That article is rather embarrassing dribble by someone who knows for sure who she doesn't like but doesn't actually understand any of the details.
The key to Zahawi, in my opinion, is the word "careless". In the tax world, when you have made an inaccurate or incomplete declaration in your tax return, you can either be prosecuted for fraud and quite likely, certainly for these sort of sums, spend a period in jail or you can be deemed to be "careless". It is a very specific meaning quite different from ordinary usage that arises from your duty to make a true and accurate declaration.
Zahawi has accepted that he was "careless" in this context, that he failed to make a true and accurate declaration of monies he received in his tax return. It was not in any way "careless" in the conventional sense, it wasn't an oversight or a mistake, it was a decision made not to disclose receipt of relevant funds.
The test for fraud, especially in tax matters, is a high one and it is easy to understand why inspectors of HMRC might well accept that there has been a "careless" failure to make a true declaration rather than taking on the onus of proving criminal intent beyond a reasonable doubt. But do not be deceived by the technical use of the word: this man, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, has accepted that he did not make a true and accurate statement of his tax liabilities and has paid a substantial penalty as a result. That really should have been the end of any role for him in public life.
Chris Philp was already spinning the careless "small c" interpretation of the HMRC judgement saying there would be an enquiry and we shouldn't pre-judge, whereas as you note, "careless" has a very particular meaning akin to negligence and indicates that he has already been deemed as such under that meaning.
I think the Cons are going to try to rely on the man on the Clapham Omnibus thinking "careless" means careless.
Erich Vad, ex advisor to Merkel and co-architect of her flawed policy towards Russia, is back again advocating against arms supplies to Ukraine. He has been consistently wrong on Ukraine/Russia since Feb24, but this time he is also spreading lies
This is all starting to feel like 2003 again, except that this time we are risking nuclear annihilation. I'm guessing that those who are keen to go in against Russia with guns blazing are the same people who were beating the drum for the invasion of Iraq.
Yes, Russia needs to be pushed out of Ukraine, but not at the cost of sparking a nuclear disaster.
Yes, I read his article. It basically argues, in terms, that Washington and Moscow should agree to partition Ukraine as the war cannot be won.
His argument is actually for self-determination, but whether that can actually be achieved now is a moot point.
These are his words. ….Der Schlüssel für die Lösung des Konfliktes liegt nicht in Kiew, er liegt auch nicht in Berlin, Brüssel oder Paris, er liegt in Washington und Moskau. Es ist doch lächerlich zu sagen, die Ukraine müsse das entscheiden...
These are also his words:
Man sollte die Menschen in der Region, also im Donbass und auf der Krim, einfach fragen, zu wem sie gehören wollen. Man müsste die territoriale Integrität der Ukraine wiederherstellen, mit bestimmten westlichen Garantien.
Referendums in occupied territories are worth what ?
They have been done before. Unsurprisingly, when a territory is in dispute, it is also normally occupied by someone or other.
Given where we are, we should draw an arbitrary squiggly line and give the Eastern portion to Russia.
The only argument is where the squiggly line should be placed to minimize future conflict.
It won't be possible to eliminate all future conflict, but a grossly unfair squiggly line will guarantee another War. A solution returning Crimea to Ukraine 100 per cent guarantees another War.
So, it is a non-linear optimization with penalty problem.
There are some who venerate Khrushchev & think he solved the non-linear optimization problem correctly.
There was a perfectly good line drawn between Russia and Ukraine from 1991 until 2014, under international treaty accepted by the rest of the world. No-one, except Putin, would object to that line being restored.
The line should be chosen to solve an optimization problem to minimize future conflict.
There is nothing special about any squiggly line, and it can change with time.
The squiggly line in N. Ireland was drawn (by the British) to solve an optimization problem in 1921: What is the maximum amount of territory that could be safely claimed to ensure a Unionist majority?
I expect the squiggly line in N Ireland will change in the future. Ditto any squiggly line between Country X and Country Y.
No squiggly line is inviolate.
The collective pretence that squiggly lines are inviolate is the best deterrence to war and guarantor of peace. If Ukraine is able to restore the 1991-2014 borders it will be a powerful signal of the futility of armed aggression as a means to redraw squiggly lines.
It will greatly reduce the likelihood of future conflicts over squiggly lines on maps.
Whilst I like your posts, I think on this you are very wrong.
I don’t see how Ukraine taking Crimea ends the war, the Russians will keep fighting till they get it back. Happy to be explained how I am wrong in that. So how does this war end?
For example Boris in Daily Mail says let’s give Ukraine what they need to win this war - but does he, and everyone who agrees with him on that, know what “win” and “it’s over” actually is?
As I've said all through this, people talking about one side or the other 'winning' needs to define what 'win' means. For instance, if the war magically ended tomorrow with the lines as they are, then Russia would be able to sell a 'win' to its public. But Russia would be a much-reduced country, especially if sanctions continue. It would be a pyrrhic victory.
As for Russia taking a Ukrainian Crimea: it'd be difficult. At the moment they've created a land bridge from the north, but if Ukraine was to get that, then Russia would have to rely on an attack across the Kerch strait or Sea of Azov. Presuming the Ukrainians (ahem) remove the bridge, then Russia would be looking at an amphibious landing.
And that's perhaps an order of magnitude more complex.
But Russia wont accept Crimea as Ukraine, they wouldn’t stop trying to re take it, so it wouldn’t be war over at any point, not an end. And I fear now ditto for much of the territory they have now taken, they will continually war for it, what actually stops this?
What other things do you want others to give up, as Russia won't accept them any other way?
I didn’t say I wanted Ukraine to surrender Crimea to the sick Russian aggression, you slow on the uptake twit. I asked what actually stops this war, considering Russia won’t stop wanting stuff the moment it’s back to 2014 borders - and until sandpit posted the solution of a massive DMZ all down the border between Ukraine and Russia (I guess Belarus too) after first defeating Russia back to 2014 borders, and then quickly embraced by NATO for 2014 border protection, nobody else had posted a realistic and believable way of the war ending. You certainly couldn’t think of one.
Given the rhetoric coming from Russia, there will have to be a DMZ between them and other more western-leaning countries, wherever that border is. My own view (and I have stated this many times) is that it should be the 2014 borders.
But as I've also said many times before, only one thing stops this war: Putin. He can stop this war whenever he wants. No-one else has that power. Ukraine cannot stop it (even if they were to surrender, Putin wants more expansion, and there will be partisan warfare in Ukraine).
And Putin shows no sign of wanting to stop the war. He's had plenty of opportunities to say "mission accomplished", and he has not taken them.
It’s very very sad we in an age of such horrible ongoing war on civilians and conscripts followed by massive DMZ in Europe with ongoing tensions between Moscow and NATO and Cold War to defend the DMZ so that Leon can be shouting THREADS every second month, but as you said it, it’s all down to the Madness of King Putin such sad things now happening I agree 🥺
Erich Vad, ex advisor to Merkel and co-architect of her flawed policy towards Russia, is back again advocating against arms supplies to Ukraine. He has been consistently wrong on Ukraine/Russia since Feb24, but this time he is also spreading lies
Does anyone know what the penalty is to a country should they transfer weapons without consent of the manufacturing country?
Suppose Poland sends Leopards to Ukraine without German permission, Germany says “we aren’t going to sell you anymore weapons and we will take you to the European court (or whatever forum is relevant).
Poland says “no problem, we will pay a fine and never buy a German kit again.”
Germany loses an arms customer who is going to be upping their spending on arms and also is damaged in PR terms.
Dunno but which other countries will want to do business with a customer who ignores licence terms?
Plenty. Hopefully including the UK.
I find it pretty nauseating that the Germans are more than happy to build up a huge defence industry, make billions out of selling weaponry to pretty well anybody, and then get sniffy about allowing their customers to forward on their expensively-purchased kit to a fellow democracy that is being systematically devastated by a brutal dictator.
A large part of the German political class seems to be quite rotten.
It's been discussed quite a depth over on Alternative History forum. It seems its a combination of:
1. Can't hurt the Russians - we bashed 'em around in WWII, so we owe them big time. 2. The Soviet Union controlled half our territory from 1945 to 1991 so they're still our masters. 3. We have to be ultra pacifist, and that includes not helping anyone fight a defensive war. Heck, we'd hand over Berlin if an aggressor asked. 4. We've foolishly believed we could engage in diplomacy to bring Russia into the European fold - we still think that's possible and Ukraine is harming those efforts by defending itself.
Pretty much terrible reasoning (all of them). Germany has somehow managed to develope Stockholm syndrome.
I would articulate this differently but I think there's something in a few of these reasons. Essentially, our view of Russia from the edge of Western Europe and our historical interactions have influenced our view of Russia. Germany's position and historical interactions have shaped theirs. Throw in an understandable aversion to violent foreign policy, and I think you can account for a good chunk of German 'reluctance' (though it can be overstated). When I lived there, and when Russia was mentioned in a Geopolitical sense, there was a tone of awe and pragmatism. Russia was a strong nation and dealings with them should be predicted on this fact.
Now, I disagree with much of the German thinking on their foreign policy. Being a rich country at the heart of Europe, I believe, comes with commitments, some of them security commitments. It doesn't help the world to have a Germany that shrinks from the responsibilities that her wealth and power give her. But that is a matter for the German and I no longer live there.
Erich Vad, ex advisor to Merkel and co-architect of her flawed policy towards Russia, is back again advocating against arms supplies to Ukraine. He has been consistently wrong on Ukraine/Russia since Feb24, but this time he is also spreading lies
Does anyone know what the penalty is to a country should they transfer weapons without consent of the manufacturing country?
Suppose Poland sends Leopards to Ukraine without German permission, Germany says “we aren’t going to sell you anymore weapons and we will take you to the European court (or whatever forum is relevant).
Poland says “no problem, we will pay a fine and never buy a German kit again.”
Germany loses an arms customer who is going to be upping their spending on arms and also is damaged in PR terms.
Dunno but which other countries will want to do business with a customer who ignores licence terms?
Plenty. Hopefully including the UK.
I find it pretty nauseating that the Germans are more than happy to build up a huge defence industry, make billions out of selling weaponry to pretty well anybody, and then get sniffy about allowing their customers to forward on their expensively-purchased kit to a fellow democracy that is being systematically devastated by a brutal dictator.
A large part of the German political class seems to be quite rotten.
It's been discussed quite a depth over on Alternative History forum. It seems its a combination of:
1. Can't hurt the Russians - we bashed 'em around in WWII, so we owe them big time. 2. The Soviet Union controlled half our territory from 1945 to 1991 so they're still our masters. 3. We have to be ultra pacifist, and that includes not helping anyone fight a defensive war. Heck, we'd hand over Berlin if an aggressor asked. 4. We've foolishly believed we could engage in diplomacy to bring Russia into the European fold - we still think that's possible and Ukraine is harming those efforts by defending itself.
Pretty much terrible reasoning (all of them). Germany has somehow managed to develope Stockholm syndrome.
I would articulate this differently but I think there's something in a few of these reasons. Essentially, our view of Russia from the edge of Western Europe and our historical interactions have influenced our view of Russia. Germany's position and historical interactions have shaped theirs. Throw in an understandable aversion to violent foreign policy, and I think you can account for a good chunk of German 'reluctance' (though it can be overstated). When I lived there, and when Russia was mentioned in a Geopolitical sense, there was a tone of awe and pragmatism. Russia was a strong nation and dealings with them should be predicted on this fact.
Now, I disagree with much of the German thinking on their foreign policy. Being a rich country at the heart of Europe, I believe, comes with commitments, some of them security commitments. It doesn't help the world to have a Germany that shrinks from the responsibilities that her wealth and power give her. But that is a matter for the German and I no longer live there.
Major countries' contribution to the common defence is a matter for the international community as well as the people that live there.
Interesting that the BBC correspondence who lived there for 10+ years appears not to speak very much of the language. Seems like would make fully judging Japanese society quite tricky, as Japan is notorious for a culture that without speaking the language to a very high level makes many factettes nearly impenetrable.
Definitely worth a read. His explanation of how the Japanese housing market works is remarkable. I have not seen that before.
It's why the whole mindset of building *affordable* homes gets the problem back to front. Homes are unaffordable because of artificial scarcity...
and because of easy money, loose lending requirements, low property taxation, and lack of restrictions for foreign buyers.
Erich Vad, ex advisor to Merkel and co-architect of her flawed policy towards Russia, is back again advocating against arms supplies to Ukraine. He has been consistently wrong on Ukraine/Russia since Feb24, but this time he is also spreading lies
This is all starting to feel like 2003 again, except that this time we are risking nuclear annihilation. I'm guessing that those who are keen to go in against Russia with guns blazing are the same people who were beating the drum for the invasion of Iraq.
Yes, Russia needs to be pushed out of Ukraine, but not at the cost of sparking a nuclear disaster.
Yes, I read his article. It basically argues, in terms, that Washington and Moscow should agree to partition Ukraine as the war cannot be won.
His argument is actually for self-determination, but whether that can actually be achieved now is a moot point.
These are his words. ….Der Schlüssel für die Lösung des Konfliktes liegt nicht in Kiew, er liegt auch nicht in Berlin, Brüssel oder Paris, er liegt in Washington und Moskau. Es ist doch lächerlich zu sagen, die Ukraine müsse das entscheiden...
These are also his words:
Man sollte die Menschen in der Region, also im Donbass und auf der Krim, einfach fragen, zu wem sie gehören wollen. Man müsste die territoriale Integrität der Ukraine wiederherstellen, mit bestimmten westlichen Garantien.
Referendums in occupied territories are worth what ?
They have been done before. Unsurprisingly, when a territory is in dispute, it is also normally occupied by someone or other.
