Are the differences between the southern states and northern states in the US greater than the differences between Scotland and England?
No, that would be just a question of granularity. Outside the Chicago metropolitan area Illinois is very red , similarly Upstate New York, and the opposite in Kentucky or Georgia.
It is much more like the English divide between cities and shires, when the USA is looked at at county level.
To an extent but compare for example the county vote in Massachussetts in 2020 to Louisiana. Every county in the former blue, 80% of counties in the latter red
London Mayor Sadiq Khan coming in for a hell of a lot of criticism during Kit Malthouse statement on Met going into special measures. Calls for him to resign his position and for the Gov to remove his powers over policing in London...
Is this a parody? As I'd assumed the tendency of people in American TV programmes to boil a kettle on a stove was just tv anachronism (it only bugs me when the character is British).
Not an anachronism, just different circumstances. Plug-in electric kettles of the type ubiquitous in Britain are much less useful in the US because their 110v electric supply means the kettle takes much longer to boil than in countries with a 230/240v system. Cookers are on their own high-power circuit, separate from normal sockets, so they can boil water much quicker than a kettle.
This Supreme Court is running wild. This outcome is a kick in the face to peoples whose land we already took and whose sovereignty we have already disregarded- to the point of genocide.
Another determination that could be left to individual states is, apparently, same sex marriage.
The way this is going, the way some states seem to be a million miles away from others in social outlook, you have to wonder whether in the end some sort of fracturing/secession might actually occur.
Leaving same sex marriage to individual states is much more complex, because say you a gay Connecticut couple (as apparently most of them are), and you move to Utah, where gay marriage is illegal, then is your marriage recognized?
What about your gay marriage as regards federal treatment of benefits to spouses?
As I said earlier this week why on earth would a gay couple move to Utah or say the deep South, which is where the states most likely to have majorities against gay marriage will be?
Because they should be able to live wherever they fucking like without some God bothering fanatics declaring them second class citizens.
If a majority of people in Utah or the deep South oppose gay marriage they will elect governors and legislators who also oppose gay marriage, that is inevitable and democracy. Given this states rights SC that is where we are heading.
However most other states in the US will still back gay marriage so it is not exactly as if they have nowhere to go.
How many homosexuals move to the third of countries in the world where homosexuality is still illegal?
Gay people should have the same rights as everyone else. Many of these same states used to outlaw interracial marriage, also on a pretext taken from scripture. Laws made by democratically elected officials. Was that okay too? And if they go back to that - would you support that as their right? What if they started burning witches? Also fine as long as it is backed by a majority? The US is a federal country but it is still a single country where certain rights of equal treatment should be guaranteed everywhere. It is also a democracy but also a liberal Republic where individual rights are meant to be protected. One thing is clear: the Scotus abortion ruling has opened the way to a concerted attack on the rights of those who don't match up to the fundamentalist Christian ideal.
Most people in the Deep South and border states of the US, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana, West Virginia, Mississipi, Arkansas, Missouri, South Carolina etc are fundamentalist Christians. They are a million miles from the coastal liberal states in social values and indeed closer to much of Eastern Europe than the rest of the West.
You may not like that but unfortunately democracy does not always lead to liberalism winning and the USA is the United States of America not just United America
But it does lead to two countries from one perhaps.
Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and (maybe) Arkansas are Deep South states.
Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee and West Virginia are NOT. They are part (historically, culturally, economically, politically) of the Upper South.
Conflating one with other is NOT a confidence builder re: conclusions drawn from such "analysis"
And that, my friend, is why your cross-pond presence here is very welcome to me that my assumptions about a foreign country are wild generalisations rather than having to actually read anything else and learn for myself!
Distinction between Deep South and Upland South was illustrated by the fact that, in 1860-61 the former seceded from the Union BEFORE attack on Fort Sumter, whereas the latter seceded AFTER that, in the wake of Lincoln's call for troops.
Distinction was witnessed again (partially) in > 1948 "Dixiecrat" revolt against the national Democratic Party lead by Strom Thurmond in the name of . . . wait for it . . . state rights for Whites as opposed to civil rights for Blacks. > 1960 with Barry Goldwater historic GOP victories in Deep South, at same time AuH2O was losing rest of US in equally-historic landslide > 1968 campaign of George Wallace running as an "American Independent" against Nixon and Humphrey and nearly helping to elect HHH by splitting the conservative vote.
Divide between Deep and Upper South is becoming fuzzier over time. And has always been true that some states straddle the divide, for example Tennessee (mostly Upland except for Memphis & West TN) and Georgia (mostly Deep save for far North GA which is part of Appalachia).
Has anyone else tried to read Rebecca West’s Black Lamb and Grey Falcon? My god what a slog. Impossibly slow, excessively long and notably dated. She’s right about Montenegrins tho. They are beautiful people
No. I have had a copy for about ten years and it is on the impossibly long pile of my 'to be read' books.
Not surprised it is dated - it's from the 1940s iirc.
Before Britons get too smug, we should note that anyone east of Istanbul, with money, is frankly appalled and disgusted that we don’t have bum guns - lavatory douches, instant bidets - in our loos. We just use…. Paper? UGH
Can't really see how you can argue there wasn't an attempted Coup? That it failed was incompetence and because a handful of key players resisted. Rafflensperger (sp.?), Pence, Cheney and Hutchinson. And doubtless a few others. But it was an attempted Coup. By a mafia Don. He was well named.
I said there wouldn’t be a coup.
There was no coup.
However one describes the disgraceful, shambolic scenes on 6 January, a coup it was not.
Well. It wasn't a successful Coup. I'll give you that.
It wasn't a successful riot. It wasn't even an attempted coup.
5 dead. What was the intention?
Of course it was a bloody coup (attempt). It’s just that Luckyboy is conditioned (as we all are) to think of them as things that happen in third world countries.
No, it was not. You can repeat it as often as you like; it isn't going to get any truer. There was no attempted coup, because there was no attempt, intention, or plan, to take over the Government of the United States. There wasn't a botched plan, or a fatally-flawed plan, or even an insanely stupid plan, there. wasn't. a. plan. Nobody invading the Capitol that day thought that they were taking over the Government of the US. I find it a bit sad that so many on a forum with a very high level of discussion are prepared to abandon basic fact 'because Trump'. It's disappointingly weak minded.
It appears that there was a plan to take over the Government of the United States, or at least to prevent the relinquishing of power.
The plan was multi-farious, but included the use of a violent mob to suborn, immobilise or perhaps murder the Vice President.
It doesn't appear that there was anything of the sort. As you are perfectly well aware, everything that Trump did, said, or thought in the election aftermath (true or otherwise it would appear from posts upthread) is now being flung in the coup casserole in the hopes that it ammounts to something coup-like. Well quite clearly it doesn't. Even if there were a plan or intention to lynch the VP, it wouldn't have gained the rioters power, or affected the election outcome. Sorry to be dull, but definitions are quite important.
I don't think that 'coup' means what you think it means, with apologies to The Princess Bride.
You've got an Edward Luttwak-style Wild Geese seizure of the radio station and President in an African autocracy in mind.
But incumbents meddling with electoral timetables was a pretty standard tool in the armoury for despots during the Cold War.
Using violent protests to interfere with the handover of power with the intention of overturning a democratic election result looks pretty close to a coup to me.
With great respect for your opinion, thankfully we have dictionaries which mean we don't have to rely entirely upon it.
The Oxford English Dictionary says
a sudden and great change in the government carried out violently or illegally by the ruling power.
It is that not the very literal definition of what Trump was attempting?
Since those storming the Capitol had absolutely no intention of (to say nothing of ability to) forcing a change in the Government by their actions, I'd take a wild stab at 'No'. The highly visual storming 'moment' is now being artificially and cynically chopped up and blended with Trumps other dodgy dealings to remain in power. History is littered with idiotic forlorn protests/attacks. When such events are labelled as coups, it's usually not for a good reason. The Reichstag fire springs to mind.
Even ignoring your insane conspiracy nonsense at the end there you miss the or in the description of coup.
It doesn't need to be a violent to be a coup attempt.
I didn't miss either option - the reason I say it wasn't a coup is not because I'm arguing it wasn't violent - it's because there was no attempt at a 'change in the government' by those who stormed the Capitol. Storming the Capitol doesn't get you a change in Government. If you hang around long enough, all it gets you is taken out by any half decent SWAT team. I am also not saying that the group wouldn't have assaulted or killed Mike Pence had they seen him (though I feel they'd probably not have killed him), but that act, horiffic as it would have been, would still not have been a coup.
I am not condoning the rioters actions. I am saying it was a riot (at best), a terror attack at worst. That's enough, without trying to gussy it up as a coup because 'it's Trump'.
Have you missed that we have documented evidence that there was a plan to delay certification of the vote?
If I need to heat water for tea (or anything else), I use my old microwave. Which, with just a little practice, works fine for that purpose. (Decades ago, I did use a kettle on a stove, but the microwave is faster and uses less electricity.)
Most Americans make coffee in coffee makers.
But what if you want boiling water fast, for boiling veg, or whatever? Or some boiling water in a bubbling recipe? With a kettle you’ve got a jug with 2 litres of 100C water, in seconds
A microwave and a kettle are the two indispensable things on a kitchen counter. Coffee machine close behind. Toaster is nice-to-have
Was taught (by Irish communist) that proper way to make tea, was to start with FRESH water, that is fresh from the tap.
Does using an electric kettle lend itself to this?
Or does it usually mean using water that been sitting in said kettle for some time?
This Supreme Court is running wild. This outcome is a kick in the face to peoples whose land we already took and whose sovereignty we have already disregarded- to the point of genocide.
Another determination that could be left to individual states is, apparently, same sex marriage.
The way this is going, the way some states seem to be a million miles away from others in social outlook, you have to wonder whether in the end some sort of fracturing/secession might actually occur.
Leaving same sex marriage to individual states is much more complex, because say you a gay Connecticut couple (as apparently most of them are), and you move to Utah, where gay marriage is illegal, then is your marriage recognized?
What about your gay marriage as regards federal treatment of benefits to spouses?
As I said earlier this week why on earth would a gay couple move to Utah or say the deep South, which is where the states most likely to have majorities against gay marriage will be?
Because they should be able to live wherever they fucking like without some God bothering fanatics declaring them second class citizens.
If a majority of people in Utah or the deep South oppose gay marriage they will elect governors and legislators who also oppose gay marriage, that is inevitable and democracy. Given this states rights SC that is where we are heading.
However most other states in the US will still back gay marriage so it is not exactly as if they have nowhere to go.
How many homosexuals move to the third of countries in the world where homosexuality is still illegal?
