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The 2022 StJohn PB Christmas Crossword (Est 2006) – politicalbetting.com

2

Comments

  • SandraMcSandraMc Posts: 690
    edited December 2022
    Gadfly said:

    I can see Rowan in 21D, and it would fit with Watergate, but again I can't work it out from the clue.

    Anagram now a plus focus of Shirley = middle letter.

    Rowan Williams - who I recently discover had a family connection to Lucian Freud.






    ....

  • GadflyGadfly Posts: 1,191
    SandraMc said:

    Gadfly said:

    I can see Rowan in 21D, and it would fit with Watergate, but again I can't work it out from the clue.

    Anagram now a plus focus of Shirley = middle letter.







    ....

    Thanks. I spotted the now a and I mulled about whether the r was the focus of Shirley, but I've never come across this before.
  • 13A Sloth=vice; T (last of president) interrupts Hols backwards. Thanks StJohn for excellent Xmas xword.
  • GadflyGadfly Posts: 1,191
    edited December 2022
    3D has to be Flemish then, (anagram of himself). A Flemish Bond being a type of brickwork.
  • Gadfly said:

    3D has to be Flemish then, (anagram of himself). A Flemish Bond being a type of brickwork.

    Our house is done in Flemish bond!
  • stjohn said:


    Jenkins - yes

    I got one!
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,584

    Many thanks to StJohn for this, and merry Christmas to all of you and your families, even the ones who put pineapple on their pizzas.

    You feeling ok TSE?
  • Many thanks to StJohn for this, and merry Christmas to all of you and your families, even the ones who put pineapple on their pizzas.

    You feeling ok TSE?
    Hacked.
  • Many thanks to StJohn for this, and merry Christmas to all of you and your families, even the ones who put pineapple on their pizzas.

    You feeling ok TSE?
    Peace and goodwill to everybody this festive season.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 70,513

    Many thanks to StJohn for this, and merry Christmas to all of you and your families, even the ones who put pineapple on their pizzas.

    You feeling ok TSE?
    An excess of seasonal goodwill can do storage things.

    Paging @Cyclefree , one of my Xmas presents is Thea Lenarduzzi's Dandelions.
    Have you read it ?
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,342
    Is that crossword complete then?
    Lovely day here. Lengthy walk. Sous chef duties done. Time for a kip then dinner.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,584
    Ok good crossword, thanks StJohn.

    I particularly liked 19A and, especially, 20A.

    I couldn't really parse 14D and 19D but the answers are obvious.

    I am not totally sure I have 10A correct tbh, will be interested to see the solutions in due course.

    Very good though, thanks!
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,584
    Ah, I see from the thread we are all helping each other out - 'tis the season of goodwill after all!

    So 10A anyone?
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,584

    Ah, I see from the thread we are all helping each other out - 'tis the season of goodwill after all!

    So 10A anyone?

    Clearly not. Too busy enjoying Christmas, and why not?

    Am off to good the vegetarian sirloin joint now (at least, I think the bullock was vegetarian!)
  • dixiedean said:
    Surely IDS, Villiers, and possibly Raab are gone already even without Angry Nigel returning?
  • dixiedean said:
    - “Sources close to Farage say he is weighing up whether to return imminently or wait until a Labour government moves to introduce proportional representation…”

    If the latter, he’s in for a long wait.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 13,677
    dixiedean said:
    In other politics news the President of South Sudan pissed himself on live television while opening a road. Still a better leader than Johnson.

    https://youtu.be/PzKp-DHkFqA
  • I hear there's a remake of "The King's Speech" at 3pm, with someone called [checks notes] "Charles" playing Colin Firth?
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,190
    Dura_Ace said:

    dixiedean said:
    In other politics news the President of South Sudan pissed himself on live television while opening a road. Still a better leader than Johnson.

    https://youtu.be/PzKp-DHkFqA
    I've just teared up watching Johnson's Christmas 2022 message to his subjects.
  • Something hilarious about a man living in a house with walls made of gold telling us how we should live
  • Jim_MillerJim_Miller Posts: 2,957
    A follow-up on the interesting weather here in the US. As I write, this area has warmed up a bit; Seattle is at 50 degrees, Fahrenheit.

    Which makes it warmer here than in these other port cities: San Diego (48), Houston (28), New Orleans (35), and Miami (46).

    But I wouldn't make a quick trip here to work on your tan, since it is raining.

    (Source: The "crawl" at the bottom of Fox's "Live Now" sub-channel.)

    And a Merry Christmas to all who are celbrating it, today.
  • squareroot2squareroot2 Posts: 6,662

    I hear there's a remake of "The King's Speech" at 3pm, with someone called [checks notes] "Charles" playing Colin Firth?

    It was an excellent Christmas message. He will turn out to be an excellent King.
  • Jim_MillerJim_Miller Posts: 2,957
    My favorite Christmas joke:

    Bill was wondering why his old friend, Joe, was so determined to get home at Christmas. The weather was bad, it was long trip, and so on.

    So Bill asked him: “Is it the ceremonies, the opening of presents, and all that?”

    Joe replied: “No, those things haven’t been important to me since I was a kid.”

    “Is it to be with your family?”

    “No, I see them regularly during the year.”

    “Well, what is it?

    “Well, you see, at Christmas, and only at Christmas, my mother makes this wonderful sauce, with eggs and lemon juice, . ”

    Bill interupts: “I see. You want to be home for the hollandaise.”

    (In my experience, good cooks love that joke.)
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,245

    Something hilarious about a man living in a house with walls made of gold telling us how we should live

    I didn't know Highgrove and Clarence House had walls made of gold?
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,245
    edited December 2022
    Excellent first Christmas speech by the King. Touched all bases, paid tribute to his mother, thanked public servants, nurses, rescue workers and charity workers at home and abroad and those who volunteer in foodbanks.

    Also still emphasised the Christian nature of Christmas while recognising its place as a festival in the winter darkness for those of Faith or none. Thanks given too to mosques, temples and synagogues for their work
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,205

    Something hilarious about a man living in a house with walls made of gold telling us how we should live

    He could have announced that he had discovered the cure for cancer and a safe, reliable and cheap form of nuclear fusion and you'd be whinging about it...
  • Gadfly said:

    3D has to be Flemish then, (anagram of himself). A Flemish Bond being a type of brickwork.