Given where we are, we should draw an arbitrary squiggly line and give the Eastern portion to Russia.
The only argument is where the squiggly line should be placed to minimize future conflict.
It won't be possible to eliminate all future conflict, but a grossly unfair squiggly line will guarantee another War. A solution returning Crimea to Ukraine 100 per cent guarantees another War.
So, it is a non-linear optimization with penalty problem.
There are some who venerate Khrushchev & think he solved the non-linear optimization problem correctly.
There was a perfectly good line drawn between Russia and Ukraine from 1991 until 2014, under international treaty accepted by the rest of the world. No-one, except Putin, would object to that line being restored.
The line should be chosen to solve an optimization problem to minimize future conflict.
There is nothing special about any squiggly line, and it can change with time.
The squiggly line in N. Ireland was drawn (by the British) to solve an optimization problem in 1921: What is the maximum amount of territory that could be safely claimed to ensure a Unionist majority?
I expect the squiggly line in N Ireland will change in the future. Ditto any squiggly line between Country X and Country Y.
No squiggly line is inviolate.
The collective pretence that squiggly lines are inviolate is the best deterrence to war and guarantor of peace. If Ukraine is able to restore the 1991-2014 borders it will be a powerful signal of the futility of armed aggression as a means to redraw squiggly lines.
It will greatly reduce the likelihood of future conflicts over squiggly lines on maps.
Whilst I like your posts, I think on this you are very wrong.
I don’t see how Ukraine taking Crimea ends the war, the Russians will keep fighting till they get it back. Happy to be explained how I am wrong in that. So how does this war end?
For example Boris in Daily Mail says let’s give Ukraine what they need to win this war - but does he, and everyone who agrees with him on that, know what “win” and “it’s over” actually is?
It's unpredictable, of course. But it's not going to end until Putin gives up the attempt to conquer Ukraine - which probably means taking back all the territory taken since last year, at a minimum.
Why and how does that make Russia stop fighting?
To take back all that territory necessarily means inflicting substantial defeats on the Russian forces. It doesn't automatically mean he gives up, of course, but it would destroy most of the domestic war narrative.
What's the alternative - broker an agreement with territorial concessions to a mass murderer who has broken every prior one ?
Given that the domestic war narrative will be that Russia is fighting for its life, there's a significant chance that it also means a nuclear confrontation.
The new law bans "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations" amongst all age groups. Anyone caught committing this "offence" could be fined up to 400,000 roubles ($5,840; £4,730), with much higher fines for organisations or journalists.
That article is rather embarrassing dribble by someone who knows for sure who she doesn't like but doesn't actually understand any of the details.
The key to Zahawi, in my opinion, is the word "careless". In the tax world, when you have made an inaccurate or incomplete declaration in your tax return, you can either be prosecuted for fraud and quite likely, certainly for these sort of sums, spend a period in jail or you can be deemed to be "careless". It is a very specific meaning quite different from ordinary usage that arises from your duty to make a true and accurate declaration.
Zahawi has accepted that he was "careless" in this context, that he failed to make a true and accurate declaration of monies he received in his tax return. It was not in any way "careless" in the conventional sense, it wasn't an oversight or a mistake, it was a decision made not to disclose receipt of relevant funds.
The test for fraud, especially in tax matters, is a high one and it is easy to understand why inspectors of HMRC might well accept that there has been a "careless" failure to make a true declaration rather than taking on the onus of proving criminal intent beyond a reasonable doubt. But do not be deceived by the technical use of the word: this man, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, has accepted that he did not make a true and accurate statement of his tax liabilities and has paid a substantial penalty as a result. That really should have been the end of any role for him in public life.
Chris Philp was already spinning the careless "small c" interpretation of the HMRC judgement saying there would be an enquiry and we shouldn't pre-judge, whereas as you note, "careless" has a very particular meaning akin to negligence and indicates that he has already been deemed as such under that meaning.
I think the Cons are going to try to rely on the man on the Clapham Omnibus thinking "careless" means careless.
They're also pushing the "presumption of innocence" line. Which I thought applied to criminal cases, not whether an individual is a fit person to hold a senior political appointment.
In the latter case, an attitude of determined scepticism seems more appropriate..
Erich Vad, ex advisor to Merkel and co-architect of her flawed policy towards Russia, is back again advocating against arms supplies to Ukraine. He has been consistently wrong on Ukraine/Russia since Feb24, but this time he is also spreading lies
This is all starting to feel like 2003 again, except that this time we are risking nuclear annihilation. I'm guessing that those who are keen to go in against Russia with guns blazing are the same people who were beating the drum for the invasion of Iraq.
Yes, Russia needs to be pushed out of Ukraine, but not at the cost of sparking a nuclear disaster.
Yes, I read his article. It basically argues, in terms, that Washington and Moscow should agree to partition Ukraine as the war cannot be won.
His argument is actually for self-determination, but whether that can actually be achieved now is a moot point.
These are his words. ….Der Schlüssel für die Lösung des Konfliktes liegt nicht in Kiew, er liegt auch nicht in Berlin, Brüssel oder Paris, er liegt in Washington und Moskau. Es ist doch lächerlich zu sagen, die Ukraine müsse das entscheiden...
These are also his words:
Man sollte die Menschen in der Region, also im Donbass und auf der Krim, einfach fragen, zu wem sie gehören wollen. Man müsste die territoriale Integrität der Ukraine wiederherstellen, mit bestimmten westlichen Garantien.
Referendums in occupied territories are worth what ?
They have been done before. Unsurprisingly, when a territory is in dispute, it is also normally occupied by someone or other.
Given where we are, we should draw an arbitrary squiggly line and give the Eastern portion to Russia.
The only argument is where the squiggly line should be placed to minimize future conflict.
It won't be possible to eliminate all future conflict, but a grossly unfair squiggly line will guarantee another War. A solution returning Crimea to Ukraine 100 per cent guarantees another War.
So, it is a non-linear optimization with penalty problem.
There are some who venerate Khrushchev & think he solved the non-linear optimization problem correctly.
There was a perfectly good line drawn between Russia and Ukraine from 1991 until 2014, under international treaty accepted by the rest of the world. No-one, except Putin, would object to that line being restored.
The line should be chosen to solve an optimization problem to minimize future conflict.
There is nothing special about any squiggly line, and it can change with time.
The squiggly line in N. Ireland was drawn (by the British) to solve an optimization problem in 1921: What is the maximum amount of territory that could be safely claimed to ensure a Unionist majority?
I expect the squiggly line in N Ireland will change in the future. Ditto any squiggly line between Country X and Country Y.
No squiggly line is inviolate.
The line has already been chosen, 32 years ago.
By Khrushchev. Was he any good at solving optimization problems?
Interesting that the BBC correspondence who lived there for 10+ years appears not to speak very much of the language. Seems like would make fully judging Japanese society quite tricky, as Japan is notorious for a culture that without speaking the language to a very high level makes many factettes nearly impenetrable.
It would be good to get a view from @edmundintokyo, assuming his username applies literally.
Interesting that the BBC correspondence who lived there for 10+ years appears not to speak very much of the language. Seems like would make fully judging Japanese society quite tricky, as Japan is notorious for a culture that without speaking the language to a very high level makes many factettes nearly impenetrable.
Definitely worth a read. His explanation of how the Japanese housing market works is remarkable. I have not seen that before.
It's why the whole mindset of building *affordable* homes gets the problem back to front. Homes are unaffordable because of artificial scarcity...
and because of easy money, loose lending requirements, low property taxation, and lack of restrictions for foreign buyers.
To some degree but all of those things are secondary and focusing on them can become a displacement activity. I note that you didn't mention immigration which obviously has a direct effect on competition for accommodation.
Erich Vad, ex advisor to Merkel and co-architect of her flawed policy towards Russia, is back again advocating against arms supplies to Ukraine. He has been consistently wrong on Ukraine/Russia since Feb24, but this time he is also spreading lies
This is all starting to feel like 2003 again, except that this time we are risking nuclear annihilation. I'm guessing that those who are keen to go in against Russia with guns blazing are the same people who were beating the drum for the invasion of Iraq.
Yes, Russia needs to be pushed out of Ukraine, but not at the cost of sparking a nuclear disaster.
He's selling the "Civil war in Ukraine" narrative vs the reality of a Russian invasion, followed by Russia spending a lot of time and money creating "rebellions" in Eastern Ukraine.
The truth lies somewhere between the two extremes. It is a fact that was was a large Russian speaking minority in the Donbas who were very unhappy with the government in Kyiv. It is also a fact that the Russians took advantage of this situation and helped to ferment and support the rebellion.
Until relatively recently (last 5 years maybe) almost everybody in Ukraine spoke Russian in my experience. Ukrainian was thought of as the language of hillbillies and peasants, Zarkappatia oblatst excepted where they speak Hungarian.
The Servant of the People show that propelled the Ukrainian Les Dennis to the Presidency was recorded and broadcast with 99% Russian dialogue.
I mean, I know you're a Russophile, but don't you think that phrases like "Ukrainian was thought of as the language of hillbillies and peasants" highlights exactly why so many Ukrainians are fighting to rid themselves of the poisonous Russian influence?
Wasn't it the Russians who were thought of as hillbillies and peasants by the pre-WW1 Eurpoean aristocracy?
One interesting thins we've seen with this war so far is that it appears there is a vast gulf between rich and poor in Russia, between urban Muscovite or St Petersburg-dweller, and those who live in small settlements far to the east. The former are generally using the latter as cannon-fodder; at least that's the way it seems to me.
Perhaps it's the Muscovites who see ither Russians as hillbillies and peasants? In fact, you don't have to go too far back in our history to see similar sentiments.
Eliots famously sardonic line in the Waste Land draws heavily on the snobbery of the old aristocracies of the 19th and early 20th century:
Bin gar keine Russin, stamm aus Litauen, echt Deutsch. [I'm not a Russian, I come from Lithuania, genuine German.]
The whole point was that even Russian aristos were regarded as a bit peasanty, hence the sharp denial.
Not sure how Muscovites and St Pete's folk view the rest. Tolstoy doesn't give the impression of much sneering, but I've read few other Russian authors so maybe that's misleading.
Dead Souls by N. V. Gogol is the book you need. Then Master and Margarita by M. A. Bulgakov.
Why were the Latvians Lenin’s Praetorian guard? I thought Latvians didn’t like bolsheviks and Soviet Union? How did the Latvians end up as his Guard?
Correction: SOME Latvians. The other Latvians fought successfully for their independence from the Soviets in 1918-1919.
Totally misses the issue with Cobalt....75% of world supply from the Congo, mined by hand in appalling conditions, and obviously given that eco concerns don't even feature, more not getting killed by armed gangs who act as mafia shaking down the mines / miners.
Ligue 1: Lens are 3 points behind leaders PSG halfway through the season but with boost you can back them for the title at 29. Marseille, just 2 points further back, can be backed at 23 with boost.
PSG still favourites but those odds look out of whack given the state of play. Odds with Ladbrokes.
Forget seatbelt gate etc. Going to be a tough sell for the Tories to keep places like this. If Poundland can't even stay open, your town centre is proper f##ked, and its the sort of thing people notice every day.
Anyone come across these changes in the Highway Code? Came in nearly a year ago. There seems to be little awareness of the changes and they seem radical. I've not noticed anyone complying with new rules re: pedestrians at junctions for example.
Interesting that the BBC correspondence who lived there for 10+ years appears not to speak very much of the language. Seems like would make fully judging Japanese society quite tricky, as Japan is notorious for a culture that without speaking the language to a very high level makes many factettes nearly impenetrable.
That's an interesting article, and worth 10 minutes of anybody's time. Particularly that houses tend to depreciate and that Japanese housing is better as a result. I'm not sure I'd necessarily want to live in a built environment in which almost every building was less than 30 years old. I like old buildings. But it's hard to argue that the British are doing urban particularly well.
Waves from Dubai, where old buildings are 20 years old.
It’s great, there’s HVAC and fibre internet everywhere!
DeSantis is running - otherwise is there any point to this crap ?
Florida teachers told to remove books from classroom libraries or risk felony prosecution https://popular.info/p/florida-teachers-told-to-remove-books ...In an interview with Popular Information, Chapman said that the policy was put into place last week in response to HB 1467, which was signed into law by DeSantis last March. That law established that teachers could not be trusted to select books appropriate for their students. Instead, the law requires:
Each book made available to students through a school district library media center or included in a recommended or assigned school or grade-level reading list must be selected by a school district employee who holds a valid educational media specialist certificate, regardless of whether the book is purchased, donated, or otherwise made available to students.
In Florida, school librarians are called "media specialists" and hold media specialist certificates. A rule passed by the Florida Department of Education last week states that a "library media center" includes any books made available to students, including in classrooms. This means that classroom libraries that are curated by teachers, not librarians, are now illegal. ..
Hasn’t it always been the case, that school libraries don’t contain porn, but rather age-appropriate resources?
The problem now, is that too many people in the US education system appear to be in favour of the porn in schools.
“Banning books” is wildly popular with parents, once the context is explained.
Interesting that the BBC correspondence who lived there for 10+ years appears not to speak very much of the language. Seems like would make fully judging Japanese society quite tricky, as Japan is notorious for a culture that without speaking the language to a very high level makes many factettes nearly impenetrable.
That's an interesting article, and worth 10 minutes of anybody's time. Particularly that houses tend to depreciate and that Japanese housing is better as a result. I'm not sure I'd necessarily want to live in a built environment in which almost every building was less than 30 years old. I like old buildings. But it's hard to argue that the British are doing urban particularly well.
Waves from Dubai, where old buildings are 20 years old.
It’s great, there’s HVAC and fibre internet everywhere!
Sometimes "easy money, loose lending requirements, low property taxation, and lack of restrictions for foreign buyers" can be turned to a location's advantage.
