This is the sort of story that needs putting through the lens of politics. Take the name out of the story, then turn it to be someone you dislike. Would you still view it so favourably?
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
"I'd go for a walk, but not if I have to walk there first."
Lol!
Well if I want to go for a 5 mile walk through the forest I am certainly not going to first walk 3 miles there and then 3 miles back. I don't see why you find that odd in the least. The point in doing it is not in going for a walk in the first place the point is exploring woodlands, seeing wildlife, finding edible shrooms and wild growing herbs etc. The hiking part is secondary
First song ever to debut at #1 in the US from an artist with no record label. No promotion for it at all, just word of mouth. Brilliant to see cultural moments like that.
See also the film “Sound of Freedom”, which is one of the top films of the summer in the US, made on a tiny budget.
Both are alt-right nutjob affairs.
So the far-left nutjobs have been saying.
Do you believe large numbers of children are being abducted by organised sex traffickers who control the media?
I think it unlikely, although the truth about the prevalence of child sex abuse, and the willingness of people in authority to turn a blind eye to it, is already sufficiently disturbing.
I suspect child sex abuse is much less common than it was when I was young.
There was a woodwork teacher at my old school, who had had to leave the local girls school for bringing girls back to his home and taking nude photos of them. This wasn't considered a problem at the local mixed comprehensive.
Why is it always the woodwork teachers?
Language and chemistry departments at my old school. Couple of them ended up with ten year sentences.
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would be an economic black hole. Nor will in my opinion most people in britain get on a bike. I am fairly typical of most people I know that way....we hated riding a bike when we were a kid and we aren't going to get on one now.
Take away peoples cars and most will end up doing what I do which is not bother going out unless I absolutely have to. All those clubs will end up shutting down due to lack of members therefore and all the country pubs and restaurants. The country will end up a bunch of virtual hermits because going anywhere you want to go if its not the town centre is just to damn hard.
About 10% of the population cycle and it has remained stationary pretty much over the last 5 years. A lot of those 6.5 million will no doubt be kids
Most people just dont want to cycle no matter how many cycle lanes you put in. We just don't bloody enjoy it
Is there a British anti-cycling gene? Or a Dutch cycling one?
Even in holland "Cycling has a modal share of 27% of all trips (urban and rural) nationwide." and "36% of Dutch people listing the bicycle as their most frequent way of getting around on a typical day". Sure make your cycle paths and maybe you might get up to that though I frankly doubt it. But lets assume you do....your active travel bugbear covers 27% of journeys only and 36% of people. For the rest, a mere two thirds of the country, once you have got your way and banned private cars will be stuck in and end up like me going out only when its within easy walking distance or I have no choice and have to deal with public transport. But I guess thats ok for the active travel zealots like you....less pedestrians in your way
Zealots here fall for a romanticised myth of what the Netherlands have done, rather than the reality.
Reality is the Netherlands have, quite rightly, invested for decades in improving roads for both cars and for cyclists. They've never stopped constructing more roads.
Build more roads, capacity improves, congestion eases, and people can take their preferred mode of transportation whether it be cycling or driving. The Dutch do both, with pleasure, because they invest in roads.
In this country people have fallen for the myth of induced demand and think that investing in critical infrastructure like roads is a problem.
The Netherlands has 332km of roads per 100km^2 The UK has 175km of roads per 100km^2
We have less than half the infrastructure they have. Then people wonder why we don't have the mobility the Dutch have?
Well, at least it means the British Empire has a space programme.
Just such a shame they didn't use the Blue Streak (now basically two old boosters in Leicester and near Edinburgh, a test stand in Spadeadam, and the launch site near Woomera, and that's it I think).
Blue Streak and the rest were dead ends. British rocketry went down some weird ideas in the 60s.
Ironically, a DeHavilland proposal for a 2 stager, LOX/Kero, same engines both stages, just more on the first stage, was dropped as “technically not interesting”.
I was in Portsmouth not so long ago. The Mary Rose and HMS Victory are deservedly famous. The rest is an embarassment, including the bathetic Spinnaker Tower.
In theory, Hampshire has a great coastline. (I am currently on the beach on the other side of the Channel) but the actualité is profoundly crap.
I quite like the Spinnaker Tower. Queen Victoria would have had an excellent view from Osborn.
I quite like Portsmouth, often a socialist oasis in a Tory desert.
Rest is an embarrassment, says GW? Warrior is very fine, Portsmouth Point has a lot of its character still, and there is a lot of great C18 and C19 nautical architecture in the Dockyard, along the Gosport seafront, and so on. And a lot to be said for the Emsworth/Bosham/Chichester sector.
Though it did get bombed by H. Goering and the planners, esp, in the central area, itd doesn't feel as mauled as Devonport.
Portsmouth reminds me of what happened to Birmingham. Fallen Victorian splendour collides with a cheap post war rebuild. But going west along the coast after you have left all the tenament block and car dealerships is very pleasant. Coventry Cathedral in a single building sums up such an unfortunate British mash-up.
The German towns that the war went through are understandably modern in the centre, but mostly they’ve done a pretty good job in recreating them as attractive places to live. Perhaps because they got started on it early, whereas in Britain we waited until the 60s and 70s when brutalist architecture and providing for cars were all the rage?
Cologne cathedral was painstakingly rebuilt to its former glory. If I recall it took them into the 1970s to complete.
I believe the idea of the new modernist Coventry cathedral rising phoenix-like from the ashes of the old, was a nice idea at the time. In these years of the new austerity it seems like just a symbol that we like to do everything on the cheap.
Cologne cathedral was started in 1248. When it was completed to the original plans in 1880 it was briefly the tallest building in the world. I think repairs to war damage were completed in the 50s - the cathedral was the only building left standing in a city that had had a prewar population of 770000
In 1954 I went to Austria on a school trip, and we went by train. (Apart from the Channel crossing of course!) On the way back we went through Cologne in the early evening and I was standing in the corridor talking to a German who told me about the cathedral being the first important building reconstructed. Everything around it reminded me of London’s East End…..ruins.
It's a better option than cloning a numberplate, at least when they get around to enforcing against cloned numberplates.
There was money to be made in the 2000s exporting late model Rover Minis to the USA on pre-1976 V5Cs. Replacement stamped VINs and engine numbers could be purchased with proof of log book. They were often sold as "1969 Austin Mini 1000 restored to (1999) Mini 40 specification". Presumably that is how it works in London. Highly, highly illegal over here though.
The US classic car import rule, is that any car that wasn’t originally sold there (and therefore not type approved in the US at the time) must be 25 years old. Canada has a similar rule, but with 15 years as the cutoff. It’s always worth looking at things that are about to become importable to the US, as their value often rises. Especially Japanese cars.
There’s always been all sorts of scams that involve switching VINs, usually from a wrecked or scrapped car, to either a stolen car or one that’s short of paperwork.
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would be an economic black hole. Nor will in my opinion most people in britain get on a bike. I am fairly typical of most people I know that way....we hated riding a bike when we were a kid and we aren't going to get on one now.
Take away peoples cars and most will end up doing what I do which is not bother going out unless I absolutely have to. All those clubs will end up shutting down due to lack of members therefore and all the country pubs and restaurants. The country will end up a bunch of virtual hermits because going anywhere you want to go if its not the town centre is just to damn hard.
About 10% of the population cycle and it has remained stationary pretty much over the last 5 years. A lot of those 6.5 million will no doubt be kids
Most people just dont want to cycle no matter how many cycle lanes you put in. We just don't bloody enjoy it
Is there a British anti-cycling gene? Or a Dutch cycling one?
There's a Dutch cycling myth.
The primary mode of transportation in the Netherlands is cars. 200bn km a year are driven by the Dutch, more than ten times what they cycle.
Even Dutch cycling barely scratches the surface of driving. It's an option, and they've done well by building both more roads and cycle paths, so separating cars from bikes. Exactly as I propose and you oppose.
Mileage is a silly measure given we are talking about reducing short journeys (less than 10km).
I think longer journeys should be reduced somewhat by public transport (HS2, buses etc), but they will remain predominantly done by car, as they are in the Netherlands.
I've already explained this to you. Repeatedly.
Yes and even in the Netherlands most short journeys are by car.
But people who want to cycle can. Aided by decades of investment in roads. Investment you oppose in this country.
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would be an economic black hole. Nor will in my opinion most people in britain get on a bike. I am fairly typical of most people I know that way....we hated riding a bike when we were a kid and we aren't going to get on one now.
Take away peoples cars and most will end up doing what I do which is not bother going out unless I absolutely have to. All those clubs will end up shutting down due to lack of members therefore and all the country pubs and restaurants. The country will end up a bunch of virtual hermits because going anywhere you want to go if its not the town centre is just to damn hard.
About 10% of the population cycle and it has remained stationary pretty much over the last 5 years. A lot of those 6.5 million will no doubt be kids
Most people just dont want to cycle no matter how many cycle lanes you put in. We just don't bloody enjoy it
Is there a British anti-cycling gene? Or a Dutch cycling one?
Even in holland "Cycling has a modal share of 27% of all trips (urban and rural) nationwide." and "36% of Dutch people listing the bicycle as their most frequent way of getting around on a typical day". Sure make your cycle paths and maybe you might get up to that though I frankly doubt it. But lets assume you do....your active travel bugbear covers 27% of journeys only and 36% of people. For the rest, a mere two thirds of the country, once you have got your way and banned private cars will be stuck in and end up like me going out only when its within easy walking distance or I have no choice and have to deal with public transport. But I guess thats ok for the active travel zealots like you....less pedestrians in your way
Zealots here fall for a romanticised myth of what the Netherlands have done, rather than the reality.
Reality is the Netherlands have, quite rightly, invested for decades in improving roads for both cars and for cyclists. They've never stopped constructing more roads.
Build more roads, capacity improves, congestion eases, and people can take their preferred mode of transportation whether it be cycling or driving. The Dutch do both, with pleasure, because they invest in roads.
In this country people have fallen for the myth of induced demand and think that investing in critical infrastructure like roads is a problem.
The Netherlands has 332km of roads per 100km^2 The UK has 175km of roads per 100km^2
We have less than half the infrastructure they have. Then people wonder why we don't have the mobility the Dutch have?
Invest in roads and boost mobility.
You're comparing apples with oranges. The Netherlands has around twice the population density of the UK, so you'd expect it to have around twice the road density.
There's actually very little difference in strategy. The Biden strategy is a 'beggar thy neighbour' strategy too, aimed at shoring up the US's economy often at the expense of everyone else's.
The Biden strategy is focused, requires some joined-up thinking and is positive in spirit. The Trump 'strategy' is illiterate, negative and petty. In the policy is the man.
Forgive me if I don't find it particularly positive that 'The Biden Strategy' of a massive debt-funded stimulus caused rampant worldwide inflation even before anything happened in Ukraine.
Ah so you prefer your debt funded stimulus going on the military and tax cuts for the wealthy rather than investment into green growth and infrastructure. No accounting for taste.
First song ever to debut at #1 in the US from an artist with no record label. No promotion for it at all, just word of mouth. Brilliant to see cultural moments like that.
See also the film “Sound of Freedom”, which is one of the top films of the summer in the US, made on a tiny budget.
Both are alt-right nutjob affairs.
So the far-left nutjobs have been saying.
Do you believe large numbers of children are being abducted by organised sex traffickers who control the media?
Exhibit 1: Jeffery Epstein.
It was a weird conspiracy theory, until it turned out to be completely true.
It's interesting to see the right already disavow this guy online for saying that diversity is a strength in the US.
On the "organised sex traffickers who control the media" conspiracy and whether it is "completely true" - the way the right view child abuse is obviously conspiratorial. Child abuse primarily happens in the family or a familial community (many denominations of churches or boy scouts of America). The Epstein example (and the examples in the UK of high power / rich men who abuse children such as Saville or MPs) show the rarer side of child abuse that still shows the nature of abuse - typically men, typically rich or in a position of powerful and typically above scrutiny. That could describe Epstein OR your local catholic priest. In the boy scouts of America the issue was the organisation itself didn't want oversight, that much of the labour is done by volunteers and (like the church) the desire for "male role models" in a world where some men consider that "under fire" meant a desire to move people around who were credibly accused of child abuse, rather than actually dealing with the problem.
The right wing need to put more emphasis of the Epstein's of the world because much of the right depends on the importance of the family (and the patriarch specifically) as well as the importance of the church, or organisations like the boy scouts. It is also why those people point at LGBTQ+ and gender non conforming / trans people specifically as groomers despite evidence against that; because those are external threats to right wing notions of family and masculinity and the things they actually uphold as good examples of those are the more evidenced threat to children.
Just because there’s lots of stepfathers, scoutmasters, and priests, that turn out to be abusers, doesn’t also mean that there isn’t Epstein and his group of wealthly friends.
Not just stepfathers - biological fathers too.
The point is not that wealthy people are not abusers - of course they can be, and the power and wealth they have indeed typically protects them from being imprisoned for that.
It's just that the vast majority of child abuse happens within the family or the local community. Just like most sexual assault of adults is by people the victim knows rather than strangers - sexual assault and child abuse is not predominantly an issue with wealthy people (although that tends to be more organised) and is much more an issue of men with power and little oversight - which also includes a lot of fathers, priests, scoutmasters and other men in community.
