'May well'? I've not been following but I just naturally assumed she had no chance given the stances she's been taking.
It's interesting why people like that don't cross the floor. But she probably helps the anti-Trumpcase by staying.
10 years ago she would have been a right wing Republican. She doesn't have much in common with Democrats, apart from finding Trumpism offensive, corrupt and dangerous.
I just cannot get my head around the fact that Trump is going to be allowed to run despite trying lead an insurrection and is probably going to win and return to the WH.
America has lost its mind.
The EU, UK, Australia, etc. don't appear to have any contingency for strategic autonomy for when Rome falls. Perhaps the reality is just too challenging to contemplate.
For those who really want to go to a show court it is worth knowing that persistent checking on their website usually will work in finding tickets pop up the day before. Not every day and probably requires checking a few times. You normally have a web queue first, and once you are in you need to be persistent again. Keep refreshing your browser for the 5 mins or so you are allowed in and tickets will sometimes magically appear.
Now the show court tickets are electronic, it’s not possible to give them to someone in the queue on your way out any more, but actively decide to play with your phone when half-drunk and leaving.
They probably need to make it you get £5 ph of play refund when you leave early to encourage people to recycle the tickets, and then charge those coming in £10 ph.
Yes, that might work, alongside staff encouraging the right behaviour as people leave the venue.
It’s quite astonishing that they’ve not been completely sold out of general admission, when pretty much every other sporting and cultural event this summer has been massively over-subscribed. Silverstone this weekend was sold out before Christmas.
'May well'? I've not been following but I just naturally assumed she had no chance given the stances she's been taking.
It's interesting why people like that don't cross the floor. But she probably helps the anti-Trumpcase by staying.
10 years ago she would have been a right wing Republican. She doesn't have much in common with Democrats, apart from finding Trumpism offensive, corrupt and dangerous.
I just cannot get my head around the fact that Trump is going to be allowed to run despite trying lead an insurrection and is probably going to win and return to the WH.
America has lost its mind.
The EU, UK, Australia, etc. don't appear to have any contingency for strategic autonomy for when Rome falls. Perhaps the reality is just too challenging to contemplate.
Lead article in this weekend's New Statesman calls for europe to do just that and prepare for US disengagement.
For those who really want to go to a show court it is worth knowing that persistent checking on their website usually will work in finding tickets pop up the day before. Not every day and probably requires checking a few times. You normally have a web queue first, and once you are in you need to be persistent again. Keep refreshing your browser for the 5 mins or so you are allowed in and tickets will sometimes magically appear.
Now the show court tickets are electronic, it’s not possible to give them to someone in the queue on your way out any more, but actively decide to play with your phone when half-drunk and leaving.
They probably need to make it you get £5 ph of play refund when you leave early to encourage people to recycle the tickets, and then charge those coming in £10 ph.
Yes, that might work, alongside staff encouraging the right behaviour as people leave the venue.
It’s quite astonishing that they’ve not been completely sold out of general admission, when pretty much every other sporting and cultural event this summer has been massively over-subscribed. Silverstone this weekend was sold out before Christmas.
Test matches haven't been selling out either, and there are still tickets available for the various Hyde Park gigs this summer.
Yes the wage price spiral is a real thing. I think the problem comes if it looks like workers in already not particularly well paid jobs are being asked to take one for the team when those who can more afford to do so aren't.
I agree, but I also think the economics also makes it inevitable. The reason low paid jobs are low paid in the first place is that they tend to be lower-skilled, there's more competition for them and the workers have lower leverage to push for better terms and conditions -- and for exactly the same reasons employers are better able to keep any pay rises for that group of employees low. On the other hand the employees that companies feel they have to give inflation-matching or -busting pay rises to are the ones in roles critical to the company and where employees can just move on to another job if the pay is bad -- exactly the ones who are more highly paid to start with.
I'm not sure there's much we can do about this beyond ameliorating things on the margin as long as we have an economic system where cleaners and warehouse workers are paid badly for hard, lousy jobs and computer programmers are paid a ton for a pretty cushy gig.
For those who really want to go to a show court it is worth knowing that persistent checking on their website usually will work in finding tickets pop up the day before. Not every day and probably requires checking a few times. You normally have a web queue first, and once you are in you need to be persistent again. Keep refreshing your browser for the 5 mins or so you are allowed in and tickets will sometimes magically appear.
Now the show court tickets are electronic, it’s not possible to give them to someone in the queue on your way out any more, but actively decide to play with your phone when half-drunk and leaving.
They probably need to make it you get £5 ph of play refund when you leave early to encourage people to recycle the tickets, and then charge those coming in £10 ph.
Yes, that might work, alongside staff encouraging the right behaviour as people leave the venue.
It’s quite astonishing that they’ve not been completely sold out of general admission, when pretty much every other sporting and cultural event this summer has been massively over-subscribed. Silverstone this weekend was sold out before Christmas.
Before Christmas people expected to be richer in 2022 than they are now.
'May well'? I've not been following but I just naturally assumed she had no chance given the stances she's been taking.
It's interesting why people like that don't cross the floor. But she probably helps the anti-Trumpcase by staying.
10 years ago she would have been a right wing Republican. She doesn't have much in common with Democrats, apart from finding Trumpism offensive, corrupt and dangerous.
I just cannot get my head around the fact that Trump is going to be allowed to run despite trying lead an insurrection and is probably going to win and return to the WH.
America has lost its mind.
The EU, UK, Australia, etc. don't appear to have any contingency for strategic autonomy for when Rome falls. Perhaps the reality is just too challenging to contemplate.
Lead article in this weekend's New Statesman calls for europe to do just that and prepare for US disengagement.
It's pretty staggering that someone like DavidL still needs to be educated on an issue like this.
I completely agree with that letter. The inconsistency with which these episodes are treated is a part of the problem as is the truly remarkable lack of clear rules of conduct (other than common sense and decency, of course). I also agree that this is damaging the government.
I am not suggesting that it gets swept under any carpet but I am suggesting that the offender should be treated compassionately if there are explanations for his behaviour. Is that so awful?
Yes. He's a man. So obviously he doesn't deserve compassion. How can you even ask, you sexist gammon(?)
Actually, you're confusing individual and party responsibility. If such an element is not already part of the existing party system, then there is something wrong with the system independent of gender or sex.
@DavidL is trying to defend the system that existed prior to the current cultural revolution/age of unreason. This system is basically what our entire civilisation post the enlightenment is built on.
This could be described as follows: Firstly; that in your personal affairs you must operate within the boundaries of the law; and secondly; that if there are rules of conduct that apply to you in your professional role, it must be clear to you what they are; and thirdly, that humans are flawed, make mistakes, and in this context, there should be some sympathy and possibility of redemption.
But all this has been swept away and what we actually see is the rules about 'conduct' being made up as we go along by a limited subset of extremely vocal public opinion in a completely uncontrolled and inconsistent way; driven forward by myths and ideas of social progress that are essentially pseudo religious in nature. It brings out all the worst tribal instincts in people.
What really needs to happen, is that the original system needs to be restored, but to be more adaptable to changes in social values. Is that really such a big ask?
I was more surprised at the implication that it did not have a standard system of the kind that was commonly in operation in many organizations decades ago. Or has the Conservative Party itself of all people gone all woke or whatever the term is? - but no, that's absurd.
Though in the era of MeToo, other things have certainly changed as regards wider perceptions of such matters.
For those who really want to go to a show court it is worth knowing that persistent checking on their website usually will work in finding tickets pop up the day before. Not every day and probably requires checking a few times. You normally have a web queue first, and once you are in you need to be persistent again. Keep refreshing your browser for the 5 mins or so you are allowed in and tickets will sometimes magically appear.
Now the show court tickets are electronic, it’s not possible to give them to someone in the queue on your way out any more, but actively decide to play with your phone when half-drunk and leaving.