In 35 years of observing HMG’s Russia policy, I’ve never seen anything as shocking as HMT’s reported granting of a special licence allowing sanctioned Russian war criminal Prigozhin to sue investigator Eliot Higgins for libel in London. Parliament must investigate this urgently. https://mobile.twitter.com/Chris_D_Steele/status/1617852892836401152
DeSantis is running - otherwise is there any point to this crap ?
Florida teachers told to remove books from classroom libraries or risk felony prosecution https://popular.info/p/florida-teachers-told-to-remove-books ...In an interview with Popular Information, Chapman said that the policy was put into place last week in response to HB 1467, which was signed into law by DeSantis last March. That law established that teachers could not be trusted to select books appropriate for their students. Instead, the law requires:
Each book made available to students through a school district library media center or included in a recommended or assigned school or grade-level reading list must be selected by a school district employee who holds a valid educational media specialist certificate, regardless of whether the book is purchased, donated, or otherwise made available to students.
In Florida, school librarians are called "media specialists" and hold media specialist certificates. A rule passed by the Florida Department of Education last week states that a "library media center" includes any books made available to students, including in classrooms. This means that classroom libraries that are curated by teachers, not librarians, are now illegal. ..
Hasn’t it always been the case, that school libraries don’t contain porn, but rather age-appropriate resources?
The problem now, is that too many people in the US education system appear to be in favour of the porn in schools.
“Banning books” is wildly popular with parents, once the context is explained.
This law makes it a criminal felony offence for a teacher to have any books in the classroom not pre-approved by a librarian.
Interesting that the BBC correspondence who lived there for 10+ years appears not to speak very much of the language. Seems like would make fully judging Japanese society quite tricky, as Japan is notorious for a culture that without speaking the language to a very high level makes many factettes nearly impenetrable.
That's an interesting article, and worth 10 minutes of anybody's time. Particularly that houses tend to depreciate and that Japanese housing is better as a result. I'm not sure I'd necessarily want to live in a built environment in which almost every building was less than 30 years old. I like old buildings. But it's hard to argue that the British are doing urban particularly well.
Waves from Dubai, where old buildings are 20 years old.
It’s great, there’s HVAC and fibre internet everywhere!
I was talking to an academic studying retrofit, whose somewhat gloomy view was that - taking a 60-year assessment window, which isn't unreasonable given the typical age of the British house - in most cases ( - aside from fairly unusual instances that the historical value of a house is particularly high) we would be financially much better off knocking down our housing stock and starting again building houses which are rather more energy efficient.
Erich Vad, ex advisor to Merkel and co-architect of her flawed policy towards Russia, is back again advocating against arms supplies to Ukraine. He has been consistently wrong on Ukraine/Russia since Feb24, but this time he is also spreading lies
This is all starting to feel like 2003 again, except that this time we are risking nuclear annihilation. I'm guessing that those who are keen to go in against Russia with guns blazing are the same people who were beating the drum for the invasion of Iraq.
Yes, Russia needs to be pushed out of Ukraine, but not at the cost of sparking a nuclear disaster.
He's selling the "Civil war in Ukraine" narrative vs the reality of a Russian invasion, followed by Russia spending a lot of time and money creating "rebellions" in Eastern Ukraine.
The truth lies somewhere between the two extremes. It is a fact that was was a large Russian speaking minority in the Donbas who were very unhappy with the government in Kyiv. It is also a fact that the Russians took advantage of this situation and helped to ferment and support the rebellion.
Until relatively recently (last 5 years maybe) almost everybody in Ukraine spoke Russian in my experience. Ukrainian was thought of as the language of hillbillies and peasants, Zarkappatia oblatst excepted where they speak Hungarian.
The Servant of the People show that propelled the Ukrainian Les Dennis to the Presidency was recorded and broadcast with 99% Russian dialogue.
Since nearly everyone in Scotland speaks English as their first language, they all want to be English.
DeSantis is running - otherwise is there any point to this crap ?
Florida teachers told to remove books from classroom libraries or risk felony prosecution https://popular.info/p/florida-teachers-told-to-remove-books ...In an interview with Popular Information, Chapman said that the policy was put into place last week in response to HB 1467, which was signed into law by DeSantis last March. That law established that teachers could not be trusted to select books appropriate for their students. Instead, the law requires:
Each book made available to students through a school district library media center or included in a recommended or assigned school or grade-level reading list must be selected by a school district employee who holds a valid educational media specialist certificate, regardless of whether the book is purchased, donated, or otherwise made available to students.
In Florida, school librarians are called "media specialists" and hold media specialist certificates. A rule passed by the Florida Department of Education last week states that a "library media center" includes any books made available to students, including in classrooms. This means that classroom libraries that are curated by teachers, not librarians, are now illegal. ..
Hasn’t it always been the case, that school libraries don’t contain porn, but rather age-appropriate resources?
The problem now, is that too many people in the US education system appear to be in favour of the porn in schools.
“Banning books” is wildly popular with parents, once the context is explained.
This is bullshit. There are plenty of books that have been banned by DeSantis that aren't porn and that he hasn't given evidence of why he has banned them. You claiming it's just people being in favor of porn in schools protesting is despicable. Its the same disgusting political debate as the DeSantis folks banning teachers from discussing the existence of gay people and then calling anyone that protests "groomers".
DeSantis is a monster. He is now passing a law banning the Board of Health from barring rogue doctors that spread false COVID vaccine claims. He is willing for people to die to help himself be the nominee.
Can I just say that that was yet another excellent thread header by @Cyclefree on the previous thread which I am sorry to have missed through ill health. It is slightly disappointing that the thread went off topic so fast but I suppose there is not much more that can be said about this.
One novel spin came from an SNP councillor in Dundee at the weekend. She compared, in all seriousness, the actions of the UK government in blocking the Gender Recognition bill with those of the Nazis at Auschwitz. Both, apparently, involved persecuting minorities for their sexual orientation. Every day is a learning day in the City of DIscovery.
What is it with people comparing things they dislike to the Holocaust?
Last stop on the Hyperbole Train, in the middle of a failed bridge over a yawning void.....
DeSantis is running - otherwise is there any point to this crap ?
Florida teachers told to remove books from classroom libraries or risk felony prosecution https://popular.info/p/florida-teachers-told-to-remove-books ...In an interview with Popular Information, Chapman said that the policy was put into place last week in response to HB 1467, which was signed into law by DeSantis last March. That law established that teachers could not be trusted to select books appropriate for their students. Instead, the law requires:
Each book made available to students through a school district library media center or included in a recommended or assigned school or grade-level reading list must be selected by a school district employee who holds a valid educational media specialist certificate, regardless of whether the book is purchased, donated, or otherwise made available to students.
In Florida, school librarians are called "media specialists" and hold media specialist certificates. A rule passed by the Florida Department of Education last week states that a "library media center" includes any books made available to students, including in classrooms. This means that classroom libraries that are curated by teachers, not librarians, are now illegal. ..
Hasn’t it always been the case, that school libraries don’t contain porn, but rather age-appropriate resources?
The problem now, is that too many people in the US education system appear to be in favour of the porn in schools.
“Banning books” is wildly popular with parents, once the context is explained.
This law makes it a criminal felony offence for a teacher to have any books in the classroom not pre-approved by a librarian.
It's nuts.
Yes, it’s a felony to show porn to children. Why shouldn’t that be the case?
Erich Vad, ex advisor to Merkel and co-architect of her flawed policy towards Russia, is back again advocating against arms supplies to Ukraine. He has been consistently wrong on Ukraine/Russia since Feb24, but this time he is also spreading lies
This is all starting to feel like 2003 again, except that this time we are risking nuclear annihilation. I'm guessing that those who are keen to go in against Russia with guns blazing are the same people who were beating the drum for the invasion of Iraq.
Yes, Russia needs to be pushed out of Ukraine, but not at the cost of sparking a nuclear disaster.
He's selling the "Civil war in Ukraine" narrative vs the reality of a Russian invasion, followed by Russia spending a lot of time and money creating "rebellions" in Eastern Ukraine.
The truth lies somewhere between the two extremes. It is a fact that was was a large Russian speaking minority in the Donbas who were very unhappy with the government in Kyiv. It is also a fact that the Russians took advantage of this situation and helped to ferment and support the rebellion.
Until relatively recently (last 5 years maybe) almost everybody in Ukraine spoke Russian in my experience. Ukrainian was thought of as the language of hillbillies and peasants, Zarkappatia oblatst excepted where they speak Hungarian.
The Servant of the People show that propelled the Ukrainian Les Dennis to the Presidency was recorded and broadcast with 99% Russian dialogue.
Since nearly everyone in Scotland speaks English as their first language, they all want to be English.
Obviously, really.
And the Irish. All these Russian simps hate the fact that the Ukrainian President has shown himself to be role model and hero.
DeSantis is running - otherwise is there any point to this crap ?
Florida teachers told to remove books from classroom libraries or risk felony prosecution https://popular.info/p/florida-teachers-told-to-remove-books ...In an interview with Popular Information, Chapman said that the policy was put into place last week in response to HB 1467, which was signed into law by DeSantis last March. That law established that teachers could not be trusted to select books appropriate for their students. Instead, the law requires:
Each book made available to students through a school district library media center or included in a recommended or assigned school or grade-level reading list must be selected by a school district employee who holds a valid educational media specialist certificate, regardless of whether the book is purchased, donated, or otherwise made available to students.
In Florida, school librarians are called "media specialists" and hold media specialist certificates. A rule passed by the Florida Department of Education last week states that a "library media center" includes any books made available to students, including in classrooms. This means that classroom libraries that are curated by teachers, not librarians, are now illegal. ..
Hasn’t it always been the case, that school libraries don’t contain porn, but rather age-appropriate resources?
The problem now, is that too many people in the US education system appear to be in favour of the porn in schools.
“Banning books” is wildly popular with parents, once the context is explained.
This law makes it a criminal felony offence for a teacher to have any books in the classroom not pre-approved by a librarian.
It's nuts.
Yes, it’s a felony to show porn to children. Why shouldn’t that be the case?
DeSantis is running - otherwise is there any point to this crap ?
Florida teachers told to remove books from classroom libraries or risk felony prosecution https://popular.info/p/florida-teachers-told-to-remove-books ...In an interview with Popular Information, Chapman said that the policy was put into place last week in response to HB 1467, which was signed into law by DeSantis last March. That law established that teachers could not be trusted to select books appropriate for their students. Instead, the law requires:
Each book made available to students through a school district library media center or included in a recommended or assigned school or grade-level reading list must be selected by a school district employee who holds a valid educational media specialist certificate, regardless of whether the book is purchased, donated, or otherwise made available to students.
In Florida, school librarians are called "media specialists" and hold media specialist certificates. A rule passed by the Florida Department of Education last week states that a "library media center" includes any books made available to students, including in classrooms. This means that classroom libraries that are curated by teachers, not librarians, are now illegal. ..
Hasn’t it always been the case, that school libraries don’t contain porn, but rather age-appropriate resources?
The problem now, is that too many people in the US education system appear to be in favour of the porn in schools.
“Banning books” is wildly popular with parents, once the context is explained.
This law makes it a criminal felony offence for a teacher to have any books in the classroom not pre-approved by a librarian.
It's nuts.
Yes, it’s a felony to show porn to children. Why shouldn’t that be the case?
But Russia wont accept Crimea as Ukraine, they wouldn’t stop trying to re take it, so it wouldn’t be war over at any point, not an end. And I fear now ditto for much of the territory they have now taken, they will continually war for it, what actually stops this?
The War will end when it affects the re-election chances of Western politicians.
And the solution will be some territory seceded for some security guarantees.
Appreciating that there is a Czechoslovakian precedent for other countries ceding territory on another's behalf (we'll leave you to decide whether that worked in the longer term or not), just in 1938 Czechoslovakia could've fought DESPITE the withdrawal of guarantees by France and Britain, what will happen if Ukraine refuses to abide by this 'treaty' and keeps fighting?
Will we also see an Act of Parliament banning my Monthly Standing Order?
We need to go back to @rcs1000 's shrewd dictum. Countries don't have friends, they have interests.
Ukraine wants things from the West -- NATO membership or EU fast-track. It will do what the West tells it. That is what is in its long term interest.
At the moment, the War is in the USA's interests. It won't stop until it isn't. Then it will stop.
-------
As regards Czechoslovakia, there is little doubt that a plebiscite in the Sudetenland in 1938 would have produced a huge majority in favour of joining Germany.
A few years ago, I went to Terezin (or in German, Theresienstadt) to visit the bleak concentration camp.
Terezin is just 30 miles North of Prague, now deep in the heart of the Czech Republic.
I was absolutely astonished to discover that between the Wars, Terezin was a German speaking town that elected a German mayor.
We forget how many Germans there were in this part of the world before the population movements consequent to WW2.
Interesting that the BBC correspondence who lived there for 10+ years appears not to speak very much of the language. Seems like would make fully judging Japanese society quite tricky, as Japan is notorious for a culture that without speaking the language to a very high level makes many factettes nearly impenetrable.
That's an interesting article, and worth 10 minutes of anybody's time. Particularly that houses tend to depreciate and that Japanese housing is better as a result. I'm not sure I'd necessarily want to live in a built environment in which almost every building was less than 30 years old. I like old buildings. But it's hard to argue that the British are doing urban particularly well.
Waves from Dubai, where old buildings are 20 years old.
It’s great, there’s HVAC and fibre internet everywhere!
I was talking to an academic studying retrofit, whose somewhat gloomy view was that - taking a 60-year assessment window, which isn't unreasonable given the typical age of the British house - in most cases ( - aside from fairly unusual instances that the historical value of a house is particularly high) we would be financially much better off knocking down our housing stock and starting again building houses which are rather more energy efficient.
