised. And stunned by the sun and heat into an amiable complacency
Are there still lots of stray dogs lining the streets? Was when I was there. Plagued with them - a bit off-putting.
Not one that I’ve seen. Not cats. In fact a decided absence by “3rd World” standards (are we still allowed to say 3rd World? What’s the replacement?)
The Global South. Not to be confused with the pop group of that name.
The Global South is surely far more insulting than “3rd World” (which is an antique Cold War term, I readily confess)
For a start there are plenty of once-developing countries in the “Global South” which would really resent that characterization;. Chileans are quite haughty about being compared to Argentina, let alone Sudan. Indonesia is equally proud, likewise Costa Rica, the Maldives, Mauritius, what even is “the Global South”?
You asked what the term now is and I told you - The Global South. But please note it doesn't mean below the equator. It's pretty much a straight replacement for 3rd World. It's a development measure not a geographic one. Insulting? No, the whole point is that 3rd World was, but this isn't. Everyone is happy and onboard with it.
Erondu says she's embarrassed if she inadvertently uses the term during a workshop in one of the countries in Africa where she works on health care issues. Why? "Because people in Nigeria don't refer to themselves as the 'global south.' It's something someone named them."
I could go on and on. Third world is a no no, describing in terms of income is problematic and global south many don't like either.
In my work, I avoid all those terms completely. I refer, when I have to, to low-resource settings or environments. This does not seem to insult because, say, within Pakistan the relatively affluent institutions, such as Agha Khan University or LUMS, don't see themselves at being low-resource, while laboratories in Quetta or Gilgit do and want to know what they can do within those very real-life constraints.
PS And low-resource does not always mean 'poor' - it can be some other resource we take for granted in the West, such as water. In Quetta, for instance, a question I've had is how much water do you need to wash your hands properly?
John Bercow calls on 'shameless narcissist' Boris Johnson to resign
That is like the lady from yesterday complaining about the evils of glass conservatories...from in her glass conservatory.
No no. When it comes to shameless narcissists Bercow is an expert. Hear him out...
Much as I abhor calling people by insulting nicknames derived from their name - using terms such as "Bliar", "Camoron" or "Bozo" (or, even worse, "BoZo") says much more about the user than the target - "the Berc" fits him like a glove.
We had the announcement of the battery factory funding. I missed this,
Wayve, a London-based startup creating autonomous driving technology based on computer vision and machine learning, has raised a $200m Series B funding round to help get self-driving cars onto the road faster.
Waymo has had $5.5bn and still can't solve the problems. Remember the issue isn't that driving is a 95% issue (and people can live with the 5%) it's a 99.9995% issue and until you've uncovered all the issues a self-driving car won't be allowed on the road.
In happier news. My 100% record of having mildly disappointing food (on my one previous Sri Lankan trip) has been easily shattered. It’s all good so far. Black Pork Curry lunch here was absolutely excellent
Colombo is a strange city. Poor, scruffy, yet in places intensely civilised. And stunned by the sun and heat into an amiable complacency
Are there still lots of stray dogs lining the streets? Was when I was there. Plagued with them - a bit off-putting.
Not one that I’ve seen. Not cats. In fact a decided absence by “3rd World” standards (are we still allowed to say 3rd World? What’s the replacement?)
The Global South. Not to be confused with the pop group of that name.
The Global South is surely far more insulting than “3rd World” (which is an antique Cold War term, I readily confess)
For a start there are plenty of once-developing countries in the “Global South” which would really resent that characterization;. Chileans are quite haughty about being compared to Argentina, let alone Sudan. Indonesia is equally proud, likewise Costa Rica, the Maldives, Mauritius, what even is “the Global South”?
You asked what the term now is and I told you - The Global South. But please note it doesn't mean below the equator. It's pretty much a straight replacement for 3rd World. It's a development measure not a geographic one. Insulting? No, the whole point is that 3rd World was, but this isn't. Everyone is happy and onboard with it.
