As others have said, it doesn't look to me as if the Sean Hogg sentence has much to do with the SNP, Scotland, or the sentencing guidelines. Rather, it's to do with a slightly bonkers judge, and will be changed on appeal. Ludicrous sentences (both ways) have been known to happen in England, quite frequently.
Even the BBC are saying it’s due to the sentencing guidelines.
People on Twitter are blaming it on Progressive SNP Judicial Reforms. I have NO idea if this is true
It does seem remarkably lenient
Unusual sentence. I'll have to read more about it.
It seems to be a result of sentencing guidelines introduced by the Scottish government for offenders under 25 (the rapist in this case was 17 at the time of the rape, 21 now).
Rapists under the age of 25 won't get prison sentences?
This is the key section of the Scottish Sentencing Council guidelines for the sentencing of young people (defined elsewhere in the document as those aged under 25 at the time when the offence was committed):
20. The full range of sentencing options remains open to the court. However, the nature and duration of a sentence imposed on a young person should be different from that which might be imposed on an older person being sentenced for the same, or a similar, offence.
21. A custodial sentence should only be imposed on a young person when the court is satisfied that no other sentence is appropriate. If a custodial sentence is imposed on a young person, it should be shorter than that which would have been imposed on an older person for the same, or a similar, offence.
Nothing there that constitutes a blanket excuse of young people from prison. The decision to give him a slap on the wrist is ultimately on the judge.
Agree that this is down to the judge.
Scotland does not have sentencing guidelines for rape as yet. The only relevant guidelines are those for sentencing young people. AIUI, the SNP pushed for this to be defined as offenders aged below 25 and this was accepted by the Sentencing Council for Scotland, despite the majority of respondents to the consultation being against it. But, as Pigeon says, this is down to the judge. The guidelines say that a custodial sentence should only be imposed if no other sentence is appropriate. My view is that this is a case where the judge should have decided that no other sentence is appropriate and sent him to jail.
The entire guideline is preposterous Woke gibberish. A young person is someone under 16. 18 at the very most. After that you are deemed an adult and you must take responsibility as an adult for whatever you do. Society in return gives you the right to vote, marry, work, join the army, everything. There is not some weird subsequent period of SEVEN years when you're "still a bit clueless" so "you probably shouldn't ever go to jail"
People on Twitter are blaming it on Progressive SNP Judicial Reforms. I have NO idea if this is true
It does seem remarkably lenient
Unusual sentence. I'll have to read more about it.
It seems to be a result of sentencing guidelines introduced by the Scottish government for offenders under 25 (the rapist in this case was 17 at the time of the rape, 21 now).
Rapists under the age of 25 won't get prison sentences?
The presumption seems to be that they won't.
What makes this even odder, at least judging by the news reports, is that. mitigating factors aside, there were some pretty strong aggravating factors: the victim was just 13. The judge's remark that if he had been over 25 the sentence would have been 4-5 years imprisonment is itself, on the face of it, odd: surely one would expect a much longer sentence?
Also the report states that he attacked the girl, "on various occasions between March and June 2018." So, repeat offending. It wasn't a one-off aberration.
Judges will sometimes make mistakes and I hope there is scope for the leniency of the sentence to be appealed, though the report only says that the defendant intends to appeal the sentence.
I'm pretty sure it is the Crown which is intending to appeal the sentence, on the grounds of undue leniency, not the defendant. What would his appeal hope to achieve ? An even shorter period of litter-picking?
When people said that they expected AI and automation to end up creating more jobs, I don't think this is what they had in mind...
"However, although the vehicles will use sensors to travel on pre-selected roads at up to 50mph, they will still need to be operated by two members of staff, twice as many as a normal bus.
This includes a safety driver in the driver’s seat to monitor the technology, and a bus captain to help passengers with boarding, buying tickets and queries."
People on Twitter are blaming it on Progressive SNP Judicial Reforms. I have NO idea if this is true
It does seem remarkably lenient
Unusual sentence. I'll have to read more about it.
It seems to be a result of sentencing guidelines introduced by the Scottish government for offenders under 25 (the rapist in this case was 17 at the time of the rape, 21 now).
Rapists under the age of 25 won't get prison sentences?
The presumption seems to be that they won't.
What makes this even odder, at least judging by the news reports, is that. mitigating factors aside, there were some pretty strong aggravating factors: the victim was just 13. The judge's remark that if he had been over 25 the sentence would have been 4-5 years imprisonment is itself, on the face of it, odd: surely one would expect a much longer sentence?
Also the report states that he attacked the girl, "on various occasions between March and June 2018." So, repeat offending. It wasn't a one-off aberration.
Judges will sometimes make mistakes and I hope there is scope for the leniency of the sentence to be appealed, though the report only says that the defendant intends to appeal the sentence.
I'm pretty sure it is the Crown which is intending to appeal the sentence, on the grounds of undue leniency, not the defendant. What would his appeal hope to achieve ? An even shorter period of litter-picking?
From the BBC report:
"Donald Findlay KC, defending, told the court an appeal was planned."
This is different to blustering in front of the TV cameras and rousing the MAGA crowd. That just doesn’t wash when facing the sharp, forensic questioning of the finest legal minds. He’ll get rinsed in court.
This is an interesting article on the affair. (And a reminder of why Clinto does not belong in the top tier of presidents.)
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/04/04/trump-indictment-politics-revelation-00090247 … First is the familiar question of whether partisanship will once again triumph over everything else. But the second test is a new one: whether we can figure out how to hold former presidents accountable for their actions. As many commentators have pointed out, it’s quite normal in the American system for governors and members of Congress to face consequences when they’ve broken the law. Prison time for former governors of Illinois is an especially bipartisan affair.
But it’s not an accident that the presidency has been the exception to this. Modern presidents are such powerful and ubiquitous figures, so synonymous with national identity, that the idea of holding them to account has only been seen as destabilizing. The Clinton impeachment was widely viewed as a political stunt, and any serious questions were obscured by national satisfaction with the economy and suspicion of the impeachment process. Upon leaving office, Clinton entered into a plea bargain to avoid indictment for lying under oath. Nixon and Watergate were taken much more seriously, but Ford chose to pardon his predecessor upon taking office, declaring that it was more important to move on than to spend more time facing up to what the office of the presidency could be, and, in fact, had become.
Presidents, unlike members of Congress (and some governors) are also term-limited, which means that they will become ex-presidents in a fairly predictable timeframe. This means there are strong incentives to avoid any post-presidential legal processes that could be seen as politicized (or, indeed, be politicized) turning the legal system into a political tool to punish opponents. In sum, we’ve treated the presidency, including the post-presidency, as if it were too big to fail. The Trump indictment pushes our political system in a new direction, and offers us a chance to rethink power and accountability...
Surreal to watch. This is the most alone Trump has been in a long time. He’s not flanked by aides, lawyers, body men & so on. He’s face to face with the American legal system that has caught up with him.
There’s a difference between blustering in front of the TV cameras and rousing the MAGA crowd. That just doesn’t wash when facing the sharp, forensic questioning of the finest legal minds. He’ll get rinsed in court.