Gay people should have the same rights as everyone else. Many of these same states used to outlaw interracial marriage, also on a pretext taken from scripture. Laws made by democratically elected officials. Was that okay too? And if they go back to that - would you support that as their right? What if they started burning witches? Also fine as long as it is backed by a majority? The US is a federal country but it is still a single country where certain rights of equal treatment should be guaranteed everywhere. It is also a democracy but also a liberal Republic where individual rights are meant to be protected. One thing is clear: the Scotus abortion ruling has opened the way to a concerted attack on the rights of those who don't match up to the fundamentalist Christian ideal.
Most people in the Deep South and border states of the US, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana, West Virginia, Mississipi, Arkansas, Missouri, South Carolina etc are fundamentalist Christians. They are a million miles from the coastal liberal states in social values and indeed closer to much of Eastern Europe than the rest of the West.
You may not like that but unfortunately democracy does not always lead to liberalism winning and the USA is the United States of America not just United America
But it does lead to two countries from one perhaps.
Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and (maybe) Arkansas are Deep South states.
Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee and West Virginia are NOT. They are part (historically, culturally, economically, politically) of the Upper South.
Conflating one with other is NOT a confidence builder re: conclusions drawn from such "analysis"
And that, my friend, is why your cross-pond presence here is very welcome to me that my assumptions about a foreign country are wild generalisations rather than having to actually read anything else and learn for myself!
The Illinois Republican governor race really is worth reading about. The Democrat incumbent actually helped the Trumpist beat the moderate with attack ads and money of their own. The democrats helped select a candidate they believe is far too right wing ever to beat their man.
Good tactics I guess, but a faint whiff of hubris
That has the potential to backfire spectacularly in November.
Yes I guess but it is Illinois.
The thing about the republicans is the leadership (McConnell and McCarthy) probably dislike the Trumpists almost as much as the dems do. Maybe more.
With Trump endorsed candidates overcoming moderates in the primaries in many states, what do the leadership really want in November? a massive win? or just enough to take back, say, the House?
Has anyone else tried to read Rebecca West’s Black Lamb and Grey Falcon? My god what a slog. Impossibly slow, excessively long and notably dated. She’s right about Montenegrins tho. They are beautiful people
No. I have had a copy for about ten years and it is on the impossibly long pile of my 'to be read' books.
Not surprised it is dated - it's from the 1940s iirc.
My god. I just checked West out on good old wikipedia and she had a very long affair with HG Wells which produced a child.
Has anyone else tried to read Rebecca West’s Black Lamb and Grey Falcon? My god what a slog. Impossibly slow, excessively long and notably dated. She’s right about Montenegrins tho. They are beautiful people
No. I have had a copy for about ten years and it is on the impossibly long pile of my 'to be read' books.
Not surprised it is dated - it's from the 1940s iirc.
1938 I think. Poignantly before the war
It’s not just the length, it is the longueurs, whole passages where she waffles away, for 30 pages or whatever, about nothing, or she gives you her unexciting opinions on marriage or pancakes or pigeons or God
Yet serious people say it is one of the greatest books of the 20th century? Disconcerting. Can’t see it
I'll spare people the bother of explaining now to me why the US has a much lower voltage electricity supply. That it undermines kettle usage is terrible enough whatever the reason for it, poor devils.
What I found bizarre in NZ in 1990 was that they only had electric kettles (jugs in Kiwi language) that didn't turn themself off, and toasters that didn't eject. I burnt a lot of toast and kettle elements in my year there.
An IT forum I'm part of which is full of Silicon Valley start-up types (worship musk/zuck/meta/white-heat-of-technology/whatever) had someone from Europe mention electric kettles and Their Minds Were Blown(TM).
For all those hoping that Ukraine might cede territory:
In New Poll, 89% of Ukrainians Reject Ceding Land to Reach Peace With Russia Ukrainians back Zelensky’s position that peace talks can’t grant Russia land it has seized, WSJ-NORC poll finds
I'm a bit confused by the west's behaviour. It really isn't easy to tell what the strategy is for this war. Maybe that is because there are 30 Nato members and even different viewpoints within individual governments themselves. There doesn't seem to be much confidence that the Ukrainians can push the Russians back even as Moscow resorts to firing old anti-ship missiles at shopping malls. The 4 HIMARS sent by the US appear to be having an effect, could they not spare a few more since they're supposed to have 400? The GDP of Nato must be around $40tn. 0.25% of GDP would be $100bn. I'm guessing that would fund an awful lot of kit.
Ukraine is mass mobilising and hoping to field an army up to one million strong. Now that will take some time. But unless Russia is going to mass mobilise in kind I just cannot see how they don't get forced out of all the areas the population don't want them there (Crimea being the most debatable) within 12 months. But that's provided we send them the ammo.
This Supreme Court is running wild. This outcome is a kick in the face to peoples whose land we already took and whose sovereignty we have already disregarded- to the point of genocide.
Another determination that could be left to individual states is, apparently, same sex marriage.
The way this is going, the way some states seem to be a million miles away from others in social outlook, you have to wonder whether in the end some sort of fracturing/secession might actually occur.
Leaving same sex marriage to individual states is much more complex, because say you a gay Connecticut couple (as apparently most of them are), and you move to Utah, where gay marriage is illegal, then is your marriage recognized?
What about your gay marriage as regards federal treatment of benefits to spouses?
As I said earlier this week why on earth would a gay couple move to Utah or say the deep South, which is where the states most likely to have majorities against gay marriage will be?
Because they should be able to live wherever they fucking like without some God bothering fanatics declaring them second class citizens.
If a majority of people in Utah or the deep South oppose gay marriage they will elect governors and legislators who also oppose gay marriage, that is inevitable and democracy. Given this states rights SC that is where we are heading.
However most other states in the US will still back gay marriage so it is not exactly as if they have nowhere to go.
How many homosexuals move to the third of countries in the world where homosexuality is still illegal?
Gay people should have the same rights as everyone else. Many of these same states used to outlaw interracial marriage, also on a pretext taken from scripture. Laws made by democratically elected officials. Was that okay too? And if they go back to that - would you support that as their right? What if they started burning witches? Also fine as long as it is backed by a majority? The US is a federal country but it is still a single country where certain rights of equal treatment should be guaranteed everywhere. It is also a democracy but also a liberal Republic where individual rights are meant to be protected. One thing is clear: the Scotus abortion ruling has opened the way to a concerted attack on the rights of those who don't match up to the fundamentalist Christian ideal.
Most people in the Deep South and border states of the US, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana, West Virginia, Mississipi, Arkansas, Missouri, South Carolina etc are fundamentalist Christians. They are a million miles from the coastal liberal states in social values and indeed closer to much of Eastern Europe than the rest of the West.
You may not like that but unfortunately democracy does not always lead to liberalism winning and the USA is the United States of America not just United America
But it does lead to two countries from one perhaps.
Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and (maybe) Arkansas are Deep South states.
Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee and West Virginia are NOT. They are part (historically, culturally, economically, politically) of the Upper South.
Conflating one with other is NOT a confidence builder re: conclusions drawn from such "analysis"
And that, my friend, is why your cross-pond presence here is very welcome to me that my assumptions about a foreign country are wild generalisations rather than having to actually read anything else and learn for myself!
The Illinois Republican governor race really is worth reading about. The Democrat incumbent actually helped the Trumpist beat the moderate with attack ads and money of their own. The democrats helped select a candidate they believe is far too right wing ever to beat their man.
Good tactics I guess, but a faint whiff of hubris
That has the potential to backfire spectacularly in November.
Yes I guess but it is Illinois.
The thing about the republicans is the leadership (McConnell and McCarthy) probably dislike the Trumpists almost as much as the dems do. Maybe more.
With Trumpists endorsed candidates overcoming moderates in the primaries in many states, what do the leadership really want in November? a massive win? or just enough to take back, say, the House?
The SC verdict may well get them neither, Trump's SC nominations have been great for the US pro life movement and ensure the SC will rule unconstitutional any nationwide abortion right law but may well put the GOP out of power in both the White House and Congress for a decade.
Pro choice swing states like Florida and Michigan for example will now lean Democrat.
If I need to heat water for tea (or anything else), I use my old microwave. Which, with just a little practice, works fine for that purpose. (Decades ago, I did use a kettle on a stove, but the microwave is faster and uses less electricity.)
Most Americans make coffee in coffee makers.
But what if you want boiling water fast, for boiling veg, or whatever? Or some boiling water in a bubbling recipe? With a kettle you’ve got a jug with 2 litres of 100C water, in seconds
A microwave and a kettle are the two indispensable things on a kitchen counter. Coffee machine close behind. Toaster is nice-to-have
Was taught (by Irish communist) that proper way to make tea, was to start with FRESH water, that is fresh from the tap.
Does using an electric kettle lend itself to this?
Or does it usually mean using water that been sitting in said kettle for some time?
You could empty the kettle each time and draw fresh water. It depends how frequently you're boiling it, and how good you are at judging how much water you need to boil. Also how well insulated the kettle is, so how well it retains heat from the last use.
The idea is supposedly that fresh water has more oxygen in it, but I find that it's very much a second-order effect compared to water hardness and the quality of the tea. So I don't bother to use fresh water any more.
Is this a parody? As I'd assumed the tendency of people in American TV programmes to boil a kettle on a stove was just tv anachronism (it only bugs me when the character is British).
Not an anachronism, just different circumstances. Plug-in electric kettles of the type ubiquitous in Britain are much less useful in the US because their 110v electric supply means the kettle takes much longer to boil than in countries with a 230/240v system. Cookers are on their own high-power circuit, separate from normal sockets, so they can boil water much quicker than a kettle.
?
The cookers are a different voltage?
Yes, domestic cookers and car chargers in North America are on 240v, the equivalent of a three-phase supply in the UK.
The standard US domestic sockets are 110v and 12 or 15 amps. An American kettle would take more than twice as long to boil the same amount of water, as a European kettle.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan coming in for a hell of a lot of criticism during Kit Malthouse statement on Met going into special measures. Calls for him to resign his position and for the Gov to remove his powers over policing in London...
Doesn't sound like much a Malthouse compromise there lol...
There are big problems in the Met currently as I highlighted last evening.
I doubt these are of Khan's making in toto - the problem has been one where the answer to any law and order issue in London is "more Police". To be fair, that was Shaun Bailey's answer to every question.
Like so many other institutions, industries and organisations, the Met is short staffed and struggling with retention as much as recruitment. There are plenty of better paid (and safer) jobs out there and the truth is the Police are barely holding the thin blue line with even PCSO numbers struggling.
There are some fundamental questions building about what kind of country/society/economy we want and they start with the unfortunate truth that whole there is plenty of work, no one wants to work any more - we are moving, if you will, into a post-work world (those advocating the remorseless advance of AI take note).
This Supreme Court is running wild. This outcome is a kick in the face to peoples whose land we already took and whose sovereignty we have already disregarded- to the point of genocide.