    Our house is done in Flemish bond!
    And I thought "Flemish Bond" was reference to 007 with bad head cold.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,190
    HYUFD said:

    Excellent first Christmas speech by the King. Touched all bases, paid tribute to his mother, thanked public servants, nurses, rescue workers and charity workers at home and abroad and those who volunteer in foodbanks.

    Also still emphasised the Christian nature of Christmas while recognising its place as a festival in the winter darkness for those of Faith or none. Thanks given too to mosques, temples and synagogues for their work

    Sounds a bit like Johnson's Christmas address. If you haven't checked it out, it will bring a tear to your eye too. Probably for different reasons to me. Merry Christmas!
  • The nonce Andrew kept out of the speech I note
  • Something hilarious about a man living in a house with walls made of gold telling us how we should live

    He could have announced that he had discovered the cure for cancer and a safe, reliable and cheap form of nuclear fusion and you'd be whinging about it...
    I am allowed to winge, it's a democracy.

    As long as they make more money than they cost they can stay - but it doesn't mean I like them or what they stand for.

    If Andrew was working class he'd be in jail
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,190

    Something hilarious about a man living in a house with walls made of gold telling us how we should live

    Vive la Republique. Merry Christmas Horse.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 49,586

    Something hilarious about a man living in a house with walls made of gold telling us how we should live

    He could have announced that he had discovered the cure for cancer and a safe, reliable and cheap form of nuclear fusion and you'd be whinging about it...
    Reliable Fusion would result in free neutrons. As in, a Fuckton of neutrons that are really, really surplus to requirements.

    Hence the walls of liquid lithium being suggested - to breed Tritium by the kilo..

    There was an amusing calculation done a while back. The rate at which a slab of uranium becomes plutonium if you used it as a piece of fusion reactor wall…. It was quite startling.

    So reliable fusion will make nuclear weapons really, really cheap.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,190

    Something hilarious about a man living in a house with walls made of gold telling us how we should live

    He could have announced that he had discovered the cure for cancer and a safe, reliable and cheap form of nuclear fusion and you'd be whinging about it...

    Something hilarious about a man living in a house with walls made of gold telling us how we should live

    He could have announced that he had discovered the cure for cancer and a safe, reliable and cheap form of nuclear fusion and you'd be whinging about it...
    Both highly unlikely future proclamations from Charles I would wager.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 12,720
    edited December 2022

    Something hilarious about a man living in a house with walls made of gold telling us how we should live

    He could have announced that he had discovered the cure for cancer and a safe, reliable and cheap form of nuclear fusion and you'd be whinging about it...
    I am allowed to winge, it's a democracy.

    As long as they make more money than they cost they can stay - but it doesn't mean I like them or what they stand for.

    If Andrew was working class he'd be in jail
    But it was a Labour PPB, surely you appreciated that? Paying tribute to nurses and paramedics, talking about people struggling to make ends meet, showing lots of pictures of food banks…

    Surprised nobody’s turned up here to decry it as unutterably woke.
  • HYUFD said:

    Something hilarious about a man living in a house with walls made of gold telling us how we should live

    I didn't know Highgrove and Clarence House had walls made of gold?
    How much wealth do they have? What right do they have to tell me how to live, literally anointed by a so-called God
  • Thanks Pete, one of the few kind people left on this site
  • Something hilarious about a man living in a house with walls made of gold telling us how we should live

    He could have announced that he had discovered the cure for cancer and a safe, reliable and cheap form of nuclear fusion and you'd be whinging about it...

    Something hilarious about a man living in a house with walls made of gold telling us how we should live

    He could have announced that he had discovered the cure for cancer and a safe, reliable and cheap form of nuclear fusion and you'd be whinging about it...
    Both highly unlikely future proclamations from Charles I would wager.
    And as unlikely from Charles III I wager.

    Sorry, I've given myself a wee gift of petty pedantry for Crimbo :)
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,245
    edited December 2022

    HYUFD said:

    Something hilarious about a man living in a house with walls made of gold telling us how we should live

    I didn't know Highgrove and Clarence House had walls made of gold?
    How much wealth do they have? What right do they have to tell me how to live, literally anointed by a so-called God
    As the almighty and ever living God anointed the King our glorious sovereign as confirmed by Parliament at the Accession Council.

    He doesn't tell you how to live either, we have a constitutional not an absolute monarchy.

    Not that there is going to be any change anytime soon either given both Sunak and Starmer back the monarchy having replaced the ex republican Truss and republican Corbyn
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,541
    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Something hilarious about a man living in a house with walls made of gold telling us how we should live

    I didn't know Highgrove and Clarence House had walls made of gold?
    How much wealth do they have? What right do they have to tell me how to live, literally anointed by a so-called God
    As the almighty and ever living God anointed the King our glorious sovereign as confirmed by Parliament at the Accession Council.

    He doesn't tell you how to live either, we have a constitutional not an absolute monarchy.

    Not that there is going to be any change anytime soon either given both Sunak and Starmer back the monarchy having replaced the ex republican Truss and republican Corbyn
    Doesn’t the anointing wait until the coronation? Sparkling debate between you two though. Merry Christmas!
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,190

    Something hilarious about a man living in a house with walls made of gold telling us how we should live

    He could have announced that he had discovered the cure for cancer and a safe, reliable and cheap form of nuclear fusion and you'd be whinging about it...

    Something hilarious about a man living in a house with walls made of gold telling us how we should live

    He could have announced that he had discovered the cure for cancer and a safe, reliable and cheap form of nuclear fusion and you'd be whinging about it...
    Both highly unlikely future proclamations from Charles I would wager.
    And as unlikely from Charles III I wager.

    Sorry, I've given myself a wee gift of petty pedantry for Crimbo :)
    He may be your King. He'll always be Charles, Prince of Wales to me.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 56,906
    viewcode said:

    1/2: Good morning children, and I hope you had the bestest presents. A rare front-stage appearance from me, one happy, one sad. The happy one is to wish you all the best for the upcoming 2023. Despite being a rather fallow period for elections I hope it brings you everything you need. (2024 in contrast will contain one POTUS, one EP, and one GE. Zoinks!)

    Point of order, the last General Election was December 2019, the latest possible date for the next is therefore my January 2025.
  • HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Something hilarious about a man living in a house with walls made of gold telling us how we should live

    I didn't know Highgrove and Clarence House had walls made of gold?
    How much wealth do they have? What right do they have to tell me how to live, literally anointed by a so-called God
    As the almighty and ever living God anointed the King our glorious sovereign as confirmed by Parliament at the Accession Council.