I think that's a step too far.
It is entirely possible. But you are forgetting that everyone on the prosecution side will have to be on their best behaviour and more
I'm sure they have got the finest minds in the case but, as you infer, expectations for Trump are already fairly low.
Yes, I'm seriously warming to Sunak. He's competent and he's not scared of the Woke and he's getting things done. He ain't perfect and his party is tired and all that, but as PMs go he could - in different circs - have been one of the much better ones. But he is doomed to a short tenure
Relatedly, I saw a pic of Starmer the other day. He suddenly looks his age. 60. Quite chubby, and a little weary. Has the rosy flush of a drinker, too - no idea if he is (and I apologise to him if he's tee-total!)
This quite possibly just means being sent a letter of expulsion and appealing. It may be that the actual figures for completed explusions are in line with other countries (i.e vanishingly small).
The Ipsos poll, interesting though it is, does its fieldwork over a week up to last Wednesday so it’s quite old.
If we’re in to selective quoting for all the favourable numbers for Sunak the fact remains only a quarter of those asked liked the Conservative Party while two thirds did not so it’s possible Sunak is now personally held back by the contempt in which the party he leads is now held. Perhaps he should leave and form the Rishi Party - perhaps the theme could be “I’m Rishing on a Star”.
Looking at the data, the England sample for All respondents has Labour leading the Conservatives 47-34 but among likely voters it’s 51-27 which would be an 18.5% swing from December 2019 so much the same as R&W last night.
We also have a Redfield & Wilton Scotland poll with a sample of 1000. The Westminster VI shows a 10.5% swing from SNP to Labour and a 9% swing from Conservative to Labour.
Yes, I'm seriously warming to Sunak. He's competent and he's not scared of the Woke and he's getting things done. He ain't perfect and his party is tired and all that, but as PMs go he could - in different circs - have been one of the much better ones. But he is doomed to a short tenure
Relatedly, I saw a pic of Starmer the other day. He suddenly looks his age. 60. Quite chubby, and a little weary. Has the rosy flush of a drinker, too - no idea if he is (and I apologise to him if he's tee-total!)
Sunak looks and seems sharper. More dynamic
Sunak has achieved big wins on Northern Ireland and CPTPP. I hope stays on as Leader of the Opposition.
Does anyone think we could actually see Trump behind bars?
Just use one of the AI generators.
Talking of AI, this is a really good explanation, understandable by a layman, of what ChatGPT actually does, and why it is very good at answering some questions, and very bad at others:
Yes, I'm seriously warming to Sunak. He's competent and he's not scared of the Woke and he's getting things done. He ain't perfect and his party is tired and all that, but as PMs go he could - in different circs - have been one of the much better ones. But he is doomed to a short tenure
Relatedly, I saw a pic of Starmer the other day. He suddenly looks his age. 60. Quite chubby, and a little weary. Has the rosy flush of a drinker, too - no idea if he is (and I apologise to him if he's tee-total!)
Sunak looks and seems sharper. More dynamic
Not tee-total. We know he likes a beer with his curry.
Yes, I'm seriously warming to Sunak. He's competent and he's not scared of the Woke and he's getting things done. He ain't perfect and his party is tired and all that, but as PMs go he could - in different circs - have been one of the much better ones. But he is doomed to a short tenure
Relatedly, I saw a pic of Starmer the other day. He suddenly looks his age. 60. Quite chubby, and a little weary. Has the rosy flush of a drinker, too - no idea if he is (and I apologise to him if he's tee-total!)
Sunak looks and seems sharper. More dynamic
Yes, we all love Rishi (or some do).
The trouble is the Party he leads which as Ipsos shows today is disliked by about two thirds of the electorate. Perhaps the ideal would be to have Sunak lead Labour instead.
Like Major before him, Sunak may well be a half decent Prime Minister but will be dragged to defeat by his own Party.
Meanwhile in England, a conviction for causing a public nuisance - albeit a bloody big nuisance - is enough to be remanded before sentencing, and be told to expect to go down.
My rear molar has flared up again today. Worst than ever. Whole side of my face is in pain.
Hurts like it's got a Corbynite manifesto stuck in it. I am so terrified of the dentist I've been putting it off, but my wife has put her foot down.
Is it an 8 (wisdom) or 7 or 6? My sympathies, but I've preferred extractions (and gaps) to mucking about, apart from crowns (four so far); but then I'm 84 and have sort of given up on teeth - except from avoiding pain.
(1) Everybody loves to pretend that language models are GPAI, they're not - they wouldn't know how to fix climate change unless somebody had previously written an article on it and fed it in. We're still a way off that. This is basically an Ask Jeeves that works properly. (2) If the "evil tech companies" had any method of wiping out humanity that they could connect an AI to, they would have triggered it accidentally years ago and killed us all already, due to human incompetence.
Yes, I'm seriously warming to Sunak. He's competent and he's not scared of the Woke and he's getting things done. He ain't perfect and his party is tired and all that, but as PMs go he could - in different circs - have been one of the much better ones. But he is doomed to a short tenure
Relatedly, I saw a pic of Starmer the other day. He suddenly looks his age. 60. Quite chubby, and a little weary. Has the rosy flush of a drinker, too - no idea if he is (and I apologise to him if he's tee-total!)
Sunak looks and seems sharper. More dynamic
Yes, we all love Rishi (or some do).
The trouble is the Party he leads which as Ipsos shows today is disliked by about two thirds of the electorate. Perhaps the ideal would be to have Sunak lead Labour instead.
Like Major before him, Sunak may well be a half decent Prime Minister but will be dragged to defeat by his own Party.
The bitter irony is that the Tory Party could have avoided Truss altogether, gone for Sunak in the first place, and they might now still be in with a chance of winning in 2024
Truss must be one of the greatest unforced errors ever made by a British political party. Along with Sturgeon pushing the Gender Act
And yes, I am aware that at one point I predicted "Truss might surprise on the upside". Not my best moment
Quite frankly the Scottish government should welcome this. The result would be that the safeguards they completely failed to put in their bill would then be in the Equality Act and their bill could then proceed on the basis that all they are doing is giving people a gender recognition certificate but it doesn't give them the rights to go into woman only places or mess about with our prison system.
This is indeed the correct solution to the problem and once it is in place people can call themselves what they like. There are other issues, such as giving powerful drugs to children that affect their development, but a lot of the heat would go. If Yousless had any brains he would seize this as an excuse not to proceed with his judicial review of the s35 order. There is, however, a fatal flaw in that observation.
I only have that picture to go by as I am not interested in watching this. But I would say no. He just looks like the arrogant self centred prick he has always been.
Surreal to watch. This is the most alone Trump has been in a long time. He’s not flanked by aides, lawyers, body men & so on. He’s face to face with the American legal system that has caught up with him.
He seems to go through lawyers at a rate of knots, and several of them in recent years have ended up facing or potentially facing sanctions, so it doesn't seem worth it to me. Presumably since he's not totally stupid he'll stick with some tried and tested big hitters and not select grifters more interested in posturing on Fox News.
