Newsflash: I am one of the many cyclists who make up the supposedly 10,000/day bikes along the Embankment. Absolutely tipping it down today and I had only half the right clothes. And even when I'm suited up days like these are miserable on a bike.
When people advocate for increased cycle usage in the UK they really do need to do it in conjunction with the British Meteorogical Office and a cold hard (and wet) dose of reality. They need to understand that a huge number of people are simply not going to get on a bike in these or, frankly, any other conditions.
Oh here we go!
I had a look at the cycle stats for Amsterdam and they hardly vary with weather. In Edinburgh, on a monthly basis, there isn't much seasonal variation either.
We shouldn't have started from there but that's all we have.
Trying to get the UK to be a cycling culture = trying to get the UK to be a cafe culture.
Ain't gonna happen.
Why not? That's what they used to say about the Netherlands.
Happily those people were ignored and now look at it
1. They’re a good idea in new builds 2. Retro-fitting is expensive 3. Secondary factors such as insulation and radiator design are really important 4. There’s a perception that the outcomes are not as good as regular gas or electric systems. 5. That there’s a lot of cowboy fitters out there 6. Specifically in Scotland, that these are being pushed hard by government, into unsuitable use cases.
I fled to Sidmouth - ok, Exmouth - upon the partial relaxation of lockdown in April 2021.
A massive amount of potential but the seafront felt kind of elderly and tatty.
Shame about the unsightly caravan park at Sandy Bay, which in an ideal world would be protected landscape.
I heard a lot of Brummie down there and it dawned on me that it was essentially the nearest coast to Birmingham (apart from South Wales maybe?)
That honour traditionally goes to Weston-super-Mud. Whether it's geographically quite the closest, or just because of the main road, I don't remember.
Now Weston's a proper dump.
The Exmouth to Starcross ferry is nice, as is Starcross itself.
I would have thought Rhyl and Prestatyn in North Wales would be next closest after Weston. Certainly for the northern parts of the West Midlands, Sutton Coldfield and Walsall.
North Wales is essentially a littoral colony of Liverpool.
Brummies own mid-Wales, but there’s no easily accessible beach. It’s all about getting on the M5 for the denizens of Motor City.
What an ignorant comment from someone who constantly talks down Britain
What a fatuous response from PB’s prime apologist for Tory incompetence.
What is striking about that is the huge increase in renewables is only keeping pace with the huge increase in electricity supply overall, so that fossil fuel use is stable. Renewable expansion is going to have to accelerate some to keep up with the switch to electric in surface transport, ongoing expansion of electricity supply in India, China and Africa, and to reduce use of coal.
I agree. But as renewable technologies continue incrementally to improve, there's quite likely a tipping point coming when they start to replace those coal fired plants. China, which consumes half the world's coal, is the place to watch.
I fled to Sidmouth - ok, Exmouth - upon the partial relaxation of lockdown in April 2021.
A massive amount of potential but the seafront felt kind of elderly and tatty.
Shame about the unsightly caravan park at Sandy Bay, which in an ideal world would be protected landscape.
I heard a lot of Brummie down there and it dawned on me that it was essentially the nearest coast to Birmingham (apart from South Wales maybe?)
That honour traditionally goes to Weston-super-Mud. Whether it's geographically quite the closest, or just because of the main road, I don't remember.
Now Weston's a proper dump.
The Exmouth to Starcross ferry is nice, as is Starcross itself.
I would have thought Rhyl and Prestatyn in North Wales would be next closest after Weston. Certainly for the northern parts of the West Midlands, Sutton Coldfield and Walsall.
North Wales is essentially a littoral colony of Liverpool.
Brummies own mid-Wales, but there’s no easily accessible beach. It’s all about getting on the M5 for the denizens of Motor City.
There are five excellent beaches within about a three hour train ride of Birmingham - Aberystwyth, Borth, Tywyn, Fairbourne and Barmouth. Also Aberdyfi if you prefer sand over swimming.
Newsflash: I am one of the many cyclists who make up the supposedly 10,000/day bikes along the Embankment. Absolutely tipping it down today and I had only half the right clothes. And even when I'm suited up days like these are miserable on a bike.
When people advocate for increased cycle usage in the UK they really do need to do it in conjunction with the British Meteorogical Office and a cold hard (and wet) dose of reality. They need to understand that a huge number of people are simply not going to get on a bike in these or, frankly, any other conditions.
Oh here we go!
I had a look at the cycle stats for Amsterdam and they hardly vary with weather. In Edinburgh, on a monthly basis, there isn't much seasonal variation either.
We shouldn't have started from there but that's all we have.
Trying to get the UK to be a cycling culture = trying to get the UK to be a cafe culture.
Ain't gonna happen.
Why? Is the weather and topography of the London estuary so very different from Amsterdam? Or Paris, for that matter?
The problem with this indictment is that it should have come 18 months ago so that we were already at, or even past, the trial. The delays mean that what we have are serious allegations but no proven facts or findings. This gives Trump's supporters some wriggle room. Already they talk about the weaponization of the justice system and make out they are the victims.
The US constitution, which does not deserve 1% of the praise lavished upon it, has once again been found wanting. It assumes that the President will act honourably, or, if not, Congress and the Senate will act honourably to uphold the rule of law. They didn't and they should be ashamed but, of course, they are not.
US justice is hugely expensive and moves ridiculously slowly. In my area, a single patent infringement suit can take well over a decade to get to a final outcome - first instance, then appeal after appeal after appeal, there always seems to be another angle. It bankrupts many people and makes makes a few very rich!
Litigation is simply a tool of those with the deepest pockets. The problem with such a system is that the merits of the case become almost irrelevant.
From a very senior lawyer, no less
I *think* I see more lawfare in the U.K. than a decade ago - lawsuits as part of a (political style) manoeuvre, rather than a case that actually has merit on its own. In the style of the US….
Newsflash: I am one of the many cyclists who make up the supposedly 10,000/day bikes along the Embankment. Absolutely tipping it down today and I had only half the right clothes. And even when I'm suited up days like these are miserable on a bike.
When people advocate for increased cycle usage in the UK they really do need to do it in conjunction with the British Meteorogical Office and a cold hard (and wet) dose of reality. They need to understand that a huge number of people are simply not going to get on a bike in these or, frankly, any other conditions.
Oh here we go!
I had a look at the cycle stats for Amsterdam and they hardly vary with weather. In Edinburgh, on a monthly basis, there isn't much seasonal variation either.
We shouldn't have started from there but that's all we have.
Trying to get the UK to be a cycling culture = trying to get the UK to be a cafe culture.
Ain't gonna happen.
Why? Is the weather and topography of the London estuary so very different from Amsterdam? Or Paris, for that matter?
Thanks to Stuart in Romford for finding these fantastic graphs:
I fled to Sidmouth - ok, Exmouth - upon the partial relaxation of lockdown in April 2021.
A massive amount of potential but the seafront felt kind of elderly and tatty.
Shame about the unsightly caravan park at Sandy Bay, which in an ideal world would be protected landscape.
I heard a lot of Brummie down there and it dawned on me that it was essentially the nearest coast to Birmingham (apart from South Wales maybe?)
That honour traditionally goes to Weston-super-Mud. Whether it's geographically quite the closest, or just because of the main road, I don't remember.
Now Weston's a proper dump.
The Exmouth to Starcross ferry is nice, as is Starcross itself.
I would have thought Rhyl and Prestatyn in North Wales would be next closest after Weston. Certainly for the northern parts of the West Midlands, Sutton Coldfield and Walsall.
North Wales is essentially a littoral colony of Liverpool.
Brummies own mid-Wales, but there’s no easily accessible beach. It’s all about getting on the M5 for the denizens of Motor City.
There are five excellent beaches within about a three hour train ride of Birmingham - Aberystwyth, Borth, Tywyn, Fairbourne and Barmouth. Also Aberdyfi if you prefer sand over swimming.
Not many people take a 3.5 hour train journey to get to the beach though.
The problem with this indictment is that it should have come 18 months ago so that we were already at, or even past, the trial. The delays mean that what we have are serious allegations but no proven facts or findings. This gives Trump's supporters some wriggle room. Already they talk about the weaponization of the justice system and make out they are the victims.
The US constitution, which does not deserve 1% of the praise lavished upon it, has once again been found wanting. It assumes that the President will act honourably, or, if not, Congress and the Senate will act honourably to uphold the rule of law. They didn't and they should be ashamed but, of course, they are not.
US justice is hugely expensive and moves ridiculously slowly. In my area, a single patent infringement suit can take well over a decade to get to a final outcome - first instance, then appeal after appeal after appeal, there always seems to be another angle. It bankrupts many people and makes makes a few very rich!
Litigation is simply a tool of those with the deepest pockets. The problem with such a system is that the merits of the case become almost irrelevant.
From a very senior lawyer, no less
I *think* I see more lawfare in the U.K. than a decade ago - lawsuits as part of a (political style) manoeuvre, rather than a case that actually has merit on its own. In the style of the US….
What do you reckon?
Well if people will keep funding the likes of Jolyon Maugham.
I fled to Sidmouth - ok, Exmouth - upon the partial relaxation of lockdown in April 2021.
A massive amount of potential but the seafront felt kind of elderly and tatty.
Shame about the unsightly caravan park at Sandy Bay, which in an ideal world would be protected landscape.
I heard a lot of Brummie down there and it dawned on me that it was essentially the nearest coast to Birmingham (apart from South Wales maybe?)
That honour traditionally goes to Weston-super-Mud. Whether it's geographically quite the closest, or just because of the main road, I don't remember.
Now Weston's a proper dump.
The Exmouth to Starcross ferry is nice, as is Starcross itself.
I would have thought Rhyl and Prestatyn in North Wales would be next closest after Weston. Certainly for the northern parts of the West Midlands, Sutton Coldfield and Walsall.
North Wales is essentially a littoral colony of Liverpool.
Brummies own mid-Wales, but there’s no easily accessible beach. It’s all about getting on the M5 for the denizens of Motor City.
What an ignorant comment from someone who constantly talks down Britain
What a fatuous response from PB’s prime apologist for Tory incompetence.
I live in North Wales and your slur is baseless and ignorant of our population
Trump is acting like a mad gang boss with a personal vendetta and Americans are crazy enough to re-elect him. The Vox pops from Trump rallies are so full of delusional conspiracy stuff that 4 more years of Trump are a nightmare that looks likely to happen.
I don't bet much on American politics because it is too bonkers to predict. It would be fun if it didn't matter, but it does.
Yep, to unite the two threads on here currently - Putin knows he just has to wait for a Trump presidential election victory and the entire picture changes. And Trump has a great chance to win. Biden is a decent to good president, he will be an utterly disastrous candidate.
All those saying they're as bad as each other will never admit how important Biden has been to helping Ukraine fend off Putin. And they’ll blame France and Germany when Trump scales US involvement back.
But the blame game won’t change the facts on the ground. Without substantial and continued US aid, Ukraine will be on the back foot very quickly. That will have massive implications for all of us, while emboldening China in East Asia generally and with regards to Taiwan specifically.
With one caveat to that: Biden's precipitous cut and run from Afghanistan (which looked and was desperate) emboldened Putin to invade Ukraine in the first place.
The problem with this indictment is that it should have come 18 months ago so that we were already at, or even past, the trial. The delays mean that what we have are serious allegations but no proven facts or findings. This gives Trump's supporters some wriggle room. Already they talk about the weaponization of the justice system and make out they are the victims.
The US constitution, which does not deserve 1% of the praise lavished upon it, has once again been found wanting. It assumes that the President will act honourably, or, if not, Congress and the Senate will act honourably to uphold the rule of law. They didn't and they should be ashamed but, of course, they are not.
There's no way prosecutors could have gathered sufficient sworn evidence to do so 18 months ago, though - even if the broad outlines of the case have been clear for some time. Getting Trump administration officials to testify has been an unavoidably slow process.
The only real flaw in the US constitution is how difficult it is to ratify amendments. The bar was simply set too high a couple of centuries back.
I fled to Sidmouth - ok, Exmouth - upon the partial relaxation of lockdown in April 2021.
A massive amount of potential but the seafront felt kind of elderly and tatty.
Shame about the unsightly caravan park at Sandy Bay, which in an ideal world would be protected landscape.
I heard a lot of Brummie down there and it dawned on me that it was essentially the nearest coast to Birmingham (apart from South Wales maybe?)
That honour traditionally goes to Weston-super-Mud. Whether it's geographically quite the closest, or just because of the main road, I don't remember.
Now Weston's a proper dump.
The Exmouth to Starcross ferry is nice, as is Starcross itself.
I would have thought Rhyl and Prestatyn in North Wales would be next closest after Weston. Certainly for the northern parts of the West Midlands, Sutton Coldfield and Walsall.
North Wales is essentially a littoral colony of Liverpool.
Brummies own mid-Wales, but there’s no easily accessible beach. It’s all about getting on the M5 for the denizens of Motor City.
What an ignorant comment from someone who constantly talks down Britain
What a fatuous response from PB’s prime apologist for Tory incompetence.
I live in North Wales and your slur is baseless and ignorant of our population
Newsflash: I am one of the many cyclists who make up the supposedly 10,000/day bikes along the Embankment. Absolutely tipping it down today and I had only half the right clothes. And even when I'm suited up days like these are miserable on a bike.
When people advocate for increased cycle usage in the UK they really do need to do it in conjunction with the British Meteorogical Office and a cold hard (and wet) dose of reality. They need to understand that a huge number of people are simply not going to get on a bike in these or, frankly, any other conditions.
Oh here we go!
I had a look at the cycle stats for Amsterdam and they hardly vary with weather. In Edinburgh, on a monthly basis, there isn't much seasonal variation either.
We shouldn't have started from there but that's all we have.
Trying to get the UK to be a cycling culture = trying to get the UK to be a cafe culture.
Ain't gonna happen.
Why? Is the weather and topography of the London estuary so very different from Amsterdam? Or Paris, for that matter?
Thanks to Stuart in Romford for finding thos fantastic graphs:
But look at how people actually get around at the moment:
From the NYT. This does not sound like “winning”, from a Ukrainian perspective
“For the last two months, as Ukrainian troops have tried to break through Russian defenses in a broad counteroffensive to seize back occupied terrain in southern Ukraine, their units have run into dense minefields and heavy Russian artillery fire and drone attacks.
“Each mile is a bloody fight as the counteroffensive has progressed painfully slowly, with units coming up against dug-in Russian defenses and taking heavy casualties. Troops spearheading the offensive have breached the first line of defense in areas in recent days, potentially opening the way for a deeper assault.
“Positioned close to the front lines, the stabilization points, temporary medical posts where patients are stabilized for onward evacuation, have been receiving a constant inflow of soldiers wounded in the fighting. The numbers have been “colossal,” said a medic from the center where the three men from the 110th Brigade were treated.”
So where does this go. Stalemate while the west ships in more arms and hope for a breakthrough ? Peace negotiations and some compromise ?
Ideally we would all like a swift Ukrainian win and Russia to replace Putin with someone less malign. That seems increasingly unlikely.
The counter offensive could ultimately work; it is too early to conclude it has failed. If it doesn't then the likely outcome is a negotiated stalemate. I don't believe that the current government in Russia could agree a compromise/peace deal. There are some advantages of a stalemate instead of a 'peace deal' - mainly that Ukraine can maintain its readiness to defend itself, rather than relying on dubious 'assurances' from Russia.
A agreed stalemate seems likely to me. A muddy armistice
@Sandpit is right that the Ukrainians have no desire to cede an inch of territory to the Russians. The trouble is Ukraine is simply running out of soldiers. If the men dying in the trenches are in their 50s - even late 50s - that is BAD
I fear an exhausted Ukraine will be forced to agree a truce over the winter which may then extend for many months or years as both sides regroup. Russia will keep most of what it’s got - Russify it - and count it as a bloody victory
It ain’t pretty. But that’s my guess
And that will lead to the same thing happening in five years, with Ukraine being invaded again under some pathetic excuse. Putin, and people like him in Russia, want Ukraine.
The 'stalemate' argument is *not* an argument for peace, in the medium or long term.
Its not something that anyone wants. It is just a prediction of what will happen if 'beat back Russia' fails. The latter strategy worked for a while but may have now reached its limits.
The countries that back Ukraine are unlikely to support an endless war.
Quite. I desperately want Ukraine to win. But I see what I see
The MoD generally adopts a positive attitude to the Ukrainian cause. Here is its latest map of the front lines. This does not scream “imminent pivotal breakthrough” to me
Of course that blogger upthread might be right and Ukraine is doing much better than this under the radar. Let’s hope so
The war isn't hitting Russia as badly as it's hitting Ukraine, as evidenced by how it's only the Ukraine that has banned men from leaving the country. Russia hasn't. By that metric, Ukraine is more mobilised than Russia at the moment.
As for psywar, the first impression is that the Russian strength in this domain that was so evident during the election of Trump in 2016 (and pro Brexit before then) has NOT been evident during this war. Even the TASS website is crap, and you wonder whether the Russian state is making much of an effort. And this is while there's wall to wall pro-Zelensky propaganda in the media in a country like Britain. BUT THEN YOU WONDER whether the Wagner mutiny of June 2023 wasn't a Russian state operation. I'm beginning to think it may well have been, and that Putin and Prigozhin are working as one to pull our plonkers.
Then regarding the Ukraine it's curious that all the opposition in that country during 2013-14 to pro-EU policy (which was the form that the westernising line then took, rather than pro-NATO) just all of a sudden disappeared in the night, having been nothing more (if anybody believes Wikipedia) than the product of Russian foreigners handing out 50 or 100 US dollars (sic) to pay people to hold anti-Maidan banners, when they weren't bussing themselves in to go on demos pretending to be from Ukraine. The reason I mention this is that when Zelensky's star falls it could fall very fast. He was elected in the Yes Minister election of 2019 but looking at the f***ing disaster that this stooge's term in office has been, that may turn out to be a trick he can only perform once. Incidentally there's martial law in Ukraine at the moment, and although the next presidential election is supposed to be held in 2024 the consty-tooshun doesn't allow presidential elections to be held during martial law.
Not that this is much cause for optimism that the war will end within a year or two, which seems unlikely. It's scary to try to look at it from a neo-Nazi point of view, imagining that one is a neo-Nazi either of Utkin's ilk or Azov's. War war war is what these tattooed would-be incels love most of all, and by f*** if you look at the territories haven't they done well since 2014...and they may well be assuming that their field of operations will expand. Indeed Utkin has explicitly said this, and in a more scary way than Kadyrov saying ha ha we're going to Poland next. Watch Belarus. Won't be surprising if a NATO country gets seriously destabilised too,
TwitterX is full of rumours that Putin will strike at the Baltics or Poland next
I don’t believe it. He wouldn’t risk an outright attack on a NATO member. Also, where is he gonna get a new army to do this? He has a lot on his plate already
However, 2 things:
1. He might use Wagner to infiltrate Poland or the Baltics, and cause havoc, as they are now handily placed in Belarus
2. As he hits his 70s he might think “whatever not”. He’s already made Russia a pariah state. Yet he’s survived the storm and the sanctions. Military aggression works? = Keep it up
Completely O/T but listening to a bizarre story on R4 about a top restaurateur in Notting Hill who is under attack for posting a photo of his kitchen line up online and, horror of horrors, it was all white men. To compound the problem when it kicked off he suggested everyone calm down.
It’s absolutely fucking mad. At present with difficulties in getting staff you take who you can. One of the contributors was having vapours that it looked like “an army of men”.
We also need diversity in kitchens as it will make the food better. No, we need the best possible team of chefs and best ingredients - the colour or sex of the chef is irrelevant.
I’m guessing those having fits about it are charging down their local Indian or Chinese to protest the lack of diversity in their kitchens?
This is where the BBC needs to grow up - why is it covering such a patently BS story and giving it prominence as if it’s a genuine problem, leave this shit for twitter/x.
Trump is acting like a mad gang boss with a personal vendetta and Americans are crazy enough to re-elect him. The Vox pops from Trump rallies are so full of delusional conspiracy stuff that 4 more years of Trump are a nightmare that looks likely to happen.
I don't bet much on American politics because it is too bonkers to predict. It would be fun if it didn't matter, but it does.
Yep, to unite the two threads on here currently - Putin knows he just has to wait for a Trump presidential election victory and the entire picture changes. And Trump has a great chance to win. Biden is a decent to good president, he will be an utterly disastrous candidate.
All those saying they're as bad as each other will never admit how important Biden has been to helping Ukraine fend off Putin. And they’ll blame France and Germany when Trump scales US involvement back.
But the blame game won’t change the facts on the ground. Without substantial and continued US aid, Ukraine will be on the back foot very quickly. That will have massive implications for all of us, while emboldening China in East Asia generally and with regards to Taiwan specifically.
Morning SO
just noticed from yesterday, have you moved to Devon permanently or are you just on hols ?
Greetings AB. Semi-retired now and living the good life in Sidmouth, where my wife and I have lowered the average age considerably! Back in Leamington quite a bit, though, to see the kids. Hope all is well with you!
The counter offensive could ultimately work; it is too early to conclude it has failed. If it doesn't then the likely outcome is a negotiated stalemate. I don't believe that the current government in Russia could agree a compromise/peace deal. There are some advantages of a stalemate instead of a 'peace deal' - mainly that Ukraine can maintain its readiness to defend itself, rather than relying on dubious 'assurances' from Russia.
An agreed stalemate seems likely to me. A muddy armistice
@Sandpit is right that the Ukrainians have no desire to cede an inch of territory to the Russians. The trouble is Ukraine is simply running out of soldiers. If the men dying in the trenches are in their 50s - even late 50s - that is BAD
I fear an exhausted Ukraine will be forced to agree a truce over the winter which may then extend for many months or years as both sides regroup. Russia will keep most of what it’s got - Russify it - and count it as a bloody victory
It ain’t pretty. But that’s my guess
It looks like a deadlock to me and has done for months - we aren't seeing many reports of Russian attacks in the Western media but according to various credible bloggers they are happening, with as little effect as the Ukrainian ones. Now and then one side or the other gets a tactical success but stand back a pace and it's clearly static.