    He doesn't tell you how to live either, we have a constitutional not an absolute monarchy.

    Not that there is going to be any change anytime soon either given both Sunak and Starmer back the monarchy having replaced the ex republican Truss and republican Corbyn
    You sound like a brainwashed cultist. Almighty God lol.

    I don't think he's glorious or any of them are. They're rich telling us how to live.

    I am not calling for them to go - but they are absolutely contrary to all of my beliefs and I will continue to say so.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,205

    Something hilarious about a man living in a house with walls made of gold telling us how we should live

    He could have announced that he had discovered the cure for cancer and a safe, reliable and cheap form of nuclear fusion and you'd be whinging about it...
    Reliable Fusion would result in free neutrons. As in, a Fuckton of neutrons that are really, really surplus to requirements.

    Hence the walls of liquid lithium being suggested - to breed Tritium by the kilo..

    There was an amusing calculation done a while back. The rate at which a slab of uranium becomes plutonium if you used it as a piece of fusion reactor wall…. It was quite startling.

    So reliable fusion will make nuclear weapons really, really cheap.
    A slightly uncharitable point of order: that's true for the usual types of fusion such as deuterium / tritium.

    But there are types of fusion - e.g. boron / proton that are aneutronic, and produce very few fast neutrons. Even better, certain types produce oodles of alpha particles that can be used to generate power directly without that messy heat cycle and all its dangers and inefficiencies.

    The only downside with aneutronic fusion is that it's *much* harder than traditional fusion to do - and that's hard enough. The best anyone has done is allegedly four orders of magnitude from net energy gain. But it's something to aim for IMO. And as with 'normal' D-T fusion, I think there'll be things we learn that make it easier than we expect. We're still learning a massive amount about this stuff - witness the NIF's problems over the last decade.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 18,080
    edited December 2022

    Something hilarious about a man living in a house with walls made of gold telling us how we should live

    You feel there is something lacking about his example, perhaps?

    Have spent the last hour with a twenty-something month old niece. Young people are wonderful.

    Best Christmas wishes to you all. Feel like it could be a bit lonely around the Windsor Christmas dinner table this year. No Philip, No Elizabeth, no Harry. A lot of faces missing from Christmases past.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,205

    Something hilarious about a man living in a house with walls made of gold telling us how we should live

    He could have announced that he had discovered the cure for cancer and a safe, reliable and cheap form of nuclear fusion and you'd be whinging about it...
    I am allowed to winge, it's a democracy.

    As long as they make more money than they cost they can stay - but it doesn't mean I like them or what they stand for.

    If Andrew was working class he'd be in jail
    And you are absolutely free to whinge. However, it might have been better if you had criticised the content of his speech instead.

    Anyway, in the spirit of Christmas, I hope you are well and are enjoying the day. I'm currently in a food coma, having decided that three glasses of wine are not conducive to recreational coding...
  • The nonce Andrew kept out of the speech I note

    Are you talking nonce-sense Horse?
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 49,586

    Something hilarious about a man living in a house with walls made of gold telling us how we should live

    He could have announced that he had discovered the cure for cancer and a safe, reliable and cheap form of nuclear fusion and you'd be whinging about it...
    Reliable Fusion would result in free neutrons. As in, a Fuckton of neutrons that are really, really surplus to requirements.

    Hence the walls of liquid lithium being suggested - to breed Tritium by the kilo..

    There was an amusing calculation done a while back. The rate at which a slab of uranium becomes plutonium if you used it as a piece of fusion reactor wall…. It was quite startling.

    So reliable fusion will make nuclear weapons really, really cheap.
    A slightly uncharitable point of order: that's true for the usual types of fusion such as deuterium / tritium.

    But there are types of fusion - e.g. boron / proton that are aneutronic, and produce very few fast neutrons. Even better, certain types produce oodles of alpha particles that can be used to generate power directly without that messy heat cycle and all its dangers and inefficiencies.

    The only downside with aneutronic fusion is that it's *much* harder than traditional fusion to do - and that's hard enough. The best anyone has done is allegedly four orders of magnitude from net energy gain. But it's something to aim for IMO. And as with 'normal' D-T fusion, I think there'll be things we learn that make it easier than we expect. We're still learning a massive amount about this stuff - witness the NIF's problems over the last decade.
    If you could actually demonstrate Boron fusion - even a handful of atoms - that’s a Nobel for you.

    That’s how far away that stuff is.

    Plus I want tons of plutonium.
  • The nonce Andrew kept out of the speech I note

    Are you talking nonce-sense Horse?
    You don’t think Andrew is a nonce?
  • HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Something hilarious about a man living in a house with walls made of gold telling us how we should live

    I didn't know Highgrove and Clarence House had walls made of gold?
    How much wealth do they have? What right do they have to tell me how to live, literally anointed by a so-called God
    As the almighty and ever living God anointed the King our glorious sovereign as confirmed by Parliament at the Accession Council.

    He doesn't tell you how to live either, we have a constitutional not an absolute monarchy.

    Not that there is going to be any change anytime soon either given both Sunak and Starmer back the monarchy having replaced the ex republican Truss and republican Corbyn
    Well, I could give him a tip or two. For starters shagging the gf the night before the wedding isn't regal disdain for bourgeois morality, it's Jeremy Kyle stuff.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 21,790
    rcs1000 said:

    viewcode said:

    1/2: Good morning children, and I hope you had the bestest presents. A rare front-stage appearance from me, one happy, one sad. The happy one is to wish you all the best for the upcoming 2023. Despite being a rather fallow period for elections I hope it brings you everything you need. (2024 in contrast will contain one POTUS, one EP, and one GE. Zoinks!)

    Point of order, the last General Election was December 2019, the latest possible date for the next is therefore my January 2025.
    Acknowledged, but I assume a last-minute GE in Jan 2025 is low-probability.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,205

    Something hilarious about a man living in a house with walls made of gold telling us how we should live

    He could have announced that he had discovered the cure for cancer and a safe, reliable and cheap form of nuclear fusion and you'd be whinging about it...
    Reliable Fusion would result in free neutrons. As in, a Fuckton of neutrons that are really, really surplus to requirements.

    Hence the walls of liquid lithium being suggested - to breed Tritium by the kilo..

    There was an amusing calculation done a while back. The rate at which a slab of uranium becomes plutonium if you used it as a piece of fusion reactor wall…. It was quite startling.