(1) Everybody loves to pretend that language models are GPAI, they're not - they wouldn't know how to fix climate change unless somebody had previously written an article on it and fed it in. We're still a way off that. This is basically an Ask Jeeves that works properly. (2) If the "evil tech companies" had any method of wiping out humanity that they could connect an AI to, they would have triggered it accidentally years ago and killed us all already, due to human incompetence.
I also have "mates in tech" - some of them really quite senior. They divide between those who think ChatGPT is a massively important evolution, which will change society, but we're still ages away from AGI, so there's no need for existential worry - and those who think ChatGPT is a massively important evolution, which will change society, and suddenly we are much closer to AGI than anyone expected, so it IS time to worry
"Trump pleads not guilty to criminal charges The former US president has pleaded not guilty after being accused of 34 felony counts, including falsifying business records."
Yes, I'm seriously warming to Sunak. He's competent and he's not scared of the Woke and he's getting things done. He ain't perfect and his party is tired and all that, but as PMs go he could - in different circs - have been one of the much better ones. But he is doomed to a short tenure
Relatedly, I saw a pic of Starmer the other day. He suddenly looks his age. 60. Quite chubby, and a little weary. Has the rosy flush of a drinker, too - no idea if he is (and I apologise to him if he's tee-total!)
Sunak looks and seems sharper. More dynamic
I noticed the same thing about Starmer. He had an ageless look for quite a long time, but now he's visibly changed. Perhaps the contrast between him and Sunak will be even starker by the time of the election.
Yes, I'm seriously warming to Sunak. He's competent and he's not scared of the Woke and he's getting things done. He ain't perfect and his party is tired and all that, but as PMs go he could - in different circs - have been one of the much better ones. But he is doomed to a short tenure
Relatedly, I saw a pic of Starmer the other day. He suddenly looks his age. 60. Quite chubby, and a little weary. Has the rosy flush of a drinker, too - no idea if he is (and I apologise to him if he's tee-total!)
Sunak looks and seems sharper. More dynamic
Yes, we all love Rishi (or some do).
The trouble is the Party he leads which as Ipsos shows today is disliked by about two thirds of the electorate. Perhaps the ideal would be to have Sunak lead Labour instead.
Like Major before him, Sunak may well be a half decent Prime Minister but will be dragged to defeat by his own Party.
The bitter irony is that the Tory Party could have avoided Truss altogether, gone for Sunak in the first place, and they might now still be in with a chance of winning in 2024
Truss must be one of the greatest unforced errors ever made by a British political party. Along with Sturgeon pushing the Gender Act
And yes, I am aware that at one point I predicted "Truss might surprise on the upside". Not my best moment
[Humza Yousless has entered the chat] [As has Jeremy Corbyn}.
This is different to blustering in front of the TV cameras and rousing the MAGA crowd. That just doesn’t wash when facing the sharp, forensic questioning of the finest legal minds. He’ll get rinsed in court.
Famously of course he and his lawyers, his media acolytes and political supporters, are very fond of grandiose claims about election fraud and so on - but when in front of a judge most of the claims from his lawyers have pulled back from the most extreme accusations. Because they'd need evidence.
It is one of those things about parties. Why and how do they choose leaders? I am not a Tory or Labour voter, but I do wonder why the Torys never picked R.A.Butler or Ken Clarke, and why Labour never picked Denis Healey.
"Trump pleads not guilty to criminal charges The former US president has pleaded not guilty after being accused of 34 felony counts, including falsifying business records."
Looking forward to the analysis on the counts - I've only seen a few pieces speculating to date, but there were apparently some interesting issues around statute of limitations, the previous federal investigations and so on, and some tricky specifics that would need to be met.
Yes, I'm seriously warming to Sunak. He's competent and he's not scared of the Woke and he's getting things done. He ain't perfect and his party is tired and all that, but as PMs go he could - in different circs - have been one of the much better ones. But he is doomed to a short tenure
Relatedly, I saw a pic of Starmer the other day. He suddenly looks his age. 60. Quite chubby, and a little weary. Has the rosy flush of a drinker, too - no idea if he is (and I apologise to him if he's tee-total!)
Sunak looks and seems sharper. More dynamic
I noticed the same thing about Starmer. He had an ageless look for quite a long time, but now he's visibly changed. Perhaps the contrast between him and Sunak will be even starker by the time of the election.
Yeah, for ages he seemed to be "about 50" and quite a well preserved 50, at that. Good hair. Now he looks what he is. 60. And a tired 60 because he has a busy and demanding job. I don't believe he will serve much more than one term
If there are TV debates there will be quite a contrast twixt Starmer and Sunak
Quite frankly the Scottish government should welcome this. The result would be that the safeguards they completely failed to put in their bill would then be in the Equality Act and their bill could then proceed on the basis that all they are doing is giving people a gender recognition certificate but it doesn't give them the rights to go into woman only places or mess about with our prison system.
This is indeed the correct solution to the problem and once it is in place people can call themselves what they like. There are other issues, such as giving powerful drugs to children that affect their development, but a lot of the heat would go. If Yousless had any brains he would seize this as an excuse not to proceed with his judicial review of the s35 order. There is, however, a fatal flaw in that observation.
On the face of it it seems pretty sensible, particular given what would have been the intended definition at the time it was passed. Unsurprisingly it seems to have caused people to explode in apoplexy.
Quite frankly the Scottish government should welcome this. The result would be that the safeguards they completely failed to put in their bill would then be in the Equality Act and their bill could then proceed on the basis that all they are doing is giving people a gender recognition certificate but it doesn't give them the rights to go into woman only places or mess about with our prison system.
This is indeed the correct solution to the problem and once it is in place people can call themselves what they like. There are other issues, such as giving powerful drugs to children that affect their development, but a lot of the heat would go. If Yousless had any brains he would seize this as an excuse not to proceed with his judicial review of the s35 order. There is, however, a fatal flaw in that observation.
Should but won't because the Greens will find something objectionable in legally defining biological sex. Because they are absolutely BARKING mad.
I cannot believe this of all things is what the SG want to go toe to toe with Westminster over. You can see why the tin foil hat brigade think that the SNP has been infiltrated by fifth columnists.
This quite possibly just means being sent a letter of expulsion and appealing. It may be that the actual figures for completed explusions are in line with other countries (i.e vanishingly small).
Possibly but it still looks very harsh and the absolute numbers are high especially given Sweden's populations
Anyway, have we commented on this? Far more uplifting
=Is it an 8 (wisdom) or 7 or 6? My sympathies, but I've preferred extractions (and gaps) to mucking about, apart from crowns (four so far); but then I'm 84 and have sort of given up on teeth - except from avoiding pain.
I had my first (wisdom) tooth out last year, and it was surprisingly less bad as an experience than I expected -- certainly less bad than a root canal. The aftermath where you have to be careful about what you eat for ages while it heals is a bit tedious, though.
Yes, I'm seriously warming to Sunak. He's competent and he's not scared of the Woke and he's getting things done. He ain't perfect and his party is tired and all that, but as PMs go he could - in different circs - have been one of the much better ones. But he is doomed to a short tenure
Relatedly, I saw a pic of Starmer the other day. He suddenly looks his age. 60. Quite chubby, and a little weary. Has the rosy flush of a drinker, too - no idea if he is (and I apologise to him if he's tee-total!)
