End of a stressful day. Needed to clear my father's house fast as the new owners want to complete asap and I don't want to cause any delays so I haven't replied to any comments from the last thread so:
@Mortimer - Thank you for your kind post. Appreciated. My dad died aged 96 in February. Just the selling of the house now, which has suddenly turned manic.
@Stuartinromford - I agree completely with your post re maths and eventually everyone hits the buffers in the end, it is just a matter of when. Definitely happened to me. If I had my time again I would do a joint degree of maths with economics or philosophy to put off hitting the maths buffers.
@HYUFD - Thanks for the link re philosophy degree & logic questions. I'm interested but the link didn't work - Page not found. One thing to note (and I say this without having read the link) is the logic you do in a maths degree is far more advanced than stuff you do in a philosophy degree (or in particular questions they may set in an interview) by the nature of the prerequisites. In fact the notation itself will be gibberish without the previous preparation. That is not to say a question set in an interview will not be as difficult, it might in fact be more difficult. There are plenty of everyday logic questions I can't do that an untrained but clever person can do, but which doesn't involve complex logic. And as you know, I don't have a logic degree (I don't even know if such a thing exists), but said it as a riposte to @Miklosvar, although my specialist subjects in my 2nd & 3rd year of maths were all logic topics.
@DecrepiterJohnL - Your post about many Doctors regretting their choice and moving to other careers. I agree. They are often talented in several areas and it follows from my argument of going down the science line first and then wishing they had done something they had more passion for. For most of us we do a degree, and move on, but for a Doctor it is a career. There are so many in the public eye who are ex-Doctors doing non doctoring stuff. My wife (a doctor) often feels the same.
@Miklosvar - You are an arse. When you first appeared on PB I had a pointless pedantic exchange with you and decided to avoid you. Today I made a half serious comment for comic effect that was at the expense of historians/lawyers and people like @TheScreamingEagles and @ydoethur respond accordingly, in fun. You on the other hand responded appallingly, as you nearly always do. I've noticed you have done this with others. With @kinabalu for instance. And your reaction and jumping to the wrong conclusion when I politely said I had to leave for a few hours, but would reply on my return, was an example. Would you have preferred it if I had been rude and just ignored you.
You're rude, pedantic, irrational, and tangential. You appear to be an exceedingly unpleasant person. Not bad going for someone who has only made a few hundred posts.
That being said, he is funnier than you
Are you all right @Leon? That is not up to your usual standard. Even when I disagree with you I still really enjoy your prose; but that?
I wasn't trying to be clever, or witty, or indeed anything - simply pointing out a relevant truth you had carelessly omitted in your 19 paragraph Screed of Tedium
You mean that tedium that has got more likes than any of your posts for the last few days. Just saying.
The definition of Tragedy is: adding up your likes
This is why I asked @rcs1000 to remove the LIKE button. Likes encourage cant, and banal emotion, and the herd mentality, and sad, crowdpleasing drivel, they are scout badges for inadequate morons, but, you know, well done
Perhaps, as a matter of policy, we should all grow up and stop chasing cheap 'likes.'
If you agree, like this post to show your approval and send a message.
How do you chase a "like" please
By posting a comment that generates likes - except I can’t think of any poster that actually does that - I’m probably closest when I take jokes from elsewhere and post them here but I do that because I know some people here will appreciate it and probably don’t frequent the same sites I visit..
English cricket stands accused of being racist, sexist and elitist at its core in a damning report that immediately forced an unreserved apology from authorities.
In its landmark 316-page review, the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket demands “urgent reform” while laying bare deep-rooted discrimination across the game.
The England and Wales Cricket Board, which is found to be “unfit for purpose” in tackling discrimination complaints, accepts the findings will “shock and disappoint many”.
Among 44 separate recommendations for the ECB, the report took aim at the sport’s establishment, by finding:
Women have been abandoned as “second-class citizens”, routinely experiencing misogyny with “unequal access, pay and treatment”.
As a result, the ECB must oversee equal pay on average at domestic level by 2029 and international by 2030.
Dominance of private schools in cricket’s talent pathway plays a key role in determining “discriminatory outcomes across the game”.
On that basis, the MCC should scrap the annual fixtures between Eton and Harrow as well as Oxford and Cambridge at Lord’s.
Racism is “entrenched”, with 75 per cent of black and more than 80 per cent of Asian cricketers experiencing discrimination.
Cricket’s complaints systems are “confusing”, “overly defensive” and “not fit for purpose” for both victims and those accused.
Scrapping the Eton and Harrow and Oxford and Cambridge matches would be outrageous and do nothing to resolve any of the problems identified in the report anyway
I agree, third rate dumps like Harrow and Oxford need their moment in the sun.
It is also hardly private schools fault most state schools prefer to play football than cricket even in the summer.
Children prefer football, it doesn’t require pitches to be prepared and doesn’t require more equipment.
Heck most schools switched to softball for the reasons above 20 odd years ago
You will note that cricket is dying in the West Indies because basketball require less equipment and less space.
You need goalposts and pitches even to play football.
If West Indians prefer basketball to cricket that is also hardly evidence of 'institutional racism' in cricket either, by contrast in India cricket is still thriving and hugely popular
I didn’t say it was - it’s more evidence that the TV they got cones direct ...
Is cones direct their equivalent of the cones hotline ?
Comes direct - grr autocorrect can really screw a comment up
Please put it back. The new "wtf" button does not make sense. It makes it difficult to react to a post and makes interacting with a post unpleasant. If a poster announces a death in the family or another unpleasant life life event, as many do these days, I now no longer have a way to courteously react. Please stop this WTF, it is a silly change that makes the site unpleasant.
You thought it was courteous to 'like' a post showing a death in the family?
That seems a bit odd.
I usually liked the first one saying 'condolences.' It said what I wanted to and saved multiple replies.
English cricket stands accused of being racist, sexist and elitist at its core in a damning report that immediately forced an unreserved apology from authorities.
In its landmark 316-page review, the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket demands “urgent reform” while laying bare deep-rooted discrimination across the game.
The England and Wales Cricket Board, which is found to be “unfit for purpose” in tackling discrimination complaints, accepts the findings will “shock and disappoint many”.
Among 44 separate recommendations for the ECB, the report took aim at the sport’s establishment, by finding:
Women have been abandoned as “second-class citizens”, routinely experiencing misogyny with “unequal access, pay and treatment”.
As a result, the ECB must oversee equal pay on average at domestic level by 2029 and international by 2030.
Dominance of private schools in cricket’s talent pathway plays a key role in determining “discriminatory outcomes across the game”.
On that basis, the MCC should scrap the annual fixtures between Eton and Harrow as well as Oxford and Cambridge at Lord’s.
Racism is “entrenched”, with 75 per cent of black and more than 80 per cent of Asian cricketers experiencing discrimination.
Cricket’s complaints systems are “confusing”, “overly defensive” and “not fit for purpose” for both victims and those accused.
Scrapping the Eton and Harrow and Oxford and Cambridge matches would be outrageous and do nothing to resolve any of the problems identified in the report anyway
I agree, third rate dumps like Harrow and Oxford need their moment in the sun.
It is also hardly private schools fault most state schools prefer to play football than cricket even in the summer.
Children prefer football, it doesn’t require pitches to be prepared and doesn’t require more equipment.
Heck most schools switched to softball for the reasons above 20 odd years ago
You will note that cricket is dying in the West Indies because basketball require less equipment and less space.
And time. Cricket is a wonderful thing, but it takes ages and the physical activity per minute ratio is pretty low.
To fit in a standard PE lesson, you would need to play something like... The Twenty. Not twenty overs an innings, but twenty balls.
Actually that chart shows little difference overall in NHS waiting times between recent Labour or Tory governments, except they were a bit lower under Labour in 2009-10 and are a bit higher under the Conservatives now (albeit Covid added to the problem).
Well done for going private though, the more higher income people take out private health insurance and use private hospitals, the less the pressure on the NHS. Best wishes for your recovery after your op.
I don't know where you learned maths but trebling is not "a bit" and being north of the worst in 30 years and accelerating is not "little difference".
Still, well done on congratulating OGH for going private, I am sure that has aided his recovery and eased the pain in his wallet no end.
What Australia does is charge higher income individuals a surcharge of 1% to 1.5% of income if they do not take out private health insurance.
The Tories should follow the example of the Coalition Howard government in Australia in 1997 which introduced that so more can follow the excellent example of OGH, go private and cut pressure on the NHS.
The Howard government in 1999 also contributed up to 30% of the private health insurance premium of people with their Medicare universal health coverage
Keir Starmer is actually praying they take this advice.
It would be the most brutal defeat of a governing, or recently governing, party since Baldwin managed to reduce Labour from 287 MPs to 50 in 1931.
It got the Howard government re elected.
There is little point being a Conservative if you don't pursue more conservative policies is there? Conservatives believe in choice in public services with private options too, in healthcare as much as anything else
I know the weather's been a bit warm recently, but I can assure you we are not in Australia.
Culturally we are probably closer to Australia than any other nation on earth except maybe New Zealand.
There is also no point the Tories fighting a battle on who will spend more on the NHS, as Labour will always win it as they are more willing to raise tax higher to pay for it.
The Tories should instead shift the argument to encouraging patient choice in healthcare too
Why not focus on something sensible like prevention education, or health surveillance monitoring before the medical event becomes out of control?
Everything this Government touches is reactive rather than proactive. Maybe there is more opportunity for grift in reaction rather than proaction.
Smokers and ex smokers 55 - 74 to receive cancer screening is a good decision
There is a lot of debate in how to optimise participation for appointments. Open booked appointments are more flexible and tend to have better utilisation. Firm appointments do seem to work better with some subgroups.
Also, the benefits of screening mammography are fairly marginal.
Anecdotal only I appreciate, but it saved my wife on her very first routine screening. No symptoms.
I’m very glad your wife is well.
What is the counter-factual here? There are two possibilities for what would have happened without screening. First case: she would have experienced symptoms at some point and sought help. She then would have been treated. Probably, she would have had the same outcome. Breast cancer treatments have (thankfully) improved greatly over the years, so the benefits of an earlier diagnosis have shrunk. Obviously, even if the number of women were early diagnosis makes a difference is small, if you’re one of that group, it really matters!
Second case: the tumour wouldn’t have done anything, she never would have had symptoms. We know screening picks up cases that would never develop into something of import. We just can’t tell which cases those are.
So, lots of women are diagnosed outwith screening. Some are diagnosed through screening, but the benefit of an earlier detection is small because treatments are better. Meanwhile, over-diagnosis from screening is a definite problem. There are, of course, costs to a screening programme: both in terms of money that could be spent on other approaches (more education for what symptoms to look out for) and in terms of exposure to ionising radiation (screening mammography involves 4 X-rays). There is a debate in the literature about the precise benefits and costs. The current UK position is that the benefits do outweigh the costs, but I think most researchers accept that it’s close.
Is there anything that can be done to improve screening mammography? AI is getting better at interpreting mammograms. The false negative rate is very low already, but that could be made lower. There’s the possibility of reducing the big false positive rate. It will also cut the cost if we can move away from the current double reading system (every mammogram independently looked at by two professionals). Lower dose X-rays are a possibility. On the flip side, treatments for breast cancer (thankfully) keep getting better, which erode the benefit of early diagnosis.
English cricket stands accused of being racist, sexist and elitist at its core in a damning report that immediately forced an unreserved apology from authorities.
In its landmark 316-page review, the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket demands “urgent reform” while laying bare deep-rooted discrimination across the game.
The England and Wales Cricket Board, which is found to be “unfit for purpose” in tackling discrimination complaints, accepts the findings will “shock and disappoint many”.
Among 44 separate recommendations for the ECB, the report took aim at the sport’s establishment, by finding:
Women have been abandoned as “second-class citizens”, routinely experiencing misogyny with “unequal access, pay and treatment”.
As a result, the ECB must oversee equal pay on average at domestic level by 2029 and international by 2030.
Dominance of private schools in cricket’s talent pathway plays a key role in determining “discriminatory outcomes across the game”.
On that basis, the MCC should scrap the annual fixtures between Eton and Harrow as well as Oxford and Cambridge at Lord’s.