Indeed so. I was visiting my brother over Christmas, he lives in the North of England, in an estate where large (1/3 acre) plots were laid out with relatively small (but 4-bed) houses in the 1960s. Over time many have been extended, some have been extended several times. The Holy Grail for today’s buyer though, is the unimproved property - because it’s destined to be flattened and replaced with a new house.
Erich Vad, ex advisor to Merkel and co-architect of her flawed policy towards Russia, is back again advocating against arms supplies to Ukraine. He has been consistently wrong on Ukraine/Russia since Feb24, but this time he is also spreading lies
This is all starting to feel like 2003 again, except that this time we are risking nuclear annihilation. I'm guessing that those who are keen to go in against Russia with guns blazing are the same people who were beating the drum for the invasion of Iraq.
Yes, Russia needs to be pushed out of Ukraine, but not at the cost of sparking a nuclear disaster.
He's selling the "Civil war in Ukraine" narrative vs the reality of a Russian invasion, followed by Russia spending a lot of time and money creating "rebellions" in Eastern Ukraine.
The truth lies somewhere between the two extremes. It is a fact that was was a large Russian speaking minority in the Donbas who were very unhappy with the government in Kyiv. It is also a fact that the Russians took advantage of this situation and helped to ferment and support the rebellion.
Until relatively recently (last 5 years maybe) almost everybody in Ukraine spoke Russian in my experience. Ukrainian was thought of as the language of hillbillies and peasants, Zarkappatia oblatst excepted where they speak Hungarian.
The Servant of the People show that propelled the Ukrainian Les Dennis to the Presidency was recorded and broadcast with 99% Russian dialogue.
I mean, I know you're a Russophile, but don't you think that phrases like "Ukrainian was thought of as the language of hillbillies and peasants" highlights exactly why so many Ukrainians are fighting to rid themselves of the poisonous Russian influence?
As we were told, invading a country, taking it over, forcing the inhabitants to behave as you want, re-enacting the fun bits from Heart of Darkness, all while wearing a pith helmet, isn't colonialism.
It's only colonialism when the Uncool People do it.
Who could doubt it? That impeachable source, Ghislaine Maxwell has also said THAT photo is forged. Again, does this help or hinder?
That photo always looked dodgy to me: something not quite right about Andrew's torso position. And when I later saw the uncropped version, with the grinning Ghislaine in the background, I was even more suspicious. And then when I heard the original has been mysteriously lost...
Progressive taxation under Labour the Tories: FYI, a couple of interesting (🤓) tables on income #tax from #HMRC (basically showing 'the rich' *are* paying more tax)...
1. the % shares of total income tax paid by different income groups (the shares paid by the top 10%, 5% and 1% have all risen over the last decade... (1/2)
2. the percentage shares of total income for each percentile group (these haven't changed much over the last decade, meaning that higher earners are paying more #tax on roughly the same share of income). (2/2) https://twitter.com/julianhjessop/status/1617601327856586752
Oh no, not data!
Opinion, that “the rich” need to be taxed more, is much easier to sell to the electorate as a whole, who never think it will affect *them*. IIRC the top decile starts at about £60k annual income, way lower than most people think it would be.
More seriously, those numbers are a precursor to emigration (and immigration forgone), and it doesn’t need many of the top 1% to change their behavior, to have a large effect on the total tax take.
That tiktok video is absolutely devastating. It explains middle class impoverishment in the UK, the guy was an experienced primary school teacher in the UK in his mid 30's earning £33k, and only had £170 per month to live on after he had paid his living expenses... So actually, you would have to increase his wage by about 10k to make it worth him staying in the UK, IE so he could save up to buy a house, and THEN uprate the pay by inflation every year going forward. None of that will happen. What we have now got is the problems of London of the past 2 decades (where you can only live if you are a co-habiting couple or live in a houseshare) expanded to the whole country.
Yes, absolutely. The problems are housing costs, housing costs, and housing costs.
Build more houses. Lots more houses. Then build yet more houses.
The problems are deeper than this I am afraid. I think that you could build as many houses as you want in Redcar but build costs and regulation mean that a 1 bed flat will always be £600 per month either in terms of rent or mortgage payments... The problem is everything to do with the cost of building and regulation. Unfortunately, unless you want to try and reduce regulation or find a way of building housing for less... The only real solution is to increase wages.
A large portion of the cost of construction is the wages. Not just direct, but in the cost of materials.
Wages, especially for the lower paid, are defined, largely, by housing cost.
Note, historically, the interest by forward thinking employers in providing reasonable quality homes close to their bsuinesses.
It is about a 70/30 split I think, wages/materials for the basic standard of housebuilding, which is based on a lot of manual labour. But there have been big increases in the minimum wage, obviously reflecting general inflation. If demand for housebuilding goes down, then build costs could go down, but this will be symptomatic of not much housebuilding going on, which would have its own negative consequences.
Build costs might well go up, if there was a serious contraction in house building.
If house prices go down, the pressure will be on build costs.
The way to fix build costs, is with technology. Prefab houses offsite, and ship them in on half a dozen lorries. Government to underwrite 20-year mortgages on them if built to a defined standard. A handful of factories could churn out hundreds of units per week. Target price £100k for a 3-bed, plus land cost.
It requires the same effort that went into housebuilding post-WWII - and an understanding from government, that housing is the nation’s highest priority.
It's interesting how pre-fabs have taken off in some areas (e.g. quite a few on Shetland - I've stayed in one, which was a great house) but almost unknown in others. We need to get out of the mindset that pre-fab = post-war tin bungalow, I guess.
Selebian, I grew up in such a tin-shed in Hackney Wick. It was warm, dry, comfortable and had a fridge and a bath, luxuries that were indeed rare in the neighbourhood at that time. It also had a large garden and a couple of sheds, one for the coal and the other for storage.
It was a delight and a privilege to live there and I can only think that post-war planners must have made a mistake in their calculations when making such generous housing available to oiks like us.
Would that the inhabitants of Grenfell Towers and the like have been so lucky. Even if not incinerated, the residents of such blocks would have envied us our delightful little detached bungalows.
A good deal of the post war tower blocks were about stacking poor people vertically. Freeing up lots of lovely land for friends of the council.
Erich Vad, ex advisor to Merkel and co-architect of her flawed policy towards Russia, is back again advocating against arms supplies to Ukraine. He has been consistently wrong on Ukraine/Russia since Feb24, but this time he is also spreading lies
This is all starting to feel like 2003 again, except that this time we are risking nuclear annihilation. I'm guessing that those who are keen to go in against Russia with guns blazing are the same people who were beating the drum for the invasion of Iraq.
Yes, Russia needs to be pushed out of Ukraine, but not at the cost of sparking a nuclear disaster.
Yes, I read his article. It basically argues, in terms, that Washington and Moscow should agree to partition Ukraine as the war cannot be won.
His argument is actually for self-determination, but whether that can actually be achieved now is a moot point.
These are his words. ….Der Schlüssel für die Lösung des Konfliktes liegt nicht in Kiew, er liegt auch nicht in Berlin, Brüssel oder Paris, er liegt in Washington und Moskau. Es ist doch lächerlich zu sagen, die Ukraine müsse das entscheiden...
These are also his words:
Man sollte die Menschen in der Region, also im Donbass und auf der Krim, einfach fragen, zu wem sie gehören wollen. Man müsste die territoriale Integrität der Ukraine wiederherstellen, mit bestimmten westlichen Garantien.
Referendums in occupied territories are worth what ?
They have been done before. Unsurprisingly, when a territory is in dispute, it is also normally occupied by someone or other.
Given where we are, we should draw an arbitrary squiggly line and give the Eastern portion to Russia.
The only argument is where the squiggly line should be placed to minimize future conflict.
It won't be possible to eliminate all future conflict, but a grossly unfair squiggly line will guarantee another War. A solution returning Crimea to Ukraine 100 per cent guarantees another War.
So, it is a non-linear optimization with penalty problem.
There are some who venerate Khrushchev & think he solved the non-linear optimization problem correctly.
There was a perfectly good line drawn between Russia and Ukraine from 1991 until 2014, under international treaty accepted by the rest of the world. No-one, except Putin, would object to that line being restored.
The line should be chosen to solve an optimization problem to minimize future conflict.
There is nothing special about any squiggly line, and it can change with time.
The squiggly line in N. Ireland was drawn (by the British) to solve an optimization problem in 1921: What is the maximum amount of territory that could be safely claimed to ensure a Unionist majority?
I expect the squiggly line in N Ireland will change in the future. Ditto any squiggly line between Country X and Country Y.
No squiggly line is inviolate.
The collective pretence that squiggly lines are inviolate is the best deterrence to war and guarantor of peace. If Ukraine is able to restore the 1991-2014 borders it will be a powerful signal of the futility of armed aggression as a means to redraw squiggly lines.
It will greatly reduce the likelihood of future conflicts over squiggly lines on maps.
Whilst I like your posts, I think on this you are very wrong.
I don’t see how Ukraine taking Crimea ends the war, the Russians will keep fighting till they get it back. Happy to be explained how I am wrong in that. So how does this war end?
For example Boris in Daily Mail says let’s give Ukraine what they need to win this war - but does he, and everyone who agrees with him on that, know what “win” and “it’s over” actually is?
It's unpredictable, of course. But it's not going to end until Putin gives up the attempt to conquer Ukraine - which probably means taking back all the territory taken since last year, at a minimum.
Why and how does that make Russia stop fighting?
Can you defend the Russian govt. here?
"The new law bans "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations" amongst all age groups. Anyone caught committing this "offence" could be fined up to 400,000 roubles ($5,840; £4,730), with much higher fines for organisations or journalists."
DeSantis is running - otherwise is there any point to this crap ?
Florida teachers told to remove books from classroom libraries or risk felony prosecution https://popular.info/p/florida-teachers-told-to-remove-books ...In an interview with Popular Information, Chapman said that the policy was put into place last week in response to HB 1467, which was signed into law by DeSantis last March. That law established that teachers could not be trusted to select books appropriate for their students. Instead, the law requires:
Each book made available to students through a school district library media center or included in a recommended or assigned school or grade-level reading list must be selected by a school district employee who holds a valid educational media specialist certificate, regardless of whether the book is purchased, donated, or otherwise made available to students.
In Florida, school librarians are called "media specialists" and hold media specialist certificates. A rule passed by the Florida Department of Education last week states that a "library media center" includes any books made available to students, including in classrooms. This means that classroom libraries that are curated by teachers, not librarians, are now illegal. ..
Hasn’t it always been the case, that school libraries don’t contain porn, but rather age-appropriate resources?
The problem now, is that too many people in the US education system appear to be in favour of the porn in schools.
“Banning books” is wildly popular with parents, once the context is explained.
Apparently you are unaware of the IDEOLOGICAL basis of book banning in schools in USA? Over MANY decades? By various fractions, left (for example, debates over "Huckleberry Finn" & N-word) and right.
But mostly from the right. Often with an EXTREMELY broad definition of "pornography" to say the least.
DeSantis is running - otherwise is there any point to this crap ?
Florida teachers told to remove books from classroom libraries or risk felony prosecution https://popular.info/p/florida-teachers-told-to-remove-books ...In an interview with Popular Information, Chapman said that the policy was put into place last week in response to HB 1467, which was signed into law by DeSantis last March. That law established that teachers could not be trusted to select books appropriate for their students. Instead, the law requires:
Each book made available to students through a school district library media center or included in a recommended or assigned school or grade-level reading list must be selected by a school district employee who holds a valid educational media specialist certificate, regardless of whether the book is purchased, donated, or otherwise made available to students.
In Florida, school librarians are called "media specialists" and hold media specialist certificates. A rule passed by the Florida Department of Education last week states that a "library media center" includes any books made available to students, including in classrooms. This means that classroom libraries that are curated by teachers, not librarians, are now illegal. ..
Hasn’t it always been the case, that school libraries don’t contain porn, but rather age-appropriate resources?
The problem now, is that too many people in the US education system appear to be in favour of the porn in schools.
“Banning books” is wildly popular with parents, once the context is explained.
This law makes it a criminal felony offence for a teacher to have any books in the classroom not pre-approved by a librarian.
It's nuts.
Yes, it’s a felony to show porn to children. Why shouldn’t that be the case?
No, it does more than that. Stop lying.
We are talking about books such as “Gender Queer”, which is very much an adult book, and contains graphic descriptions and illustrations of unusual sexual activity between adults. That is being introduced into primary schools. That’s what this law is about.
DeSantis is running - otherwise is there any point to this crap ?
Florida teachers told to remove books from classroom libraries or risk felony prosecution https://popular.info/p/florida-teachers-told-to-remove-books ...In an interview with Popular Information, Chapman said that the policy was put into place last week in response to HB 1467, which was signed into law by DeSantis last March. That law established that teachers could not be trusted to select books appropriate for their students. Instead, the law requires:
Each book made available to students through a school district library media center or included in a recommended or assigned school or grade-level reading list must be selected by a school district employee who holds a valid educational media specialist certificate, regardless of whether the book is purchased, donated, or otherwise made available to students.
In Florida, school librarians are called "media specialists" and hold media specialist certificates. A rule passed by the Florida Department of Education last week states that a "library media center" includes any books made available to students, including in classrooms. This means that classroom libraries that are curated by teachers, not librarians, are now illegal. ..
Hasn’t it always been the case, that school libraries don’t contain porn, but rather age-appropriate resources?
The problem now, is that too many people in the US education system appear to be in favour of the porn in schools.
“Banning books” is wildly popular with parents, once the context is explained.
This law makes it a criminal felony offence for a teacher to have any books in the classroom not pre-approved by a librarian.
It's nuts.