They probably need to make it you get £5 ph of play refund when you leave early to encourage people to recycle the tickets, and then charge those coming in £10 ph.
Yes, that might work, alongside staff encouraging the right behaviour as people leave the venue.
It’s quite astonishing that they’ve not been completely sold out of general admission, when pretty much every other sporting and cultural event this summer has been massively over-subscribed. Silverstone this weekend was sold out before Christmas.
Test matches haven't been selling out either, and there are still tickets available for the various Hyde Park gigs this summer.
I find myself getting twitchy if I cannot write for at least part of the day. It is as if something is missing somehow.
It is an odd sensation because I have not had it for most of my life, possibly because I did spend a large part of my day writing stuff that needed to be read.
But now it is beginning to bug me and, as there is little more to be said about politics other than WTAF! in as many different ways as one can, I am going to have to concentrate on other topics, of which I've started two. They are of course much harder than berating Westminster twits. Wish me luck!
On topic, if the Conservatives don't win Tamworth they won't win anywhere.
Tamworth has always been won by Labour whenever the party has won overall majorities.
I have a longstanding mild prejudice against Tamworth Labour Party. I went for selection there before getting Broxtowe. The selection was in a private house, and they insisted that all the candidates stand outside in the rain until it was their turn, for fear that we might catch something of each others' speeches. As we shivered on the pavement, we discussed forming a Candidates' Trade Union to boycott CLPs like that.
Tamworth is pretty, though - nice swans, as I recall.
The bit by the castle is lovely to look at, and by the bridge across the Tame.
Some very deprived parts of it though with truly grim tower blocks and concrete social housing.
As, indeed, there are in Lichfield (excluding the tower blocks).
I was in the East Midlands last week and the wealthy little town I was in depressed me hugely. It looked very pretty but every shop and pub was a chain. Just utterly soulless.
For those who really want to go to a show court it is worth knowing that persistent checking on their website usually will work in finding tickets pop up the day before. Not every day and probably requires checking a few times. You normally have a web queue first, and once you are in you need to be persistent again. Keep refreshing your browser for the 5 mins or so you are allowed in and tickets will sometimes magically appear.
Now the show court tickets are electronic, it’s not possible to give them to someone in the queue on your way out any more, but actively decide to play with your phone when half-drunk and leaving.
That's a shame. My grandparents (who were tennis fanatics) spoke fondly of going up in the evenings, getting these returned tickets and watching some wonderful matches. True, you weren't watching the top seeds on centre, but they said there was lots of fantastic tennis on offer, particularly doubles.
'May well'? I've not been following but I just naturally assumed she had no chance given the stances she's been taking.
It's interesting why people like that don't cross the floor. But she probably helps the anti-Trumpcase by staying.
10 years ago she would have been a right wing Republican. She doesn't have much in common with Democrats, apart from finding Trumpism offensive, corrupt and dangerous.
I just cannot get my head around the fact that Trump is going to be allowed to run despite trying lead an insurrection and is probably going to win and return to the WH.
America has lost its mind.
The EU, UK, Australia, etc. don't appear to have any contingency for strategic autonomy for when Rome falls. Perhaps the reality is just too challenging to contemplate.
Lead article in this weekend's New Statesman calls for europe to do just that and prepare for US disengagement.
We need to plan for Ukraine, with Trump.
Indeed, there's a horrifying possibility that Trump may try to force the cessation of an immensely destructive war, back a negotiated settlement, roll back sanctions, reverse rising energy prices, reverse inflation, and begin a slow rapprochement between East and West. And then where would we all be?
For those who really want to go to a show court it is worth knowing that persistent checking on their website usually will work in finding tickets pop up the day before. Not every day and probably requires checking a few times. You normally have a web queue first, and once you are in you need to be persistent again. Keep refreshing your browser for the 5 mins or so you are allowed in and tickets will sometimes magically appear.
Now the show court tickets are electronic, it’s not possible to give them to someone in the queue on your way out any more, but actively decide to play with your phone when half-drunk and leaving.
Bad decision to make the tickets electronic-only in my opinion.
'May well'? I've not been following but I just naturally assumed she had no chance given the stances she's been taking.
It's interesting why people like that don't cross the floor. But she probably helps the anti-Trumpcase by staying.
10 years ago she would have been a right wing Republican. She doesn't have much in common with Democrats, apart from finding Trumpism offensive, corrupt and dangerous.
I just cannot get my head around the fact that Trump is going to be allowed to run despite trying lead an insurrection and is probably going to win and return to the WH.
America has lost its mind.
The EU, UK, Australia, etc. don't appear to have any contingency for strategic autonomy for when Rome falls. Perhaps the reality is just too challenging to contemplate.
Lead article in this weekend's New Statesman calls for europe to do just that and prepare for US disengagement.
We need to plan for Ukraine, with Trump.
Indeed, there's a horrifying possibility that Trump may try to force the cessation of an immensely destructive war, back a negotiated settlement, roll back sanctions, reverse rising energy prices, reverse inflation, and begin a slow rapprochement between East and West. And then where would we all be?
Really? In March Trump threatened to drop a nuclear bomb on Putin's Russia if he was back as President and Russian forces still in Ukraine
For those who really want to go to a show court it is worth knowing that persistent checking on their website usually will work in finding tickets pop up the day before. Not every day and probably requires checking a few times. You normally have a web queue first, and once you are in you need to be persistent again. Keep refreshing your browser for the 5 mins or so you are allowed in and tickets will sometimes magically appear.
Now the show court tickets are electronic, it’s not possible to give them to someone in the queue on your way out any more, but actively decide to play with your phone when half-drunk and leaving.
Bad decision to make the tickets electronic-only in my opinion.
I can understand the reasoning behind electronic tickets, but swap them for physical, transferable show court passes at the venue.
I find myself getting twitchy if I cannot write for at least part of the day. It is as if something is missing somehow.
It is an odd sensation because I have not had it for most of my life, possibly because I did spend a large part of my day writing stuff that needed to be read.
But now it is beginning to bug me and, as there is little more to be said about politics other than WTAF! in as many different ways as one can, I am going to have to concentrate on other topics, of which I've started two. They are of course much harder than berating Westminster twits. Wish me luck!
'May well'? I've not been following but I just naturally assumed she had no chance given the stances she's been taking.
It's interesting why people like that don't cross the floor. But she probably helps the anti-Trumpcase by staying.
10 years ago she would have been a right wing Republican. She doesn't have much in common with Democrats, apart from finding Trumpism offensive, corrupt and dangerous.
I just cannot get my head around the fact that Trump is going to be allowed to run despite trying lead an insurrection and is probably going to win and return to the WH.
If this is so, when will Trump seek to crush DeSantis? After all, quite unlike the norm he seems to think the party should all be loyal to him between elections as if he was LOTO.
'May well'? I've not been following but I just naturally assumed she had no chance given the stances she's been taking.
It's interesting why people like that don't cross the floor. But she probably helps the anti-Trumpcase by staying.
10 years ago she would have been a right wing Republican. She doesn't have much in common with Democrats, apart from finding Trumpism offensive, corrupt and dangerous.
I just cannot get my head around the fact that Trump is going to be allowed to run despite trying lead an insurrection and is probably going to win and return to the WH.
America has lost its mind.
The EU, UK, Australia, etc. don't appear to have any contingency for strategic autonomy for when Rome falls. Perhaps the reality is just too challenging to contemplate.
Lead article in this weekend's New Statesman calls for europe to do just that and prepare for US disengagement.
We need to plan for Ukraine, with Trump.
Indeed, there's a horrifying possibility that Trump may try to force the cessation of an immensely destructive war, back a negotiated settlement, roll back sanctions, reverse rising energy prices, reverse inflation, and begin a slow rapprochement between East and West. And then where would we all be?