Racism is “entrenched”, with 75 per cent of black and more than 80 per cent of Asian cricketers experiencing discrimination.
Cricket’s complaints systems are “confusing”, “overly defensive” and “not fit for purpose” for both victims and those accused.
Scrapping the Eton and Harrow and Oxford and Cambridge matches would be outrageous and do nothing to resolve any of the problems identified in the report anyway
I agree, third rate dumps like Harrow and Oxford need their moment in the sun.
It is also hardly private schools fault most state schools prefer to play football than cricket even in the summer.
Children prefer football, it doesn’t require pitches to be prepared and doesn’t require more equipment. Baseball overtook cricket during the US Civil War for the same reasons.
Heck most schools switched to softball for the reasons above 20 odd years ago
You will note that cricket is dying in the West Indies because basketball require less equipment and less space.
Baseball overtook cricket during the US Civil War for similar rea
It says no clear evidence. AOEINEOA. What clear evidence could there be anyway? CCTV of avirus sneaking out of the back door?
Clear evidence could be in the genome of the virus. It could be in lab staff having been shown to have fallen ill with COVID-19. It could be in the pattern of early cases clustering around the lab/lab staff. It could be paperwork or messages found saying they were working on a particular virus.
Actually that chart shows little difference overall in NHS waiting times between recent Labour or Tory governments, except they were a bit lower under Labour in 2009-10 and are a bit higher under the Conservatives now (albeit Covid added to the problem).
Well done for going private though, the more higher income people take out private health insurance and use private hospitals, the less the pressure on the NHS. Best wishes for your recovery after your op.
I don't know where you learned maths but trebling is not "a bit" and being north of the worst in 30 years and accelerating is not "little difference".
Still, well done on congratulating OGH for going private, I am sure that has aided his recovery and eased the pain in his wallet no end.
What Australia does is charge higher income individuals a surcharge of 1% to 1.5% of income if they do not take out private health insurance.
The Tories should follow the example of the Coalition Howard government in Australia in 1997 which introduced that so more can follow the excellent example of OGH, go private and cut pressure on the NHS.
The Howard government in 1999 also contributed up to 30% of the private health insurance premium of people with their Medicare universal health coverage
Keir Starmer is actually praying they take this advice.
It would be the most brutal defeat of a governing, or recently governing, party since Baldwin managed to reduce Labour from 287 MPs to 50 in 1931.
It got the Howard government re elected.
There is little point being a Conservative if you don't pursue more conservative policies is there? Conservatives believe in choice in public services with private options too, in healthcare as much as anything else
I know the weather's been a bit warm recently, but I can assure you we are not in Australia.
Culturally we are probably closer to Australia than any other nation on earth except maybe New Zealand.
There is also no point the Tories fighting a battle on who will spend more on the NHS, as Labour will always win it as they are more willing to raise tax higher to pay for it.
The Tories should instead shift the argument to encouraging patient choice in healthcare too
Why not focus on something sensible like prevention education, or health surveillance monitoring before the medical event becomes out of control?
Everything this Government touches is reactive rather than proactive. Maybe there is more opportunity for grift in reaction rather than proaction.
Smokers and ex smokers 55 - 74 to receive cancer screening is a good decision
There is a lot of debate in how to optimise participation for appointments. Open booked appointments are more flexible and tend to have better utilisation. Firm appointments do seem to work better with some subgroups.
Also, the benefits of screening mammography are fairly marginal.
Anecdotal only I appreciate, but it saved my wife on her very first routine screening. No symptoms.
...Is there anything that can be done to improve screening mammography? AI is getting better at interpreting mammograms. The false negative rate is very low already, but that could be made lower. There’s the possibility of reducing the big false positive rate. It will also cut the cost if we can move away from the current double reading system (every mammogram independently looked at by two professionals). Lower dose X-rays are a possibility. On the flip side, treatments for breast cancer (thankfully) keep getting better, which erode the benefit of early diagnosis.
The other wild card is molecular screening of blood samples to detect cancer signals. The technology is in its infancy - and subject to the same caveats about unnecessary and possibly debilitating therapy in a large number of cases - but the NHS has already run one large scale trial, and there will be many more, as the technology becomes more discriminating. For something like pancreatic cancer, where it's almost always too late for successful treatment once symptoms occur, it could be a game changer in a relatively short timeframe.
English cricket stands accused of being racist, sexist and elitist at its core in a damning report that immediately forced an unreserved apology from authorities.
In its landmark 316-page review, the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket demands “urgent reform” while laying bare deep-rooted discrimination across the game.
The England and Wales Cricket Board, which is found to be “unfit for purpose” in tackling discrimination complaints, accepts the findings will “shock and disappoint many”.
Among 44 separate recommendations for the ECB, the report took aim at the sport’s establishment, by finding:
Women have been abandoned as “second-class citizens”, routinely experiencing misogyny with “unequal access, pay and treatment”.
As a result, the ECB must oversee equal pay on average at domestic level by 2029 and international by 2030.
Dominance of private schools in cricket’s talent pathway plays a key role in determining “discriminatory outcomes across the game”.
On that basis, the MCC should scrap the annual fixtures between Eton and Harrow as well as Oxford and Cambridge at Lord’s.
Racism is “entrenched”, with 75 per cent of black and more than 80 per cent of Asian cricketers experiencing discrimination.
Cricket’s complaints systems are “confusing”, “overly defensive” and “not fit for purpose” for both victims and those accused.
Scrapping the Eton and Harrow and Oxford and Cambridge matches would be outrageous and do nothing to resolve any of the problems identified in the report anyway
I agree, third rate dumps like Harrow and Oxford need their moment in the sun.
It is also hardly private schools fault most state schools prefer to play football than cricket even in the summer.
Children prefer football, it doesn’t require pitches to be prepared and doesn’t require more equipment.
Heck most schools switched to softball for the reasons above 20 odd years ago
You will note that cricket is dying in the West Indies because basketball require less equipment and less space.
And time. Cricket is a wonderful thing, but it takes ages and the physical activity per minute ratio is pretty low.
To fit in a standard PE lesson, you would need to play something like... The Twenty. Not twenty overs an innings, but twenty balls.
English cricket stands accused of being racist, sexist and elitist at its core in a damning report that immediately forced an unreserved apology from authorities.
In its landmark 316-page review, the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket demands “urgent reform” while laying bare deep-rooted discrimination across the game.
The England and Wales Cricket Board, which is found to be “unfit for purpose” in tackling discrimination complaints, accepts the findings will “shock and disappoint many”.
Among 44 separate recommendations for the ECB, the report took aim at the sport’s establishment, by finding:
Women have been abandoned as “second-class citizens”, routinely experiencing misogyny with “unequal access, pay and treatment”.
As a result, the ECB must oversee equal pay on average at domestic level by 2029 and international by 2030.
Dominance of private schools in cricket’s talent pathway plays a key role in determining “discriminatory outcomes across the game”.
On that basis, the MCC should scrap the annual fixtures between Eton and Harrow as well as Oxford and Cambridge at Lord’s.
Racism is “entrenched”, with 75 per cent of black and more than 80 per cent of Asian cricketers experiencing discrimination.
Cricket’s complaints systems are “confusing”, “overly defensive” and “not fit for purpose” for both victims and those accused.
Scrapping the Eton and Harrow and Oxford and Cambridge matches would be outrageous and do nothing to resolve any of the problems identified in the report anyway
I agree, third rate dumps like Harrow and Oxford need their moment in the sun.
It is also hardly private schools fault most state schools prefer to play football than cricket even in the summer.
Children prefer football, it doesn’t require pitches to be prepared and doesn’t require more equipment. Baseball overtook cricket during the US Civil War for the same reasons.
Heck most schools switched to softball for the reasons above 20 odd years ago
You will note that cricket is dying in the West Indies because basketball require less equipment and less space.
Baseball overtook cricket during the US Civil War for similar reasons.
English cricket stands accused of being racist, sexist and elitist at its core in a damning report that immediately forced an unreserved apology from authorities.
In its landmark 316-page review, the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket demands “urgent reform” while laying bare deep-rooted discrimination across the game.
The England and Wales Cricket Board, which is found to be “unfit for purpose” in tackling discrimination complaints, accepts the findings will “shock and disappoint many”.
Among 44 separate recommendations for the ECB, the report took aim at the sport’s establishment, by finding:
Women have been abandoned as “second-class citizens”, routinely experiencing misogyny with “unequal access, pay and treatment”.
As a result, the ECB must oversee equal pay on average at domestic level by 2029 and international by 2030.
Dominance of private schools in cricket’s talent pathway plays a key role in determining “discriminatory outcomes across the game”.
On that basis, the MCC should scrap the annual fixtures between Eton and Harrow as well as Oxford and Cambridge at Lord’s.
Racism is “entrenched”, with 75 per cent of black and more than 80 per cent of Asian cricketers experiencing discrimination.
Cricket’s complaints systems are “confusing”, “overly defensive” and “not fit for purpose” for both victims and those accused.
Scrapping the Eton and Harrow and Oxford and Cambridge matches would be outrageous and do nothing to resolve any of the problems identified in the report anyway
I agree, third rate dumps like Harrow and Oxford need their moment in the sun.
It is also hardly private schools fault most state schools prefer to play football than cricket even in the summer.
Children prefer football, it doesn’t require pitches to be prepared and doesn’t require more equipment. Baseball overtook cricket during the US Civil War for the same reasons.
Heck most schools switched to softball for the reasons above 20 odd years ago
You will note that cricket is dying in the West Indies because basketball require less equipment and less space.
Baseball overtook cricket during the US Civil War for similar reasons.
And for class reasons. Cricket is for poshos who have time to spare for a game which lasts for days, baseball for those who have to clock on on Monday morning.
Please put it back. The new "wtf" button does not make sense. It makes it difficult to react to a post and makes interacting with a post unpleasant. If a poster announces a death in the family or another unpleasant life life event, as many do these days, I now no longer have a way to courteously react. Please stop this WTF, it is a silly change that makes the site unpleasant.
You thought it was courteous to 'like' a post showing a death in the family?
That seems a bit odd.
I usually liked the first one saying 'condolences.' It said what I wanted to and saved multiple replies.
WTF would seem an inadequate substitute there, too.
Please put it back. The new "wtf" button does not make sense. It makes it difficult to react to a post and makes interacting with a post unpleasant. If a poster announces a death in the family or another unpleasant life life event, as many do these days, I now no longer have a way to courteously react. Please stop this WTF, it is a silly change that makes the site unpleasant.
Please put it back. The new "wtf" button does not make sense. It makes it difficult to react to a post and makes interacting with a post unpleasant. If a poster announces a death in the family or another unpleasant life life event, as many do these days, I now no longer have a way to courteously react. Please stop this WTF, it is a silly change that makes the site unpleasant.
You thought it was courteous to 'like' a post showing a death in the family?
That seems a bit odd.
I usually liked the first one saying 'condolences.' It said what I wanted to and saved multiple replies.
I always took a like against that post to mean condolences - as I said before the like button is multi faceted transforming into the polite response to the post be it interesting, I laughed, good point or even condolences...
A WTF button does none of those things - it's only use is against posts that make little sense...
Can I just say that I like the Like button. And emojis.
+1 (RIP Like)
I liked the Like button. Unlike many on this site, I often don't have much time to spend on PB, but still like to have a quick skim through and show my appreciation for posts that I consider interesting, insightful or funny. I probably won't visit so frequently now.
Please put it back. The new "wtf" button does not make sense. It makes it difficult to react to a post and makes interacting with a post unpleasant. If a poster announces a death in the family or another unpleasant life life event, as many do these days, I now no longer have a way to courteously react. Please stop this WTF, it is a silly change that makes the site unpleasant.
You thought it was courteous to 'like' a post showing a death in the family?
That seems a bit odd.
I usually liked the first one saying 'condolences.' It said what I wanted to and saved multiple replies.
I always took a like against that post to mean condolences - as I said before the like button is multi faceted transforming into the polite response to the post be it interesting, I laughed, good point or even condolences...
A WTF button does none of those things - it's only use is against posts that make little sense...