Yes, it’s a felony to show porn to children. Why shouldn’t that be the case?
No, it does more than that. Stop lying.
We are talking about books such as “Gender Queer”, which is very much an adult book, and contains graphic descriptions and illustrations of unusual sexual activity between adults. That is being introduced into primary schools. That’s what this law is about.
DeSantis is running - otherwise is there any point to this crap ?
Florida teachers told to remove books from classroom libraries or risk felony prosecution https://popular.info/p/florida-teachers-told-to-remove-books ...In an interview with Popular Information, Chapman said that the policy was put into place last week in response to HB 1467, which was signed into law by DeSantis last March. That law established that teachers could not be trusted to select books appropriate for their students. Instead, the law requires:
Each book made available to students through a school district library media center or included in a recommended or assigned school or grade-level reading list must be selected by a school district employee who holds a valid educational media specialist certificate, regardless of whether the book is purchased, donated, or otherwise made available to students.
In Florida, school librarians are called "media specialists" and hold media specialist certificates. A rule passed by the Florida Department of Education last week states that a "library media center" includes any books made available to students, including in classrooms. This means that classroom libraries that are curated by teachers, not librarians, are now illegal. ..
Hasn’t it always been the case, that school libraries don’t contain porn, but rather age-appropriate resources?
The problem now, is that too many people in the US education system appear to be in favour of the porn in schools.
“Banning books” is wildly popular with parents, once the context is explained.
This law makes it a criminal felony offence for a teacher to have any books in the classroom not pre-approved by a librarian.
It's nuts.
Yes, it’s a felony to show porn to children. Why shouldn’t that be the case?
No, it does more than that. Stop lying.
We are talking about books such as “Gender Queer”, which is very much an adult book, and contains graphic descriptions and illustrations of unusual sexual activity between adults. That is being introduced into primary schools. That’s what this law is about.
Read the description (from NPR, as close as America has to the BBC) of this book, and tell me it’s appropriate for seven year olds.
Indeed, and while I don't like the concept of dictating to teachers what books they can and cannot use, if certain Floridian teachers are weirdly determined to use books such as this, I'm not really sure what other methods there are for politicians to stop it.
NYT ($) - Several Top Officials Fired Amid Corruption Crackdown in Ukraine
A series of dismissals marks the biggest shake-up of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s government since the war began.
The firings come amid a ballooning corruption scandal involving military purchases. The shake-up of government officials ‘responds to a key public demand,’ a Zelensky adviser says.
Several top Ukrainian officials were fired on Tuesday, including the governors of several Ukrainian regions, amid a ballooning corruption scandal. The move marked the biggest upheaval in President Volodymyr Zelensky’s government since Russia’s invasion began 11 months ago.
Ukraine’s cabinet ministry, which announced the firings on the Telegram social messaging app, provided no details about the reason, but it followed reports that Ukraine’s military had agreed to pay inflated prices for food meant for Ukrainian troops.
Earlier on Tuesday, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense said that Viacheslav Shapovalov, a deputy minister, had “asked to be fired” following the reports. The ministry said in a statement that relieving Mr. Shapovalov of his duties would “preserve the trust” of Ukrainians and the country’s international partners.
While there was no sign that the procurement scandal involved the misappropriation of Western military assistance, the dismissals appeared to reflect Mr. Zelensky’s goal of reassuring Ukraine’s allies — which are sending billions of dollars in military aid — that his government would show zero tolerance for graft as it prepares for a possible new offensive by Moscow.
In addition to the officials named on Tuesday, Mr. Zelensky’s own deputy, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, tendered his resignation. Mr. Tymoshenko, the deputy head of the presidential office, was well known domestically and internationally, often tasked with providing updates on the war. But Ukrainian journalists had raised questions about his lavish lifestyle and use of government resources.
In particular, he had been criticized for zipping around in an expensive SUV that General Motors had donated for use in humanitarian missions. . . .
That it took three days for Mr. Shapovalov to step down raises serious questions about the Ministry of Defense’s commitment to rooting out corruption, said Vitaliy Shabunin, the director of operations for the Anti-Corruption Action Center, a Kyiv-based nongovernmental organization.
“A new social contract emerged during the war between civil society, journalists and the government: We will not criticize you like we did before the war, but your reaction to any scandal and ineffectiveness must be as tough as possible,” Mr. Shabunin said. “The position of the defense minister has broken this agreement.”
Erich Vad, ex advisor to Merkel and co-architect of her flawed policy towards Russia, is back again advocating against arms supplies to Ukraine. He has been consistently wrong on Ukraine/Russia since Feb24, but this time he is also spreading lies
This is all starting to feel like 2003 again, except that this time we are risking nuclear annihilation. I'm guessing that those who are keen to go in against Russia with guns blazing are the same people who were beating the drum for the invasion of Iraq.
Yes, Russia needs to be pushed out of Ukraine, but not at the cost of sparking a nuclear disaster.
He's selling the "Civil war in Ukraine" narrative vs the reality of a Russian invasion, followed by Russia spending a lot of time and money creating "rebellions" in Eastern Ukraine.
The truth lies somewhere between the two extremes. It is a fact that was was a large Russian speaking minority in the Donbas who were very unhappy with the government in Kyiv. It is also a fact that the Russians took advantage of this situation and helped to ferment and support the rebellion.
Until relatively recently (last 5 years maybe) almost everybody in Ukraine spoke Russian in my experience. Ukrainian was thought of as the language of hillbillies and peasants, Zarkappatia oblatst excepted where they speak Hungarian.
The Servant of the People show that propelled the Ukrainian Les Dennis to the Presidency was recorded and broadcast with 99% Russian dialogue.
Since nearly everyone in Scotland speaks English as their first language, they all want to be English.
Obviously, really.
And the Irish. All these Russian simps hate the fact that the Ukrainian President has shown himself to be role model and hero.
And the Welsh, the Canadians, the Australians, New Zealanders etc etc
All this separatism from Mother England is false consciousness and will lead to the collapse of Ze! English! Kulture! and inevitable conquest by WokeTransAlienIllegalImmigantAI. From NATO.
DeSantis is running - otherwise is there any point to this crap ?
Florida teachers told to remove books from classroom libraries or risk felony prosecution https://popular.info/p/florida-teachers-told-to-remove-books ...In an interview with Popular Information, Chapman said that the policy was put into place last week in response to HB 1467, which was signed into law by DeSantis last March. That law established that teachers could not be trusted to select books appropriate for their students. Instead, the law requires:
Each book made available to students through a school district library media center or included in a recommended or assigned school or grade-level reading list must be selected by a school district employee who holds a valid educational media specialist certificate, regardless of whether the book is purchased, donated, or otherwise made available to students.
In Florida, school librarians are called "media specialists" and hold media specialist certificates. A rule passed by the Florida Department of Education last week states that a "library media center" includes any books made available to students, including in classrooms. This means that classroom libraries that are curated by teachers, not librarians, are now illegal. ..
Hasn’t it always been the case, that school libraries don’t contain porn, but rather age-appropriate resources?
The problem now, is that too many people in the US education system appear to be in favour of the porn in schools.
“Banning books” is wildly popular with parents, once the context is explained.
This law makes it a criminal felony offence for a teacher to have any books in the classroom not pre-approved by a librarian.
It's nuts.
Yes, it’s a felony to show porn to children. Why shouldn’t that be the case?
No, it does more than that. Stop lying.
We are talking about books such as “Gender Queer”, which is very much an adult book, and contains graphic descriptions and illustrations of unusual sexual activity between adults. That is being introduced into primary schools. That’s what this law is about.
Read the description (from NPR, as close as America has to the BBC) of this book, and tell me it’s appropriate for seven year olds.
The new law bans "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations" amongst all age groups. Anyone caught committing this "offence" could be fined up to 400,000 roubles ($5,840; £4,730), with much higher fines for organisations or journalists."
Erich Vad, ex advisor to Merkel and co-architect of her flawed policy towards Russia, is back again advocating against arms supplies to Ukraine. He has been consistently wrong on Ukraine/Russia since Feb24, but this time he is also spreading lies
This is all starting to feel like 2003 again, except that this time we are risking nuclear annihilation. I'm guessing that those who are keen to go in against Russia with guns blazing are the same people who were beating the drum for the invasion of Iraq.
Yes, Russia needs to be pushed out of Ukraine, but not at the cost of sparking a nuclear disaster.
He's selling the "Civil war in Ukraine" narrative vs the reality of a Russian invasion, followed by Russia spending a lot of time and money creating "rebellions" in Eastern Ukraine.
The truth lies somewhere between the two extremes. It is a fact that was was a large Russian speaking minority in the Donbas who were very unhappy with the government in Kyiv. It is also a fact that the Russians took advantage of this situation and helped to ferment and support the rebellion.
Until relatively recently (last 5 years maybe) almost everybody in Ukraine spoke Russian in my experience. Ukrainian was thought of as the language of hillbillies and peasants, Zarkappatia oblatst excepted where they speak Hungarian.
The Servant of the People show that propelled the Ukrainian Les Dennis to the Presidency was recorded and broadcast with 99% Russian dialogue.
Since nearly everyone in Scotland speaks English as their first language, they all want to be English.
Obviously, really.
And the Irish. All these Russian simps hate the fact that the Ukrainian President has shown himself to be role model and hero.
And the Welsh, the Canadians, the Australians, New Zealanders etc etc
All this separatism from Mother England is false consciousness and will lead to the collapse of Ze! English! Kulture! and inevitable conquest by WokeTransAlienIllegalImmigantAI. From NATO.
Someone fire up The Tank!
"How lucky you English are to find the toilet so amusing. For us, it is a mundane and functional item. For you it is the basis of an entire culture."
Who could doubt it? That impeachable source, Ghislaine Maxwell has also said THAT photo is forged. Again, does this help or hinder?
If you were innocent, would you settle out of court for £12m?
The American justice system is provably, in areas, for sale.
This is not only for companies and individuals buying their way out of trouble, but it also work the other way - shakedowns.
The entire system of pre-trial settlements is corrupt in America. In both directions.
Back in the day, a certain "civil rights" organisation was famous for testifying on behalf of some quite racist people who donated to their cause. They would roll into town for an investigation, suggest a donation, then give absolution in any legal proceedings.....
Erich Vad, ex advisor to Merkel and co-architect of her flawed policy towards Russia, is back again advocating against arms supplies to Ukraine. He has been consistently wrong on Ukraine/Russia since Feb24, but this time he is also spreading lies
This is all starting to feel like 2003 again, except that this time we are risking nuclear annihilation. I'm guessing that those who are keen to go in against Russia with guns blazing are the same people who were beating the drum for the invasion of Iraq.
Yes, Russia needs to be pushed out of Ukraine, but not at the cost of sparking a nuclear disaster.
He's selling the "Civil war in Ukraine" narrative vs the reality of a Russian invasion, followed by Russia spending a lot of time and money creating "rebellions" in Eastern Ukraine.
The truth lies somewhere between the two extremes. It is a fact that was was a large Russian speaking minority in the Donbas who were very unhappy with the government in Kyiv. It is also a fact that the Russians took advantage of this situation and helped to ferment and support the rebellion.
Until relatively recently (last 5 years maybe) almost everybody in Ukraine spoke Russian in my experience. Ukrainian was thought of as the language of hillbillies and peasants, Zarkappatia oblatst excepted where they speak Hungarian.
The Servant of the People show that propelled the Ukrainian Les Dennis to the Presidency was recorded and broadcast with 99% Russian dialogue.
Since nearly everyone in Scotland speaks English as their first language, they all want to be English.
Obviously, really.
And the Irish. All these Russian simps hate the fact that the Ukrainian President has shown himself to be role model and hero.
And the Welsh, the Canadians, the Australians, New Zealanders etc etc
All this separatism from Mother England is false consciousness and will lead to the collapse of Ze! English! Kulture! and inevitable conquest by WokeTransAlienIllegalImmigantAI. From NATO.
Someone fire up The Tank!
"How lucky you English are to find the toilet so amusing. For us, it is a mundane and functional item. For you it is the basis of an entire culture."
DeSantis is running - otherwise is there any point to this crap ?
Florida teachers told to remove books from classroom libraries or risk felony prosecution https://popular.info/p/florida-teachers-told-to-remove-books ...In an interview with Popular Information, Chapman said that the policy was put into place last week in response to HB 1467, which was signed into law by DeSantis last March. That law established that teachers could not be trusted to select books appropriate for their students. Instead, the law requires:
Each book made available to students through a school district library media center or included in a recommended or assigned school or grade-level reading list must be selected by a school district employee who holds a valid educational media specialist certificate, regardless of whether the book is purchased, donated, or otherwise made available to students.
In Florida, school librarians are called "media specialists" and hold media specialist certificates. A rule passed by the Florida Department of Education last week states that a "library media center" includes any books made available to students, including in classrooms. This means that classroom libraries that are curated by teachers, not librarians, are now illegal. ..
Hasn’t it always been the case, that school libraries don’t contain porn, but rather age-appropriate resources?
The problem now, is that too many people in the US education system appear to be in favour of the porn in schools.
“Banning books” is wildly popular with parents, once the context is explained.
This law makes it a criminal felony offence for a teacher to have any books in the classroom not pre-approved by a librarian.
It's nuts.
Yes, it’s a felony to show porn to children. Why shouldn’t that be the case?
No, it does more than that. Stop lying.
We are talking about books such as “Gender Queer”, which is very much an adult book, and contains graphic descriptions and illustrations of unusual sexual activity between adults. That is being introduced into primary schools. That’s what this law is about.
Read the description (from NPR, as close as America has to the BBC) of this book, and tell me it’s appropriate for seven year olds.
A question; in your view, what should a seven year-old know about sex and gender? If not seven, how old should they be to learn such things?