    So reliable fusion will make nuclear weapons really, really cheap.
    A slightly uncharitable point of order: that's true for the usual types of fusion such as deuterium / tritium.

    But there are types of fusion - e.g. boron / proton that are aneutronic, and produce very few fast neutrons. Even better, certain types produce oodles of alpha particles that can be used to generate power directly without that messy heat cycle and all its dangers and inefficiencies.

    The only downside with aneutronic fusion is that it's *much* harder than traditional fusion to do - and that's hard enough. The best anyone has done is allegedly four orders of magnitude from net energy gain. But it's something to aim for IMO. And as with 'normal' D-T fusion, I think there'll be things we learn that make it easier than we expect. We're still learning a massive amount about this stuff - witness the NIF's problems over the last decade.
    If you could actually demonstrate Boron fusion - even a handful of atoms - that’s a Nobel for you.

    That’s how far away that stuff is.

    Plus I want tons of plutonium.
    Fair enough on the latter. ;)

    But on the former, I think it has been done - by a team in France, I think, and also the HB11 team:
    https://hb11.energy/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/In-Target-Proton–Boron-Nuclear-Fusion-Using-a-PW-Class-Laser_applsci-12-01444-v2.pdf
    https://www.hindawi.com/journals/lpb/si/284902/
    https://fusenet.eu/node/575

    The problem is that whilst they have achieved fusion, they've got a massive way to go to get to energy breakeven, let alone positive energy.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 70,513

    Something hilarious about a man living in a house with walls made of gold telling us how we should live

    He could have announced that he had discovered the cure for cancer and a safe, reliable and cheap form of nuclear fusion and you'd be whinging about it...
    Reliable Fusion would result in free neutrons. As in, a Fuckton of neutrons that are really, really surplus to requirements.

    Hence the walls of liquid lithium being suggested - to breed Tritium by the kilo..

    There was an amusing calculation done a while back. The rate at which a slab of uranium becomes plutonium if you used it as a piece of fusion reactor wall…. It was quite startling.

    So reliable fusion will make nuclear weapons really, really cheap.
    Wouldn't reliable fusion (if certain types) also consume kilos of tritium ?
    Something of a virtuous circle in some scenarios.

    The proliferation issue is non negligible, but not necessarily more so than with conventional nuclear fission reactors.
    It's the same issue of controls, probably.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 49,586

    Something hilarious about a man living in a house with walls made of gold telling us how we should live

    He could have announced that he had discovered the cure for cancer and a safe, reliable and cheap form of nuclear fusion and you'd be whinging about it...
    Reliable Fusion would result in free neutrons. As in, a Fuckton of neutrons that are really, really surplus to requirements.

    Hence the walls of liquid lithium being suggested - to breed Tritium by the kilo..

    There was an amusing calculation done a while back. The rate at which a slab of uranium becomes plutonium if you used it as a piece of fusion reactor wall…. It was quite startling.

    So reliable fusion will make nuclear weapons really, really cheap.
    A slightly uncharitable point of order: that's true for the usual types of fusion such as deuterium / tritium.

    But there are types of fusion - e.g. boron / proton that are aneutronic, and produce very few fast neutrons. Even better, certain types produce oodles of alpha particles that can be used to generate power directly without that messy heat cycle and all its dangers and inefficiencies.

    The only downside with aneutronic fusion is that it's *much* harder than traditional fusion to do - and that's hard enough. The best anyone has done is allegedly four orders of magnitude from net energy gain. But it's something to aim for IMO. And as with 'normal' D-T fusion, I think there'll be things we learn that make it easier than we expect. We're still learning a massive amount about this stuff - witness the NIF's problems over the last decade.
    If you could actually demonstrate Boron fusion - even a handful of atoms - that’s a Nobel for you.

    That’s how far away that stuff is.

    Plus I want tons of plutonium.
    Fair enough on the latter. ;)

    But on the former, I think it has been done - by a team in France, I think, and also the HB11 team:
    https://hb11.energy/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/In-Target-Proton–Boron-Nuclear-Fusion-Using-a-PW-Class-Laser_applsci-12-01444-v2.pdf
    https://www.hindawi.com/journals/lpb/si/284902/
    https://fusenet.eu/node/575

    The problem is that whilst they have achieved fusion, they've got a massive way to go to get to energy breakeven, let alone positive energy.
    Nice
  • Ah, I see from the thread we are all helping each other out - 'tis the season of goodwill after all!

    So 10A anyone?

    Clearly not. Too busy enjoying Christmas, and why not?

    Am off to good the vegetarian sirloin joint now (at least, I think the bullock was vegetarian!)
    from 10 am

    10a TOBIN

  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 49,586
    Nigelb said:

    Something hilarious about a man living in a house with walls made of gold telling us how we should live

    He could have announced that he had discovered the cure for cancer and a safe, reliable and cheap form of nuclear fusion and you'd be whinging about it...
    Reliable Fusion would result in free neutrons. As in, a Fuckton of neutrons that are really, really surplus to requirements.

    Hence the walls of liquid lithium being suggested - to breed Tritium by the kilo..

    There was an amusing calculation done a while back. The rate at which a slab of uranium becomes plutonium if you used it as a piece of fusion reactor wall…. It was quite startling.

    So reliable fusion will make nuclear weapons really, really cheap.
    Wouldn't reliable fusion (if certain types) also consume kilos of tritium ?
    Something of a virtuous circle in some scenarios.

    The proliferation issue is non negligible, but not necessarily more so than with conventional nuclear fission reactors.
    It's the same issue of controls, probably.
    If you put lithium next to the reaction you get Tritium by the kilo - neutrons + lithium = lots of Tritium. You are talking about turning Tritium from a rarity into a common material.

    You get far more than your fusion reactor will need.

    See Castle Bravo for a practical demo - enough Tritium was generated in nanoseconds to triple the yield. Modern nukes use the same principle - they literally make themselves as they explode.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,245
    edited December 2022
    checklist said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Something hilarious about a man living in a house with walls made of gold telling us how we should live

    I didn't know Highgrove and Clarence House had walls made of gold?
    How much wealth do they have? What right do they have to tell me how to live, literally anointed by a so-called God
    As the almighty and ever living God anointed the King our glorious sovereign as confirmed by Parliament at the Accession Council.

    He doesn't tell you how to live either, we have a constitutional not an absolute monarchy.