That's how I see a 'like' against that sort of post as well. Though I generally try to like the condolences message as well.
Incidentally, if the 'like' button goes, the forum will just have a load of +1 messages and their ilk. Sometimes you want to agree with a post without having to spam the forum with "Good point!" or "I agree".
English cricket stands accused of being racist, sexist and elitist at its core in a damning report that immediately forced an unreserved apology from authorities.
In its landmark 316-page review, the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket demands “urgent reform” while laying bare deep-rooted discrimination across the game.
The England and Wales Cricket Board, which is found to be “unfit for purpose” in tackling discrimination complaints, accepts the findings will “shock and disappoint many”.
Among 44 separate recommendations for the ECB, the report took aim at the sport’s establishment, by finding:
Women have been abandoned as “second-class citizens”, routinely experiencing misogyny with “unequal access, pay and treatment”.
As a result, the ECB must oversee equal pay on average at domestic level by 2029 and international by 2030.
Dominance of private schools in cricket’s talent pathway plays a key role in determining “discriminatory outcomes across the game”.
On that basis, the MCC should scrap the annual fixtures between Eton and Harrow as well as Oxford and Cambridge at Lord’s.
Racism is “entrenched”, with 75 per cent of black and more than 80 per cent of Asian cricketers experiencing discrimination.
Cricket’s complaints systems are “confusing”, “overly defensive” and “not fit for purpose” for both victims and those accused.
Scrapping the Eton and Harrow and Oxford and Cambridge matches would be outrageous and do nothing to resolve any of the problems identified in the report anyway
For public safety. Didn't you see the reports of crowd disorder at the last Eton and Harrow match?
English cricket stands accused of being racist, sexist and elitist at its core in a damning report that immediately forced an unreserved apology from authorities.
In its landmark 316-page review, the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket demands “urgent reform” while laying bare deep-rooted discrimination across the game.
The England and Wales Cricket Board, which is found to be “unfit for purpose” in tackling discrimination complaints, accepts the findings will “shock and disappoint many”.
Among 44 separate recommendations for the ECB, the report took aim at the sport’s establishment, by finding:
Women have been abandoned as “second-class citizens”, routinely experiencing misogyny with “unequal access, pay and treatment”.
As a result, the ECB must oversee equal pay on average at domestic level by 2029 and international by 2030.
Dominance of private schools in cricket’s talent pathway plays a key role in determining “discriminatory outcomes across the game”.
On that basis, the MCC should scrap the annual fixtures between Eton and Harrow as well as Oxford and Cambridge at Lord’s.
Racism is “entrenched”, with 75 per cent of black and more than 80 per cent of Asian cricketers experiencing discrimination.
Cricket’s complaints systems are “confusing”, “overly defensive” and “not fit for purpose” for both victims and those accused.
Scrapping the Eton and Harrow and Oxford and Cambridge matches would be outrageous and do nothing to resolve any of the problems identified in the report anyway
I agree, third rate dumps like Harrow and Oxford need their moment in the sun.
It is also hardly private schools fault most state schools prefer to play football than cricket even in the summer.
Children prefer football, it doesn’t require pitches to be prepared and doesn’t require more equipment. Baseball overtook cricket during the US Civil War for the same reasons.
Heck most schools switched to softball for the reasons above 20 odd years ago
You will note that cricket is dying in the West Indies because basketball require less equipment and less space.
Baseball overtook cricket during the US Civil War for similar reasons.
English cricket stands accused of being racist, sexist and elitist at its core in a damning report that immediately forced an unreserved apology from authorities.
In its landmark 316-page review, the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket demands “urgent reform” while laying bare deep-rooted discrimination across the game.
The England and Wales Cricket Board, which is found to be “unfit for purpose” in tackling discrimination complaints, accepts the findings will “shock and disappoint many”.
Among 44 separate recommendations for the ECB, the report took aim at the sport’s establishment, by finding:
Women have been abandoned as “second-class citizens”, routinely experiencing misogyny with “unequal access, pay and treatment”.
As a result, the ECB must oversee equal pay on average at domestic level by 2029 and international by 2030.
Dominance of private schools in cricket’s talent pathway plays a key role in determining “discriminatory outcomes across the game”.
On that basis, the MCC should scrap the annual fixtures between Eton and Harrow as well as Oxford and Cambridge at Lord’s.
Racism is “entrenched”, with 75 per cent of black and more than 80 per cent of Asian cricketers experiencing discrimination.
Cricket’s complaints systems are “confusing”, “overly defensive” and “not fit for purpose” for both victims and those accused.
Scrapping the Eton and Harrow and Oxford and Cambridge matches would be outrageous and do nothing to resolve any of the problems identified in the report anyway
I agree, third rate dumps like Harrow and Oxford need their moment in the sun.
It is also hardly private schools fault most state schools prefer to play football than cricket even in the summer.
Children prefer football, it doesn’t require pitches to be prepared and doesn’t require more equipment. Baseball overtook cricket during the US Civil War for the same reasons.
Heck most schools switched to softball for the reasons above 20 odd years ago
You will note that cricket is dying in the West Indies because basketball require less equipment and less space.
Baseball overtook cricket during the US Civil War for similar reasons.
And for class reasons. Cricket is for poshos who have time to spare for a game which lasts for days, baseball for those who have to clock on on Monday morning.
Although Baseball can go on indefinitely and if you are unlucky you have to come back at Monday lunchtime to finish off the game.
I never take the like or off topic buttons seriously. If I've ever clicked them, it's been by accident due to fat fingers on my phone. Now the WTF button? That's something I can get behind. I know it won't be kept as some people will take offence and we really can't have that these days, but nice while it lasts. 👍😁😁😁😁 +1
What we seem to be seeing is that healthcare is slowly being privatised because the NHS simply does not provide an acceptable service despite all the money that is spent on it. Dentistry was always a weak area but private dentistry care has become a standard cost. Many people are no longer willing to wait, in pain, for the NHS to deal with knee and hip replacements, and accept the cost of private care as Mike has.
There are several causes of this in my opinion. Firstly, demand exceeds supply as the population ages. Secondly, the supply is being inhibited by poor NHS productivity, something that seems increasingly marked since Covid. Thirdly, those that have ailments such as needing a new knee tend to be at a stage of life where such expenditure is affordable. It seems likely that the range of ailments treated this way will increase with a particular focus on old age ailments. Fourthly, many employers and insurers find it economically attractive to fund more prompt treatment of their workforce so that they can get back to work.
We are almost certainly moving to a two tier health service for many. Those with private health care, particularly through work, or because they can afford it, will be indifferent to the quality of service provided by the NHS. In 1997 Labour inherited an economy growing strongly with additional resources to burn. This will not be the case this time. I very much doubt that the incoming government will be able to change these broad trends.
English cricket stands accused of being racist, sexist and elitist at its core in a damning report that immediately forced an unreserved apology from authorities.
In its landmark 316-page review, the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket demands “urgent reform” while laying bare deep-rooted discrimination across the game.
The England and Wales Cricket Board, which is found to be “unfit for purpose” in tackling discrimination complaints, accepts the findings will “shock and disappoint many”.
Among 44 separate recommendations for the ECB, the report took aim at the sport’s establishment, by finding:
Women have been abandoned as “second-class citizens”, routinely experiencing misogyny with “unequal access, pay and treatment”.
As a result, the ECB must oversee equal pay on average at domestic level by 2029 and international by 2030.
Dominance of private schools in cricket’s talent pathway plays a key role in determining “discriminatory outcomes across the game”.
On that basis, the MCC should scrap the annual fixtures between Eton and Harrow as well as Oxford and Cambridge at Lord’s.
Racism is “entrenched”, with 75 per cent of black and more than 80 per cent of Asian cricketers experiencing discrimination.
Cricket’s complaints systems are “confusing”, “overly defensive” and “not fit for purpose” for both victims and those accused.
Scrapping the Eton and Harrow and Oxford and Cambridge matches would be outrageous and do nothing to resolve any of the problems identified in the report anyway
I agree, third rate dumps like Harrow and Oxford need their moment in the sun.
It is also hardly private schools fault most state schools prefer to play football than cricket even in the summer. Nor should private schools have to apologise for producing a disproportionate level of top professional cricketers.
That’s not really the problem is it. The fact is that State schools just largely do not have the land to have the pitches you need. Think of it this way, at my old place cricket was very popular. We had the luxury of 9 full size cricket pitches to use for a school of around 600 boys. Each pitch needed at least two if not three good quality strips to avoid wear out.
Now cricket pitches take up a hell of a lot more space than football pitches and they need a hell of a lot more care and management. On top of that you need indoor facilities for nets.
Add to the above that you need cricket coaches - it’s a lot easier for sports teachers to get kids to play football without specific coaching knowledge.
So if states schools were to get to a “level playing field” it would take huge investment. And resources and land that simply isn’t available and if you try and do it in a half arsed way with small pitches, crap wickets and bad coaching then you still aren’t going to get many state school cricketers breaking through without joining local cricket clubs.
I never take the like or off topic buttons seriously. If I've ever clicked them, it's been by accident due to fat fingers on my phone. Now the WTF button? That's something I can get behind. I know it won't be kept as some people will take offence and we really can't have that these days, but nice while it lasts. 👍😁😁😁😁 +1
Is -1 sufficient for a post to be opposed? And if it is already on +2 from others, do we type -1 or go for the cumulative reverting it back to +1? But then that would be confused with a like......
What we seem to be seeing is that healthcare is slowly being privatised because the NHS simply does not provide an acceptable service despite all the money that is spent on it. Dentistry was always a weak area but private dentistry care has become a standard cost. Many people are no longer willing to wait, in pain, for the NHS to deal with knee and hip replacements, and accept the cost of private care as Mike has.
There are several causes of this in my opinion. Firstly, demand exceeds supply as the population ages. Secondly, the supply is being inhibited by poor NHS productivity, something that seems increasingly marked since Covid. Thirdly, those that have ailments such as needing a new knee tend to be at a stage of life where such expenditure is affordable. It seems likely that the range of ailments treated this way will increase with a particular focus on old age ailments. Fourthly, many employers and insurers find it economically attractive to fund more prompt treatment of their workforce so that they can get back to work.
We are almost certainly moving to a two tier health service for many. Those with private health care, particularly through work, or because they can afford it, will be indifferent to the quality of service provided by the NHS. In 1997 Labour inherited an economy growing strongly with additional resources to burn. This will not be the case this time. I very much doubt that the incoming government will be able to change these broad trends.
I was thinking, though, it's hardly confined to the NHS. Look at the shambles in your own field. Four year waits for legal hearings. Or education. Admittedly having spent the last few days trying to get the DfE to understand their own safeguarding rules I will admit the bucolic stupidity of the administrators may have something to do with the problems, but the fact is we have a school system under intense pressure at pinch points and a support system on the brink of collapse. You could also mention the armed forces, which have been brutally cut, except for aircraft carriers (one of which doesn't float very well and the other of which doesn't have any aircraft) or transport, where our roads are falling to pieces and our railways being messed about like you can't believe it.
I think the NHS issues in the header is a symptom of a wider problem - inadequate funding, coupled with years of poor management of what money there is.
I don't have easy solutions, but it would be good to see somebody understanding both sides to the problem.
Actually that chart shows little difference overall in NHS waiting times between recent Labour or Tory governments, except they were a bit lower under Labour in 2009-10 and are a bit higher under the Conservatives now (albeit Covid added to the problem).
Well done for going private though, the more higher income people take out private health insurance and use private hospitals, the less the pressure on the NHS. Best wishes for your recovery after your op.
I don't know where you learned maths but trebling is not "a bit" and being north of the worst in 30 years and accelerating is not "little difference".
Still, well done on congratulating OGH for going private, I am sure that has aided his recovery and eased the pain in his wallet no end.
What Australia does is charge higher income individuals a surcharge of 1% to 1.5% of income if they do not take out private health insurance.
The Tories should follow the example of the Coalition Howard government in Australia in 1997 which introduced that so more can follow the excellent example of OGH, go private and cut pressure on the NHS.