Sunak looks and seems sharper. More dynamic
Yes, we all love Rishi (or some do).
The trouble is the Party he leads which as Ipsos shows today is disliked by about two thirds of the electorate. Perhaps the ideal would be to have Sunak lead Labour instead.
Like Major before him, Sunak may well be a half decent Prime Minister but will be dragged to defeat by his own Party.
The bitter irony is that the Tory Party could have avoided Truss altogether, gone for Sunak in the first place, and they might now still be in with a chance of winning in 2024
Truss must be one of the greatest unforced errors ever made by a British political party. Along with Sturgeon pushing the Gender Act
And yes, I am aware that at one point I predicted "Truss might surprise on the upside". Not my best moment
[Humza Yousless has entered the chat] [As has Jeremy Corbyn}.
Fair point
I still think Truss is in a league of her own (certainly in terms of her spectacularly short career, and her unique self combustion) but Yousaf and Corbyn are right up there in terms of OMG-wrong-choice. Corbyn arguably guaranteed Brexit, so his elevation also had major long term consequences. Yousaf will just fail, and get the boot, quite quickly, I expect
Quite frankly the Scottish government should welcome this. The result would be that the safeguards they completely failed to put in their bill would then be in the Equality Act and their bill could then proceed on the basis that all they are doing is giving people a gender recognition certificate but it doesn't give them the rights to go into woman only places or mess about with our prison system.
This is indeed the correct solution to the problem and once it is in place people can call themselves what they like. There are other issues, such as giving powerful drugs to children that affect their development, but a lot of the heat would go. If Yousless had any brains he would seize this as an excuse not to proceed with his judicial review of the s35 order. There is, however, a fatal flaw in that observation.
Should but won't because the Greens will find something objectionable in legally defining biological sex. Because they are absolutely BARKING mad.
I cannot believe this of all things is what the SG want to go toe to toe with Westminster over. You can see why the tin foil hat brigade think that the SNP has been infiltrated by fifth columnists.
The Greens are indeed insane. And obnoxious with it. And yet Nicola still preferred them to half her own party.
It is one of those things about parties. Why and how do they choose leaders? I am not a Tory or Labour voter, but I do wonder why the Torys never picked R.A.Butler or Ken Clarke, and why Labour never picked Denis Healey.
Ken Clarke was all about the EU. Nothing more. A shame as otherwise he would have been a good Tory leader.
Yes, I'm seriously warming to Sunak. He's competent and he's not scared of the Woke and he's getting things done. He ain't perfect and his party is tired and all that, but as PMs go he could - in different circs - have been one of the much better ones. But he is doomed to a short tenure
Relatedly, I saw a pic of Starmer the other day. He suddenly looks his age. 60. Quite chubby, and a little weary. Has the rosy flush of a drinker, too - no idea if he is (and I apologise to him if he's tee-total!)
Sunak looks and seems sharper. More dynamic
Yes, we all love Rishi (or some do).
The trouble is the Party he leads which as Ipsos shows today is disliked by about two thirds of the electorate. Perhaps the ideal would be to have Sunak lead Labour instead.
Like Major before him, Sunak may well be a half decent Prime Minister but will be dragged to defeat by his own Party.
The bitter irony is that the Tory Party could have avoided Truss altogether, gone for Sunak in the first place, and they might now still be in with a chance of winning in 2024
Truss must be one of the greatest unforced errors ever made by a British political party. Along with Sturgeon pushing the Gender Act
And yes, I am aware that at one point I predicted "Truss might surprise on the upside". Not my best moment
[Humza Yousless has entered the chat] [As has Jeremy Corbyn}.
Fair point
I still think Truss is in a league of her own (certainly in terms of her spectacularly short career, and her unique self combustion) but Yousaf and Corbyn are right up there in terms of OMG-wrong-choice. Corbyn arguably guaranteed Brexit, so his elevation also had major long term consequences. Yousaf will just fail, and get the boot, quite quickly, I expect
It won't be a Brian Clough at Leeds type tenure like Truss, but they will get squeezed badly at the GE (no chance of gains in the Borders/Highlands, losses to Lab across the central belt, almost certain loss of e.g. the Western Isles due to ferries debacle). Then the MSPs will start to get nervous ahead of Holyrood 2026, and he'll be out, IMO.
Yes, I'm seriously warming to Sunak. He's competent and he's not scared of the Woke and he's getting things done. He ain't perfect and his party is tired and all that, but as PMs go he could - in different circs - have been one of the much better ones. But he is doomed to a short tenure
Relatedly, I saw a pic of Starmer the other day. He suddenly looks his age. 60. Quite chubby, and a little weary. Has the rosy flush of a drinker, too - no idea if he is (and I apologise to him if he's tee-total!)
Sunak looks and seems sharper. More dynamic
Yes, we all love Rishi (or some do).
The trouble is the Party he leads which as Ipsos shows today is disliked by about two thirds of the electorate. Perhaps the ideal would be to have Sunak lead Labour instead.
Like Major before him, Sunak may well be a half decent Prime Minister but will be dragged to defeat by his own Party.
The bitter irony is that the Tory Party could have avoided Truss altogether, gone for Sunak in the first place, and they might now still be in with a chance of winning in 2024
Truss must be one of the greatest unforced errors ever made by a British political party. Along with Sturgeon pushing the Gender Act
And yes, I am aware that at one point I predicted "Truss might surprise on the upside". Not my best moment
[Humza Yousless has entered the chat] [As has Jeremy Corbyn}.
Fair point
I still think Truss is in a league of her own (certainly in terms of her spectacularly short career, and her unique self combustion) but Yousaf and Corbyn are right up there in terms of OMG-wrong-choice. Corbyn arguably guaranteed Brexit, so his elevation also had major long term consequences. Yousaf will just fail, and get the boot, quite quickly, I expect
Even as an unrepentant Brexiteer I look at the choice of Ken Clarke and Iain Duncan Smith and just shake my head with disbelief. Another extraordinary choice.
The only reasonable conclusion is that party memberships of all parties are made up of completely unrepresentative nutters. Any new leader elected really should face the electorate pretty much immediately if they are in power. It is simply unacceptable to leave determination of who our leaders are to these head bangers.
Yes, I'm seriously warming to Sunak. He's competent and he's not scared of the Woke and he's getting things done. He ain't perfect and his party is tired and all that, but as PMs go he could - in different circs - have been one of the much better ones. But he is doomed to a short tenure
Relatedly, I saw a pic of Starmer the other day. He suddenly looks his age. 60. Quite chubby, and a little weary. Has the rosy flush of a drinker, too - no idea if he is (and I apologise to him if he's tee-total!)
Sunak looks and seems sharper. More dynamic
I noticed the same thing about Starmer. He had an ageless look for quite a long time, but now he's visibly changed. Perhaps the contrast between him and Sunak will be even starker by the time of the election.