Fair question. I’ll admit to being pretty conservative on this sort of thing.
I think that seven-year-olds should know that there are boys and girls, with the ‘birds and the bees’ at 10 or 11.
In my experience, the the mechanics of human reproduction were first discussed in biology lessons in the second year of secondary school, aged 12, with the social side of sex and marriage a year later, in the context of general studies and religious studies. (Private Catholic boys’ school).
I think that academic discussion of ‘alternative lifestyles’ might reasonably be broached at 14 or 15, with a lot of context and age-appropriate material. Which still doesn’t include graphic descriptions and depictions of unusual sexual activity that isn’t informative, such as explaining what can and can’t result in a pregnancy.
Anyone come across these changes in the Highway Code? Came in nearly a year ago. There seems to be little awareness of the changes and they seem radical. I've not noticed anyone complying with new rules re: pedestrians at junctions for example.
My experience has been around 50% compliance when I'm crossing the road and someone wants to turn in. So far, nobody has driven into me while I am exercising my right to cross.
Has any PB-er ever tried Tramadol? You can buy it OTC here….
The fact that comedian Frankie Boyle had a show called “Tramadol Nights”, suggests that it’s a very, good experience that you probably shouldn’t try. It’s pretty much prescription heroin.
DeSantis is running - otherwise is there any point to this crap ?
Florida teachers told to remove books from classroom libraries or risk felony prosecution https://popular.info/p/florida-teachers-told-to-remove-books ...In an interview with Popular Information, Chapman said that the policy was put into place last week in response to HB 1467, which was signed into law by DeSantis last March. That law established that teachers could not be trusted to select books appropriate for their students. Instead, the law requires:
Each book made available to students through a school district library media center or included in a recommended or assigned school or grade-level reading list must be selected by a school district employee who holds a valid educational media specialist certificate, regardless of whether the book is purchased, donated, or otherwise made available to students.
In Florida, school librarians are called "media specialists" and hold media specialist certificates. A rule passed by the Florida Department of Education last week states that a "library media center" includes any books made available to students, including in classrooms. This means that classroom libraries that are curated by teachers, not librarians, are now illegal. ..
Hasn’t it always been the case, that school libraries don’t contain porn, but rather age-appropriate resources?
The problem now, is that too many people in the US education system appear to be in favour of the porn in schools.
“Banning books” is wildly popular with parents, once the context is explained.
This law makes it a criminal felony offence for a teacher to have any books in the classroom not pre-approved by a librarian.
It's nuts.
Yes, it’s a felony to show porn to children. Why shouldn’t that be the case?
No, it does more than that. Stop lying.
We are talking about books such as “Gender Queer”, which is very much an adult book, and contains graphic descriptions and illustrations of unusual sexual activity between adults. That is being introduced into primary schools. That’s what this law is about.
Read the description (from NPR, as close as America has to the BBC) of this book, and tell me it’s appropriate for seven year olds.
A question; in your view, what should a seven year-old know about sex and gender? If not seven, how old should they be to learn such things?
Fair question. I’ll admit to being pretty conservative on this sort of thing.
I think that seven-year-olds should know that there are boys and girls, with the ‘birds and the bees’ at 10 or 11.
In my experience, the the mechanics of human reproduction were first discussed in biology lessons in the second year of secondary school, aged 12, with the social side of sex and marriage a year later, in the context of general studies and religious studies. (Private Catholic boys’ school).
I think that academic discussion of ‘alternative lifestyles’ might reasonably be broached at 14 or 15, with a lot of context and age-appropriate material. Which still doesn’t include graphic descriptions and depictions of unusual sexual activity that isn’t informative, such as explaining what can and can’t result in a pregnancy.
Interesting experience with the Pension Help line - I had assumed that making up to the full 35 years would be the best plan, but the chap pointed out that it’s not as simple as that as making up some old years and some recent years actually might give a better return - so they’ll set it out in a letter to allow me to ponder further…
In my experience, I'm one of the few motorists who knows this rule:
leave at least 1.5 metres (5 feet) when overtaking people cycling at speeds of up to 30mph, and giving them more space when overtaking at higher speeds
Erich Vad, ex advisor to Merkel and co-architect of her flawed policy towards Russia, is back again advocating against arms supplies to Ukraine. He has been consistently wrong on Ukraine/Russia since Feb24, but this time he is also spreading lies
This is all starting to feel like 2003 again, except that this time we are risking nuclear annihilation. I'm guessing that those who are keen to go in against Russia with guns blazing are the same people who were beating the drum for the invasion of Iraq.
Yes, Russia needs to be pushed out of Ukraine, but not at the cost of sparking a nuclear disaster.
Yes, I read his article. It basically argues, in terms, that Washington and Moscow should agree to partition Ukraine as the war cannot be won.
His argument is actually for self-determination, but whether that can actually be achieved now is a moot point.
These are his words. ….Der Schlüssel für die Lösung des Konfliktes liegt nicht in Kiew, er liegt auch nicht in Berlin, Brüssel oder Paris, er liegt in Washington und Moskau. Es ist doch lächerlich zu sagen, die Ukraine müsse das entscheiden...
These are also his words:
Man sollte die Menschen in der Region, also im Donbass und auf der Krim, einfach fragen, zu wem sie gehören wollen. Man müsste die territoriale Integrität der Ukraine wiederherstellen, mit bestimmten westlichen Garantien.
Referendums in occupied territories are worth what ?
They have been done before. Unsurprisingly, when a territory is in dispute, it is also normally occupied by someone or other.
Given where we are, we should draw an arbitrary squiggly line and give the Eastern portion to Russia.
The only argument is where the squiggly line should be placed to minimize future conflict.
It won't be possible to eliminate all future conflict, but a grossly unfair squiggly line will guarantee another War. A solution returning Crimea to Ukraine 100 per cent guarantees another War.
So, it is a non-linear optimization with penalty problem.
There are some who venerate Khrushchev & think he solved the non-linear optimization problem correctly.
There was a perfectly good line drawn between Russia and Ukraine from 1991 until 2014, under international treaty accepted by the rest of the world. No-one, except Putin, would object to that line being restored.
The line should be chosen to solve an optimization problem to minimize future conflict.
There is nothing special about any squiggly line, and it can change with time.
The squiggly line in N. Ireland was drawn (by the British) to solve an optimization problem in 1921: What is the maximum amount of territory that could be safely claimed to ensure a Unionist majority?
I expect the squiggly line in N Ireland will change in the future. Ditto any squiggly line between Country X and Country Y.
No squiggly line is inviolate.
The collective pretence that squiggly lines are inviolate is the best deterrence to war and guarantor of peace. If Ukraine is able to restore the 1991-2014 borders it will be a powerful signal of the futility of armed aggression as a means to redraw squiggly lines.
It will greatly reduce the likelihood of future conflicts over squiggly lines on maps.
Whilst I like your posts, I think on this you are very wrong.
I don’t see how Ukraine taking Crimea ends the war, the Russians will keep fighting till they get it back. Happy to be explained how I am wrong in that. So how does this war end?
For example Boris in Daily Mail says let’s give Ukraine what they need to win this war - but does he, and everyone who agrees with him on that, know what “win” and “it’s over” actually is?
It's unpredictable, of course. But it's not going to end until Putin gives up the attempt to conquer Ukraine - which probably means taking back all the territory taken since last year, at a minimum.
Why and how does that make Russia stop fighting?
Wars ends when the costs of continuing to fight exceed those of losing for one of the players.
For defenders, the cost of losing their homeland is incredibly high.
For aggressors, it's much harder.
Russia does not have unlimited young men, nor unlimited arms and ammunition. It is not being resupplied by the West. And their soldiers are not fighting for their lives and their country.
Erich Vad, ex advisor to Merkel and co-architect of her flawed policy towards Russia, is back again advocating against arms supplies to Ukraine. He has been consistently wrong on Ukraine/Russia since Feb24, but this time he is also spreading lies
This is all starting to feel like 2003 again, except that this time we are risking nuclear annihilation. I'm guessing that those who are keen to go in against Russia with guns blazing are the same people who were beating the drum for the invasion of Iraq.
Yes, Russia needs to be pushed out of Ukraine, but not at the cost of sparking a nuclear disaster.
He's selling the "Civil war in Ukraine" narrative vs the reality of a Russian invasion, followed by Russia spending a lot of time and money creating "rebellions" in Eastern Ukraine.
The truth lies somewhere between the two extremes. It is a fact that was was a large Russian speaking minority in the Donbas who were very unhappy with the government in Kyiv. It is also a fact that the Russians took advantage of this situation and helped to ferment and support the rebellion.
Until relatively recently (last 5 years maybe) almost everybody in Ukraine spoke Russian in my experience. Ukrainian was thought of as the language of hillbillies and peasants, Zarkappatia oblatst excepted where they speak Hungarian.
The Servant of the People show that propelled the Ukrainian Les Dennis to the Presidency was recorded and broadcast with 99% Russian dialogue.
Since nearly everyone in Scotland speaks English as their first language, they all want to be English.
Obviously, really.
And the Irish. All these Russian simps hate the fact that the Ukrainian President has shown himself to be role model and hero.
And the Welsh, the Canadians, the Australians, New Zealanders etc etc
All this separatism from Mother England is false consciousness and will lead to the collapse of Ze! English! Kulture! and inevitable conquest by WokeTransAlienIllegalImmigantAI. From NATO.
Someone fire up The Tank!
"How lucky you English are to find the toilet so amusing. For us, it is a mundane and functional item. For you it is the basis of an entire culture."
It's not uniquely English. Toilet humour is massively popular in Korean culture, for example.
Do the new rules make clear who has priority at a crossroads when both cars are turning right? Nobody seems to know that rule and it always results in stasis/risk at the crossroads near me.
DeSantis is running - otherwise is there any point to this crap ?
Florida teachers told to remove books from classroom libraries or risk felony prosecution https://popular.info/p/florida-teachers-told-to-remove-books ...In an interview with Popular Information, Chapman said that the policy was put into place last week in response to HB 1467, which was signed into law by DeSantis last March. That law established that teachers could not be trusted to select books appropriate for their students. Instead, the law requires:
Each book made available to students through a school district library media center or included in a recommended or assigned school or grade-level reading list must be selected by a school district employee who holds a valid educational media specialist certificate, regardless of whether the book is purchased, donated, or otherwise made available to students.
In Florida, school librarians are called "media specialists" and hold media specialist certificates. A rule passed by the Florida Department of Education last week states that a "library media center" includes any books made available to students, including in classrooms. This means that classroom libraries that are curated by teachers, not librarians, are now illegal. ..
Hasn’t it always been the case, that school libraries don’t contain porn, but rather age-appropriate resources?
The problem now, is that too many people in the US education system appear to be in favour of the porn in schools.
“Banning books” is wildly popular with parents, once the context is explained.
This law makes it a criminal felony offence for a teacher to have any books in the classroom not pre-approved by a librarian.
It's nuts.
Yes, it’s a felony to show porn to children. Why shouldn’t that be the case?
No, it does more than that. Stop lying.
We are talking about books such as “Gender Queer”, which is very much an adult book, and contains graphic descriptions and illustrations of unusual sexual activity between adults. That is being introduced into primary schools. That’s what this law is about.
Read the description (from NPR, as close as America has to the BBC) of this book, and tell me it’s appropriate for seven year olds.
A question; in your view, what should a seven year-old know about sex and gender? If not seven, how old should they be to learn such things?
Fair question. I’ll admit to being pretty conservative on this sort of thing.
I think that seven-year-olds should know that there are boys and girls, with the ‘birds and the bees’ at 10 or 11.
In my experience, the the mechanics of human reproduction were first discussed in biology lessons in the second year of secondary school, aged 12, with the social side of sex and marriage a year later, in the context of general studies and religious studies. (Private Catholic boys’ school).
I think that academic discussion of ‘alternative lifestyles’ might reasonably be broached at 14 or 15, with a lot of context and age-appropriate material. Which still doesn’t include graphic descriptions and depictions of unusual sexual activity that isn’t informative, such as explaining what can and can’t result in a pregnancy.
I'm slightly more permissive - I'm fairly relaxed about young children knowing about the mechanics. But I don't see why primary schools should be teaching children about gender (which is hardly a uniformly accepted concept) or sexuality.
But I find the amount of attention given by educators to the subject baffling. When I recently visited my local high school, fully a quarter of the library was given over to explorations of various aspects of the rainbow flag.
Interesting experience with the Pension Help line - I had assumed that making up to the full 35 years would be the best plan, but the chap pointed out that it’s not as simple as that as making up some old years and some recent years actually might give a better return - so they’ll set it out in a letter to allow me to ponder further…
Yes, I had a similar experience. Even the supposedly personalised pewnsion forecast is apt to be misleading, but I don't suppose they'll do anything about it now. No wonder both Which and Moneysavingexpert both strongly advise phoning up before making decisions.
Has any PB-er ever tried Tramadol? You can buy it OTC here….
The fact that comedian Frankie Boyle had a show called “Tramadol Nights”, suggests that it’s a very, good experience that you probably shouldn’t try. It’s pretty much prescription heroin.
It is probably far better than Frankie Boyles show which was patchy at best.
In my experience, I'm one of the few motorists who knows this rule:
leave at least 1.5 metres (5 feet) when overtaking people cycling at speeds of up to 30mph, and giving them more space when overtaking at higher speeds
Two feet seems more typical.
It used to say 6’ for overtaking cyclists. As someone who was a cyclist before he was a driver, I tried my best to stick to that when in the car.
“People cycling at speeds up to 30mph”, are either going down a big hill or training for the Tour de France. Although in the last year or two, they might have one of these “it’s definitely not really a motorbike because it’s electric” motorbikes.