Really? In March Trump threatened to drop a nuclear bomb on Putin's Russia if he was back as President and Russian forces still in Ukraine
As he changes his mind every day based on what was last featured on Fox News I don't see a statement from March is much of a guide.
What we do know is when in office he repeatedly mused about pulling US out of europe and NATO and that seems highly likely when he returns in Jan 2025.
LOL. Close, but no cigar. Strong finish but still lost a match they should have won by some distance.
Yes, I’m just balancing out my earlier hysterical pessimism
We did score a fantastic try at the end, there. And Arundell is enormously promising. I’ve been reading about him the last few weeks. A tremendous talent. Him and Marcus Smith…..
'May well'? I've not been following but I just naturally assumed she had no chance given the stances she's been taking.
It's interesting why people like that don't cross the floor. But she probably helps the anti-Trumpcase by staying.
10 years ago she would have been a right wing Republican. She doesn't have much in common with Democrats, apart from finding Trumpism offensive, corrupt and dangerous.
I just cannot get my head around the fact that Trump is going to be allowed to run despite trying lead an insurrection and is probably going to win and return to the WH.
America has lost its mind.
The EU, UK, Australia, etc. don't appear to have any contingency for strategic autonomy for when Rome falls. Perhaps the reality is just too challenging to contemplate.
Lead article in this weekend's New Statesman calls for europe to do just that and prepare for US disengagement.
We need to plan for Ukraine, with Trump.
Indeed, there's a horrifying possibility that Trump may try to force the cessation of an immensely destructive war, back a negotiated settlement, roll back sanctions, reverse rising energy prices, reverse inflation, and begin a slow rapprochement between East and West. And then where would we all be?
Really? In March Trump threatened to drop a nuclear bomb on Putin's Russia if he was back as President and Russian forces still in Ukraine
DJT won't give much of a fuck about Ukraine one way or the other but he'll certainly turn off the money tap.
Unless arch-flatterer Zelensky figures out a way to manipulate Trump like he does Johnson. Offer to let him build a golf resort in Odessa or something.
'May well'? I've not been following but I just naturally assumed she had no chance given the stances she's been taking.
It's interesting why people like that don't cross the floor. But she probably helps the anti-Trumpcase by staying.
10 years ago she would have been a right wing Republican. She doesn't have much in common with Democrats, apart from finding Trumpism offensive, corrupt and dangerous.
I just cannot get my head around the fact that Trump is going to be allowed to run despite trying lead an insurrection and is probably going to win and return to the WH.
America has lost its mind.
Assuming he doesn't end up in prison. Not that that would necessarily help matters.
I find myself getting twitchy if I cannot write for at least part of the day. It is as if something is missing somehow.
It is an odd sensation because I have not had it for most of my life, possibly because I did spend a large part of my day writing stuff that needed to be read.
But now it is beginning to bug me and, as there is little more to be said about politics other than WTAF! in as many different ways as one can, I am going to have to concentrate on other topics, of which I've started two. They are of course much harder than berating Westminster twits. Wish me luck!
Yes - luck!
Creative or analytical?
A mix of both. Writing helps me think. I used to do a lot of discussion with my team about the cases we were investigating and those discussions were immensely helpful to my thinking about some often difficult issues. The debate was part of the process. I get some of that on here.
But being largely on my own now, I miss that. So I churn thoughts and ideas and images and scenes from stories and sometimes whole paragraphs in my head as I pootle about in the garden or house or wherever. My husband sometimes gets to be involved. Occasionally even my poor children who probably think this is the way to stop Mum getting dementia.
And often the need to get these thoughts and images into some sort of order or shape and down on paper becomes urgent and I cannot settle until I have. I don't know what this is or whether it even needs a name but it is there. It is similar in some ways to the need to garden - there it is about seeing and creating. This is more about seeing something in my head and needing to make sense of it somehow.
Anyhow, I have probably outed myself as a total loon by now. So best stop and go for a walk.
If this is so, when will Trump seek to crush DeSantis? After all, quite unlike the norm he seems to think the party should all be loyal to him between elections as if he was LOTO.
Trump and DeSantis need to work out a strategy between themselves. They can’t afford to spend months attacking each other through the the primary season - either one needs to support the other, or they need to agree a point in the primaries at which one drops out.
But politicians all have massive egos, and it’s easier to say these things in theory than it is to implement them in practice.
'May well'? I've not been following but I just naturally assumed she had no chance given the stances she's been taking.
It's interesting why people like that don't cross the floor. But she probably helps the anti-Trumpcase by staying.
10 years ago she would have been a right wing Republican. She doesn't have much in common with Democrats, apart from finding Trumpism offensive, corrupt and dangerous.
I just cannot get my head around the fact that Trump is going to be allowed to run despite trying lead an insurrection and is probably going to win and return to the WH.
America has lost its mind.
The EU, UK, Australia, etc. don't appear to have any contingency for strategic autonomy for when Rome falls. Perhaps the reality is just too challenging to contemplate.
Lead article in this weekend's New Statesman calls for europe to do just that and prepare for US disengagement.
We need to plan for Ukraine, with Trump.
Indeed, there's a horrifying possibility that Trump may try to force the cessation of an immensely destructive war, back a negotiated settlement, roll back sanctions, reverse rising energy prices, reverse inflation, and begin a slow rapprochement between East and West. And then where would we all be?
Really? In March Trump threatened to drop a nuclear bomb on Putin's Russia if he was back as President and Russian forces still in Ukraine
DJT won't give much of a fuck about Ukraine one way or the other but he'll certainly turn off the money tap.
Unless arch-flatterer Zelensky figures out a way to manipulate Trump like he does Johnson. Offer to let him build a golf resort in Odessa or something.
IIRC from the first Trump impeachment Zelensky was indeed being very flattering in a call with Trump, which is only to be expected a) with the President of the United States when you want their help, b) with that particular President who has notoriously thin skin and a liking for obsequious displays of loyalty.
I don't see anything odd about a leader in such a difficult situation saying pretty much anything and being as nice as possible to people who might be able to help.
Promise Trump a statue in Kyiv if he keeps the money flowing, that should do it.
For those who really want to go to a show court it is worth knowing that persistent checking on their website usually will work in finding tickets pop up the day before. Not every day and probably requires checking a few times. You normally have a web queue first, and once you are in you need to be persistent again. Keep refreshing your browser for the 5 mins or so you are allowed in and tickets will sometimes magically appear.
Now the show court tickets are electronic, it’s not possible to give them to someone in the queue on your way out any more, but actively decide to play with your phone when half-drunk and leaving.
They probably need to make it you get £5 ph of play refund when you leave early to encourage people to recycle the tickets, and then charge those coming in £10 ph.
Yes, that might work, alongside staff encouraging the right behaviour as people leave the venue.
It’s quite astonishing that they’ve not been completely sold out of general admission, when pretty much every other sporting and cultural event this summer has been massively over-subscribed. Silverstone this weekend was sold out before Christmas.
Test matches haven't been selling out either, and there are still tickets available for the various Hyde Park gigs this summer.
'May well'? I've not been following but I just naturally assumed she had no chance given the stances she's been taking.
It's interesting why people like that don't cross the floor. But she probably helps the anti-Trumpcase by staying.
10 years ago she would have been a right wing Republican. She doesn't have much in common with Democrats, apart from finding Trumpism offensive, corrupt and dangerous.
I just cannot get my head around the fact that Trump is going to be allowed to run despite trying lead an insurrection and is probably going to win and return to the WH.
America has lost its mind.
There's a right-wing Republican blog that I like (he's thoughtful about his conservatism) which takes a similar line - scornful of Democrats in general, but absolutely draws the line at Trump.
'May well'? I've not been following but I just naturally assumed she had no chance given the stances she's been taking.
It's interesting why people like that don't cross the floor. But she probably helps the anti-Trumpcase by staying.
10 years ago she would have been a right wing Republican. She doesn't have much in common with Democrats, apart from finding Trumpism offensive, corrupt and dangerous.