Yeah, for ages he seemed to be "about 50" and quite a well preserved 50, at that. Good hair. Now he looks what he is. 60. And a tired 60 because he has a busy and demanding job. I don't believe he will serve much more than one term
If there are TV debates there will be quite a contrast twixt Starmer and Sunak
It'll look like an eager 5th former debating his geography teacher.
Yes, I'm seriously warming to Sunak. He's competent and he's not scared of the Woke and he's getting things done. He ain't perfect and his party is tired and all that, but as PMs go he could - in different circs - have been one of the much better ones. But he is doomed to a short tenure
Relatedly, I saw a pic of Starmer the other day. He suddenly looks his age. 60. Quite chubby, and a little weary. Has the rosy flush of a drinker, too - no idea if he is (and I apologise to him if he's tee-total!)
Sunak looks and seems sharper. More dynamic
I noticed the same thing about Starmer. He had an ageless look for quite a long time, but now he's visibly changed. Perhaps the contrast between him and Sunak will be even starker by the time of the election.
Yeah, for ages he seemed to be "about 50" and quite a well preserved 50, at that. Good hair. Now he looks what he is. 60. And a tired 60 because he has a busy and demanding job. I don't believe he will serve much more than one term
If there are TV debates there will be quite a contrast twixt Starmer and Sunak
Let’s not get carried away. Sunak drew (at best) TV debates with Liz Truss.
I think one of the appeals of Rishi to many older voters must be the vibe he gives of the fresh faced, clean cut son done well. Always worked terribly hard at school unlike that layabout older brother of his. Much nicer to his dear mother than his slightly robotic little sister and her oddball friend Kwazi. Always remembers mother’s day. Sure he isn’t particularly handy around the house but granny was ever so proud at his graduation ceremony.
Hence why also he isn’t taking the party with him. He just doesn’t look like he’s someone to lay down the law to the hoodlums.
(1) Everybody loves to pretend that language models are GPAI, they're not - they wouldn't know how to fix climate change unless somebody had previously written an article on it and fed it in. We're still a way off that. This is basically an Ask Jeeves that works properly. (2) If the "evil tech companies" had any method of wiping out humanity that they could connect an AI to, they would have triggered it accidentally years ago and killed us all already, due to human incompetence.
I do broadly agree with that, but with one slight but important condition, we will only know where the dangerous boundary for step 2 lies when we cross it. It may then be too late to do much about it. One way of thinking about this is imagine you are climbing a hill in the dark (yay aren't transformers great!), how do you know your next step* is not off of a cliff edge? If we knew where the boundary is we would already know how to create AGI, or at least dangerous ML/AI.
* Possibly only developing such technology in offline systems. Of course you might choose to develop such systems with air gaps, but that doesn't mean everyone else will.
This quite possibly just means being sent a letter of expulsion and appealing. It may be that the actual figures for completed explusions are in line with other countries (i.e vanishingly small).
Possibly but it still looks very harsh and the absolute numbers are high especially given Sweden's populations
Anyway, have we commented on this? Far more uplifting
Yes, I'm seriously warming to Sunak. He's competent and he's not scared of the Woke and he's getting things done. He ain't perfect and his party is tired and all that, but as PMs go he could - in different circs - have been one of the much better ones. But he is doomed to a short tenure
Relatedly, I saw a pic of Starmer the other day. He suddenly looks his age. 60. Quite chubby, and a little weary. Has the rosy flush of a drinker, too - no idea if he is (and I apologise to him if he's tee-total!)
Sunak looks and seems sharper. More dynamic
Yes, we all love Rishi (or some do).
The trouble is the Party he leads which as Ipsos shows today is disliked by about two thirds of the electorate. Perhaps the ideal would be to have Sunak lead Labour instead.
Like Major before him, Sunak may well be a half decent Prime Minister but will be dragged to defeat by his own Party.
The bitter irony is that the Tory Party could have avoided Truss altogether, gone for Sunak in the first place, and they might now still be in with a chance of winning in 2024
Truss must be one of the greatest unforced errors ever made by a British political party. Along with Sturgeon pushing the Gender Act
And yes, I am aware that at one point I predicted "Truss might surprise on the upside". Not my best moment
[Humza Yousless has entered the chat] [As has Jeremy Corbyn}.
Fair point
I still think Truss is in a league of her own (certainly in terms of her spectacularly short career, and her unique self combustion) but Yousaf and Corbyn are right up there in terms of OMG-wrong-choice. Corbyn arguably guaranteed Brexit, so his elevation also had major long term consequences. Yousaf will just fail, and get the boot, quite quickly, I expect
Even as an unrepentant Brexiteer I look at the choice of Ken Clarke and Iain Duncan Smith and just shake my head with disbelief. Another extraordinary choice.
The only reasonable conclusion is that party memberships of all parties are made up of completely unrepresentative nutters. Any new leader elected really should face the electorate pretty much immediately if they are in power. It is simply unacceptable to leave determination of who our leaders are to these head bangers.
If a new PM led to an immediate GE then Boris Johnson would still be PM.
Given that, constitutionally, the PM is supposed to have the Confidence of the House, it does seem strange that party memberships can make a candidate with a minority of MP support within their party PM.
I think that, if we had a recall mechanism for MPs that could be used in a wider set of circumstances, such that if the electorate was really unhappy with their MPs choice of a new PM they could force a by-election, then I'd be okay with preventing ballots of party membership to determine party leadership for government parties.
This quite possibly just means being sent a letter of expulsion and appealing. It may be that the actual figures for completed explusions are in line with other countries (i.e vanishingly small).
Possibly but it still looks very harsh and the absolute numbers are high especially given Sweden's populations
Anyway, have we commented on this? Far more uplifting
This guy is awaiting sentencing. Probably not the smartest interview in the circs.
Ed Badalian, freshly convicted on Jan. 6 charges, compares Trump’s arrest to the citizen’s arrest of Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden he hoped “patriots” and law enforcement would pull off. https://twitter.com/ryanjreilly/status/1643314081489625103
People on Twitter are blaming it on Progressive SNP Judicial Reforms. I have NO idea if this is true
It does seem remarkably lenient
Unusual sentence. I'll have to read more about it.
It seems to be a result of sentencing guidelines introduced by the Scottish government for offenders under 25 (the rapist in this case was 17 at the time of the rape, 21 now).
Rapists under the age of 25 won't get prison sentences?
The presumption seems to be that they won't.
What makes this even odder, at least judging by the news reports, is that. mitigating factors aside, there were some pretty strong aggravating factors: the victim was just 13. The judge's remark that if he had been over 25 the sentence would have been 4-5 years imprisonment is itself, on the face of it, odd: surely one would expect a much longer sentence?
Also the report states that he attacked the girl, "on various occasions between March and June 2018." So, repeat offending. It wasn't a one-off aberration.
Judges will sometimes make mistakes and I hope there is scope for the leniency of the sentence to be appealed, though the report only says that the defendant intends to appeal the sentence.
I'm pretty sure it is the Crown which is intending to appeal the sentence, on the grounds of undue leniency, not the defendant. What would his appeal hope to achieve ? An even shorter period of litter-picking?