The Howard government in 1999 also contributed up to 30% of the private health insurance premium of people with their Medicare universal health coverage
Keir Starmer is actually praying they take this advice.
It would be the most brutal defeat of a governing, or recently governing, party since Baldwin managed to reduce Labour from 287 MPs to 50 in 1931.
It got the Howard government re elected.
There is little point being a Conservative if you don't pursue more conservative policies is there? Conservatives believe in choice in public services with private options too, in healthcare as much as anything else
I know the weather's been a bit warm recently, but I can assure you we are not in Australia.
Culturally we are probably closer to Australia than any other nation on earth except maybe New Zealand.
There is also no point the Tories fighting a battle on who will spend more on the NHS, as Labour will always win it as they are more willing to raise tax higher to pay for it.
The Tories should instead shift the argument to encouraging patient choice in healthcare too
Why not focus on something sensible like prevention education, or health surveillance monitoring before the medical event becomes out of control?
Everything this Government touches is reactive rather than proactive. Maybe there is more opportunity for grift in reaction rather than proaction.
Smokers and ex smokers 55 - 74 to receive cancer screening is a good decision
There is a lot of debate in how to optimise participation for appointments. Open booked appointments are more flexible and tend to have better utilisation. Firm appointments do seem to work better with some subgroups.
Also, the benefits of screening mammography are fairly marginal.
Anecdotal only I appreciate, but it saved my wife on her very first routine screening. No symptoms.
...Is there anything that can be done to improve screening mammography? AI is getting better at interpreting mammograms. The false negative rate is very low already, but that could be made lower. There’s the possibility of reducing the big false positive rate. It will also cut the cost if we can move away from the current double reading system (every mammogram independently looked at by two professionals). Lower dose X-rays are a possibility. On the flip side, treatments for breast cancer (thankfully) keep getting better, which erode the benefit of early diagnosis.
The other wild card is molecular screening of blood samples to detect cancer signals. The technology is in its infancy - and subject to the same caveats about unnecessary and possibly debilitating therapy in a large number of cases - but the NHS has already run one large scale trial, and there will be many more, as the technology becomes more discriminating. For something like pancreatic cancer, where it's almost always too late for successful treatment once symptoms occur, it could be a game changer in a relatively short timeframe.
??? - The NHS is in year 2 of a 3 year trial on blood scanning for cancer signals.
I'm part of the Galleri trial (it made the news because it has already been a success) and I gave my second sample last week (heck I think I mentioned it as I went because Morrisons was empty when I went in there afterwards).
My life has lost meaning. The only thing I had left to look forward to was waking up everyday and checking to see who had ‘liked’ my overnight bon mot. What is left for a man…seal?
Please put it back. The new "wtf" button does not make sense. It makes it difficult to react to a post and makes interacting with a post unpleasant. If a poster announces a death in the family or another unpleasant life life event, as many do these days, I now no longer have a way to courteously react. Please stop this WTF, it is a silly change that makes the site unpleasant.
You thought it was courteous to 'like' a post showing a death in the family?
That seems a bit odd.
I usually liked the first one saying 'condolences.' It said what I wanted to and saved multiple replies.
It was an empathy button. WTF doesn't seem quite the right response in these circumstances.
My life has lost meaning. The only thing I had left to look forward to was waking up everyday and checking to see who had ‘liked’ my overnight bon mot. What is left for a man…seal?
I would have thot you'd be happy at the suggestions the new arrangements are fishy.
Watching the interview, Rubio says that a large number of senior, currently serving whistleblowers have come forward to his committee, with first-hand accounts, that most people would consider fantastical, and he doesn't see what their incentive would be for making things up.
These people have come forward to the Intelligence Committee , for which Rubio is vice-chairman , so we're not talking about random people, here.
What we seem to be seeing is that healthcare is slowly being privatised because the NHS simply does not provide an acceptable service despite all the money that is spent on it. Dentistry was always a weak area but private dentistry care has become a standard cost. Many people are no longer willing to wait, in pain, for the NHS to deal with knee and hip replacements, and accept the cost of private care as Mike has.
There are several causes of this in my opinion. Firstly, demand exceeds supply as the population ages. Secondly, the supply is being inhibited by poor NHS productivity, something that seems increasingly marked since Covid. Thirdly, those that have ailments such as needing a new knee tend to be at a stage of life where such expenditure is affordable. It seems likely that the range of ailments treated this way will increase with a particular focus on old age ailments. Fourthly, many employers and insurers find it economically attractive to fund more prompt treatment of their workforce so that they can get back to work.
We are almost certainly moving to a two tier health service for many. Those with private health care, particularly through work, or because they can afford it, will be indifferent to the quality of service provided by the NHS. In 1997 Labour inherited an economy growing strongly with additional resources to burn. This will not be the case this time. I very much doubt that the incoming government will be able to change these broad trends.
I was thinking, though, it's hardly confined to the NHS. Look at the shambles in your own field. Four year waits for legal hearings. Or education. Admittedly having spent the last few days trying to get the DfE to understand their own safeguarding rules I will admit the bucolic stupidity of the administrators may have something to do with the problems, but the fact is we have a school system under intense pressure at pinch points and a support system on the brink of collapse. You could also mention the armed forces, which have been brutally cut, except for aircraft carriers (one of which doesn't float very well and the other of which doesn't have any aircraft) or transport, where our roads are falling to pieces and our railways being messed about like you can't believe it.
I think the NHS issues in the header is a symptom of a wider problem - inadequate funding, coupled with years of poor management of what money there is.
I don't have easy solutions, but it would be good to see somebody understanding both sides to the problem.
In my own field there has been a rapid increase in arbitration for commercial disputes. As you say, the symptoms are the same. It is not acceptable in many commercial disputes to wait years for an answer. The inefficiency of the court system means that better methods of dispute resolution have to be found. Those who might otherwise demand a better service opt out for something private and leave the rest to flounder. I had a case about access on farm roads which is still awaiting a decision. The availability of civil court days in the Sheriff Court meant that the proof alone took over 15 months, with a series of days scattered over this time.
My wife is trying to get onto the government gateway to check her NI contributions history. She filled in the relevant information from her passport and P60 but the site maintains that the information is wrong. A query on the only link available provided the belated response that this was not a technology question without further assistance.
So much of the public sector simply does not provide the service that it is paid to do.
English cricket stands accused of being racist, sexist and elitist at its core in a damning report that immediately forced an unreserved apology from authorities.
In its landmark 316-page review, the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket demands “urgent reform” while laying bare deep-rooted discrimination across the game.
The England and Wales Cricket Board, which is found to be “unfit for purpose” in tackling discrimination complaints, accepts the findings will “shock and disappoint many”.
Among 44 separate recommendations for the ECB, the report took aim at the sport’s establishment, by finding:
Women have been abandoned as “second-class citizens”, routinely experiencing misogyny with “unequal access, pay and treatment”.
As a result, the ECB must oversee equal pay on average at domestic level by 2029 and international by 2030.
Dominance of private schools in cricket’s talent pathway plays a key role in determining “discriminatory outcomes across the game”.
On that basis, the MCC should scrap the annual fixtures between Eton and Harrow as well as Oxford and Cambridge at Lord’s.
Racism is “entrenched”, with 75 per cent of black and more than 80 per cent of Asian cricketers experiencing discrimination.
Cricket’s complaints systems are “confusing”, “overly defensive” and “not fit for purpose” for both victims and those accused.
Scrapping the Eton and Harrow and Oxford and Cambridge matches would be outrageous and do nothing to resolve any of the problems identified in the report anyway
I agree, third rate dumps like Harrow and Oxford need their moment in the sun.
It is also hardly private schools fault most state schools prefer to play football than cricket even in the summer.
Children prefer football, it doesn’t require pitches to be prepared and doesn’t require more equipment. Baseball overtook cricket during the US Civil War for the same reasons.
Heck most schools switched to softball for the reasons above 20 odd years ago
You will note that cricket is dying in the West Indies because basketball require less equipment and less space.
Baseball overtook cricket during the US Civil War for similar reasons.
English cricket stands accused of being racist, sexist and elitist at its core in a damning report that immediately forced an unreserved apology from authorities.
In its landmark 316-page review, the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket demands “urgent reform” while laying bare deep-rooted discrimination across the game.
The England and Wales Cricket Board, which is found to be “unfit for purpose” in tackling discrimination complaints, accepts the findings will “shock and disappoint many”.
Among 44 separate recommendations for the ECB, the report took aim at the sport’s establishment, by finding:
Women have been abandoned as “second-class citizens”, routinely experiencing misogyny with “unequal access, pay and treatment”.
As a result, the ECB must oversee equal pay on average at domestic level by 2029 and international by 2030.
Dominance of private schools in cricket’s talent pathway plays a key role in determining “discriminatory outcomes across the game”.
On that basis, the MCC should scrap the annual fixtures between Eton and Harrow as well as Oxford and Cambridge at Lord’s.
Racism is “entrenched”, with 75 per cent of black and more than 80 per cent of Asian cricketers experiencing discrimination.
Cricket’s complaints systems are “confusing”, “overly defensive” and “not fit for purpose” for both victims and those accused.
Scrapping the Eton and Harrow and Oxford and Cambridge matches would be outrageous and do nothing to resolve any of the problems identified in the report anyway
I agree, third rate dumps like Harrow and Oxford need their moment in the sun.
It is also hardly private schools fault most state schools prefer to play football than cricket even in the summer.
Children prefer football, it doesn’t require pitches to be prepared and doesn’t require more equipment. Baseball overtook cricket during the US Civil War for the same reasons.
Heck most schools switched to softball for the reasons above 20 odd years ago
You will note that cricket is dying in the West Indies because basketball require less equipment and less space.
Baseball overtook cricket during the US Civil War for similar reasons.
And for class reasons. Cricket is for poshos who have time to spare for a game which lasts for days, baseball for those who have to clock on on Monday morning.
Sure, cricket is inherently an elite sport. There’s no way that most State schools could afford to maintain cricket pitches, or construct indoor cricket facilities, for use in bad weather. The report combines issues that are genuinely concerning with issues that are silly.
It says no clear evidence. AOEINEOA. What clear evidence could there be anyway? CCTV of avirus sneaking out of the back door?
Documentation from the lab; samples that clearly link work in the lab to the outbreak; first-hand testimony from workers, etc, etc.
And yes, like the F&M outbreak we had in 2007, there might be a 'smoking gun' for how it got released, such as broken effluent pipes.
None of which was in the Director of National Intelligence report. Do you have a source for any of this?
I'm struggling to understand the basis for the lab leak hypothesis. I accept lab leak is a plausible cause, but I'm not seeing any specific evidence for it, against the boring counterfactual of the epidemic starting the same way every other epidemic starts, for which there is actually some evidence.
End of a stressful day. Needed to clear my father's house fast as the new owners want to complete asap and I don't want to cause any delays so I haven't replied to any comments from the last thread so:
@Mortimer - Thank you for your kind post. Appreciated. My dad died aged 96 in February. Just the selling of the house now, which has suddenly turned manic.
@Stuartinromford - I agree completely with your post re maths and eventually everyone hits the buffers in the end, it is just a matter of when. Definitely happened to me. If I had my time again I would do a joint degree of maths with economics or philosophy to put off hitting the maths buffers.
@HYUFD - Thanks for the link re philosophy degree & logic questions. I'm interested but the link didn't work - Page not found. One thing to note (and I say this without having read the link) is the logic you do in a maths degree is far more advanced than stuff you do in a philosophy degree (or in particular questions they may set in an interview) by the nature of the prerequisites. In fact the notation itself will be gibberish without the previous preparation. That is not to say a question set in an interview will not be as difficult, it might in fact be more difficult. There are plenty of everyday logic questions I can't do that an untrained but clever person can do, but which doesn't involve complex logic. And as you know, I don't have a logic degree (I don't even know if such a thing exists), but said it as a riposte to @Miklosvar, although my specialist subjects in my 2nd & 3rd year of maths were all logic topics.
@DecrepiterJohnL - Your post about many Doctors regretting their choice and moving to other careers. I agree. They are often talented in several areas and it follows from my argument of going down the science line first and then wishing they had done something they had more passion for. For most of us we do a degree, and move on, but for a Doctor it is a career. There are so many in the public eye who are ex-Doctors doing non doctoring stuff. My wife (a doctor) often feels the same.