DeSantis is running - otherwise is there any point to this crap ?
Florida teachers told to remove books from classroom libraries or risk felony prosecution https://popular.info/p/florida-teachers-told-to-remove-books ...In an interview with Popular Information, Chapman said that the policy was put into place last week in response to HB 1467, which was signed into law by DeSantis last March. That law established that teachers could not be trusted to select books appropriate for their students. Instead, the law requires:
Each book made available to students through a school district library media center or included in a recommended or assigned school or grade-level reading list must be selected by a school district employee who holds a valid educational media specialist certificate, regardless of whether the book is purchased, donated, or otherwise made available to students.
In Florida, school librarians are called "media specialists" and hold media specialist certificates. A rule passed by the Florida Department of Education last week states that a "library media center" includes any books made available to students, including in classrooms. This means that classroom libraries that are curated by teachers, not librarians, are now illegal. ..
Hasn’t it always been the case, that school libraries don’t contain porn, but rather age-appropriate resources?
The problem now, is that too many people in the US education system appear to be in favour of the porn in schools.
“Banning books” is wildly popular with parents, once the context is explained.
This law makes it a criminal felony offence for a teacher to have any books in the classroom not pre-approved by a librarian.
It's nuts.
Yes, it’s a felony to show porn to children. Why shouldn’t that be the case?
No, it does more than that. Stop lying.
We are talking about books such as “Gender Queer”, which is very much an adult book, and contains graphic descriptions and illustrations of unusual sexual activity between adults. That is being introduced into primary schools. That’s what this law is about.
Given popularity on PB among some PBers, of highlighting every gaffe (actual or alleged) committed by Joe Biden, regardless of how picayune, am surprised by the LACK of commentary here, regarding the MAJOR gaffe re: documents with top security clearances apparently mishandled by Number 46.
Major fuck-up by Biden, no doubt about it.
Can (and is) being argued that Uncle Joe's indiscretions here, are WAY less serious & culpable than his predecessors.
My response is, so what? Still (in words of Democratic US Senator Dick Durbin) "outrageous". AND highly impolitic.
As the Frenchman said concerning Napoleon's quasi-judicial kidnapping & murder the of duc d'Enghien - "It was worse than a crime, it was a blunder."
Oh wow, my street is getting FTTH in the second half of the year, finally! Not shitty Virgin Media either!
What's wrong with Virgin fibre optic? Mine is solidly 300+ (500+ in the room with the router) and I have a fairly big house. It's also extremely stable – only one outage in three or four years.
That said, I use Orbi rather than Virgin's freebie router which I assumed would be rubbish.
Anyone come across these changes in the Highway Code? Came in nearly a year ago. There seems to be little awareness of the changes and they seem radical. I've not noticed anyone complying with new rules re: pedestrians at junctions for example.
My experience has been around 50% compliance when I'm crossing the road and someone wants to turn in. So far, nobody has driven into me while I am exercising my right to cross.
Do you mean when you have started to cross or just intending to cross?
Do the new rules make clear who has priority at a crossroads when both cars are turning right? Nobody seems to know that rule and it always results in stasis/risk at the crossroads near me.
Apparently the answer is "nobody, because both can go at the same time". Which, whilst it seems suboptimal, I'm not sure how you resolve it otherwise.
In my experience, I'm one of the few motorists who knows this rule:
leave at least 1.5 metres (5 feet) when overtaking people cycling at speeds of up to 30mph, and giving them more space when overtaking at higher speeds
Two feet seems more typical.
It used to say 6’ for overtaking cyclists. As someone who was a cyclist before he was a driver, I tried my best to stick to that when in the car.
“People cycling at speeds up to 30mph”, are either going down a big hill or training for the Tour de France. Although in the last year or two, they might have one of these “it’s definitely not really a motorbike because it’s electric” motorbikes.
It's poorly worded but it's talking about the car's speed. And yes, a good rule of thumb is a car's width (about six foot as you say).
And if you can't find six feet safely then – guess what? – you have to wait behind until you can.
I see lots of people break that rule – while I'm driving and also while I'm cycling. And it's one of the best and most important rules in the Code.
DeSantis is running - otherwise is there any point to this crap ?
Florida teachers told to remove books from classroom libraries or risk felony prosecution https://popular.info/p/florida-teachers-told-to-remove-books ...In an interview with Popular Information, Chapman said that the policy was put into place last week in response to HB 1467, which was signed into law by DeSantis last March. That law established that teachers could not be trusted to select books appropriate for their students. Instead, the law requires:
Each book made available to students through a school district library media center or included in a recommended or assigned school or grade-level reading list must be selected by a school district employee who holds a valid educational media specialist certificate, regardless of whether the book is purchased, donated, or otherwise made available to students.
In Florida, school librarians are called "media specialists" and hold media specialist certificates. A rule passed by the Florida Department of Education last week states that a "library media center" includes any books made available to students, including in classrooms. This means that classroom libraries that are curated by teachers, not librarians, are now illegal. ..
Hasn’t it always been the case, that school libraries don’t contain porn, but rather age-appropriate resources?
The problem now, is that too many people in the US education system appear to be in favour of the porn in schools.
“Banning books” is wildly popular with parents, once the context is explained.
This law makes it a criminal felony offence for a teacher to have any books in the classroom not pre-approved by a librarian.
It's nuts.
Yes, it’s a felony to show porn to children. Why shouldn’t that be the case?
No, it does more than that. Stop lying.
We are talking about books such as “Gender Queer”, which is very much an adult book, and contains graphic descriptions and illustrations of unusual sexual activity between adults. That is being introduced into primary schools. That’s what this law is about.
Read the description (from NPR, as close as America has to the BBC) of this book, and tell me it’s appropriate for seven year olds.
A question; in your view, what should a seven year-old know about sex and gender? If not seven, how old should they be to learn such things?
Fair question. I’ll admit to being pretty conservative on this sort of thing.
I think that seven-year-olds should know that there are boys and girls, with the ‘birds and the bees’ at 10 or 11.
In my experience, the the mechanics of human reproduction were first discussed in biology lessons in the second year of secondary school, aged 12, with the social side of sex and marriage a year later, in the context of general studies and religious studies. (Private Catholic boys’ school).
I think that academic discussion of ‘alternative lifestyles’ might reasonably be broached at 14 or 15, with a lot of context and age-appropriate material. Which still doesn’t include graphic descriptions and depictions of unusual sexual activity that isn’t informative, such as explaining what can and can’t result in a pregnancy.
Kids are going to be reading and discussing this stuff on the internet and in the playground way before 14. Naive.
In my experience, I'm one of the few motorists who knows this rule:
leave at least 1.5 metres (5 feet) when overtaking people cycling at speeds of up to 30mph, and giving them more space when overtaking at higher speeds
Two feet seems more typical.
It used to say 6’ for overtaking cyclists. As someone who was a cyclist before he was a driver, I tried my best to stick to that when in the car.
“People cycling at speeds up to 30mph”, are either going down a big hill or training for the Tour de France. Although in the last year or two, they might have one of these “it’s definitely not really a motorbike because it’s electric” motorbikes.
Lunatic ride those things everywhere. There was an idiot practising wheelies on the embankment not far from where I live. It’s one thing to cycle slowly - it’s a mixed crowd of cyclists, walkers etc.
This guy was hitting more than 30. Until he raced round a corner. A boat club was taking a rowing boat out of the shed. He smacked into it.
Fortunately he didn’t hit anyone carrying the boat, and it was a practise tub. So built like a battleship. Not even dented.
DeSantis is running - otherwise is there any point to this crap ?
Florida teachers told to remove books from classroom libraries or risk felony prosecution https://popular.info/p/florida-teachers-told-to-remove-books ...In an interview with Popular Information, Chapman said that the policy was put into place last week in response to HB 1467, which was signed into law by DeSantis last March. That law established that teachers could not be trusted to select books appropriate for their students. Instead, the law requires:
Each book made available to students through a school district library media center or included in a recommended or assigned school or grade-level reading list must be selected by a school district employee who holds a valid educational media specialist certificate, regardless of whether the book is purchased, donated, or otherwise made available to students.
In Florida, school librarians are called "media specialists" and hold media specialist certificates. A rule passed by the Florida Department of Education last week states that a "library media center" includes any books made available to students, including in classrooms. This means that classroom libraries that are curated by teachers, not librarians, are now illegal. ..
Hasn’t it always been the case, that school libraries don’t contain porn, but rather age-appropriate resources?
The problem now, is that too many people in the US education system appear to be in favour of the porn in schools.
“Banning books” is wildly popular with parents, once the context is explained.
This law makes it a criminal felony offence for a teacher to have any books in the classroom not pre-approved by a librarian.
It's nuts.
Yes, it’s a felony to show porn to children. Why shouldn’t that be the case?
No, it does more than that. Stop lying.
We are talking about books such as “Gender Queer”, which is very much an adult book, and contains graphic descriptions and illustrations of unusual sexual activity between adults. That is being introduced into primary schools. That’s what this law is about.
Surely, in the depraved ranks of His Majesty’s Honourable Guild of PB-ers, there must be one miscreant who can give me the skinny on Tramadol
Did it once at a party, a few tablets ground up and it was honestly a lovely experience but I got in a lot of shit from a very close doctor friend and despite having been very tempted in the years since I have avoided it as I can see it would become very addictive very quickly so avoid like the plague.
In my experience, I'm one of the few motorists who knows this rule:
leave at least 1.5 metres (5 feet) when overtaking people cycling at speeds of up to 30mph, and giving them more space when overtaking at higher speeds
Two feet seems more typical.
It used to say 6’ for overtaking cyclists. As someone who was a cyclist before he was a driver, I tried my best to stick to that when in the car.
“People cycling at speeds up to 30mph”, are either going down a big hill or training for the Tour de France. Although in the last year or two, they might have one of these “it’s definitely not really a motorbike because it’s electric” motorbikes.
It's poorly worded but it's talking about the car's speed. And yes, a good rule of thumb is a car's width (about six foot as you say).
And if you can't find six feet safely then – guess what? – you have to wait behind until you can.
I see lots of people break that rule – while I'm driving and also while I'm cycling. And it's one of the best and most important rules in the Code.
These changes in general are poorly worded.
For example: "give way to pedestrians crossing or waiting to cross a road into which or from which you are turning. If they have started to cross they have priority, so give way (see Rule H2)"
The first sentence conflicts with the second. It says give way if pedestrian is crossing or waiting to cross and then says if the pedestrian has started to cross he/she has priority. So if they have not started to cross they do not have priority? Or do they?
This is a recipe for chaos. Seems to me that drivers have not adopted these rules (maybe they have in cities dunno) and if some do a car will stop unexpectedly and get rammed from behind.
Do the new rules make clear who has priority at a crossroads when both cars are turning right? Nobody seems to know that rule and it always results in stasis/risk at the crossroads near me.
Apparently the answer is "nobody, because both can go at the same time". Which, whilst it seems suboptimal, I'm not sure how you resolve it otherwise.
Yes, that always was the (non-)rule – I wondered if they had tried to resolve it.
Even something facile like smaller vehicle has priority might be an improvement – realise there would be grey areas – but at the moment most motorists don't see to have a scooby what to do in that scenario.
Oh wow, my street is getting FTTH in the second half of the year, finally! Not shitty Virgin Media either!
What's wrong with Virgin fibre optic? Mine is solidly 300+ (500+ in the room with the router) and I have a fairly big house. It's also extremely stable – only one outage in three or four years.
That said, I use Orbi rather than Virgin's freebie router which I assumed would be rubbish.
Latency is not great and they have congestion issues.
Long term they're also going to FTTH, so it won't be an issue much longer
Oh wow, my street is getting FTTH in the second half of the year, finally! Not shitty Virgin Media either!
What's wrong with Virgin fibre optic? Mine is solidly 300+ (500+ in the room with the router) and I have a fairly big house. It's also extremely stable – only one outage in three or four years.
That said, I use Orbi rather than Virgin's freebie router which I assumed would be rubbish.
Their service is shit. If anything goes wrong, good luck getting it fixed.
Also, they hung onto offering very slow upload speeds. And still do in many postcodes. Which is rubbish for video calls.
Unlike a proper fibre connection which should be symmetrical.
Surely, in the depraved ranks of His Majesty’s Honourable Guild of PB-ers, there must be one miscreant who can give me the skinny on Tramadol
Did it once at a party, a few tablets ground up and it was honestly a lovely experience but I got in a lot of shit from a very close doctor friend and despite having been very tempted in the years since I have avoided it as I can see it would become very addictive very quickly so avoid like the plague.
"very addictive very quickly so avoid like the plague."
In my experience, I'm one of the few motorists who knows this rule:
leave at least 1.5 metres (5 feet) when overtaking people cycling at speeds of up to 30mph, and giving them more space when overtaking at higher speeds
Two feet seems more typical.
It used to say 6’ for overtaking cyclists. As someone who was a cyclist before he was a driver, I tried my best to stick to that when in the car.
“People cycling at speeds up to 30mph”, are either going down a big hill or training for the Tour de France. Although in the last year or two, they might have one of these “it’s definitely not really a motorbike because it’s electric” motorbikes.
Lunatic ride those things everywhere. There was an idiot practising wheelies on the embankment not far from where I live. It’s one thing to cycle slowly - it’s a mixed crowd of cyclists, walkers etc.
This guy was hitting more than 30. Until he raced round a corner. A boat club was taking a rowing boat out of the shed. He smacked into it.
Fortunately he didn’t hit anyone carrying the boat, and it was a practise tub. So built like a battleship. Not even dented.
He was in a bad way, though.
Based on where I live, everywhere except the cycle lanes...
Oh wow, my street is getting FTTH in the second half of the year, finally! Not shitty Virgin Media either!