I just cannot get my head around the fact that Trump is going to be allowed to run despite trying lead an insurrection and is probably going to win and return to the WH.
America has lost its mind.
Assuming he doesn't end up in prison. Not that that would necessarily help matters.
It's only 18 months until the Iowa Caucus! Nowhere near enough time for an indictment, prosecution and exhausting all avenues of appeal.
Let's tell ourselves the truth. He's going to run and he's probably going to win and will claim to have won anyway in all circumstances.
'May well'? I've not been following but I just naturally assumed she had no chance given the stances she's been taking.
It's interesting why people like that don't cross the floor. But she probably helps the anti-Trumpcase by staying.
10 years ago she would have been a right wing Republican. She doesn't have much in common with Democrats, apart from finding Trumpism offensive, corrupt and dangerous.
I just cannot get my head around the fact that Trump is going to be allowed to run despite trying lead an insurrection and is probably going to win and return to the WH.
America has lost its mind.
The EU, UK, Australia, etc. don't appear to have any contingency for strategic autonomy for when Rome falls. Perhaps the reality is just too challenging to contemplate.
Lead article in this weekend's New Statesman calls for europe to do just that and prepare for US disengagement.
We need to plan for Ukraine, with Trump.
Indeed, there's a horrifying possibility that Trump may try to force the cessation of an immensely destructive war, back a negotiated settlement, roll back sanctions, reverse rising energy prices, reverse inflation, and begin a slow rapprochement between East and West. And then where would we all be?
Really? In March Trump threatened to drop a nuclear bomb on Putin's Russia if he was back as President and Russian forces still in Ukraine
As he changes his mind every day based on what was last featured on Fox News I don't see a statement from March is much of a guide.
What we do know is when in office he repeatedly mused about pulling US out of europe and NATO and that seems highly likely when he returns in Jan 2025.
He spoke about that in the context of complaining about Germany freeriding while becoming dependent on Russia.
'May well'? I've not been following but I just naturally assumed she had no chance given the stances she's been taking.
It's interesting why people like that don't cross the floor. But she probably helps the anti-Trumpcase by staying.
10 years ago she would have been a right wing Republican. She doesn't have much in common with Democrats, apart from finding Trumpism offensive, corrupt and dangerous.
I just cannot get my head around the fact that Trump is going to be allowed to run despite trying lead an insurrection and is probably going to win and return to the WH.
America has lost its mind.
Assuming he doesn't end up in prison. Not that that would necessarily help matters.
It's only 18 months until the Iowa Caucus! Nowhere near enough time for an indictment, prosecution and exhausting all avenues of appeal.
Let's tell ourselves the truth. He's going to run and he's probably going to win and will claim to have won anyway in all circumstances.
There’s plenty of time for an indictment, trial and possibly a conviction. He would remain convicted pending any appeal.
If this is so, when will Trump seek to crush DeSantis? After all, quite unlike the norm he seems to think the party should all be loyal to him between elections as if he was LOTO.
Trump and DeSantis need to work out a strategy between themselves. They can’t afford to spend months attacking each other through the the primary season - either one needs to support the other, or they need to agree a point in the primaries at which one drops out.
But politicians all have massive egos, and it’s easier to say these things in theory than it is to implement them in practice.
'Tis a generalisation that doesn't survive contact with reality. Neither Brown nor May have much of an ego IMO, though Blair does, Cameron maybe and Johnson certainly. And if you go down to MPs, there are lots of "normal" people.
'May well'? I've not been following but I just naturally assumed she had no chance given the stances she's been taking.
It's interesting why people like that don't cross the floor. But she probably helps the anti-Trumpcase by staying.
10 years ago she would have been a right wing Republican. She doesn't have much in common with Democrats, apart from finding Trumpism offensive, corrupt and dangerous.
I just cannot get my head around the fact that Trump is going to be allowed to run despite trying lead an insurrection and is probably going to win and return to the WH.
America has lost its mind.
There's a right-wing Republican blog that I like (he's thoughtful about his conservatism) which takes a similar line - scornful of Democrats in general, but absolutely draws the line at Trump.
There are scores of familiar scenarios where moral law trumps conventional law. If I steal your car to get a gravely wounded child to the E.R., no jury is going to send me to jail. I’ll give you a more newsy example. Mike Pence unconstitutionally deployed the U.S. military to quell the riots on January 6. He had no authority to do it. But as Noah Rothman puts it, “Mike Pence Broke the Constitution on January 6—But Only to Save It.”
The liberal references to TV Tropes help.
This is very on the nose
Nearly all of Donald Trump’s failures stem from his belief that he can will his narcissistic vision on the world. He thinks he can make the world believe he didn’t really lose. He thought he could simply reenact Mussolini’s march on Rome and stay president. His enablers got caught up in the same mind warp, believing they could just brazen their way through to victory. They took shortcuts, made decisions based on making up morality and—in the cases of Eastman and Clarke—the law on the fly. They wandered off the path and invited the chaos.
'May well'? I've not been following but I just naturally assumed she had no chance given the stances she's been taking.
It's interesting why people like that don't cross the floor. But she probably helps the anti-Trumpcase by staying.
10 years ago she would have been a right wing Republican. She doesn't have much in common with Democrats, apart from finding Trumpism offensive, corrupt and dangerous.
I just cannot get my head around the fact that Trump is going to be allowed to run despite trying lead an insurrection and is probably going to win and return to the WH.
America has lost its mind.
Assuming he doesn't end up in prison. Not that that would necessarily help matters.
It's only 18 months until the Iowa Caucus! Nowhere near enough time for an indictment, prosecution and exhausting all avenues of appeal.
Let's tell ourselves the truth. He's going to run and he's probably going to win and will claim to have won anyway in all circumstances.
He'll get Twitter back as a GOP candidate I reckon. And the media circus will start up again.
Thank you but that doesn't quite work for the example I've highlighted. It says you do it when there's a whole load of reasons for something and you want to head off having to list them - so you say (literally) "because reasons".
Eg I can't stand Boris Johnson because reasons. Implication (a correct one) is there are just too many reasons to mention individually. So ... "because reasons". Fair enough. I happen to like listing them all but I can see how that's a good way of saving time.
However, Leon's one here - "because Covid" - isn't that. All he's done is drop the word "of".
My sense is people are doing it because they think it sounds a bit youthful and internety and adds a bit of punch. But I'm not sure it does. Affectation, I think, and I recommend we try and avoid it. No biggie obviously. Worth an airing but I won't bother mentioning it again.
It’s a neat shortening of the language, therefore useful (see what I did there?)
The “of” in “because of” is unnecessary, indeed I’d say it’s ugly (but that’s subjective). You don’t need “of”. When you say “because Covid” the meaning is clear. Why add “of”?
Presumably you object to “I’m” or “weren’t” or “Arsenal”, instead of “The Arsenal”
No it's fine. You carry on with it. As I say, no biggie. I smelt an affectation but if you're doing it just naturally without thinking - because you - then it wouldn't be. No rules. All good.
And what's wrong with affectations anyway? WTF am I being like this?
Shape up me.
It started with Blair who realised that if your sentences contain no main verb then nothing you said had any contents for which you could be held accountable.
If this is so, when will Trump seek to crush DeSantis? After all, quite unlike the norm he seems to think the party should all be loyal to him between elections as if he was LOTO.
Trump and DeSantis need to work out a strategy between themselves. They can’t afford to spend months attacking each other through the the primary season - either one needs to support the other, or they need to agree a point in the primaries at which one drops out.
But politicians all have massive egos, and it’s easier to say these things in theory than it is to implement them in practice.
'Tis a generalisation that doesn't survive contact with reality. Neither Brown nor May have much of an ego IMO, though Blair does, Cameron maybe and Johnson certainly. And if you go down to MPs, there are lots of "normal" people.