Another determination that could be left to individual states is, apparently, same sex marriage.
The way this is going, the way some states seem to be a million miles away from others in social outlook, you have to wonder whether in the end some sort of fracturing/secession might actually occur.
Leaving same sex marriage to individual states is much more complex, because say you a gay Connecticut couple (as apparently most of them are), and you move to Utah, where gay marriage is illegal, then is your marriage recognized?
What about your gay marriage as regards federal treatment of benefits to spouses?
As I said earlier this week why on earth would a gay couple move to Utah or say the deep South, which is where the states most likely to have majorities against gay marriage will be?
Because they should be able to live wherever they fucking like without some God bothering fanatics declaring them second class citizens.
If a majority of people in Utah or the deep South oppose gay marriage they will elect governors and legislators who also oppose gay marriage, that is inevitable and democracy. Given this states rights SC that is where we are heading.
However most other states in the US will still back gay marriage so it is not exactly as if they have nowhere to go.
How many homosexuals move to the third of countries in the world where homosexuality is still illegal?
Gay people should have the same rights as everyone else. Many of these same states used to outlaw interracial marriage, also on a pretext taken from scripture. Laws made by democratically elected officials. Was that okay too? And if they go back to that - would you support that as their right? What if they started burning witches? Also fine as long as it is backed by a majority? The US is a federal country but it is still a single country where certain rights of equal treatment should be guaranteed everywhere. It is also a democracy but also a liberal Republic where individual rights are meant to be protected. One thing is clear: the Scotus abortion ruling has opened the way to a concerted attack on the rights of those who don't match up to the fundamentalist Christian ideal.
Most people in the Deep South and border states of the US, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana, West Virginia, Mississipi, Arkansas, Missouri, South Carolina etc are fundamentalist Christians. They are a million miles from the coastal liberal states in social values and indeed closer to much of Eastern Europe than the rest of the West.
You may not like that but unfortunately democracy does not always lead to liberalism winning and the USA is the United States of America not just United America
But it does lead to two countries from one perhaps.
Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and (maybe) Arkansas are Deep South states.
Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee and West Virginia are NOT. They are part (historically, culturally, economically, politically) of the Upper South.
Conflating one with other is NOT a confidence builder re: conclusions drawn from such "analysis"
And that, my friend, is why your cross-pond presence here is very welcome to me that my assumptions about a foreign country are wild generalisations rather than having to actually read anything else and learn for myself!
The Illinois Republican governor race really is worth reading about. The Democrat incumbent actually helped the Trumpist beat the moderate with attack ads and money of their own. The democrats helped select a candidate they believe is far too right wing ever to beat their man.
Good tactics I guess, but a faint whiff of hubris
That has the potential to backfire spectacularly in November.
Yes I guess but it is Illinois.
The thing about the republicans is the leadership (McConnell and McCarthy) probably dislike the Trumpists almost as much as the dems do. Maybe more.
With Trump endorsed candidates overcoming moderates in the primaries in many states, what do the leadership really want in November? a massive win? or just enough to take back, say, the House?
Wait until the Republican Govenor candidate starts campaigning about education and school boards.
Is this a parody? As I'd assumed the tendency of people in American TV programmes to boil a kettle on a stove was just tv anachronism (it only bugs me when the character is British).
Not an anachronism, just different circumstances. Plug-in electric kettles of the type ubiquitous in Britain are much less useful in the US because their 110v electric supply means the kettle takes much longer to boil than in countries with a 230/240v system. Cookers are on their own high-power circuit, separate from normal sockets, so they can boil water much quicker than a kettle.
?
The cookers are a different voltage?
An American kettle would take more than twice as long to boil the same amount of water, as a European kettle.
I knew Atlanticists were a bunch of idiots. Truly, we are European through and through.
If I need to heat water for tea (or anything else), I use my old microwave. Which, with just a little practice, works fine for that purpose. (Decades ago, I did use a kettle on a stove, but the microwave is faster and uses less electricity.)
Most Americans make coffee in coffee makers.
But what if you want boiling water fast, for boiling veg, or whatever? Or some boiling water in a bubbling recipe? With a kettle you’ve got a jug with 2 litres of 100C water, in seconds
A microwave and a kettle are the two indispensable things on a kitchen counter. Coffee machine close behind. Toaster is nice-to-have
We don’t have a microwave. We don’t miss it. We do have an air fryer.
Before Britons get too smug, we should note that anyone east of Istanbul, with money, is frankly appalled and disgusted that we don’t have bum guns - lavatory douches, instant bidets - in our loos. We just use…. Paper? UGH
I have one in my flat in Camden
LOL, that’s very true.
(Although I can’t confirm about your flat in Camden).
Has anyone else tried to read Rebecca West’s Black Lamb and Grey Falcon? My god what a slog. Impossibly slow, excessively long and notably dated. She’s right about Montenegrins tho. They are beautiful people
No. I have had a copy for about ten years and it is on the impossibly long pile of my 'to be read' books.
Not surprised it is dated - it's from the 1940s iirc.
I believe it's pretty commonly accepted that 1984 is dated because it was written in the 40s.
This Supreme Court is running wild. This outcome is a kick in the face to peoples whose land we already took and whose sovereignty we have already disregarded- to the point of genocide.
Another determination that could be left to individual states is, apparently, same sex marriage.
The way this is going, the way some states seem to be a million miles away from others in social outlook, you have to wonder whether in the end some sort of fracturing/secession might actually occur.
Leaving same sex marriage to individual states is much more complex, because say you a gay Connecticut couple (as apparently most of them are), and you move to Utah, where gay marriage is illegal, then is your marriage recognized?
What about your gay marriage as regards federal treatment of benefits to spouses?
As I said earlier this week why on earth would a gay couple move to Utah or say the deep South, which is where the states most likely to have majorities against gay marriage will be?
Because they should be able to live wherever they fucking like without some God bothering fanatics declaring them second class citizens.
If a majority of people in Utah or the deep South oppose gay marriage they will elect governors and legislators who also oppose gay marriage, that is inevitable and democracy. Given this states rights SC that is where we are heading.
However most other states in the US will still back gay marriage so it is not exactly as if they have nowhere to go.
How many homosexuals move to the third of countries in the world where homosexuality is still illegal?
Gay people should have the same rights as everyone else. Many of these same states used to outlaw interracial marriage, also on a pretext taken from scripture. Laws made by democratically elected officials. Was that okay too? And if they go back to that - would you support that as their right? What if they started burning witches? Also fine as long as it is backed by a majority? The US is a federal country but it is still a single country where certain rights of equal treatment should be guaranteed everywhere. It is also a democracy but also a liberal Republic where individual rights are meant to be protected. One thing is clear: the Scotus abortion ruling has opened the way to a concerted attack on the rights of those who don't match up to the fundamentalist Christian ideal.
Most people in the Deep South and border states of the US, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana, West Virginia, Mississipi, Arkansas, Missouri, South Carolina etc are fundamentalist Christians. They are a million miles from the coastal liberal states in social values and indeed closer to much of Eastern Europe than the rest of the West.
You may not like that but unfortunately democracy does not always lead to liberalism winning and the USA is the United States of America not just United America
But it does lead to two countries from one perhaps.
Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and (maybe) Arkansas are Deep South states.
Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee and West Virginia are NOT. They are part (historically, culturally, economically, politically) of the Upper South.
Conflating one with other is NOT a confidence builder re: conclusions drawn from such "analysis"
And that, my friend, is why your cross-pond presence here is very welcome to me that my assumptions about a foreign country are wild generalisations rather than having to actually read anything else and learn for myself!
The Illinois Republican governor race really is worth reading about. The Democrat incumbent actually helped the Trumpist beat the moderate with attack ads and money of their own. The democrats helped select a candidate they believe is far too right wing ever to beat their man.
Good tactics I guess, but a faint whiff of hubris
That has the potential to backfire spectacularly in November.
Yes I guess but it is Illinois.
The thing about the republicans is the leadership (McConnell and McCarthy) probably dislike the Trumpists almost as much as the dems do. Maybe more.
With Trumpists endorsed candidates overcoming moderates in the primaries in many states, what do the leadership really want in November? a massive win? or just enough to take back, say, the House?
The SC verdict may well get them neither, Trump's SC nominations have been great for the US pro life movement and ensure the SC will rule unconstitutional any nationwide abortion right law but may well put the GOP out of power in both the White House and Congress for a decade.
Pro choice swing states like Florida and Michigan for example will now lean Democrat.
It depends how big of an issue pro choice really is in America, given that many states will always be pro-choice.
The New York Times is bemoaning how Dobbs was expected to boost turnout in Tuesday's primaries, especially democrat.
If I need to heat water for tea (or anything else), I use my old microwave. Which, with just a little practice, works fine for that purpose. (Decades ago, I did use a kettle on a stove, but the microwave is faster and uses less electricity.)
Most Americans make coffee in coffee makers.
But what if you want boiling water fast, for boiling veg, or whatever? Or some boiling water in a bubbling recipe? With a kettle you’ve got a jug with 2 litres of 100C water, in seconds
A microwave and a kettle are the two indispensable things on a kitchen counter. Coffee machine close behind. Toaster is nice-to-have
We don’t have a microwave. We don’t miss it. We do have an air fryer.
Not to one up you or anything but we have two air fryers, they need to make them bigger.
The largest one can barely feed a family of three.
This Supreme Court is running wild. This outcome is a kick in the face to peoples whose land we already took and whose sovereignty we have already disregarded- to the point of genocide.
Another determination that could be left to individual states is, apparently, same sex marriage.
The way this is going, the way some states seem to be a million miles away from others in social outlook, you have to wonder whether in the end some sort of fracturing/secession might actually occur.
Leaving same sex marriage to individual states is much more complex, because say you a gay Connecticut couple (as apparently most of them are), and you move to Utah, where gay marriage is illegal, then is your marriage recognized?
What about your gay marriage as regards federal treatment of benefits to spouses?
As I said earlier this week why on earth would a gay couple move to Utah or say the deep South, which is where the states most likely to have majorities against gay marriage will be?
Because they should be able to live wherever they fucking like without some God bothering fanatics declaring them second class citizens.
If a majority of people in Utah or the deep South oppose gay marriage they will elect governors and legislators who also oppose gay marriage, that is inevitable and democracy. Given this states rights SC that is where we are heading.
However most other states in the US will still back gay marriage so it is not exactly as if they have nowhere to go.
How many homosexuals move to the third of countries in the world where homosexuality is still illegal?
Gay people should have the same rights as everyone else. Many of these same states used to outlaw interracial marriage, also on a pretext taken from scripture. Laws made by democratically elected officials. Was that okay too? And if they go back to that - would you support that as their right? What if they started burning witches? Also fine as long as it is backed by a majority? The US is a federal country but it is still a single country where certain rights of equal treatment should be guaranteed everywhere. It is also a democracy but also a liberal Republic where individual rights are meant to be protected. One thing is clear: the Scotus abortion ruling has opened the way to a concerted attack on the rights of those who don't match up to the fundamentalist Christian ideal.