Third World originates in the division between the Communist block and the capitalist democracies, hence Third World. S such it is obsolete for the fall of the Soviet Union.
John Bercow calls on 'shameless narcissist' Boris Johnson to resign
That is like the lady from yesterday complaining about the evils of glass conservatories...from in her glass conservatory.
No no. When it comes to shameless narcissists Bercow is an expert. Hear him out...
Much as I abhor callign people by nicknames derived from their name - using terms such as "Bliar", "Camoron" or "Bozo" (or, even worse, "BoZo") says much more about the user than the target - "the Berc" fits him like a glove.
We had the announcement of the battery factory funding. I missed this,
Wayve, a London-based startup creating autonomous driving technology based on computer vision and machine learning, has raised a $200m Series B funding round to help get self-driving cars onto the road faster.
Waymo has had $5.5bn and still can't solve the problems. Remember the issue isn't that driving is a 95% issue (and people can live with the 5%) it's a 99.9995% issue and until you've uncovered all the issues a self-driving car won't be allowed on the road.
Won't argue against general thrust of what you say, other than a lot of people think Waymo's approach is particular dumb approach. They built their system on the basis they could lidar scan and accurately map every situation, as more data equals better result, but this really doesn't work in ever changing real world.
Also, I don't know much about them, it depends what problem they are trying to solve. There is a difference between trying to create what is effectively a highly effective driver assist and total self-driving.
e.g. Comma.ai does "self-driving", they are profitable, but aren't promising full self drive anytime soon. They sell a product that works today that is basically advanced driver assist.
LOL how the mighty have fallen. He can’t even put his camera the right way round.
Now, Cameo was a funny pandemic-era way to get an out-of-work actor or comedian to say happy birthday to your friend, but surely this sort of stunt raises all sorts of questions about advertising regulations?
It's amusing as I've said before I think we pay our politicians too much and it'd be better if their pay was more closely linked to citizens pay in general. I believe in the 90s an MP typically got two times average income and now it's three times and I don't think that's healthy.
Others have said they think MPs are underpaid compared to the private sector.
While a tiny, tiny minority of the private sector may be worth more than MPs that's far from the case for all MPs as the likes of Bercow etc whoring themselves post politics helps demonstrate. As does the desperation in many MPs to do anything to stay loyal to the Party and keep their seat, because if they lose their seat they lose their job and there £84k+ salary they'd never achieve in the real world.
Above average intelligence, middle class background at least, graduate from good uni, driven and ambitious, energetic, robust and thick skinned, gift of the gab, alert to opportunities to get ahead.
The above being the typical profile of an MP, there's little doubt in my mind that most of them would have been able to earn more if they'd choosen a career in the private sector.
I am actually quite surprised the average is that high after 5 years.
I do wonder whether the base stats are on all degrees, including Masters (and MBAs) and PhDs etc. That would boost the numbers up a bit. Depending on data too, if it's survey based (how else?) then likely to be a differential response with lower earners less responsive? Don't account for that and you get high numbers.
Five years after first graduating I was doing a PhD on a £15k stipend, so I'm happy to believe those numbers are high
So 22 years after PhD I'm just touching 50K, but thats a middle ranking academic salary. Just shows that I do it for love and not for the cash...
I don't think I'm underpaid, although as I slog through exam marking, I wonder. I suspect I could have gone for a much more highly paid career if I'd gone down other routes. I have 1st class honours degree in Chemistry and a PhD in synthetic organometallic chemistry. I love what I do, and I think I'm good at it (not judging from the students answers at the moment though...), but I do think academia is somewhat undervalued. Previously its been compensated for by an excellent pension, but that is being degraded. Other aspects are good. Plenty of leave (although most academics rarely take it all) and come and go as I please, other than for teaching which is of course time-tabled.