If that's correct, a truce has its attractions - indefinite slaughter for no gain is a bad thing, whatever we'd like to happen. But any long-term deal would need to include the current front line guarded by NATO troops (probably in the context of NATO membership for Ukraine), to avoid the "they'll be back in a few years" scenario. There isn't any sign that even Putin wants to risk a war with NATO, so we'd end up with something like Cyprus or the West Bank - permanently divided/occupied with no real impetus to resume the war. It may be the least bad outcome until another Gorbachev comes along in Russia and agrees to fair referendums on what each area actually wants.
But I can't see either side agreeing to it now - they both think they can win outright. I think the decision point will come in November 2024 if the stalemate continues - when we know whether Trump has won or not will make a significant difference to any negotiations.
From the NYT. This does not sound like “winning”, from a Ukrainian perspective
“For the last two months, as Ukrainian troops have tried to break through Russian defenses in a broad counteroffensive to seize back occupied terrain in southern Ukraine, their units have run into dense minefields and heavy Russian artillery fire and drone attacks.
“Each mile is a bloody fight as the counteroffensive has progressed painfully slowly, with units coming up against dug-in Russian defenses and taking heavy casualties. Troops spearheading the offensive have breached the first line of defense in areas in recent days, potentially opening the way for a deeper assault.
“Positioned close to the front lines, the stabilization points, temporary medical posts where patients are stabilized for onward evacuation, have been receiving a constant inflow of soldiers wounded in the fighting. The numbers have been “colossal,” said a medic from the center where the three men from the 110th Brigade were treated.”
So where does this go. Stalemate while the west ships in more arms and hope for a breakthrough ? Peace negotiations and some compromise ?
Ideally we would all like a swift Ukrainian win and Russia to replace Putin with someone less malign. That seems increasingly unlikely.
The counter offensive could ultimately work; it is too early to conclude it has failed. If it doesn't then the likely outcome is a negotiated stalemate. I don't believe that the current government in Russia could agree a compromise/peace deal. There are some advantages of a stalemate instead of a 'peace deal' - mainly that Ukraine can maintain its readiness to defend itself, rather than relying on dubious 'assurances' from Russia.
A agreed stalemate seems likely to me. A muddy armistice
@Sandpit is right that the Ukrainians have no desire to cede an inch of territory to the Russians. The trouble is Ukraine is simply running out of soldiers. If the men dying in the trenches are in their 50s - even late 50s - that is BAD
I fear an exhausted Ukraine will be forced to agree a truce over the winter which may then extend for many months or years as both sides regroup. Russia will keep most of what it’s got - Russify it - and count it as a bloody victory
It ain’t pretty. But that’s my guess
And that will lead to the same thing happening in five years, with Ukraine being invaded again under some pathetic excuse. Putin, and people like him in Russia, want Ukraine.
The 'stalemate' argument is *not* an argument for peace, in the medium or long term.
Its not something that anyone wants. It is just a prediction of what will happen if 'beat back Russia' fails. The latter strategy worked for a while but may have now reached its limits.
The countries that back Ukraine are unlikely to support an endless war.
Quite. I desperately want Ukraine to win. But I see what I see
The MoD generally adopts a positive attitude to the Ukrainian cause. Here is its latest map of the front lines. This does not scream “imminent pivotal breakthrough” to me
Of course that blogger upthread might be right and Ukraine is doing much better than this under the radar. Let’s hope so
It doesn't scream “imminent pivotal breakthrough” to me either. But on the other hand if there is a breakthrough the Russians look badly placed to contain it. I think there is the potential for things to change very quickly.
Trump is acting like a mad gang boss with a personal vendetta and Americans are crazy enough to re-elect him. The Vox pops from Trump rallies are so full of delusional conspiracy stuff that 4 more years of Trump are a nightmare that looks likely to happen.
I don't bet much on American politics because it is too bonkers to predict. It would be fun if it didn't matter, but it does.
Yep, to unite the two threads on here currently - Putin knows he just has to wait for a Trump presidential election victory and the entire picture changes. And Trump has a great chance to win. Biden is a decent to good president, he will be an utterly disastrous candidate.
All those saying they're as bad as each other will never admit how important Biden has been to helping Ukraine fend off Putin. And they’ll blame France and Germany when Trump scales US involvement back.
But the blame game won’t change the facts on the ground. Without substantial and continued US aid, Ukraine will be on the back foot very quickly. That will have massive implications for all of us, while emboldening China in East Asia generally and with regards to Taiwan specifically.
With one caveat to that: Biden's precipitous cut and run from Afghanistan (which looked and was desperate) emboldened Putin to invade Ukraine in the first place.
Yep, it did. Even though it would have happened under Trump too, Biden has to own that and it it is a huge stain on his presidency
From the NYT. This does not sound like “winning”, from a Ukrainian perspective
“For the last two months, as Ukrainian troops have tried to break through Russian defenses in a broad counteroffensive to seize back occupied terrain in southern Ukraine, their units have run into dense minefields and heavy Russian artillery fire and drone attacks.
“Each mile is a bloody fight as the counteroffensive has progressed painfully slowly, with units coming up against dug-in Russian defenses and taking heavy casualties. Troops spearheading the offensive have breached the first line of defense in areas in recent days, potentially opening the way for a deeper assault.
“Positioned close to the front lines, the stabilization points, temporary medical posts where patients are stabilized for onward evacuation, have been receiving a constant inflow of soldiers wounded in the fighting. The numbers have been “colossal,” said a medic from the center where the three men from the 110th Brigade were treated.”
Current Ukrainian casualties, compared to Russian, are estimated at 1:1. That’s a good ratio for an attacker.
Yes, it is and it reflects their superior kit and training. But Ukraine cannot maintain that ratio indefinitely. The theory was that Russia would crack, that their logistics would collapse, that we would see the same sort of progress that we did last year. None of this has happened.
We also had many people criticising the "stupidity" of the Russians leaving their defensive lines and engaging in battles in their minefields. That has proven to be exactly the right tactics, effectively removing the advantage that modern western tanks could give Ukraine and forcing them back to brutal infantry attacks.
It is still possible that there is a sudden collapse. I hope so. Time is running out for Ukraine.
Think how long it took the Allies to fight through Normandy, with all their advantages. (casualty rates were as bad as Autumn 1918). No one should expect easy victories.
A front can appear stalemated for a long time whilst many tactical battles are fought and reserves and material is worn down, prior to a breakthrough.
Trump may get off but Giuliani and a few others probably won't - far more quotes comments from them knowing they were proposing unlawful action but not caring.
They will definitely need him to win to get pardons.
As a Watergate historian, it’s worth noting that nothing Nixon did—and he had plenty of crimes and conspiracies, involving more than 60 people criminally charged—approached the scale and severity of Trump’s assault on American democracy. https://twitter.com/vermontgmg/status/1686531761352609792?s=20
Good point. Viewed at this remove, Nixon's crimes appear almost quaint in comparison
The Democrats have opened Pandoras box and this could go anywhere . THe US is screwed
"Lock her up" was shouted by who, again?
And, it's the Democrats fault that Donald Trump allegedly committed crimes?
You can call a "pox on both your houses" with some degree of accuracy. But to point to the Dems and say the ball is entirely in your court - as you are doing - is willfully blind.
Now, I really, really hate the idea that governments use their political power to pursue political opponents. (Like Trump and the IRS vs Comey, for example.) But at the same time, should your political position shield you from all legal liability?
What of the upcoming tax/wirefraud case in NY? Trump valued properties at one price for the tax authorities and another for mortgages. And this wasn't a 10% difference, it was a multiple. People go to jail for that kind of thing all the time. Should he not be prosecuted, solely because he was President?
What is it about Trump that make otherwise sensible people lose their marbles ?
Hounding Trump will achieve precisely nothing except to make him more popular with his supporters and make diviisions in US society deeper.
As for the legal guff, Hilary is still walking free and has never been near a court nd I dont think anyome seriously expects the Biden\Hunter mess to be investigated before an election.
So you're saying laws actually should not apply to him?
That's his attitude, certainly, and that's what's got him into trouble.
Nobody is 'hounding' him, they're enforcing the multiple laws he's deliberately broken for his own gain.
Im saying the laws should apply to everyone and not just one individual. The US justice system is highly partisan and this is using the law to hamper an opponent who it appears cant be beaten by normal means.
That matter alone says what a poor position the Dems have, Worse now that the principle has been established if Trump were to win the election he can quite happily clear out the DoJ, pack it with his place men like Giuliani and lock up who he pleases as the Dems arent exactly choirboys.
And for the record I think that would be a total bag of shit too,
Trump tried to use the justice system to hound his opponents. It didn't work for him because ultimately the law-breaking of say, Hilary Clinton was quite low level. She should not have done what she did, but she was stupid rather than malign.
Her husband was, in case you've forgotten, impeached for his crimes although he wasn't in the end convicted.
Her husbands case I would actually say was the start of this whole sorry saga, The GOP tried to nobble Clinton by foul means and that set off the tit for tat escalation we have seen ever since.
As for Trump using the justice system, well as you say nobody got convicted. But I dont agree with that either , someone somewhere has to put the genie back in the bottle it just wont be either of the two presidential candidates.
Sigh.
The point is he *tried* to use the justice system to nobble his opponents and he failed because what happened wasn't ultimately significant enough to secure an indictment so the lawyers concerned told him 'no.' Had Clinton not handed over her email server, however belatedly and reluctantly, it might have been different. But that was not his call. Just as this is not Biden's. Or anyone in the government.
What's happening now is they *are* indicting him for multiple crimes he has not only committed but is repeatedly doubling down on.
And if you genuinely think January 6th was bad policing, you are profoundly ignorant of what happened. Again, read the indictment. How would 'bad policing,' for example, have led to a crowd gathering at Trump's urging that wanted to lynch the Vice President?
And if you don't think that, well...
No the point is he has been accused of it. He hasnt been convicted of anything,
And he has been accused of it not directly after the event when logically the state would lock up a real and present danger, but just before an election and by a partisan justice system. You draw one conclusion I draw another.
As for the policing issue London regulary gets trashed by people who shout down with the govt but these are riots not coups. And our police despite their critics handle them quite well. And just to wind you up even further J6 wasnt even a decent riot, I grew up in Ulster so I know what a riot looks like there were no petrol bombs, no stones no tear gas. Because all of those thinsg would have required organisation and hard work and Trump is too chaotic .
He has been INDICTED. That is the difference.
As for your last somewhat incoherent and illogical paragraph, put differently you are saying that should something not be exactly like your memories of a riot in Ulster it must not be a riot and therefore can't be a coup.
As a Watergate historian, it’s worth noting that nothing Nixon did—and he had plenty of crimes and conspiracies, involving more than 60 people criminally charged—approached the scale and severity of Trump’s assault on American democracy. https://twitter.com/vermontgmg/status/1686531761352609792?s=20
Good point. Viewed at this remove, Nixon's crimes appear almost quaint in comparison
The Democrats have opened Pandoras box and this could go anywhere . THe US is screwed
"Lock her up" was shouted by who, again?
And, it's the Democrats fault that Donald Trump allegedly committed crimes?
You can call a "pox on both your houses" with some degree of accuracy. But to point to the Dems and say the ball is entirely in your court - as you are doing - is willfully blind.
Now, I really, really hate the idea that governments use their political power to pursue political opponents. (Like Trump and the IRS vs Comey, for example.) But at the same time, should your political position shield you from all legal liability?
What of the upcoming tax/wirefraud case in NY? Trump valued properties at one price for the tax authorities and another for mortgages. And this wasn't a 10% difference, it was a multiple. People go to jail for that kind of thing all the time. Should he not be prosecuted, solely because he was President?
What is it about Trump that make otherwise sensible people lose their marbles ?
I think as one of the two people most affected on here by this phenomenon perhaps you could tell us?
Ive been indicted myself and had to go to court but never convicted because the charges were nonsense. In my case it was a french trade union trying it on for their own purposes. So so far Trump hasnt been convicted of anything, bar losing a civil case.
An indictment isnt a conviction unless youve decided hes guilty until proven innocent, which in its own way demonstrates the madness of a politicised justice system.
As for your second point Trump is like Brexit , people are so partisan about it they only eve believe one line of propaganda. There is very little room for standing back and looking at things in the round.
The democrats won the popular vote in the last 2 elections and on that basis should win the next one but as Ive said theyve opened Pandoras box so anything could happen.
Trump seems to have committed a number of crimes e.g. 'find me 11,780 votes', 'march to the Capitol', 'You're too honest' (to Mike Pence), 'the boss wants server deleted' etc, etc. Nobody is above the law and Trump is going to get his days in courts. It's not a witch hunt it's due process.
What is striking about that is the huge increase in renewables is only keeping pace with the huge increase in electricity supply overall, so that fossil fuel use is stable. Renewable expansion is going to have to accelerate some to keep up with the switch to electric in surface transport, ongoing expansion of electricity supply in India, China and Africa, and to reduce use of coal.
I agree. But as renewable technologies continue incrementally to improve, there's quite likely a tipping point coming when they start to replace those coal fired plants. China, which consumes half the world's coal, is the place to watch.
Another thing is that many part of the third world use second hand vehicles and machinery from the first world. So ending the supply of ICE vehicles and coal fired boilers for power stations will have a knock on effect.
Newsflash: I am one of the many cyclists who make up the supposedly 10,000/day bikes along the Embankment. Absolutely tipping it down today and I had only half the right clothes. And even when I'm suited up days like these are miserable on a bike.
When people advocate for increased cycle usage in the UK they really do need to do it in conjunction with the British Meteorogical Office and a cold hard (and wet) dose of reality. They need to understand that a huge number of people are simply not going to get on a bike in these or, frankly, any other conditions.
Oh here we go!
I had a look at the cycle stats for Amsterdam and they hardly vary with weather. In Edinburgh, on a monthly basis, there isn't much seasonal variation either.
We shouldn't have started from there but that's all we have.
Trying to get the UK to be a cycling culture = trying to get the UK to be a cafe culture.
Ain't gonna happen.
Why? Is the weather and topography of the London estuary so very different from Amsterdam? Or Paris, for that matter?
Thanks to Stuart in Romford for finding thos fantastic graphs:
But look at how people actually get around at the moment:
Don’t see much evidence @Gardenwalker has talked down Britain. Just because he has a differing opinion it doesn’t mean he hates the UK.
I could argue the Tories hate the UK. They think we’re incapable of running our own services so they get the French to do it. They cut all the Police so crimes don’t get investigated anymore. They removed social protections so more people including many who fought for this country sleep on the street. They crashed our economy. They partied through lockdown whilst the Queen mourned alone.
I don't recollect Labour publishing non-priority lists before (maybe I just missed it) but is this Starmer's way of tacitly supporting tactical voting? Will the LDs reciprocate by withdrawing support from Labour's priority targets?
Trump is acting like a mad gang boss with a personal vendetta and Americans are crazy enough to re-elect him. The Vox pops from Trump rallies are so full of delusional conspiracy stuff that 4 more years of Trump are a nightmare that looks likely to happen.
I don't bet much on American politics because it is too bonkers to predict. It would be fun if it didn't matter, but it does.
Yep, to unite the two threads on here currently - Putin knows he just has to wait for a Trump presidential election victory and the entire picture changes. And Trump has a great chance to win. Biden is a decent to good president, he will be an utterly disastrous candidate.
All those saying they're as bad as each other will never admit how important Biden has been to helping Ukraine fend off Putin. And they’ll blame France and Germany when Trump scales US involvement back.
But the blame game won’t change the facts on the ground. Without substantial and continued US aid, Ukraine will be on the back foot very quickly. That will have massive implications for all of us, while emboldening China in East Asia generally and with regards to Taiwan specifically.
Morning SO
just noticed from yesterday, have you moved to Devon permanently or are you just on hols ?
Greetings AB. Semi-retired now and living the good life in Sidmouth, where my wife and I have lowered the average age considerably! Back in Leamington quite a bit, though, to see the kids. Hope all is well with you!
Nice area, the Triassic-and-Jurassic coast.
Great walking country.
It is. We were down there some months back - not as far west as Sidmouth though, only as far as the Axe estuary (the tram ride through the birdy area being a regular treat when we go there, and I see one can get off in the middle of nowhere and birdwatch till the next tram). The newish Jurassic coast bus service looks very helpful for walkers though we didn't need it this time as it happens.
I thought that bus service had been cut. A few have been recently. The buses don't run to Lyme Regis from Sidmouth anymore, which is a big shame as I'd planned to do the SW Coast Path walk from there back to base.
Shame. It is a rather literal interpretation of Jurassic in the current circs, on checking - does go to Axminster. We did some time back use the Seaton-Lyme bus for a walk through the Landslip[ in between, and a quick check suggests it's still there and connects with the Sidmouth-Seaton one.
The problem for an old man like me is that I'd have to be leaving Lyme at no later than 10.00 am to get back to Sidmouth in the light. It's only about 16 miles, but there is a lot of very steep up and down. The single bus enabled an early start, but you can't do it with connections. It's a niche issue, I grant, and probably not a good reason to keep the service going!
As a Watergate historian, it’s worth noting that nothing Nixon did—and he had plenty of crimes and conspiracies, involving more than 60 people criminally charged—approached the scale and severity of Trump’s assault on American democracy. https://twitter.com/vermontgmg/status/1686531761352609792?s=20
Good point. Viewed at this remove, Nixon's crimes appear almost quaint in comparison
The Democrats have opened Pandoras box and this could go anywhere . THe US is screwed
"Lock her up" was shouted by who, again?
And, it's the Democrats fault that Donald Trump allegedly committed crimes?
You can call a "pox on both your houses" with some degree of accuracy. But to point to the Dems and say the ball is entirely in your court - as you are doing - is willfully blind.
Now, I really, really hate the idea that governments use their political power to pursue political opponents. (Like Trump and the IRS vs Comey, for example.) But at the same time, should your political position shield you from all legal liability?
What of the upcoming tax/wirefraud case in NY? Trump valued properties at one price for the tax authorities and another for mortgages. And this wasn't a 10% difference, it was a multiple. People go to jail for that kind of thing all the time. Should he not be prosecuted, solely because he was President?
What is it about Trump that make otherwise sensible people lose their marbles ?
Hounding Trump will achieve precisely nothing except to make him more popular with his supporters and make diviisions in US society deeper.
As for the legal guff, Hilary is still walking free and has never been near a court nd I dont think anyome seriously expects the Biden\Hunter mess to be investigated before an election.
So you're saying laws actually should not apply to him?
That's his attitude, certainly, and that's what's got him into trouble.
Nobody is 'hounding' him, they're enforcing the multiple laws he's deliberately broken for his own gain.
Im saying the laws should apply to everyone and not just one individual. The US justice system is highly partisan and this is using the law to hamper an opponent who it appears cant be beaten by normal means.
That matter alone says what a poor position the Dems have, Worse now that the principle has been established if Trump were to win the election he can quite happily clear out the DoJ, pack it with his place men like Giuliani and lock up who he pleases as the Dems arent exactly choirboys.
And for the record I think that would be a total bag of shit too,
Trump tried to use the justice system to hound his opponents. It didn't work for him because ultimately the law-breaking of say, Hilary Clinton was quite low level. She should not have done what she did, but she was stupid rather than malign.
Her husband was, in case you've forgotten, impeached for his crimes although he wasn't in the end convicted.
Her husbands case I would actually say was the start of this whole sorry saga, The GOP tried to nobble Clinton by foul means and that set off the tit for tat escalation we have seen ever since.
As for Trump using the justice system, well as you say nobody got convicted. But I dont agree with that either , someone somewhere has to put the genie back in the bottle it just wont be either of the two presidential candidates.
Sigh.
The point is he *tried* to use the justice system to nobble his opponents and he failed because what happened wasn't ultimately significant enough to secure an indictment so the lawyers concerned told him 'no.' Had Clinton not handed over her email server, however belatedly and reluctantly, it might have been different. But that was not his call. Just as this is not Biden's. Or anyone in the government.
What's happening now is they *are* indicting him for multiple crimes he has not only committed but is repeatedly doubling down on.
And if you genuinely think January 6th was bad policing, you are profoundly ignorant of what happened. Again, read the indictment. How would 'bad policing,' for example, have led to a crowd gathering at Trump's urging that wanted to lynch the Vice President?
And if you don't think that, well...
No the point is he has been accused of it. He hasnt been convicted of anything,
And he has been accused of it not directly after the event when logically the state would lock up a real and present danger, but just before an election and by a partisan justice system. You draw one conclusion I draw another.
As for the policing issue London regulary gets trashed by people who shout down with the govt but these are riots not coups. And our police despite their critics handle them quite well. And just to wind you up even further J6 wasnt even a decent riot, I grew up in Ulster so I know what a riot looks like there were no petrol bombs, no stones no tear gas. Because all of those thinsg would have required organisation and hard work and Trump is too chaotic .
He has been INDICTED. That is the difference.
As for your last somewhat incoherent and illogical paragraph, put differently you are saying that should something not be exactly like your memories of a riot in Ulster it must not be a riot and therefore can't be a coup.
As a Watergate historian, it’s worth noting that nothing Nixon did—and he had plenty of crimes and conspiracies, involving more than 60 people criminally charged—approached the scale and severity of Trump’s assault on American democracy. https://twitter.com/vermontgmg/status/1686531761352609792?s=20
Good point. Viewed at this remove, Nixon's crimes appear almost quaint in comparison
The Democrats have opened Pandoras box and this could go anywhere . THe US is screwed
"Lock her up" was shouted by who, again?
And, it's the Democrats fault that Donald Trump allegedly committed crimes?
You can call a "pox on both your houses" with some degree of accuracy. But to point to the Dems and say the ball is entirely in your court - as you are doing - is willfully blind.
Now, I really, really hate the idea that governments use their political power to pursue political opponents. (Like Trump and the IRS vs Comey, for example.) But at the same time, should your political position shield you from all legal liability?