What Epstein did was bad, and the structure of his organisation and links to other wealthy men shows a culture that accepts child abuse. But that structure is similar to how all abusers work - just at a different scale. They use their position of power over others to abuse them, they inculcate themselves from consequences by putting others in positions where they could be implicated or finding like minded individuals, they use their power within other structures to protect themselves and they make sure that they are indispensable to those who have the ability to provide consequences. Epstein did this via his wealth - getting in to positions where other people (whether they were involved in the abuse or not) relied on his continued freedom to benefit. His social circle, his community, involved a lot of other rich and powerful people, so implicating them protected himself.
When a father or priest is an abuser, similar tactics are used. They may be the main earner in the household, or a trusted community leader. They will obviously have opportunities to show themselves to be responsible adults and trusted and know significant personal things about others who could notice the abuse. They will have relationships with other figures of authority (their wife, the other adults in the family, other priests, other community leaders).
To focus so heavily on Epstein or Prince Andrew or even Saville is to miss the forest for the trees. They do the same things all abusers do, at a different scale because they have access to that specific social status. But they do not make up a significant number of abuse cases - because child abuse and sexual abuse are so endemic to society.
It is well noted, for example, that when Freud started his work he originally wanted to express how many patients were coming to him with examples of abuse from within the family / community but felt that he could not raise that publicly at the time because society at large would not believe it was so common, so instead he designed talking therapy to deal with the symptom (trauma in his patients) rather than deal with the cause (rampant sexual abuse predominantly by men, predominantly within the family).
Which is all completely right. My original point was rebuking the idea that wealthly and connected people being involved in sex trafficing was a “QAnon conspiracy theory”, when Gislaine Maxwell is in prison for exactly that.
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would be an economic black hole. Nor will in my opinion most people in britain get on a bike. I am fairly typical of most people I know that way....we hated riding a bike when we were a kid and we aren't going to get on one now.
Take away peoples cars and most will end up doing what I do which is not bother going out unless I absolutely have to. All those clubs will end up shutting down due to lack of members therefore and all the country pubs and restaurants. The country will end up a bunch of virtual hermits because going anywhere you want to go if its not the town centre is just to damn hard.
About 10% of the population cycle and it has remained stationary pretty much over the last 5 years. A lot of those 6.5 million will no doubt be kids
Most people just dont want to cycle no matter how many cycle lanes you put in. We just don't bloody enjoy it
Is there a British anti-cycling gene? Or a Dutch cycling one?
There's a Dutch cycling myth.
The primary mode of transportation in the Netherlands is cars. 200bn km a year are driven by the Dutch, more than ten times what they cycle.
Even Dutch cycling barely scratches the surface of driving. It's an option, and they've done well by building both more roads and cycle paths, so separating cars from bikes. Exactly as I propose and you oppose.
Mileage is a silly measure given we are talking about reducing short journeys (less than 10km).
I think longer journeys should be reduced somewhat by public transport (HS2, buses etc), but they will remain predominantly done by car, as they are in the Netherlands.
I've already explained this to you. Repeatedly.
Yes and even in the Netherlands most short journeys are by car.
But people who want to cycle can. Aided by decades of investment in roads. Investment you oppose in this country.
Have you been to the Netherlands? It's covered by fully segregated cycle lanes. That's why so many short journeys are done by bike. People feel safe. That's the investment that is needed.
You remind me of those zero-covid people, unable or unwilling to consider the impact of your policy on people who wish to live a different kind of life to you.
This is the sort of story that needs putting through the lens of politics. Take the name out of the story, then turn it to be someone you dislike. Would you still view it so favourably?
(This is a general comment.)
Ooh that Boris Johnson what a good old boy! Seven kids and counting. He's catnip to the ladies.
'Ere have you seen that ginger slapper, had a kid as a schoolgirl and raving like a teenager in Shagaluf. Disgusting!
I may be wrong, but somehow Angela's antics would appear to cause less heartache than Boris's.
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would be an economic black hole. Nor will in my opinion most people in britain get on a bike. I am fairly typical of most people I know that way....we hated riding a bike when we were a kid and we aren't going to get on one now.
Take away peoples cars and most will end up doing what I do which is not bother going out unless I absolutely have to. All those clubs will end up shutting down due to lack of members therefore and all the country pubs and restaurants. The country will end up a bunch of virtual hermits because going anywhere you want to go if its not the town centre is just to damn hard.
About 10% of the population cycle and it has remained stationary pretty much over the last 5 years. A lot of those 6.5 million will no doubt be kids
Most people just dont want to cycle no matter how many cycle lanes you put in. We just don't bloody enjoy it
Is there a British anti-cycling gene? Or a Dutch cycling one?
Even in holland "Cycling has a modal share of 27% of all trips (urban and rural) nationwide." and "36% of Dutch people listing the bicycle as their most frequent way of getting around on a typical day". Sure make your cycle paths and maybe you might get up to that though I frankly doubt it. But lets assume you do....your active travel bugbear covers 27% of journeys only and 36% of people. For the rest, a mere two thirds of the country, once you have got your way and banned private cars will be stuck in and end up like me going out only when its within easy walking distance or I have no choice and have to deal with public transport. But I guess thats ok for the active travel zealots like you....less pedestrians in your way
Zealots here fall for a romanticised myth of what the Netherlands have done, rather than the reality.
Reality is the Netherlands have, quite rightly, invested for decades in improving roads for both cars and for cyclists. They've never stopped constructing more roads.
Build more roads, capacity improves, congestion eases, and people can take their preferred mode of transportation whether it be cycling or driving. The Dutch do both, with pleasure, because they invest in roads.
In this country people have fallen for the myth of induced demand and think that investing in critical infrastructure like roads is a problem.
The Netherlands has 332km of roads per 100km^2 The UK has 175km of roads per 100km^2
We have less than half the infrastructure they have. Then people wonder why we don't have the mobility the Dutch have?
Invest in roads and boost mobility.
You're comparing apples with oranges. The Netherlands has around twice the population density as the UK, so you'd expect it to have around twice the road density.
Population density of holland 522 square km population density of england 434 square km
Hardly double
Using those figures an equivalent road density would be holland having 210.5 km of road
It's a better option than cloning a numberplate, at least when they get around to enforcing against cloned numberplates.
There needs to be a move to stamped numberplates, otherwise the cloning problem is going to get way out of hand, with thousands of innocent people caught up. I’ve said before that everyone needs to customise in some minor way the front and rear of their car, because when the local authority has a photo of your car - with your numberplate - in court, it’s going to be for you to try and prove it’s not your car.
Personally I think we are already at the out of control stage, as for illegal motorbikes and antisocial parking to name two more. If a problem is not dealt with when unusual, it becomes a de facto option.
On cloned numberplates I have seen numbers from 10k to 50k offences committed (ie presumably detected) per annum, and up to 4 million number plates being cloned (various press articles),
I think that tightening up the supply chain for number plates is part of the answer to that, and as you saying going for some form of high security plate. That would reduce the issue to a small problem amongst the criminal set. The strategy also offers a means to apply a control to illegal motorbikes - make pre-sale registration a requirement.
As it stands to derestrict a Surron from 30mph to 50+mph, all that has to be done is cutting one sticking out loop of wire. And those two teenage lads in Ely, Cardiff killed themselves with one that had been a present from a parent.
"A military judge has said RAF officers must stop exposing themselves to female colleagues, describing such behaviour as arrogant, juvenile, immature and not funny."
Recall the two most memorable pieces of advice given by (circa 1930) manual for US Navy junior officers and sailors:
> Any polite request by a superior ("Please avoid ramming the dock yet again") is an ORDER and must be obeyed, unless illegal ("Keelhaul the chaplain, if you please").
> In social situations, attention MUST be paid and priority given, to OLDER women who should NOT be ignored or slighted in favor of younger and (presumably) more attractive ladies. ("Of course, madam, please tell me more about the admiral's struggles with his lumbago" as opposed to, "Hey, cutie, get a load of THIS!")
I am always amused by people who are desperate to park as close as possible to the door of the gym in order to minimise their walk before getting on the treadmill.
This is the sort of story that needs putting through the lens of politics. Take the name out of the story, then turn it to be someone you dislike. Would you still view it so favourably?
(This is a general comment.)
Yes.
(Was I supposed to say that?)
No harm in that. But beyond ourselves, I think JosiasJessop's test is reasonable, as I really don't think it's stretching credibility to suggest a more general reaction would, at the least, not be seen as favourably by the same people. It's hardly controversial to notice that people forgive or condemn things based on whether they like a figure.
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would be an economic black hole. Nor will in my opinion most people in britain get on a bike. I am fairly typical of most people I know that way....we hated riding a bike when we were a kid and we aren't going to get on one now.
Take away peoples cars and most will end up doing what I do which is not bother going out unless I absolutely have to. All those clubs will end up shutting down due to lack of members therefore and all the country pubs and restaurants. The country will end up a bunch of virtual hermits because going anywhere you want to go if its not the town centre is just to damn hard.
About 10% of the population cycle and it has remained stationary pretty much over the last 5 years. A lot of those 6.5 million will no doubt be kids
Most people just dont want to cycle no matter how many cycle lanes you put in. We just don't bloody enjoy it
Is there a British anti-cycling gene? Or a Dutch cycling one?
There's a Dutch cycling myth.
The primary mode of transportation in the Netherlands is cars. 200bn km a year are driven by the Dutch, more than ten times what they cycle.
Even Dutch cycling barely scratches the surface of driving. It's an option, and they've done well by building both more roads and cycle paths, so separating cars from bikes. Exactly as I propose and you oppose.
Mileage is a silly measure given we are talking about reducing short journeys (less than 10km).
I think longer journeys should be reduced somewhat by public transport (HS2, buses etc), but they will remain predominantly done by car, as they are in the Netherlands.
I've already explained this to you. Repeatedly.
Yes and even in the Netherlands most short journeys are by car.
But people who want to cycle can. Aided by decades of investment in roads. Investment you oppose in this country.
Have you been to the Netherlands? It's covered by fully segregated cycle lanes. That's why so many short journeys are done by bike. People feel safe. That's the investment that is needed.
You remind me of those zero-covid people, unable or unwilling to consider the impact of your policy on people who wish to live a different kind of life to you.
But yet still despite that and the netherlands being pretty flat compared to the uk 64% of them dont choose to cycle as their main mode of transport.
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would be an economic black hole. Nor will in my opinion most people in britain get on a bike. I am fairly typical of most people I know that way....we hated riding a bike when we were a kid and we aren't going to get on one now.
Take away peoples cars and most will end up doing what I do which is not bother going out unless I absolutely have to. All those clubs will end up shutting down due to lack of members therefore and all the country pubs and restaurants. The country will end up a bunch of virtual hermits because going anywhere you want to go if its not the town centre is just to damn hard.
About 10% of the population cycle and it has remained stationary pretty much over the last 5 years. A lot of those 6.5 million will no doubt be kids
Most people just dont want to cycle no matter how many cycle lanes you put in. We just don't bloody enjoy it
Is there a British anti-cycling gene? Or a Dutch cycling one?
Even in holland "Cycling has a modal share of 27% of all trips (urban and rural) nationwide." and "36% of Dutch people listing the bicycle as their most frequent way of getting around on a typical day". Sure make your cycle paths and maybe you might get up to that though I frankly doubt it. But lets assume you do....your active travel bugbear covers 27% of journeys only and 36% of people. For the rest, a mere two thirds of the country, once you have got your way and banned private cars will be stuck in and end up like me going out only when its within easy walking distance or I have no choice and have to deal with public transport. But I guess thats ok for the active travel zealots like you....less pedestrians in your way
Zealots here fall for a romanticised myth of what the Netherlands have done, rather than the reality.
Reality is the Netherlands have, quite rightly, invested for decades in improving roads for both cars and for cyclists. They've never stopped constructing more roads.
Build more roads, capacity improves, congestion eases, and people can take their preferred mode of transportation whether it be cycling or driving. The Dutch do both, with pleasure, because they invest in roads.
In this country people have fallen for the myth of induced demand and think that investing in critical infrastructure like roads is a problem.
The Netherlands has 332km of roads per 100km^2 The UK has 175km of roads per 100km^2
We have less than half the infrastructure they have. Then people wonder why we don't have the mobility the Dutch have?
Invest in roads and boost mobility.
You're comparing apples with oranges. The Netherlands has around twice the population density of the UK, so you'd expect it to have around twice the road density.
Not really as there's economies of scale. If I drive 20 miles through the countryside with no towns, or 20 miles past 6 towns, then either way I've done same mileage on same amount of road.
Plus English density is reasonably comparable actually.
It's a better option than cloning a numberplate, at least when they get around to enforcing against cloned numberplates.
There needs to be a move to stamped numberplates, otherwise the cloning problem is going to get way out of hand, with thousands of innocent people caught up. I’ve said before that everyone needs to customise in some minor way the front and rear of their car, because when the local authority has a photo of your car - with your numberplate - in court, it’s going to be for you to try and prove it’s not your car.
Personally I think we are already at the out of control stage, as for illegal motorbikes and antisocial parking to name two more. If a problem is not dealt with when unusual, it becomes a de facto option.
On cloned numberplates I have seen numbers from 10k to 50k offences committed (ie presumably detected) per annum, and up to 4 million number plates being cloned (various press articles),
I think that tightening up the supply chain for number plates is part of the answer to that, and as you saying going for some form of high security plate. That would reduce the issue to a small problem amongst the criminal set. The strategy also offers a means to apply a control to illegal motorbikes - make pre-sale registration a requirement.