    Not that there is going to be any change anytime soon either given both Sunak and Starmer back the monarchy having replaced the ex republican Truss and republican Corbyn
    Well, I could give him a tip or two. For starters shagging the gf the night before the wedding isn't regal disdain for bourgeois morality, it's Jeremy Kyle stuff.
    The main thing was he at least slept with Diana enough to produce William as heir to the throne, with Harry as spare before William had his own children.

    There are no children between the King and Queen Consort (and even if there were they would be illegitimate)
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,154
    Dura_Ace said:

    dixiedean said:
    In other politics news the President of South Sudan pissed himself on live television while opening a road. Still a better leader than Johnson.

    https://youtu.be/PzKp-DHkFqA
    Piss came out of his johnson.

    Lots of bullshit comes out of ours.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,154

    Something hilarious about a man living in a house with walls made of gold telling us how we should live

    He could have announced that he had discovered the cure for cancer and a safe, reliable and cheap form of nuclear fusion and you'd be whinging about it...
    I am allowed to winge, it's a democracy.

    As long as they make more money than they cost they can stay - but it doesn't mean I like them or what they stand for.

    If Andrew was working class he'd be in jail
    There are sadly plenty of working class nonces walking free today because they either (a) had the right mates or (b) the police couldn't be arsed to prosecute them.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,154
    Scott_xP said:

    Good evening (hic)

    In hindsight, with only 5 of us round the table this year, champagne, 4 bottles of wine and port was perhaps excessive.

    Or perhaps not...

    Who was the poor sod who had to go without?
  • New York achieved electoral fusion in 1850s. Was how Fiorello La Guardia got elected mayor of NYC in 1930s.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 70,513

    Nigelb said:

    Something hilarious about a man living in a house with walls made of gold telling us how we should live

    He could have announced that he had discovered the cure for cancer and a safe, reliable and cheap form of nuclear fusion and you'd be whinging about it...
    Reliable Fusion would result in free neutrons. As in, a Fuckton of neutrons that are really, really surplus to requirements.

    Hence the walls of liquid lithium being suggested - to breed Tritium by the kilo..

    There was an amusing calculation done a while back. The rate at which a slab of uranium becomes plutonium if you used it as a piece of fusion reactor wall…. It was quite startling.

    So reliable fusion will make nuclear weapons really, really cheap.
    Wouldn't reliable fusion (if certain types) also consume kilos of tritium ?
    Something of a virtuous circle in some scenarios.

    The proliferation issue is non negligible, but not necessarily more so than with conventional nuclear fission reactors.
    It's the same issue of controls, probably.
    If you put lithium next to the reaction you get Tritium by the kilo - neutrons + lithium = lots of Tritium. You are talking about turning Tritium from a rarity into a common material.

    You get far more than your fusion reactor will need.

    See Castle Bravo for a practical demo - enough Tritium was generated in nanoseconds to triple the yield. Modern nukes use the same principle - they literally make themselves as they explode.
    Indeed.
    FLF produced some estimates for tritium production from the liquid lithium reactor wall in its 60MW pilot plant concept.

    https://eepower.com/market-insights/fusion-power-promises-separating-the-hype-from-reality/
    "the 60-megawatt (MW) fusion reaction plant planned by First Light for $570 million should be capable of producing an excess of around 2 kilograms of tritium per year.."

    But there's a long road between today's concepts and actual plants.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,156
    edited December 2022
    Current temperature in Orlando Florida: 6 degrees Celsius. It's warmer in most parts of the UK.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 70,513
    Nigelb said:

    Nigelb said:

    Something hilarious about a man living in a house with walls made of gold telling us how we should live

    He could have announced that he had discovered the cure for cancer and a safe, reliable and cheap form of nuclear fusion and you'd be whinging about it...
    Reliable Fusion would result in free neutrons. As in, a Fuckton of neutrons that are really, really surplus to requirements.

    Hence the walls of liquid lithium being suggested - to breed Tritium by the kilo..

    There was an amusing calculation done a while back. The rate at which a slab of uranium becomes plutonium if you used it as a piece of fusion reactor wall…. It was quite startling.

    So reliable fusion will make nuclear weapons really, really cheap.
    Wouldn't reliable fusion (if certain types) also consume kilos of tritium ?
    Something of a virtuous circle in some scenarios.

    The proliferation issue is non negligible, but not necessarily more so than with conventional nuclear fission reactors.
    It's the same issue of controls, probably.
    If you put lithium next to the reaction you get Tritium by the kilo - neutrons + lithium = lots of Tritium. You are talking about turning Tritium from a rarity into a common material.

    You get far more than your fusion reactor will need.

    See Castle Bravo for a practical demo - enough Tritium was generated in nanoseconds to triple the yield. Modern nukes use the same principle - they literally make themselves as they explode.
    Indeed.
    FLF produced some estimates for tritium production from the liquid lithium reactor wall in its 60MW pilot plant concept.

    https://eepower.com/market-insights/fusion-power-promises-separating-the-hype-from-reality/
    "the 60-megawatt (MW) fusion reaction plant planned by First Light for $570 million should be capable of producing an excess of around 2 kilograms of tritium per year.."

    But there's a long road between today's concepts and actual plants.
    There's one estimate that a commercial magnetic confinement type plant producing 3 gigawatts of electricity would burn over 160 kilograms of tritium per year.
    So the figures don't necessarily indicate a massive excess.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 49,586
    edited December 2022
    Nigelb said:

    Nigelb said:

    Something hilarious about a man living in a house with walls made of gold telling us how we should live

    He could have announced that he had discovered the cure for cancer and a safe, reliable and cheap form of nuclear fusion and you'd be whinging about it...
    Reliable Fusion would result in free neutrons. As in, a Fuckton of neutrons that are really, really surplus to requirements.

    Hence the walls of liquid lithium being suggested - to breed Tritium by the kilo..

    There was an amusing calculation done a while back. The rate at which a slab of uranium becomes plutonium if you used it as a piece of fusion reactor wall…. It was quite startling.

    So reliable fusion will make nuclear weapons really, really cheap.
    Wouldn't reliable fusion (if certain types) also consume kilos of tritium ?
    Something of a virtuous circle in some scenarios.

    The proliferation issue is non negligible, but not necessarily more so than with conventional nuclear fission reactors.
    It's the same issue of controls, probably.
    If you put lithium next to the reaction you get Tritium by the kilo - neutrons + lithium = lots of Tritium. You are talking about turning Tritium from a rarity into a common material.

    You get far more than your fusion reactor will need.