What of the upcoming tax/wirefraud case in NY? Trump valued properties at one price for the tax authorities and another for mortgages. And this wasn't a 10% difference, it was a multiple. People go to jail for that kind of thing all the time. Should he not be prosecuted, solely because he was President?
What is it about Trump that make otherwise sensible people lose their marbles ?
I think as one of the two people most affected on here by this phenomenon perhaps you could tell us?
Ive been indicted myself and had to go to court but never convicted because the charges were nonsense. In my case it was a french trade union trying it on for their own purposes. So so far Trump hasnt been convicted of anything, bar losing a civil case.
An indictment isnt a conviction unless youve decided hes guilty until proven innocent, which in its own way demonstrates the madness of a politicised justice system.
As for your second point Trump is like Brexit , people are so partisan about it they only eve believe one line of propaganda. There is very little room for standing back and looking at things in the round.
The democrats won the popular vote in the last 2 elections and on that basis should win the next one but as Ive said theyve opened Pandoras box so anything could happen.
Trump seems to have committed a number of crimes e.g. 'find me 11,780 votes', 'march to the Capitol', 'You're too honest' (to Mike Pence), 'the boss wants server deleted' etc, etc. Nobody is above the law and Trump is going to get his days in courts. It's not a witch hunt it's due process.
From the NYT. This does not sound like “winning”, from a Ukrainian perspective
“For the last two months, as Ukrainian troops have tried to break through Russian defenses in a broad counteroffensive to seize back occupied terrain in southern Ukraine, their units have run into dense minefields and heavy Russian artillery fire and drone attacks.
“Each mile is a bloody fight as the counteroffensive has progressed painfully slowly, with units coming up against dug-in Russian defenses and taking heavy casualties. Troops spearheading the offensive have breached the first line of defense in areas in recent days, potentially opening the way for a deeper assault.
“Positioned close to the front lines, the stabilization points, temporary medical posts where patients are stabilized for onward evacuation, have been receiving a constant inflow of soldiers wounded in the fighting. The numbers have been “colossal,” said a medic from the center where the three men from the 110th Brigade were treated.”
Current Ukrainian casualties, compared to Russian, are estimated at 1:1. That’s a good ratio for an attacker.
Yes, it is and it reflects their superior kit and training. But Ukraine cannot maintain that ratio indefinitely. The theory was that Russia would crack, that their logistics would collapse, that we would see the same sort of progress that we did last year. None of this has happened.
We also had many people criticising the "stupidity" of the Russians leaving their defensive lines and engaging in battles in their minefields. That has proven to be exactly the right tactics, effectively removing the advantage that modern western tanks could give Ukraine and forcing them back to brutal infantry attacks.
It is still possible that there is a sudden collapse. I hope so. Time is running out for Ukraine.
Think how long it took the Allies to fight through Normandy, with all their advantages. (casualty rates were as bad as Autumn 1918). No one should expect easy victories.
If I remember correctly, and I was very young at the time, there was some sort of Second Front developed which caused a German collapse. I remember the black arrows in the newspaper my mother read.
Newsflash: I am one of the many cyclists who make up the supposedly 10,000/day bikes along the Embankment. Absolutely tipping it down today and I had only half the right clothes. And even when I'm suited up days like these are miserable on a bike.
When people advocate for increased cycle usage in the UK they really do need to do it in conjunction with the British Meteorogical Office and a cold hard (and wet) dose of reality. They need to understand that a huge number of people are simply not going to get on a bike in these or, frankly, any other conditions.
Oh here we go!
I had a look at the cycle stats for Amsterdam and they hardly vary with weather. In Edinburgh, on a monthly basis, there isn't much seasonal variation either.
We shouldn't have started from there but that's all we have.
Trying to get the UK to be a cycling culture = trying to get the UK to be a cafe culture.
Ain't gonna happen.
Why? Is the weather and topography of the London estuary so very different from Amsterdam? Or Paris, for that matter?
Paris? Your kidding. It is a very brave cyclist that chances their arm around eg the Place de la Concorde. Even in an Uber I fear imminent death every time I head away from the GdN.
"The UK government has set a target of 600,000 heat pump installations per year by 2028 and said sales of gas boilers would be banned from 2035."
SG is basically getting the ground ready for meeting the target - getting public consultation and discussion going, is my reading.
Much of that is aimed at landlords of rentals, too.
Harvie is talking of changing the energy rating to bar gas boilers from house sales from 2025
Furthermore the cost is in the region of 33 billion and where is that coming from
Heat pumps do have a role to play but these comments in that article are interesting:-
Labour peer and businessman Lord Haughey, whose company is one of Scotland's leading suppliers of heat pumps, told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland that electric boilers would be more cost-effective and environmentally-friendly options for most Scottish homes.
He also said heat pumps do not work as efficiently in Scotland as they do in other countries, with some liable to malfunction at temperatures of minus 5C (23F) or lower.
Newsflash: I am one of the many cyclists who make up the supposedly 10,000/day bikes along the Embankment. Absolutely tipping it down today and I had only half the right clothes. And even when I'm suited up days like these are miserable on a bike.
When people advocate for increased cycle usage in the UK they really do need to do it in conjunction with the British Meteorogical Office and a cold hard (and wet) dose of reality. They need to understand that a huge number of people are simply not going to get on a bike in these or, frankly, any other conditions.
Oh here we go!
I had a look at the cycle stats for Amsterdam and they hardly vary with weather. In Edinburgh, on a monthly basis, there isn't much seasonal variation either.
We shouldn't have started from there but that's all we have.
Trying to get the UK to be a cycling culture = trying to get the UK to be a cafe culture.
Ain't gonna happen.
Why? Is the weather and topography of the London estuary so very different from Amsterdam? Or Paris, for that matter?
Thanks to Stuart in Romford for finding thos fantastic graphs:
But look at how people actually get around at the moment:
If your cycling provision is made at the expense of existing road provision, that just pisses off the motorists.
Except perhaps in central London, no-one is going to be cycling 10 miles to work in the rain and cold when they have a car in the drive.
As with ULEZ, there need to be more carrots and fewer sticks. The people need to feel that they are being brought along, rather than these things being done to them against their will.
From the NYT. This does not sound like “winning”, from a Ukrainian perspective
“For the last two months, as Ukrainian troops have tried to break through Russian defenses in a broad counteroffensive to seize back occupied terrain in southern Ukraine, their units have run into dense minefields and heavy Russian artillery fire and drone attacks.
“Each mile is a bloody fight as the counteroffensive has progressed painfully slowly, with units coming up against dug-in Russian defenses and taking heavy casualties. Troops spearheading the offensive have breached the first line of defense in areas in recent days, potentially opening the way for a deeper assault.
“Positioned close to the front lines, the stabilization points, temporary medical posts where patients are stabilized for onward evacuation, have been receiving a constant inflow of soldiers wounded in the fighting. The numbers have been “colossal,” said a medic from the center where the three men from the 110th Brigade were treated.”
But I can't see either side agreeing to it now - they both think they can win outright. I think the decision point will come in November 2024 if the stalemate continues - when we know whether Trump has won or not will make a significant difference to any negotiations.
One or more of Zelensky, Putin or Biden will have to go before there is a negotiated ceasefire as contrasted with a collapse or rout.
Don’t see much evidence @Gardenwalker has talked down Britain. Just because he has a differing opinion it doesn’t mean he hates the UK.
I could argue the Tories hate the UK. They think we’re incapable of running our own services so they get the French to do it. They cut all the Police so crimes don’t get investigated anymore. They removed social protections so more people including many who fought for this country sleep on the street. They crashed our economy. They partied through lockdown whilst the Queen mourned alone.
It is the Tories that hate Britain.
Absolutely. It’s the Tories and their woke-triggered coterie that seem to hate this country.
BigG seems exercised by my comment about North Wales, which was not meant as anything but a socio-geographic fact: North Wales “looks to” the North West conurbations.
(It’s why it’s hard for Wales to function as an independent, self-contained economy - it’s essentially three or four separate “parts”, some of which are economic satellites of England.)
One of my own g-g-fathers made the 19th century trek from Flintshire to the docks of Birkenhead.
1. They’re a good idea in new builds 2. Retro-fitting is expensive 3. Secondary factors such as insulation and radiator design are really important 4. There’s a perception that the outcomes are not as good as regular gas or electric systems. 5. That there’s a lot of cowboy fitters out there 6. Specifically in Scotland, that these are being pushed hard by government, into unsuitable use cases.
A decent heat pump system is better than typical gas or electric installation, simply because underfloor heating is superior to radiators/wall heaters. Gentle heat all over the room with no hot or cold patches.
Now, you can run underfloor heating off a gas boiler of course (we do in our extension) but you need a manifold to drop the water from the boiler down to the correct ~40C for the underfloor heating by mixing in cold.
If I was building a house, there's absolutely no question, I'd go for a heat pump with underfloor heating as the superior solution.
As a Watergate historian, it’s worth noting that nothing Nixon did—and he had plenty of crimes and conspiracies, involving more than 60 people criminally charged—approached the scale and severity of Trump’s assault on American democracy. https://twitter.com/vermontgmg/status/1686531761352609792?s=20
Good point. Viewed at this remove, Nixon's crimes appear almost quaint in comparison
The Democrats have opened Pandoras box and this could go anywhere . THe US is screwed
"Lock her up" was shouted by who, again?
And, it's the Democrats fault that Donald Trump allegedly committed crimes?
You can call a "pox on both your houses" with some degree of accuracy. But to point to the Dems and say the ball is entirely in your court - as you are doing - is willfully blind.
Now, I really, really hate the idea that governments use their political power to pursue political opponents. (Like Trump and the IRS vs Comey, for example.) But at the same time, should your political position shield you from all legal liability?
What of the upcoming tax/wirefraud case in NY? Trump valued properties at one price for the tax authorities and another for mortgages. And this wasn't a 10% difference, it was a multiple. People go to jail for that kind of thing all the time. Should he not be prosecuted, solely because he was President?
What is it about Trump that make otherwise sensible people lose their marbles ?
Hounding Trump will achieve precisely nothing except to make him more popular with his supporters and make diviisions in US society deeper.
As for the legal guff, Hilary is still walking free and has never been near a court nd I dont think anyome seriously expects the Biden\Hunter mess to be investigated before an election.
So you're saying laws actually should not apply to him?
That's his attitude, certainly, and that's what's got him into trouble.
Nobody is 'hounding' him, they're enforcing the multiple laws he's deliberately broken for his own gain.
Im saying the laws should apply to everyone and not just one individual. The US justice system is highly partisan and this is using the law to hamper an opponent who it appears cant be beaten by normal means.
That matter alone says what a poor position the Dems have, Worse now that the principle has been established if Trump were to win the election he can quite happily clear out the DoJ, pack it with his place men like Giuliani and lock up who he pleases as the Dems arent exactly choirboys.
And for the record I think that would be a total bag of shit too,
Trump tried to use the justice system to hound his opponents. It didn't work for him because ultimately the law-breaking of say, Hilary Clinton was quite low level. She should not have done what she did, but she was stupid rather than malign.
Her husband was, in case you've forgotten, impeached for his crimes although he wasn't in the end convicted.
Her husbands case I would actually say was the start of this whole sorry saga, The GOP tried to nobble Clinton by foul means and that set off the tit for tat escalation we have seen ever since.
As for Trump using the justice system, well as you say nobody got convicted. But I dont agree with that either , someone somewhere has to put the genie back in the bottle it just wont be either of the two presidential candidates.
Sigh.
The point is he *tried* to use the justice system to nobble his opponents and he failed because what happened wasn't ultimately significant enough to secure an indictment so the lawyers concerned told him 'no.' Had Clinton not handed over her email server, however belatedly and reluctantly, it might have been different. But that was not his call. Just as this is not Biden's. Or anyone in the government.
What's happening now is they *are* indicting him for multiple crimes he has not only committed but is repeatedly doubling down on.
And if you genuinely think January 6th was bad policing, you are profoundly ignorant of what happened. Again, read the indictment. How would 'bad policing,' for example, have led to a crowd gathering at Trump's urging that wanted to lynch the Vice President?
And if you don't think that, well...
No the point is he has been accused of it. He hasnt been convicted of anything,
And he has been accused of it not directly after the event when logically the state would lock up a real and present danger, but just before an election and by a partisan justice system. You draw one conclusion I draw another.
As for the policing issue London regulary gets trashed by people who shout down with the govt but these are riots not coups. And our police despite their critics handle them quite well. And just to wind you up even further J6 wasnt even a decent riot, I grew up in Ulster so I know what a riot looks like there were no petrol bombs, no stones no tear gas. Because all of those thinsg would have required organisation and hard work and Trump is too chaotic .
He has been INDICTED. That is the difference.
As for your last somewhat incoherent and illogical paragraph, put differently you are saying that should something not be exactly like your memories of a riot in Ulster it must not be a riot and therefore can't be a coup.
As a Watergate historian, it’s worth noting that nothing Nixon did—and he had plenty of crimes and conspiracies, involving more than 60 people criminally charged—approached the scale and severity of Trump’s assault on American democracy. https://twitter.com/vermontgmg/status/1686531761352609792?s=20
Good point. Viewed at this remove, Nixon's crimes appear almost quaint in comparison
The Democrats have opened Pandoras box and this could go anywhere . THe US is screwed
"Lock her up" was shouted by who, again?
And, it's the Democrats fault that Donald Trump allegedly committed crimes?
You can call a "pox on both your houses" with some degree of accuracy. But to point to the Dems and say the ball is entirely in your court - as you are doing - is willfully blind.
Now, I really, really hate the idea that governments use their political power to pursue political opponents. (Like Trump and the IRS vs Comey, for example.) But at the same time, should your political position shield you from all legal liability?
What of the upcoming tax/wirefraud case in NY? Trump valued properties at one price for the tax authorities and another for mortgages. And this wasn't a 10% difference, it was a multiple. People go to jail for that kind of thing all the time. Should he not be prosecuted, solely because he was President?
What is it about Trump that make otherwise sensible people lose their marbles ?
I think as one of the two people most affected on here by this phenomenon perhaps you could tell us?
Ive been indicted myself and had to go to court but never convicted because the charges were nonsense. In my case it was a french trade union trying it on for their own purposes. So so far Trump hasnt been convicted of anything, bar losing a civil case.
An indictment isnt a conviction unless youve decided hes guilty until proven innocent, which in its own way demonstrates the madness of a politicised justice system.
As for your second point Trump is like Brexit , people are so partisan about it they only eve believe one line of propaganda. There is very little room for standing back and looking at things in the round.
The democrats won the popular vote in the last 2 elections and on that basis should win the next one but as Ive said theyve opened Pandoras box so anything could happen.
Trump seems to have committed a number of crimes e.g. 'find me 11,780 votes', 'march to the Capitol', 'You're too honest' (to Mike Pence), 'the boss wants server deleted' etc, etc. Nobody is above the law and Trump is going to get his days in courts. It's not a witch hunt it's due process.
Will he be sharing a cell with Al Gore ?
Al Gore brought one lawsuit about three counties where there was legitimate reason for doubt over the result due to well-publicised problems.
When he lost, he accepted the result. As Vice President he certified the result electing his opponent.
He’s a slimy, arrogant, self-righteous tosser, but not a criminal.
If you think that is in any way analogous to what Trump has been indicted for, it is your patriotic duty to let Sunak know the name of your supplier, so he can sell twelve ounces of it in the far east and clear the national debt.
Newsflash: I am one of the many cyclists who make up the supposedly 10,000/day bikes along the Embankment. Absolutely tipping it down today and I had only half the right clothes. And even when I'm suited up days like these are miserable on a bike.
When people advocate for increased cycle usage in the UK they really do need to do it in conjunction with the British Meteorogical Office and a cold hard (and wet) dose of reality. They need to understand that a huge number of people are simply not going to get on a bike in these or, frankly, any other conditions.
Oh here we go!
I had a look at the cycle stats for Amsterdam and they hardly vary with weather. In Edinburgh, on a monthly basis, there isn't much seasonal variation either.
We shouldn't have started from there but that's all we have.
Trying to get the UK to be a cycling culture = trying to get the UK to be a cafe culture.
Ain't gonna happen.
Why? Is the weather and topography of the London estuary so very different from Amsterdam? Or Paris, for that matter?
Paris? Your kidding. It is a very brave cyclist that chances their arm around eg the Place de la Concorde. Even in an Uber I fear imminent death every time I head away from the GdN.
I haven’t been to Paris since the before-times, but I’m there in a week or so. I thought the whole city had gone quite cycle-mad. I’ll report back.
Trump is acting like a mad gang boss with a personal vendetta and Americans are crazy enough to re-elect him. The Vox pops from Trump rallies are so full of delusional conspiracy stuff that 4 more years of Trump are a nightmare that looks likely to happen.
I don't bet much on American politics because it is too bonkers to predict. It would be fun if it didn't matter, but it does.
Yep, to unite the two threads on here currently - Putin knows he just has to wait for a Trump presidential election victory and the entire picture changes. And Trump has a great chance to win. Biden is a decent to good president, he will be an utterly disastrous candidate.
All those saying they're as bad as each other will never admit how important Biden has been to helping Ukraine fend off Putin. And they’ll blame France and Germany when Trump scales US involvement back.
But the blame game won’t change the facts on the ground. Without substantial and continued US aid, Ukraine will be on the back foot very quickly. That will have massive implications for all of us, while emboldening China in East Asia generally and with regards to Taiwan specifically.
Morning SO
just noticed from yesterday, have you moved to Devon permanently or are you just on hols ?
Greetings AB. Semi-retired now and living the good life in Sidmouth, where my wife and I have lowered the average age considerably! Back in Leamington quite a bit, though, to see the kids. Hope all is well with you!
Nice area, the Triassic-and-Jurassic coast.
Great walking country.
It is. We were down there some months back - not as far west as Sidmouth though, only as far as the Axe estuary (the tram ride through the birdy area being a regular treat when we go there, and I see one can get off in the middle of nowhere and birdwatch till the next tram). The newish Jurassic coast bus service looks very helpful for walkers though we didn't need it this time as it happens.
I thought that bus service had been cut. A few have been recently. The buses don't run to Lyme Regis from Sidmouth anymore, which is a big shame as I'd planned to do the SW Coast Path walk from there back to base.
Shame. It is a rather literal interpretation of Jurassic in the current circs, on checking - does go to Axminster. We did some time back use the Seaton-Lyme bus for a walk through the Landslip[ in between, and a quick check suggests it's still there and connects with the Sidmouth-Seaton one.
The problem for an old man like me is that I'd have to be leaving Lyme at no later than 10.00 am to get back to Sidmouth in the light. It's only about 16 miles, but there is a lot of very steep up and down. The single bus enabled an early start, but you can't do it with connections. It's a niche issue, I grant, and probably not a good reason to keep the service going!
Quite - a taxi or else definitely a two-part walk, alas, with places like Beer Head and Branscombe to go up/down. Even the first half (Landslip) is slow going, and definitely not somewhere to be benighted or stray off the path. I was having a look at the new viewpoint built a little west of Undercliff Farm (former prop: J. Fowles) in a relatively open area and it was fascinating to see the amount of cracking in the ground and the random dead trees killed by continuing movement pulling their roots. Would be easy to break an ankle there.
The counter offensive could ultimately work; it is too early to conclude it has failed. If it doesn't then the likely outcome is a negotiated stalemate. I don't believe that the current government in Russia could agree a compromise/peace deal. There are some advantages of a stalemate instead of a 'peace deal' - mainly that Ukraine can maintain its readiness to defend itself, rather than relying on dubious 'assurances' from Russia.
An agreed stalemate seems likely to me. A muddy armistice
@Sandpit is right that the Ukrainians have no desire to cede an inch of territory to the Russians. The trouble is Ukraine is simply running out of soldiers. If the men dying in the trenches are in their 50s - even late 50s - that is BAD
I fear an exhausted Ukraine will be forced to agree a truce over the winter which may then extend for many months or years as both sides regroup. Russia will keep most of what it’s got - Russify it - and count it as a bloody victory
It ain’t pretty. But that’s my guess
It looks like a deadlock to me and has done for months - we aren't seeing many reports of Russian attacks in the Western media but according to various credible bloggers they are happening, with as little effect as the Ukrainian ones. Now and then one side or the other gets a tactical success but stand back a pace and it's clearly static.
If that's correct, a truce has its attractions - indefinite slaughter for no gain is a bad thing, whatever we'd like to happen. But any long-term deal would need to include the current front line guarded by NATO troops (probably in the context of NATO membership for Ukraine), to avoid the "they'll be back in a few years" scenario. There isn't any sign that even Putin wants to risk a war with NATO, so we'd end up with something like Cyprus or the West Bank - permanently divided/occupied with no real impetus to resume the war. It may be the least bad outcome until another Gorbachev comes along in Russia and agrees to fair referendums on what each area actually wants.
But I can't see either side agreeing to it now - they both think they can win outright. I think the decision point will come in November 2024 if the stalemate continues - when we know whether Trump has won or not will make a significant difference to any negotiations.
Where Russia IS having unfortunate success is taking out all of Ukraine’s grain exporting infra - they’ve done Odesa and now they’re moving down the coast. Last night they hit Izmail, a river port on the Danube right on the border with Romania
What does that mean?
It could mean starvation in Africa. More likely is that Russia just wants Ukraine to be starved of cash from exports, and the country to become even more desperate. Putin will then decide what happens in the Black Sea
I fled to Sidmouth - ok, Exmouth - upon the partial relaxation of lockdown in April 2021.
A massive amount of potential but the seafront felt kind of elderly and tatty.
Shame about the unsightly caravan park at Sandy Bay, which in an ideal world would be protected landscape.
I heard a lot of Brummie down there and it dawned on me that it was essentially the nearest coast to Birmingham (apart from South Wales maybe?)
That honour traditionally goes to Weston-super-Mud. Whether it's geographically quite the closest, or just because of the main road, I don't remember.
Now Weston's a proper dump.
The Exmouth to Starcross ferry is nice, as is Starcross itself.