As it stands to derestrict a Surron from 30mph to 50+mph, all that has to be done is cutting one sticking out loop of wire. And those two teenage lads in Ely, Cardiff killed themselves with one that had been a present from a parent.
Apparently there are over 1 million uninsured drivers too. Think that will just increase given the insurance premiums this year, which in turn increases the premiums next year.
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
"I'd go for a walk, but not if I have to walk there first."
Lol!
Well if I want to go for a 5 mile walk through the forest I am certainly not going to first walk 3 miles there and then 3 miles back. I don't see why you find that odd in the least. The point in doing it is not in going for a walk in the first place the point is exploring woodlands, seeing wildlife, finding edible shrooms and wild growing herbs etc. The hiking part is secondary
I think the example of not wanting to park too far away at the gym is a reasonable one, given the difference is likely to be a few hundred year at best so what on earth are people bothering for, but would agree that it's very limiting to try specific walks if it is not really possible to travel there other than walking. I'd like to try out some more rights of way, but that would essentially require doubling my general walking length, and I don't always have the time for that.
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would be an economic black hole. Nor will in my opinion most people in britain get on a bike. I am fairly typical of most people I know that way....we hated riding a bike when we were a kid and we aren't going to get on one now.
Take away peoples cars and most will end up doing what I do which is not bother going out unless I absolutely have to. All those clubs will end up shutting down due to lack of members therefore and all the country pubs and restaurants. The country will end up a bunch of virtual hermits because going anywhere you want to go if its not the town centre is just to damn hard.
About 10% of the population cycle and it has remained stationary pretty much over the last 5 years. A lot of those 6.5 million will no doubt be kids
Most people just dont want to cycle no matter how many cycle lanes you put in. We just don't bloody enjoy it
Is there a British anti-cycling gene? Or a Dutch cycling one?
Even in holland "Cycling has a modal share of 27% of all trips (urban and rural) nationwide." and "36% of Dutch people listing the bicycle as their most frequent way of getting around on a typical day". Sure make your cycle paths and maybe you might get up to that though I frankly doubt it. But lets assume you do....your active travel bugbear covers 27% of journeys only and 36% of people. For the rest, a mere two thirds of the country, once you have got your way and banned private cars will be stuck in and end up like me going out only when its within easy walking distance or I have no choice and have to deal with public transport. But I guess thats ok for the active travel zealots like you....less pedestrians in your way
Zealots here fall for a romanticised myth of what the Netherlands have done, rather than the reality.
Reality is the Netherlands have, quite rightly, invested for decades in improving roads for both cars and for cyclists. They've never stopped constructing more roads.
Build more roads, capacity improves, congestion eases, and people can take their preferred mode of transportation whether it be cycling or driving. The Dutch do both, with pleasure, because they invest in roads.
In this country people have fallen for the myth of induced demand and think that investing in critical infrastructure like roads is a problem.
The Netherlands has 332km of roads per 100km^2 The UK has 175km of roads per 100km^2
We have less than half the infrastructure they have. Then people wonder why we don't have the mobility the Dutch have?
Invest in roads and boost mobility.
You're comparing apples with oranges. The Netherlands has around twice the population density as the UK, so you'd expect it to have around twice the road density.
Population density of holland 522 square km population density of england 434 square km
Hardly double
Using those figures an equivalent road density would be holland having 210.5 km of road
Barty was comparing the UK and the Netherlands. As you'd expect, England has a far greater road density that the UK as a whole, probably comparable to that of the Netherlands.
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would be an economic black hole. Nor will in my opinion most people in britain get on a bike. I am fairly typical of most people I know that way....we hated riding a bike when we were a kid and we aren't going to get on one now.
Take away peoples cars and most will end up doing what I do which is not bother going out unless I absolutely have to. All those clubs will end up shutting down due to lack of members therefore and all the country pubs and restaurants. The country will end up a bunch of virtual hermits because going anywhere you want to go if its not the town centre is just to damn hard.
About 10% of the population cycle and it has remained stationary pretty much over the last 5 years. A lot of those 6.5 million will no doubt be kids
Most people just dont want to cycle no matter how many cycle lanes you put in. We just don't bloody enjoy it
Is there a British anti-cycling gene? Or a Dutch cycling one?
There's a Dutch cycling myth.
The primary mode of transportation in the Netherlands is cars. 200bn km a year are driven by the Dutch, more than ten times what they cycle.
Even Dutch cycling barely scratches the surface of driving. It's an option, and they've done well by building both more roads and cycle paths, so separating cars from bikes. Exactly as I propose and you oppose.
Mileage is a silly measure given we are talking about reducing short journeys (less than 10km).
I think longer journeys should be reduced somewhat by public transport (HS2, buses etc), but they will remain predominantly done by car, as they are in the Netherlands.
I've already explained this to you. Repeatedly.
Yes and even in the Netherlands most short journeys are by car.
But people who want to cycle can. Aided by decades of investment in roads. Investment you oppose in this country.
Have you been to the Netherlands? It's covered by fully segregated cycle lanes. That's why so many short journeys are done by bike. People feel safe. That's the investment that is needed.
You remind me of those zero-covid people, unable or unwilling to consider the impact of your policy on people who wish to live a different kind of life to you.
Excuse me - who has been repeatedly advocating the Dutch policy of building more roads with segregated cycle lanes?
I am always amused by people who are desperate to park as close as possible to the door of the gym in order to minimise their walk before getting on the treadmill.
"A Big Mac, large fries, apple pie and a diet coke please"
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would be an economic black hole. Nor will in my opinion most people in britain get on a bike. I am fairly typical of most people I know that way....we hated riding a bike when we were a kid and we aren't going to get on one now.
Take away peoples cars and most will end up doing what I do which is not bother going out unless I absolutely have to. All those clubs will end up shutting down due to lack of members therefore and all the country pubs and restaurants. The country will end up a bunch of virtual hermits because going anywhere you want to go if its not the town centre is just to damn hard.
About 10% of the population cycle and it has remained stationary pretty much over the last 5 years. A lot of those 6.5 million will no doubt be kids
Most people just dont want to cycle no matter how many cycle lanes you put in. We just don't bloody enjoy it
Is there a British anti-cycling gene? Or a Dutch cycling one?
There's a Dutch cycling myth.
The primary mode of transportation in the Netherlands is cars. 200bn km a year are driven by the Dutch, more than ten times what they cycle.
Even Dutch cycling barely scratches the surface of driving. It's an option, and they've done well by building both more roads and cycle paths, so separating cars from bikes. Exactly as I propose and you oppose.
Mileage is a silly measure given we are talking about reducing short journeys (less than 10km).
I think longer journeys should be reduced somewhat by public transport (HS2, buses etc), but they will remain predominantly done by car, as they are in the Netherlands.
I've already explained this to you. Repeatedly.
Yes and even in the Netherlands most short journeys are by car.
But people who want to cycle can. Aided by decades of investment in roads. Investment you oppose in this country.
Have you been to the Netherlands? It's covered by fully segregated cycle lanes. That's why so many short journeys are done by bike. People feel safe. That's the investment that is needed.
You remind me of those zero-covid people, unable or unwilling to consider the impact of your policy on people who wish to live a different kind of life to you.
But yet still despite that and the netherlands being pretty flat compared to the uk 64% of them dont choose to cycle as their main mode of transport.
Nothing wrong with that! Driving is probably a lot easier given people doing shorter journeys are cycling instead. A new equilibrium is found, with life better for everyone.
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would be an economic black hole. Nor will in my opinion most people in britain get on a bike. I am fairly typical of most people I know that way....we hated riding a bike when we were a kid and we aren't going to get on one now.
Take away peoples cars and most will end up doing what I do which is not bother going out unless I absolutely have to. All those clubs will end up shutting down due to lack of members therefore and all the country pubs and restaurants. The country will end up a bunch of virtual hermits because going anywhere you want to go if its not the town centre is just to damn hard.
About 10% of the population cycle and it has remained stationary pretty much over the last 5 years. A lot of those 6.5 million will no doubt be kids
Most people just dont want to cycle no matter how many cycle lanes you put in. We just don't bloody enjoy it
Is there a British anti-cycling gene? Or a Dutch cycling one?
Even in holland "Cycling has a modal share of 27% of all trips (urban and rural) nationwide." and "36% of Dutch people listing the bicycle as their most frequent way of getting around on a typical day". Sure make your cycle paths and maybe you might get up to that though I frankly doubt it. But lets assume you do....your active travel bugbear covers 27% of journeys only and 36% of people. For the rest, a mere two thirds of the country, once you have got your way and banned private cars will be stuck in and end up like me going out only when its within easy walking distance or I have no choice and have to deal with public transport. But I guess thats ok for the active travel zealots like you....less pedestrians in your way
Zealots here fall for a romanticised myth of what the Netherlands have done, rather than the reality.
Reality is the Netherlands have, quite rightly, invested for decades in improving roads for both cars and for cyclists. They've never stopped constructing more roads.
Build more roads, capacity improves, congestion eases, and people can take their preferred mode of transportation whether it be cycling or driving. The Dutch do both, with pleasure, because they invest in roads.
In this country people have fallen for the myth of induced demand and think that investing in critical infrastructure like roads is a problem.
The Netherlands has 332km of roads per 100km^2 The UK has 175km of roads per 100km^2
We have less than half the infrastructure they have. Then people wonder why we don't have the mobility the Dutch have?
Invest in roads and boost mobility.
You're comparing apples with oranges. The Netherlands has around twice the population density of the UK, so you'd expect it to have around twice the road density.
Not really as there's economies of scale. If I drive 20 miles through the countryside with no towns, or 20 miles past 6 towns, then either way I've done same mileage on same amount of road.
Plus English density is reasonably comparable actually.
Yes, and no doubt you'll find that the road density of England is also comparable to that of the Netherlands.
Tom Tugendhat on Radio 4 blandly says that £2 billion of fraud in Iraq shows what a splendidly strong economy Iraq has developed. There's a man who will always find something nice to say about his hosts.
Yes, I can see this make sense, they obviously had no alternatives. Who is this content for? Anyone already on board with Russia doesn't need historical justifications for things.
I am always amused by people who are desperate to park as close as possible to the door of the gym in order to minimise their walk before getting on the treadmill.
Like Brighton on a beautiful day, like today. Thousands of people, mainly from out of town, decide to drive to the beach. And they want to park adjacent to the pier. But there's few places. As a result, we have gridlock on every good summer's day, as car fanatics spend the day in the car queuing or driving round and round trying to find a space, and getting irritable. Absolutely bonkers.
I guess the answer is to turn the beach into a multi-storey car park?
It's a better option than cloning a numberplate, at least when they get around to enforcing against cloned numberplates.
There needs to be a move to stamped numberplates, otherwise the cloning problem is going to get way out of hand, with thousands of innocent people caught up. I’ve said before that everyone needs to customise in some minor way the front and rear of their car, because when the local authority has a photo of your car - with your numberplate - in court, it’s going to be for you to try and prove it’s not your car.
Personally I think we are already at the out of control stage, as for illegal motorbikes and antisocial parking to name two more. If a problem is not dealt with when unusual, it becomes a de facto option.
On cloned numberplates I have seen numbers from 10k to 50k offences committed (ie presumably detected) per annum, and up to 4 million number plates being cloned (various press articles),
I think that tightening up the supply chain for number plates is part of the answer to that, and as you saying going for some form of high security plate. That would reduce the issue to a small problem amongst the criminal set. The strategy also offers a means to apply a control to illegal motorbikes - make pre-sale registration a requirement.
As it stands to derestrict a Surron from 30mph to 50+mph, all that has to be done is cutting one sticking out loop of wire. And those two teenage lads in Ely, Cardiff killed themselves with one that had been a present from a parent.
Apparently there are over 1 million uninsured drivers too. Think that will just increase given the insurance premiums this year, which in turn increases the premiums next year.
Might have a market failure on our hands.
How many of the uninsured drivers are on fake plates too? Will never be noticed until there’s an accident.
IIUI a car (with a genuine plate) that’s untaxed or uninsured will send an alarm to a police traffic car that passes it, and they’re pretty ruthless in confiscating them, telling the drivers to call a taxi.
It's a better option than cloning a numberplate, at least when they get around to enforcing against cloned numberplates.
There was money to be made in the 2000s exporting late model Rover Minis to the USA on pre-1976 V5Cs. Replacement stamped VINs and engine numbers could be purchased with proof of log book. They were often sold as "1969 Austin Mini 1000 restored to (1999) Mini 40 specification". Presumably that is how it works in London. Highly, highly illegal over here though.
The US classic car import rule, is that any car that wasn’t originally sold there (and therefore not type approved in the US at the time) must be 25 years old. Canada has a similar rule, but with 15 years as the cutoff. It’s always worth looking at things that are about to become importable to the US, as their value often rises. Especially Japanese cars.
There’s always been all sorts of scams that involve switching VINs, usually from a wrecked or scrapped car, to either a stolen car or one that’s short of paperwork.
You can buy early Mini Cooper and Cooper S V5 logbooks on eBay from time to time for £500-£1000. With a heritage shell and all the repro stuff available from Mini Sport and Mini Spares you could probably make your own "original" for £25 grand and it's worth £50k plus. E-types and MGCs too (MGB wouldn't realise the value). Of course an Escort Twin Cam, Mexico or RS2000 logbook and a basket case Escort 1100 2 door or one imported from NZ or Scandinavia could add up to a £100k car. All very illegal in Blighty, although the guy that "restored" the 3 Italian Job minis did so using a box of number plates and light bars. That might be different as the number plates were not previously issued and we're done solely for the film. I suspect the owner 'bought' the numbers legitimately from the DVLA as you would any private plate, and the cars in question still relate back to their original plates.