Hmm, I'm not sure I buy that. Some are clearly more normal than others, but being interested in politics is itself not very normal.
As to the ego point, certainly May appeared to have less of a personal ego than Blair, Cameron, Brown or Johnson (with the years and years of his faction and Blair's going at it I simply do not buy the idea Brown lacks ego), so she does not have 'much of an ego' if we are grading on a scale compared to them, but she put herself forward for the biggest job in our politics, she signed off on campaigns which played up her above any other aspect (it made sense at the time). Those are not the actions of people without a bigger ego than a normal person.
You need a bit of an ego, self confidence, to be a frontline politician. I can buy it is not necessarily so for the quiet backbenchers, but frontline? Definitely.
'May well'? I've not been following but I just naturally assumed she had no chance given the stances she's been taking.
It's interesting why people like that don't cross the floor. But she probably helps the anti-Trumpcase by staying.
10 years ago she would have been a right wing Republican. She doesn't have much in common with Democrats, apart from finding Trumpism offensive, corrupt and dangerous.
I just cannot get my head around the fact that Trump is going to be allowed to run despite trying lead an insurrection and is probably going to win and return to the WH.
America has lost its mind.
There's a right-wing Republican blog that I like (he's thoughtful about his conservatism) which takes a similar line - scornful of Democrats in general, but absolutely draws the line at Trump.
There are scores of familiar scenarios where moral law trumps conventional law. If I steal your car to get a gravely wounded child to the E.R., no jury is going to send me to jail. I’ll give you a more newsy example. Mike Pence unconstitutionally deployed the U.S. military to quell the riots on January 6. He had no authority to do it. But as Noah Rothman puts it, “Mike Pence Broke the Constitution on January 6—But Only to Save It.”
The liberal references to TV Tropes help.
This is very on the nose
Nearly all of Donald Trump’s failures stem from his belief that he can will his narcissistic vision on the world. He thinks he can make the world believe he didn’t really lose. He thought he could simply reenact Mussolini’s march on Rome and stay president. His enablers got caught up in the same mind warp, believing they could just brazen their way through to victory. They took shortcuts, made decisions based on making up morality and—in the cases of Eastman and Clarke—the law on the fly. They wandered off the path and invited the chaos.
The enablers were right on the outcome, just that it will be Jan 2025 rather than Jan 2021. Also the enablers had little to lose, most would have had no viable political career if they abandoned ship anyway.
'May well'? I've not been following but I just naturally assumed she had no chance given the stances she's been taking.
It's interesting why people like that don't cross the floor. But she probably helps the anti-Trumpcase by staying.
10 years ago she would have been a right wing Republican. She doesn't have much in common with Democrats, apart from finding Trumpism offensive, corrupt and dangerous.
I just cannot get my head around the fact that Trump is going to be allowed to run despite trying lead an insurrection and is probably going to win and return to the WH.
America has lost its mind.
Assuming he doesn't end up in prison. Not that that would necessarily help matters.
It's only 18 months until the Iowa Caucus! Nowhere near enough time for an indictment, prosecution and exhausting all avenues of appeal.
Let's tell ourselves the truth. He's going to run and he's probably going to win and will claim to have won anyway in all circumstances.
There’s plenty of time for an indictment, trial and possibly a conviction.
Not a chance - getting it done in less than 3 years, for a man in his position and influence?
If this is so, when will Trump seek to crush DeSantis? After all, quite unlike the norm he seems to think the party should all be loyal to him between elections as if he was LOTO.
Trump and DeSantis need to work out a strategy between themselves. They can’t afford to spend months attacking each other through the the primary season - either one needs to support the other, or they need to agree a point in the primaries at which one drops out.
But politicians all have massive egos, and it’s easier to say these things in theory than it is to implement them in practice.
That suggests they are natural allies. Trump does not care less about actual policies, just that he is the one choosing them. He used to be a Democrat, and if they had been open to a takeover would have been just as comfortable stealing their party. The only people who can be his allies are those who believe in Trump. There is not much evidence that is where DeSantis sits.
'May well'? I've not been following but I just naturally assumed she had no chance given the stances she's been taking.
It's interesting why people like that don't cross the floor. But she probably helps the anti-Trumpcase by staying.
10 years ago she would have been a right wing Republican. She doesn't have much in common with Democrats, apart from finding Trumpism offensive, corrupt and dangerous.
I just cannot get my head around the fact that Trump is going to be allowed to run despite trying lead an insurrection and is probably going to win and return to the WH.
America has lost its mind.
The EU, UK, Australia, etc. don't appear to have any contingency for strategic autonomy for when Rome falls. Perhaps the reality is just too challenging to contemplate.
Lead article in this weekend's New Statesman calls for europe to do just that and prepare for US disengagement.
If the EU had put common defence first instead of a bogus common currency, central bank and bogus parliament, insisted on NATO membership as an essential even more important than a common line on My Little Pony stickers, we would still be in it, Ukraine might well be free and the world would be a better place.
For those who really want to go to a show court it is worth knowing that persistent checking on their website usually will work in finding tickets pop up the day before. Not every day and probably requires checking a few times. You normally have a web queue first, and once you are in you need to be persistent again. Keep refreshing your browser for the 5 mins or so you are allowed in and tickets will sometimes magically appear.
Now the show court tickets are electronic, it’s not possible to give them to someone in the queue on your way out any more, but actively decide to play with your phone when half-drunk and leaving.
They probably need to make it you get £5 ph of play refund when you leave early to encourage people to recycle the tickets, and then charge those coming in £10 ph.
There never used to be a problem when people could just hand their tickets physically to other people. It seems like another step backwards due to technology that Wimbledon might have to pay people to encourage them to do it using the new system.
'May well'? I've not been following but I just naturally assumed she had no chance given the stances she's been taking.
It's interesting why people like that don't cross the floor. But she probably helps the anti-Trumpcase by staying.
10 years ago she would have been a right wing Republican. She doesn't have much in common with Democrats, apart from finding Trumpism offensive, corrupt and dangerous.
I just cannot get my head around the fact that Trump is going to be allowed to run despite trying lead an insurrection and is probably going to win and return to the WH.
America has lost its mind.
The EU, UK, Australia, etc. don't appear to have any contingency for strategic autonomy for when Rome falls. Perhaps the reality is just too challenging to contemplate.
Lead article in this weekend's New Statesman calls for europe to do just that and prepare for US disengagement.
We need to plan for Ukraine, with Trump.
Indeed, there's a horrifying possibility that Trump may try to force the cessation of an immensely destructive war, back a negotiated settlement, roll back sanctions, reverse rising energy prices, reverse inflation, and begin a slow rapprochement between East and West. And then where would we all be?
Really? In March Trump threatened to drop a nuclear bomb on Putin's Russia if he was back as President and Russian forces still in Ukraine
'May well'? I've not been following but I just naturally assumed she had no chance given the stances she's been taking.
It's interesting why people like that don't cross the floor. But she probably helps the anti-Trumpcase by staying.
10 years ago she would have been a right wing Republican. She doesn't have much in common with Democrats, apart from finding Trumpism offensive, corrupt and dangerous.
I just cannot get my head around the fact that Trump is going to be allowed to run despite trying lead an insurrection and is probably going to win and return to the WH.
America has lost its mind.
Try denial, it helps me get through the day.
America is a democracy. It is entitled to lose its mind. Only the same people, voters, can find it again. Others can encourage, but only voters, the demos, can sort the realities of democracy.
The UK is no different. Ask any thoughtful North Korean.
'May well'? I've not been following but I just naturally assumed she had no chance given the stances she's been taking.
It's interesting why people like that don't cross the floor. But she probably helps the anti-Trumpcase by staying.
10 years ago she would have been a right wing Republican. She doesn't have much in common with Democrats, apart from finding Trumpism offensive, corrupt and dangerous.