I would have thought Rhyl and Prestatyn in North Wales would be next closest after Weston. Certainly for the northern parts of the West Midlands, Sutton Coldfield and Walsall.
North Wales is essentially a littoral colony of Liverpool.
Brummies own mid-Wales, but there’s no easily accessible beach. It’s all about getting on the M5 for the denizens of Motor City.
What an ignorant comment from someone who constantly talks down Britain
What a fatuous response from PB’s prime apologist for Tory incompetence.
I live in North Wales and your slur is baseless and ignorant of our population
What slur?
Your comment that North Walians are a literal colony of Liverpool is just wrong, ignorant, and an insult to the community who are very proud of their Welsh heritage and the integration of peoples across the North West of England not just Liverpool
I don't recollect Labour publishing non-priority lists before (maybe I just missed it) but is this Starmer's way of tacitly supporting tactical voting? Will the LDs reciprocate by withdrawing support from Labour's priority targets?
It’s on their website - I did wonder if it had been a leak:
Trump is acting like a mad gang boss with a personal vendetta and Americans are crazy enough to re-elect him. The Vox pops from Trump rallies are so full of delusional conspiracy stuff that 4 more years of Trump are a nightmare that looks likely to happen.
I don't bet much on American politics because it is too bonkers to predict. It would be fun if it didn't matter, but it does.
Yep, to unite the two threads on here currently - Putin knows he just has to wait for a Trump presidential election victory and the entire picture changes. And Trump has a great chance to win. Biden is a decent to good president, he will be an utterly disastrous candidate.
All those saying they're as bad as each other will never admit how important Biden has been to helping Ukraine fend off Putin. And they’ll blame France and Germany when Trump scales US involvement back.
But the blame game won’t change the facts on the ground. Without substantial and continued US aid, Ukraine will be on the back foot very quickly. That will have massive implications for all of us, while emboldening China in East Asia generally and with regards to Taiwan specifically.
Morning SO
just noticed from yesterday, have you moved to Devon permanently or are you just on hols ?
Greetings AB. Semi-retired now and living the good life in Sidmouth, where my wife and I have lowered the average age considerably! Back in Leamington quite a bit, though, to see the kids. Hope all is well with you!
Nice area, the Triassic-and-Jurassic coast.
Great walking country.
I've done the whole South West Coast Path. All 630 miles of it.
My favourite long distance walking experience of my life.
Newsflash: I am one of the many cyclists who make up the supposedly 10,000/day bikes along the Embankment. Absolutely tipping it down today and I had only half the right clothes. And even when I'm suited up days like these are miserable on a bike.
When people advocate for increased cycle usage in the UK they really do need to do it in conjunction with the British Meteorogical Office and a cold hard (and wet) dose of reality. They need to understand that a huge number of people are simply not going to get on a bike in these or, frankly, any other conditions.
Oh here we go!
I had a look at the cycle stats for Amsterdam and they hardly vary with weather. In Edinburgh, on a monthly basis, there isn't much seasonal variation either.
We shouldn't have started from there but that's all we have.
Trying to get the UK to be a cycling culture = trying to get the UK to be a cafe culture.
Ain't gonna happen.
Why? Is the weather and topography of the London estuary so very different from Amsterdam? Or Paris, for that matter?
Thanks to Stuart in Romford for finding thos fantastic graphs:
But look at how people actually get around at the moment:
If your cycling provision is made at the expense of existing road provision, that just pisses off the motorists.
Except perhaps in central London, no-one is going to be cycling 10 miles to work in the rain and cold when they have a car in the drive.
As with ULEZ, there need to be more carrots and fewer sticks. The people need to feel that they are being brought along, rather than these things being done to them against their will.
According to that chart upthread, 80% of the country live in urban conurbations, so the 10 miles thing seems a bit of a red herring.
London has a medieval road pattern, and the carriageways are not very wide. But even so, not enough space is given over to pedestrians or cyclists.
I fled to Sidmouth - ok, Exmouth - upon the partial relaxation of lockdown in April 2021.
A massive amount of potential but the seafront felt kind of elderly and tatty.
Shame about the unsightly caravan park at Sandy Bay, which in an ideal world would be protected landscape.
I heard a lot of Brummie down there and it dawned on me that it was essentially the nearest coast to Birmingham (apart from South Wales maybe?)
Straight down the M5 from Brum to East Devon. Around three hours on a good day. It took us six from Leamington last Friday, though. There are a lot of Birmingham and Black Country accents around here, very few from London.
Trump is acting like a mad gang boss with a personal vendetta and Americans are crazy enough to re-elect him. The Vox pops from Trump rallies are so full of delusional conspiracy stuff that 4 more years of Trump are a nightmare that looks likely to happen.
I don't bet much on American politics because it is too bonkers to predict. It would be fun if it didn't matter, but it does.
Yep, to unite the two threads on here currently - Putin knows he just has to wait for a Trump presidential election victory and the entire picture changes. And Trump has a great chance to win. Biden is a decent to good president, he will be an utterly disastrous candidate.
All those saying they're as bad as each other will never admit how important Biden has been to helping Ukraine fend off Putin. And they’ll blame France and Germany when Trump scales US involvement back.
But the blame game won’t change the facts on the ground. Without substantial and continued US aid, Ukraine will be on the back foot very quickly. That will have massive implications for all of us, while emboldening China in East Asia generally and with regards to Taiwan specifically.
Morning SO
just noticed from yesterday, have you moved to Devon permanently or are you just on hols ?
Greetings AB. Semi-retired now and living the good life in Sidmouth, where my wife and I have lowered the average age considerably! Back in Leamington quite a bit, though, to see the kids. Hope all is well with you!
Nice area, the Triassic-and-Jurassic coast.
Great walking country.
I've done the whole South West Coast Path. All 630 miles of it.
My favourite long distance walking experience of my life.
The counter offensive could ultimately work; it is too early to conclude it has failed. If it doesn't then the likely outcome is a negotiated stalemate. I don't believe that the current government in Russia could agree a compromise/peace deal. There are some advantages of a stalemate instead of a 'peace deal' - mainly that Ukraine can maintain its readiness to defend itself, rather than relying on dubious 'assurances' from Russia.
An agreed stalemate seems likely to me. A muddy armistice
Sandpit is right that the Ukrainians have no desire to cede an inch of territory to the Russians. The trouble is Ukraine is simply running out of soldiers. If the men dying in the trenches are in their 50s - even late 50s - that is BAD
I fear an exhausted Ukraine will be forced to agree a truce over the winter which may then extend for many months or years as both sides regroup. Russia will keep most of what it’s got - Russify it - and count it as a bloody victory
It ain’t pretty. But that’s my guess
It looks like a deadlock to me and has done for months - we aren't seeing many reports of Russian attacks in the Western media but according to various credible bloggers they are happening, with as little effect as the Ukrainian ones. Now and then one side or the other gets a tactical success but stand back a pace and it's clearly static.
If that's correct, a truce has its attractions - indefinite slaughter for no gain is a bad thing, whatever we'd like to happen. But any long-term deal would need to include the current front line guarded by NATO troops (probably in the context of NATO membership for Ukraine), to avoid the "they'll be back in a few years" scenario. There isn't any sign that even Putin wants to risk a war with NATO, so we'd end up with something like Cyprus or the West Bank - permanently divided/occupied with no real impetus to resume the war. It may be the least bad outcome until another Gorbachev comes along in Russia and agrees to fair referendums on what each area actually wants.
But I can't see either side agreeing to it now - they both think they can win outright. I think the decision point will come in November 2024 if the stalemate continues - when we know whether Trump has won or not will make a significant difference to any negotiations.
Where Russia IS having unfortunate success is taking out all of Ukraine’s grain exporting infra - they’ve done Odesa and now they’re moving down the coast. Last night they hit Izmail, a river port on the Danube right on the border with Romania
It could mean starvation in Africa. More likely is that Russia just wants Ukraine to be starved of cash from exports, and the country to become even more desperate. Putin will then decide what happens in the Black Sea
He is slowly strangling Ukraine in toto
There’s a big row between the EU and Poland about overland grain exports from Ukraine, which needs to be resolved quickly.
As a Watergate historian, it’s worth noting that nothing Nixon did—and he had plenty of crimes and conspiracies, involving more than 60 people criminally charged—approached the scale and severity of Trump’s assault on American democracy. https://twitter.com/vermontgmg/status/1686531761352609792?s=20
Good point. Viewed at this remove, Nixon's crimes appear almost quaint in comparison
The Democrats have opened Pandoras box and this could go anywhere . THe US is screwed
"Lock her up" was shouted by who, again?
And, it's the Democrats fault that Donald Trump allegedly committed crimes?
You can call a "pox on both your houses" with some degree of accuracy. But to point to the Dems and say the ball is entirely in your court - as you are doing - is willfully blind.
Now, I really, really hate the idea that governments use their political power to pursue political opponents. (Like Trump and the IRS vs Comey, for example.) But at the same time, should your political position shield you from all legal liability?
What of the upcoming tax/wirefraud case in NY? Trump valued properties at one price for the tax authorities and another for mortgages. And this wasn't a 10% difference, it was a multiple. People go to jail for that kind of thing all the time. Should he not be prosecuted, solely because he was President?
What is it about Trump that make otherwise sensible people lose their marbles ?
Hounding Trump will achieve precisely nothing except to make him more popular with his supporters and make diviisions in US society deeper.
As for the legal guff, Hilary is still walking free and has never been near a court nd I dont think anyome seriously expects the Biden\Hunter mess to be investigated before an election.
So you're saying laws actually should not apply to him?
That's his attitude, certainly, and that's what's got him into trouble.
Nobody is 'hounding' him, they're enforcing the multiple laws he's deliberately broken for his own gain.
Im saying the laws should apply to everyone and not just one individual. The US justice system is highly partisan and this is using the law to hamper an opponent who it appears cant be beaten by normal means.
That matter alone says what a poor position the Dems have, Worse now that the principle has been established if Trump were to win the election he can quite happily clear out the DoJ, pack it with his place men like Giuliani and lock up who he pleases as the Dems arent exactly choirboys.
And for the record I think that would be a total bag of shit too,
Trump tried to use the justice system to hound his opponents. It didn't work for him because ultimately the law-breaking of say, Hilary Clinton was quite low level. She should not have done what she did, but she was stupid rather than malign.
Her husband was, in case you've forgotten, impeached for his crimes although he wasn't in the end convicted.
Her husbands case I would actually say was the start of this whole sorry saga, The GOP tried to nobble Clinton by foul means and that set off the tit for tat escalation we have seen ever since.
As for Trump using the justice system, well as you say nobody got convicted. But I dont agree with that either , someone somewhere has to put the genie back in the bottle it just wont be either of the two presidential candidates.
Sigh.
The point is he *tried* to use the justice system to nobble his opponents and he failed because what happened wasn't ultimately significant enough to secure an indictment so the lawyers concerned told him 'no.' Had Clinton not handed over her email server, however belatedly and reluctantly, it might have been different. But that was not his call. Just as this is not Biden's. Or anyone in the government.
What's happening now is they *are* indicting him for multiple crimes he has not only committed but is repeatedly doubling down on.
And if you genuinely think January 6th was bad policing, you are profoundly ignorant of what happened. Again, read the indictment. How would 'bad policing,' for example, have led to a crowd gathering at Trump's urging that wanted to lynch the Vice President?
And if you don't think that, well...
No the point is he has been accused of it. He hasnt been convicted of anything,
And he has been accused of it not directly after the event when logically the state would lock up a real and present danger, but just before an election and by a partisan justice system. You draw one conclusion I draw another.
As for the policing issue London regulary gets trashed by people who shout down with the govt but these are riots not coups. And our police despite their critics handle them quite well. And just to wind you up even further J6 wasnt even a decent riot, I grew up in Ulster so I know what a riot looks like there were no petrol bombs, no stones no tear gas. Because all of those thinsg would have required organisation and hard work and Trump is too chaotic .
He has been INDICTED. That is the difference.
As for your last somewhat incoherent and illogical paragraph, put differently you are saying that should something not be exactly like your memories of a riot in Ulster it must not be a riot and therefore can't be a coup.
As a Watergate historian, it’s worth noting that nothing Nixon did—and he had plenty of crimes and conspiracies, involving more than 60 people criminally charged—approached the scale and severity of Trump’s assault on American democracy. https://twitter.com/vermontgmg/status/1686531761352609792?s=20
Good point. Viewed at this remove, Nixon's crimes appear almost quaint in comparison
The Democrats have opened Pandoras box and this could go anywhere . THe US is screwed
"Lock her up" was shouted by who, again?
And, it's the Democrats fault that Donald Trump allegedly committed crimes?
You can call a "pox on both your houses" with some degree of accuracy. But to point to the Dems and say the ball is entirely in your court - as you are doing - is willfully blind.
Now, I really, really hate the idea that governments use their political power to pursue political opponents. (Like Trump and the IRS vs Comey, for example.) But at the same time, should your political position shield you from all legal liability?
What of the upcoming tax/wirefraud case in NY? Trump valued properties at one price for the tax authorities and another for mortgages. And this wasn't a 10% difference, it was a multiple. People go to jail for that kind of thing all the time. Should he not be prosecuted, solely because he was President?
What is it about Trump that make otherwise sensible people lose their marbles ?
I think as one of the two people most affected on here by this phenomenon perhaps you could tell us?
Ive been indicted myself and had to go to court but never convicted because the charges were nonsense. In my case it was a french trade union trying it on for their own purposes. So so far Trump hasnt been convicted of anything, bar losing a civil case.
An indictment isnt a conviction unless youve decided hes guilty until proven innocent, which in its own way demonstrates the madness of a politicised justice system.
As for your second point Trump is like Brexit , people are so partisan about it they only eve believe one line of propaganda. There is very little room for standing back and looking at things in the round.
The democrats won the popular vote in the last 2 elections and on that basis should win the next one but as Ive said theyve opened Pandoras box so anything could happen.
AIUI Trump has already been found guilty on the sex abuse charges in New York, subject to appeals and my imprecise language, has he not?
I'd say he's using the Julius Caesar defence in his personal Carry On performance. "Infamy...Infamy.....they've all got it in for me!"
And the administration has been careful not to politicise, DoJ appointing an independent prosecutor and so on.
"The UK government has set a target of 600,000 heat pump installations per year by 2028 and said sales of gas boilers would be banned from 2035."
SG is basically getting the ground ready for meeting the target - getting public consultation and discussion going, is my reading.
Much of that is aimed at landlords of rentals, too.
Harvie is talking of changing the energy rating to bar gas boilers from house sales from 2025
Furthermore the cost is in the region of 33 billion and where is that coming from
Heat pumps do have a role to play but these comments in that article are interesting:-
Labour peer and businessman Lord Haughey, whose company is one of Scotland's leading suppliers of heat pumps, told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland that electric boilers would be more cost-effective and environmentally-friendly options for most Scottish homes.
He also said heat pumps do not work as efficiently in Scotland as they do in other countries, with some liable to malfunction at temperatures of minus 5C (23F) or lower.
It depends on the heat pumps, some can work much lower ambient temps.
I think a 2025 date is too early in the technology cycle.
Something that is not often understood is that a technology goes thorough multiple phases
1) The idea 2) The prototype 3) Initial production 4) Mass production
Heat pumps are old tech in other countries, with different climate and building style.
The UK has a different set of these, and we are still working out some of the bets practise forget pumps in the various types of UK properties.
In effect we are at about 3.5 (ha!) on the above - if you want to get a heat pump today, not every jobbing plumber can just slap one on the wall.
I think we are not far off - but 2025 is too early to demand that everyone switches over.
The other consideration is using electric boost on some installations. So if someone here wants to be able to get a 60c bath at his neighbours house, he can trigger the turbo.
As a Watergate historian, it’s worth noting that nothing Nixon did—and he had plenty of crimes and conspiracies, involving more than 60 people criminally charged—approached the scale and severity of Trump’s assault on American democracy. https://twitter.com/vermontgmg/status/1686531761352609792?s=20
Good point. Viewed at this remove, Nixon's crimes appear almost quaint in comparison
The Democrats have opened Pandoras box and this could go anywhere . THe US is screwed
"Lock her up" was shouted by who, again?
And, it's the Democrats fault that Donald Trump allegedly committed crimes?
You can call a "pox on both your houses" with some degree of accuracy. But to point to the Dems and say the ball is entirely in your court - as you are doing - is willfully blind.
Now, I really, really hate the idea that governments use their political power to pursue political opponents. (Like Trump and the IRS vs Comey, for example.) But at the same time, should your political position shield you from all legal liability?
What of the upcoming tax/wirefraud case in NY? Trump valued properties at one price for the tax authorities and another for mortgages. And this wasn't a 10% difference, it was a multiple. People go to jail for that kind of thing all the time. Should he not be prosecuted, solely because he was President?
What is it about Trump that make otherwise sensible people lose their marbles ?
Hounding Trump will achieve precisely nothing except to make him more popular with his supporters and make diviisions in US society deeper.
As for the legal guff, Hilary is still walking free and has never been near a court nd I dont think anyome seriously expects the Biden\Hunter mess to be investigated before an election.
So you're saying laws actually should not apply to him?
That's his attitude, certainly, and that's what's got him into trouble.
Nobody is 'hounding' him, they're enforcing the multiple laws he's deliberately broken for his own gain.
Im saying the laws should apply to everyone and not just one individual. The US justice system is highly partisan and this is using the law to hamper an opponent who it appears cant be beaten by normal means.
That matter alone says what a poor position the Dems have, Worse now that the principle has been established if Trump were to win the election he can quite happily clear out the DoJ, pack it with his place men like Giuliani and lock up who he pleases as the Dems arent exactly choirboys.
And for the record I think that would be a total bag of shit too,
Trump tried to use the justice system to hound his opponents. It didn't work for him because ultimately the law-breaking of say, Hilary Clinton was quite low level. She should not have done what she did, but she was stupid rather than malign.
Her husband was, in case you've forgotten, impeached for his crimes although he wasn't in the end convicted.
Her husbands case I would actually say was the start of this whole sorry saga, The GOP tried to nobble Clinton by foul means and that set off the tit for tat escalation we have seen ever since.
As for Trump using the justice system, well as you say nobody got convicted. But I dont agree with that either , someone somewhere has to put the genie back in the bottle it just wont be either of the two presidential candidates.
Sigh.
The point is he *tried* to use the justice system to nobble his opponents and he failed because what happened wasn't ultimately significant enough to secure an indictment so the lawyers concerned told him 'no.' Had Clinton not handed over her email server, however belatedly and reluctantly, it might have been different. But that was not his call. Just as this is not Biden's. Or anyone in the government.
What's happening now is they *are* indicting him for multiple crimes he has not only committed but is repeatedly doubling down on.
And if you genuinely think January 6th was bad policing, you are profoundly ignorant of what happened. Again, read the indictment. How would 'bad policing,' for example, have led to a crowd gathering at Trump's urging that wanted to lynch the Vice President?
And if you don't think that, well...
No the point is he has been accused of it. He hasnt been convicted of anything,
And he has been accused of it not directly after the event when logically the state would lock up a real and present danger, but just before an election and by a partisan justice system. You draw one conclusion I draw another.
As for the policing issue London regulary gets trashed by people who shout down with the govt but these are riots not coups. And our police despite their critics handle them quite well. And just to wind you up even further J6 wasnt even a decent riot, I grew up in Ulster so I know what a riot looks like there were no petrol bombs, no stones no tear gas. Because all of those thinsg would have required organisation and hard work and Trump is too chaotic .
He has been INDICTED. That is the difference.
As for your last somewhat incoherent and illogical paragraph, put differently you are saying that should something not be exactly like your memories of a riot in Ulster it must not be a riot and therefore can't be a coup.
As a Watergate historian, it’s worth noting that nothing Nixon did—and he had plenty of crimes and conspiracies, involving more than 60 people criminally charged—approached the scale and severity of Trump’s assault on American democracy. https://twitter.com/vermontgmg/status/1686531761352609792?s=20
Good point. Viewed at this remove, Nixon's crimes appear almost quaint in comparison
The Democrats have opened Pandoras box and this could go anywhere . THe US is screwed
"Lock her up" was shouted by who, again?
And, it's the Democrats fault that Donald Trump allegedly committed crimes?
You can call a "pox on both your houses" with some degree of accuracy. But to point to the Dems and say the ball is entirely in your court - as you are doing - is willfully blind.
Now, I really, really hate the idea that governments use their political power to pursue political opponents. (Like Trump and the IRS vs Comey, for example.) But at the same time, should your political position shield you from all legal liability?
What of the upcoming tax/wirefraud case in NY? Trump valued properties at one price for the tax authorities and another for mortgages. And this wasn't a 10% difference, it was a multiple. People go to jail for that kind of thing all the time. Should he not be prosecuted, solely because he was President?
What is it about Trump that make otherwise sensible people lose their marbles ?
I think as one of the two people most affected on here by this phenomenon perhaps you could tell us?
Ive been indicted myself and had to go to court but never convicted because the charges were nonsense. In my case it was a french trade union trying it on for their own purposes. So so far Trump hasnt been convicted of anything, bar losing a civil case.
An indictment isnt a conviction unless youve decided hes guilty until proven innocent, which in its own way demonstrates the madness of a politicised justice system.
As for your second point Trump is like Brexit , people are so partisan about it they only eve believe one line of propaganda. There is very little room for standing back and looking at things in the round.
The democrats won the popular vote in the last 2 elections and on that basis should win the next one but as Ive said theyve opened Pandoras box so anything could happen.
Trump seems to have committed a number of crimes e.g. 'find me 11,780 votes', 'march to the Capitol', 'You're too honest' (to Mike Pence), 'the boss wants server deleted' etc, etc. Nobody is above the law and Trump is going to get his days in courts. It's not a witch hunt it's due process.
Will he be sharing a cell with Al Gore ?
Al Gore brought one lawsuit about three counties where there was legitimate reason for doubt over the result due to well-publicised problems.
When he lost, he accepted the result. As Vice President he certified the result electing his opponent.