@Miklosvar - You are an arse. When you first appeared on PB I had a pointless pedantic exchange with you and decided to avoid you. Today I made a half serious comment for comic effect that was at the expense of historians/lawyers and people like @TheScreamingEagles and @ydoethur respond accordingly, in fun. You on the other hand responded appallingly, as you nearly always do. I've noticed you have done this with others. With @kinabalu for instance. And your reaction and jumping to the wrong conclusion when I politely said I had to leave for a few hours, but would reply on my return, was an example. Would you have preferred it if I had been rude and just ignored you.
You're rude, pedantic, irrational, and tangential. You appear to be an exceedingly unpleasant person. Not bad going for someone who has only made a few hundred posts.
That being said, he is funnier than you
Are you all right @Leon? That is not up to your usual standard. Even when I disagree with you I still really enjoy your prose; but that?
I wasn't trying to be clever, or witty, or indeed anything - simply pointing out a relevant truth you had carelessly omitted in your 19 paragraph Screed of Tedium
You mean that tedium that has got more likes than any of your posts for the last few days. Just saying.
The definition of Tragedy is: adding up your likes
This is why I asked @rcs1000 to remove the LIKE button. Likes encourage cant, and banal emotion, and the herd mentality, and sad, crowdpleasing drivel, they are scout badges for inadequate morons, but, you know, well done
Perhaps, as a matter of policy, we should all grow up and stop chasing cheap 'likes.'
If you agree, like this post to show your approval and send a message.
How do you chase a "like" please
It's when people make a post to get a reaction from others. You know, the purpose of discussion.
I find the occasional metadebate over likes to be really strange - some people use them, some don't, what's the problem? It's so snowflakey to get irritated by someone else getting or looking for them.
English cricket stands accused of being racist, sexist and elitist at its core in a damning report that immediately forced an unreserved apology from authorities.
In its landmark 316-page review, the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket demands “urgent reform” while laying bare deep-rooted discrimination across the game.
The England and Wales Cricket Board, which is found to be “unfit for purpose” in tackling discrimination complaints, accepts the findings will “shock and disappoint many”.
Among 44 separate recommendations for the ECB, the report took aim at the sport’s establishment, by finding:
Women have been abandoned as “second-class citizens”, routinely experiencing misogyny with “unequal access, pay and treatment”.
As a result, the ECB must oversee equal pay on average at domestic level by 2029 and international by 2030.
Dominance of private schools in cricket’s talent pathway plays a key role in determining “discriminatory outcomes across the game”.
On that basis, the MCC should scrap the annual fixtures between Eton and Harrow as well as Oxford and Cambridge at Lord’s.
Racism is “entrenched”, with 75 per cent of black and more than 80 per cent of Asian cricketers experiencing discrimination.
Cricket’s complaints systems are “confusing”, “overly defensive” and “not fit for purpose” for both victims and those accused.
Scrapping the Eton and Harrow and Oxford and Cambridge matches would be outrageous and do nothing to resolve any of the problems identified in the report anyway
I agree, third rate dumps like Harrow and Oxford need their moment in the sun.
It is also hardly private schools fault most state schools prefer to play football than cricket even in the summer.
Children prefer football, it doesn’t require pitches to be prepared and doesn’t require more equipment. Baseball overtook cricket during the US Civil War for the same reasons.
Heck most schools switched to softball for the reasons above 20 odd years ago
You will note that cricket is dying in the West Indies because basketball require less equipment and less space.
Baseball overtook cricket during the US Civil War for similar reasons.
English cricket stands accused of being racist, sexist and elitist at its core in a damning report that immediately forced an unreserved apology from authorities.
In its landmark 316-page review, the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket demands “urgent reform” while laying bare deep-rooted discrimination across the game.
The England and Wales Cricket Board, which is found to be “unfit for purpose” in tackling discrimination complaints, accepts the findings will “shock and disappoint many”.
Among 44 separate recommendations for the ECB, the report took aim at the sport’s establishment, by finding:
Women have been abandoned as “second-class citizens”, routinely experiencing misogyny with “unequal access, pay and treatment”.
As a result, the ECB must oversee equal pay on average at domestic level by 2029 and international by 2030.
Dominance of private schools in cricket’s talent pathway plays a key role in determining “discriminatory outcomes across the game”.
On that basis, the MCC should scrap the annual fixtures between Eton and Harrow as well as Oxford and Cambridge at Lord’s.
Racism is “entrenched”, with 75 per cent of black and more than 80 per cent of Asian cricketers experiencing discrimination.
Cricket’s complaints systems are “confusing”, “overly defensive” and “not fit for purpose” for both victims and those accused.
Scrapping the Eton and Harrow and Oxford and Cambridge matches would be outrageous and do nothing to resolve any of the problems identified in the report anyway
I agree, third rate dumps like Harrow and Oxford need their moment in the sun.
It is also hardly private schools fault most state schools prefer to play football than cricket even in the summer.
Children prefer football, it doesn’t require pitches to be prepared and doesn’t require more equipment. Baseball overtook cricket during the US Civil War for the same reasons.
Heck most schools switched to softball for the reasons above 20 odd years ago
You will note that cricket is dying in the West Indies because basketball require less equipment and less space.
Baseball overtook cricket during the US Civil War for similar reasons.
And for class reasons. Cricket is for poshos who have time to spare for a game which lasts for days, baseball for those who have to clock on on Monday morning.
Baseball is a fun game to play, and with basketball the only one that you see Americans playing for enjoyment. No one plays American football with their mates at a weekend, or ice hockey.
Parody Rishi Sunak @Parody_PM · 15h I am delighted to announce a long term workforce plan for the NHS, the first stage of which is to overrule the pay review bodies and give everyone another real terms pay cut.
English cricket stands accused of being racist, sexist and elitist at its core in a damning report that immediately forced an unreserved apology from authorities.
In its landmark 316-page review, the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket demands “urgent reform” while laying bare deep-rooted discrimination across the game.
The England and Wales Cricket Board, which is found to be “unfit for purpose” in tackling discrimination complaints, accepts the findings will “shock and disappoint many”.
Among 44 separate recommendations for the ECB, the report took aim at the sport’s establishment, by finding:
Women have been abandoned as “second-class citizens”, routinely experiencing misogyny with “unequal access, pay and treatment”.
As a result, the ECB must oversee equal pay on average at domestic level by 2029 and international by 2030.
Dominance of private schools in cricket’s talent pathway plays a key role in determining “discriminatory outcomes across the game”.
On that basis, the MCC should scrap the annual fixtures between Eton and Harrow as well as Oxford and Cambridge at Lord’s.
Racism is “entrenched”, with 75 per cent of black and more than 80 per cent of Asian cricketers experiencing discrimination.
Cricket’s complaints systems are “confusing”, “overly defensive” and “not fit for purpose” for both victims and those accused.
Scrapping the Eton and Harrow and Oxford and Cambridge matches would be outrageous and do nothing to resolve any of the problems identified in the report anyway
I agree, third rate dumps like Harrow and Oxford need their moment in the sun.
It is also hardly private schools fault most state schools prefer to play football than cricket even in the summer. Nor should private schools have to apologise for producing a disproportionate level of top professional cricketers.
That’s not really the problem is it. The fact is that State schools just largely do not have the land to have the pitches you need. Think of it this way, at my old place cricket was very popular. We had the luxury of 9 full size cricket pitches to use for a school of around 600 boys. Each pitch needed at least two if not three good quality strips to avoid wear out.
Now cricket pitches take up a hell of a lot more space than football pitches and they need a hell of a lot more care and management. On top of that you need indoor facilities for nets.
Add to the above that you need cricket coaches - it’s a lot easier for sports teachers to get kids to play football without specific coaching knowledge.
So if states schools were to get to a “level playing field” it would take huge investment. And resources and land that simply isn’t available and if you try and do it in a half arsed way with small pitches, crap wickets and bad coaching then you still aren’t going to get many state school cricketers breaking through without joining local cricket clubs.
Which therefore makes half this Report's accusations of elitism in cricket ludicrous, most state schools won't take up cricket so without private schools doing it it would wither and die in most areas.
Much like Latin and Greek, playing of regular cricket is something mainly preserved by private schools (and some amateurs on village greens)
English cricket stands accused of being racist, sexist and elitist at its core in a damning report that immediately forced an unreserved apology from authorities.
In its landmark 316-page review, the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket demands “urgent reform” while laying bare deep-rooted discrimination across the game.
The England and Wales Cricket Board, which is found to be “unfit for purpose” in tackling discrimination complaints, accepts the findings will “shock and disappoint many”.
Among 44 separate recommendations for the ECB, the report took aim at the sport’s establishment, by finding:
Women have been abandoned as “second-class citizens”, routinely experiencing misogyny with “unequal access, pay and treatment”.
As a result, the ECB must oversee equal pay on average at domestic level by 2029 and international by 2030.
Dominance of private schools in cricket’s talent pathway plays a key role in determining “discriminatory outcomes across the game”.
On that basis, the MCC should scrap the annual fixtures between Eton and Harrow as well as Oxford and Cambridge at Lord’s.
Racism is “entrenched”, with 75 per cent of black and more than 80 per cent of Asian cricketers experiencing discrimination.
Cricket’s complaints systems are “confusing”, “overly defensive” and “not fit for purpose” for both victims and those accused.
Scrapping the Eton and Harrow and Oxford and Cambridge matches would be outrageous and do nothing to resolve any of the problems identified in the report anyway
I agree, third rate dumps like Harrow and Oxford need their moment in the sun.
It is also hardly private schools fault most state schools prefer to play football than cricket even in the summer. Nor should private schools have to apologise for producing a disproportionate level of top professional cricketers.
That’s not really the problem is it. The fact is that State schools just largely do not have the land to have the pitches you need. Think of it this way, at my old place cricket was very popular. We had the luxury of 9 full size cricket pitches to use for a school of around 600 boys. Each pitch needed at least two if not three good quality strips to avoid wear out.
Now cricket pitches take up a hell of a lot more space than football pitches and they need a hell of a lot more care and management. On top of that you need indoor facilities for nets.
Add to the above that you need cricket coaches - it’s a lot easier for sports teachers to get kids to play football without specific coaching knowledge.
So if states schools were to get to a “level playing field” it would take huge investment. And resources and land that simply isn’t available and if you try and do it in a half arsed way with small pitches, crap wickets and bad coaching then you still aren’t going to get many state school cricketers breaking through without joining local cricket clubs.
And it would be a waste of money. Cricket can be fun, but it’s not a priority, in terms of educational expenditure.
It says no clear evidence. AOEINEOA. What clear evidence could there be anyway? CCTV of avirus sneaking out of the back door?
In my lifetime there have been two lab leaks in the UK that I am aware of, Smallpox and Foot and Mouth. Both were provable lab leaks. So to say there can't be any clear evidence of a lab leak is obviously not correct.
It may well be a lab leak and there may not be any evidence that can be found, but that doesn't mean it is a lab leak. It may be, it may not be.
However unlike @leon I don't jump to conclusions. If leon didn't come out with so much tosh all the time (Do we all remember the mass alien ships over Ukraine?) we might take him more seriously. I can think of two pieces of evidence he provided for absolute proof it came from a lab that were completely dismantled here (one was from Fox news ffs).
"A conspiracy of silence surrounds lockdown’s most disastrous flaw Discussing the effects of lockdowns on children confirms that we are finally entering a phase of Covid ‘narrative collapse’ Sunetra Gupta"
An interesting dynamic wrt the cricket, bringing into focus many issues around Britain today.
Of course cricket (in the UK) can't be racist. They had a bloke on from some organisation which aimed to bring cricket to those of african/caribbean origin (I think that was how they phrased it). Well of course people of african/caribbean origin need no help from the UK cricketing authorities to be introduced to the game.
However, it is also the case that people of african/caribbean origin appear in the poorer deciles of society.
So actually the issue is with poor people not those of a particular race.