I just cannot get my head around the fact that Trump is going to be allowed to run despite trying lead an insurrection and is probably going to win and return to the WH.
America has lost its mind.
Try denial, it helps me get through the day.
America is a democracy. It is entitled to lose its mind. Only the same people, voters, can find it again. Others can encourage, but only voters, the demos, can sort the realities of democracy.
The UK is no different. Ask any thoughtful North Korean.
Never said they couldn't lose their mind. Though I'd also be worried they won't lsoe it, but this time officials in the right place won't care and will lose it for them. If he is going to win that's depressing, but at least let it be because he actually won as he did against Clinton.
"On Drink Hail Mary A Bloody Mary is perfect at almost any time of day and in every kind of weather
All the best bars serve Bloody Marys. But the best Bloody Mary is served in The Grenadier, the one-time officers’ mess of the Foot Guards and the long-time public house in Wilton Row, Belgravia. Pass beneath the low lintel of this tiny tavern, pick your way through the crowded tap room and press up against the burr mahogany bar to order the world’s premier pick-me-up."
I find myself getting twitchy if I cannot write for at least part of the day. It is as if something is missing somehow.
It is an odd sensation because I have not had it for most of my life, possibly because I did spend a large part of my day writing stuff that needed to be read.
But now it is beginning to bug me and, as there is little more to be said about politics other than WTAF! in as many different ways as one can, I am going to have to concentrate on other topics, of which I've started two. They are of course much harder than berating Westminster twits. Wish me luck!
'May well'? I've not been following but I just naturally assumed she had no chance given the stances she's been taking.
It's interesting why people like that don't cross the floor. But she probably helps the anti-Trumpcase by staying.
10 years ago she would have been a right wing Republican. She doesn't have much in common with Democrats, apart from finding Trumpism offensive, corrupt and dangerous.
I just cannot get my head around the fact that Trump is going to be allowed to run despite trying lead an insurrection and is probably going to win and return to the WH.
America has lost its mind.
Assuming he doesn't end up in prison. Not that that would necessarily help matters.
It's only 18 months until the Iowa Caucus! Nowhere near enough time for an indictment, prosecution and exhausting all avenues of appeal.
Let's tell ourselves the truth. He's going to run and he's probably going to win and will claim to have won anyway in all circumstances.
At this stage in the presidential election cycle Walter Mondale led Reagan in 1982 polls, Bob Dole led Bill Clinton in 1994 polls and Mitt Romney led Obama in 2010 polls. There is an age to go
For those who really want to go to a show court it is worth knowing that persistent checking on their website usually will work in finding tickets pop up the day before. Not every day and probably requires checking a few times. You normally have a web queue first, and once you are in you need to be persistent again. Keep refreshing your browser for the 5 mins or so you are allowed in and tickets will sometimes magically appear.
Now the show court tickets are electronic, it’s not possible to give them to someone in the queue on your way out any more, but actively decide to play with your phone when half-drunk and leaving.
They probably need to make it you get £5 ph of play refund when you leave early to encourage people to recycle the tickets, and then charge those coming in £10 ph.
Yes, that might work, alongside staff encouraging the right behaviour as people leave the venue.
It’s quite astonishing that they’ve not been completely sold out of general admission, when pretty much every other sporting and cultural event this summer has been massively over-subscribed. Silverstone this weekend was sold out before Christmas.
Test matches haven't been selling out either, and there are still tickets available for the various Hyde Park gigs this summer.
Wonder how football season tickets are going?
No problem with demand at Newcastle United
No indeed. Was thinking about the lower leagues/non-leagues. They've seen some spectacular growth in recent years. Particularly leagues one and two aren't cheap at all for what's on offer though.
Yes the wage price spiral is a real thing. I think the problem comes if it looks like workers in already not particularly well paid jobs are being asked to take one for the team when those who can more afford to do so aren't.
I agree, but I also think the economics also makes it inevitable. The reason low paid jobs are low paid in the first place is that they tend to be lower-skilled, there's more competition for them and the workers have lower leverage to push for better terms and conditions -- and for exactly the same reasons employers are better able to keep any pay rises for that group of employees low. On the other hand the employees that companies feel they have to give inflation-matching or -busting pay rises to are the ones in roles critical to the company and where employees can just move on to another job if the pay is bad -- exactly the ones who are more highly paid to start with.
I'm not sure there's much we can do about this beyond ameliorating things on the margin as long as we have an economic system where cleaners and warehouse workers are paid badly for hard, lousy jobs and computer programmers are paid a ton for a pretty cushy gig.
It's an interesting point. The market. Is it by definition correct in valuing work done? ie because it's supply & demand and there's no feasible alternative method.
I think there must be a better way of doing it although it's above my paygrade to come up with it. Trouble is, it seems to be above everybody's paygrade. I've read lots of searing critiques of capitalism, many of them utterly compelling, but I haven't come across anything equally compelling setting out a comprehensive alternative. So on the left of politics you end up just doing the best you can to mitigate the worst impacts of a system which is so entrenched it's less a system than a law of nature.
I also don't think it IS supply & demand much of the time. Eg, city traders (my ex thing). There's no way the money is justified by supply & demand. There are absolutely tons of bright young people who could be quickly trained up to do most of that stuff - it's about numbers and speed of thought - and most of them would be quite happy to do it for a fraction of what the actual wage is. So why doesn't this happen? I think it's because the sector is awash with money - as it takes its slice from the huge sums flowing through it - and this leads to the bloated remuneration. "There's loads, here mate have some."
But that's just one example. There are many jobs where I look at it and think, supply & demand does not explain those high/low wages.
Is it bad that the Spirit of Misrule inside me wants a Trump win? Just for the squits and shizzles?
I’m sure there’s a German word for it. Suggest you dwell on what it would mean for your daughter (daughters?).
People overdo the chaos Prez Trump 2.0 could cause
Countries can endure great instability and recover just fine. See Germany under Weimar. Hyper-inflation, socialist mobs and cabaret clubs - it must have seemed like the end
But a few years of firm conservative government sorted it all out
'May well'? I've not been following but I just naturally assumed she had no chance given the stances she's been taking.
It's interesting why people like that don't cross the floor. But she probably helps the anti-Trumpcase by staying.
10 years ago she would have been a right wing Republican. She doesn't have much in common with Democrats, apart from finding Trumpism offensive, corrupt and dangerous.
I just cannot get my head around the fact that Trump is going to be allowed to run despite trying lead an insurrection and is probably going to win and return to the WH.
America has lost its mind.
The EU, UK, Australia, etc. don't appear to have any contingency for strategic autonomy for when Rome falls. Perhaps the reality is just too challenging to contemplate.
Lead article in this weekend's New Statesman calls for europe to do just that and prepare for US disengagement.
We need to plan for Ukraine, with Trump.
Indeed, there's a horrifying possibility that Trump may try to force the cessation of an immensely destructive war, back a negotiated settlement, roll back sanctions, reverse rising energy prices, reverse inflation, and begin a slow rapprochement between East and West. And then where would we all be?
Really? In March Trump threatened to drop a nuclear bomb on Putin's Russia if he was back as President and Russian forces still in Ukraine
Yes the wage price spiral is a real thing. I think the problem comes if it looks like workers in already not particularly well paid jobs are being asked to take one for the team when those who can more afford to do so aren't.
I agree, but I also think the economics also makes it inevitable. The reason low paid jobs are low paid in the first place is that they tend to be lower-skilled, there's more competition for them and the workers have lower leverage to push for better terms and conditions -- and for exactly the same reasons employers are better able to keep any pay rises for that group of employees low. On the other hand the employees that companies feel they have to give inflation-matching or -busting pay rises to are the ones in roles critical to the company and where employees can just move on to another job if the pay is bad -- exactly the ones who are more highly paid to start with.