Most people in the Deep South and border states of the US, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana, West Virginia, Mississipi, Arkansas, Missouri, South Carolina etc are fundamentalist Christians. They are a million miles from the coastal liberal states in social values and indeed closer to much of Eastern Europe than the rest of the West.
You may not like that but unfortunately democracy does not always lead to liberalism winning and the USA is the United States of America not just United America
But it does lead to two countries from one perhaps.
Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and (maybe) Arkansas are Deep South states.
Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee and West Virginia are NOT. They are part (historically, culturally, economically, politically) of the Upper South.
Conflating one with other is NOT a confidence builder re: conclusions drawn from such "analysis"
And that, my friend, is why your cross-pond presence here is very welcome to me that my assumptions about a foreign country are wild generalisations rather than having to actually read anything else and learn for myself!
The Illinois Republican governor race really is worth reading about. The Democrat incumbent actually helped the Trumpist beat the moderate with attack ads and money of their own. The democrats helped select a candidate they believe is far too right wing ever to beat their man.
Good tactics I guess, but a faint whiff of hubris
That has the potential to backfire spectacularly in November.
Yes I guess but it is Illinois.
The thing about the republicans is the leadership (McConnell and McCarthy) probably dislike the Trumpists almost as much as the dems do. Maybe more.
With Trumpists endorsed candidates overcoming moderates in the primaries in many states, what do the leadership really want in November? a massive win? or just enough to take back, say, the House?
The SC verdict may well get them neither, Trump's SC nominations have been great for the US pro life movement and ensure the SC will rule unconstitutional any nationwide abortion right law but may well put the GOP out of power in both the White House and Congress for a decade.
Pro choice swing states like Florida and Michigan for example will now lean Democrat.
It depends how big of an issue pro choice really is in America, given that many states will always be pro-choice.
The New York Times is bemoaning how Dobbs was expected to boost turnout in Tuesday's primaries, especially democrat.
It really didn't.
In primaries it won't make much difference because all the candidates on the Democrat side will be pro choice, it is the general election where it would make a difference. Especially if fiscally centrist to conservative but pro choice independents go Democrat in the swing states out of fear of an abortion ban not only in their own state but nationwide
This Supreme Court is running wild. This outcome is a kick in the face to peoples whose land we already took and whose sovereignty we have already disregarded- to the point of genocide.
Another determination that could be left to individual states is, apparently, same sex marriage.
The way this is going, the way some states seem to be a million miles away from others in social outlook, you have to wonder whether in the end some sort of fracturing/secession might actually occur.
Leaving same sex marriage to individual states is much more complex, because say you a gay Connecticut couple (as apparently most of them are), and you move to Utah, where gay marriage is illegal, then is your marriage recognized?
What about your gay marriage as regards federal treatment of benefits to spouses?
As I said earlier this week why on earth would a gay couple move to Utah or say the deep South, which is where the states most likely to have majorities against gay marriage will be?
Because they should be able to live wherever they fucking like without some God bothering fanatics declaring them second class citizens.
If a majority of people in Utah or the deep South oppose gay marriage they will elect governors and legislators who also oppose gay marriage, that is inevitable and democracy. Given this states rights SC that is where we are heading.
However most other states in the US will still back gay marriage so it is not exactly as if they have nowhere to go.
How many homosexuals move to the third of countries in the world where homosexuality is still illegal?
Gay people should have the same rights as everyone else. Many of these same states used to outlaw interracial marriage, also on a pretext taken from scripture. Laws made by democratically elected officials. Was that okay too? And if they go back to that - would you support that as their right? What if they started burning witches? Also fine as long as it is backed by a majority? The US is a federal country but it is still a single country where certain rights of equal treatment should be guaranteed everywhere. It is also a democracy but also a liberal Republic where individual rights are meant to be protected. One thing is clear: the Scotus abortion ruling has opened the way to a concerted attack on the rights of those who don't match up to the fundamentalist Christian ideal.
Most people in the Deep South and border states of the US, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana, West Virginia, Mississipi, Arkansas, Missouri, South Carolina etc are fundamentalist Christians. They are a million miles from the coastal liberal states in social values and indeed closer to much of Eastern Europe than the rest of the West.
You may not like that but unfortunately democracy does not always lead to liberalism winning and the USA is the United States of America not just United America
But it does lead to two countries from one perhaps.
Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and (maybe) Arkansas are Deep South states.
Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee and West Virginia are NOT. They are part (historically, culturally, economically, politically) of the Upper South.
Conflating one with other is NOT a confidence builder re: conclusions drawn from such "analysis"
And that, my friend, is why your cross-pond presence here is very welcome to me that my assumptions about a foreign country are wild generalisations rather than having to actually read anything else and learn for myself!
The Illinois Republican governor race really is worth reading about. The Democrat incumbent actually helped the Trumpist beat the moderate with attack ads and money of their own. The democrats helped select a candidate they believe is far too right wing ever to beat their man.
Good tactics I guess, but a faint whiff of hubris
That has the potential to backfire spectacularly in November.
Which is why the "helping the wingnut win the GOP primary" is NOT universally popular with Democrats.
Conventional wisdom, however, among both Dems AND Reps, is that the latter have just shot themselves in the foot, by rejecting a self-funding moderate who could have really given Pritzker a run for HIS money, in favor of a guy most noted for protesting COVID regulations and advocating splitting the state at the Chicago line (less popular on both sides than you might imagine).
If I need to heat water for tea (or anything else), I use my old microwave. Which, with just a little practice, works fine for that purpose. (Decades ago, I did use a kettle on a stove, but the microwave is faster and uses less electricity.)
Most Americans make coffee in coffee makers.
But what if you want boiling water fast, for boiling veg, or whatever? Or some boiling water in a bubbling recipe? With a kettle you’ve got a jug with 2 litres of 100C water, in seconds
A microwave and a kettle are the two indispensable things on a kitchen counter. Coffee machine close behind. Toaster is nice-to-have
We don’t have a microwave. We don’t miss it. We do have an air fryer.
Not to one up you or anything but we have two air fryers, they need to make them bigger.
The largest one can barely feed a family of three.
There’s just the two of us. It’s fine for us. We have the one with two drawers.
If I need to heat water for tea (or anything else), I use my old microwave. Which, with just a little practice, works fine for that purpose. (Decades ago, I did use a kettle on a stove, but the microwave is faster and uses less electricity.)
Most Americans make coffee in coffee makers.
But what if you want boiling water fast, for boiling veg, or whatever? Or some boiling water in a bubbling recipe? With a kettle you’ve got a jug with 2 litres of 100C water, in seconds
A microwave and a kettle are the two indispensable things on a kitchen counter. Coffee machine close behind. Toaster is nice-to-have
We don’t have a microwave. We don’t miss it. We do have an air fryer.
Not to one up you or anything but we have two air fryers, they need to make them bigger.
The largest one can barely feed a family of three.
There’s just the two of us. It’s fine for us. We have the one with two drawers.
This Supreme Court is running wild. This outcome is a kick in the face to peoples whose land we already took and whose sovereignty we have already disregarded- to the point of genocide.
Another determination that could be left to individual states is, apparently, same sex marriage.
The way this is going, the way some states seem to be a million miles away from others in social outlook, you have to wonder whether in the end some sort of fracturing/secession might actually occur.
Leaving same sex marriage to individual states is much more complex, because say you a gay Connecticut couple (as apparently most of them are), and you move to Utah, where gay marriage is illegal, then is your marriage recognized?
What about your gay marriage as regards federal treatment of benefits to spouses?
As I said earlier this week why on earth would a gay couple move to Utah or say the deep South, which is where the states most likely to have majorities against gay marriage will be?
Because they should be able to live wherever they fucking like without some God bothering fanatics declaring them second class citizens.
If a majority of people in Utah or the deep South oppose gay marriage they will elect governors and legislators who also oppose gay marriage, that is inevitable and democracy. Given this states rights SC that is where we are heading.
However most other states in the US will still back gay marriage so it is not exactly as if they have nowhere to go.
How many homosexuals move to the third of countries in the world where homosexuality is still illegal?
Gay people should have the same rights as everyone else. Many of these same states used to outlaw interracial marriage, also on a pretext taken from scripture. Laws made by democratically elected officials. Was that okay too? And if they go back to that - would you support that as their right? What if they started burning witches? Also fine as long as it is backed by a majority? The US is a federal country but it is still a single country where certain rights of equal treatment should be guaranteed everywhere. It is also a democracy but also a liberal Republic where individual rights are meant to be protected. One thing is clear: the Scotus abortion ruling has opened the way to a concerted attack on the rights of those who don't match up to the fundamentalist Christian ideal.
Most people in the Deep South and border states of the US, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana, West Virginia, Mississipi, Arkansas, Missouri, South Carolina etc are fundamentalist Christians. They are a million miles from the coastal liberal states in social values and indeed closer to much of Eastern Europe than the rest of the West.
You may not like that but unfortunately democracy does not always lead to liberalism winning and the USA is the United States of America not just United America
But it does lead to two countries from one perhaps.
Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and (maybe) Arkansas are Deep South states.
Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee and West Virginia are NOT. They are part (historically, culturally, economically, politically) of the Upper South.
Conflating one with other is NOT a confidence builder re: conclusions drawn from such "analysis"
And that, my friend, is why your cross-pond presence here is very welcome to me that my assumptions about a foreign country are wild generalisations rather than having to actually read anything else and learn for myself!
The Illinois Republican governor race really is worth reading about. The Democrat incumbent actually helped the Trumpist beat the moderate with attack ads and money of their own. The democrats helped select a candidate they believe is far too right wing ever to beat their man.
Good tactics I guess, but a faint whiff of hubris
That has the potential to backfire spectacularly in November.
Yes I guess but it is Illinois.
The thing about the republicans is the leadership (McConnell and McCarthy) probably dislike the Trumpists almost as much as the dems do. Maybe more.
With Trumpists endorsed candidates overcoming moderates in the primaries in many states, what do the leadership really want in November? a massive win? or just enough to take back, say, the House?
The SC verdict may well get them neither, Trump's SC nominations have been great for the US pro life movement and ensure the SC will rule unconstitutional any nationwide abortion right law but may well put the GOP out of power in both the White House and Congress for a decade.
Pro choice swing states like Florida and Michigan for example will now lean Democrat.
It depends how big of an issue pro choice really is in America, given that many states will always be pro-choice.
The New York Times is bemoaning how Dobbs was expected to boost turnout in Tuesday's primaries, especially democrat.
It really didn't.