    See Castle Bravo for a practical demo - enough Tritium was generated in nanoseconds to triple the yield. Modern nukes use the same principle - they literally make themselves as they explode.
    Indeed.
    FLF produced some estimates for tritium production from the liquid lithium reactor wall in its 60MW pilot plant concept.

    https://eepower.com/market-insights/fusion-power-promises-separating-the-hype-from-reality/
    "the 60-megawatt (MW) fusion reaction plant planned by First Light for $570 million should be capable of producing an excess of around 2 kilograms of tritium per year.."

    But there's a long road between today's concepts and actual plants.
    That’s low, if anything.

    2kg is enough for 400 nuclear weapons, incidentally.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,245
    Andy_JS said:

    Current temperature in Orlando Florida: 6 degrees Celsius. It's warmer in most parts of the UK.

    Though still 28 degrees Celsius in Los Angeles.

    While the Arctic freeze has hit the North East and Canada, the MidWest and the South, the West Coast seems to be largely unaffected

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/5368361
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,154
    HYUFD said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Current temperature in Orlando Florida: 6 degrees Celsius. It's warmer in most parts of the UK.

    Though still 28 degrees Celsius in Los Angeles.

    While the Arctic freeze has hit the North East and Canada, the MidWest and the South, the West Coast seems to be largely unaffected

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/5368361
    The Rockies. They're diverting the cold air further east so warmer air from the tropics is getting sucked to California by the lower pressure.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 49,586
    edited December 2022
    ydoethur said:

    Scott_xP said:

    Good evening (hic)

    In hindsight, with only 5 of us round the table this year, champagne, 4 bottles of wine and port was perhaps excessive.

    Or perhaps not...

    Who was the poor sod who had to go without?
    In my bachelor days, used to do dinner parties.

    While waiting for food - a half case of champagne, to share.

    Bottle per person, per course.

    Port for the cheese,

    Brandy, whisky and vodka for after the meal.

    Anyone bought booze - that had to be drunk as well.

    This entirely solved the problem with getting home and trains running - we kept going until the first trains in the morning.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,154

    ydoethur said:

    Scott_xP said:

    Good evening (hic)

    In hindsight, with only 5 of us round the table this year, champagne, 4 bottles of wine and port was perhaps excessive.

    Or perhaps not...

    Who was the poor sod who had to go without?
    In my bachelor days, used to do dinner parties.

    While waiting for food - a half case of champagne, to share.

    Bottle per person, per course.

    Port for the cheese,

    Brandy, whisky and vodka for after the meal.

    Anyone bought booze - that had to be drunk as well.

    This entirely solved the problem with getting home and trains running - we kept going until the first trains in the morning.
    The Colin Ingleby-McKenzie solution!
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 27,575
    edited December 2022
    ohnotnow said:

    FPT:

    OT I have this morning binge-watched A Spy Among Friends on ITVX aka ITV hub
    https://www.itv.com/watch/a-spy-among-friends/2a7931/2a7931a0006

    It is a fictionalised account of Kim Philby's flight to Moscow and its aftermath. Enjoyable but you probably need to know the outline of the Cambridge Spies story.

    There is a really excellent early Denis Potter TV play based on Kim Philby living in Moscow. Stand out performance from John Le Mesurier too :

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traitor_(Play_for_Today)

    I can 'make it available' if it's not on youtube or the like.

    Oh, and happy christmas everyone!
    That would be great, thanks. iirc John Le Mesurier is excellent in this straight role (ETA that link mentions that he won the BAFTA). iirc I bought it on the BBC's short-lived iplayer-a-like that let you buy digital versions but then they scrapped it and refunded everyone's money.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 49,586
    Nigelb said:

    Nigelb said:

    Nigelb said:

    Something hilarious about a man living in a house with walls made of gold telling us how we should live

    He could have announced that he had discovered the cure for cancer and a safe, reliable and cheap form of nuclear fusion and you'd be whinging about it...
    Reliable Fusion would result in free neutrons. As in, a Fuckton of neutrons that are really, really surplus to requirements.

    Hence the walls of liquid lithium being suggested - to breed Tritium by the kilo..

    There was an amusing calculation done a while back. The rate at which a slab of uranium becomes plutonium if you used it as a piece of fusion reactor wall…. It was quite startling.

    So reliable fusion will make nuclear weapons really, really cheap.
    Wouldn't reliable fusion (if certain types) also consume kilos of tritium ?
    Something of a virtuous circle in some scenarios.

    The proliferation issue is non negligible, but not necessarily more so than with conventional nuclear fission reactors.
    It's the same issue of controls, probably.
    If you put lithium next to the reaction you get Tritium by the kilo - neutrons + lithium = lots of Tritium. You are talking about turning Tritium from a rarity into a common material.

    You get far more than your fusion reactor will need.

    See Castle Bravo for a practical demo - enough Tritium was generated in nanoseconds to triple the yield. Modern nukes use the same principle - they literally make themselves as they explode.
    Indeed.
    FLF produced some estimates for tritium production from the liquid lithium reactor wall in its 60MW pilot plant concept.

    https://eepower.com/market-insights/fusion-power-promises-separating-the-hype-from-reality/
    "the 60-megawatt (MW) fusion reaction plant planned by First Light for $570 million should be capable of producing an excess of around 2 kilograms of tritium per year.."

    But there's a long road between today's concepts and actual plants.
    There's one estimate that a commercial magnetic confinement type plant producing 3 gigawatts of electricity would burn over 160 kilograms of tritium per year.
    So the figures don't necessarily indicate a massive excess.
    The advocates of fusion tend to be coy about the amount of Tritium they will breed. Some estimates suggest that kilos per day will quite probable for a big plant to breed.

    If they don’t breed Tritium, then they won’t work.

    160 kg of Tritium would argue that they are planning on losing a lot. Which doesn’t sound plausible.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 70,513
    Here's one for TSE to get his teeth into next Christmas.
    (Haven't seen it in decades, so I might have to rewatch now.)

    Move Over, Die Hard. Three Days of the Condor Is the Christmas Classic No One’s Watching.
    https://slate.com/culture/2016/12/why-three-days-of-the-condor-is-the-christmas-classic-no-one-s-watching.html
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 95,851
    Nigelb said:

    Here's one for TSE to get his teeth into next Christmas.
    (Haven't seen it in decades, so I might have to rewatch now.)

