Admit it Mike - you were just looking for an opportunity to trot out everyone's favourite constituency result again!
This one was better:
And Archibald Sinclair leads on to one of my favourite elections - John Archibald Sinclair, third Viscount Thurso, a member of the House of Lords twice over, having assumed the heriditary peerage, then being an MP after 1999, then won an by-election to regain a seat in the Lords in 2016 in which there were 7 candidates and only 3 eligible voters.
Evening all. After failing to do so in Lapland at New Year, I'm fairly sure I saw the Northern Lights this evening. I'd gone out looking for them. High levels of auroral activity and a reasonably clear evening. I picked the West Pennine Moors as a likely dark spot. Middle daughter, always up for an adventure, came with me. But it was in the car on the way there, about 9.30, on the A666, there was a flash of green light lit up the sky for a second. Once up in the moors, nothing. A nice night, and we saw what might have been a satellite, but no more activity. Still, I can say I've seen them now, if only for a second. Anyone else see anything?
Nope. Went out for a wander around but no sign in spite of it being a clear night and limited light pollution.
Missed it last night - apparently it was very strong:
The aristocracy still features quite strongly in German society so I wouldn't be surprised.
People from republics (Americans, French, Germans) are often obsessed with our monarchy, just as people from desert countries are besotted by water features, or Russians and Scandanavians love winters in Egypt and Thailand respectively.
The grass is always greener ...
So how come the vast majority of democracies are republics, and not monarchies?
Because monarchy is best admired from afar. The farther, the better!
The aristocracy still features quite strongly in German society so I wouldn't be surprised.
People from republics (Americans, French, Germans) are often obsessed with our monarchy, just as people from desert countries are besotted by water features, or Russians and Scandanavians love winters in Egypt and Thailand respectively.
The grass is always greener ...
So how come the vast majority of democracies are republics, and not monarchies?
The aristocracy still features quite strongly in German society so I wouldn't be surprised.
People from republics (Americans, French, Germans) are often obsessed with our monarchy, just as people from desert countries are besotted by water features, or Russians and Scandanavians love winters in Egypt and Thailand respectively.
The grass is always greener ...
So how come the vast majority of democracies are republics, and not monarchies?
The majority of dictatorships are republics.
The majority of republics are democracies.
What percentage compared with the percentage of monarchies?
PredictIt have priced Tucker Carlson at 4¢ (4% chance, 25/1) for the Republican nomination.
Quick check: I thought PredictIt (unlike Betfair Exchange) was a pretendy market, where you bet for nominal sums not actual money?
Pretty sure you can bet serious money there. You’ll need to be located in the US though.
It’s just the rather unconventional way they display the odds in cents, but 4¢ on PredictIt is 25 on Betfair. They multiply to $1.
There are limits on how much you can bet, so overall trading volume are pretty modest.
That makes sense. A lot of the political prediction sites are structurally different to betting exchanges insofar as the amounts you can bet are strictly limited or in some cases nominal or fictional. I don't know if that makes them better predictors (large gamblers distort the market) or worse (if only nerds are betting it goes wrong)
The aristocracy still features quite strongly in German society so I wouldn't be surprised.
People from republics (Americans, French, Germans) are often obsessed with our monarchy, just as people from desert countries are besotted by water features, or Russians and Scandanavians love winters in Egypt and Thailand respectively.
The grass is always greener ...
Loving the royal family does not mean that it is a model they want tto have in their own country. Many Germans follow the Royal family for the tabloid stuff, as they do with Beyonce or Elon Musk. Only a tiny percentage of Germans actually want a retern to the Kaiserreich, and quite a lot of those who do belong to an organisation that has recently been officially categorised as enemies of the constitution.
I don't know any Germans who are obsessed with the royal family, though quite a few know more than I do - for example they can name Charles's grandchildren. But it's a celebrity/soap opera thing, rather than a grass is greener thing.
The ones who are interested usually have an interest in other European royal families too - I'm not sure how many Brits, whether enthusiastic monarchists or not, could even name any of the other European monarchs. I couldn't. But the British royal family are definitely the biggest celebrities of all the royals.
As for watching it on live TV, I'm surprised many say they will. But I'm always surprised by how many watch things like the opening ceremonies of the olympics, which sound like a load of boring guff to me.
Could certainly be lots of close contests in Scotland. Could certainly see Labour, or even Conservative gains from the SNP
Don't think there are any elections in Scotland this year.
The local elections cycles are increasingly all over the place.
Scotland and Wales are on fixed cycles - easy for everyone to understand. All change every 4 (5?) years. It is only in England that they are all over the place...
When does the world beating UK evacuation of Brits start in Sudan ?
Don't be a berk. When people made similarly snide comments about Libya it turned out that UK special forces had arrived in the country before the complaints even started. You can be certain that there is a lot more going on than any of us are aware. Just hope that everyone can safely leave.
I'm always astonished where British people get to. What is anyone doing in Sudan?
There’s around 10x the number of US citizens there, reportedly.
Probaly a lot of those in sudan are aid workers...they tend to overstay because the are doing good and think the opressors will take that into account
When your own country of nationality evacuates its embassy where you’re staying, it’s already way beyond the time you should have left, no matter how much ‘good’ you think you’re doing.
Hopefully the three-day ceasefire just agreed in Sudan, will now allow for the orderly evacuation of foreigners. Several European and Mid-East countries, as well as the US, are sending special forces to assist.
Comments
https://twitter.com/JDVance1/status/1650561218468274176
Tucker is the most courageous person in American media.
This seems to be a widespread GOP belief. Maybe he will run for the nomination.
When Caledonia was just one rotten borough . . . excuse me, rotten burgh,
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/aurora-30-minute-forecast
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_system_of_government
The ones who are interested usually have an interest in other European royal families too - I'm not sure how many Brits, whether enthusiastic monarchists or not, could even name any of the other European monarchs. I couldn't. But the British royal family are definitely the biggest celebrities of all the royals.
As for watching it on live TV, I'm surprised many say they will. But I'm always surprised by how many watch things like the opening ceremonies of the olympics, which sound like a load of boring guff to me.
The keys to a hypothetical Tucker Carlson 2024 campaign
POLITICO invited GOP strategists to game out what a hypothetical Carlson presidential campaign might look like. It isn’t as outlandish as it sounds.
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/04/24/hypothetical-tucker-carlson-2024-campaign-00093608
I don’t think it will happen, but it’s not impossible.
If Tory MPs vote down opposition day motion, Labour can accuse them of thwarting attempts to clean up rivers, beaches and chalk streams
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/apr/24/labour-to-use-tactic-that-finished-off-truss-to-force-tories-into-sewage-vote
Zooey Zephyr hasn’t been allowed to speak on house floor since taking a stand against bill that would ban gender-affirming care
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/apr/24/montana-republicans-silence-transgender-lawmaker
Hopefully the three-day ceasefire just agreed in Sudan, will now allow for the orderly evacuation of foreigners. Several European and Mid-East countries, as well as the US, are sending special forces to assist.