Bit early too tell re: turnout for 2022. Note that NY State NOT a good test, as yesterday's primary was just for Gov & Lt Gov, which incumbents both won by landslides despite fact that each has only been in current office a bit more than 15 minutes.
Also plenty of voters NEVER vote in primaries in first place, because they are waiting for the "real' election even when, as practical matter, primary proves decisive to final outcome.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan coming in for a hell of a lot of criticism during Kit Malthouse statement on Met going into special measures. Calls for him to resign his position and for the Gov to remove his powers over policing in London...
Doesn't sound like much a Malthouse compromise there lol...
There are big problems in the Met currently as I highlighted last evening.
I doubt these are of Khan's making in toto - the problem has been one where the answer to any law and order issue in London is "more Police". To be fair, that was Shaun Bailey's answer to every question.
Like so many other institutions, industries and organisations, the Met is short staffed and struggling with retention as much as recruitment. There are plenty of better paid (and safer) jobs out there and the truth is the Police are barely holding the thin blue line with even PCSO numbers struggling.
There are some fundamental questions building about what kind of country/society/economy we want and they start with the unfortunate truth that whole there is plenty of work, no one wants to work any more - we are moving, if you will, into a post-work world (those advocating the remorseless advance of AI take note).
Our local police station in SE London was closed when Johnson was Mayor, closest is now a 15 minute drive away.
If I need to heat water for tea (or anything else), I use my old microwave. Which, with just a little practice, works fine for that purpose. (Decades ago, I did use a kettle on a stove, but the microwave is faster and uses less electricity.)
Most Americans make coffee in coffee makers.
But what if you want boiling water fast, for boiling veg, or whatever? Or some boiling water in a bubbling recipe? With a kettle you’ve got a jug with 2 litres of 100C water, in seconds
A microwave and a kettle are the two indispensable things on a kitchen counter. Coffee machine close behind. Toaster is nice-to-have
We don’t have a microwave. We don’t miss it. We do have an air fryer.
Not to one up you or anything but we have two air fryers, they need to make them bigger.
The largest one can barely feed a family of three.
Or, three of the largest ones barely feed one Russian general.
If I need to heat water for tea (or anything else), I use my old microwave. Which, with just a little practice, works fine for that purpose. (Decades ago, I did use a kettle on a stove, but the microwave is faster and uses less electricity.)
Most Americans make coffee in coffee makers.
But what if you want boiling water fast, for boiling veg, or whatever? Or some boiling water in a bubbling recipe? With a kettle you’ve got a jug with 2 litres of 100C water, in seconds
A microwave and a kettle are the two indispensable things on a kitchen counter. Coffee machine close behind. Toaster is nice-to-have
Was taught (by Irish communist) that proper way to make tea, was to start with FRESH water, that is fresh from the tap.
Does using an electric kettle lend itself to this?
Or does it usually mean using water that been sitting in said kettle for some time?
When I make water I make water, and when I make tea I make tea
If I need to heat water for tea (or anything else), I use my old microwave. Which, with just a little practice, works fine for that purpose. (Decades ago, I did use a kettle on a stove, but the microwave is faster and uses less electricity.)
Most Americans make coffee in coffee makers.
But what if you want boiling water fast, for boiling veg, or whatever? Or some boiling water in a bubbling recipe? With a kettle you’ve got a jug with 2 litres of 100C water, in seconds
A microwave and a kettle are the two indispensable things on a kitchen counter. Coffee machine close behind. Toaster is nice-to-have
We don’t have a microwave. We don’t miss it. We do have an air fryer.
Not to one up you or anything but we have two air fryers, they need to make them bigger.
The largest one can barely feed a family of three.
Or, three of the largest ones barely feed one Russian general.
I've realised we misunderstood Putin, that general isn't going to command troops, he's' going to be dropped on Kyiv, and cause more damage than the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
This Supreme Court is running wild. This outcome is a kick in the face to peoples whose land we already took and whose sovereignty we have already disregarded- to the point of genocide.
Another determination that could be left to individual states is, apparently, same sex marriage.
The way this is going, the way some states seem to be a million miles away from others in social outlook, you have to wonder whether in the end some sort of fracturing/secession might actually occur.
Leaving same sex marriage to individual states is much more complex, because say you a gay Connecticut couple (as apparently most of them are), and you move to Utah, where gay marriage is illegal, then is your marriage recognized?
What about your gay marriage as regards federal treatment of benefits to spouses?
As I said earlier this week why on earth would a gay couple move to Utah or say the deep South, which is where the states most likely to have majorities against gay marriage will be?
Because they should be able to live wherever they fucking like without some God bothering fanatics declaring them second class citizens.
If a majority of people in Utah or the deep South oppose gay marriage they will elect governors and legislators who also oppose gay marriage, that is inevitable and democracy. Given this states rights SC that is where we are heading.
However most other states in the US will still back gay marriage so it is not exactly as if they have nowhere to go.
How many homosexuals move to the third of countries in the world where homosexuality is still illegal?
Gay people should have the same rights as everyone else. Many of these same states used to outlaw interracial marriage, also on a pretext taken from scripture. Laws made by democratically elected officials. Was that okay too? And if they go back to that - would you support that as their right? What if they started burning witches? Also fine as long as it is backed by a majority? The US is a federal country but it is still a single country where certain rights of equal treatment should be guaranteed everywhere. It is also a democracy but also a liberal Republic where individual rights are meant to be protected. One thing is clear: the Scotus abortion ruling has opened the way to a concerted attack on the rights of those who don't match up to the fundamentalist Christian ideal.
Most people in the Deep South and border states of the US, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana, West Virginia, Mississipi, Arkansas, Missouri, South Carolina etc are fundamentalist Christians. They are a million miles from the coastal liberal states in social values and indeed closer to much of Eastern Europe than the rest of the West.
You may not like that but unfortunately democracy does not always lead to liberalism winning and the USA is the United States of America not just United America
But it does lead to two countries from one perhaps.
Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and (maybe) Arkansas are Deep South states.
Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee and West Virginia are NOT. They are part (historically, culturally, economically, politically) of the Upper South.
Conflating one with other is NOT a confidence builder re: conclusions drawn from such "analysis"
And that, my friend, is why your cross-pond presence here is very welcome to me that my assumptions about a foreign country are wild generalisations rather than having to actually read anything else and learn for myself!
The Illinois Republican governor race really is worth reading about. The Democrat incumbent actually helped the Trumpist beat the moderate with attack ads and money of their own. The democrats helped select a candidate they believe is far too right wing ever to beat their man.
Good tactics I guess, but a faint whiff of hubris
That has the potential to backfire spectacularly in November.
Yes I guess but it is Illinois.
The thing about the republicans is the leadership (McConnell and McCarthy) probably dislike the Trumpists almost as much as the dems do. Maybe more.
With Trumpists endorsed candidates overcoming moderates in the primaries in many states, what do the leadership really want in November? a massive win? or just enough to take back, say, the House?
The SC verdict may well get them neither, Trump's SC nominations have been great for the US pro life movement and ensure the SC will rule unconstitutional any nationwide abortion right law but may well put the GOP out of power in both the White House and Congress for a decade.
Pro choice swing states like Florida and Michigan for example will now lean Democrat.
It depends how big of an issue pro choice really is in America, given that many states will always be pro-choice.
The New York Times is bemoaning how Dobbs was expected to boost turnout in Tuesday's primaries, especially democrat.
It really didn't.
Bit early too tell re: turnout for 2022. Note that NY State NOT a good test, as yesterday's primary was just for Gov & Lt Gov, which incumbents both won by landslides despite fact that each has only been in current office a bit more than 15 minutes.
Also plenty of voters NEVER vote in primaries in first place, because they are waiting for the "real' election even when, as practical matter, primary proves decisive to final outcome.
There were some polls showing big swings to dems after the verdict too, to be fair, but could be kneejerk I guess.
Most of them I wouldn't do even if those who pay people to go travelling paid me.
Disappointing scaling Beckton Alp hasn't made the list.
By the by, @HYUFD has failed to mention Epping Forest is "vast and wild" - sounds more like Barking on a Saturday night.
How can you resist “the oldest, steepest inland electric funicular railway in England,” which “ranks 38th overall”?
If you want to understand and appreciate the real UK you would do as well to stand in the queue at Greggs on a wet November Monday lunchtime in Scunthorpe. (41st on the list and more fun than most of the top 40).
I also like the fact that this list is aimed at “people under 40”. These are the daring scary things you need to do when you are filled with bravery, brio and adventure, the stuff that will too daunting or dangerous for anyone over 40, the stuff you simply can’t do over that age, to be honest
Eg number 29
29. Book tickets to explore the magnificent palace, park and gardens at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire
If I need to heat water for tea (or anything else), I use my old microwave. Which, with just a little practice, works fine for that purpose. (Decades ago, I did use a kettle on a stove, but the microwave is faster and uses less electricity.)
Most Americans make coffee in coffee makers.
But what if you want boiling water fast, for boiling veg, or whatever? Or some boiling water in a bubbling recipe? With a kettle you’ve got a jug with 2 litres of 100C water, in seconds
A microwave and a kettle are the two indispensable things on a kitchen counter. Coffee machine close behind. Toaster is nice-to-have
Was taught (by Irish communist) that proper way to make tea, was to start with FRESH water, that is fresh from the tap.
Does using an electric kettle lend itself to this?
Or does it usually mean using water that been sitting in said kettle for some time?
When I make water I make water, and when I make tea I make tea
- God send you don't make them in the one pot
Ulysses
Tennyson was such a card, but tea and pot don't rhyme.
Has anyone else tried to read Rebecca West’s Black Lamb and Grey Falcon? My god what a slog. Impossibly slow, excessively long and notably dated. She’s right about Montenegrins tho. They are beautiful people
No. I have had a copy for about ten years and it is on the impossibly long pile of my 'to be read' books.
Not surprised it is dated - it's from the 1940s iirc.
1938 I think. Poignantly before the war
It’s not just the length, it is the longueurs, whole passages where she waffles away, for 30 pages or whatever, about nothing, or she gives you her unexciting opinions on marriage or pancakes or pigeons or God
Yet serious people say it is one of the greatest books of the 20th century? Disconcerting. Can’t see it
From my experience (personal & friends) appreciation of Black Lamb Grey Falcon (or is it the other way around?) depends on the reader having either > significant interest in Eastern Europe in general, and the Balkans in particular; or > enhanced appreciation for British writing of excruciating turgidity as seen (in USA via PBS) on Masterpiece Theatre
I also like the fact that this list is aimed at “people under 40”. These are the daring scary things you need to do when you are filled with bravery, brio and adventure, the stuff that will too daunting or dangerous for anyone over 40, the stuff you simply can’t do over that age, to be honest
Eg number 29
29. Book tickets to explore the magnificent palace, park and gardens at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire
It's the Daily Mail, what do you expect, it's written by people who think Glastonbury is a little bit edgy.