He’s a slimy, arrogant, self-righteous tosser, but not a criminal.
If you think that is in any way analogous to what Trump has been indicted for, it is your patriotic duty to let Sunak know the name of your supplier, so he can sell twelve ounces of it in the far east and clear the national debt.
Newsflash: I am one of the many cyclists who make up the supposedly 10,000/day bikes along the Embankment. Absolutely tipping it down today and I had only half the right clothes. And even when I'm suited up days like these are miserable on a bike.
When people advocate for increased cycle usage in the UK they really do need to do it in conjunction with the British Meteorogical Office and a cold hard (and wet) dose of reality. They need to understand that a huge number of people are simply not going to get on a bike in these or, frankly, any other conditions.
Oh here we go!
I had a look at the cycle stats for Amsterdam and they hardly vary with weather. In Edinburgh, on a monthly basis, there isn't much seasonal variation either.
We shouldn't have started from there but that's all we have.
Trying to get the UK to be a cycling culture = trying to get the UK to be a cafe culture.
Ain't gonna happen.
Why? Is the weather and topography of the London estuary so very different from Amsterdam? Or Paris, for that matter?
Paris? Your kidding. It is a very brave cyclist that chances their arm around eg the Place de la Concorde. Even in an Uber I fear imminent death every time I head away from the GdN.
I haven’t been to Paris since the before-times, but I’m there in a week or so. I thought the whole city had gone quite cycle-mad. I’ll report back.
No doubt this report will be upbeat and positive in contrast to your steadfast determination to always see the worst in Britain.
Trump is acting like a mad gang boss with a personal vendetta and Americans are crazy enough to re-elect him. The Vox pops from Trump rallies are so full of delusional conspiracy stuff that 4 more years of Trump are a nightmare that looks likely to happen.
I don't bet much on American politics because it is too bonkers to predict. It would be fun if it didn't matter, but it does.
Yep, to unite the two threads on here currently - Putin knows he just has to wait for a Trump presidential election victory and the entire picture changes. And Trump has a great chance to win. Biden is a decent to good president, he will be an utterly disastrous candidate.
All those saying they're as bad as each other will never admit how important Biden has been to helping Ukraine fend off Putin. And they’ll blame France and Germany when Trump scales US involvement back.
But the blame game won’t change the facts on the ground. Without substantial and continued US aid, Ukraine will be on the back foot very quickly. That will have massive implications for all of us, while emboldening China in East Asia generally and with regards to Taiwan specifically.
Morning SO
just noticed from yesterday, have you moved to Devon permanently or are you just on hols ?
Greetings AB. Semi-retired now and living the good life in Sidmouth, where my wife and I have lowered the average age considerably! Back in Leamington quite a bit, though, to see the kids. Hope all is well with you!
Nice area, the Triassic-and-Jurassic coast.
Great walking country.
I've done the whole South West Coast Path. All 630 miles of it.
My favourite long distance walking experience of my life.
I've done the entire coast (including parts of the SWCP three times), and the SWCP is a bit meh TBF.
Pembrokeshire is far better, or the Lleyn peninsula. But if you do the SWCP, do it in winter. It's a different experience.
From the NYT. This does not sound like “winning”, from a Ukrainian perspective
“For the last two months, as Ukrainian troops have tried to break through Russian defenses in a broad counteroffensive to seize back occupied terrain in southern Ukraine, their units have run into dense minefields and heavy Russian artillery fire and drone attacks.
“Each mile is a bloody fight as the counteroffensive has progressed painfully slowly, with units coming up against dug-in Russian defenses and taking heavy casualties. Troops spearheading the offensive have breached the first line of defense in areas in recent days, potentially opening the way for a deeper assault.
“Positioned close to the front lines, the stabilization points, temporary medical posts where patients are stabilized for onward evacuation, have been receiving a constant inflow of soldiers wounded in the fighting. The numbers have been “colossal,” said a medic from the center where the three men from the 110th Brigade were treated.”
So where does this go. Stalemate while the west ships in more arms and hope for a breakthrough ? Peace negotiations and some compromise ?
Ideally we would all like a swift Ukrainian win and Russia to replace Putin with someone less malign. That seems increasingly unlikely.
The counter offensive could ultimately work; it is too early to conclude it has failed. If it doesn't then the likely outcome is a negotiated stalemate. I don't believe that the current government in Russia could agree a compromise/peace deal. There are some advantages of a stalemate instead of a 'peace deal' - mainly that Ukraine can maintain its readiness to defend itself, rather than relying on dubious 'assurances' from Russia.
A agreed stalemate seems likely to me. A muddy armistice
@Sandpit is right that the Ukrainians have no desire to cede an inch of territory to the Russians. The trouble is Ukraine is simply running out of soldiers. If the men dying in the trenches are in their 50s - even late 50s - that is BAD
I fear an exhausted Ukraine will be forced to agree a truce over the winter which may then extend for many months or years as both sides regroup. Russia will keep most of what it’s got - Russify it - and count it as a bloody victory
It ain’t pretty. But that’s my guess
And that will lead to the same thing happening in five years, with Ukraine being invaded again under some pathetic excuse. Putin, and people like him in Russia, want Ukraine.
The 'stalemate' argument is *not* an argument for peace, in the medium or long term.
Its not something that anyone wants. It is just a prediction of what will happen if 'beat back Russia' fails. The latter strategy worked for a while but may have now reached its limits.
The countries that back Ukraine are unlikely to support an endless war.
Quite. I desperately want Ukraine to win. But I see what I see
The MoD generally adopts a positive attitude to the Ukrainian cause. Here is its latest map of the front lines. This does not scream “imminent pivotal breakthrough” to me
Of course that blogger upthread might be right and Ukraine is doing much better than this under the radar. Let’s hope so
The latter's most recent update says that 0.01% of Ukraine has been freed since the end of may2023. Which is not good.
I am not so concerned (although hardly relaxed!) about the situation. The advance south of Orkhiv is proceeding and may hit the coast by next year. Leon's point about manpower is true but countries can and do do this. It is a WW1 war, not a Desert Storm war: progress is slow, casualties are high, the grind grinds. This war will continue for years (my head canon says 2022-2025). Talk of a breakthrough, although pleasant, should be resisted because unpredictable.
Putin will be digging in waiting for Trump to rescue him.
He’s already done that. The problem for the Russians is that they can’t stop the Ukrainian advances completely. And the Russians can’t build an infinite number of defence lines.
Yes, a slow creeping advance is unsatisfying for all but better than literal stalemate. Keeping the pressure up and support going is key when the Russians (currently at any rate) appear focused on consolidation and waiting for Trump.
From the NYT. This does not sound like “winning”, from a Ukrainian perspective
“For the last two months, as Ukrainian troops have tried to break through Russian defenses in a broad counteroffensive to seize back occupied terrain in southern Ukraine, their units have run into dense minefields and heavy Russian artillery fire and drone attacks.
“Each mile is a bloody fight as the counteroffensive has progressed painfully slowly, with units coming up against dug-in Russian defenses and taking heavy casualties. Troops spearheading the offensive have breached the first line of defense in areas in recent days, potentially opening the way for a deeper assault.
“Positioned close to the front lines, the stabilization points, temporary medical posts where patients are stabilized for onward evacuation, have been receiving a constant inflow of soldiers wounded in the fighting. The numbers have been “colossal,” said a medic from the center where the three men from the 110th Brigade were treated.”
The indictment is a powerful read. Two things spring out for me.
The march on Congress was the culmination of a planned and energetically pursued coup d'etat (let's call it for what it was). The serious stuff happened before the mob was let loose.
That the coup failed depended entirely on Mike Pence doing the right thing. Cometh the hour , cometh the man. He should get more recognition than he does.
1. They’re a good idea in new builds 2. Retro-fitting is expensive 3. Secondary factors such as insulation and radiator design are really important 4. There’s a perception that the outcomes are not as good as regular gas or electric systems. 5. That there’s a lot of cowboy fitters out there 6. Specifically in Scotland, that these are being pushed hard by government, into unsuitable use cases.
A decent heat pump system is better than typical gas or electric installation, simply because underfloor heating is superior to radiators/wall heaters. Gentle heat all over the room with no hot or cold patches.
Now, you can run underfloor heating off a gas boiler of course (we do in our extension) but you need a manifold to drop the water from the boiler down to the correct ~40C for the underfloor heating by mixing in cold.
If I was building a house, there's absolutely no question, I'd go for a heat pump with underfloor heating as the superior solution.
The other nice feature of underfloor hating is that you don't have a radiator to trap dust and dirt, take up space, need painting, replacing etc.
Just a coil of plastic pipe that will live longer than you will.
As a Watergate historian, it’s worth noting that nothing Nixon did—and he had plenty of crimes and conspiracies, involving more than 60 people criminally charged—approached the scale and severity of Trump’s assault on American democracy. https://twitter.com/vermontgmg/status/1686531761352609792?s=20
Good point. Viewed at this remove, Nixon's crimes appear almost quaint in comparison
The Democrats have opened Pandoras box and this could go anywhere . THe US is screwed
"Lock her up" was shouted by who, again?
And, it's the Democrats fault that Donald Trump allegedly committed crimes?
You can call a "pox on both your houses" with some degree of accuracy. But to point to the Dems and say the ball is entirely in your court - as you are doing - is willfully blind.
Now, I really, really hate the idea that governments use their political power to pursue political opponents. (Like Trump and the IRS vs Comey, for example.) But at the same time, should your political position shield you from all legal liability?
What of the upcoming tax/wirefraud case in NY? Trump valued properties at one price for the tax authorities and another for mortgages. And this wasn't a 10% difference, it was a multiple. People go to jail for that kind of thing all the time. Should he not be prosecuted, solely because he was President?
What is it about Trump that make otherwise sensible people lose their marbles ?
Hounding Trump will achieve precisely nothing except to make him more popular with his supporters and make diviisions in US society deeper.
As for the legal guff, Hilary is still walking free and has never been near a court nd I dont think anyome seriously expects the Biden\Hunter mess to be investigated before an election.
So you're saying laws actually should not apply to him?
That's his attitude, certainly, and that's what's got him into trouble.
Nobody is 'hounding' him, they're enforcing the multiple laws he's deliberately broken for his own gain.
Im saying the laws should apply to everyone and not just one individual. The US justice system is highly partisan and this is using the law to hamper an opponent who it appears cant be beaten by normal means.
That matter alone says what a poor position the Dems have, Worse now that the principle has been established if Trump were to win the election he can quite happily clear out the DoJ, pack it with his place men like Giuliani and lock up who he pleases as the Dems arent exactly choirboys.
And for the record I think that would be a total bag of shit too,
Trump tried to use the justice system to hound his opponents. It didn't work for him because ultimately the law-breaking of say, Hilary Clinton was quite low level. She should not have done what she did, but she was stupid rather than malign.
Her husband was, in case you've forgotten, impeached for his crimes although he wasn't in the end convicted.
Her husbands case I would actually say was the start of this whole sorry saga, The GOP tried to nobble Clinton by foul means and that set off the tit for tat escalation we have seen ever since.
As for Trump using the justice system, well as you say nobody got convicted. But I dont agree with that either , someone somewhere has to put the genie back in the bottle it just wont be either of the two presidential candidates.
Sigh.
The point is he *tried* to use the justice system to nobble his opponents and he failed because what happened wasn't ultimately significant enough to secure an indictment so the lawyers concerned told him 'no.' Had Clinton not handed over her email server, however belatedly and reluctantly, it might have been different. But that was not his call. Just as this is not Biden's. Or anyone in the government.
What's happening now is they *are* indicting him for multiple crimes he has not only committed but is repeatedly doubling down on.
And if you genuinely think January 6th was bad policing, you are profoundly ignorant of what happened. Again, read the indictment. How would 'bad policing,' for example, have led to a crowd gathering at Trump's urging that wanted to lynch the Vice President?
And if you don't think that, well...
No the point is he has been accused of it. He hasnt been convicted of anything,
And he has been accused of it not directly after the event when logically the state would lock up a real and present danger, but just before an election and by a partisan justice system. You draw one conclusion I draw another.
As for the policing issue London regulary gets trashed by people who shout down with the govt but these are riots not coups. And our police despite their critics handle them quite well. And just to wind you up even further J6 wasnt even a decent riot, I grew up in Ulster so I know what a riot looks like there were no petrol bombs, no stones no tear gas. Because all of those thinsg would have required organisation and hard work and Trump is too chaotic .
He has been INDICTED. That is the difference.
As for your last somewhat incoherent and illogical paragraph, put differently you are saying that should something not be exactly like your memories of a riot in Ulster it must not be a riot and therefore can't be a coup.
As a Watergate historian, it’s worth noting that nothing Nixon did—and he had plenty of crimes and conspiracies, involving more than 60 people criminally charged—approached the scale and severity of Trump’s assault on American democracy. https://twitter.com/vermontgmg/status/1686531761352609792?s=20
Good point. Viewed at this remove, Nixon's crimes appear almost quaint in comparison
The Democrats have opened Pandoras box and this could go anywhere . THe US is screwed
"Lock her up" was shouted by who, again?
And, it's the Democrats fault that Donald Trump allegedly committed crimes?
You can call a "pox on both your houses" with some degree of accuracy. But to point to the Dems and say the ball is entirely in your court - as you are doing - is willfully blind.
Now, I really, really hate the idea that governments use their political power to pursue political opponents. (Like Trump and the IRS vs Comey, for example.) But at the same time, should your political position shield you from all legal liability?
What of the upcoming tax/wirefraud case in NY? Trump valued properties at one price for the tax authorities and another for mortgages. And this wasn't a 10% difference, it was a multiple. People go to jail for that kind of thing all the time. Should he not be prosecuted, solely because he was President?
What is it about Trump that make otherwise sensible people lose their marbles ?
I think as one of the two people most affected on here by this phenomenon perhaps you could tell us?
Ive been indicted myself and had to go to court but never convicted because the charges were nonsense. In my case it was a french trade union trying it on for their own purposes. So so far Trump hasnt been convicted of anything, bar losing a civil case.
An indictment isnt a conviction unless youve decided hes guilty until proven innocent, which in its own way demonstrates the madness of a politicised justice system.
As for your second point Trump is like Brexit , people are so partisan about it they only eve believe one line of propaganda. There is very little room for standing back and looking at things in the round.
The democrats won the popular vote in the last 2 elections and on that basis should win the next one but as Ive said theyve opened Pandoras box so anything could happen.
AIUI Trump has already been found guilty on the sex abuse charges in New York, subject to appeals and my imprecise language, has he not?
I'd say he's using the Julius Caesar defence in his personal Carry On performance. "Infamy...Infamy.....they've all got it in for me!"
And the administration has been careful not to politicise, DoJ appointing an independent prosecutor and so on.
The matter to which you refer was civil, not criminal, so the "balance of probabilities" test applies rather than "beyond reasonable doubt", and the terms "charges" and "guilty" aren't strictly right.
I mean, you can still take a dim view of what he probably did in that case, but he's not been convicted of anything to date.
Newsflash: I am one of the many cyclists who make up the supposedly 10,000/day bikes along the Embankment. Absolutely tipping it down today and I had only half the right clothes. And even when I'm suited up days like these are miserable on a bike.
When people advocate for increased cycle usage in the UK they really do need to do it in conjunction with the British Meteorogical Office and a cold hard (and wet) dose of reality. They need to understand that a huge number of people are simply not going to get on a bike in these or, frankly, any other conditions.
Oh here we go!
I had a look at the cycle stats for Amsterdam and they hardly vary with weather. In Edinburgh, on a monthly basis, there isn't much seasonal variation either.
We shouldn't have started from there but that's all we have.
Trying to get the UK to be a cycling culture = trying to get the UK to be a cafe culture.
Ain't gonna happen.
Why? Is the weather and topography of the London estuary so very different from Amsterdam? Or Paris, for that matter?
Paris? Your kidding. It is a very brave cyclist that chances their arm around eg the Place de la Concorde. Even in an Uber I fear imminent death every time I head away from the GdN.
I haven’t been to Paris since the before-times, but I’m there in a week or so. I thought the whole city had gone quite cycle-mad. I’ll report back.
No doubt this report will be upbeat and positive in contrast to your steadfast determination to always see the worst in Britain.
That’s just your perception, because you are an incredibly fragile young fogey, seemingly triggered at random by things like “venison” and “heatpumps”.
You are in a permanent state of “red scare”, or whatever the Brexity version of that is.
Newsflash: I am one of the many cyclists who make up the supposedly 10,000/day bikes along the Embankment. Absolutely tipping it down today and I had only half the right clothes. And even when I'm suited up days like these are miserable on a bike.
When people advocate for increased cycle usage in the UK they really do need to do it in conjunction with the British Meteorogical Office and a cold hard (and wet) dose of reality. They need to understand that a huge number of people are simply not going to get on a bike in these or, frankly, any other conditions.
Oh here we go!
I had a look at the cycle stats for Amsterdam and they hardly vary with weather. In Edinburgh, on a monthly basis, there isn't much seasonal variation either.
We shouldn't have started from there but that's all we have.
Trying to get the UK to be a cycling culture = trying to get the UK to be a cafe culture.
Ain't gonna happen.
Why? Is the weather and topography of the London estuary so very different from Amsterdam? Or Paris, for that matter?
Thanks to Stuart in Romford for finding thos fantastic graphs:
But look at how people actually get around at the moment:
If your cycling provision is made at the expense of existing road provision, that just pisses off the motorists.
Except perhaps in central London, no-one is going to be cycling 10 miles to work in the rain and cold when they have a car in the drive.
As with ULEZ, there need to be more carrots and fewer sticks. The people need to feel that they are being brought along, rather than these things being done to them against their will.
There seems to be some assertion of validity of a point of view on subjects like this based upon nothing more than wishful thinking.
Sure, some people don't mind cycling to work in the cold and rain, and changing at work when they get there, but most do not.
Saying that proportionately more people do so in The Netherlands, so the concerns are unwarranted, isn't going to meaningfully shift the dial back in the UK where topography, infrastructure, commuting patterns - and even climate, at times - are all very different.
Last night, I saw a chap getting on his electric bike. Weird thing - looked like some one had built an electric version of the Welbike, then converted it into a chopper. Complete with a huge set of monkey bars. License plate, and he was wearing a proper helmet.
He took off down the segregated bike lane, though.
I fled to Sidmouth - ok, Exmouth - upon the partial relaxation of lockdown in April 2021.
A massive amount of potential but the seafront felt kind of elderly and tatty.
Shame about the unsightly caravan park at Sandy Bay, which in an ideal world would be protected landscape.
I heard a lot of Brummie down there and it dawned on me that it was essentially the nearest coast to Birmingham (apart from South Wales maybe?)
That honour traditionally goes to Weston-super-Mud. Whether it's geographically quite the closest, or just because of the main road, I don't remember.
Now Weston's a proper dump.
The Exmouth to Starcross ferry is nice, as is Starcross itself.
I would have thought Rhyl and Prestatyn in North Wales would be next closest after Weston. Certainly for the northern parts of the West Midlands, Sutton Coldfield and Walsall.
North Wales is essentially a littoral colony of Liverpool.
Brummies own mid-Wales, but there’s no easily accessible beach. It’s all about getting on the M5 for the denizens of Motor City.
What an ignorant comment from someone who constantly talks down Britain
What a fatuous response from PB’s prime apologist for Tory incompetence.
I live in North Wales and your slur is baseless and ignorant of our population
What slur?
Your comment that North Walians are a literal colony of Liverpool is just wrong, ignorant, and an insult to the community who are very proud of their Welsh heritage and the integration of peoples across the North West of England not just Liverpool
You should take more pro-biotics. It’s not healthy to be so dyspeptic so early in the morning.
Lab 431, Con 130, LD 43, SNP 22. Each of the main parties either (more than) doubling or (more than) halving their seat total.
Such a result would, of course mean that the LibDems had a regular spot after the Conservatives and before the Scottish nationalists. Would probably do wonders for their polling!
I fled to Sidmouth - ok, Exmouth - upon the partial relaxation of lockdown in April 2021.
A massive amount of potential but the seafront felt kind of elderly and tatty.
Shame about the unsightly caravan park at Sandy Bay, which in an ideal world would be protected landscape.
I heard a lot of Brummie down there and it dawned on me that it was essentially the nearest coast to Birmingham (apart from South Wales maybe?)
Straight down the M5 from Brum to East Devon. Around three hours on a good day. It took us six from Leamington last Friday, though. There are a lot of Birmingham and Black Country accents around here, very few from London.
I would offer Rhyl as the nearest coastal resort to Birmingham. Certainly in the railway age it was a favourite resort for Birmingham and the Black Country. But I understand South Devon is also popular, and was where my Brummie ancestors holidayed.
As a Watergate historian, it’s worth noting that nothing Nixon did—and he had plenty of crimes and conspiracies, involving more than 60 people criminally charged—approached the scale and severity of Trump’s assault on American democracy. https://twitter.com/vermontgmg/status/1686531761352609792?s=20
Good point. Viewed at this remove, Nixon's crimes appear almost quaint in comparison
The Democrats have opened Pandoras box and this could go anywhere . THe US is screwed
"Lock her up" was shouted by who, again?
And, it's the Democrats fault that Donald Trump allegedly committed crimes?
You can call a "pox on both your houses" with some degree of accuracy. But to point to the Dems and say the ball is entirely in your court - as you are doing - is willfully blind.
Now, I really, really hate the idea that governments use their political power to pursue political opponents. (Like Trump and the IRS vs Comey, for example.) But at the same time, should your political position shield you from all legal liability?
What of the upcoming tax/wirefraud case in NY? Trump valued properties at one price for the tax authorities and another for mortgages. And this wasn't a 10% difference, it was a multiple. People go to jail for that kind of thing all the time. Should he not be prosecuted, solely because he was President?
What is it about Trump that make otherwise sensible people lose their marbles ?
Hounding Trump will achieve precisely nothing except to make him more popular with his supporters and make diviisions in US society deeper.
As for the legal guff, Hilary is still walking free and has never been near a court nd I dont think anyome seriously expects the Biden\Hunter mess to be investigated before an election.