Not only that but litter picking is going to put him in public places with 13 year old girls
This quite possibly just means being sent a letter of expulsion and appealing. It may be that the actual figures for completed explusions are in line with other countries (i.e vanishingly small).
Possibly but it still looks very harsh and the absolute numbers are high especially given Sweden's populations
Anyway, have we commented on this? Far more uplifting
As others have said, it doesn't look to me as if the Sean Hogg sentence has much to do with the SNP, Scotland, or the sentencing guidelines. Rather, it's to do with a slightly bonkers judge, and will be changed on appeal. Ludicrous sentences (both ways) have been known to happen in England, quite frequently.
Even the BBC are saying it’s due to the sentencing guidelines.
(1) Everybody loves to pretend that language models are GPAI, they're not - they wouldn't know how to fix climate change unless somebody had previously written an article on it and fed it in. We're still a way off that. This is basically an Ask Jeeves that works properly. (2) If the "evil tech companies" had any method of wiping out humanity that they could connect an AI to, they would have triggered it accidentally years ago and killed us all already, due to human incompetence.
I do broadly agree with that, but with one slight but important condition, we will only know where the dangerous boundary for step 2 lies when we cross it. It may then be too late to do much about it. One way of thinking about this is imagine you are climbing a hill in the dark (yay aren't transformers great!), how do you know your next step* is not off of a cliff edge? If we knew where the boundary is we would already know how to create AGI, or at least dangerous ML/AI.
* Possibly only developing such technology in offline systems. Of course you might choose to develop such systems with air gaps, but that doesn't mean everyone else will.
There's a quite good (and long) interview with Stephen Wolfram of Mathematica & Wolfram/Alpha fame (amongst many other achievements) youtube interview about AI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5WZhCBRDpU
Ostensibly about the integration of ChatGPT and Wolfram/Alpha - but it goes way deep into the mathematics and philosophy underpinning it all.
Yes, I'm seriously warming to Sunak. He's competent and he's not scared of the Woke and he's getting things done. He ain't perfect and his party is tired and all that, but as PMs go he could - in different circs - have been one of the much better ones. But he is doomed to a short tenure
Relatedly, I saw a pic of Starmer the other day. He suddenly looks his age. 60. Quite chubby, and a little weary. Has the rosy flush of a drinker, too - no idea if he is (and I apologise to him if he's tee-total!)
Sunak looks and seems sharper. More dynamic
I noticed the same thing about Starmer. He had an ageless look for quite a long time, but now he's visibly changed. Perhaps the contrast between him and Sunak will be even starker by the time of the election.
Yeah, for ages he seemed to be "about 50" and quite a well preserved 50, at that. Good hair. Now he looks what he is. 60. And a tired 60 because he has a busy and demanding job. I don't believe he will serve much more than one term
If there are TV debates there will be quite a contrast twixt Starmer and Sunak
Let’s not get carried away. Sunak drew (at best) TV debates with Liz Truss.
I think one of the appeals of Rishi to many older voters must be the vibe he gives of the fresh faced, clean cut son done well. Always worked terribly hard at school unlike that layabout older brother of his. Much nicer to his dear mother than his slightly robotic little sister and her oddball friend Kwazi. Always remembers mother’s day. Sure he isn’t particularly handy around the house but granny was ever so proud at his graduation ceremony.
Hence why also he isn’t taking the party with him. He just doesn’t look like he’s someone to lay down the law to the hoodlums.
David 'Hug a hoodie' Cameron seemed to drag them along just fine.
(1) Everybody loves to pretend that language models are GPAI, they're not - they wouldn't know how to fix climate change unless somebody had previously written an article on it and fed it in. We're still a way off that. This is basically an Ask Jeeves that works properly. (2) If the "evil tech companies" had any method of wiping out humanity that they could connect an AI to, they would have triggered it accidentally years ago and killed us all already, due to human incompetence.
Yes, people lose sight of the fact that this is all primarily an experiment. Some of these models have been kicking around for decades, and the tantalizing question always was: if we had the processing power and capacity to make them operational would they turn out to be identical to human intelligence, indeed would it prove that that's what human intelligence actually is? Well, now we have the hardware and they've conducted the experiment. The question is: are the considerable flaws fixable, or is the model itself entirely broken backed? I'm inclined to the latter.
Such BS. Don't have them in hair, finger nails or toenails.
Need them in gums and tongue. Tooth nerves are about as much use as mosquitoes or wasps.
As an early teenager I had to swerve out of the way of an oncoming car, went head-first over my bike handlebars and broke one of my front teeth.
The dentist had to drill 'up' into my tooth to kill the dangling nerve.
As I squirmed and screamed in the chair she *shouted at me* "You can't feel the pain - you've had an injection!" and drilled some more. I blacked out at that point.
Yes, I'm seriously warming to Sunak. He's competent and he's not scared of the Woke and he's getting things done. He ain't perfect and his party is tired and all that, but as PMs go he could - in different circs - have been one of the much better ones. But he is doomed to a short tenure
Relatedly, I saw a pic of Starmer the other day. He suddenly looks his age. 60. Quite chubby, and a little weary. Has the rosy flush of a drinker, too - no idea if he is (and I apologise to him if he's tee-total!)
Sunak looks and seems sharper. More dynamic
Yes, we all love Rishi (or some do).
The trouble is the Party he leads which as Ipsos shows today is disliked by about two thirds of the electorate. Perhaps the ideal would be to have Sunak lead Labour instead.
Like Major before him, Sunak may well be a half decent Prime Minister but will be dragged to defeat by his own Party.
The bitter irony is that the Tory Party could have avoided Truss altogether, gone for Sunak in the first place, and they might now still be in with a chance of winning in 2024
Truss must be one of the greatest unforced errors ever made by a British political party. Along with Sturgeon pushing the Gender Act
And yes, I am aware that at one point I predicted "Truss might surprise on the upside". Not my best moment
[Humza Yousless has entered the chat] [As has Jeremy Corbyn}.
Fair point
I still think Truss is in a league of her own (certainly in terms of her spectacularly short career, and her unique self combustion) but Yousaf and Corbyn are right up there in terms of OMG-wrong-choice. Corbyn arguably guaranteed Brexit, so his elevation also had major long term consequences. Yousaf will just fail, and get the boot, quite quickly, I expect
It won't be a Brian Clough at Leeds type tenure like Truss, but they will get squeezed badly at the GE (no chance of gains in the Borders/Highlands, losses to Lab across the central belt, almost certain loss of e.g. the Western Isles due to ferries debacle). Then the MSPs will start to get nervous ahead of Holyrood 2026, and he'll be out, IMO.
Quite frankly the Scottish government should welcome this. The result would be that the safeguards they completely failed to put in their bill would then be in the Equality Act and their bill could then proceed on the basis that all they are doing is giving people a gender recognition certificate but it doesn't give them the rights to go into woman only places or mess about with our prison system.
This is indeed the correct solution to the problem and once it is in place people can call themselves what they like. There are other issues, such as giving powerful drugs to children that affect their development, but a lot of the heat would go. If Yousless had any brains he would seize this as an excuse not to proceed with his judicial review of the s35 order. There is, however, a fatal flaw in that observation.