First song ever to debut at #1 in the US from an artist with no record label. No promotion for it at all, just word of mouth. Brilliant to see cultural moments like that.
See also the film “Sound of Freedom”, which is one of the top films of the summer in the US, made on a tiny budget.
Both are alt-right nutjob affairs.
So the far-left nutjobs have been saying.
Do you believe large numbers of children are being abducted by organised sex traffickers who control the media?
Exhibit 1: Jeffery Epstein.
It was a weird conspiracy theory, until it turned out to be completely true.
It's interesting to see the right already disavow this guy online for saying that diversity is a strength in the US.
On the "organised sex traffickers who control the media" conspiracy and whether it is "completely true" - the way the right view child abuse is obviously conspiratorial. Child abuse primarily happens in the family or a familial community (many denominations of churches or boy scouts of America). The Epstein example (and the examples in the UK of high power / rich men who abuse children such as Saville or MPs) show the rarer side of child abuse that still shows the nature of abuse - typically men, typically rich or in a position of powerful and typically above scrutiny. That could describe Epstein OR your local catholic priest. In the boy scouts of America the issue was the organisation itself didn't want oversight, that much of the labour is done by volunteers and (like the church) the desire for "male role models" in a world where some men consider that "under fire" meant a desire to move people around who were credibly accused of child abuse, rather than actually dealing with the problem.
The right wing need to put more emphasis of the Epstein's of the world because much of the right depends on the importance of the family (and the patriarch specifically) as well as the importance of the church, or organisations like the boy scouts. It is also why those people point at LGBTQ+ and gender non conforming / trans people specifically as groomers despite evidence against that; because those are external threats to right wing notions of family and masculinity and the things they actually uphold as good examples of those are the more evidenced threat to children.
Just because there’s lots of stepfathers, scoutmasters, and priests, that turn out to be abusers, doesn’t also mean that there isn’t Epstein and his group of wealthly friends.
Not just stepfathers - biological fathers too.
The point is not that wealthy people are not abusers - of course they can be, and the power and wealth they have indeed typically protects them from being imprisoned for that.
It's just that the vast majority of child abuse happens within the family or the local community. Just like most sexual assault of adults is by people the victim knows rather than strangers - sexual assault and child abuse is not predominantly an issue with wealthy people (although that tends to be more organised) and is much more an issue of men with power and little oversight - which also includes a lot of fathers, priests, scoutmasters and other men in community.
What Epstein did was bad, and the structure of his organisation and links to other wealthy men shows a culture that accepts child abuse. But that structure is similar to how all abusers work - just at a different scale. They use their position of power over others to abuse them, they inculcate themselves from consequences by putting others in positions where they could be implicated or finding like minded individuals, they use their power within other structures to protect themselves and they make sure that they are indispensable to those who have the ability to provide consequences. Epstein did this via his wealth - getting in to positions where other people (whether they were involved in the abuse or not) relied on his continued freedom to benefit. His social circle, his community, involved a lot of other rich and powerful people, so implicating them protected himself.
When a father or priest is an abuser, similar tactics are used. They may be the main earner in the household, or a trusted community leader. They will obviously have opportunities to show themselves to be responsible adults and trusted and know significant personal things about others who could notice the abuse. They will have relationships with other figures of authority (their wife, the other adults in the family, other priests, other community leaders).
To focus so heavily on Epstein or Prince Andrew or even Saville is to miss the forest for the trees. They do the same things all abusers do, at a different scale because they have access to that specific social status. But they do not make up a significant number of abuse cases - because child abuse and sexual abuse are so endemic to society.
It is well noted, for example, that when Freud started his work he originally wanted to express how many patients were coming to him with examples of abuse from within the family / community but felt that he could not raise that publicly at the time because society at large would not believe it was so common, so instead he designed talking therapy to deal with the symptom (trauma in his patients) rather than deal with the cause (rampant sexual abuse predominantly by men, predominantly within the family).
Which is all completely right. My original point was rebuking the idea that wealthly and connected people being involved in sex trafficing was a “QAnon conspiracy theory”, when Gislaine Maxwell is in prison for exactly that.
But conspiracy theories are ways of explaining away intracommunity problems: ie how does the right contend with the FACT that the vast amount of child abuse comes from the institutions they hold most dear? (the family and the church). They create a complicated web of demon worshipping rich people on the left who are secretly all child abusers (oh and they commit the exact same rituals as blood libel, and the main guy we talk about is Jewish).
If you spend time looking at the rare instances of a rich Jewish guy doing this that feeds in to all the conspiracy stuff, rather than discussing the overarching patriarchal reasons for child sexual abuse and really the majority if all sexual abuse - I think it is reasonable to question why.
So to your original position of “this anti woke song and anti woke film are based, actually” begs the question: why should those things that titillate and fascinate and scratch that impulse to codify the conspiratorial myth be celebrated when they exist as a projection to ignore the real issue?
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would be an economic black hole. Nor will in my opinion most people in britain get on a bike. I am fairly typical of most people I know that way....we hated riding a bike when we were a kid and we aren't going to get on one now.
Take away peoples cars and most will end up doing what I do which is not bother going out unless I absolutely have to. All those clubs will end up shutting down due to lack of members therefore and all the country pubs and restaurants. The country will end up a bunch of virtual hermits because going anywhere you want to go if its not the town centre is just to damn hard.
About 10% of the population cycle and it has remained stationary pretty much over the last 5 years. A lot of those 6.5 million will no doubt be kids
Most people just dont want to cycle no matter how many cycle lanes you put in. We just don't bloody enjoy it
Is there a British anti-cycling gene? Or a Dutch cycling one?
Even in holland "Cycling has a modal share of 27% of all trips (urban and rural) nationwide." and "36% of Dutch people listing the bicycle as their most frequent way of getting around on a typical day". Sure make your cycle paths and maybe you might get up to that though I frankly doubt it. But lets assume you do....your active travel bugbear covers 27% of journeys only and 36% of people. For the rest, a mere two thirds of the country, once you have got your way and banned private cars will be stuck in and end up like me going out only when its within easy walking distance or I have no choice and have to deal with public transport. But I guess thats ok for the active travel zealots like you....less pedestrians in your way
Zealots here fall for a romanticised myth of what the Netherlands have done, rather than the reality.
Reality is the Netherlands have, quite rightly, invested for decades in improving roads for both cars and for cyclists. They've never stopped constructing more roads.
Build more roads, capacity improves, congestion eases, and people can take their preferred mode of transportation whether it be cycling or driving. The Dutch do both, with pleasure, because they invest in roads.
In this country people have fallen for the myth of induced demand and think that investing in critical infrastructure like roads is a problem.
The Netherlands has 332km of roads per 100km^2 The UK has 175km of roads per 100km^2
We have less than half the infrastructure they have. Then people wonder why we don't have the mobility the Dutch have?
Invest in roads and boost mobility.
You're comparing apples with oranges. The Netherlands has around twice the population density of the UK, so you'd expect it to have around twice the road density.
Not really as there's economies of scale. If I drive 20 miles through the countryside with no towns, or 20 miles past 6 towns, then either way I've done same mileage on same amount of road.
Plus English density is reasonably comparable actually.
Yes, and no doubt you'll find that the road density of England is also comparable to that of the Netherlands.
I already did that calculation england vs holland for you road density in holland is 50% higher
Yes, I can see this make sense, they obviously had no alternatives. Who is this content for? Anyone already on board with Russia doesn't need historical justifications for things.
And it was those pesky Brits and French that literally FORCED the Soviet Union to invade Poland alongside the Nazis, as well DEMANDING they invaded the Baltic States and went to war with Finland.
I am always amused by people who are desperate to park as close as possible to the door of the gym in order to minimise their walk before getting on the treadmill.
"A Big Mac, large fries, apple pie and a diet coke please"
Reminds me of my brother buying a pub round, and asking a rather obese friend what she'd like. When she replied 'a diet coke, please', he blurted out 'a bit late for that, innit?'. The lady in question is no longer a friend of my brother's.
Yes, I can see this make sense, they obviously had no alternatives. Who is this content for? Anyone already on board with Russia doesn't need historical justifications for things.
And it was those pesky Brits and French that literally FORCED the Soviet Union to invade Poland alongside the Nazis, as well DEMANDING they invaded the Baltic States and went to war with Finland.
Did I get that right?
Congratulations, you have passed this test to be the next Saturday morning troll.
First song ever to debut at #1 in the US from an artist with no record label. No promotion for it at all, just word of mouth. Brilliant to see cultural moments like that.
See also the film “Sound of Freedom”, which is one of the top films of the summer in the US, made on a tiny budget.
Both are alt-right nutjob affairs.
So the far-left nutjobs have been saying.
Do you believe large numbers of children are being abducted by organised sex traffickers who control the media?
Exhibit 1: Jeffery Epstein.
It was a weird conspiracy theory, until it turned out to be completely true.
It's interesting to see the right already disavow this guy online for saying that diversity is a strength in the US.
On the "organised sex traffickers who control the media" conspiracy and whether it is "completely true" - the way the right view child abuse is obviously conspiratorial. Child abuse primarily happens in the family or a familial community (many denominations of churches or boy scouts of America). The Epstein example (and the examples in the UK of high power / rich men who abuse children such as Saville or MPs) show the rarer side of child abuse that still shows the nature of abuse - typically men, typically rich or in a position of powerful and typically above scrutiny. That could describe Epstein OR your local catholic priest. In the boy scouts of America the issue was the organisation itself didn't want oversight, that much of the labour is done by volunteers and (like the church) the desire for "male role models" in a world where some men consider that "under fire" meant a desire to move people around who were credibly accused of child abuse, rather than actually dealing with the problem.
The right wing need to put more emphasis of the Epstein's of the world because much of the right depends on the importance of the family (and the patriarch specifically) as well as the importance of the church, or organisations like the boy scouts. It is also why those people point at LGBTQ+ and gender non conforming / trans people specifically as groomers despite evidence against that; because those are external threats to right wing notions of family and masculinity and the things they actually uphold as good examples of those are the more evidenced threat to children.
Just because there’s lots of stepfathers, scoutmasters, and priests, that turn out to be abusers, doesn’t also mean that there isn’t Epstein and his group of wealthly friends.
Not just stepfathers - biological fathers too.
The point is not that wealthy people are not abusers - of course they can be, and the power and wealth they have indeed typically protects them from being imprisoned for that.
It's just that the vast majority of child abuse happens within the family or the local community. Just like most sexual assault of adults is by people the victim knows rather than strangers - sexual assault and child abuse is not predominantly an issue with wealthy people (although that tends to be more organised) and is much more an issue of men with power and little oversight - which also includes a lot of fathers, priests, scoutmasters and other men in community.
What Epstein did was bad, and the structure of his organisation and links to other wealthy men shows a culture that accepts child abuse. But that structure is similar to how all abusers work - just at a different scale. They use their position of power over others to abuse them, they inculcate themselves from consequences by putting others in positions where they could be implicated or finding like minded individuals, they use their power within other structures to protect themselves and they make sure that they are indispensable to those who have the ability to provide consequences. Epstein did this via his wealth - getting in to positions where other people (whether they were involved in the abuse or not) relied on his continued freedom to benefit. His social circle, his community, involved a lot of other rich and powerful people, so implicating them protected himself.
When a father or priest is an abuser, similar tactics are used. They may be the main earner in the household, or a trusted community leader. They will obviously have opportunities to show themselves to be responsible adults and trusted and know significant personal things about others who could notice the abuse. They will have relationships with other figures of authority (their wife, the other adults in the family, other priests, other community leaders).
To focus so heavily on Epstein or Prince Andrew or even Saville is to miss the forest for the trees. They do the same things all abusers do, at a different scale because they have access to that specific social status. But they do not make up a significant number of abuse cases - because child abuse and sexual abuse are so endemic to society.
It is well noted, for example, that when Freud started his work he originally wanted to express how many patients were coming to him with examples of abuse from within the family / community but felt that he could not raise that publicly at the time because society at large would not believe it was so common, so instead he designed talking therapy to deal with the symptom (trauma in his patients) rather than deal with the cause (rampant sexual abuse predominantly by men, predominantly within the family).
Which is all completely right. My original point was rebuking the idea that wealthly and connected people being involved in sex trafficing was a “QAnon conspiracy theory”, when Gislaine Maxwell is in prison for exactly that.
But conspiracy theories are ways of explaining away intracommunity problems: ie how does the right contend with the FACT that the vast amount of child abuse comes from the institutions they hold most dear? (the family and the church). They create a complicated web of demon worshipping rich people on the left who are secretly all child abusers (oh and they commit the exact same rituals as blood libel, and the main guy we talk about is Jewish).
If you spend time looking at the rare instances of a rich Jewish guy doing this that feeds in to all the conspiracy stuff, rather than discussing the overarching patriarchal reasons for child sexual abuse and really the majority if all sexual abuse - I think it is reasonable to question why.
So to your original position of “this anti woke song and anti woke film are based, actually” begs the question: why should those things that titillate and fascinate and scratch that impulse to codify the conspiratorial myth be celebrated when they exist as a projection to ignore the real issue?