    Move Over, Die Hard. Three Days of the Condor Is the Christmas Classic No One’s Watching.
    https://slate.com/culture/2016/12/why-three-days-of-the-condor-is-the-christmas-classic-no-one-s-watching.html

    I saw a joke on that which pointed out it was based on the book 'Six Days of the Condor', meaning film goers were robbed of at least three full days of the condor.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,301
    edited December 2022
    I have been reliably informed that the Education Secretary's Twitter account has been hacked by some Cryptocurrency scammers.

    I'm sure this could be an allegory for something.

    Edit proof

    https://twitter.com/GillianKeegan/status/1607096476433518592

    Nota bene, do not click the link inside that tweet.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 70,513
    kle4 said:

    Nigelb said:

    Here's one for TSE to get his teeth into next Christmas.
    (Haven't seen it in decades, so I might have to rewatch now.)

    Move Over, Die Hard. Three Days of the Condor Is the Christmas Classic No One’s Watching.
    https://slate.com/culture/2016/12/why-three-days-of-the-condor-is-the-christmas-classic-no-one-s-watching.html

    I saw a joke on that which pointed out it was based on the book 'Six Days of the Condor', meaning film goers were robbed of at least three full days of the condor.
    They wanted to leave room for the (sadly unmade) sequel.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,154

    I have been reliably informed that the Education Secretary's Twitter account has been hacked by some Cryptocurrency scammers.

    I'm sure this could be an allegory for something.

    Edit proof

    https://twitter.com/GillianKeegan/status/1607096476433518592

    Nota bene, do not click the link inside that tweet.

    I do hope she hasn't absent mindedly blown the entire DfE budget buying crypto.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,342
    ydoethur said:

    I have been reliably informed that the Education Secretary's Twitter account has been hacked by some Cryptocurrency scammers.

    I'm sure this could be an allegory for something.

    Edit proof

    https://twitter.com/GillianKeegan/status/1607096476433518592

    Nota bene, do not click the link inside that tweet.

    I do hope she hasn't absent mindedly blown the entire DfE budget buying crypto.
    Virtual currency will buy in a lot of equally virtual supply staff in January.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,584

    Ah, I see from the thread we are all helping each other out - 'tis the season of goodwill after all!

    So 10A anyone?

    Clearly not. Too busy enjoying Christmas, and why not?

    Am off to good the vegetarian sirloin joint now (at least, I think the bullock was vegetarian!)
    from 10 am

    10a TOBIN

    Thanks. Deliberately didn't look at the hints before having a go this afternoon.

    That's what I got (fitted with the downers and 'To get rid of' but what's a tobin? Never heard of it.
  • geoffwgeoffw Posts: 8,661

    ohnotnow said:

    FPT:

    OT I have this morning binge-watched A Spy Among Friends on ITVX aka ITV hub
    https://www.itv.com/watch/a-spy-among-friends/2a7931/2a7931a0006

    It is a fictionalised account of Kim Philby's flight to Moscow and its aftermath. Enjoyable but you probably need to know the outline of the Cambridge Spies story.

    There is a really excellent early Denis Potter TV play based on Kim Philby living in Moscow. Stand out performance from John Le Mesurier too :

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traitor_(Play_for_Today)

    I can 'make it available' if it's not on youtube or the like.

    Oh, and happy christmas everyone!
    That would be great, thanks. iirc John Le Mesurier is excellent in this straight role (ETA that link mentions that he won the BAFTA). iirc I bought it on the BBC's short-lived iplayer-a-like that let you buy digital versions but then they scrapped it and refunded everyone's money.
    I'd be interested in Traitor too.
  • ydoethur said:

    I have been reliably informed that the Education Secretary's Twitter account has been hacked by some Cryptocurrency scammers.

    I'm sure this could be an allegory for something.

    Edit proof

    https://twitter.com/GillianKeegan/status/1607096476433518592

    Nota bene, do not click the link inside that tweet.

    I do hope she hasn't absent mindedly blown the entire DfE budget buying crypto.
    Would it be better or worse if it's been done as considered government policy? It's one way of closing the budget gap.

    (Didn't Sunak plan some sort of Rishicoin back when he was Chancellor?)
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,584
    Good socialist Kings Speech today I thought. Much better than I expected.
  • Ah, I see from the thread we are all helping each other out - 'tis the season of goodwill after all!

    So 10A anyone?

    Clearly not. Too busy enjoying Christmas, and why not?

    Am off to good the vegetarian sirloin joint now (at least, I think the bullock was vegetarian!)
    from 10 am

    10a TOBIN

    Thanks. Deliberately didn't look at the hints before having a go this afternoon.

    That's what I got (fitted with the downers and 'To get rid of' but what's a tobin? Never heard of it.
    An economist, who had a tax named after him

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Tobin
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,154

    ydoethur said:

    I have been reliably informed that the Education Secretary's Twitter account has been hacked by some Cryptocurrency scammers.

    I'm sure this could be an allegory for something.

    Edit proof

    https://twitter.com/GillianKeegan/status/1607096476433518592

    Nota bene, do not click the link inside that tweet.

    I do hope she hasn't absent mindedly blown the entire DfE budget buying crypto.
    Would it be better or worse if it's been done as considered government policy? It's one way of closing the budget gap.

    (Didn't Sunak plan some sort of Rishicoin back when he was Chancellor?)
    It is inconceivable that it would be considered government policy.

    That would imply this government has policies that are considered.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,584

    Ah, I see from the thread we are all helping each other out - 'tis the season of goodwill after all!

    So 10A anyone?

    Clearly not. Too busy enjoying Christmas, and why not?

    Am off to good the vegetarian sirloin joint now (at least, I think the bullock was vegetarian!)
    from 10 am

    10a TOBIN

    Thanks. Deliberately didn't look at the hints before having a go this afternoon.

    That's what I got (fitted with the downers and 'To get rid of' but what's a tobin? Never heard of it.
    An economist, who had a tax named after him

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Tobin
    Ah right. Thanks Blanche!
  • The nonce Andrew kept out of the speech I note

    Are you talking nonce-sense Horse?
    You don’t think Andrew is a nonce?
    I was making a play on the words Horse. I'm not a fan of Andrew but will say no more
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,154

    Good socialist Kings Speech today I thought. Much better than I expected.

    The location was interesting. St George's Chapel where his mother is interred. A definite emphasis on that link. A carol carefully chosen to finish. And much greater use of film shots from elsewhere than in past years.