Should but won't because the Greens will find something objectionable in legally defining biological sex. Because they are absolutely BARKING mad.
I cannot believe this of all things is what the SG want to go toe to toe with Westminster over. You can see why the tin foil hat brigade think that the SNP has been infiltrated by fifth columnists.
The Greens are indeed insane. And obnoxious with it. And yet Nicola still preferred them to half her own party.
It's the lure of No One More Progressive Than Me.
It is interesting to watch the circumlocutions that are used to avoid having to make a choice.
Such BS. Don't have them in hair, finger nails or toenails.
Need them in gums and tongue. Tooth nerves are about as much use as mosquitoes or wasps.
As an early teenager I had to swerve out of the way of an oncoming car, went head-first over my bike handlebars and broke one of my front teeth.
The dentist had to drill 'up' into my tooth to kill the dangling nerve.
As I squirmed and screamed in the chair she *shouted at me* "You can't feel the pain - you've had an injection!" and drilled some more. I blacked out at that point.
As others have said, it doesn't look to me as if the Sean Hogg sentence has much to do with the SNP, Scotland, or the sentencing guidelines. Rather, it's to do with a slightly bonkers judge, and will be changed on appeal. Ludicrous sentences (both ways) have been known to happen in England, quite frequently.
Even the BBC are saying it’s due to the sentencing guidelines.
I have no understanding of this case but it does feel like the SNP have had some extraordinary bad luck. A bunch of cases have come up which serve to confirm the various suspicions of the Mumsnet cohort.
Yousaf was Justice Secretary for three years, including for when the consultation for the sentencing guidelines for young people was conducted.
How very House of Cards. There is a novel in this, somewhere...
People on Twitter are blaming it on Progressive SNP Judicial Reforms. I have NO idea if this is true
It does seem remarkably lenient
Unusual sentence. I'll have to read more about it.
It seems to be a result of sentencing guidelines introduced by the Scottish government for offenders under 25 (the rapist in this case was 17 at the time of the rape, 21 now).
Rapists under the age of 25 won't get prison sentences?
The presumption seems to be that they won't.
What makes this even odder, at least judging by the news reports, is that. mitigating factors aside, there were some pretty strong aggravating factors: the victim was just 13. The judge's remark that if he had been over 25 the sentence would have been 4-5 years imprisonment is itself, on the face of it, odd: surely one would expect a much longer sentence?
Also the report states that he attacked the girl, "on various occasions between March and June 2018." So, repeat offending. It wasn't a one-off aberration.
Judges will sometimes make mistakes and I hope there is scope for the leniency of the sentence to be appealed, though the report only says that the defendant intends to appeal the sentence.
I'm pretty sure it is the Crown which is intending to appeal the sentence, on the grounds of undue leniency, not the defendant. What would his appeal hope to achieve ? An even shorter period of litter-picking?
Not only that but litter picking is going to put him in public places with 13 year old girls
What about litter picking here? There's lots to do, and a reduced chance of meeting too many vulnerable people.
Trump is just a media circus for 24 7 news like GB news and the equally appalling Sky News .au which is obsessed with slagging off Harry and Meghan.....
If we could manage to get a story combining Trump, Meghan, JK Rowling, and Andrew Tate, the internet might just explode.
Add in Princess Diana and Madeline McCann perhaps?
Madeline McCann was disappeared because she was the love child of Trump and Meghan (hence the repeated Ms in her name)… JK Rowling communicated with Princess Diana to instruct Andrew Tate on how to do this… because she knew that Harry was going to wed Meghan and didn’t want any link to Trump…?
My rear molar has flared up again today. Worst than ever. Whole side of my face is in pain.
Hurts like it's got a Corbynite manifesto stuck in it. I am so terrified of the dentist I've been putting it off, but my wife has put her foot down.
I've got at least three further appointments booked for this. Going to need either a bridge or an implant tooth.
So a month of agony.
Sympathies. Toothache is a bitch
Maybe you could abandon your tee-totalism for a month? Strong liquor does help
Amen. Inconsolable toothache can be cured* by drinking decent Scotch. A sensible** measure removes the throbbing. A second sensible measure removes the memory of toothache. *not cured **not sensible
Comments
Mad
"However, although the vehicles will use sensors to travel on pre-selected roads at up to 50mph, they will still need to be operated by two members of staff, twice as many as a normal bus.
This includes a safety driver in the driver’s seat to monitor the technology, and a bus captain to help passengers with boarding, buying tickets and queries."
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/apr/04/self-driving-buses-to-serve-route-in-scotland-in-world-first
"Donald Findlay KC, defending, told the court an appeal was planned."
Wish we had 5 more years of him. Shame we won't.
My rear molar has flared up again today. Worst than ever. Whole side of my face is in pain.
Hurts like it's got a Corbynite manifesto stuck in it. I am so terrified of the dentist I've been putting it off, but my wife has put her foot down.
(And a reminder of why Clinto does not belong in the top tier of presidents.)
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/04/04/trump-indictment-politics-revelation-00090247
… First is the familiar question of whether partisanship will once again triumph over everything else. But the second test is a new one: whether we can figure out how to hold former presidents accountable for their actions. As many commentators have pointed out, it’s quite normal in the American system for governors and members of Congress to face consequences when they’ve broken the law. Prison time for former governors of Illinois is an especially bipartisan affair.
But it’s not an accident that the presidency has been the exception to this. Modern presidents are such powerful and ubiquitous figures, so synonymous with national identity, that the idea of holding them to account has only been seen as destabilizing. The Clinton impeachment was widely viewed as a political stunt, and any serious questions were obscured by national satisfaction with the economy and suspicion of the impeachment process. Upon leaving office, Clinton entered into a plea bargain to avoid indictment for lying under oath. Nixon and Watergate were taken much more seriously, but Ford chose to pardon his predecessor upon taking office, declaring that it was more important to move on than to spend more time facing up to what the office of the presidency could be, and, in fact, had become.
Presidents, unlike members of Congress (and some governors) are also term-limited, which means that they will become ex-presidents in a fairly predictable timeframe. This means there are strong incentives to avoid any post-presidential legal processes that could be seen as politicized (or, indeed, be politicized) turning the legal system into a political tool to punish opponents. In sum, we’ve treated the presidency, including the post-presidency, as if it were too big to fail. The Trump indictment pushes our political system in a new direction, and offers us a chance to rethink power and accountability...
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/apr/04/sweden-expelled-1100-british-nationals-since-uk-left-eu
And is @StuartDickson safe?
Surreal to watch. This is the most alone Trump has been in a long time. He’s not flanked by aides, lawyers, body men & so on. He’s face to face with the American legal system that has caught up with him.
https://twitter.com/Alyssafarah/status/1643308607474114565
Not everyone who criticises Humza is racist, but hoo boy, all the racists sure are critiquing away.
So a month of agony.
It is entirely possible. But you are forgetting that everyone on the prosecution side will have to be on their best behaviour and more
I'm sure they have got the finest minds in the case but, as you infer, expectations for Trump are already fairly low.