So you're saying laws actually should not apply to him?
That's his attitude, certainly, and that's what's got him into trouble.
Nobody is 'hounding' him, they're enforcing the multiple laws he's deliberately broken for his own gain.
Im saying the laws should apply to everyone and not just one individual. The US justice system is highly partisan and this is using the law to hamper an opponent who it appears cant be beaten by normal means.
That matter alone says what a poor position the Dems have, Worse now that the principle has been established if Trump were to win the election he can quite happily clear out the DoJ, pack it with his place men like Giuliani and lock up who he pleases as the Dems arent exactly choirboys.
And for the record I think that would be a total bag of shit too,
Trump tried to use the justice system to hound his opponents. It didn't work for him because ultimately the law-breaking of say, Hilary Clinton was quite low level. She should not have done what she did, but she was stupid rather than malign.
Her husband was, in case you've forgotten, impeached for his crimes although he wasn't in the end convicted.
Her husbands case I would actually say was the start of this whole sorry saga, The GOP tried to nobble Clinton by foul means and that set off the tit for tat escalation we have seen ever since.
As for Trump using the justice system, well as you say nobody got convicted. But I dont agree with that either , someone somewhere has to put the genie back in the bottle it just wont be either of the two presidential candidates.
Sigh.
The point is he *tried* to use the justice system to nobble his opponents and he failed because what happened wasn't ultimately significant enough to secure an indictment so the lawyers concerned told him 'no.' Had Clinton not handed over her email server, however belatedly and reluctantly, it might have been different. But that was not his call. Just as this is not Biden's. Or anyone in the government.
What's happening now is they *are* indicting him for multiple crimes he has not only committed but is repeatedly doubling down on.
And if you genuinely think January 6th was bad policing, you are profoundly ignorant of what happened. Again, read the indictment. How would 'bad policing,' for example, have led to a crowd gathering at Trump's urging that wanted to lynch the Vice President?
And if you don't think that, well...
No the point is he has been accused of it. He hasnt been convicted of anything,
And he has been accused of it not directly after the event when logically the state would lock up a real and present danger, but just before an election and by a partisan justice system. You draw one conclusion I draw another.
As for the policing issue London regulary gets trashed by people who shout down with the govt but these are riots not coups. And our police despite their critics handle them quite well. And just to wind you up even further J6 wasnt even a decent riot, I grew up in Ulster so I know what a riot looks like there were no petrol bombs, no stones no tear gas. Because all of those thinsg would have required organisation and hard work and Trump is too chaotic .
He has been INDICTED. That is the difference.
As for your last somewhat incoherent and illogical paragraph, put differently you are saying that should something not be exactly like your memories of a riot in Ulster it must not be a riot and therefore can't be a coup.
As a Watergate historian, it’s worth noting that nothing Nixon did—and he had plenty of crimes and conspiracies, involving more than 60 people criminally charged—approached the scale and severity of Trump’s assault on American democracy. https://twitter.com/vermontgmg/status/1686531761352609792?s=20
Good point. Viewed at this remove, Nixon's crimes appear almost quaint in comparison
The Democrats have opened Pandoras box and this could go anywhere . THe US is screwed
"Lock her up" was shouted by who, again?
And, it's the Democrats fault that Donald Trump allegedly committed crimes?
You can call a "pox on both your houses" with some degree of accuracy. But to point to the Dems and say the ball is entirely in your court - as you are doing - is willfully blind.
Now, I really, really hate the idea that governments use their political power to pursue political opponents. (Like Trump and the IRS vs Comey, for example.) But at the same time, should your political position shield you from all legal liability?
What of the upcoming tax/wirefraud case in NY? Trump valued properties at one price for the tax authorities and another for mortgages. And this wasn't a 10% difference, it was a multiple. People go to jail for that kind of thing all the time. Should he not be prosecuted, solely because he was President?
What is it about Trump that make otherwise sensible people lose their marbles ?
I think as one of the two people most affected on here by this phenomenon perhaps you could tell us?
Ive been indicted myself and had to go to court but never convicted because the charges were nonsense. In my case it was a french trade union trying it on for their own purposes. So so far Trump hasnt been convicted of anything, bar losing a civil case.
An indictment isnt a conviction unless youve decided hes guilty until proven innocent, which in its own way demonstrates the madness of a politicised justice system.
As for your second point Trump is like Brexit , people are so partisan about it they only eve believe one line of propaganda. There is very little room for standing back and looking at things in the round.
The democrats won the popular vote in the last 2 elections and on that basis should win the next one but as Ive said theyve opened Pandoras box so anything could happen.
AIUI Trump has already been found guilty on the sex abuse charges in New York, subject to appeals and my imprecise language, has he not?
I'd say he's using the Julius Caesar defence in his personal Carry On performance. "Infamy...Infamy.....they've all got it in for me!"
And the administration has been careful not to politicise, DoJ appointing an independent prosecutor and so on.
Fenster: ......They treat me like a criminal. I'll end up a criminal. Hockney: You are a criminal. Fenster: Why you gotta go and do that? I'm trying to make a point.
Newsflash: I am one of the many cyclists who make up the supposedly 10,000/day bikes along the Embankment. Absolutely tipping it down today and I had only half the right clothes. And even when I'm suited up days like these are miserable on a bike.
When people advocate for increased cycle usage in the UK they really do need to do it in conjunction with the British Meteorogical Office and a cold hard (and wet) dose of reality. They need to understand that a huge number of people are simply not going to get on a bike in these or, frankly, any other conditions.
Oh here we go!
I had a look at the cycle stats for Amsterdam and they hardly vary with weather. In Edinburgh, on a monthly basis, there isn't much seasonal variation either.
We shouldn't have started from there but that's all we have.
Trying to get the UK to be a cycling culture = trying to get the UK to be a cafe culture.
Ain't gonna happen.
Why? Is the weather and topography of the London estuary so very different from Amsterdam? Or Paris, for that matter?
Thanks to Stuart in Romford for finding thos fantastic graphs:
But look at how people actually get around at the moment:
If your cycling provision is made at the expense of existing road provision, that just pisses off the motorists.
Except perhaps in central London, no-one is going to be cycling 10 miles to work in the rain and cold when they have a car in the drive.
As with ULEZ, there need to be more carrots and fewer sticks. The people need to feel that they are being brought along, rather than these things being done to them against their will.
But as I've shown, the vast majority of drivers are commuting small distances.
And cycle and public transport provision is brilliant for drivers - means they are much less likely to get caught up in traffic. Great for commercial users, disabled folk, emergency services!
Even somewhere rural like Moray, only just over half of people commute by car. If all those non-drivers suddenly took to the road...eek!
Newsflash: I am one of the many cyclists who make up the supposedly 10,000/day bikes along the Embankment. Absolutely tipping it down today and I had only half the right clothes. And even when I'm suited up days like these are miserable on a bike.
When people advocate for increased cycle usage in the UK they really do need to do it in conjunction with the British Meteorogical Office and a cold hard (and wet) dose of reality. They need to understand that a huge number of people are simply not going to get on a bike in these or, frankly, any other conditions.
Oh here we go!
I had a look at the cycle stats for Amsterdam and they hardly vary with weather. In Edinburgh, on a monthly basis, there isn't much seasonal variation either.
We shouldn't have started from there but that's all we have.
Trying to get the UK to be a cycling culture = trying to get the UK to be a cafe culture.
Ain't gonna happen.
Why? Is the weather and topography of the London estuary so very different from Amsterdam? Or Paris, for that matter?
Thanks to Stuart in Romford for finding thos fantastic graphs:
But look at how people actually get around at the moment:
If your cycling provision is made at the expense of existing road provision, that just pisses off the motorists.
Except perhaps in central London, no-one is going to be cycling 10 miles to work in the rain and cold when they have a car in the drive.
As with ULEZ, there need to be more carrots and fewer sticks. The people need to feel that they are being brought along, rather than these things being done to them against their will.
There seems to be some assertion of validity of a point of view on subjects like this based upon nothing more than wishful thinking.
Sure, some people don't mind cycling to work in the cold and rain, and changing at work when they get there, but most do not.
Newsflash: I am one of the many cyclists who make up the supposedly 10,000/day bikes along the Embankment. Absolutely tipping it down today and I had only half the right clothes. And even when I'm suited up days like these are miserable on a bike.
When people advocate for increased cycle usage in the UK they really do need to do it in conjunction with the British Meteorogical Office and a cold hard (and wet) dose of reality. They need to understand that a huge number of people are simply not going to get on a bike in these or, frankly, any other conditions.
Oh here we go!
I had a look at the cycle stats for Amsterdam and they hardly vary with weather. In Edinburgh, on a monthly basis, there isn't much seasonal variation either.
We shouldn't have started from there but that's all we have.
Trying to get the UK to be a cycling culture = trying to get the UK to be a cafe culture.
Ain't gonna happen.
Why? Is the weather and topography of the London estuary so very different from Amsterdam? Or Paris, for that matter?
Paris? Your kidding. It is a very brave cyclist that chances their arm around eg the Place de la Concorde. Even in an Uber I fear imminent death every time I head away from the GdN.
I haven’t been to Paris since the before-times, but I’m there in a week or so. I thought the whole city had gone quite cycle-mad. I’ll report back.
No doubt this report will be upbeat and positive in contrast to your steadfast determination to always see the worst in Britain.
That’s just your perception, because you are an incredibly fragile young fogey, seemingly triggered at random by things like “venison” and “heatpumps”.
You are in a permanent state of “red scare”, or whatever the Brexity version of that is.
Sometimes you come on here and make interesting and insightful comments, and sometimes you come on here just to have a good fart.
At the moment, and for the last 2 days, you've just been having a good fart.
So expect people to engage with that accordingly until the rational part of your brain takes over again.
The indictment is a powerful read. Two things spring out for me.
The march on Congress was the culmination of a planned and energetically pursued coup d'etat (let's call it for what it was). The serious stuff happened before the mob was let loose.
That the coup failed depended entirely on Mike Pence doing the right thing. Cometh the hour , cometh the man. He should get more recognition than he does.
Perhaps he should but (a) he was apparently wobbling until Dan Quayle stiffened his resolve and (b) that he did true right thing then doesn’t mean he isn’t still a c*** in other ways.
Newsflash: I am one of the many cyclists who make up the supposedly 10,000/day bikes along the Embankment. Absolutely tipping it down today and I had only half the right clothes. And even when I'm suited up days like these are miserable on a bike.
When people advocate for increased cycle usage in the UK they really do need to do it in conjunction with the British Meteorogical Office and a cold hard (and wet) dose of reality. They need to understand that a huge number of people are simply not going to get on a bike in these or, frankly, any other conditions.
Oh here we go!
I had a look at the cycle stats for Amsterdam and they hardly vary with weather. In Edinburgh, on a monthly basis, there isn't much seasonal variation either.
We shouldn't have started from there but that's all we have.
Trying to get the UK to be a cycling culture = trying to get the UK to be a cafe culture.
Ain't gonna happen.
Why? Is the weather and topography of the London estuary so very different from Amsterdam? Or Paris, for that matter?
Thanks to Stuart in Romford for finding thos fantastic graphs:
But look at how people actually get around at the moment:
If your cycling provision is made at the expense of existing road provision, that just pisses off the motorists.
Except perhaps in central London, no-one is going to be cycling 10 miles to work in the rain and cold when they have a car in the drive.
As with ULEZ, there need to be more carrots and fewer sticks. The people need to feel that they are being brought along, rather than these things being done to them against their will.
There seems to be some assertion of validity of a point of view on subjects like this based upon nothing more than wishful thinking.
Sure, some people don't mind cycling to work in the cold and rain, and changing at work when they get there, but most do not.
Saying that proportionately more people do so in The Netherlands, so the concerns are unwarranted, isn't going to meaningfully shift the dial back in the UK where topography, infrastructure, commuting patterns - and even climate, at times - are all very different.
The topography of the London basin isn’t so different, though. Nor the other big conurbations. Urban England isn’t very hilly.
And the ask is to change the infrastructure, not simply accept it as fact. Much infrastructure is still a legacy of 1950s and 60s thinking about the role of cars versus other forms of transport.
In turn, commuting patterns follow travel infrastructure.
Trump is acting like a mad gang boss with a personal vendetta and Americans are crazy enough to re-elect him. The Vox pops from Trump rallies are so full of delusional conspiracy stuff that 4 more years of Trump are a nightmare that looks likely to happen.
I don't bet much on American politics because it is too bonkers to predict. It would be fun if it didn't matter, but it does.
Yep, to unite the two threads on here currently - Putin knows he just has to wait for a Trump presidential election victory and the entire picture changes. And Trump has a great chance to win. Biden is a decent to good president, he will be an utterly disastrous candidate.
All those saying they're as bad as each other will never admit how important Biden has been to helping Ukraine fend off Putin. And they’ll blame France and Germany when Trump scales US involvement back.
But the blame game won’t change the facts on the ground. Without substantial and continued US aid, Ukraine will be on the back foot very quickly. That will have massive implications for all of us, while emboldening China in East Asia generally and with regards to Taiwan specifically.
Morning SO
just noticed from yesterday, have you moved to Devon permanently or are you just on hols ?
Greetings AB. Semi-retired now and living the good life in Sidmouth, where my wife and I have lowered the average age considerably! Back in Leamington quite a bit, though, to see the kids. Hope all is well with you!
Nice area, the Triassic-and-Jurassic coast.
Great walking country.
I've done the whole South West Coast Path. All 630 miles of it.
My favourite long distance walking experience of my life.
I've done the entire coast (including parts of the SWCP three times), and the SWCP is a bit meh TBF.
Pembrokeshire is far better, or the Lleyn peninsula. But if you do the SWCP, do it in winter. It's a different experience.
Newsflash: I am one of the many cyclists who make up the supposedly 10,000/day bikes along the Embankment. Absolutely tipping it down today and I had only half the right clothes. And even when I'm suited up days like these are miserable on a bike.
When people advocate for increased cycle usage in the UK they really do need to do it in conjunction with the British Meteorogical Office and a cold hard (and wet) dose of reality. They need to understand that a huge number of people are simply not going to get on a bike in these or, frankly, any other conditions.
Oh here we go!
I had a look at the cycle stats for Amsterdam and they hardly vary with weather. In Edinburgh, on a monthly basis, there isn't much seasonal variation either.
We shouldn't have started from there but that's all we have.
Trying to get the UK to be a cycling culture = trying to get the UK to be a cafe culture.
Ain't gonna happen.
Why? Is the weather and topography of the London estuary so very different from Amsterdam? Or Paris, for that matter?
Thanks to Stuart in Romford for finding thos fantastic graphs:
But look at how people actually get around at the moment:
If your cycling provision is made at the expense of existing road provision, that just pisses off the motorists.
Except perhaps in central London, no-one is going to be cycling 10 miles to work in the rain and cold when they have a car in the drive.
As with ULEZ, there need to be more carrots and fewer sticks. The people need to feel that they are being brought along, rather than these things being done to them against their will.
But as I've shown, the vast majority of drivers are commuting small distances.
And cycle and public transport provision is brilliant for drivers - means they are much less likely to get caught up in traffic. Great for commercial users, disabled folk, emergency services!
Even somewhere rural like Moray, only just over half of people commute by car. If all those non-drivers suddenly took to the road...eek!
More cycling provision is great, provided it’s extra provision that doesn’t reduce the existing car provision.
Newsflash: I am one of the many cyclists who make up the supposedly 10,000/day bikes along the Embankment. Absolutely tipping it down today and I had only half the right clothes. And even when I'm suited up days like these are miserable on a bike.
When people advocate for increased cycle usage in the UK they really do need to do it in conjunction with the British Meteorogical Office and a cold hard (and wet) dose of reality. They need to understand that a huge number of people are simply not going to get on a bike in these or, frankly, any other conditions.
Oh here we go!
I had a look at the cycle stats for Amsterdam and they hardly vary with weather. In Edinburgh, on a monthly basis, there isn't much seasonal variation either.
We shouldn't have started from there but that's all we have.
Trying to get the UK to be a cycling culture = trying to get the UK to be a cafe culture.
Ain't gonna happen.
Why? Is the weather and topography of the London estuary so very different from Amsterdam? Or Paris, for that matter?
Paris? Your kidding. It is a very brave cyclist that chances their arm around eg the Place de la Concorde. Even in an Uber I fear imminent death every time I head away from the GdN.
Cycled across Paris twice a couple of weeks ago to get from one station to another for my cycle trip. You are not wrong re the Place de la Concorde. I got off my bike. The other main danger seemed to be van drivers parked up opening their doors on you as you pass. The bike lanes were good and you are allowed to cycle the wrong way down one way streets and these streets are set up for you to do that which is quite clever way of using the spare space when making a street one way and keeping the cyclists away from traffic on other roads. So these bits were really good. But you are right it is a scary experience.
The indictment is a powerful read. Two things spring out for me.
The march on Congress was the culmination of a planned and energetically pursued coup d'etat (let's call it for what it was). The serious stuff happened before the mob was let loose.
That the coup failed depended entirely on Mike Pence doing the right thing. Cometh the hour , cometh the man. He should get more recognition than he does.
Perhaps he should but (a) he was apparently wobbling until Dan Quayle stiffened his resolve and (b) that he did true right thing then doesn’t mean he isn’t still a c*** in other ways.
Indeed. Mike Pence doing the right thing was an unlikely event. But thank God he did.
The indictment is a powerful read. Two things spring out for me.
The march on Congress was the culmination of a planned and energetically pursued coup d'etat (let's call it for what it was). The serious stuff happened before the mob was let loose.
That the coup failed depended entirely on Mike Pence doing the right thing. Cometh the hour , cometh the man. He should get more recognition than he does.
Right.
So a few thousand demonstrators decide to implement a coup detat by taking on the worlds largest military and turning up to a gun fight with some placards and exotic head gear. And they decide to take control of one of the worlds largest countries by only couping in one location.
Newsflash: I am one of the many cyclists who make up the supposedly 10,000/day bikes along the Embankment. Absolutely tipping it down today and I had only half the right clothes. And even when I'm suited up days like these are miserable on a bike.
When people advocate for increased cycle usage in the UK they really do need to do it in conjunction with the British Meteorogical Office and a cold hard (and wet) dose of reality. They need to understand that a huge number of people are simply not going to get on a bike in these or, frankly, any other conditions.
Oh here we go!
I had a look at the cycle stats for Amsterdam and they hardly vary with weather. In Edinburgh, on a monthly basis, there isn't much seasonal variation either.
We shouldn't have started from there but that's all we have.
Trying to get the UK to be a cycling culture = trying to get the UK to be a cafe culture.
Ain't gonna happen.
Why? Is the weather and topography of the London estuary so very different from Amsterdam? Or Paris, for that matter?
Thanks to Stuart in Romford for finding thos fantastic graphs:
But look at how people actually get around at the moment:
If your cycling provision is made at the expense of existing road provision, that just pisses off the motorists.
Except perhaps in central London, no-one is going to be cycling 10 miles to work in the rain and cold when they have a car in the drive.
As with ULEZ, there need to be more carrots and fewer sticks. The people need to feel that they are being brought along, rather than these things being done to them against their will.
There seems to be some assertion of validity of a point of view on subjects like this based upon nothing more than wishful thinking.
Sure, some people don't mind cycling to work in the cold and rain, and changing at work when they get there, but most do not.
Newsflash: I am one of the many cyclists who make up the supposedly 10,000/day bikes along the Embankment. Absolutely tipping it down today and I had only half the right clothes. And even when I'm suited up days like these are miserable on a bike.
When people advocate for increased cycle usage in the UK they really do need to do it in conjunction with the British Meteorogical Office and a cold hard (and wet) dose of reality. They need to understand that a huge number of people are simply not going to get on a bike in these or, frankly, any other conditions.
Oh here we go!
I had a look at the cycle stats for Amsterdam and they hardly vary with weather. In Edinburgh, on a monthly basis, there isn't much seasonal variation either.
We shouldn't have started from there but that's all we have.
Trying to get the UK to be a cycling culture = trying to get the UK to be a cafe culture.
Ain't gonna happen.
Why? Is the weather and topography of the London estuary so very different from Amsterdam? Or Paris, for that matter?
Paris? Your kidding. It is a very brave cyclist that chances their arm around eg the Place de la Concorde. Even in an Uber I fear imminent death every time I head away from the GdN.
I haven’t been to Paris since the before-times, but I’m there in a week or so. I thought the whole city had gone quite cycle-mad. I’ll report back.
No doubt this report will be upbeat and positive in contrast to your steadfast determination to always see the worst in Britain.
That’s just your perception, because you are an incredibly fragile young fogey, seemingly triggered at random by things like “venison” and “heatpumps”.
You are in a permanent state of “red scare”, or whatever the Brexity version of that is.
Sometimes you come on here and make interesting and insightful comments, and sometimes you come on here just to have a good fart.
At the moment, and for the last 2 days, you've just been having a good fart.
So expect people to engage with that accordingly until the rational part of your brain takes over again.
You literally do come on here to announce your farts. Doctor heal thyself!
I merely call out obtuseness and some posters don’t like it. Moreover, my freely acknowledging that I was not born in Britain nor currently reside there adds insult to injury.
Newsflash: I am one of the many cyclists who make up the supposedly 10,000/day bikes along the Embankment. Absolutely tipping it down today and I had only half the right clothes. And even when I'm suited up days like these are miserable on a bike.
When people advocate for increased cycle usage in the UK they really do need to do it in conjunction with the British Meteorogical Office and a cold hard (and wet) dose of reality. They need to understand that a huge number of people are simply not going to get on a bike in these or, frankly, any other conditions.
Oh here we go!
I had a look at the cycle stats for Amsterdam and they hardly vary with weather. In Edinburgh, on a monthly basis, there isn't much seasonal variation either.
We shouldn't have started from there but that's all we have.
Trying to get the UK to be a cycling culture = trying to get the UK to be a cafe culture.
Ain't gonna happen.