As for women and cricket I will leave that to the cricketing experts who will no doubt point to attendance revenue but I have no real thoughts apart from look at the womens' footie - selling out Wemberley most recently I believe.
End of a stressful day. Needed to clear my father's house fast as the new owners want to complete asap and I don't want to cause any delays so I haven't replied to any comments from the last thread so:
@Mortimer - Thank you for your kind post. Appreciated. My dad died aged 96 in February. Just the selling of the house now, which has suddenly turned manic.
@Stuartinromford - I agree completely with your post re maths and eventually everyone hits the buffers in the end, it is just a matter of when. Definitely happened to me. If I had my time again I would do a joint degree of maths with economics or philosophy to put off hitting the maths buffers.
@HYUFD - Thanks for the link re philosophy degree & logic questions. I'm interested but the link didn't work - Page not found. One thing to note (and I say this without having read the link) is the logic you do in a maths degree is far more advanced than stuff you do in a philosophy degree (or in particular questions they may set in an interview) by the nature of the prerequisites. In fact the notation itself will be gibberish without the previous preparation. That is not to say a question set in an interview will not be as difficult, it might in fact be more difficult. There are plenty of everyday logic questions I can't do that an untrained but clever person can do, but which doesn't involve complex logic. And as you know, I don't have a logic degree (I don't even know if such a thing exists), but said it as a riposte to @Miklosvar, although my specialist subjects in my 2nd & 3rd year of maths were all logic topics.
@DecrepiterJohnL - Your post about many Doctors regretting their choice and moving to other careers. I agree. They are often talented in several areas and it follows from my argument of going down the science line first and then wishing they had done something they had more passion for. For most of us we do a degree, and move on, but for a Doctor it is a career. There are so many in the public eye who are ex-Doctors doing non doctoring stuff. My wife (a doctor) often feels the same.
@Miklosvar - You are an arse. When you first appeared on PB I had a pointless pedantic exchange with you and decided to avoid you. Today I made a half serious comment for comic effect that was at the expense of historians/lawyers and people like @TheScreamingEagles and @ydoethur respond accordingly, in fun. You on the other hand responded appallingly, as you nearly always do. I've noticed you have done this with others. With @kinabalu for instance. And your reaction and jumping to the wrong conclusion when I politely said I had to leave for a few hours, but would reply on my return, was an example. Would you have preferred it if I had been rude and just ignored you.
You're rude, pedantic, irrational, and tangential. You appear to be an exceedingly unpleasant person. Not bad going for someone who has only made a few hundred posts.
That being said, he is funnier than you
Are you all right @Leon? That is not up to your usual standard. Even when I disagree with you I still really enjoy your prose; but that?
I wasn't trying to be clever, or witty, or indeed anything - simply pointing out a relevant truth you had carelessly omitted in your 19 paragraph Screed of Tedium
You mean that tedium that has got more likes than any of your posts for the last few days. Just saying.
The definition of Tragedy is: adding up your likes
This is why I asked @rcs1000 to remove the LIKE button. Likes encourage cant, and banal emotion, and the herd mentality, and sad, crowdpleasing drivel, they are scout badges for inadequate morons, but, you know, well done
Perhaps, as a matter of policy, we should all grow up and stop chasing cheap 'likes.'
If you agree, like this post to show your approval and send a message.
How do you chase a "like" please
It's when people make a post to get a reaction from others. You know, the purpose of discussion.
I find the occasional metadebate over likes to be really strange - some people use them, some don't, what's the problem?
I see that the buttons have changed - just "quote" and "WTF". So, what's the meaning of the second? Is it the new like? "Wow, totally fab!"? : 😇
I never take the like or off topic buttons seriously. If I've ever clicked them, it's been by accident due to fat fingers on my phone. Now the WTF button? That's something I can get behind. I know it won't be kept as some people will take offence and we really can't have that these days, but nice while it lasts. 👍😁😁😁😁 +1
Who would get offended? People already say WTF and much worse in direct reply.
It says no clear evidence. AOEINEOA. What clear evidence could there be anyway? CCTV of avirus sneaking out of the back door?
Documentation from the lab; samples that clearly link work in the lab to the outbreak; first-hand testimony from workers, etc, etc.
And yes, like the F&M outbreak we had in 2007, there might be a 'smoking gun' for how it got released, such as broken effluent pipes.
None of which was in the Director of National Intelligence report. Do you have a source for any of this?
I'm struggling to understand the basis for the lab leak hypothesis. I accept lab leak is a plausible cause, but I'm not seeing any specific evidence for it, against the boring counterfactual of the epidemic starting the same way every other epidemic starts, for which there is actually some evidence.
To be clear, I'm sceptical about lab leak, though I am progressing towards it - slowly. I'm responding to the question: " What clear evidence could there be anyway?"
And I agree, that evidence isn't there as far as I can tell.
It says no clear evidence. AOEINEOA. What clear evidence could there be anyway? CCTV of avirus sneaking out of the back door?
In my lifetime there have been two lab leaks in the UK that I am aware of, Smallpox and Foot and Mouth. Both were provable lab leaks. So to say there can't be any clear evidence of a lab leak is obviously not correct.
It may well be a lab leak and there may not be any evidence that can be found, but that doesn't mean it is a lab leak. It may be, it may not be.
However unlike @leon I don't jump to conclusions. If leon didn't come out with so much tosh all the time (Do we all remember the mass alien ships over Ukraine?) we might take him more seriously. I can think of two pieces of evidence he provided for absolute proof it came from a lab that were completely dismantled here (one was from Fox news ffs).
There was also that one on Survivors. Not sure what the actual virus was, tho.
End of a stressful day. Needed to clear my father's house fast as the new owners want to complete asap and I don't want to cause any delays so I haven't replied to any comments from the last thread so:
@Mortimer - Thank you for your kind post. Appreciated. My dad died aged 96 in February. Just the selling of the house now, which has suddenly turned manic.
@Stuartinromford - I agree completely with your post re maths and eventually everyone hits the buffers in the end, it is just a matter of when. Definitely happened to me. If I had my time again I would do a joint degree of maths with economics or philosophy to put off hitting the maths buffers.
@HYUFD - Thanks for the link re philosophy degree & logic questions. I'm interested but the link didn't work - Page not found. One thing to note (and I say this without having read the link) is the logic you do in a maths degree is far more advanced than stuff you do in a philosophy degree (or in particular questions they may set in an interview) by the nature of the prerequisites. In fact the notation itself will be gibberish without the previous preparation. That is not to say a question set in an interview will not be as difficult, it might in fact be more difficult. There are plenty of everyday logic questions I can't do that an untrained but clever person can do, but which doesn't involve complex logic. And as you know, I don't have a logic degree (I don't even know if such a thing exists), but said it as a riposte to @Miklosvar, although my specialist subjects in my 2nd & 3rd year of maths were all logic topics.
@DecrepiterJohnL - Your post about many Doctors regretting their choice and moving to other careers. I agree. They are often talented in several areas and it follows from my argument of going down the science line first and then wishing they had done something they had more passion for. For most of us we do a degree, and move on, but for a Doctor it is a career. There are so many in the public eye who are ex-Doctors doing non doctoring stuff. My wife (a doctor) often feels the same.
@Miklosvar - You are an arse. When you first appeared on PB I had a pointless pedantic exchange with you and decided to avoid you. Today I made a half serious comment for comic effect that was at the expense of historians/lawyers and people like @TheScreamingEagles and @ydoethur respond accordingly, in fun. You on the other hand responded appallingly, as you nearly always do. I've noticed you have done this with others. With @kinabalu for instance. And your reaction and jumping to the wrong conclusion when I politely said I had to leave for a few hours, but would reply on my return, was an example. Would you have preferred it if I had been rude and just ignored you.
You're rude, pedantic, irrational, and tangential. You appear to be an exceedingly unpleasant person. Not bad going for someone who has only made a few hundred posts.
That being said, he is funnier than you
Are you all right @Leon? That is not up to your usual standard. Even when I disagree with you I still really enjoy your prose; but that?
I wasn't trying to be clever, or witty, or indeed anything - simply pointing out a relevant truth you had carelessly omitted in your 19 paragraph Screed of Tedium
You mean that tedium that has got more likes than any of your posts for the last few days. Just saying.
The definition of Tragedy is: adding up your likes
This is why I asked @rcs1000 to remove the LIKE button. Likes encourage cant, and banal emotion, and the herd mentality, and sad, crowdpleasing drivel, they are scout badges for inadequate morons, but, you know, well done
Perhaps, as a matter of policy, we should all grow up and stop chasing cheap 'likes.'
If you agree, like this post to show your approval and send a message.
How do you chase a "like" please
It's when people make a post to get a reaction from others. You know, the purpose of discussion.
I find the occasional metadebate over likes to be really strange - some people use them, some don't, what's the problem?
I see that the buttons have changed - just "quote" and "WTF". So, what's the meaning of the second? Is it the new like? "Wow, totally fab!"? : 😇
You might be right, but I had assumed the best posts from pb are going forward to be presented at the next World Trade Fair?
It says no clear evidence. AOEINEOA. What clear evidence could there be anyway? CCTV of avirus sneaking out of the back door?
Documentation from the lab; samples that clearly link work in the lab to the outbreak; first-hand testimony from workers, etc, etc.
And yes, like the F&M outbreak we had in 2007, there might be a 'smoking gun' for how it got released, such as broken effluent pipes.
None of which was in the Director of National Intelligence report. Do you have a source for any of this?
I'm struggling to understand the basis for the lab leak hypothesis. I accept lab leak is a plausible cause, but I'm not seeing any specific evidence for it, against the boring counterfactual of the epidemic starting the same way every other epidemic starts, for which there is actually some evidence.
To be clear, I'm sceptical about lab leak, though I am progressing towards it - slowly. I'm responding to the question: " What clear evidence could there be anyway?"
And I agree, that evidence isn't there as far as I can tell.
It says no clear evidence. AOEINEOA. What clear evidence could there be anyway? CCTV of avirus sneaking out of the back door?
In my lifetime there have been two lab leaks in the UK that I am aware of, Smallpox and Foot and Mouth. Both were provable lab leaks. So to say there can't be any clear evidence of a lab leak is obviously not correct.
It may well be a lab leak and there may not be any evidence that can be found, but that doesn't mean it is a lab leak. It may be, it may not be.
However unlike @leon I don't jump to conclusions. If leon didn't come out with so much tosh all the time (Do we all remember the mass alien ships over Ukraine?) we might take him more seriously. I can think of two pieces of evidence he provided for absolute proof it came from a lab that were completely dismantled here (one was from Fox news ffs).
There was also that one on Survivors. Not sure what the actual virus was, tho.
I'm wtf-ing like mad. I hope people realise they are likes.
Yep that makes another 2 viruses; the original series and the remake.
An interesting dynamic wrt the cricket, bringing into focus many issues around Britain today.
Of course cricket (in the UK) can't be racist. They had a bloke on from some organisation which aimed to bring cricket to those of african/caribbean origin (I think that was how they phrased it). Well of course people of african/caribbean origin need no help from the UK cricketing authorities to be introduced to the game.
However, it is also the case that people of african/caribbean origin appear in the poorer deciles of society.
So actually the issue is with poor people not those of a particular race.
As for women and cricket I will leave that to the cricketing experts who will no doubt point to attendance revenue but I have no real thoughts apart from look at the womens' footie - selling out Wemberley most recently I believe.
Yet women professional footballers too also paid far less than their male counterparts
What we seem to be seeing is that healthcare is slowly being privatised because the NHS simply does not provide an acceptable service despite all the money that is spent on it. Dentistry was always a weak area but private dentistry care has become a standard cost. Many people are no longer willing to wait, in pain, for the NHS to deal with knee and hip replacements, and accept the cost of private care as Mike has.
There are several causes of this in my opinion. Firstly, demand exceeds supply as the population ages. Secondly, the supply is being inhibited by poor NHS productivity, something that seems increasingly marked since Covid. Thirdly, those that have ailments such as needing a new knee tend to be at a stage of life where such expenditure is affordable. It seems likely that the range of ailments treated this way will increase with a particular focus on old age ailments. Fourthly, many employers and insurers find it economically attractive to fund more prompt treatment of their workforce so that they can get back to work.