(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 1h On the South Africa debate. People can try and re-write history as much as they like. Chris Whitty said "there are several things we don't know, but all the things that we do know, are bad". That statement simply wasn't accurate.
That's Dec 15. Depending how high a bar you have for 'know' it's defensible. We knew it had some vaccine escape and was more easily transmitted. There was some evidence on lower severity (probably, by then?) but I'm not sure I'd have said we 'knew' that at that point.
SA Doctors were saying about the significant lower severity 3 weeks before his statement.
Quite possibly (by which I mean I don't remember the timings, but assuming you do and I believe you). But 'know' in science has a quite specific meaning. Even knowing it was less severe in South Africa wouldn't mean it knowing (hoping, suspecting, expecting even, perhaps, but not knowing) was less severe here for a few reasons: - Different age profiles - Different profiles of past infection to different variants - Different comorbidities (partly due to differences in age) - Different profile of vaccines used (I don't know this to be the case, but good chance we have a different mix?)
Even at this point, do we know that Omicron is intrinsically milder than Delta? As opposed to effectively milder due to increased past exposure and increased vaccination giving us more protection? I haven't seen convincing studies on that - you'd need comparisons among unvaccinated and unexposed populations. If we still don't know the intrinsic severity then we didn't know it was going to be milder in a population with different past exposure, vaccination and comorbidity characterstics.
In happier news. My 100% record of having mildly disappointing food (on my one previous Sri Lankan trip) has been easily shattered. It’s all good so far. Black Pork Curry lunch here was absolutely excellent
Colombo is a strange city. Poor, scruffy, yet in places intensely civilised. And stunned by the sun and heat into an amiable complacency
Are there still lots of stray dogs lining the streets? Was when I was there. Plagued with them - a bit off-putting.
Not one that I’ve seen. Not cats. In fact a decided absence by “3rd World” standards (are we still allowed to say 3rd World? What’s the replacement?)
The Global South. Not to be confused with the pop group of that name.
The Global South is surely far more insulting than “3rd World” (which is an antique Cold War term, I readily confess)
For a start there are plenty of once-developing countries in the “Global South” which would really resent that characterization;. Chileans are quite haughty about being compared to Argentina, let alone Sudan. Indonesia is equally proud, likewise Costa Rica, the Maldives, Mauritius, what even is “the Global South”?
You asked what the term now is and I told you - The Global South. But please note it doesn't mean below the equator. It's pretty much a straight replacement for 3rd World. It's a development measure not a geographic one. Insulting? No, the whole point is that 3rd World was, but this isn't. Everyone is happy and onboard with it.
Third World originates in the division between the Communist block and the capitalist democracies, hence Third World. S such it is obsolete for the fall of the Soviet Union.
Quite. I don’t think @kinabalu grasps the basic etymology of “3rd World”
Comments
I was focusing on some of the other, lesser discussed use cases to point out bitcoin's value to people the current system impoverishes. Globally, about 1.7bn people are unbanked, a bitcoin wallet with lightning integration means anyone with a mobile phone can be their own bank and transfer money anywhere in the world quickly and cheaply. That is truly revolutionary IMHO.
The speed at which crypto has gained a foothold in Nigeria, for example, is of far more interest to me than some timeshare scammer shilling million dollar NFTs.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/jul/31/out-of-control-and-rising-why-bitcoin-has-nigerias-government-in-a-panic
Things to note:
1. Elderly people are the dominant group in Covid deaths
2. Elderly people would very, very often have some other condition that would merit at least a 'contributing' cause on the death certificate.
So it is unsurprising that very few people have only Covid on a death certificate. Many with other causes listed were still, very definitely, killed by Covid
(For background, I've worked with ONS death data derived from death certificates for a number of years. The cetificate fields are interpreted differently and filled in differently by different people. They have their uses, but you need to be aware of the limitations around e.g. cause of death)
Edit: So, if you have absolutely no comorbidities then you're likely at very low risk from Covid (which, of course, we knew already). You're also at very low risk of being elderly
It would be a massive abuse of constitutional convention for a PM to refuse to resign in this situation, of course, but that doesn't really provide any comfort in the case of Boris.