Why? Is the weather and topography of the London estuary so very different from Amsterdam? Or Paris, for that matter?
Thanks to Stuart in Romford for finding thos fantastic graphs:
But look at how people actually get around at the moment:
If your cycling provision is made at the expense of existing road provision, that just pisses off the motorists.
Except perhaps in central London, no-one is going to be cycling 10 miles to work in the rain and cold when they have a car in the drive.
As with ULEZ, there need to be more carrots and fewer sticks. The people need to feel that they are being brought along, rather than these things being done to them against their will.
But as I've shown, the vast majority of drivers are commuting small distances.
And cycle and public transport provision is brilliant for drivers - means they are much less likely to get caught up in traffic. Great for commercial users, disabled folk, emergency services!
Even somewhere rural like Moray, only just over half of people commute by car. If all those non-drivers suddenly took to the road...eek!
More cycling provision is great, provided it’s extra provision that doesn’t reduce the existing car provision.
Cycle provision = car provision.
You can massively increase spare capacity on the roads by taking cars off them.
Newsflash: I am one of the many cyclists who make up the supposedly 10,000/day bikes along the Embankment. Absolutely tipping it down today and I had only half the right clothes. And even when I'm suited up days like these are miserable on a bike.
When people advocate for increased cycle usage in the UK they really do need to do it in conjunction with the British Meteorogical Office and a cold hard (and wet) dose of reality. They need to understand that a huge number of people are simply not going to get on a bike in these or, frankly, any other conditions.
Oh here we go!
I had a look at the cycle stats for Amsterdam and they hardly vary with weather. In Edinburgh, on a monthly basis, there isn't much seasonal variation either.
We shouldn't have started from there but that's all we have.
Trying to get the UK to be a cycling culture = trying to get the UK to be a cafe culture.
Ain't gonna happen.
Why? Is the weather and topography of the London estuary so very different from Amsterdam? Or Paris, for that matter?
Thanks to Stuart in Romford for finding thos fantastic graphs:
But look at how people actually get around at the moment:
If your cycling provision is made at the expense of existing road provision, that just pisses off the motorists.
Except perhaps in central London, no-one is going to be cycling 10 miles to work in the rain and cold when they have a car in the drive.
As with ULEZ, there need to be more carrots and fewer sticks. The people need to feel that they are being brought along, rather than these things being done to them against their will.
But as I've shown, the vast majority of drivers are commuting small distances.
And cycle and public transport provision is brilliant for drivers - means they are much less likely to get caught up in traffic. Great for commercial users, disabled folk, emergency services!
Even somewhere rural like Moray, only just over half of people commute by car. If all those non-drivers suddenly took to the road...eek!
More cycling provision is great, provided it’s extra provision that doesn’t reduce the existing car provision.
Cycle provision = car provision.
You can massively increase spare capacity on the roads by taking cars off them.
That’s not a pro-cycling argument, that’s an anti-car argument.
Add extra cycling provision - *NEW* cycling provision not at the expense of existing roads - and you’ll have both happy cyclists and happy drivers.
The indictment is a powerful read. Two things spring out for me.
The march on Congress was the culmination of a planned and energetically pursued coup d'etat (let's call it for what it was). The serious stuff happened before the mob was let loose.
That the coup failed depended entirely on Mike Pence doing the right thing. Cometh the hour , cometh the man. He should get more recognition than he does.
Perhaps he should but (a) he was apparently wobbling until Dan Quayle stiffened his resolve and (b) that he did true right thing then doesn’t mean he isn’t still a c*** in other ways.
Indeed. Mike Pence doing the right thing was an unlikely event. But thank God he did.
Dan Quayle is the one who should get a statue. He was the one who told Pence in simple, unambiguous language that he *had* to do the right thing.
Dan Quayle - the Second Founding Father. Who knew....
The indictment is a powerful read. Two things spring out for me.
The march on Congress was the culmination of a planned and energetically pursued coup d'etat (let's call it for what it was). The serious stuff happened before the mob was let loose.
That the coup failed depended entirely on Mike Pence doing the right thing. Cometh the hour , cometh the man. He should get more recognition than he does.
Right.
So a few thousand demonstrators decide to implement a coup detat by taking on the worlds largest military and turning up to a gun fight with some placards and exotic head gear. And they decide to take contro; of one of the worlds largest countries by only couping in one location.
That doesnt sound great organisation does it ?
You may want to read the indictment.
Should add. Many people in America share your dismissive take towards the institution of democracy. That's why it's in such a bad place.
Newsflash: I am one of the many cyclists who make up the supposedly 10,000/day bikes along the Embankment. Absolutely tipping it down today and I had only half the right clothes. And even when I'm suited up days like these are miserable on a bike.
When people advocate for increased cycle usage in the UK they really do need to do it in conjunction with the British Meteorogical Office and a cold hard (and wet) dose of reality. They need to understand that a huge number of people are simply not going to get on a bike in these or, frankly, any other conditions.
Oh here we go!
I had a look at the cycle stats for Amsterdam and they hardly vary with weather. In Edinburgh, on a monthly basis, there isn't much seasonal variation either.
We shouldn't have started from there but that's all we have.
Trying to get the UK to be a cycling culture = trying to get the UK to be a cafe culture.
Ain't gonna happen.
Why? Is the weather and topography of the London estuary so very different from Amsterdam? Or Paris, for that matter?
Thanks to Stuart in Romford for finding thos fantastic graphs:
But look at how people actually get around at the moment:
If your cycling provision is made at the expense of existing road provision, that just pisses off the motorists.
Except perhaps in central London, no-one is going to be cycling 10 miles to work in the rain and cold when they have a car in the drive.
As with ULEZ, there need to be more carrots and fewer sticks. The people need to feel that they are being brought along, rather than these things being done to them against their will.
But as I've shown, the vast majority of drivers are commuting small distances.
And cycle and public transport provision is brilliant for drivers - means they are much less likely to get caught up in traffic. Great for commercial users, disabled folk, emergency services!
Even somewhere rural like Moray, only just over half of people commute by car. If all those non-drivers suddenly took to the road...eek!
More cycling provision is great, provided it’s extra provision that doesn’t reduce the existing car provision.
In a way, there is both too much and too little existing car provision.
Cars are still given far too much priority in general road design patterns, but getting from one end of London to another has become far too onerous.
The indictment is a powerful read. Two things spring out for me.
The march on Congress was the culmination of a planned and energetically pursued coup d'etat (let's call it for what it was). The serious stuff happened before the mob was let loose.
That the coup failed depended entirely on Mike Pence doing the right thing. Cometh the hour , cometh the man. He should get more recognition than he does.
Right.
So a few thousand demonstrators decide to implement a coup detat by taking on the worlds largest military and turning up to a gun fight with some placards and exotic head gear. And they decide to take contro; of one of the worlds largest countries by only couping in one location.
"The UK government has set a target of 600,000 heat pump installations per year by 2028 and said sales of gas boilers would be banned from 2035."
SG is basically getting the ground ready for meeting the target - getting public consultation and discussion going, is my reading.
Much of that is aimed at landlords of rentals, too.
Harvie is talking of changing the energy rating to bar gas boilers from house sales from 2025
Furthermore the cost is in the region of 33 billion and where is that coming from
Heat pumps do have a role to play but these comments in that article are interesting:-
Labour peer and businessman Lord Haughey, whose company is one of Scotland's leading suppliers of heat pumps, told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland that electric boilers would be more cost-effective and environmentally-friendly options for most Scottish homes.
He also said heat pumps do not work as efficiently in Scotland as they do in other countries, with some liable to malfunction at temperatures of minus 5C (23F) or lower.
A little mental arithmetic ius always helpful.
You've got it flat wrong. The 33bn is actually the SG estimate of the cost of upgrading *all buildings, public and private*, to a good standard of heating and energy efficiency. Not heat pumps specifically. All methods. Against that, you need to spend money anyway on renewing systems in the normal course, when they wear out, and on wasted energy. It's like my ink tank printer. It cost more to buy but has proved a huge saving over normal cartridge printers before long.
Those are, also, proposals for *discussion*. Mr Harvie has his views. Of course, you have yours and always say SG Baaad - but look at the targets your preferred UK government has set. Pro rata, that's about 55K heat pumps per year in Scotland, for maybe 1m houses for which they are suitable. That implies somethging of the order of complete fitout with heat pumps of that part of the housing stock within 20 years. That is the sort of timescale on which heating systems are replaced anyway. Of course, it is subject to exactly the practical considerations we've been constructivcely discussing elsewhere on PB. But it makes reasonable sense on current information (heat pumps aren't doing well, partly cos of crap fitting, but are improving).
You're saying "look at the nasty SNP-SGs, they're making concrete proposals to conform to the nice UKG's targets! How baaad of them!".
I fled to Sidmouth - ok, Exmouth - upon the partial relaxation of lockdown in April 2021.
A massive amount of potential but the seafront felt kind of elderly and tatty.
Shame about the unsightly caravan park at Sandy Bay, which in an ideal world would be protected landscape.
I heard a lot of Brummie down there and it dawned on me that it was essentially the nearest coast to Birmingham (apart from South Wales maybe?)
That honour traditionally goes to Weston-super-Mud. Whether it's geographically quite the closest, or just because of the main road, I don't remember.
Now Weston's a proper dump.
The Exmouth to Starcross ferry is nice, as is Starcross itself.
I would have thought Rhyl and Prestatyn in North Wales would be next closest after Weston. Certainly for the northern parts of the West Midlands, Sutton Coldfield and Walsall.
North Wales is essentially a littoral colony of Liverpool.
Brummies own mid-Wales, but there’s no easily accessible beach. It’s all about getting on the M5 for the denizens of Motor City.
What an ignorant comment from someone who constantly talks down Britain
What a fatuous response from PB’s prime apologist for Tory incompetence.
I live in North Wales and your slur is baseless and ignorant of our population
What slur?
Your comment that North Walians are a literal colony of Liverpool is just wrong, ignorant, and an insult to the community who are very proud of their Welsh heritage and the integration of peoples across the North West of England not just Liverpool
You should take more pro-biotics. It’s not healthy to be so dyspeptic so early in the morning.
PS I said “littoral” not “literal”.
[@Big_G_NorthWales, the word "littoral" means the area close to the coast. It's regarded as having its own characteristics that make it different to the sea. @Gardenwalker didn't mean "literal"]
Newsflash: I am one of the many cyclists who make up the supposedly 10,000/day bikes along the Embankment. Absolutely tipping it down today and I had only half the right clothes. And even when I'm suited up days like these are miserable on a bike.
When people advocate for increased cycle usage in the UK they really do need to do it in conjunction with the British Meteorogical Office and a cold hard (and wet) dose of reality. They need to understand that a huge number of people are simply not going to get on a bike in these or, frankly, any other conditions.
Oh here we go!
I had a look at the cycle stats for Amsterdam and they hardly vary with weather. In Edinburgh, on a monthly basis, there isn't much seasonal variation either.
We shouldn't have started from there but that's all we have.
Trying to get the UK to be a cycling culture = trying to get the UK to be a cafe culture.
Ain't gonna happen.
Why? Is the weather and topography of the London estuary so very different from Amsterdam? Or Paris, for that matter?
Thanks to Stuart in Romford for finding thos fantastic graphs:
But look at how people actually get around at the moment:
If your cycling provision is made at the expense of existing road provision, that just pisses off the motorists.
Except perhaps in central London, no-one is going to be cycling 10 miles to work in the rain and cold when they have a car in the drive.
As with ULEZ, there need to be more carrots and fewer sticks. The people need to feel that they are being brought along, rather than these things being done to them against their will.
But as I've shown, the vast majority of drivers are commuting small distances.
And cycle and public transport provision is brilliant for drivers - means they are much less likely to get caught up in traffic. Great for commercial users, disabled folk, emergency services!
Even somewhere rural like Moray, only just over half of people commute by car. If all those non-drivers suddenly took to the road...eek!
More cycling provision is great, provided it’s extra provision that doesn’t reduce the existing car provision.
But then we come into the issue that built-up areas are already very largely built-up. So road space use is basically zero sum. The dream of a Romford Expressway will have to remain just that.
It's always nicer to find an everybody wins, straight away solution. But managing situations where there isn't one is where statesmen earn their pennies.
Newsflash: I am one of the many cyclists who make up the supposedly 10,000/day bikes along the Embankment. Absolutely tipping it down today and I had only half the right clothes. And even when I'm suited up days like these are miserable on a bike.
When people advocate for increased cycle usage in the UK they really do need to do it in conjunction with the British Meteorogical Office and a cold hard (and wet) dose of reality. They need to understand that a huge number of people are simply not going to get on a bike in these or, frankly, any other conditions.
Oh here we go!
I had a look at the cycle stats for Amsterdam and they hardly vary with weather. In Edinburgh, on a monthly basis, there isn't much seasonal variation either.
We shouldn't have started from there but that's all we have.
Trying to get the UK to be a cycling culture = trying to get the UK to be a cafe culture.
Ain't gonna happen.
Why? Is the weather and topography of the London estuary so very different from Amsterdam? Or Paris, for that matter?
Thanks to Stuart in Romford for finding thos fantastic graphs:
But look at how people actually get around at the moment:
If your cycling provision is made at the expense of existing road provision, that just pisses off the motorists.
Except perhaps in central London, no-one is going to be cycling 10 miles to work in the rain and cold when they have a car in the drive.
As with ULEZ, there need to be more carrots and fewer sticks. The people need to feel that they are being brought along, rather than these things being done to them against their will.
There seems to be some assertion of validity of a point of view on subjects like this based upon nothing more than wishful thinking.
Sure, some people don't mind cycling to work in the cold and rain, and changing at work when they get there, but most do not.
Saying that proportionately more people do so in The Netherlands, so the concerns are unwarranted, isn't going to meaningfully shift the dial back in the UK where topography, infrastructure, commuting patterns - and even climate, at times - are all very different.
The topography of the London basin isn’t so different, though. Nor the other big conurbations. Urban England isn’t very hilly.
And the ask is to change the infrastructure, not simply accept it as fact. Much infrastructure is still a legacy of 1950s and 60s thinking about the role of cars versus other forms of transport.
In turn, commuting patterns follow travel infrastructure.
Saying that it should be different isn't the same as recognising the reality of why it isn't, and will likely never be, and throwing in strawmen lines like 1950s and 1960s attitudes to explain away any difference. This is similar to your histrionics on taps and heat pumps.
You aren't going to get lots of people peddling into the City from Thurrock or Hayes and they'd be fairly mad to do so. Commuting patterns follow economic geography and that can't be changed by a few extra cycle lanes.
What the UK likes to do is competitive recreational road cycling and family cycling in parks and forests at weekends. Commuter cycling is largely localised to professional men in their 30s-50s running to the local station or urban transit within metropolitan areas of big cities.
Trump is acting like a mad gang boss with a personal vendetta and Americans are crazy enough to re-elect him. The Vox pops from Trump rallies are so full of delusional conspiracy stuff that 4 more years of Trump are a nightmare that looks likely to happen.
I don't bet much on American politics because it is too bonkers to predict. It would be fun if it didn't matter, but it does.
Yep, to unite the two threads on here currently - Putin knows he just has to wait for a Trump presidential election victory and the entire picture changes. And Trump has a great chance to win. Biden is a decent to good president, he will be an utterly disastrous candidate.
All those saying they're as bad as each other will never admit how important Biden has been to helping Ukraine fend off Putin. And they’ll blame France and Germany when Trump scales US involvement back.
But the blame game won’t change the facts on the ground. Without substantial and continued US aid, Ukraine will be on the back foot very quickly. That will have massive implications for all of us, while emboldening China in East Asia generally and with regards to Taiwan specifically.
Morning SO
just noticed from yesterday, have you moved to Devon permanently or are you just on hols ?
Greetings AB. Semi-retired now and living the good life in Sidmouth, where my wife and I have lowered the average age considerably! Back in Leamington quite a bit, though, to see the kids. Hope all is well with you!
Nice area, the Triassic-and-Jurassic coast.
Great walking country.
I've done the whole South West Coast Path. All 630 miles of it.
My favourite long distance walking experience of my life.
I've done the entire coast (including parts of the SWCP three times), and the SWCP is a bit meh TBF.
Pembrokeshire is far better, or the Lleyn peninsula. But if you do the SWCP, do it in winter. It's a different experience.
You've done the whole coast of the UK?
Wow. That's thousands and thousands of miles.
I did it twenty years ago. The way I did it, it was >6,200 miles. I did not take ferries to reduce distance, so I had to walk up the estuaries to the nearest bridge or fording point. In Essex and the southwest, that added a lot of distance on. From memory, it added 200 miles onto the SWCP, to make about 800 miles.
Most people who do the coast take ferries, and it is ~4,500 miles. I did a load of extras as well, including the three highest mountains, Anglesey, Arran (ferry over, walked around island, then back to the mainland at the same point I left), and towards the end I extended it a fair bit by following rivers further inland.
An experience of a lifetime. Although I would love to do it again and see what has changed over the years.
Newsflash: I am one of the many cyclists who make up the supposedly 10,000/day bikes along the Embankment. Absolutely tipping it down today and I had only half the right clothes. And even when I'm suited up days like these are miserable on a bike.
When people advocate for increased cycle usage in the UK they really do need to do it in conjunction with the British Meteorogical Office and a cold hard (and wet) dose of reality. They need to understand that a huge number of people are simply not going to get on a bike in these or, frankly, any other conditions.
Oh here we go!
I had a look at the cycle stats for Amsterdam and they hardly vary with weather. In Edinburgh, on a monthly basis, there isn't much seasonal variation either.
We shouldn't have started from there but that's all we have.
Trying to get the UK to be a cycling culture = trying to get the UK to be a cafe culture.
Ain't gonna happen.
Why? Is the weather and topography of the London estuary so very different from Amsterdam? Or Paris, for that matter?
Thanks to Stuart in Romford for finding thos fantastic graphs:
But look at how people actually get around at the moment:
If your cycling provision is made at the expense of existing road provision, that just pisses off the motorists.
Except perhaps in central London, no-one is going to be cycling 10 miles to work in the rain and cold when they have a car in the drive.
As with ULEZ, there need to be more carrots and fewer sticks. The people need to feel that they are being brought along, rather than these things being done to them against their will.
But as I've shown, the vast majority of drivers are commuting small distances.
And cycle and public transport provision is brilliant for drivers - means they are much less likely to get caught up in traffic. Great for commercial users, disabled folk, emergency services!
Even somewhere rural like Moray, only just over half of people commute by car. If all those non-drivers suddenly took to the road...eek!
More cycling provision is great, provided it’s extra provision that doesn’t reduce the existing car provision.
Cycle provision = car provision.
You can massively increase spare capacity on the roads by taking cars off them.
That’s not a pro-cycling argument, that’s an anti-car argument.
Add extra cycling provision - *NEW* cycling provision not at the expense of existing roads - and you’ll have both happy cyclists and happy drivers.
Not at all. I'm trying to make life better for those who really need to drive, particularly commercial drivers. If lorries and vans weren't stuck in traffic all day, huge gains for the economy.
I'm keen for an urban/rural tax system for motoring, making it much cheaper for people in remote areas who depend on them (about 17% of us).
As a Watergate historian, it’s worth noting that nothing Nixon did—and he had plenty of crimes and conspiracies, involving more than 60 people criminally charged—approached the scale and severity of Trump’s assault on American democracy. https://twitter.com/vermontgmg/status/1686531761352609792?s=20
Good point. Viewed at this remove, Nixon's crimes appear almost quaint in comparison
The Democrats have opened Pandoras box and this could go anywhere . THe US is screwed
"Lock her up" was shouted by who, again?
And, it's the Democrats fault that Donald Trump allegedly committed crimes?
You can call a "pox on both your houses" with some degree of accuracy. But to point to the Dems and say the ball is entirely in your court - as you are doing - is willfully blind.
Now, I really, really hate the idea that governments use their political power to pursue political opponents. (Like Trump and the IRS vs Comey, for example.) But at the same time, should your political position shield you from all legal liability?
What of the upcoming tax/wirefraud case in NY? Trump valued properties at one price for the tax authorities and another for mortgages. And this wasn't a 10% difference, it was a multiple. People go to jail for that kind of thing all the time. Should he not be prosecuted, solely because he was President?
What is it about Trump that make otherwise sensible people lose their marbles ?
Hounding Trump will achieve precisely nothing except to make him more popular with his supporters and make diviisions in US society deeper.
As for the legal guff, Hilary is still walking free and has never been near a court nd I dont think anyome seriously expects the Biden\Hunter mess to be investigated before an election.
So you're saying laws actually should not apply to him?
That's his attitude, certainly, and that's what's got him into trouble.
Nobody is 'hounding' him, they're enforcing the multiple laws he's deliberately broken for his own gain.
Im saying the laws should apply to everyone and not just one individual. The US justice system is highly partisan and this is using the law to hamper an opponent who it appears cant be beaten by normal means.
That matter alone says what a poor position the Dems have, Worse now that the principle has been established if Trump were to win the election he can quite happily clear out the DoJ, pack it with his place men like Giuliani and lock up who he pleases as the Dems arent exactly choirboys.
And for the record I think that would be a total bag of shit too,
Trump tried to use the justice system to hound his opponents. It didn't work for him because ultimately the law-breaking of say, Hilary Clinton was quite low level. She should not have done what she did, but she was stupid rather than malign.
Her husband was, in case you've forgotten, impeached for his crimes although he wasn't in the end convicted.
Her husbands case I would actually say was the start of this whole sorry saga, The GOP tried to nobble Clinton by foul means and that set off the tit for tat escalation we have seen ever since.
As for Trump using the justice system, well as you say nobody got convicted. But I dont agree with that either , someone somewhere has to put the genie back in the bottle it just wont be either of the two presidential candidates.
Sigh.
The point is he *tried* to use the justice system to nobble his opponents and he failed because what happened wasn't ultimately significant enough to secure an indictment so the lawyers concerned told him 'no.' Had Clinton not handed over her email server, however belatedly and reluctantly, it might have been different. But that was not his call. Just as this is not Biden's. Or anyone in the government.