No, recognising that Epstein existed doesn’t mean ignoring all of the stepfathers and scoutmasters.
But it’s important to know that Epstein existed, precisely because his ‘friends’ were all well-connected.
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would be an economic black hole. Nor will in my opinion most people in britain get on a bike. I am fairly typical of most people I know that way....we hated riding a bike when we were a kid and we aren't going to get on one now.
Take away peoples cars and most will end up doing what I do which is not bother going out unless I absolutely have to. All those clubs will end up shutting down due to lack of members therefore and all the country pubs and restaurants. The country will end up a bunch of virtual hermits because going anywhere you want to go if its not the town centre is just to damn hard.
About 10% of the population cycle and it has remained stationary pretty much over the last 5 years. A lot of those 6.5 million will no doubt be kids
Most people just dont want to cycle no matter how many cycle lanes you put in. We just don't bloody enjoy it
Is there a British anti-cycling gene? Or a Dutch cycling one?
Even in holland "Cycling has a modal share of 27% of all trips (urban and rural) nationwide." and "36% of Dutch people listing the bicycle as their most frequent way of getting around on a typical day". Sure make your cycle paths and maybe you might get up to that though I frankly doubt it. But lets assume you do....your active travel bugbear covers 27% of journeys only and 36% of people. For the rest, a mere two thirds of the country, once you have got your way and banned private cars will be stuck in and end up like me going out only when its within easy walking distance or I have no choice and have to deal with public transport. But I guess thats ok for the active travel zealots like you....less pedestrians in your way
Zealots here fall for a romanticised myth of what the Netherlands have done, rather than the reality.
Reality is the Netherlands have, quite rightly, invested for decades in improving roads for both cars and for cyclists. They've never stopped constructing more roads.
Build more roads, capacity improves, congestion eases, and people can take their preferred mode of transportation whether it be cycling or driving. The Dutch do both, with pleasure, because they invest in roads.
In this country people have fallen for the myth of induced demand and think that investing in critical infrastructure like roads is a problem.
The Netherlands has 332km of roads per 100km^2 The UK has 175km of roads per 100km^2
We have less than half the infrastructure they have. Then people wonder why we don't have the mobility the Dutch have?
Invest in roads and boost mobility.
You're comparing apples with oranges. The Netherlands has around twice the population density of the UK, so you'd expect it to have around twice the road density.
Not really as there's economies of scale. If I drive 20 miles through the countryside with no towns, or 20 miles past 6 towns, then either way I've done same mileage on same amount of road.
Plus English density is reasonably comparable actually.
Yes, and no doubt you'll find that the road density of England is also comparable to that of the Netherlands.
No, its not, not even close.
Which should be fairly obvious considering that England makes up most of the area of the UK, then even if every single km of road in the entire UK were located in England (with not a single road at all in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland), then we'd still be less dense than them.
But not every km of road exists in England. Not even close.
Good to see Red Raver proper largin’ it on the Costa del Hardcore. Finally someone in Westminster who can put a decent shift in. Bang on it.
A notably sympathetic article considering it's the Express. Her venom cocktail sounds awful though:
"The formidable recipe involves mixing a bottle of vodka, a bottle of Southern Comfort, ten bottles of Blue WKD and a litre of orange juice"
We all know that’s not the real recipe 😉
Yes 40 something goes clubbing and stays awake all night dancing fuelled only by alcohol... I am sceptical. Rayner the ladette going full 90s revival. Southern Comfort, though... What is she, like 15 years old? Also, vaping is so basic. I come away from this somewhat less impressed overall, and concerned about an incipient mid life crisis in the making.
Good to see Red Raver proper largin’ it on the Costa del Hardcore. Finally someone in Westminster who can put a decent shift in. Bang on it.
A notably sympathetic article considering it's the Express. Her venom cocktail sounds awful though:
"The formidable recipe involves mixing a bottle of vodka, a bottle of Southern Comfort, ten bottles of Blue WKD and a litre of orange juice"
Yes, she sounds worryingly normal compared to the uptight Starmer and Sunak.
I actually don't have a problem with politicians not being very normal. I also want them, if possible, to be more intelligent and have more integrity than the average person, but I know I cannot have everything.
But it is nice when some at least do actually seem like regular people. Even if that means doing things a bit silly or out there sometimes.
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would be an economic black hole. Nor will in my opinion most people in britain get on a bike. I am fairly typical of most people I know that way....we hated riding a bike when we were a kid and we aren't going to get on one now.
Take away peoples cars and most will end up doing what I do which is not bother going out unless I absolutely have to. All those clubs will end up shutting down due to lack of members therefore and all the country pubs and restaurants. The country will end up a bunch of virtual hermits because going anywhere you want to go if its not the town centre is just to damn hard.
About 10% of the population cycle and it has remained stationary pretty much over the last 5 years. A lot of those 6.5 million will no doubt be kids
Most people just dont want to cycle no matter how many cycle lanes you put in. We just don't bloody enjoy it
Is there a British anti-cycling gene? Or a Dutch cycling one?
Even in holland "Cycling has a modal share of 27% of all trips (urban and rural) nationwide." and "36% of Dutch people listing the bicycle as their most frequent way of getting around on a typical day". Sure make your cycle paths and maybe you might get up to that though I frankly doubt it. But lets assume you do....your active travel bugbear covers 27% of journeys only and 36% of people. For the rest, a mere two thirds of the country, once you have got your way and banned private cars will be stuck in and end up like me going out only when its within easy walking distance or I have no choice and have to deal with public transport. But I guess thats ok for the active travel zealots like you....less pedestrians in your way
Zealots here fall for a romanticised myth of what the Netherlands have done, rather than the reality.
Reality is the Netherlands have, quite rightly, invested for decades in improving roads for both cars and for cyclists. They've never stopped constructing more roads.
Build more roads, capacity improves, congestion eases, and people can take their preferred mode of transportation whether it be cycling or driving. The Dutch do both, with pleasure, because they invest in roads.
In this country people have fallen for the myth of induced demand and think that investing in critical infrastructure like roads is a problem.
The Netherlands has 332km of roads per 100km^2 The UK has 175km of roads per 100km^2
We have less than half the infrastructure they have. Then people wonder why we don't have the mobility the Dutch have?
Invest in roads and boost mobility.
You're comparing apples with oranges. The Netherlands has around twice the population density of the UK, so you'd expect it to have around twice the road density.
Not really as there's economies of scale. If I drive 20 miles through the countryside with no towns, or 20 miles past 6 towns, then either way I've done same mileage on same amount of road.
Plus English density is reasonably comparable actually.
Yes, and no doubt you'll find that the road density of England is also comparable to that of the Netherlands.
I already did that calculation england vs holland for you road density in holland is 50% higher
No, you got your sums wrong. You were mixing up the road densities and populations of England and the UK.
The Netherlands has around twice the road density and population density of the UK. But the Netherlands has roughly the same road density and population density as England.
Good to see Red Raver proper largin’ it on the Costa del Hardcore. Finally someone in Westminster who can put a decent shift in. Bang on it.
A notably sympathetic article considering it's the Express. Her venom cocktail sounds awful though:
"The formidable recipe involves mixing a bottle of vodka, a bottle of Southern Comfort, ten bottles of Blue WKD and a litre of orange juice"
Yes, she sounds worryingly normal compared to the uptight Starmer and Sunak.
I actually don't have a problem with politicians not being very normal. I also want them, if possible, to be more intelligent and have more integrity than the average person, but I know I cannot have everything.
But it is nice when some at least do actually seem like regular people.
I am not sure we actually want them to be highly intelligent. I have noticed highly intelligent folk often seem a) lacking in common sense b) have an innate blind spot to the fact because they are highly intelligent and knowledgeable on some subjects it does not make them knowledgeable about all subjects
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would be an economic black hole. Nor will in my opinion most people in britain get on a bike. I am fairly typical of most people I know that way....we hated riding a bike when we were a kid and we aren't going to get on one now.
Take away peoples cars and most will end up doing what I do which is not bother going out unless I absolutely have to. All those clubs will end up shutting down due to lack of members therefore and all the country pubs and restaurants. The country will end up a bunch of virtual hermits because going anywhere you want to go if its not the town centre is just to damn hard.
About 10% of the population cycle and it has remained stationary pretty much over the last 5 years. A lot of those 6.5 million will no doubt be kids
Most people just dont want to cycle no matter how many cycle lanes you put in. We just don't bloody enjoy it
Is there a British anti-cycling gene? Or a Dutch cycling one?
Even in holland "Cycling has a modal share of 27% of all trips (urban and rural) nationwide." and "36% of Dutch people listing the bicycle as their most frequent way of getting around on a typical day". Sure make your cycle paths and maybe you might get up to that though I frankly doubt it. But lets assume you do....your active travel bugbear covers 27% of journeys only and 36% of people. For the rest, a mere two thirds of the country, once you have got your way and banned private cars will be stuck in and end up like me going out only when its within easy walking distance or I have no choice and have to deal with public transport. But I guess thats ok for the active travel zealots like you....less pedestrians in your way
Zealots here fall for a romanticised myth of what the Netherlands have done, rather than the reality.
Reality is the Netherlands have, quite rightly, invested for decades in improving roads for both cars and for cyclists. They've never stopped constructing more roads.
Build more roads, capacity improves, congestion eases, and people can take their preferred mode of transportation whether it be cycling or driving. The Dutch do both, with pleasure, because they invest in roads.
In this country people have fallen for the myth of induced demand and think that investing in critical infrastructure like roads is a problem.
The Netherlands has 332km of roads per 100km^2 The UK has 175km of roads per 100km^2
We have less than half the infrastructure they have. Then people wonder why we don't have the mobility the Dutch have?
Invest in roads and boost mobility.
You're comparing apples with oranges. The Netherlands has around twice the population density of the UK, so you'd expect it to have around twice the road density.
Not really as there's economies of scale. If I drive 20 miles through the countryside with no towns, or 20 miles past 6 towns, then either way I've done same mileage on same amount of road.
Plus English density is reasonably comparable actually.
Yes, and no doubt you'll find that the road density of England is also comparable to that of the Netherlands.
I already did that calculation england vs holland for you road density in holland is 50% higher
No, you got your sums wrong. You were mixing up the road densities and populations of England and the UK.
The Netherlands has around twice the road density and population density of the UK. But the Netherlands has roughly the same road density and population density as England.
No, it doesn't.
Netherland has double the road density of the UK.
Netherlands has roughly the same population density but 50% more road density than England.
I was in Portsmouth not so long ago. The Mary Rose and HMS Victory are deservedly famous. The rest is an embarassment, including the bathetic Spinnaker Tower.
In theory, Hampshire has a great coastline. (I am currently on the beach on the other side of the Channel) but the actualité is profoundly crap.
I quite like the Spinnaker Tower. Queen Victoria would have had an excellent view from Osborn.
I quite like Portsmouth, often a socialist oasis in a Tory desert.
Rest is an embarrassment, says GW? Warrior is very fine, Portsmouth Point has a lot of its character still, and there is a lot of great C18 and C19 nautical architecture in the Dockyard, along the Gosport seafront, and so on. And a lot to be said for the Emsworth/Bosham/Chichester sector.
Though it did get bombed by H. Goering and the planners, esp, in the central area, itd doesn't feel as mauled as Devonport.
Portsmouth reminds me of what happened to Birmingham. Fallen Victorian splendour collides with a cheap post war rebuild. But going west along the coast after you have left all the tenament block and car dealerships is very pleasant. Coventry Cathedral in a single building sums up such an unfortunate British mash-up.
The German towns that the war went through are understandably modern in the centre, but mostly they’ve done a pretty good job in recreating them as attractive places to live. Perhaps because they got started on it early, whereas in Britain we waited until the 60s and 70s when brutalist architecture and providing for cars were all the rage?
Cologne cathedral was painstakingly rebuilt to its former glory. If I recall it took them into the 1970s to complete.
I believe the idea of the new modernist Coventry cathedral rising phoenix-like from the ashes of the old, was a nice idea at the time. In these years of the new austerity it seems like just a symbol that we like to do everything on the cheap.
I see Coventry cathedral rather differently. Architecture has always changed, and it is good to see people try new stuff with new materials and new techniques. The Victorians ****ed up hundreds, if not thousands, of perfectly good parish churches with 'modernisations' that harked back to a gilded age that never really existed.
As two examples, take Liverpool's cathedrals. The Anglican cathedral looks like Bankside on acid (for the obvious reason), and I quite like its exterior as a late-Victorian-onwards take on a cathedral. It is also better than his initial design. The Catholic cathedral took my breath away when I first saw it as a teenager,and I still quite like it as an indication of the forward-looking times it was designed in, however flawed the implementation.
Interesting debate.
For me - and I've visited all the English Anglican Cathedrals except I think two, and a number of the modern RC ones, Coventry stands comparison with almost anything medieval, and imo is at least as good as, or better than, Salisbury - for example.
I think that Victorian conversions, which I'm not *that* fond of, are part of the history and story of the building, which is always treated as part of a listing.
On LIverpool it is of interest that it started out as one thing and went through several versions.
Bury St Edmunds is more controversial imo from a "history" point of view. They have only just finished building their Central Tower in 2005, in "Medieval Style". Is that pastiche?
"I think that Victorian conversions, which I'm not *that* fond of, are part of the history and story of the building, which is always treated as part of a listing."