But that's tracking the trades though, right? not tracking who owns what? I imagine the latter would take a huge amount of time and manpower in the country China's size.
You must be a very sad man indeed to feel the need to show off about your international holidays on a UK political betting site.
And of course China spy on everybody a lot more than the west. They only have to catch you once logging into a wallet somewhere and they got you.
Also I said large amounts. Yes, if you are sticking $100 in here and there, its probably a big pain in the ass, that even the Chinese don't care about that. But trying to onboard and offload millions, you will be found out if they want to.
But they didn't ban it because of this. They banned it, because they want to force everybody to use their single digit currency, which they control. They don't really like weChat pay etc because of this. They want to eliminate that and replace it with their digital currency.
In this modern social media world I have no idea why anyone would want to be a MP.
Plus the skills to be a top businessman, top lawyer etc are not always the same as being a top politician
When Djokovic was eliminated and all bets on him voided, I suddenly found that I was about £1,000 in the red on all remaining players.
I've just received this from Betfair and I'm now £27 in the green on all players. Fair play to Betfair.
The above being the typical profile of an MP, there's little doubt in my mind that most of them would have been able to earn more if they'd choosen a career in the private sector.
And we went to Gaul. And we stayed up in hills that was completely artistically inspiring. And curry all day even for breakfast though it was mostly mild and sweet. I think they even do pineapple curry. And one evening we went to see the famous Pygmy fire walker perform. Singhis Thingamabob. It’s amazing what you don’t forget.
Just don’t let an elephant catch you naked on the roof Leon. It will wonder how you can feed yourself with your little misplaced trunk
Are you logged into the wrong account/outing yourself as Leon?
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/mitch-mcconnell-under-fire-for-suggesting-black-voters-arent-americans-0mqp9g36m
https://www.onlondon.co.uk/lewis-baston-why-labours-massive-poll-lead-in-london-may-deceive/
Worst case scenario for the Tories in London is probably around a 23% lead for Labour which is a 4% swing from 2018.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5818767/Degree-Russell-Group-universities-boost-salary-13.html
Some may become partners in law firms and banks, directors, surgeons etc and earn more than MPs but they are the minority
X
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/house-of-commons-trends-the-age-of-mps/
Checking the stats on wikipedia* (data from the ONs and its Germany equivalent), the UK and Germany have both had about 15m live births 2000-2020 (UK: 15.6, Ger 15.1), but Germany has had more deaths (18.3m to 12.4m). So Germany population, purely on births/deaths, has a deficit of 3m while the UK has a surplus of 3m. So that's six million of your 7m surplus straight away.
The same sources have the crude migration change figures, which are a bit higher per 1000 for the UK than Germany, giving a figure of around 1m more migrants in the UK. So, a difference, but nowhere near what nyou;'re claiming by sleight of hand.
*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demography_of_the_United_Kingdom
*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Germany
Five years after first graduating I was doing a PhD on a £15k stipend, so I'm happy to believe those numbers are high
@DPJHodges
·
1h
On the South Africa debate. People can try and re-write history as much as they like. Chris Whitty said "there are several things we don't know, but all the things that we do know, are bad". That statement simply wasn't accurate.
https://twitter.com/DPJHodges/status/1484524911406329860
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10426671/The-SS-women-Auschwitz-delighted-holding-parties-overseeing-murder-Jews.html
For a start there are plenty of once-developing countries in the “Global South” which would really resent that characterization;. Chileans are quite haughty about being compared to Argentina, let alone Sudan. Indonesia is equally proud, likewise Costa Rica, the Maldives, Mauritius, what even is “the Global South”?