We are almost certainly moving to a two tier health service for many. Those with private health care, particularly through work, or because they can afford it, will be indifferent to the quality of service provided by the NHS. In 1997 Labour inherited an economy growing strongly with additional resources to burn. This will not be the case this time. I very much doubt that the incoming government will be able to change these broad trends.
I was thinking, though, it's hardly confined to the NHS. Look at the shambles in your own field. Four year waits for legal hearings. Or education. Admittedly having spent the last few days trying to get the DfE to understand their own safeguarding rules I will admit the bucolic stupidity of the administrators may have something to do with the problems, but the fact is we have a school system under intense pressure at pinch points and a support system on the brink of collapse. You could also mention the armed forces, which have been brutally cut, except for aircraft carriers (one of which doesn't float very well and the other of which doesn't have any aircraft) or transport, where our roads are falling to pieces and our railways being messed about like you can't believe it.
I think the NHS issues in the header is a symptom of a wider problem - inadequate funding, coupled with years of poor management of what money there is.
I don't have easy solutions, but it would be good to see somebody understanding both sides to the problem.
In my own field there has been a rapid increase in arbitration for commercial disputes. As you say, the symptoms are the same. It is not acceptable in many commercial disputes to wait years for an answer. The inefficiency of the court system means that better methods of dispute resolution have to be found. Those who might otherwise demand a better service opt out for something private and leave the rest to flounder. I had a case about access on farm roads which is still awaiting a decision. The availability of civil court days in the Sheriff Court meant that the proof alone took over 15 months, with a series of days scattered over this time.
My wife is trying to get onto the government gateway to check her NI contributions history. She filled in the relevant information from her passport and P60 but the site maintains that the information is wrong. A query on the only link available provided the belated response that this was not a technology question without further assistance.
So much of the public sector simply does not provide the service that it is paid to do.
Lack of resources in critical areas (starving courts of money truly being a false economy) and endless new rules and requirements. When people come across a decent service now they are genuinely surprised, and that's damning.
It'd be like coming across a well run and cost effective utility company that didn't treat people like shit - a miracle.
Can I just say that I like the Like button. And emojis.
I felt there was potential for confusion between 'off topic' and 'flag'. Why don't we just have 👍 and 👎?
+1 plus a MERDE button
And a blue tick button that people can pay £15 per month for which confirms a poster is important and amazing and allows the poster to give multiple likes to their own posts.
End of a stressful day. Needed to clear my father's house fast as the new owners want to complete asap and I don't want to cause any delays so I haven't replied to any comments from the last thread so:
@Mortimer - Thank you for your kind post. Appreciated. My dad died aged 96 in February. Just the selling of the house now, which has suddenly turned manic.
@Stuartinromford - I agree completely with your post re maths and eventually everyone hits the buffers in the end, it is just a matter of when. Definitely happened to me. If I had my time again I would do a joint degree of maths with economics or philosophy to put off hitting the maths buffers.
@HYUFD - Thanks for the link re philosophy degree & logic questions. I'm interested but the link didn't work - Page not found. One thing to note (and I say this without having read the link) is the logic you do in a maths degree is far more advanced than stuff you do in a philosophy degree (or in particular questions they may set in an interview) by the nature of the prerequisites. In fact the notation itself will be gibberish without the previous preparation. That is not to say a question set in an interview will not be as difficult, it might in fact be more difficult. There are plenty of everyday logic questions I can't do that an untrained but clever person can do, but which doesn't involve complex logic. And as you know, I don't have a logic degree (I don't even know if such a thing exists), but said it as a riposte to @Miklosvar, although my specialist subjects in my 2nd & 3rd year of maths were all logic topics.
@DecrepiterJohnL - Your post about many Doctors regretting their choice and moving to other careers. I agree. They are often talented in several areas and it follows from my argument of going down the science line first and then wishing they had done something they had more passion for. For most of us we do a degree, and move on, but for a Doctor it is a career. There are so many in the public eye who are ex-Doctors doing non doctoring stuff. My wife (a doctor) often feels the same.
@Miklosvar - You are an arse. When you first appeared on PB I had a pointless pedantic exchange with you and decided to avoid you. Today I made a half serious comment for comic effect that was at the expense of historians/lawyers and people like @TheScreamingEagles and @ydoethur respond accordingly, in fun. You on the other hand responded appallingly, as you nearly always do. I've noticed you have done this with others. With @kinabalu for instance. And your reaction and jumping to the wrong conclusion when I politely said I had to leave for a few hours, but would reply on my return, was an example. Would you have preferred it if I had been rude and just ignored you.
You're rude, pedantic, irrational, and tangential. You appear to be an exceedingly unpleasant person. Not bad going for someone who has only made a few hundred posts.
That being said, he is funnier than you
Are you all right @Leon? That is not up to your usual standard. Even when I disagree with you I still really enjoy your prose; but that?
I wasn't trying to be clever, or witty, or indeed anything - simply pointing out a relevant truth you had carelessly omitted in your 19 paragraph Screed of Tedium
You mean that tedium that has got more likes than any of your posts for the last few days. Just saying.
The definition of Tragedy is: adding up your likes
This is why I asked @rcs1000 to remove the LIKE button. Likes encourage cant, and banal emotion, and the herd mentality, and sad, crowdpleasing drivel, they are scout badges for inadequate morons, but, you know, well done
Perhaps, as a matter of policy, we should all grow up and stop chasing cheap 'likes.'
If you agree, like this post to show your approval and send a message.
How do you chase a "like" please
It's when people make a post to get a reaction from others. You know, the purpose of discussion.
I find the occasional metadebate over likes to be really strange - some people use them, some don't, what's the problem?
I see that the buttons have changed - just "quote" and "WTF". So, what's the meaning of the second? Is it the new like? "Wow, totally fab!"? : 😇
You might be right, but I had assumed the best posts from pb are going forward to be presented at the next World Trade Fair?
I thought it meant "Wire the Founders" so everytime you click it £1 gets wired to OGH and @rcs1000 ?
"A conspiracy of silence surrounds lockdown’s most disastrous flaw Discussing the effects of lockdowns on children confirms that we are finally entering a phase of Covid ‘narrative collapse’ Sunetra Gupta"
Can I just say that I like the Like button. And emojis.
I felt there was potential for confusion between 'off topic' and 'flag'. Why don't we just have 👍 and 👎?
+1 plus a MERDE button
And a blue tick button that people can pay £15 per month for which confirms a poster is important and amazing and allows the poster to give multiple likes to their own posts.
Given Leon has boundless wealth from his flint knapping career, £15 a month is selling it short.
An interesting dynamic wrt the cricket, bringing into focus many issues around Britain today.
Of course cricket (in the UK) can't be racist. They had a bloke on from some organisation which aimed to bring cricket to those of african/caribbean origin (I think that was how they phrased it). Well of course people of african/caribbean origin need no help from the UK cricketing authorities to be introduced to the game.
However, it is also the case that people of african/caribbean origin appear in the poorer deciles of society.
So actually the issue is with poor people not those of a particular race.
As for women and cricket I will leave that to the cricketing experts who will no doubt point to attendance revenue but I have no real thoughts apart from look at the womens' footie - selling out Wemberley most recently I believe.
Yet women professional footballers too also paid far less than their male counterparts
Yes I don't think selling out Wembley is the sole criterion for sports wages.
Can I just say that I like the Like button. And emojis.
I felt there was potential for confusion between 'off topic' and 'flag'. Why don't we just have 👍 and 👎?
+1 plus a MERDE button
And a blue tick button that people can pay £15 per month for which confirms a poster is important and amazing and allows the poster to give multiple likes to their own posts.
Given Leon has boundless wealth from his flint knapping career, £15 a month is selling it short.
Yes but he has to pay for multiple accounts so it all adds up.
Can I just say that I like the Like button. And emojis.
I felt there was potential for confusion between 'off topic' and 'flag'. Why don't we just have 👍 and 👎?
+1 plus a MERDE button
And a blue tick button that people can pay £15 per month for which confirms a poster is important and amazing and allows the poster to give multiple likes to their own posts.
This new WTF button is reminding me of what the BBC's Russia correspondent, Steve Rosenberg, says he saw on a sticker on a Russian car in Moscow yesterday, and took a photo.
LOL, some of Scotch experts called this right, again.
EU rebuffs Humza Yousaf’s plan for Scottish envoy
First minister will have UK ‘babysitter’ for talks in Brussels
Brussels has undermined an important strand of Humza Yousaf’s independence strategy by saying it will refuse to negotiate with any politicians not authorised by the UK government.
The first minister outlined his plans to send an envoy to the European Union to “prepare the ground for Scotland to become an independent member state of the EU” during his speech to party members on Saturday in Dundee.
Yousaf travelled to Brussels, his first overseas trip since taking office, where he was attending an inward investment dinner with members of the British Chamber of Commerce.
On Wednesday Yousaf is due to meet Maros Sefcovic, the vice-president of the European Commission, but he will be “babysat” by the UK’s most senior diplomat in Brussels....
...In a blow to Yousaf, EU sources rejected the prospect of the European Commission, the executive arm of the bloc, taking part in separation talks when asked about the first minister’s suggestions for an envoy.
“The EU as such deals only with the official governments of third countries,” a source said. “Of course we welcome the friendship of our Scottish friends and stand ready to engage with all parts of the UK within this new cycle of our relationship.”
The EU regards “third countries” as non-members of the bloc, which in this case would be the UK with Scotland deemed a “region” within the state.
What we seem to be seeing is that healthcare is slowly being privatised because the NHS simply does not provide an acceptable service despite all the money that is spent on it. Dentistry was always a weak area but private dentistry care has become a standard cost. Many people are no longer willing to wait, in pain, for the NHS to deal with knee and hip replacements, and accept the cost of private care as Mike has.
There are several causes of this in my opinion. Firstly, demand exceeds supply as the population ages. Secondly, the supply is being inhibited by poor NHS productivity, something that seems increasingly marked since Covid. Thirdly, those that have ailments such as needing a new knee tend to be at a stage of life where such expenditure is affordable. It seems likely that the range of ailments treated this way will increase with a particular focus on old age ailments. Fourthly, many employers and insurers find it economically attractive to fund more prompt treatment of their workforce so that they can get back to work.
We are almost certainly moving to a two tier health service for many. Those with private health care, particularly through work, or because they can afford it, will be indifferent to the quality of service provided by the NHS. In 1997 Labour inherited an economy growing strongly with additional resources to burn. This will not be the case this time. I very much doubt that the incoming government will be able to change these broad trends.
I was thinking, though, it's hardly confined to the NHS. Look at the shambles in your own field. Four year waits for legal hearings. Or education. Admittedly having spent the last few days trying to get the DfE to understand their own safeguarding rules I will admit the bucolic stupidity of the administrators may have something to do with the problems, but the fact is we have a school system under intense pressure at pinch points and a support system on the brink of collapse. You could also mention the armed forces, which have been brutally cut, except for aircraft carriers (one of which doesn't float very well and the other of which doesn't have any aircraft) or transport, where our roads are falling to pieces and our railways being messed about like you can't believe it.
I think the NHS issues in the header is a symptom of a wider problem - inadequate funding, coupled with years of poor management of what money there is.
I don't have easy solutions, but it would be good to see somebody understanding both sides to the problem.
In my own field there has been a rapid increase in arbitration for commercial disputes. As you say, the symptoms are the same. It is not acceptable in many commercial disputes to wait years for an answer. The inefficiency of the court system means that better methods of dispute resolution have to be found. Those who might otherwise demand a better service opt out for something private and leave the rest to flounder. I had a case about access on farm roads which is still awaiting a decision. The availability of civil court days in the Sheriff Court meant that the proof alone took over 15 months, with a series of days scattered over this time.
My wife is trying to get onto the government gateway to check her NI contributions history. She filled in the relevant information from her passport and P60 but the site maintains that the information is wrong. A query on the only link available provided the belated response that this was not a technology question without further assistance.
So much of the public sector simply does not provide the service that it is paid to do.