I have zero problem with some Victorian conversions - after all, they were old buildings, often tired, and in need of work. It is just that they did so much of it, in the same sorts of style.
Most of Edinburgh's Old Town is a Victorian conversion - it's newer than the New Town. And it's wonderful.
Indeed - as are many town centres that were not modernised post-WW2. But the point is that there is a very wide variety of styles and heights that meld well with the existing old. That's exactly the sort of thing I like.
Yes, I can see this make sense, they obviously had no alternatives. Who is this content for? Anyone already on board with Russia doesn't need historical justifications for things.
And it was those pesky Brits and French that literally FORCED the Soviet Union to invade Poland alongside the Nazis, as well DEMANDING they invaded the Baltic States and went to war with Finland.
Did I get that right?
I think it is a reference to the Munich agreement between UK, France and Germany. The Soviets were excluded from that (as indeed were the Czechs!) despite having a defensive agreement with both France and Czechoslovakia.
The Soviets saw Munich as a betrayal of the Czechoslovakians, but also of themselves.
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would be an economic black hole. Nor will in my opinion most people in britain get on a bike. I am fairly typical of most people I know that way....we hated riding a bike when we were a kid and we aren't going to get on one now.
Take away peoples cars and most will end up doing what I do which is not bother going out unless I absolutely have to. All those clubs will end up shutting down due to lack of members therefore and all the country pubs and restaurants. The country will end up a bunch of virtual hermits because going anywhere you want to go if its not the town centre is just to damn hard.
About 10% of the population cycle and it has remained stationary pretty much over the last 5 years. A lot of those 6.5 million will no doubt be kids
Most people just dont want to cycle no matter how many cycle lanes you put in. We just don't bloody enjoy it
Is there a British anti-cycling gene? Or a Dutch cycling one?
Even in holland "Cycling has a modal share of 27% of all trips (urban and rural) nationwide." and "36% of Dutch people listing the bicycle as their most frequent way of getting around on a typical day". Sure make your cycle paths and maybe you might get up to that though I frankly doubt it. But lets assume you do....your active travel bugbear covers 27% of journeys only and 36% of people. For the rest, a mere two thirds of the country, once you have got your way and banned private cars will be stuck in and end up like me going out only when its within easy walking distance or I have no choice and have to deal with public transport. But I guess thats ok for the active travel zealots like you....less pedestrians in your way
Zealots here fall for a romanticised myth of what the Netherlands have done, rather than the reality.
Reality is the Netherlands have, quite rightly, invested for decades in improving roads for both cars and for cyclists. They've never stopped constructing more roads.
Build more roads, capacity improves, congestion eases, and people can take their preferred mode of transportation whether it be cycling or driving. The Dutch do both, with pleasure, because they invest in roads.
In this country people have fallen for the myth of induced demand and think that investing in critical infrastructure like roads is a problem.
The Netherlands has 332km of roads per 100km^2 The UK has 175km of roads per 100km^2
We have less than half the infrastructure they have. Then people wonder why we don't have the mobility the Dutch have?
Invest in roads and boost mobility.
You're comparing apples with oranges. The Netherlands has around twice the population density of the UK, so you'd expect it to have around twice the road density.
Not really as there's economies of scale. If I drive 20 miles through the countryside with no towns, or 20 miles past 6 towns, then either way I've done same mileage on same amount of road.
Plus English density is reasonably comparable actually.
Yes, and no doubt you'll find that the road density of England is also comparable to that of the Netherlands.
I already did that calculation england vs holland for you road density in holland is 50% higher
No, you got your sums wrong. You were mixing up the road densities and populations of England and the UK.
The Netherlands has around twice the road density and population density of the UK. But the Netherlands has roughly the same road density and population density as England.
My response was to your statement and I quote you verbatim "Yes, and no doubt you'll find that the road density of England is also comparable to that of the Netherlands."
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would be an economic black hole. Nor will in my opinion most people in britain get on a bike. I am fairly typical of most people I know that way....we hated riding a bike when we were a kid and we aren't going to get on one now.
Take away peoples cars and most will end up doing what I do which is not bother going out unless I absolutely have to. All those clubs will end up shutting down due to lack of members therefore and all the country pubs and restaurants. The country will end up a bunch of virtual hermits because going anywhere you want to go if its not the town centre is just to damn hard.
About 10% of the population cycle and it has remained stationary pretty much over the last 5 years. A lot of those 6.5 million will no doubt be kids
Most people just dont want to cycle no matter how many cycle lanes you put in. We just don't bloody enjoy it
Is there a British anti-cycling gene? Or a Dutch cycling one?
Even in holland "Cycling has a modal share of 27% of all trips (urban and rural) nationwide." and "36% of Dutch people listing the bicycle as their most frequent way of getting around on a typical day". Sure make your cycle paths and maybe you might get up to that though I frankly doubt it. But lets assume you do....your active travel bugbear covers 27% of journeys only and 36% of people. For the rest, a mere two thirds of the country, once you have got your way and banned private cars will be stuck in and end up like me going out only when its within easy walking distance or I have no choice and have to deal with public transport. But I guess thats ok for the active travel zealots like you....less pedestrians in your way
Zealots here fall for a romanticised myth of what the Netherlands have done, rather than the reality.
Reality is the Netherlands have, quite rightly, invested for decades in improving roads for both cars and for cyclists. They've never stopped constructing more roads.
Build more roads, capacity improves, congestion eases, and people can take their preferred mode of transportation whether it be cycling or driving. The Dutch do both, with pleasure, because they invest in roads.
In this country people have fallen for the myth of induced demand and think that investing in critical infrastructure like roads is a problem.
The Netherlands has 332km of roads per 100km^2 The UK has 175km of roads per 100km^2
We have less than half the infrastructure they have. Then people wonder why we don't have the mobility the Dutch have?
Invest in roads and boost mobility.
You're comparing apples with oranges. The Netherlands has around twice the population density of the UK, so you'd expect it to have around twice the road density.
Not really as there's economies of scale. If I drive 20 miles through the countryside with no towns, or 20 miles past 6 towns, then either way I've done same mileage on same amount of road.
Plus English density is reasonably comparable actually.
Yes, and no doubt you'll find that the road density of England is also comparable to that of the Netherlands.
No, its not, not even close.
Which should be fairly obvious considering that England makes up most of the area of the UK, then even if every single km of road in the entire UK were located in England (with not a single road at all in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland), then we'd still be less dense than them.
But not every km of road exists in England. Not even close.
First song ever to debut at #1 in the US from an artist with no record label. No promotion for it at all, just word of mouth. Brilliant to see cultural moments like that.
See also the film “Sound of Freedom”, which is one of the top films of the summer in the US, made on a tiny budget.
Both are alt-right nutjob affairs.
So the far-left nutjobs have been saying.
Do you believe large numbers of children are being abducted by organised sex traffickers who control the media?
I think it unlikely, although the truth about the prevalence of child sex abuse, and the willingness of people in authority to turn a blind eye to it, is already sufficiently disturbing.
I suspect child sex abuse is much less common than it was when I was young.
There was a woodwork teacher at my old school, who had had to leave the local girls school for bringing girls back to his home and taking nude photos of them. This wasn't considered a problem at the local mixed comprehensive.
Why is it always the woodwork teachers?
I had a colleague who went to boarding school in the UK, and he told me there was one particular (non-PE) teacher that would always find an excuse to be there when they were showering.
This not to justify this behaviour. It's recognizing that there are - and have always been - a class of people (mostly men) who seek to sexually abuse children and adolescents.
This abuse tends to happen in one of two ways: either a family member / friend; or via someone in a position of authority / power.
If we were to do a British Crime Survey and ask people if they were victims of childhood (i.e. pre-18) sexual abuse, I suspect that we would find that a large number of people from every age cohort suffered. But I also suspect that it is less common for today's youth.
Firstly, schools are much more aware of the issue, and toleration of teachers' misbehaviour is much less tolerated. And secondly, in an age of smartphones, kids today are much less likely to be situations where they might be able to be abused. There are few alter boys these days.
Yes, I can see this make sense, they obviously had no alternatives. Who is this content for? Anyone already on board with Russia doesn't need historical justifications for things.
And it was those pesky Brits and French that literally FORCED the Soviet Union to invade Poland alongside the Nazis, as well DEMANDING they invaded the Baltic States and went to war with Finland.
Did I get that right?
I think it is a reference to the Munich agreement between UK, France and Germany. The Soviets were excluded from that (as indeed were the Czechs!) despite having a defensive agreement with both France and Czechoslovakia.
The Soviets saw Munich as a betrayal of the Czechoslovakians, but also of themselves.
No the Munich Agreement was signed on the 30th September 1938.
The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was 84 years ago today 23rd of August 1939.
But it's an amazing achievement, especially as the failure rate of these missions is so high. It's also been done on a relative shoestring.
Congrats to ISRO.
Yep it really is an amazing achievement.
I'm conscious that Modi was watching on from BRICS.
Just feels kind-of symbolic, with the US a mess (imho), but perhaps I'm reading too much into this.
If it symbolises anything it's India no longer looking up to Russia.
What amazes me is that 54 years ago a man landed on the moon, and 52 years ago a man was driving an electric car around up there. This was with significantly less computer power than is in an air fryer. Yet all this time later it makes headlines around the world when a craft just lands on the moon. Its like the ZX80 being released now and people being in awe at the 1KB of static RAM.
"54 years ago a man landed on the moon"? Have you never seen Capricorn One?
The first moon landing was Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece.
Maybe, I just find it completely bizarre. Walter Kronkite covered the Apollo 11 take off, his ending comment that day was that the Astronauts were embarking on a journey which their children will consider normal and mundane.
That is genuinely what people thought in 1969. 54 years later and an unmanned spacecraft landing on the moon is considered an amazing achievement.
NASA funding peaked at 4.41% of the US Federal budget for the Apollo program and is now at 0.48%. We did what all the cynics said we should do - concentrate on problems closer to home before reaching for the stars - and it hasn't done us much good.
There was also an emphasis on robotic exploration beyond low-earth orbit and pootling around in LEO for the manned missions, the latter of which has been astonishingly expensive but a lot less inspiring than heading to Mars would have been.
If there was a Cold War style race to be the first to Mars I'm pretty sure it wouldn't take very long to get there. But there isn't. So we haven't.
Also, although Musk's efforts have made something of a difference, there's not much that technology can do to make escaping the gravity well any easier. Short of a space elevator it's always going to take a huge rocket and loads of energy.
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
So you reckon the reason that British people are among the fattest in Europe is because we like being fat? Or do we just have less willpower than other nations?
Personally, having just finished my 4 small plates and looking at the desert menu, I think we eat too much.
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would be an economic black hole. Nor will in my opinion most people in britain get on a bike. I am fairly typical of most people I know that way....we hated riding a bike when we were a kid and we aren't going to get on one now.
Take away peoples cars and most will end up doing what I do which is not bother going out unless I absolutely have to. All those clubs will end up shutting down due to lack of members therefore and all the country pubs and restaurants. The country will end up a bunch of virtual hermits because going anywhere you want to go if its not the town centre is just to damn hard.
About 10% of the population cycle and it has remained stationary pretty much over the last 5 years. A lot of those 6.5 million will no doubt be kids
Most people just dont want to cycle no matter how many cycle lanes you put in. We just don't bloody enjoy it
Is there a British anti-cycling gene? Or a Dutch cycling one?
Even in holland "Cycling has a modal share of 27% of all trips (urban and rural) nationwide." and "36% of Dutch people listing the bicycle as their most frequent way of getting around on a typical day". Sure make your cycle paths and maybe you might get up to that though I frankly doubt it. But lets assume you do....your active travel bugbear covers 27% of journeys only and 36% of people. For the rest, a mere two thirds of the country, once you have got your way and banned private cars will be stuck in and end up like me going out only when its within easy walking distance or I have no choice and have to deal with public transport. But I guess thats ok for the active travel zealots like you....less pedestrians in your way
Zealots here fall for a romanticised myth of what the Netherlands have done, rather than the reality.
Reality is the Netherlands have, quite rightly, invested for decades in improving roads for both cars and for cyclists. They've never stopped constructing more roads.
Build more roads, capacity improves, congestion eases, and people can take their preferred mode of transportation whether it be cycling or driving. The Dutch do both, with pleasure, because they invest in roads.
In this country people have fallen for the myth of induced demand and think that investing in critical infrastructure like roads is a problem.
The Netherlands has 332km of roads per 100km^2 The UK has 175km of roads per 100km^2
We have less than half the infrastructure they have. Then people wonder why we don't have the mobility the Dutch have?
Invest in roads and boost mobility.
You're comparing apples with oranges. The Netherlands has around twice the population density of the UK, so you'd expect it to have around twice the road density.
Not really as there's economies of scale. If I drive 20 miles through the countryside with no towns, or 20 miles past 6 towns, then either way I've done same mileage on same amount of road.
Plus English density is reasonably comparable actually.
Yes, and no doubt you'll find that the road density of England is also comparable to that of the Netherlands.
I already did that calculation england vs holland for you road density in holland is 50% higher
No, you got your sums wrong. You were mixing up the road densities and populations of England and the UK.
The Netherlands has around twice the road density and population density of the UK. But the Netherlands has roughly the same road density and population density as England.
No, it doesn't.
Netherland has double the road density of the UK.
Netherlands has roughly the same population density but 50% more road density than England.