Wayve, a London-based startup creating autonomous driving technology based on computer vision and machine learning, has raised a $200m Series B funding round to help get self-driving cars onto the road faster.
https://sifted.eu/articles/wayve-autonomous-driving/
Masks perform a similar psychological role for Covid as recycling does for environmental issues.
As to which one is more useful I leave that as an argument for a quieter news day.
Minqash told the paper that he had come across the aircraft in his field early one morning.
"I didn't shoot down an Apache or anything else. All that happened was that I went to the field, as I usually do early in the morning, and was surprised to find some bodies on the ground.
"I began to rub my eyes to make sure that what I was seeing was true or whether I was imagining it," he said.
"When I realised that it was really true, I was overcome by fear and rushed to the nearest government post to inform them that there was a plane in my field.
"A large number of [Baath] party members and security men came with me to investigate. They told me that it was an American Apache aircraft and made me stay with them until someone who they said was a senior official arrived. I didn't know who he was.
"They asked me to say what you have heard on the TV satellite channels - that I shot down the plane with an old gun, a Brno."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2969471.stm
That is like the lady from yesterday complaining about the evils of glass conservatories...from in her glass conservatory.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying MPs are a bunch of hugely talented heroes doing us all a favour, but this oft-heard notion that they would struggle to earn the same money "in the real world" is imo a nonsense.
Eg and to personalize. I've known lots of people on £100k+ in the private sector in my time and very few of them had what it takes to become and perform as an MP. Conversely most MPs I observe *would* have been able to earn £100k+ in the private sector if they'd chosen that alternative.
I am glad Whitty is finally being dethroned. |He deserves none of the rude abuse he has received, but neither does he deserve the gongs. He’s done his job as a boffin and in some ways he’s done it well and in some ways - like this - he’s done it bad.
Frankly, we should never have enthroned scientists in the first place. Never again. From lab leak to questionable lockdowns this entire pandemic has seen science look wobblier than I’ve ever known. The one enormous thing on the plus side of the ledger is the vax. There, science excelled
Thank you for posting, there's a lot to think about in there. Alas a Zoom Meeting calls and I have no time to get my thoughts down properly.
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/jan/21/the-fightback-starts-now-heres-how-the-bbc-can-outlive-the-tories-nadine-dorries-david-attenborough
They were the master race were they not? Genetically superior, the thousand year reich! Where to be tall, blond haired and blue eyed was the goal as set out as by the short black haired brown eyed Austrian.
Fuckers.
Low income, and more unequal middle income countries can be great value for travellers, because pay rates are so low. Obviously not so good if you are a Sri Lankan etc...
https://www.timeslocalnews.co.uk/tunbridge-wells-digital/read-the-times-of-tunbridge-wells-19th-january-2022 https://twitter.com/tnewtondunn/status/1484549647075094531/photo/1
https://www.statista.com/statistics/416102/average-annual-gross-pay-percentiles-united-kingdom/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-60039138
You just get some people who skim read The Ladybird Little Book of Economics (large print edition) and suddenly think the whole world can be crammed into a tinpot theory encapsulated in a one line rule.
Hope you've enjoyed the Covid storyline of the last couple of seasons. Brought the viewing numbers back up nicely. You won't believe what we've got in store for you this year
Not true....its far from settled issue.
‘Global South’, a term frequently used on websites and in papers related to academic and ‘predatory’ publishing, may represent a form of unscholarly discrimination. Arguments are put forward as to why the current use of this term is geographically meaningless, since it implies countries in the southern hemisphere, whereas many of the entities in publishing that are referred to as being part of the Global South are in fact either on the equator or in the northern hemisphere. Therefore, academics, in writing about academic publishing, should cease using this broad, culturally insensitive, and geographically inaccurate term.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/354152094_Rethinking_the_use_of_the_term_'Global_South'_in_academic_publishing
Many are as offended as the term BAME....
Erondu says she's embarrassed if she inadvertently uses the term during a workshop in one of the countries in Africa where she works on health care issues. Why? "Because people in Nigeria don't refer to themselves as the 'global south.' It's something someone named them."