What's happening now is they *are* indicting him for multiple crimes he has not only committed but is repeatedly doubling down on.
And if you genuinely think January 6th was bad policing, you are profoundly ignorant of what happened. Again, read the indictment. How would 'bad policing,' for example, have led to a crowd gathering at Trump's urging that wanted to lynch the Vice President?
And if you don't think that, well...
No the point is he has been accused of it. He hasnt been convicted of anything,
And he has been accused of it not directly after the event when logically the state would lock up a real and present danger, but just before an election and by a partisan justice system. You draw one conclusion I draw another.
As for the policing issue London regulary gets trashed by people who shout down with the govt but these are riots not coups. And our police despite their critics handle them quite well. And just to wind you up even further J6 wasnt even a decent riot, I grew up in Ulster so I know what a riot looks like there were no petrol bombs, no stones no tear gas. Because all of those thinsg would have required organisation and hard work and Trump is too chaotic .
He has been INDICTED. That is the difference.
As for your last somewhat incoherent and illogical paragraph, put differently you are saying that should something not be exactly like your memories of a riot in Ulster it must not be a riot and therefore can't be a coup.
As a Watergate historian, it’s worth noting that nothing Nixon did—and he had plenty of crimes and conspiracies, involving more than 60 people criminally charged—approached the scale and severity of Trump’s assault on American democracy. https://twitter.com/vermontgmg/status/1686531761352609792?s=20
Good point. Viewed at this remove, Nixon's crimes appear almost quaint in comparison
The Democrats have opened Pandoras box and this could go anywhere . THe US is screwed
"Lock her up" was shouted by who, again?
And, it's the Democrats fault that Donald Trump allegedly committed crimes?
You can call a "pox on both your houses" with some degree of accuracy. But to point to the Dems and say the ball is entirely in your court - as you are doing - is willfully blind.
Now, I really, really hate the idea that governments use their political power to pursue political opponents. (Like Trump and the IRS vs Comey, for example.) But at the same time, should your political position shield you from all legal liability?
What of the upcoming tax/wirefraud case in NY? Trump valued properties at one price for the tax authorities and another for mortgages. And this wasn't a 10% difference, it was a multiple. People go to jail for that kind of thing all the time. Should he not be prosecuted, solely because he was President?
What is it about Trump that make otherwise sensible people lose their marbles ?
I think as one of the two people most affected on here by this phenomenon perhaps you could tell us?
Ive been indicted myself and had to go to court but never convicted because the charges were nonsense. In my case it was a french trade union trying it on for their own purposes. So so far Trump hasnt been convicted of anything, bar losing a civil case.
An indictment isnt a conviction unless youve decided hes guilty until proven innocent, which in its own way demonstrates the madness of a politicised justice system.
As for your second point Trump is like Brexit , people are so partisan about it they only eve believe one line of propaganda. There is very little room for standing back and looking at things in the round.
The democrats won the popular vote in the last 2 elections and on that basis should win the next one but as Ive said theyve opened Pandoras box so anything could happen.
Losing more than one civil case.
In addition, Trump Organization, his business, has been found guilty of 17 criminal charges and lost other civil cases. His charity, the Donald J Trump Foundation, was found guilty of various charges.
Trump is acting like a mad gang boss with a personal vendetta and Americans are crazy enough to re-elect him. The Vox pops from Trump rallies are so full of delusional conspiracy stuff that 4 more years of Trump are a nightmare that looks likely to happen.
I don't bet much on American politics because it is too bonkers to predict. It would be fun if it didn't matter, but it does.
Yep, to unite the two threads on here currently - Putin knows he just has to wait for a Trump presidential election victory and the entire picture changes. And Trump has a great chance to win. Biden is a decent to good president, he will be an utterly disastrous candidate.
All those saying they're as bad as each other will never admit how important Biden has been to helping Ukraine fend off Putin. And they’ll blame France and Germany when Trump scales US involvement back.
But the blame game won’t change the facts on the ground. Without substantial and continued US aid, Ukraine will be on the back foot very quickly. That will have massive implications for all of us, while emboldening China in East Asia generally and with regards to Taiwan specifically.
Morning SO
just noticed from yesterday, have you moved to Devon permanently or are you just on hols ?
Greetings AB. Semi-retired now and living the good life in Sidmouth, where my wife and I have lowered the average age considerably! Back in Leamington quite a bit, though, to see the kids. Hope all is well with you!
Nice area, the Triassic-and-Jurassic coast.
Great walking country.
I've done the whole South West Coast Path. All 630 miles of it.
My favourite long distance walking experience of my life.
I've done the entire coast (including parts of the SWCP three times), and the SWCP is a bit meh TBF.
Pembrokeshire is far better, or the Lleyn peninsula. But if you do the SWCP, do it in winter. It's a different experience.
You've done the whole coast of the UK?
Wow. That's thousands and thousands of miles.
I did it twenty years ago. The way I did it, it was >6,200 miles. I did not take ferries to reduce distance, so I had to walk up the estuaries to the nearest bridge or fording point. In Essex and the southwest, that added a lot of distance on. From memory, it added 200 miles onto the SWCP, to make about 800 miles.
Most people who do the coast take ferries, and it is ~4,500 miles. I did a load of extras as well, including the three highest mountains, Anglesey, Arran (ferry over, walked around island, then back to the mainland at the same point I left), and towards the end I extended it a fair bit by following rivers further inland.
An experience of a lifetime. Although I would love to do it again and see what has changed over the years.
Amazing. I'd love to know how you found the time to do all that.
It took me and my friends over a decade just to complete the SWCP!
The indictment is a powerful read. Two things spring out for me.
The march on Congress was the culmination of a planned and energetically pursued coup d'etat (let's call it for what it was). The serious stuff happened before the mob was let loose.
That the coup failed depended entirely on Mike Pence doing the right thing. Cometh the hour , cometh the man. He should get more recognition than he does.
Right.
So a few thousand demonstrators decide to implement a coup detat by taking on the worlds largest military and turning up to a gun fight with some placards and exotic head gear. And they decide to take control of one of the worlds largest countries by only couping in one location.
That doesnt sound great organisation does it ?
One day someone will make a counter factual novel out of these events.
The indictment is a powerful read. Two things spring out for me.
The march on Congress was the culmination of a planned and energetically pursued coup d'etat (let's call it for what it was). The serious stuff happened before the mob was let loose.
That the coup failed depended entirely on Mike Pence doing the right thing. Cometh the hour , cometh the man. He should get more recognition than he does.
Right.
So a few thousand demonstrators decide to implement a coup detat by taking on the worlds largest military and turning up to a gun fight with some placards and exotic head gear. And they decide to take control of one of the worlds largest countries by only couping in one location.
That doesnt sound great organisation does it ?
The Bierkellar Putsch, the March on Rome, the Spartacist Revolt, the Kronstadt Mutiny, the Cato Street Conspiracy, the Istanbul Rising, the Monmouth Rebellion, the first coup of Louis Napoleon, the treason of the Duke of Clarence, Bela Kun, Imre Nagy, and the Boxer Rebellion are all waving hello here.
Maybe talk to them and you will understand things better.
Newsflash: I am one of the many cyclists who make up the supposedly 10,000/day bikes along the Embankment. Absolutely tipping it down today and I had only half the right clothes. And even when I'm suited up days like these are miserable on a bike.
When people advocate for increased cycle usage in the UK they really do need to do it in conjunction with the British Meteorogical Office and a cold hard (and wet) dose of reality. They need to understand that a huge number of people are simply not going to get on a bike in these or, frankly, any other conditions.
Oh here we go!
I had a look at the cycle stats for Amsterdam and they hardly vary with weather. In Edinburgh, on a monthly basis, there isn't much seasonal variation either.
We shouldn't have started from there but that's all we have.
Trying to get the UK to be a cycling culture = trying to get the UK to be a cafe culture.
Ain't gonna happen.
Why? Is the weather and topography of the London estuary so very different from Amsterdam? Or Paris, for that matter?
Thanks to Stuart in Romford for finding thos fantastic graphs:
But look at how people actually get around at the moment:
If your cycling provision is made at the expense of existing road provision, that just pisses off the motorists.
Except perhaps in central London, no-one is going to be cycling 10 miles to work in the rain and cold when they have a car in the drive.
As with ULEZ, there need to be more carrots and fewer sticks. The people need to feel that they are being brought along, rather than these things being done to them against their will.
According to that chart upthread, 80% of the country live in urban conurbations, so the 10 miles thing seems a bit of a red herring.
London has a medieval road pattern, and the carriageways are not very wide. But even so, not enough space is given over to pedestrians or cyclists.
There are plenty of facilities in London for cyclists, all the CSs plus very often - and randomly - there are cycle lanes, especially after Covid, whereby whole parts of high streets (thinking Hammersmith King Street off the top of my head) have been given over to bikes.
Stand at the junction of Southwark Bridge and the Embankment and see the frequency of bikes (especially between 10am and 4pm) on the CS while looking at the static traffic both eastwards and westwards.
We have the facilities. We don't have the weather (oh but Amsterdam), nor the inclination or perhaps culture.
Now of course that can change. Just like Leon's decadal change for car ownership. But right now it ain't there and isn't likely to be in the foreseeable future.
Comments
Happily those people were ignored and now look at it
1. They’re a good idea in new builds
2. Retro-fitting is expensive
3. Secondary factors such as insulation and radiator design are really important
4. There’s a perception that the outcomes are not as good as regular gas or electric systems.
5. That there’s a lot of cowboy fitters out there
6. Specifically in Scotland, that these are being pushed hard by government, into unsuitable use cases.
But as renewable technologies continue incrementally to improve, there's quite likely a tipping point coming when they start to replace those coal fired plants.
China, which consumes half the world's coal, is the place to watch.
SG is basically getting the ground ready for meeting the target - getting public consultation and discussion going, is my reading.
Much of that is aimed at landlords of rentals, too.
I *think* I see more lawfare in the U.K. than a decade ago - lawsuits as part of a (political style) manoeuvre, rather than a case that actually has merit on its own. In the style of the US….
What do you reckon?
Getting Trump administration officials to testify has been an unavoidably slow process.
The only real flaw in the US constitution is how difficult it is to ratify amendments.
The bar was simply set too high a couple of centuries back.
Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/transport-statistics-great-britain-2022/transport-statistics-great-britain-2022-domestic-travel
I don’t believe it. He wouldn’t risk an outright attack on a NATO member. Also, where is he gonna get a new army to do this? He has a lot on his plate already
However, 2 things:
1. He might use Wagner to infiltrate Poland or the Baltics, and cause havoc, as they are now handily placed in Belarus
2. As he hits his 70s he might think “whatever not”. He’s already made Russia a pariah state. Yet he’s survived the storm and the sanctions. Military aggression works? = Keep it up
It’s absolutely fucking mad. At present with difficulties in getting staff you take who you can. One of the contributors was having vapours that it looked like “an army of men”.
We also need diversity in kitchens as it will make the food better. No, we need the best possible team of chefs and best ingredients - the colour or sex of the chef is irrelevant.
I’m guessing those having fits about it are charging down their local Indian or Chinese to protest the lack of diversity in their kitchens?
This is where the BBC needs to grow up - why is it covering such a patently BS story and giving it prominence as if it’s a genuine problem, leave this shit for twitter/x.
Glad you're enjoying it.
If that's correct, a truce has its attractions - indefinite slaughter for no gain is a bad thing, whatever we'd like to happen. But any long-term deal would need to include the current front line guarded by NATO troops (probably in the context of NATO membership for Ukraine), to avoid the "they'll be back in a few years" scenario. There isn't any sign that even Putin wants to risk a war with NATO, so we'd end up with something like Cyprus or the West Bank - permanently divided/occupied with no real impetus to resume the war. It may be the least bad outcome until another Gorbachev comes along in Russia and agrees to fair referendums on what each area actually wants.
But I can't see either side agreeing to it now - they both think they can win outright. I think the decision point will come in November 2024 if the stalemate continues - when we know whether Trump has won or not will make a significant difference to any negotiations.
They will definitely need him to win to get pardons.
Nobody is above the law and Trump is going to get his days in courts. It's not a witch hunt it's due process.
And check this out! About 83% of us should be cycling.
I could argue the Tories hate the UK. They think we’re incapable of running our own services so they get the French to do it. They cut all the Police so crimes don’t get investigated anymore. They removed social protections so more people including many who fought for this country sleep on the street. They crashed our economy. They partied through lockdown whilst the Queen mourned alone.
It is the Tories that hate Britain.
Furthermore the cost is in the region of 33 billion and where is that coming from
Heat pumps do have a role to play but these comments in that article are interesting:-
Labour peer and businessman Lord Haughey, whose company is one of Scotland's leading suppliers of heat pumps, told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland that electric boilers would be more cost-effective and environmentally-friendly options for most Scottish homes.
He also said heat pumps do not work as efficiently in Scotland as they do in other countries, with some liable to malfunction at temperatures of minus 5C (23F) or lower.
BUT
If your cycling provision is made at the expense of existing road provision, that just pisses off the motorists.
Except perhaps in central London, no-one is going to be cycling 10 miles to work in the rain and cold when they have a car in the drive.
As with ULEZ, there need to be more carrots and fewer sticks. The people need to feel that they are being brought along, rather than these things being done to them against their will.
BigG seems exercised by my comment about North Wales, which was not meant as anything but a socio-geographic fact: North Wales “looks to” the North West conurbations.
(It’s why it’s hard for Wales to function as an independent, self-contained economy - it’s essentially three or four separate “parts”, some of which are economic satellites of England.)
One of my own g-g-fathers made the 19th century trek from Flintshire to the docks of Birkenhead.
BigG is a bit of a berk.
Now, you can run underfloor heating off a gas boiler of course (we do in our extension) but you need a manifold to drop the water from the boiler down to the correct ~40C for the underfloor heating by mixing in cold.
If I was building a house, there's absolutely no question, I'd go for a heat pump with underfloor heating as the superior solution.
When he lost, he accepted the result. As Vice President he certified the result electing his opponent.
He’s a slimy, arrogant, self-righteous tosser, but not a criminal.
If you think that is in any way analogous to what Trump has been indicted for, it is your patriotic duty to let Sunak know the name of your supplier, so he can sell twelve ounces of it in the far east and clear the national debt.
What does that mean?
It could mean starvation in Africa. More likely is that Russia just wants Ukraine to be starved of cash from exports, and the country to become even more desperate. Putin will then decide what happens in the Black Sea
He is slowly strangling Ukraine in toto
https://labour.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Seats-Open-For-Selection.pdf
My favourite long distance walking experience of my life.
London has a medieval road pattern, and the carriageways are not very wide. But even so, not enough space is given over to pedestrians or cyclists.
https://electionmaps.uk/nowcast
Lab 431, Con 130, LD 43, SNP 22. Each of the main parties either (more than) doubling or (more than) halving their seat total.
https://www.politico.eu/article/grain-poland-solidarity-ukraine/
I'd say he's using the Julius Caesar defence in his personal Carry On performance. "Infamy...Infamy.....they've all got it in for me!"
And the administration has been careful not to politicise, DoJ appointing an independent prosecutor and so on.
I think a 2025 date is too early in the technology cycle.
Something that is not often understood is that a technology goes thorough multiple phases
1) The idea
2) The prototype
3) Initial production
4) Mass production
Heat pumps are old tech in other countries, with different climate and building style.
The UK has a different set of these, and we are still working out some of the bets practise forget pumps in the various types of UK properties.
In effect we are at about 3.5 (ha!) on the above - if you want to get a heat pump today, not every jobbing plumber can just slap one on the wall.
I think we are not far off - but 2025 is too early to demand that everyone switches over.
The other consideration is using electric boost on some installations. So if someone here wants to be able to get a 60c bath at his neighbours house, he can trigger the turbo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4RHOrtxIis&t=86s
But you know that. stop wasting pixels.
Pembrokeshire is far better, or the Lleyn peninsula. But if you do the SWCP, do it in winter. It's a different experience.
The march on Congress was the culmination of a planned and energetically pursued coup d'etat (let's call it for what it was). The serious stuff happened before the mob was let loose.
That the coup failed depended entirely on Mike Pence doing the right thing. Cometh the hour , cometh the man. He should get more recognition than he does.
Just a coil of plastic pipe that will live longer than you will.
I mean, you can still take a dim view of what he probably did in that case, but he's not been convicted of anything to date.
You are in a permanent state of “red scare”, or whatever the Brexity version of that is.
Sure, some people don't mind cycling to work in the cold and rain, and changing at work when they get there, but most do not.
Saying that proportionately more people do so in The Netherlands, so the concerns are unwarranted, isn't going to meaningfully shift the dial back in the UK where topography, infrastructure, commuting patterns - and even climate, at times - are all very different.
Last night, I saw a chap getting on his electric bike. Weird thing - looked like some one had built an electric version of the Welbike, then converted it into a chopper. Complete with a huge set of monkey bars. License plate, and he was wearing a proper helmet.
He took off down the segregated bike lane, though.
That seems wrong.
It’s not healthy to be so dyspeptic so early in the morning.
PS I said “littoral” not “literal”.
But I understand South Devon is also popular, and was where my Brummie ancestors holidayed.
Fenster: ......They treat me like a criminal. I'll end up a criminal.
Hockney: You are a criminal.
Fenster: Why you gotta go and do that? I'm trying to make a point.
And cycle and public transport provision is brilliant for drivers - means they are much less likely to get caught up in traffic. Great for commercial users, disabled folk, emergency services!
Even somewhere rural like Moray, only just over half of people commute by car. If all those non-drivers suddenly took to the road...eek!
Sure, some people don't mind cycling to work in the cold and rain, and changing at work when they get there, but most do not.
Saying that proportionately Sometimes you come on here and make interesting and insightful comments, and sometimes you come on here just to have a good fart.
At the moment, and for the last 2 days, you've just been having a good fart.
So expect people to engage with that accordingly until the rational part of your brain takes over again.
And the ask is to change the infrastructure, not simply accept it as fact. Much infrastructure is still a legacy of 1950s and 60s thinking about the role of cars versus other forms of transport.
In turn, commuting patterns follow travel infrastructure.
Wow. That's thousands and thousands of miles.
So a few thousand demonstrators decide to implement a coup detat by taking on the worlds largest military and turning up to a gun fight with some placards and exotic head gear. And they decide to take control of one of the worlds largest countries by only couping in one location.
That doesnt sound great organisation does it ?
Doctor heal thyself!
I merely call out obtuseness and some posters don’t like it. Moreover, my freely acknowledging that I was not born in Britain nor currently reside there adds insult to injury.
You can massively increase spare capacity on the roads by taking cars off them.
Add extra cycling provision - *NEW* cycling provision not at the expense of existing roads - and you’ll have both happy cyclists and happy drivers.
Dan Quayle - the Second Founding Father. Who knew....
Should add. Many people in America share your dismissive take towards the institution of democracy. That's why it's in such a bad place.
Cars are still given far too much priority in general road design patterns, but getting from one end of London to another has become far too onerous.
It’s tricky.
Its not all a Power Play...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Play_(1978_film)
You've got it flat wrong. The 33bn is actually the SG estimate of the cost of upgrading *all buildings, public and private*, to a good standard of heating and energy efficiency. Not heat pumps specifically. All methods. Against that, you need to spend money anyway on renewing systems in the normal course, when they wear out, and on wasted energy. It's like my ink tank printer. It cost more to buy but has proved a huge saving over normal cartridge printers before long.
Those are, also, proposals for *discussion*. Mr Harvie has his views. Of course, you have yours and always say SG Baaad - but look at the targets your preferred UK government has set. Pro rata, that's about 55K heat pumps per year in Scotland, for maybe 1m houses for which they are suitable. That implies somethging of the order of complete fitout with heat pumps of that part of the housing stock within 20 years. That is the sort of timescale on which heating systems are replaced anyway. Of course, it is subject to exactly the practical considerations we've been constructivcely discussing elsewhere on PB. But it makes reasonable sense on current information (heat pumps aren't doing well, partly cos of crap fitting, but are improving).
You're saying "look at the nasty SNP-SGs, they're making concrete proposals to conform to the nice UKG's targets! How baaad of them!".
It's always nicer to find an everybody wins, straight away solution. But managing situations where there isn't one is where statesmen earn their pennies.
You aren't going to get lots of people peddling into the City from Thurrock or Hayes and they'd be fairly mad to do so. Commuting patterns follow economic geography and that can't be changed by a few extra cycle lanes.
What the UK likes to do is competitive recreational road cycling and family cycling in parks and forests at weekends. Commuter cycling is largely localised to professional men in their 30s-50s running to the local station or urban transit within metropolitan areas of big cities.
Most people who do the coast take ferries, and it is ~4,500 miles. I did a load of extras as well, including the three highest mountains, Anglesey, Arran (ferry over, walked around island, then back to the mainland at the same point I left), and towards the end I extended it a fair bit by following rivers further inland.
An experience of a lifetime. Although I would love to do it again and see what has changed over the years.
I'm keen for an urban/rural tax system for motoring, making it much cheaper for people in remote areas who depend on them (about 17% of us).
In addition, Trump Organization, his business, has been found guilty of 17 criminal charges and lost other civil cases. His charity, the Donald J Trump Foundation, was found guilty of various charges.
It took me and my friends over a decade just to complete the SWCP!
Maybe talk to them and you will understand things better.
Rishi Sunak enters a pub for a photo opportunity re tax changes
Orders a pint (thats dropped 1p in tax) and a bag of crisps
Barman says we have Salt & Vinegar or Plain
Rishi quips i will have Salt & Vinegar as plane is how i am getting home in about 30 seconds
Stand at the junction of Southwark Bridge and the Embankment and see the frequency of bikes (especially between 10am and 4pm) on the CS while looking at the static traffic both eastwards and westwards.
We have the facilities. We don't have the weather (oh but Amsterdam), nor the inclination or perhaps culture.
Now of course that can change. Just like Leon's decadal change for car ownership. But right now it ain't there and isn't likely to be in the foreseeable future.