What's wrong with Virgin fibre optic? Mine is solidly 300+ (500+ in the room with the router) and I have a fairly big house. It's also extremely stable – only one outage in three or four years.
That said, I use Orbi rather than Virgin's freebie router which I assumed would be rubbish.
Latency is not great and they have congestion issues.
Long term they're also going to FTTH, so it won't be an issue much longer
DeSantis is running - otherwise is there any point to this crap ?
Florida teachers told to remove books from classroom libraries or risk felony prosecution https://popular.info/p/florida-teachers-told-to-remove-books ...In an interview with Popular Information, Chapman said that the policy was put into place last week in response to HB 1467, which was signed into law by DeSantis last March. That law established that teachers could not be trusted to select books appropriate for their students. Instead, the law requires:
Each book made available to students through a school district library media center or included in a recommended or assigned school or grade-level reading list must be selected by a school district employee who holds a valid educational media specialist certificate, regardless of whether the book is purchased, donated, or otherwise made available to students.
In Florida, school librarians are called "media specialists" and hold media specialist certificates. A rule passed by the Florida Department of Education last week states that a "library media center" includes any books made available to students, including in classrooms. This means that classroom libraries that are curated by teachers, not librarians, are now illegal. ..
Hasn’t it always been the case, that school libraries don’t contain porn, but rather age-appropriate resources?
The problem now, is that too many people in the US education system appear to be in favour of the porn in schools.
“Banning books” is wildly popular with parents, once the context is explained.
This law makes it a criminal felony offence for a teacher to have any books in the classroom not pre-approved by a librarian.
It's nuts.
Yes, it’s a felony to show porn to children. Why shouldn’t that be the case?
No, it does more than that. Stop lying.
We are talking about books such as “Gender Queer”, which is very much an adult book, and contains graphic descriptions and illustrations of unusual sexual activity between adults. That is being introduced into primary schools. That’s what this law is about.
Read the description (from NPR, as close as America has to the BBC) of this book, and tell me it’s appropriate for seven year olds.
A question; in your view, what should a seven year-old know about sex and gender? If not seven, how old should they be to learn such things?
Fair question. I’ll admit to being pretty conservative on this sort of thing.
I think that seven-year-olds should know that there are boys and girls, with the ‘birds and the bees’ at 10 or 11.
In my experience, the the mechanics of human reproduction were first discussed in biology lessons in the second year of secondary school, aged 12, with the social side of sex and marriage a year later, in the context of general studies and religious studies. (Private Catholic boys’ school).
I think that academic discussion of ‘alternative lifestyles’ might reasonably be broached at 14 or 15, with a lot of context and age-appropriate material. Which still doesn’t include graphic descriptions and depictions of unusual sexual activity that isn’t informative, such as explaining what can and can’t result in a pregnancy.
I'm slightly more permissive - I'm fairly relaxed about young children knowing about the mechanics. But I don't see why primary schools should be teaching children about gender (which is hardly a uniformly accepted concept) or sexuality.
But I find the amount of attention given by educators to the subject baffling. When I recently visited my local high school, fully a quarter of the library was given over to explorations of various aspects of the rainbow flag.
Yes, it’s a social contagion, encouraged by the educational Establishment at every stage. It must be terrifying for those parents right now.
Comments
Now, I disagree with much of the German thinking on their foreign policy. Being a rich country at the heart of Europe, I believe, comes with commitments, some of them security commitments. It doesn't help the world to have a Germany that shrinks from the responsibilities that her wealth and power give her. But that is a matter for the German and I no longer live there.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-64345693
The new law bans "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations" amongst all age groups. Anyone caught committing this "offence" could be fined up to 400,000 roubles ($5,840; £4,730), with much higher fines for organisations or journalists.
Which I thought applied to criminal cases, not whether an individual is a fit person to hold a senior political appointment.
In the latter case, an attitude of determined scepticism seems more appropriate..
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/24/us-electric-vehicles-lithium-consequences-research
Betting PostLigue 1: Lens are 3 points behind leaders PSG halfway through the season but with boost you can back them for the title at 29. Marseille, just 2 points further back, can be backed at 23 with boost.
PSG still favourites but those odds look out of whack given the state of play. Odds with Ladbrokes.
https://www.cheshire-live.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/action-taken-try-fill-empty-26031846
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/01/24/dont-assume-prince-andrew-wrong/?li_source=LI&li_medium=liftigniter-rhr
It’s great, there’s HVAC and fibre internet everywhere!
The problem now, is that too many people in the US education system appear to be in favour of the porn in schools.
“Banning books” is wildly popular with parents, once the context is explained.
https://mobile.twitter.com/Chris_D_Steele/status/1617852892836401152
It's nuts.
Obviously, really.
DeSantis is a monster. He is now passing a law banning the Board of Health from barring rogue doctors that spread false COVID vaccine claims. He is willing for people to die to help himself be the nominee.
That is not what the law says.
Ukraine wants things from the West -- NATO membership or EU fast-track. It will do what the West tells it. That is what is in its long term interest.
At the moment, the War is in the USA's interests. It won't stop until it isn't. Then it will stop.
-------
As regards Czechoslovakia, there is little doubt that a plebiscite in the Sudetenland in 1938 would have produced a huge majority in favour of joining Germany.
A few years ago, I went to Terezin (or in German, Theresienstadt) to visit the bleak concentration camp.
Terezin is just 30 miles North of Prague, now deep in the heart of the Czech Republic.
I was absolutely astonished to discover that between the Wars, Terezin was a German speaking town that elected a German mayor.
We forget how many Germans there were in this part of the world before the population movements consequent to WW2.
It's only colonialism when the Uncool People do it.
"The new law bans "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations" amongst all age groups. Anyone caught committing this "offence" could be fined up to 400,000 roubles ($5,840; £4,730), with much higher fines for organisations or journalists."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-64345693
But mostly from the right. Often with an EXTREMELY broad definition of "pornography" to say the least.
https://www.npr.org/2023/01/04/1146866267/banned-books-maia-kobabe-explores-gender-identity-in-gender-queer
Read the description (from NPR, as close as America has to the BBC) of this book, and tell me it’s appropriate for seven year olds.
https://twitter.com/maxfras/status/1617644776760954882
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11670193/Office-National-Statistics-says-Britain-second-worst-G7-nation-productivity-Covid.html
A series of dismissals marks the biggest shake-up of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s government since the war began.
The firings come amid a ballooning corruption scandal involving military purchases.
The shake-up of government officials ‘responds to a key public demand,’ a Zelensky adviser says.
Several top Ukrainian officials were fired on Tuesday, including the governors of several Ukrainian regions, amid a ballooning corruption scandal. The move marked the biggest upheaval in President Volodymyr Zelensky’s government since Russia’s invasion began 11 months ago.
Ukraine’s cabinet ministry, which announced the firings on the Telegram social messaging app, provided no details about the reason, but it followed reports that Ukraine’s military had agreed to pay inflated prices for food meant for Ukrainian troops.
Earlier on Tuesday, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense said that Viacheslav Shapovalov, a deputy minister, had “asked to be fired” following the reports. The ministry said in a statement that relieving Mr. Shapovalov of his duties would “preserve the trust” of Ukrainians and the country’s international partners.
While there was no sign that the procurement scandal involved the misappropriation of Western military assistance, the dismissals appeared to reflect Mr. Zelensky’s goal of reassuring Ukraine’s allies — which are sending billions of dollars in military aid — that his government would show zero tolerance for graft as it prepares for a possible new offensive by Moscow.
In addition to the officials named on Tuesday, Mr. Zelensky’s own deputy, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, tendered his resignation. Mr. Tymoshenko, the deputy head of the presidential office, was well known domestically and internationally, often tasked with providing updates on the war. But Ukrainian journalists had raised questions about his lavish lifestyle and use of government resources.
In particular, he had been criticized for zipping around in an expensive SUV that General Motors had donated for use in humanitarian missions. . . .
That it took three days for Mr. Shapovalov to step down raises serious questions about the Ministry of Defense’s commitment to rooting out corruption, said Vitaliy Shabunin, the director of operations for the Anti-Corruption Action Center, a Kyiv-based nongovernmental organization.
“A new social contract emerged during the war between civil society, journalists and the government: We will not criticize you like we did before the war, but your reaction to any scandal and ineffectiveness must be as tough as possible,” Mr. Shabunin said. “The position of the defense minister has broken this agreement.”
All this separatism from Mother England is false consciousness and will lead to the collapse of Ze! English! Kulture! and inevitable conquest by WokeTransAlienIllegalImmigantAI. From NATO.
Someone fire up The Tank!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-64345693
This is not only for companies and individuals buying their way out of trouble, but it also work the other way - shakedowns.
The entire system of pre-trial settlements is corrupt in America. In both directions.
Back in the day, a certain "civil rights" organisation was famous for testifying on behalf of some quite racist people who donated to their cause. They would roll into town for an investigation, suggest a donation, then give absolution in any legal proceedings.....
How amazing to see such tender concerns about the Scots and the Welsh on this blog.
I fell happier with the routine racist baiting. At least it was honest.
I think that seven-year-olds should know that there are boys and girls, with the ‘birds and the bees’ at 10 or 11.
In my experience, the the mechanics of human reproduction were first discussed in biology lessons in the second year of secondary school, aged 12, with the social side of sex and marriage a year later, in the context of general studies and religious studies. (Private Catholic boys’ school).
I think that academic discussion of ‘alternative lifestyles’ might reasonably be broached at 14 or 15, with a lot of context and age-appropriate material. Which still doesn’t include graphic descriptions and depictions of unusual sexual activity that isn’t informative, such as explaining what can and can’t result in a pregnancy.
Whereas the highlands and mountains are mainly Ukrainian & Rusyn.
Further note that the Ukrainian term means "Trans-Carpathia" = across the mountains.
While the Hungarian term means "Sub-Carpathia" = beneath the mountains.
Thus reflecting the different geographical perspective, from Kyiv versus Budapest.
Just the tip o' the iceberg when it comes to the nomenclature for this part of the world!
Says that "Sex education is not compulsory in primary schools" - it is mostly handled in Secondary School.
At the risk of summoning @ydoethur, the National Curriculum in this area seems both liberal and reasonable.
leave at least 1.5 metres (5 feet) when overtaking people cycling at speeds of up to 30mph, and giving them more space when overtaking at higher speeds
Two feet seems more typical.
For defenders, the cost of losing their homeland is incredibly high.
For aggressors, it's much harder.
Russia does not have unlimited young men, nor unlimited arms and ammunition. It is not being resupplied by the West. And their soldiers are not fighting for their lives and their country.
But I love my erh, downloads, coming down in seconds/minutes rather than hours.
Toilet humour is massively popular in Korean culture, for example.
Very nice for backup to cloud - I backup to a NAS box, which in turn backups everything to the cloud.
But I find the amount of attention given by educators to the subject baffling. When I recently visited my local high school, fully a quarter of the library was given over to explorations of various aspects of the rainbow flag.
“People cycling at speeds up to 30mph”, are either going down a big hill or training for the Tour de France.
Although in the last year or two, they might have one of these “it’s definitely not really a motorbike because it’s electric” motorbikes.
Major fuck-up by Biden, no doubt about it.
Can (and is) being argued that Uncle Joe's indiscretions here, are WAY less serious & culpable than his predecessors.
My response is, so what? Still (in words of Democratic US Senator Dick Durbin) "outrageous". AND highly impolitic.
As the Frenchman said concerning Napoleon's quasi-judicial kidnapping & murder the of duc d'Enghien - "It was worse than a crime, it was a blunder."
That said, I use Orbi rather than Virgin's freebie router which I assumed would be rubbish.
https://www.adriving.co.uk/priority-on-crossroads/
https://www.learnerdriving.com/ld-system/driving-lessons/crossroads
Queen of Debauch Lorraine..
https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/15356639.lorraine-kelly-reveals-her-time-on-seductive-tramadol-as-she-discusses-ant-mcpartlins-addiction/
And if you can't find six feet safely then – guess what? – you have to wait behind until you can.
I see lots of people break that rule – while I'm driving and also while I'm cycling. And it's one of the best and most important rules in the Code.
This guy was hitting more than 30. Until he raced round a corner. A boat club was taking a rowing boat out of the shed. He smacked into it.
Fortunately he didn’t hit anyone carrying the boat, and it was a practise tub. So built like a battleship. Not even dented.
He was in a bad way, though.
https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2022/10/18/2536534/0/en/Webtoons-Market-to-Generate-Revenue-of-28-44-Billion-By-2028-Webtoons-Garnering-Advertisers-Interest-for-Lead-Generation-Campaigns.html
For example: "give way to pedestrians crossing or waiting to cross a road into which or from which you are turning. If they have started to cross they have priority, so give way (see Rule H2)"
The first sentence conflicts with the second. It says give way if pedestrian is crossing or waiting to cross and then says if the pedestrian has started to cross he/she has priority. So if they have not started to cross they do not have priority? Or do they?
This is a recipe for chaos. Seems to me that drivers have not adopted these rules (maybe they have in cities dunno) and if some do a car will stop unexpectedly and get rammed from behind.
Even something facile like smaller vehicle has priority might be an improvement – realise there would be grey areas – but at the moment most motorists don't see to have a scooby what to do in that scenario.
Long term they're also going to FTTH, so it won't be an issue much longer
Seems to do the trick. However, it can impact gut function, so he is on yet another medication to keep him regular.
And no, I have not been tempted to swig a few mls.
Also, they hung onto offering very slow upload speeds. And still do in many postcodes. Which is rubbish for video calls.
Unlike a proper fibre connection which should be symmetrical.
Sounds exactly like PB!
It's something like 2.1Gb per PON and they'd rather that was used for download rather than upload