If that's the top 40 I'm emigrating to North Korea.
A remarkable number of them are unimaginative honey pot stuff.
Its gash. 1) watch Corrie in an airBnB 2) visit Croydon's public toilets 3) look at a bee in Carlisle 4) punch a beefeater in the cock after visiting a spoons
If I need to heat water for tea (or anything else), I use my old microwave. Which, with just a little practice, works fine for that purpose. (Decades ago, I did use a kettle on a stove, but the microwave is faster and uses less electricity.)
Most Americans make coffee in coffee makers.
But what if you want boiling water fast, for boiling veg, or whatever? Or some boiling water in a bubbling recipe? With a kettle you’ve got a jug with 2 litres of 100C water, in seconds
A microwave and a kettle are the two indispensable things on a kitchen counter. Coffee machine close behind. Toaster is nice-to-have
We don’t have a microwave. We don’t miss it. We do have an air fryer.
Not to one up you or anything but we have two air fryers, they need to make them bigger.
The largest one can barely feed a family of three.
Or, three of the largest ones barely feed one Russian general.
I've realised we misunderstood Putin, that general isn't going to command troops, he's' going to be dropped on Kyiv, and cause more damage than the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Doesn't that require some pretty impressive technology to lift him off the ground?
If that's the top 40 I'm emigrating to North Korea.
A remarkable number of them are unimaginative honey pot stuff.
Its gash. 1) watch Corrie in an airBnB 2) visit Croydon's public toilets 3) look at a bee in Carlisle 4) punch a beefeater in the cock after visiting a spoons
Imagine the existential despair of waking up on your 40th birthday and realising that, despite reaching your fifth decade, you still haven’t “29. Booked tickets to explore the magnificent palace, park and gardens at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire”
The nihilism would engulf you, the existential horror. Consider the awful prospect: the futility of your remaining years, the maudlin dwindling away into a dying fall, knowing that you never “29. Booked tickets to explore the magnificent palace, park and gardens at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire” when you would REALLY have enjoyed it.
Is this a parody? As I'd assumed the tendency of people in American TV programmes to boil a kettle on a stove was just tv anachronism (it only bugs me when the character is British).
Personally would find a separate device for boiling water unhelpful clutter; when I want to boil some water (say for hot chocolate or VERY occasionally tea) a kettle on the stove is simpler.
And on this side of Atlantic (and Pacific) I am NOT alone.
Indeed not apparently, but I am genuinely confused - I get the clutter point, but how is a kettle on a stove simpler? The simplicity of either is pretty similar.
And for people who do proper cooking, I am sure you all know how useful it is to be able to produce some boiling water in a minute or two for all manner of recipes on the stove.
Really, the only way you can amaze an American more dramatically is if you tell them that you can get seriously ill or have a bad accident over here, be rushed to hospital, be treated, and sent home, and not have to pay a penny…..
That’s a fucking terrible list, written by a retard
“Go hiking in vast, wild Epping Forest”
@HYUFD will be surprised to learn he lives next to the Serengeti
I agree. Although it is claimed this was a survey of 1000s rather than just written by a retard.
99% of people know fuck all about travel
I suspect they were just given this list and told to put in order.
It must have been. It misses out a visit to the annual guided tour of the Cleator Moor Allotment Holders Association allotments, visiting Seahouses when Slaters fair is on and several other luminous highlights of the UK year.
I also like the fact that this list is aimed at “people under 40”. These are the daring scary things you need to do when you are filled with bravery, brio and adventure, the stuff that will too daunting or dangerous for anyone over 40, the stuff you simply can’t do over that age, to be honest
Eg number 29
29. Book tickets to explore the magnificent palace, park and gardens at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire
It's the Daily Mail, what do you expect, it's written by people who think Glastonbury is a little bit edgy.
It is in Daily Hate, but the research is a NatWest survey.
Surprised they didn't say 'pop into one of rural England's quaint old rural banks where you can withdraw some pounds with her blessed majesty's face on'.
I also like the fact that this list is aimed at “people under 40”. These are the daring scary things you need to do when you are filled with bravery, brio and adventure, the stuff that will too daunting or dangerous for anyone over 40, the stuff you simply can’t do over that age, to be honest
Eg number 29
29. Book tickets to explore the magnificent palace, park and gardens at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire
Its not the palace that gets it to 29 Leon, its BOOKING THE TICKETS. Fucking thrilling.
I also like the fact that this list is aimed at “people under 40”. These are the daring scary things you need to do when you are filled with bravery, brio and adventure, the stuff that will too daunting or dangerous for anyone over 40, the stuff you simply can’t do over that age, to be honest
Eg number 29
29. Book tickets to explore the magnificent palace, park and gardens at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire
It's the Daily Mail, what do you expect, it's written by people who think Glastonbury is a little bit edgy.
It is in Daily Hate, but the research is a NatWest survey.
Surprised they didn't say 'pop into one of rural England's quaint old rural banks where you can withdraw some pounds with her blessed majesty's face on'.
I also like the fact that this list is aimed at “people under 40”. These are the daring scary things you need to do when you are filled with bravery, brio and adventure, the stuff that will too daunting or dangerous for anyone over 40, the stuff you simply can’t do over that age, to be honest
Eg number 29
29. Book tickets to explore the magnificent palace, park and gardens at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire
Its not the palace that gets it to 29 Leon, its BOOKING THE TICKETS. Fucking thrilling.
Yes, Don’t just GO THERE on the off chance. You may be “under 40” but don’t get carried away. You have to savour the pleasure of youthful certainty, as you press BOOK TICKETS on the Blenheim Palace website
I also like the fact that this list is aimed at “people under 40”. These are the daring scary things you need to do when you are filled with bravery, brio and adventure, the stuff that will too daunting or dangerous for anyone over 40, the stuff you simply can’t do over that age, to be honest
Eg number 29
29. Book tickets to explore the magnificent palace, park and gardens at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire
LOL. Reading it literally, you don't even have to be arsed to physically go. just book the tickets and you have another tick on your bucket list.
This Supreme Court is running wild. This outcome is a kick in the face to peoples whose land we already took and whose sovereignty we have already disregarded- to the point of genocide.
Another determination that could be left to individual states is, apparently, same sex marriage.
The way this is going, the way some states seem to be a million miles away from others in social outlook, you have to wonder whether in the end some sort of fracturing/secession might actually occur.
Leaving same sex marriage to individual states is much more complex, because say you a gay Connecticut couple (as apparently most of them are), and you move to Utah, where gay marriage is illegal, then is your marriage recognized?
What about your gay marriage as regards federal treatment of benefits to spouses?
As I said earlier this week why on earth would a gay couple move to Utah or say the deep South, which is where the states most likely to have majorities against gay marriage will be?
Because they should be able to live wherever they fucking like without some God bothering fanatics declaring them second class citizens.
If a majority of people in Utah or the deep South oppose gay marriage they will elect governors and legislators who also oppose gay marriage, that is inevitable and democracy. Given this states rights SC that is where we are heading.
However most other states in the US will still back gay marriage so it is not exactly as if they have nowhere to go.
How many homosexuals move to the third of countries in the world where homosexuality is still illegal?
Gay people should have the same rights as everyone else. Many of these same states used to outlaw interracial marriage, also on a pretext taken from scripture. Laws made by democratically elected officials. Was that okay too? And if they go back to that - would you support that as their right? What if they started burning witches? Also fine as long as it is backed by a majority? The US is a federal country but it is still a single country where certain rights of equal treatment should be guaranteed everywhere. It is also a democracy but also a liberal Republic where individual rights are meant to be protected. One thing is clear: the Scotus abortion ruling has opened the way to a concerted attack on the rights of those who don't match up to the fundamentalist Christian ideal.
Most people in the Deep South and border states of the US, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana, West Virginia, Mississipi, Arkansas, Missouri, South Carolina etc are fundamentalist Christians. They are a million miles from the coastal liberal states in social values and indeed closer to much of Eastern Europe than the rest of the West.
You may not like that but unfortunately democracy does not always lead to liberalism winning and the USA is the United States of America not just United America
But it does lead to two countries from one perhaps.
Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and (maybe) Arkansas are Deep South states.
Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee and West Virginia are NOT. They are part (historically, culturally, economically, politically) of the Upper South.
Conflating one with other is NOT a confidence builder re: conclusions drawn from such "analysis"
And that, my friend, is why your cross-pond presence here is very welcome to me that my assumptions about a foreign country are wild generalisations rather than having to actually read anything else and learn for myself!
The Illinois Republican governor race really is worth reading about. The Democrat incumbent actually helped the Trumpist beat the moderate with attack ads and money of their own. The democrats helped select a candidate they believe is far too right wing ever to beat their man.
Good tactics I guess, but a faint whiff of hubris
That has the potential to backfire spectacularly in November.
Yes I guess but it is Illinois.
The thing about the republicans is the leadership (McConnell and McCarthy) probably dislike the Trumpists almost as much as the dems do. Maybe more.
With Trumpists endorsed candidates overcoming moderates in the primaries in many states, what do the leadership really want in November? a massive win? or just enough to take back, say, the House?
The SC verdict may well get them neither, Trump's SC nominations have been great for the US pro life movement and ensure the SC will rule unconstitutional any nationwide abortion right law but may well put the GOP out of power in both the White House and Congress for a decade.
Pro choice swing states like Florida and Michigan for example will now lean Democrat.
It depends how big of an issue pro choice really is in America, given that many states will always be pro-choice.
The New York Times is bemoaning how Dobbs was expected to boost turnout in Tuesday's primaries, especially democrat.
It really didn't.
Bit early too tell re: turnout for 2022. Note that NY State NOT a good test, as yesterday's primary was just for Gov & Lt Gov, which incumbents both won by landslides despite fact that each has only been in current office a bit more than 15 minutes.
Also plenty of voters NEVER vote in primaries in first place, because they are waiting for the "real' election even when, as practical matter, primary proves decisive to final outcome.
There were some polls showing big swings to dems after the verdict too, to be fair, but could be kneejerk I guess.
One thing for sure, repeal of Roe v Wade is kind of "event" capable of making a week a long time politically-speaking. Let alone four and a half months.
If that's the top 40 I'm emigrating to North Korea.
A remarkable number of them are unimaginative honey pot stuff.
Stargazing in Northumberland no 1 because the night sky looks so distinctively different depending where in the hemisphere you observe it from.
Presumably clarity matters with less light pollution, but surely anywhere sufficiently remote is sufficient. I thought both night and day sky impressive on the Scilly Isles for that reason.