Isn't the Netherlands about 550/km2 vs 425/km2 in England?
First song ever to debut at #1 in the US from an artist with no record label. No promotion for it at all, just word of mouth. Brilliant to see cultural moments like that.
See also the film “Sound of Freedom”, which is one of the top films of the summer in the US, made on a tiny budget.
Both are alt-right nutjob affairs.
So the far-left nutjobs have been saying.
Do you believe large numbers of children are being abducted by organised sex traffickers who control the media?
Exhibit 1: Jeffery Epstein.
It was a weird conspiracy theory, until it turned out to be completely true.
It's interesting to see the right already disavow this guy online for saying that diversity is a strength in the US.
On the "organised sex traffickers who control the media" conspiracy and whether it is "completely true" - the way the right view child abuse is obviously conspiratorial. Child abuse primarily happens in the family or a familial community (many denominations of churches or boy scouts of America). The Epstein example (and the examples in the UK of high power / rich men who abuse children such as Saville or MPs) show the rarer side of child abuse that still shows the nature of abuse - typically men, typically rich or in a position of powerful and typically above scrutiny. That could describe Epstein OR your local catholic priest. In the boy scouts of America the issue was the organisation itself didn't want oversight, that much of the labour is done by volunteers and (like the church) the desire for "male role models" in a world where some men consider that "under fire" meant a desire to move people around who were credibly accused of child abuse, rather than actually dealing with the problem.
The right wing need to put more emphasis of the Epstein's of the world because much of the right depends on the importance of the family (and the patriarch specifically) as well as the importance of the church, or organisations like the boy scouts. It is also why those people point at LGBTQ+ and gender non conforming / trans people specifically as groomers despite evidence against that; because those are external threats to right wing notions of family and masculinity and the things they actually uphold as good examples of those are the more evidenced threat to children.
Just because there’s lots of stepfathers, scoutmasters, and priests, that turn out to be abusers, doesn’t also mean that there isn’t Epstein and his group of wealthly friends.
Not just stepfathers - biological fathers too.
The point is not that wealthy people are not abusers - of course they can be, and the power and wealth they have indeed typically protects them from being imprisoned for that.
It's just that the vast majority of child abuse happens within the family or the local community. Just like most sexual assault of adults is by people the victim knows rather than strangers - sexual assault and child abuse is not predominantly an issue with wealthy people (although that tends to be more organised) and is much more an issue of men with power and little oversight - which also includes a lot of fathers, priests, scoutmasters and other men in community.
What Epstein did was bad, and the structure of his organisation and links to other wealthy men shows a culture that accepts child abuse. But that structure is similar to how all abusers work - just at a different scale. They use their position of power over others to abuse them, they inculcate themselves from consequences by putting others in positions where they could be implicated or finding like minded individuals, they use their power within other structures to protect themselves and they make sure that they are indispensable to those who have the ability to provide consequences. Epstein did this via his wealth - getting in to positions where other people (whether they were involved in the abuse or not) relied on his continued freedom to benefit. His social circle, his community, involved a lot of other rich and powerful people, so implicating them protected himself.
When a father or priest is an abuser, similar tactics are used. They may be the main earner in the household, or a trusted community leader. They will obviously have opportunities to show themselves to be responsible adults and trusted and know significant personal things about others who could notice the abuse. They will have relationships with other figures of authority (their wife, the other adults in the family, other priests, other community leaders).
To focus so heavily on Epstein or Prince Andrew or even Saville is to miss the forest for the trees. They do the same things all abusers do, at a different scale because they have access to that specific social status. But they do not make up a significant number of abuse cases - because child abuse and sexual abuse are so endemic to society.
It is well noted, for example, that when Freud started his work he originally wanted to express how many patients were coming to him with examples of abuse from within the family / community but felt that he could not raise that publicly at the time because society at large would not believe it was so common, so instead he designed talking therapy to deal with the symptom (trauma in his patients) rather than deal with the cause (rampant sexual abuse predominantly by men, predominantly within the family).
Which is all completely right. My original point was rebuking the idea that wealthly and connected people being involved in sex trafficing was a “QAnon conspiracy theory”, when Gislaine Maxwell is in prison for exactly that.
But conspiracy theories are ways of explaining away intracommunity problems: ie how does the right contend with the FACT that the vast amount of child abuse comes from the institutions they hold most dear? (the family and the church). They create a complicated web of demon worshipping rich people on the left who are secretly all child abusers (oh and they commit the exact same rituals as blood libel, and the main guy we talk about is Jewish).
If you spend time looking at the rare instances of a rich Jewish guy doing this that feeds in to all the conspiracy stuff, rather than discussing the overarching patriarchal reasons for child sexual abuse and really the majority if all sexual abuse - I think it is reasonable to question why.
So to your original position of “this anti woke song and anti woke film are based, actually” begs the question: why should those things that titillate and fascinate and scratch that impulse to codify the conspiratorial myth be celebrated when they exist as a projection to ignore the real issue?
No, recognising that Epstein existed doesn’t mean ignoring all of the stepfathers and scoutmasters.
But it’s important to know that Epstein existed, precisely because his ‘friends’ were all well-connected.
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would be an economic black hole. Nor will in my opinion most people in britain get on a bike. I am fairly typical of most people I know that way....we hated riding a bike when we were a kid and we aren't going to get on one now.
Take away peoples cars and most will end up doing what I do which is not bother going out unless I absolutely have to. All those clubs will end up shutting down due to lack of members therefore and all the country pubs and restaurants. The country will end up a bunch of virtual hermits because going anywhere you want to go if its not the town centre is just to damn hard.
About 10% of the population cycle and it has remained stationary pretty much over the last 5 years. A lot of those 6.5 million will no doubt be kids
Most people just dont want to cycle no matter how many cycle lanes you put in. We just don't bloody enjoy it
Is there a British anti-cycling gene? Or a Dutch cycling one?
Even in holland "Cycling has a modal share of 27% of all trips (urban and rural) nationwide." and "36% of Dutch people listing the bicycle as their most frequent way of getting around on a typical day". Sure make your cycle paths and maybe you might get up to that though I frankly doubt it. But lets assume you do....your active travel bugbear covers 27% of journeys only and 36% of people. For the rest, a mere two thirds of the country, once you have got your way and banned private cars will be stuck in and end up like me going out only when its within easy walking distance or I have no choice and have to deal with public transport. But I guess thats ok for the active travel zealots like you....less pedestrians in your way
Zealots here fall for a romanticised myth of what the Netherlands have done, rather than the reality.
Reality is the Netherlands have, quite rightly, invested for decades in improving roads for both cars and for cyclists. They've never stopped constructing more roads.
Build more roads, capacity improves, congestion eases, and people can take their preferred mode of transportation whether it be cycling or driving. The Dutch do both, with pleasure, because they invest in roads.
In this country people have fallen for the myth of induced demand and think that investing in critical infrastructure like roads is a problem.
The Netherlands has 332km of roads per 100km^2 The UK has 175km of roads per 100km^2
We have less than half the infrastructure they have. Then people wonder why we don't have the mobility the Dutch have?
Invest in roads and boost mobility.
You're comparing apples with oranges. The Netherlands has around twice the population density of the UK, so you'd expect it to have around twice the road density.
Not really as there's economies of scale. If I drive 20 miles through the countryside with no towns, or 20 miles past 6 towns, then either way I've done same mileage on same amount of road.
Plus English density is reasonably comparable actually.
Yes, and no doubt you'll find that the road density of England is also comparable to that of the Netherlands.
I already did that calculation england vs holland for you road density in holland is 50% higher
No, you got your sums wrong. You were mixing up the road densities and populations of England and the UK.
The Netherlands has around twice the road density and population density of the UK. But the Netherlands has roughly the same road density and population density as England.
My response was to your statement and I quote you verbatim "Yes, and no doubt you'll find that the road density of England is also comparable to that of the Netherlands."
I did that calculation for you it isn't
No, you didn't. You can't calculate the road density of England without knowing the length of road in England!
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would be an economic black hole. Nor will in my opinion most people in britain get on a bike. I am fairly typical of most people I know that way....we hated riding a bike when we were a kid and we aren't going to get on one now.
Take away peoples cars and most will end up doing what I do which is not bother going out unless I absolutely have to. All those clubs will end up shutting down due to lack of members therefore and all the country pubs and restaurants. The country will end up a bunch of virtual hermits because going anywhere you want to go if its not the town centre is just to damn hard.
About 10% of the population cycle and it has remained stationary pretty much over the last 5 years. A lot of those 6.5 million will no doubt be kids
Most people just dont want to cycle no matter how many cycle lanes you put in. We just don't bloody enjoy it
Is there a British anti-cycling gene? Or a Dutch cycling one?
Even in holland "Cycling has a modal share of 27% of all trips (urban and rural) nationwide." and "36% of Dutch people listing the bicycle as their most frequent way of getting around on a typical day". Sure make your cycle paths and maybe you might get up to that though I frankly doubt it. But lets assume you do....your active travel bugbear covers 27% of journeys only and 36% of people. For the rest, a mere two thirds of the country, once you have got your way and banned private cars will be stuck in and end up like me going out only when its within easy walking distance or I have no choice and have to deal with public transport. But I guess thats ok for the active travel zealots like you....less pedestrians in your way
Zealots here fall for a romanticised myth of what the Netherlands have done, rather than the reality.
Reality is the Netherlands have, quite rightly, invested for decades in improving roads for both cars and for cyclists. They've never stopped constructing more roads.
Build more roads, capacity improves, congestion eases, and people can take their preferred mode of transportation whether it be cycling or driving. The Dutch do both, with pleasure, because they invest in roads.
In this country people have fallen for the myth of induced demand and think that investing in critical infrastructure like roads is a problem.
The Netherlands has 332km of roads per 100km^2 The UK has 175km of roads per 100km^2
We have less than half the infrastructure they have. Then people wonder why we don't have the mobility the Dutch have?
Invest in roads and boost mobility.
You're comparing apples with oranges. The Netherlands has around twice the population density of the UK, so you'd expect it to have around twice the road density.
Not really as there's economies of scale. If I drive 20 miles through the countryside with no towns, or 20 miles past 6 towns, then either way I've done same mileage on same amount of road.
Plus English density is reasonably comparable actually.
Yes, and no doubt you'll find that the road density of England is also comparable to that of the Netherlands.
No, its not, not even close.
Which should be fairly obvious considering that England makes up most of the area of the UK, then even if every single km of road in the entire UK were located in England (with not a single road at all in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland), then we'd still be less dense than them.
But not every km of road exists in England. Not even close.
What is the road density of England?
244 km/100km^2 versus 332 km/100km^2 in the Netherlands.
You'd need every single road in the entire UK to be in England in order to make the figures comparable, which is patently not the case.
Build more roads with more segregated cycling lanes, that's the Dutch policy and I 100% endorse that.
Yes, I can see this make sense, they obviously had no alternatives. Who is this content for? Anyone already on board with Russia doesn't need historical justifications for things.
And it was those pesky Brits and French that literally FORCED the Soviet Union to invade Poland alongside the Nazis, as well DEMANDING they invaded the Baltic States and went to war with Finland.
Did I get that right?
I think it is a reference to the Munich agreement between UK, France and Germany. The Soviets were excluded from that (as indeed were the Czechs!) despite having a defensive agreement with both France and Czechoslovakia.
The Soviets saw Munich as a betrayal of the Czechoslovakians, but also of themselves.
No the Munich Agreement was signed on the 30th September 1938.
The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was 84 years ago today 23rd of August 1939.
First song ever to debut at #1 in the US from an artist with no record label. No promotion for it at all, just word of mouth. Brilliant to see cultural moments like that.
See also the film “Sound of Freedom”, which is one of the top films of the summer in the US, made on a tiny budget.
Both are alt-right nutjob affairs.
So the far-left nutjobs have been saying.
Do you believe large numbers of children are being abducted by organised sex traffickers who control the media?
I think it unlikely, although the truth about the prevalence of child sex abuse, and the willingness of people in authority to turn a blind eye to it, is already sufficiently disturbing.
I suspect child sex abuse is much less common than it was when I was young.
There was a woodwork teacher at my old school, who had had to leave the local girls school for bringing girls back to his home and taking nude photos of them. This wasn't considered a problem at the local mixed comprehensive.
Why is it always the woodwork teachers?
I had a colleague who went to boarding school in the UK, and he told me there was one particular (non-PE) teacher that would always find an excuse to be there when they were showering.
This not to justify this behaviour. It's recognizing that there are - and have always been - a class of people (mostly men) who seek to sexually abuse children and adolescents.
This abuse tends to happen in one of two ways: either a family member / friend; or via someone in a position of authority / power.
If we were to do a British Crime Survey and ask people if they were victims of childhood (i.e. pre-18) sexual abuse, I suspect that we would find that a large number of people from every age cohort suffered. But I also suspect that it is less common for today's youth.
Firstly, schools are much more aware of the issue, and toleration of teachers' misbehaviour is much less tolerated. And secondly, in an age of smartphones, kids today are much less likely to be situations where they might be able to be abused. There are few alter boys these days.
Likewise the Boy Scouts. I never experienced it myself, but I was such an unattractive child, nonetheless I heard the stories like everyone else.
Although did we have entitled "rapey" coppers back in the day, or is that a more recent phenomenon?
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would be an economic black hole. Nor will in my opinion most people in britain get on a bike. I am fairly typical of most people I know that way....we hated riding a bike when we were a kid and we aren't going to get on one now.