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/01/08/954820328/memo-to-people-of-earth-third-world-is-an-offensive-term?t=1642779555647
And....
https://www.travelfordifference.com/why-third-world-is-outdated-what-you-should-say-instead/
http://re-design.dimiter.eu/?p=969#:~:text=You can say that we,southern part of South America.
https://twitter.com/margoncalv/status/1446757363533369344
I could go on and on. Third world is a no no, describing in terms of income is problematic and global south many don't like either.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/01/21/ukraine-standoff-us-russia-meet-geneva-last-ditch-talks-avert/
Apparently Google translate does a "very good" job putting my northern into Romanian.
Which really demonstrates for me the differences in the two languages with regards to grammar and phrasing, as some of their emails / catalogues / back of pack translations into English are bloody awful...
Yes it’s a lovely place to travel as an affluent westerner (or indeed affluent anyone with a hard currency) you get great quality at silly prices
But the potential is also the same as Thailand. Largely beautiful country, Buddhist and smiley, nice people, relatively crime free, fine cuisine (I am finally discovering), blissful tropical climate (if that’s what you like), endless cracking beaches. No history of massive industrialization (so no scarring).
They’ve been held back by 1. The civil strife which turned into 2. the Tamil wars followed in succession by 3. the GFC and then 4. the tsunami and then 5. Covid
A pretty astonishing run of bad luck. But I wonder if their bad luck is about to run out. They have all the ingredients for success, despite the horror stories about Covid poverty and debt collapse
From the rooftop bar where I write this I can see three skyscrapers rising, and a whole new financial centre off shore - literally, being built by the Chinese to mimic the Palm in Dubai. Colombo resembles Bangkok in about 1985 to an uncanny extent
Go Long on Ceylon
PS And low-resource does not always mean 'poor' - it can be some other resource we take for granted in the West, such as water. In Quetta, for instance, a question I've had is how much water do you need to wash your hands properly?
Waymo has had $5.5bn and still can't solve the problems. Remember the issue isn't that driving is a 95% issue (and people can live with the 5%) it's a 99.9995% issue and until you've uncovered all the issues a self-driving car won't be allowed on the road.
Also, I don't know much about them, it depends what problem they are trying to solve. There is a difference between trying to create what is effectively a highly effective driver assist and total self-driving.
e.g. Comma.ai does "self-driving", they are profitable, but aren't promising full self drive anytime soon. They sell a product that works today that is basically advanced driver assist.
I don't think I'm underpaid, although as I slog through exam marking, I wonder. I suspect I could have gone for a much more highly paid career if I'd gone down other routes. I have 1st class honours degree in Chemistry and a PhD in synthetic organometallic chemistry. I love what I do, and I think I'm good at it (not judging from the students answers at the moment though...), but I do think academia is somewhat undervalued. Previously its been compensated for by an excellent pension, but that is being degraded. Other aspects are good. Plenty of leave (although most academics rarely take it all) and come and go as I please, other than for teaching which is of course time-tabled.
- Different age profiles
- Different profiles of past infection to different variants
- Different comorbidities (partly due to differences in age)
- Different profile of vaccines used (I don't know this to be the case, but good chance we have a different mix?)
Even at this point, do we know that Omicron is intrinsically milder than Delta? As opposed to effectively milder due to increased past exposure and increased vaccination giving us more protection? I haven't seen convincing studies on that - you'd need comparisons among unvaccinated and unexposed populations. If we still don't know the intrinsic severity then we didn't know it was going to be milder in a population with different past exposure, vaccination and comorbidity characterstics.
Lab 43% (+3)
Con 33% (-1)
LD 10% (+2)
SNP 4% (-1)
Grn 3% (-1)
Oth 7% (-1)
https://www.survation.com/labour-vote-share-extends-to-43-while-public-lack-confidence-in-the-governments-investigation-into-lockdown-parties/