Imagine the existential despair of waking up on your 40th birthday and realising that, despite reaching your fifth decade, you still haven’t “29. Booked tickets to explore the magnificent palace, park and gardens at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire”
The nihilism would engulf you, the existential horror. Consider the awful prospect: the futility of your remaining years, the maudlin dwindling away into a dying fall, knowing that you never “29. Booked tickets to explore the magnificent palace, park and gardens at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire” when you would REALLY have enjoyed it.
Like dying a virgin
Even if you had done 29, if you follow all the advice you will still have missed seeing the newts at newt time on Glasson Moss. Another classic that is missing.
Personally, I've done a few (I've essentially walked the NC500, and have stargazed in Northumberland whilst camping), and I did #25 many times as a kid.
Here's a short list of (done) UK travel experiences: *) Stay in a Maidenhead hotel where the bed moves overnight to the other side of the room. *) Wild-camp in the King's Forest, Thetford, during a Lamping session. *) Get five men staying in a two-bed B&B room. *) Walk four miles after a pub lunch, only to realise you've left your girlfriend back at the pub. *) Forget your torch on a night walk *) Forget your maps on a day walk *) P*ss in the sea at Brighton Beach in December, because the council has shut all the public toilets for the winter. *) Do what a bear does in the woods. (minus points if you have a trowel and/or paper). *) Get tickets for an event at the Tate in London, and go to the *wrong* Tate. *) Stay in a B&B where you cannot take the spoon out of a cup because of congealed sugar. *) Wild camp outside a safari park and be regularly woken by all the animals. *) Have sex in the loch at Sandwood Bay. *) Go on a preserved railway, only for the steam engine to break down mid-journey. *) Go on a coach, only for the coach to end up at the wrong destination. *) Call out the AA from three nations in the UK.
I also like the fact that this list is aimed at “people under 40”. These are the daring scary things you need to do when you are filled with bravery, brio and adventure, the stuff that will too daunting or dangerous for anyone over 40, the stuff you simply can’t do over that age, to be honest
Eg number 29
29. Book tickets to explore the magnificent palace, park and gardens at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire
Its not the palace that gets it to 29 Leon, its BOOKING THE TICKETS. Fucking thrilling.
Yes, Don’t just GO THERE on the off chance. You may be “under 40” but don’t get carried away. You have to savour the pleasure of youthful certainty, as you press BOOK TICKETS on the Blenheim Palace website
Im amazed 30 isnt visit an Argos at a retail park in Norwich and buy a cheap mantle clock to put your Blenheim tickets behind
Has anyone else tried to read Rebecca West’s Black Lamb and Grey Falcon? My god what a slog. Impossibly slow, excessively long and notably dated. She’s right about Montenegrins tho. They are beautiful people
No. I have had a copy for about ten years and it is on the impossibly long pile of my 'to be read' books.
Not surprised it is dated - it's from the 1940s iirc.
1938 I think. Poignantly before the war
It’s not just the length, it is the longueurs, whole passages where she waffles away, for 30 pages or whatever, about nothing, or she gives you her unexciting opinions on marriage or pancakes or pigeons or God
Yet serious people say it is one of the greatest books of the 20th century? Disconcerting. Can’t see it
From my experience (personal & friends) appreciation of Black Lamb Grey Falcon (or is it the other way around?) depends on the reader having either > significant interest in Eastern Europe in general, and the Balkans in particular; or > enhanced appreciation for British writing of excruciating turgidity as seen (in USA via PBS) on Masterpiece Theatre
I'm sure it's been mentioned, but Fitzroy McLean's 'Eastern Approaches' is the best Balkan account from a readability and believability perspective.
I also like the fact that this list is aimed at “people under 40”. These are the daring scary things you need to do when you are filled with bravery, brio and adventure, the stuff that will too daunting or dangerous for anyone over 40, the stuff you simply can’t do over that age, to be honest
Eg number 29
29. Book tickets to explore the magnificent palace, park and gardens at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire
It's the Daily Mail, what do you expect, it's written by people who think Glastonbury is a little bit edgy.
I also like the fact that this list is aimed at “people under 40”. These are the daring scary things you need to do when you are filled with bravery, brio and adventure, the stuff that will too daunting or dangerous for anyone over 40, the stuff you simply can’t do over that age, to be honest
Eg number 29
29. Book tickets to explore the magnificent palace, park and gardens at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire
It's the Daily Mail, what do you expect, it's written by people who think Glastonbury is a little bit edgy.
I have done about a dozen, but it is a pretty lame and random selection.
I note that they recommend a whiskey tour in a Scottish distillery...🤣
Personally, I've done a few (I've essentially walked the NC500, and have stargazed in Northumberland whilst camping), and I did #25 many times as a kid.
Here's a short list of (done) UK travel experiences: *) Stay in a Maidenhead hotel where the bed moves overnight to the other side of the room. *) Wild-camp in the King's Forest, Thetford, during a Lamping session. *) Get five men staying in a two-bed B&B room. *) Walk four miles after a pub lunch, only to realise you've left your girlfriend back at the pub. *) Forget your torch on a night walk *) Forget your maps on a day walk *) P*ss in the sea at Brighton Beach in December, because the council has shut all the public toilets for the winter. *) Do what a bear does in the woods. (minus points if you have a trowel and/or paper). *) Get tickets for an event at the Tate in London, and go to the *wrong* Tate. *) Stay in a B&B where you cannot take the spoon out of a cup because of congealed sugar. *) Wild camp outside a safari park and be regularly woken by all the animals. *) Have sex in the loch at Sandwood Bay. *) Go on a preserved railway, only for the steam engine to break down mid-journey. *) Go on a coach, only for the coach to end up at the wrong destination. *) Call out the AA from three nations in the UK.
I also like the fact that this list is aimed at “people under 40”. These are the daring scary things you need to do when you are filled with bravery, brio and adventure, the stuff that will too daunting or dangerous for anyone over 40, the stuff you simply can’t do over that age, to be honest
Eg number 29
29. Book tickets to explore the magnificent palace, park and gardens at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire
LOL. Reading it literally, you don't even have to be arsed to physically go. just book the tickets and you have another tick on your bucket list.
Go nowhere to have more fun. Just stay at home and read Three men in a Boat. (Perhaps it's due for an update from JosiasJessop).
Has anyone else tried to read Rebecca West’s Black Lamb and Grey Falcon? My god what a slog. Impossibly slow, excessively long and notably dated. She’s right about Montenegrins tho. They are beautiful people
No. I have had a copy for about ten years and it is on the impossibly long pile of my 'to be read' books.
Not surprised it is dated - it's from the 1940s iirc.
1938 I think. Poignantly before the war
It’s not just the length, it is the longueurs, whole passages where she waffles away, for 30 pages or whatever, about nothing, or she gives you her unexciting opinions on marriage or pancakes or pigeons or God
Yet serious people say it is one of the greatest books of the 20th century? Disconcerting. Can’t see it
From my experience (personal & friends) appreciation of Black Lamb Grey Falcon (or is it the other way around?) depends on the reader having either > significant interest in Eastern Europe in general, and the Balkans in particular; or > enhanced appreciation for British writing of excruciating turgidity as seen (in USA via PBS) on Masterpiece Theatre
I'm sure it's been mentioned, but Fitzroy McLean's 'Eastern Approaches' is the best Balkan account from a readability and believability perspective.
Hasn’t been mentioned. I shall try it as I have another week or two here. Thanks!
I might not be enjoying Rebecca West but I am having fun with Djilas’ Njegos, thanks to @SeaShantyIrish2
It does meander a bit but it is also full of fascinating deets about Montenegrin history
If I need to heat water for tea (or anything else), I use my old microwave. Which, with just a little practice, works fine for that purpose. (Decades ago, I did use a kettle on a stove, but the microwave is faster and uses less electricity.)
Most Americans make coffee in coffee makers.
But what if you want boiling water fast, for boiling veg, or whatever? Or some boiling water in a bubbling recipe? With a kettle you’ve got a jug with 2 litres of 100C water, in seconds
A microwave and a kettle are the two indispensable things on a kitchen counter. Coffee machine close behind. Toaster is nice-to-have
We don’t have a microwave. We don’t miss it. We do have an air fryer.
Not to one up you or anything but we have two air fryers, they need to make them bigger.
The largest one can barely feed a family of three.
Or, three of the largest ones barely feed one Russian general.
I've realised we misunderstood Putin, that general isn't going to command troops, he's' going to be dropped on Kyiv, and cause more damage than the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
They used Fat Man for that of course, but who do you think Little Boy is? The junkie ex-gymnast isn't going to be pleased if Putin taps up one of her sons for this task...
Has anyone else tried to read Rebecca West’s Black Lamb and Grey Falcon? My god what a slog. Impossibly slow, excessively long and notably dated. She’s right about Montenegrins tho. They are beautiful people
No. I have had a copy for about ten years and it is on the impossibly long pile of my 'to be read' books.
Not surprised it is dated - it's from the 1940s iirc.
1938 I think. Poignantly before the war
It’s not just the length, it is the longueurs, whole passages where she waffles away, for 30 pages or whatever, about nothing, or she gives you her unexciting opinions on marriage or pancakes or pigeons or God
Yet serious people say it is one of the greatest books of the 20th century? Disconcerting. Can’t see it
From my experience (personal & friends) appreciation of Black Lamb Grey Falcon (or is it the other way around?) depends on the reader having either > significant interest in Eastern Europe in general, and the Balkans in particular; or > enhanced appreciation for British writing of excruciating turgidity as seen (in USA via PBS) on Masterpiece Theatre
I'm sure it's been mentioned, but Fitzroy McLean's 'Eastern Approaches' is the best Balkan account from a readability and believability perspective.
Hasn’t been mentioned. I shall try it as I have another week or two here. Thanks!
I might not be enjoying Rebecca West but I am having fun with Djilas’ Njegos, thanks to @SeaShantyIrish2
It does meander a bit but it is also full of fascinating deets about Montenegrin history
There are big problems in the Met currently as I highlighted last evening.
I doubt these are of Khan's making in toto - the problem has been one where the answer to any law and order issue in London is "more Police". To be fair, that was Shaun Bailey's answer to every question.
Like so many other institutions, industries and organisations, the Met is short staffed and struggling with retention as much as recruitment. There are plenty of better paid (and safer) jobs out there and the truth is the Police are barely holding the thin blue line with even PCSO numbers struggling.
There are some fundamental questions building about what kind of country/society/economy we want and they start with the unfortunate truth that whole there is plenty of work, no one wants to work any more - we are moving, if you will, into a post-work world (those advocating the remorseless advance of AI take note).
Our local police station in SE London was closed when Johnson was Mayor, closest is now a 15 minute drive away.
Yes, Johnson enthusiastically supported Osborne and May's project aimed at cutting spending without having to worry the voters too much. Some, to their credit, did protest the local decisions but it made no odds.