I'm not sure there's much we can do about this beyond ameliorating things on the margin as long as we have an economic system where cleaners and warehouse workers are paid badly for hard, lousy jobs and computer programmers are paid a ton for a pretty cushy gig.
It's an interesting point. The market. Is it by definition correct in valuing work done? ie because it's supply & demand and there's no feasible alternative method.
I think there must be a better way of doing it although it's above my paygrade to come up with it. Trouble is, it seems to be above everybody's paygrade. I've read lots of searing critiques of capitalism, many of them utterly compelling, but I haven't come across anything equally compelling setting out a comprehensive alternative. So on the left of politics you end up just doing the best you can to mitigate the worst impacts of a system which is so entrenched it's less a system than a law of nature.
I also don't think it IS supply & demand much of the time. Eg, city traders (my ex thing). There's no way the money is justified by supply & demand. There are absolutely tons of bright young people who could be quickly trained up to do most of that stuff - it's about numbers and speed of thought - and most of them would be quite happy to do it for a fraction of what the actual wage is. So why doesn't this happen? I think it's because the sector is awash with money - as it takes its slice from the huge sums flowing through it - and this leads to the bloated remuneration. "There's loads, here mate have some."
But that's just one example. There are many jobs where I look at it and think, supply & demand does not explain those high/low wages.
So capitalism is the worst system apart from all the others?
'May well'? I've not been following but I just naturally assumed she had no chance given the stances she's been taking.
It's interesting why people like that don't cross the floor. But she probably helps the anti-Trumpcase by staying.
10 years ago she would have been a right wing Republican. She doesn't have much in common with Democrats, apart from finding Trumpism offensive, corrupt and dangerous.
I just cannot get my head around the fact that Trump is going to be allowed to run despite trying lead an insurrection and is probably going to win and return to the WH.
America has lost its mind.
The EU, UK, Australia, etc. don't appear to have any contingency for strategic autonomy for when Rome falls. Perhaps the reality is just too challenging to contemplate.
Lead article in this weekend's New Statesman calls for europe to do just that and prepare for US disengagement.
We need to plan for Ukraine, with Trump.
Indeed, there's a horrifying possibility that Trump may try to force the cessation of an immensely destructive war, back a negotiated settlement, roll back sanctions, reverse rising energy prices, reverse inflation, and begin a slow rapprochement between East and West. And then where would we all be?
We'd be wringing our hands about how admirable the Lithuanian government in exile were.
I find myself getting twitchy if I cannot write for at least part of the day. It is as if something is missing somehow.
It is an odd sensation because I have not had it for most of my life, possibly because I did spend a large part of my day writing stuff that needed to be read.
But now it is beginning to bug me and, as there is little more to be said about politics other than WTAF! in as many different ways as one can, I am going to have to concentrate on other topics, of which I've started two. They are of course much harder than berating Westminster twits. Wish me luck!
Yes - luck!
Creative or analytical?
A mix of both. Writing helps me think. I used to do a lot of discussion with my team about the cases we were investigating and those discussions were immensely helpful to my thinking about some often difficult issues. The debate was part of the process. I get some of that on here.
But being largely on my own now, I miss that. So I churn thoughts and ideas and images and scenes from stories and sometimes whole paragraphs in my head as I pootle about in the garden or house or wherever. My husband sometimes gets to be involved. Occasionally even my poor children who probably think this is the way to stop Mum getting dementia.
And often the need to get these thoughts and images into some sort of order or shape and down on paper becomes urgent and I cannot settle until I have. I don't know what this is or whether it even needs a name but it is there. It is similar in some ways to the need to garden - there it is about seeing and creating. This is more about seeing something in my head and needing to make sense of it somehow.
Anyhow, I have probably outed myself as a total loon by now. So best stop and go for a walk.
No, that sounds quite driven and therefore likely to lead to some good stuff.
Getting an audience is the hardest thing imo. It's actually easier to write high quality pieces than it is to get anybody to read them.
I find myself getting twitchy if I cannot write for at least part of the day. It is as if something is missing somehow.
It is an odd sensation because I have not had it for most of my life, possibly because I did spend a large part of my day writing stuff that needed to be read.
But now it is beginning to bug me and, as there is little more to be said about politics other than WTAF! in as many different ways as one can, I am going to have to concentrate on other topics, of which I've started two. They are of course much harder than berating Westminster twits. Wish me luck!
Yes - luck!
Creative or analytical?
A mix of both. Writing helps me think. I used to do a lot of discussion with my team about the cases we were investigating and those discussions were immensely helpful to my thinking about some often difficult issues. The debate was part of the process. I get some of that on here.
But being largely on my own now, I miss that. So I churn thoughts and ideas and images and scenes from stories and sometimes whole paragraphs in my head as I pootle about in the garden or house or wherever. My husband sometimes gets to be involved. Occasionally even my poor children who probably think this is the way to stop Mum getting dementia.
And often the need to get these thoughts and images into some sort of order or shape and down on paper becomes urgent and I cannot settle until I have. I don't know what this is or whether it even needs a name but it is there. It is similar in some ways to the need to garden - there it is about seeing and creating. This is more about seeing something in my head and needing to make sense of it somehow.
Anyhow, I have probably outed myself as a total loon by now. So best stop and go for a walk.
No, that sounds quite driven and therefore likely to lead to some good stuff.
Getting an audience is the hardest thing imo. It's actually easier to write high quality pieces than it is to get anybody to read them.
Meeks is one of the best there is and has an audience of about 3.
If there is a by-election, is there a man in the white suit option?
Michael Fabricant in the neighbouring constituency should be in a straitjacket.
Oh, sorry, is that not what you meant?
Fabricant is an enigma, a barometer for a broken parliamentary system.
How he became.and remains and MP is a mystery. You would have thought someone along the way, be they a Tory selector or a voter would have said hang on, this is not necessarily the best person to represent us.
(There are others like this, but he stands out as a big Why?)
Only voters can sort these things.
But they don’t. When it comes to a general election, if you pin a rosette to a turd only the colour of the rosette matters. It’s a fundamentally broken system.
It amazes me that people can have seen the changes at general elections over the last decade and still think this way.
'May well'? I've not been following but I just naturally assumed she had no chance given the stances she's been taking.
It's interesting why people like that don't cross the floor. But she probably helps the anti-Trumpcase by staying.
10 years ago she would have been a right wing Republican. She doesn't have much in common with Democrats, apart from finding Trumpism offensive, corrupt and dangerous.
I just cannot get my head around the fact that Trump is going to be allowed to run despite trying lead an insurrection and is probably going to win and return to the WH.
America has lost its mind.
The EU, UK, Australia, etc. don't appear to have any contingency for strategic autonomy for when Rome falls. Perhaps the reality is just too challenging to contemplate.
Lead article in this weekend's New Statesman calls for europe to do just that and prepare for US disengagement.
We need to plan for Ukraine, with Trump.
Indeed, there's a horrifying possibility that Trump may try to force the cessation of an immensely destructive war, back a negotiated settlement, roll back sanctions, reverse rising energy prices, reverse inflation, and begin a slow rapprochement between East and West. And then where would we all be?
Really? In March Trump threatened to drop a nuclear bomb on Putin's Russia if he was back as President and Russian forces still in Ukraine
I find myself getting twitchy if I cannot write for at least part of the day. It is as if something is missing somehow.
It is an odd sensation because I have not had it for most of my life, possibly because I did spend a large part of my day writing stuff that needed to be read.
But now it is beginning to bug me and, as there is little more to be said about politics other than WTAF! in as many different ways as one can, I am going to have to concentrate on other topics, of which I've started two. They are of course much harder than berating Westminster twits. Wish me luck!
Yes - luck!
Creative or analytical?
A mix of both. Writing helps me think. I used to do a lot of discussion with my team about the cases we were investigating and those discussions were immensely helpful to my thinking about some often difficult issues. The debate was part of the process. I get some of that on here.