Lack of resources in critical areas (starving courts of money truly being a false economy) and endless new rules and requirements. When people come across a decent service now they are genuinely surprised, and that's damning.
It'd be like coming across a well run and cost effective utility company that didn't treat people like shit - a miracle.
It’s like using the DVLA website. It’s amazing how simple and efficient it is to use.
What’s especially bad about the civil courts, probate registries, land registries is that they don’t need to be financed from general taxation. We pay quite hefty fees, and still get an inadequate service.
"A conspiracy of silence surrounds lockdown’s most disastrous flaw Discussing the effects of lockdowns on children confirms that we are finally entering a phase of Covid ‘narrative collapse’ Sunetra Gupta"
They offer 50,000 characters across three boxes, so there's plenty of room to vent.
I have already sent in a very - ahem - forthright assessment of the various failures of the DfE.
No idea whether they will pay any attention but it's more likely to have a result or at least get things checked out than venting propaganda from the Telegraph on Pb.
I'd have HYUFD as clear favourite, as his posts most often ellicit that reaction (from me, at least). But I do think Leon could be in with a chance if he puts his mind to it. Or even Casino on one of his Wokefinder General rants.
Hard to call though if we all use them as surrogate likes.
What we seem to be seeing is that healthcare is slowly being privatised because the NHS simply does not provide an acceptable service despite all the money that is spent on it. Dentistry was always a weak area but private dentistry care has become a standard cost. Many people are no longer willing to wait, in pain, for the NHS to deal with knee and hip replacements, and accept the cost of private care as Mike has.
There are several causes of this in my opinion. Firstly, demand exceeds supply as the population ages. Secondly, the supply is being inhibited by poor NHS productivity, something that seems increasingly marked since Covid. Thirdly, those that have ailments such as needing a new knee tend to be at a stage of life where such expenditure is affordable. It seems likely that the range of ailments treated this way will increase with a particular focus on old age ailments. Fourthly, many employers and insurers find it economically attractive to fund more prompt treatment of their workforce so that they can get back to work.
We are almost certainly moving to a two tier health service for many. Those with private health care, particularly through work, or because they can afford it, will be indifferent to the quality of service provided by the NHS. In 1997 Labour inherited an economy growing strongly with additional resources to burn. This will not be the case this time. I very much doubt that the incoming government will be able to change these broad trends.
I was thinking, though, it's hardly confined to the NHS. Look at the shambles in your own field. Four year waits for legal hearings. Or education. Admittedly having spent the last few days trying to get the DfE to understand their own safeguarding rules I will admit the bucolic stupidity of the administrators may have something to do with the problems, but the fact is we have a school system under intense pressure at pinch points and a support system on the brink of collapse. You could also mention the armed forces, which have been brutally cut, except for aircraft carriers (one of which doesn't float very well and the other of which doesn't have any aircraft) or transport, where our roads are falling to pieces and our railways being messed about like you can't believe it.
I think the NHS issues in the header is a symptom of a wider problem - inadequate funding, coupled with years of poor management of what money there is.
I don't have easy solutions, but it would be good to see somebody understanding both sides to the problem.
In my own field there has been a rapid increase in arbitration for commercial disputes. As you say, the symptoms are the same. It is not acceptable in many commercial disputes to wait years for an answer. The inefficiency of the court system means that better methods of dispute resolution have to be found. Those who might otherwise demand a better service opt out for something private and leave the rest to flounder. I had a case about access on farm roads which is still awaiting a decision. The availability of civil court days in the Sheriff Court meant that the proof alone took over 15 months, with a series of days scattered over this time.
My wife is trying to get onto the government gateway to check her NI contributions history. She filled in the relevant information from her passport and P60 but the site maintains that the information is wrong. A query on the only link available provided the belated response that this was not a technology question without further assistance.
So much of the public sector simply does not provide the service that it is paid to do.
Lack of resources in critical areas (starving courts of money truly being a false economy) and endless new rules and requirements. When people come across a decent service now they are genuinely surprised, and that's damning.
It'd be like coming across a well run and cost effective utility company that didn't treat people like shit - a miracle.
It’s like using the DVLA website. It’s amazing how simple and efficient it is to use.
What’s especially bad about the civil courts, probate registries, land registries is that they don’t need to be financed from general taxation. We pay quite hefty fees, and still get an inadequate service.
It took me a week to get a new passport from application submitted to delivery. That's impressive. The DVLA site is brilliantly efficient too. It can be done!
LOL, some of Scotch experts called this right, again.
EU rebuffs Humza Yousaf’s plan for Scottish envoy
First minister will have UK ‘babysitter’ for talks in Brussels
Brussels has undermined an important strand of Humza Yousaf’s independence strategy by saying it will refuse to negotiate with any politicians not authorised by the UK government.
The first minister outlined his plans to send an envoy to the European Union to “prepare the ground for Scotland to become an independent member state of the EU” during his speech to party members on Saturday in Dundee.
Yousaf travelled to Brussels, his first overseas trip since taking office, where he was attending an inward investment dinner with members of the British Chamber of Commerce.
On Wednesday Yousaf is due to meet Maros Sefcovic, the vice-president of the European Commission, but he will be “babysat” by the UK’s most senior diplomat in Brussels....
...In a blow to Yousaf, EU sources rejected the prospect of the European Commission, the executive arm of the bloc, taking part in separation talks when asked about the first minister’s suggestions for an envoy.
“The EU as such deals only with the official governments of third countries,” a source said. “Of course we welcome the friendship of our Scottish friends and stand ready to engage with all parts of the UK within this new cycle of our relationship.”
The EU regards “third countries” as non-members of the bloc, which in this case would be the UK with Scotland deemed a “region” within the state.
Comments
That seems a bit odd.
I usually liked the first one saying 'condolences.' It said what I wanted to and saved multiple replies.
To fit in a standard PE lesson, you would need to play something like... The Twenty. Not twenty overs an innings, but twenty balls.
Sorry to bring up the concept, @ydoethur.
The technology is in its infancy - and subject to the same caveats about unnecessary and possibly debilitating therapy in a large number of cases - but the NHS has already run one large scale trial, and there will be many more, as the technology becomes more discriminating.
For something like pancreatic cancer, where it's almost always too late for successful treatment once symptoms occur, it could be a game changer in a relatively short timeframe.
And yes, like the F&M outbreak we had in 2007, there might be a 'smoking gun' for how it got released, such as broken effluent pipes.
A WTF button does none of those things - it's only use is against posts that make little sense...
I liked the Like button. Unlike many on this site, I often don't have much time to spend on PB, but still like to have a quick skim through and show my appreciation for posts that I consider interesting, insightful or funny. I probably won't visit so frequently now.
Incidentally, if the 'like' button goes, the forum will just have a load of +1 messages and their ilk. Sometimes you want to agree with a post without having to spam the forum with "Good point!" or "I agree".
The hearings are scheduled for July, so we should find out soon enough, one way or the other, I expect.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/may/12/eton-v-harrow-father-time-draws-near-for-annual-schoolboy-lords-jolly
👍😁😁😁😁
+1
There are several causes of this in my opinion. Firstly, demand exceeds supply as the population ages. Secondly, the supply is being inhibited by poor NHS productivity, something that seems increasingly marked since Covid. Thirdly, those that have ailments such as needing a new knee tend to be at a stage of life where such expenditure is affordable. It seems likely that the range of ailments treated this way will increase with a particular focus on old age ailments. Fourthly, many employers and insurers find it economically attractive to fund more prompt treatment of their workforce so that they can get back to work.
We are almost certainly moving to a two tier health service for many. Those with private health care, particularly through work, or because they can afford it, will be indifferent to the quality of service provided by the NHS. In 1997 Labour inherited an economy growing strongly with additional resources to burn. This will not be the case this time. I very much doubt that the incoming government will be able to change these broad trends.
https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/crows-enjoy-tools-researchers-find/story?id=64739159
Now cricket pitches take up a hell of a lot more space than football pitches and they need a hell of a lot more care and management. On top of that you need indoor facilities for nets.
Add to the above that you need cricket coaches - it’s a lot easier for sports teachers to get kids to play football without specific coaching knowledge.
So if states schools were to get to a “level playing field” it would take huge investment. And resources and land that simply isn’t available and if you try and do it in a half arsed way with small pitches, crap wickets and bad coaching then you still aren’t going to get many state school cricketers breaking through without joining local cricket clubs.
I think the NHS issues in the header is a symptom of a wider problem - inadequate funding, coupled with years of poor management of what money there is.
I don't have easy solutions, but it would be good to see somebody understanding both sides to the problem.
I'm part of the Galleri trial (it made the news because it has already been a success) and I gave my second sample last week (heck I think I mentioned it as I went because Morrisons was empty when I went in there afterwards).
WTF button? WTF.
These people have come forward to the Intelligence Committee , for which Rubio is vice-chairman , so we're not talking about random people, here.
My wife is trying to get onto the government gateway to check her NI contributions history. She filled in the relevant information from her passport and P60 but the site maintains that the information is wrong. A query on the only link available provided the belated response that this was not a technology question without further assistance.
So much of the public sector simply does not provide the service that it is paid to do.
The second third and fourth posts remain true to the thread header before the fifth when Leon posts a photo of his lunch.
I'm struggling to understand the basis for the lab leak hypothesis. I accept lab leak is a plausible cause, but I'm not seeing any specific evidence for it, against the boring counterfactual of the epidemic starting the same way every other epidemic starts, for which there is actually some evidence.
I find the occasional metadebate over likes to be really strange - some people use them, some don't, what's the problem? It's so snowflakey to get irritated by someone else getting or looking for them.
On PB:
Like? WTF?
Leon and his multiple personality disorder...
Out there:
Putin circling the drain. It could be quick.
Much like Latin and Greek, playing of regular cricket is something mainly preserved by private schools (and some amateurs on village greens)
It may well be a lab leak and there may not be any evidence that can be found, but that doesn't mean it is a lab leak. It may be, it may not be.
However unlike @leon I don't jump to conclusions. If leon didn't come out with so much tosh all the time (Do we all remember the mass alien ships over Ukraine?) we might take him more seriously. I can think of two pieces of evidence he provided for absolute proof it came from a lab that were completely dismantled here (one was from Fox news ffs).
Out there ; strange things are going on both in UFO-land, and Russia.
Discussing the effects of lockdowns on children confirms that we are finally entering a phase of Covid ‘narrative collapse’
Sunetra Gupta"
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/06/26/conspiracy-of-silence-lockdowns-most-disastrous-flaw/
Of course cricket (in the UK) can't be racist. They had a bloke on from some organisation which aimed to bring cricket to those of african/caribbean origin (I think that was how they phrased it). Well of course people of african/caribbean origin need no help from the UK cricketing authorities to be introduced to the game.
However, it is also the case that people of african/caribbean origin appear in the poorer deciles of society.
So actually the issue is with poor people not those of a particular race.
As for women and cricket I will leave that to the cricketing experts who will no doubt point to attendance revenue but I have no real thoughts apart from look at the womens' footie - selling out Wemberley most recently I believe.
And I agree, that evidence isn't there as far as I can tell.
Yep that makes another 2 viruses; the original series and the remake.
It'd be like coming across a well run and cost effective utility company that didn't treat people like shit - a miracle.
People speculating on Twitter that Putin may no longer be in control (or worse, Russia may have lost a nuke).
https://twitter.com/TimInHonolulu/status/1673587079295684611
Can we get a "brace" button?
"WTF is going on?"
What’s especially bad about the civil courts, probate registries, land registries is that they don’t need to be financed from general taxation. We pay quite hefty fees, and still get an inadequate service.
https://covid19.public-inquiry.uk/every-story-matters/
They offer 50,000 characters across three boxes, so there's plenty of room to vent.
I have already sent in a very - ahem - forthright assessment of the various failures of the DfE.
No idea whether they will pay any attention but it's more likely to have a result or at least get things checked out than venting propaganda from the Telegraph on Pb.
I'd have HYUFD as clear favourite, as his posts most often ellicit that reaction (from me, at least). But I do think Leon could be in with a chance if he puts his mind to it. Or even Casino on one of his Wokefinder General rants.
Hard to call though if we all use them as surrogate likes.