    I thought it was actually quite well and tastefully done, if rather empty of anything meaningful.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 49,586
    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    I have been reliably informed that the Education Secretary's Twitter account has been hacked by some Cryptocurrency scammers.

    I'm sure this could be an allegory for something.

    Edit proof

    https://twitter.com/GillianKeegan/status/1607096476433518592

    Nota bene, do not click the link inside that tweet.

    I do hope she hasn't absent mindedly blown the entire DfE budget buying crypto.
    Would it be better or worse if it's been done as considered government policy? It's one way of closing the budget gap.

    (Didn't Sunak plan some sort of Rishicoin back when he was Chancellor?)
    It is inconceivable that it would be considered government policy.

    That would imply this government has policies that are considered.
    Many governments are looking at issuing cryptocurrencies - the idea of a currency with a transaction history has some interesting effects for black market stuff.

    Once again - the problem with what people are calling crypto at the moment is that everyone in the markets currently seems to be a crook or a mark. The concept of crypto currencies themselves isn’t the problem.
  • Good socialist Kings Speech today I thought. Much better than I expected.

    MONARCHY = SOCIALISM!
  • FishingFishing Posts: 4,947
    viewcode said:

    rcs1000 said:

    viewcode said:

    1/2: Good morning children, and I hope you had the bestest presents. A rare front-stage appearance from me, one happy, one sad. The happy one is to wish you all the best for the upcoming 2023. Despite being a rather fallow period for elections I hope it brings you everything you need. (2024 in contrast will contain one POTUS, one EP, and one GE. Zoinks!)

    Point of order, the last General Election was December 2019, the latest possible date for the next is therefore my January 2025.
    Acknowledged, but I assume a last-minute GE in Jan 2025 is low-probability.
    I should say it's the most likely date if the current Labour lead in the opinion polls persists.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,245

    Good socialist Kings Speech today I thought. Much better than I expected.

    MONARCHY = SOCIALISM!
    No, Monarchy = Toryism.

    State control of most of the economy =Socialism
  • FishingFishing Posts: 4,947
    HYUFD said:

    Good socialist Kings Speech today I thought. Much better than I expected.

    MONARCHY = SOCIALISM!
    No, Monarchy = Toryism.

    State control of most of the economy =Socialism
    Also, destroying valued and popular institutions with centuries of history for no good reason and with no real thought about what to put in their place thereby making everything much worse=Socialism.

    So no wonder most republicans are socialists.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,154
    edited December 2022
    Fishing said:

    HYUFD said:

    Good socialist Kings Speech today I thought. Much better than I expected.

    MONARCHY = SOCIALISM!
    No, Monarchy = Toryism.

    State control of most of the economy =Socialism
    Also, destroying valued and popular institutions with centuries of history for no good reason and with no real thought about what to put in their place thereby making everything much worse=Socialism.

    So no wonder most republicans are socialists.
    I think that's something of an exaggeration. There can be few more ardently republican nations on earth than the USA but they hate socialists far more than monarchs.

    It would be more accurate the other way around.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,245
    Fishing said:

    viewcode said:

    rcs1000 said:

    viewcode said:

    1/2: Good morning children, and I hope you had the bestest presents. A rare front-stage appearance from me, one happy, one sad. The happy one is to wish you all the best for the upcoming 2023. Despite being a rather fallow period for elections I hope it brings you everything you need. (2024 in contrast will contain one POTUS, one EP, and one GE. Zoinks!)

    Point of order, the last General Election was December 2019, the latest possible date for the next is therefore my January 2025.
    Acknowledged, but I assume a last-minute GE in Jan 2025 is low-probability.
    I should say it's the most likely date if the current Labour lead in the opinion polls persists.
    Would at least ensure Sunak is PM longer than Home and Rosebery, maybe Campbell Bannermann too as well as Truss of course
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,154

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    I have been reliably informed that the Education Secretary's Twitter account has been hacked by some Cryptocurrency scammers.

    I'm sure this could be an allegory for something.

    Edit proof

    https://twitter.com/GillianKeegan/status/1607096476433518592

    Nota bene, do not click the link inside that tweet.

    I do hope she hasn't absent mindedly blown the entire DfE budget buying crypto.
    Would it be better or worse if it's been done as considered government policy? It's one way of closing the budget gap.

    (Didn't Sunak plan some sort of Rishicoin back when he was Chancellor?)
    It is inconceivable that it would be considered government policy.

    That would imply this government has policies that are considered.
    Many governments are looking at issuing cryptocurrencies - the idea of a currency with a transaction history has some interesting effects for black market stuff.

    Once again - the problem with what people are calling crypto at the moment is that everyone in the markets currently seems to be a crook or a mark. The concept of crypto currencies themselves isn’t the problem.
    And our government issuing such a currency would resolve that problem - how, exactly?
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,245
    ydoethur said:

    Fishing said:

    HYUFD said:

    Good socialist Kings Speech today I thought. Much better than I expected.

    MONARCHY = SOCIALISM!
    No, Monarchy = Toryism.

    State control of most of the economy =Socialism
    Also, destroying valued and popular institutions with centuries of history for no good reason and with no real thought about what to put in their place thereby making everything much worse=Socialism.

    So no wonder most republicans are socialists.
    I think that's something of an exaggeration. There can be few more ardently republican nations on earth than the USA but they hate socialists far more than monarchs.

    It would be more accurate the other way around.
    They hate both, at least in their own country.

    The US was built on a revolution against King George III and his government and there are probably even more socialists in the US now in terms of Bernie Sanders and AOC supporters than Americans who would restore the monarchy
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,154
    HYUFD said:

    ydoethur said:

    Fishing said:

    HYUFD said:

    Good socialist Kings Speech today I thought. Much better than I expected.

    MONARCHY = SOCIALISM!
    No, Monarchy = Toryism.

    State control of most of the economy =Socialism
    Also, destroying valued and popular institutions with centuries of history for no good reason and with no real thought about what to put in their place thereby making everything much worse=Socialism.

    So no wonder most republicans are socialists.
    I think that's something of an exaggeration. There can be few more ardently republican nations on earth than the USA but they hate socialists far more than monarchs.

    It would be more accurate the other way around.
    They hate both, at least in their own country.

    The US was built on a revolution against King George III and his government and there are probably even more socialists in the US now in terms of Bernie Sanders and AOC supporters than Americans who would restore the monarchy
    The Americans haven't recently killed any monarchs, to my knowledge.

    But it's not that long ago they were industriously killing socialists, including in their own country.
This discussion has been closed.