Relatedly, I saw a pic of Starmer the other day. He suddenly looks his age. 60. Quite chubby, and a little weary. Has the rosy flush of a drinker, too - no idea if he is (and I apologise to him if he's tee-total!)
Sunak looks and seems sharper. More dynamic
The Ipsos poll, interesting though it is, does its fieldwork over a week up to last Wednesday so it’s quite old.
If we’re in to selective quoting for all the favourable numbers for Sunak the fact remains only a quarter of those asked liked the Conservative Party while two thirds did not so it’s possible Sunak is now personally held back by the contempt in which the party he leads is now held. Perhaps he should leave and form the Rishi Party - perhaps the theme could be “I’m Rishing on a Star”.
Looking at the data, the England sample for All respondents has Labour leading the Conservatives 47-34 but among likely voters it’s 51-27 which would be an 18.5% swing from December 2019 so much the same as R&W last night.
We also have a Redfield & Wilton Scotland poll with a sample of 1000. The Westminster VI shows a 10.5% swing from SNP to Labour and a 9% swing from Conservative to Labour.
Trump looks lucid and determined. Certainly not broken, tired, cowed, scared
There are multiple rumours on Twitta that he's on Ozempic and has therefore lost weight, making him look a little bit younger - and better
She was obviously fed up of having to deal with a grumpy person all the time.
I wonder how much this scene is being repeated countrywide post Covid?
The trouble is the Party he leads which as Ipsos shows today is disliked by about two thirds of the electorate. Perhaps the ideal would be to have Sunak lead Labour instead.
Like Major before him, Sunak may well be a half decent Prime Minister but will be dragged to defeat by his own Party.
Maybe you could abandon your tee-totalism for a month? Strong liquor does help
(1) Everybody loves to pretend that language models are GPAI, they're not - they wouldn't know how to fix climate change unless somebody had previously written an article on it and fed it in. We're still a way off that. This is basically an Ask Jeeves that works properly.
(2) If the "evil tech companies" had any method of wiping out humanity that they could connect an AI to, they would have triggered it accidentally years ago and killed us all already, due to human incompetence.
Truss must be one of the greatest unforced errors ever made by a British political party. Along with Sturgeon pushing the Gender Act
And yes, I am aware that at one point I predicted "Truss might surprise on the upside". Not my best moment
This is indeed the correct solution to the problem and once it is in place people can call themselves what they like. There are other issues, such as giving powerful drugs to children that affect their development, but a lot of the heat would go. If Yousless had any brains he would seize this as an excuse not to proceed with his judicial review of the s35 order. There is, however, a fatal flaw in that observation.
"Trump pleads not guilty to criminal charges
The former US president has pleaded not guilty after being accused of 34 felony counts, including falsifying business records."
If there are TV debates there will be quite a contrast twixt Starmer and Sunak
I cannot believe this of all things is what the SG want to go toe to toe with Westminster over. You can see why the tin foil hat brigade think that the SNP has been infiltrated by fifth columnists.
Anyway, have we commented on this? Far more uplifting
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-11938101/A-horrified-shopper-brands-Sainsburys-big-daddy-steak-sexist-wildly-inappropriate.html
I still think Truss is in a league of her own (certainly in terms of her spectacularly short career, and her unique self combustion) but Yousaf and Corbyn are right up there in terms of OMG-wrong-choice. Corbyn arguably guaranteed Brexit, so his elevation also had major long term consequences. Yousaf will just fail, and get the boot, quite quickly, I expect
This will be interesting.
The only reasonable conclusion is that party memberships of all parties are made up of completely unrepresentative nutters. Any new leader elected really should face the electorate pretty much immediately if they are in power. It is simply unacceptable to leave determination of who our leaders are to these head bangers.
I think one of the appeals of Rishi to many older voters must be the vibe he gives of the fresh faced, clean cut son done well. Always worked terribly hard at school unlike that layabout older brother of his. Much nicer to his dear mother than his slightly robotic little sister and her oddball friend Kwazi. Always remembers mother’s day. Sure he isn’t particularly handy around the house but granny was ever so proud at his graduation ceremony.
Hence why also he isn’t taking the party with him. He just doesn’t look like he’s someone to lay down the law to the hoodlums.
* Possibly only developing such technology in offline systems. Of course you might choose to develop such systems with air gaps, but that doesn't mean everyone else will.
Donald Trump Jr. has posted a picture of the judge's daughter on truth social.
https://twitter.com/JoyceWhiteVance/status/1643329049442369537
I'd be happy if I never saw a dentist for the rest of my life or if I was sedated at the entrance door every time I went.
Over the counter remedies from Boots or other chemists for broken teeth include, in order of strength
* Bonjela. The adult mouth ulcer one, not the child teething one. Not much help but some
* Clove oil. Better. You will need cotton buds to apply it correctly because it's bad for gums, and it tastes really sharp, but it provides relief
* Benzocaine-containing dental gel such as Orajel
* Lidocaine-containing things like Anbesol
You may also get a tooth repair kit, which involves you spatula-ing temporary filler into the gap. I havent tried these but they may help
Given that, constitutionally, the PM is supposed to have the Confidence of the House, it does seem strange that party memberships can make a candidate with a minority of MP support within their party PM.
I think that, if we had a recall mechanism for MPs that could be used in a wider set of circumstances, such that if the electorate was really unhappy with their MPs choice of a new PM they could force a by-election, then I'd be okay with preventing ballots of party membership to determine party leadership for government parties.
Probably not the smartest interview in the circs.
Ed Badalian, freshly convicted on Jan. 6 charges, compares Trump’s arrest to the citizen’s arrest of Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden he hoped “patriots” and law enforcement would pull off.
https://twitter.com/ryanjreilly/status/1643314081489625103
https://twitter.com/ukhomeoffice/status/1643183676681859074
Ostensibly about the integration of ChatGPT and Wolfram/Alpha - but it goes way deep into the mathematics and philosophy underpinning it all.
Such BS. Don't have them in hair, finger nails or toenails.
Need them in gums and tongue. Tooth nerves are about as much use as mosquitoes or wasps.
I don't support the sentence
Prices at my dentist have gone up 25 pc in the last 6 months.. at a guess. These Dentists are making a killing.
That's at a discount with my private dental insurance/plan.
I’ve just left Ukraine. I've seen the damage caused by Putin's invasion. And I've been inspired by the bravery of the Ukrainian people.
One thing is clear: helping Ukraine end this war is in America's core interest. (1/4)
https://twitter.com/mikepompeo/status/1643256479607029763
The dentist had to drill 'up' into my tooth to kill the dangling nerve.
As I squirmed and screamed in the chair she *shouted at me* "You can't feel the pain - you've had an injection!" and drilled some more. I blacked out at that point.
I
It is interesting to watch the circumlocutions that are used to avoid having to make a choice.
Yousaf was Justice Secretary for three years, including for when the consultation for the sentencing guidelines for young people was conducted.
How very House of Cards. There is a novel in this, somewhere...
*not cured
**not sensible
https://www.manhattanda.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Donald-J.-Trump-Indictment.pdf