But being largely on my own now, I miss that. So I churn thoughts and ideas and images and scenes from stories and sometimes whole paragraphs in my head as I pootle about in the garden or house or wherever. My husband sometimes gets to be involved. Occasionally even my poor children who probably think this is the way to stop Mum getting dementia.
And often the need to get these thoughts and images into some sort of order or shape and down on paper becomes urgent and I cannot settle until I have. I don't know what this is or whether it even needs a name but it is there. It is similar in some ways to the need to garden - there it is about seeing and creating. This is more about seeing something in my head and needing to make sense of it somehow.
Anyhow, I have probably outed myself as a total loon by now. So best stop and go for a walk.
No, that sounds quite driven and therefore likely to lead to some good stuff.
Getting an audience is the hardest thing imo. It's actually easier to write high quality pieces than it is to get anybody to read them.
Meeks is one of the best there is and has an audience of about 3.
Yep, and ditto to a lesser extent with other forms, eg fiction, crit, drama. I don't think writing is one of those fields where the most prominent correlates strongly to the best.
He says, still sore about his mid-noughties novel not getting a publishing deal.
Comments
It’s quite astonishing that they’ve not been completely sold out of general admission, when pretty much every other sporting and cultural event this summer has been massively over-subscribed. Silverstone this weekend was sold out before Christmas.
I'm not sure there's much we can do about this beyond ameliorating things on the margin as long as we have an economic system where cleaners and warehouse workers are paid badly for hard, lousy jobs and computer programmers are paid a ton for a pretty cushy gig.
What has happened? Jones has marched them back by 3 seasons
How do 14 men manage to get a try? Grr.
Though in the era of MeToo, other things have certainly changed as regards wider perceptions of such matters.
And that is after a number of dire performances
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/03/donald-trump-russia-nuclear-submarines/amp
China also warned Trump when he was President about his military ties with Taiwan
https://learngerman.dw.com/en/china-warns-donald-trump-against-taiwan-military-ties/a-43027238
But no - if they work I will reveal. Until then I just need to bloody write, throw about 99% of it away and hope that something worthwhile remains.
England have no hope at the World Cup, as things stand
Deflated Australia
What we do know is when in office he repeatedly mused about pulling US out of europe and NATO and that seems highly likely when he returns in Jan 2025.
We did score a fantastic try at the end, there. And Arundell is enormously promising. I’ve been reading about him the last few weeks. A tremendous talent. Him and Marcus Smith…..
Unless arch-flatterer Zelensky figures out a way to manipulate Trump like he does Johnson. Offer to let him build a golf resort in Odessa or something.
But being largely on my own now, I miss that. So I churn thoughts and ideas and images and scenes from stories and sometimes whole paragraphs in my head as I pootle about in the garden or house or wherever. My husband sometimes gets to be involved. Occasionally even my poor children who probably think this is the way to stop Mum getting dementia.
And often the need to get these thoughts and images into some sort of order or shape and down on paper becomes urgent and I cannot settle until I have. I don't know what this is or whether it even needs a name but it is there. It is similar in some ways to the need to garden - there it is about seeing and creating. This is more about seeing something in my head and needing to make sense of it somehow.
Anyhow, I have probably outed myself as a total loon by now. So best stop and go for a walk.
But politicians all have massive egos, and it’s easier to say these things in theory than it is to implement them in practice.
I don't see anything odd about a leader in such a difficult situation saying pretty much anything and being as nice as possible to people who might be able to help.
Promise Trump a statue in Kyiv if he keeps the money flowing, that should do it.
https://gfile.thedispatch.com/p/do-the-right-thing?utm_source=email
Let's tell ourselves the truth. He's going to run and he's probably going to win and will claim to have won anyway in all circumstances.
There are scores of familiar scenarios where moral law trumps conventional law. If I steal your car to get a gravely wounded child to the E.R., no jury is going to send me to jail. I’ll give you a more newsy example. Mike Pence unconstitutionally deployed the U.S. military to quell the riots on January 6. He had no authority to do it. But as Noah Rothman puts it, “Mike Pence Broke the Constitution on January 6—But Only to Save It.”
The liberal references to TV Tropes help.
This is very on the nose
Nearly all of Donald Trump’s failures stem from his belief that he can will his narcissistic vision on the world. He thinks he can make the world believe he didn’t really lose. He thought he could simply reenact Mussolini’s march on Rome and stay president. His enablers got caught up in the same mind warp, believing they could just brazen their way through to victory. They took shortcuts, made decisions based on making up morality and—in the cases of Eastman and Clarke—the law on the fly. They wandered off the path and invited the chaos.
This undoubtedly for reasons.
https://youtu.be/FxZvNVoVxjk
As to the ego point, certainly May appeared to have less of a personal ego than Blair, Cameron, Brown or Johnson (with the years and years of his faction and Blair's going at it I simply do not buy the idea Brown lacks ego), so she does not have 'much of an ego' if we are grading on a scale compared to them, but she put herself forward for the biggest job in our politics, she signed off on campaigns which played up her above any other aspect (it made sense at the time). Those are not the actions of people without a bigger ego than a normal person.
You need a bit of an ego, self confidence, to be a frontline politician. I can buy it is not necessarily so for the quiet backbenchers, but frontline? Definitely.
The UK is no different. Ask any thoughtful North Korean.
"On Drink
Hail Mary
A Bloody Mary is perfect at almost any time of day and in every kind of weather
All the best bars serve Bloody Marys. But the best Bloody Mary is served in The Grenadier, the one-time officers’ mess of the Foot Guards and the long-time public house in Wilton Row, Belgravia. Pass beneath the low lintel of this tiny tavern, pick your way through the crowded tap room and press up against the burr mahogany bar to order the world’s premier pick-me-up."
https://thecritic.co.uk/issues/june-2022/hail-mary/
Was thinking about the lower leagues/non-leagues.
They've seen some spectacular growth in recent years.
Particularly leagues one and two aren't cheap at all for what's on offer though.
Suggest you dwell on what it would mean for your daughter (daughters?).
As far as I can tell, it doesn’t fall below 20 at all in July.
I think there must be a better way of doing it although it's above my paygrade to come up with it. Trouble is, it seems to be above everybody's paygrade. I've read lots of searing critiques of capitalism, many of them utterly compelling, but I haven't come across anything equally compelling setting out a comprehensive alternative. So on the left of politics you end up just doing the best you can to mitigate the worst impacts of a system which is so entrenched it's less a system than a law of nature.
I also don't think it IS supply & demand much of the time. Eg, city traders (my ex thing). There's no way the money is justified by supply & demand. There are absolutely tons of bright young people who could be quickly trained up to do most of that stuff - it's about numbers and speed of thought - and most of them would be quite happy to do it for a fraction of what the actual wage is. So why doesn't this happen? I think it's because the sector is awash with money - as it takes its slice from the huge sums flowing through it - and this leads to the bloated remuneration. "There's loads, here mate have some."
But that's just one example. There are many jobs where I look at it and think, supply & demand does not explain those high/low wages.
Countries can endure great instability and recover just fine. See Germany under Weimar. Hyper-inflation, socialist mobs and cabaret clubs - it must have seemed like the end
But a few years of firm conservative government sorted it all out
I had 41ºC at 8:30am last week. I think 35ºC is the minimum I’ll see for the next three months.
Would Putin have invaded Ukraine under President Trump? Probably not
It’s reasonably humid; not outrageously so.
I think you’d like it.
It helps that I’m not obliged to use the subway so regularly.
https://www.bayut.com/mybayut/how-traditional-desert-homes-stayed-cool-uae/
Getting an audience is the hardest thing imo. It's actually easier to write high quality pieces than it is to get anybody to read them.
I’m hoping to decamp to a nice beach somewhere, for a week or two next month.
Your irregular Bootle poster says hi.
He says, still sore about his mid-noughties novel not getting a publishing deal.