The sale of the stations (East Ham's went to the University of East London) brought in some much-needed capital receipts - as for the operational Policing implications, if Johnson or May were made aware of them, they were probably too busy contemplating how they would each shaft the country were they to become Prime Minister.
I also like the fact that this list is aimed at “people under 40”. These are the daring scary things you need to do when you are filled with bravery, brio and adventure, the stuff that will too daunting or dangerous for anyone over 40, the stuff you simply can’t do over that age, to be honest
Eg number 29
29. Book tickets to explore the magnificent palace, park and gardens at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire
It's the Daily Mail, what do you expect, it's written by people who think Glastonbury is a little bit edgy.
It is in Daily Hate, but the research is a NatWest survey.
Surprised they didn't say 'pop into one of rural England's quaint old rural banks where you can withdraw some pounds with her blessed majesty's face on'.
Once had a semi-loyal Brit demonstrate for yours truly, in a quasi-quaint London pub, how to fold a five-pound note in such a way, as to make Her Majesty commit an indecency.
I also like the fact that this list is aimed at “people under 40”. These are the daring scary things you need to do when you are filled with bravery, brio and adventure, the stuff that will too daunting or dangerous for anyone over 40, the stuff you simply can’t do over that age, to be honest
Eg number 29
29. Book tickets to explore the magnificent palace, park and gardens at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire
I notice that the challenge is just to book the tickets. Actually walking around Blenheim is probably a bit too extreme.
If that's the top 40 I'm emigrating to North Korea.
A remarkable number of them are unimaginative honey pot stuff.
Its gash. 1) watch Corrie in an airBnB 2) visit Croydon's public toilets 3) look at a bee in Carlisle 4) punch a beefeater in the cock after visiting a spoons
I have actually done 3 out of four of those. Number 4 requires preparation and skilled wrist action as well as the act of per impossibile visiting a spoons.
That is, I think, more than I have done of the Daily Mail 40. Is there a prize. It's 40 years since I did (2) but only recently I did (3).
That’s a fucking terrible list, written by a retard
“Go hiking in vast, wild Epping Forest”
@HYUFD will be surprised to learn he lives next to the Serengeti
I agree. Although it is claimed this was a survey of 1000s rather than just written by a retard.
99% of people know fuck all about travel
Just as well that people like you are tuned into Rick Steves and following all his latest recommendations, then?
I’m still waiting for the link. To the place where he recently recommends it. I’m sincerely intrigued that he still has that much influence,
He does. Americans don’t get to make many trips to Europe, and they go wherever he recommends. After his write up of Kotor (“today’s Kotor is a time-capsule retreat for travelers seeking a truly unspoiled Adriatic town”) you can see the evidence for yourself.
Comments
The cookers are a different voltage?
Distinction was witnessed again (partially) in
> 1948 "Dixiecrat" revolt against the national Democratic Party lead by Strom Thurmond in the name of . . . wait for it . . . state rights for Whites as opposed to civil rights for Blacks.
> 1960 with Barry Goldwater historic GOP victories in Deep South, at same time AuH2O was losing rest of US in equally-historic landslide
> 1968 campaign of George Wallace running as an "American Independent" against Nixon and Humphrey and nearly helping to elect HHH by splitting the conservative vote.
Divide between Deep and Upper South is becoming fuzzier over time. And has always been true that some states straddle the divide, for example Tennessee (mostly Upland except for Memphis & West TN) and Georgia (mostly Deep save for far North GA which is part of Appalachia).
Not surprised it is dated - it's from the 1940s iirc.
I have one in my flat in Camden
Does using an electric kettle lend itself to this?
Or does it usually mean using water that been sitting in said kettle for some time?
The thing about the republicans is the leadership (McConnell and McCarthy) probably dislike the Trumpists almost as much as the dems do. Maybe more.
With Trump endorsed candidates overcoming moderates in the primaries in many states, what do the leadership really want in November? a massive win? or just enough to take back, say, the House?
It’s not just the length, it is the longueurs, whole passages where she waffles away, for 30 pages or whatever, about nothing, or she gives you her unexciting opinions on marriage or pancakes or pigeons or God
Yet serious people say it is one of the greatest books of the 20th century? Disconcerting. Can’t see it
Ukraine is mass mobilising and hoping to field an army up to one million strong. Now that will take some time. But unless Russia is going to mass mobilise in kind I just cannot see how they don't get forced out of all the areas the population don't want them there (Crimea being the most debatable) within 12 months. But that's provided we send them the ammo.
Pro choice swing states like Florida and Michigan for example will now lean Democrat.
The idea is supposedly that fresh water has more oxygen in it, but I find that it's very much a second-order effect compared to water hardness and the quality of the tea. So I don't bother to use fresh water any more.
The standard US domestic sockets are 110v and 12 or 15 amps. An American kettle would take more than twice as long to boil the same amount of water, as a European kettle.
I doubt these are of Khan's making in toto - the problem has been one where the answer to any law and order issue in London is "more Police". To be fair, that was Shaun Bailey's answer to every question.
Like so many other institutions, industries and organisations, the Met is short staffed and struggling with retention as much as recruitment. There are plenty of better paid (and safer) jobs out there and the truth is the Police are barely holding the thin blue line with even PCSO numbers struggling.
There are some fundamental questions building about what kind of country/society/economy we want and they start with the unfortunate truth that whole there is plenty of work, no one wants to work any more - we are moving, if you will, into a post-work world (those advocating the remorseless advance of AI take note).
(It happened in Virginia a few months ago).
(My rather old apartment has both. Probably the 220 was added after it was built.)
My old microwave takes 60 seconds to make water hot for one mug of tea, which I drink occasionally.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-10965147/The-40-UK-travel-experiences-try-turn-40-stargazing-Northumberland-No-1.html
No doubt @Leon has done them all.
Twice.
Sadly, I have only managed eight.
(Although I can’t confirm about your flat in Camden).
The New York Times is bemoaning how Dobbs was expected to boost turnout in Tuesday's primaries, especially democrat.
It really didn't.
The largest one can barely feed a family of three.
Conventional wisdom, however, among both Dems AND Reps, is that the latter have just shot themselves in the foot, by rejecting a self-funding moderate who could have really given Pritzker a run for HIS money, in favor of a guy most noted for protesting COVID regulations and advocating splitting the state at the Chicago line (less popular on both sides than you might imagine).
Disappointing scaling Beckton Alp hasn't made the list.
By the by, @HYUFD has failed to mention Epping Forest is "vast and wild" - sounds more like Barking on a Saturday night.
'Let's go Andy, let's go..'
Cringe
That’s a fucking terrible list, written by a retard
“Go hiking in vast, wild Epping Forest”
@HYUFD will be surprised to learn he lives next to the Serengeti
A remarkable number of them are unimaginative honey pot stuff.
Also plenty of voters NEVER vote in primaries in first place, because they are waiting for the "real' election even when, as practical matter, primary proves decisive to final outcome.
I can think of 40 better experiences in Devon. And at least 200 in London
- God send you don't make them in the one pot
Ulysses
There were some polls showing big swings to dems after the verdict too, to be fair, but could be kneejerk I guess.
Eg number 29
29. Book tickets to explore the magnificent palace, park and gardens at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire
It was touch and go to be honest on so many walks what with all the trees and the brackish ponds of water.
Although apparently a severed head was found a few years ago in one of the ponds we used to go to.
> significant interest in Eastern Europe in general, and the Balkans in particular; or
> enhanced appreciation for British writing of excruciating turgidity as seen (in USA via PBS) on Masterpiece Theatre
1) watch Corrie in an airBnB
2) visit Croydon's public toilets
3) look at a bee in Carlisle
4) punch a beefeater in the cock after visiting a spoons
Now I grew up in Brum and I bloody love a good balti, but making that the third best travel thing in the whole UK is like bonkers.
In fact, looking at the list again, I smell wokery.
Sail a punt
The nihilism would engulf you, the existential horror. Consider the awful prospect: the futility of your remaining years, the maudlin dwindling away into a dying fall, knowing that you never “29. Booked tickets to explore the magnificent palace, park and gardens at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire” when you would REALLY have enjoyed it.
Like dying a virgin
Really, the only way you can amaze an American more dramatically is if you tell them that you can get seriously ill or have a bad accident over here, be rushed to hospital, be treated, and sent home, and not have to pay a penny…..
Surprised they didn't say 'pop into one of rural England's quaint old rural banks where you can withdraw some pounds with her blessed majesty's face on'.
In Esher.
Do we have to do the entire 2000 miles to cross it off the list? I like canals, but I feel like it might lose its appeal around 600 miles in.
When the feck did that become a word?
No. 41: Retire to Bedlam.
Personally, I've done a few (I've essentially walked the NC500, and have stargazed in Northumberland whilst camping), and I did #25 many times as a kid.
Here's a short list of (done) UK travel experiences:
*) Stay in a Maidenhead hotel where the bed moves overnight to the other side of the room.
*) Wild-camp in the King's Forest, Thetford, during a Lamping session.
*) Get five men staying in a two-bed B&B room.
*) Walk four miles after a pub lunch, only to realise you've left your girlfriend back at the pub.
*) Forget your torch on a night walk
*) Forget your maps on a day walk
*) P*ss in the sea at Brighton Beach in December, because the council has shut all the public toilets for the winter.
*) Do what a bear does in the woods. (minus points if you have a trowel and/or paper).
*) Get tickets for an event at the Tate in London, and go to the *wrong* Tate.
*) Stay in a B&B where you cannot take the spoon out of a cup because of congealed sugar.
*) Wild camp outside a safari park and be regularly woken by all the animals.
*) Have sex in the loch at Sandwood Bay.
*) Go on a preserved railway, only for the steam engine to break down mid-journey.
*) Go on a coach, only for the coach to end up at the wrong destination.
*) Call out the AA from three nations in the UK.
I note that they recommend a whiskey tour in a Scottish distillery...🤣
2) die
3) book tickets to visit a minor seraphim's cloud
I might not be enjoying Rebecca West but I am having fun with Djilas’ Njegos, thanks to @SeaShantyIrish2
It does meander a bit but it is also full of fascinating deets about Montenegrin history
With public AND secret (pubic) versions, as with William Byrd's "The History of the Dividing Line Betwixt Virginia and North Carolina:
https://digital.ncdcr.gov/digital/collection/p249901coll22/id/259355
Although I agree he's a toilet and shit.
The sale of the stations (East Ham's went to the University of East London) brought in some much-needed capital receipts - as for the operational Policing implications, if Johnson or May were made aware of them, they were probably too busy contemplating how they would each shaft the country were they to become Prime Minister.
Is THAT on the list? Should be!
Actually walking around Blenheim is probably a bit too extreme.
That is, I think, more than I have done of the Daily Mail 40. Is there a prize. It's 40 years since I did (2) but only recently I did (3).