Take away peoples cars and most will end up doing what I do which is not bother going out unless I absolutely have to. All those clubs will end up shutting down due to lack of members therefore and all the country pubs and restaurants. The country will end up a bunch of virtual hermits because going anywhere you want to go if its not the town centre is just to damn hard.
About 10% of the population cycle and it has remained stationary pretty much over the last 5 years. A lot of those 6.5 million will no doubt be kids
Most people just dont want to cycle no matter how many cycle lanes you put in. We just don't bloody enjoy it
Is there a British anti-cycling gene? Or a Dutch cycling one?
Even in holland "Cycling has a modal share of 27% of all trips (urban and rural) nationwide." and "36% of Dutch people listing the bicycle as their most frequent way of getting around on a typical day". Sure make your cycle paths and maybe you might get up to that though I frankly doubt it. But lets assume you do....your active travel bugbear covers 27% of journeys only and 36% of people. For the rest, a mere two thirds of the country, once you have got your way and banned private cars will be stuck in and end up like me going out only when its within easy walking distance or I have no choice and have to deal with public transport. But I guess thats ok for the active travel zealots like you....less pedestrians in your way
Zealots here fall for a romanticised myth of what the Netherlands have done, rather than the reality.
Reality is the Netherlands have, quite rightly, invested for decades in improving roads for both cars and for cyclists. They've never stopped constructing more roads.
Build more roads, capacity improves, congestion eases, and people can take their preferred mode of transportation whether it be cycling or driving. The Dutch do both, with pleasure, because they invest in roads.
In this country people have fallen for the myth of induced demand and think that investing in critical infrastructure like roads is a problem.
The Netherlands has 332km of roads per 100km^2 The UK has 175km of roads per 100km^2
We have less than half the infrastructure they have. Then people wonder why we don't have the mobility the Dutch have?
Invest in roads and boost mobility.
You're comparing apples with oranges. The Netherlands has around twice the population density of the UK, so you'd expect it to have around twice the road density.
Not really as there's economies of scale. If I drive 20 miles through the countryside with no towns, or 20 miles past 6 towns, then either way I've done same mileage on same amount of road.
Plus English density is reasonably comparable actually.
Yes, and no doubt you'll find that the road density of England is also comparable to that of the Netherlands.
I already did that calculation england vs holland for you road density in holland is 50% higher
No, you got your sums wrong. You were mixing up the road densities and populations of England and the UK.
The Netherlands has around twice the road density and population density of the UK. But the Netherlands has roughly the same road density and population density as England.
No, it doesn't.
Netherland has double the road density of the UK.
Netherlands has roughly the same population density but 50% more road density than England.
Isn't the Netherlands about 550/km2 vs 425/km2 in England?
Yes, and I'd imagine that the road densities are a similar ratio.
First song ever to debut at #1 in the US from an artist with no record label. No promotion for it at all, just word of mouth. Brilliant to see cultural moments like that.
See also the film “Sound of Freedom”, which is one of the top films of the summer in the US, made on a tiny budget.
Both are alt-right nutjob affairs.
So the far-left nutjobs have been saying.
Do you believe large numbers of children are being abducted by organised sex traffickers who control the media?
Exhibit 1: Jeffery Epstein.
It was a weird conspiracy theory, until it turned out to be completely true.
It's interesting to see the right already disavow this guy online for saying that diversity is a strength in the US.
On the "organised sex traffickers who control the media" conspiracy and whether it is "completely true" - the way the right view child abuse is obviously conspiratorial. Child abuse primarily happens in the family or a familial community (many denominations of churches or boy scouts of America). The Epstein example (and the examples in the UK of high power / rich men who abuse children such as Saville or MPs) show the rarer side of child abuse that still shows the nature of abuse - typically men, typically rich or in a position of powerful and typically above scrutiny. That could describe Epstein OR your local catholic priest. In the boy scouts of America the issue was the organisation itself didn't want oversight, that much of the labour is done by volunteers and (like the church) the desire for "male role models" in a world where some men consider that "under fire" meant a desire to move people around who were credibly accused of child abuse, rather than actually dealing with the problem.
The right wing need to put more emphasis of the Epstein's of the world because much of the right depends on the importance of the family (and the patriarch specifically) as well as the importance of the church, or organisations like the boy scouts. It is also why those people point at LGBTQ+ and gender non conforming / trans people specifically as groomers despite evidence against that; because those are external threats to right wing notions of family and masculinity and the things they actually uphold as good examples of those are the more evidenced threat to children.
The Trumpite far right is as suspious of the Roman Catholic Church as it was of Epstein.
Biden is of course Roman Catholic and most US Catholics voted for Biden and the Democrats in 2020
@Sandpit was celebrating the success of “The Sound of Freedom”, a film starring, associated with and heavily promoted by Jim Caviezel.
Promoting the film, Caviezel repeatedly spoke about how he is worried about “the adrenochroming of children.” That’s the QAnon conspiracy that Democrat politicians and Hollywood moguls are extracting blood from children under torture and in sacrifices to make a psychoactive drug, adrenochrome. Caviezel said: “Essentially, you have adrenaline in your body and when you are scared, you produce the adrenaline. … If a child knows he’s going to die, his body will secrete this adrenaline and they have a lot of terms that they use that he takes me through but it’s the worst horror I’ve seen. It’s screaming alone. Even if I never, ever, ever saw it, it’s beyond. And these people that do it, um, there will be no mercy for them.” He’s said the issue is “greater than” the Nuremberg trials.
He's also said, “the storm is upon us”. The Storm is the moment when Donald Trump reveals that he’s been President all this time and orders mass arrests of the evil cabal of elites behind the child sex trafficking. He’s talked about "the Rothschild banks" and "a Rothschild pope" oppressing Christians. "I'm certainly not antisemitic," Caviezel told Steve Bannon in an interview. "The studios wouldn't hire me, but see they're all controlled by the central banks."
Former co-workers have described Caviezel as abusing a dog on set; not wanting to shoot a scene on a production where his character rescues a gay couple; saying interracial relationships should be banned; and saying Hitler “had the right idea” but went “too far”. Another former colleague said, “Working with Jim, is like working with a puppy… If that puppy liked Hitler”.
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would be an economic black hole. Nor will in my opinion most people in britain get on a bike. I am fairly typical of most people I know that way....we hated riding a bike when we were a kid and we aren't going to get on one now.
Take away peoples cars and most will end up doing what I do which is not bother going out unless I absolutely have to. All those clubs will end up shutting down due to lack of members therefore and all the country pubs and restaurants. The country will end up a bunch of virtual hermits because going anywhere you want to go if its not the town centre is just to damn hard.
About 10% of the population cycle and it has remained stationary pretty much over the last 5 years. A lot of those 6.5 million will no doubt be kids
Most people just dont want to cycle no matter how many cycle lanes you put in. We just don't bloody enjoy it
Is there a British anti-cycling gene? Or a Dutch cycling one?
Even in holland "Cycling has a modal share of 27% of all trips (urban and rural) nationwide." and "36% of Dutch people listing the bicycle as their most frequent way of getting around on a typical day". Sure make your cycle paths and maybe you might get up to that though I frankly doubt it. But lets assume you do....your active travel bugbear covers 27% of journeys only and 36% of people. For the rest, a mere two thirds of the country, once you have got your way and banned private cars will be stuck in and end up like me going out only when its within easy walking distance or I have no choice and have to deal with public transport. But I guess thats ok for the active travel zealots like you....less pedestrians in your way
Zealots here fall for a romanticised myth of what the Netherlands have done, rather than the reality.
Reality is the Netherlands have, quite rightly, invested for decades in improving roads for both cars and for cyclists. They've never stopped constructing more roads.
Build more roads, capacity improves, congestion eases, and people can take their preferred mode of transportation whether it be cycling or driving. The Dutch do both, with pleasure, because they invest in roads.
In this country people have fallen for the myth of induced demand and think that investing in critical infrastructure like roads is a problem.
The Netherlands has 332km of roads per 100km^2 The UK has 175km of roads per 100km^2
We have less than half the infrastructure they have. Then people wonder why we don't have the mobility the Dutch have?
Invest in roads and boost mobility.
You're comparing apples with oranges. The Netherlands has around twice the population density of the UK, so you'd expect it to have around twice the road density.
Not really as there's economies of scale. If I drive 20 miles through the countryside with no towns, or 20 miles past 6 towns, then either way I've done same mileage on same amount of road.
Plus English density is reasonably comparable actually.
Yes, and no doubt you'll find that the road density of England is also comparable to that of the Netherlands.
I already did that calculation england vs holland for you road density in holland is 50% higher
No, you got your sums wrong. You were mixing up the road densities and populations of England and the UK.
The Netherlands has around twice the road density and population density of the UK. But the Netherlands has roughly the same road density and population density as England.
No, it doesn't.
Netherland has double the road density of the UK.
Netherlands has roughly the same population density but 50% more road density than England.
Isn't the Netherlands about 550/km2 vs 425/km2 in England?
In my experience the roads in the Netherlands were terrific. One of the best things was very wide central reservations so that anyone who broke down or had a bump could be safely cleared out of the way really quickly. Outside the cities they were typically 50m wide.
The majority of Wilko stores are set to close in the next week after a purchase of the retailer fell through, a union has claimed.
In a meeting with administrators today the GMB union said they were informed there is no longer any prospect that the majority of the business will be saved.
It means redundancies for staff in store and at call centres will begin during the coming week.
Some stores may be bought, either individually or as part of larger packages, but significant job losses are now expected.
@Sandpit was celebrating the success of “The Sound of Freedom”, a film starring, associated with and heavily promoted by Jim Caviezel.
Promoting the film, Caviezel repeatedly spoke about how he is worried about “the adrenochroming of children.” That’s the QAnon conspiracy that Democrat politicians and Hollywood moguls are extracting blood from children under torture and in sacrifices to make a psychoactive drug, adrenochrome. Caviezel said: “Essentially, you have adrenaline in your body and when you are scared, you produce the adrenaline. … If a child knows he’s going to die, his body will secrete this adrenaline and they have a lot of terms that they use that he takes me through but it’s the worst horror I’ve seen. It’s screaming alone. Even if I never, ever, ever saw it, it’s beyond. And these people that do it, um, there will be no mercy for them.” He’s said the issue is “greater than” the Nuremberg trials.
He's also said, “the storm is upon us”. The Storm is the moment when Donald Trump reveals that he’s been President all this time and orders mass arrests of the evil cabal of elites behind the child sex trafficking. He’s talked about "the Rothschild banks" and "a Rothschild pope" oppressing Christians. "I'm certainly not antisemitic," Caviezel told Steve Bannon in an interview. "The studios wouldn't hire me, but see they're all controlled by the central banks."
Former co-workers have described Caviezel as abusing a dog on set; not wanting to shoot a scene on a production where his character rescues a gay couple; saying interracial relationships should be banned; and saying Hitler “had the right idea” but went “too far”. Another former colleague said, “Working with Jim, is like working with a puppy… If that puppy liked Hitler”.
Err, nope. That’s far-left conspiracy theory that’s no better than far-right conspiracy theory.
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would be an economic black hole. Nor will in my opinion most people in britain get on a bike. I am fairly typical of most people I know that way....we hated riding a bike when we were a kid and we aren't going to get on one now.
Take away peoples cars and most will end up doing what I do which is not bother going out unless I absolutely have to. All those clubs will end up shutting down due to lack of members therefore and all the country pubs and restaurants. The country will end up a bunch of virtual hermits because going anywhere you want to go if its not the town centre is just to damn hard.
About 10% of the population cycle and it has remained stationary pretty much over the last 5 years. A lot of those 6.5 million will no doubt be kids
Most people just dont want to cycle no matter how many cycle lanes you put in. We just don't bloody enjoy it
Is there a British anti-cycling gene? Or a Dutch cycling one?
Even in holland "Cycling has a modal share of 27% of all trips (urban and rural) nationwide." and "36% of Dutch people listing the bicycle as their most frequent way of getting around on a typical day". Sure make your cycle paths and maybe you might get up to that though I frankly doubt it. But lets assume you do....your active travel bugbear covers 27% of journeys only and 36% of people. For the rest, a mere two thirds of the country, once you have got your way and banned private cars will be stuck in and end up like me going out only when its within easy walking distance or I have no choice and have to deal with public transport. But I guess thats ok for the active travel zealots like you....less pedestrians in your way
Zealots here fall for a romanticised myth of what the Netherlands have done, rather than the reality.
Reality is the Netherlands have, quite rightly, invested for decades in improving roads for both cars and for cyclists. They've never stopped constructing more roads.
Build more roads, capacity improves, congestion eases, and people can take their preferred mode of transportation whether it be cycling or driving. The Dutch do both, with pleasure, because they invest in roads.
In this country people have fallen for the myth of induced demand and think that investing in critical infrastructure like roads is a problem.
The Netherlands has 332km of roads per 100km^2 The UK has 175km of roads per 100km^2
We have less than half the infrastructure they have. Then people wonder why we don't have the mobility the Dutch have?
Invest in roads and boost mobility.
You're comparing apples with oranges. The Netherlands has around twice the population density of the UK, so you'd expect it to have around twice the road density.
Not really as there's economies of scale. If I drive 20 miles through the countryside with no towns, or 20 miles past 6 towns, then either way I've done same mileage on same amount of road.
Plus English density is reasonably comparable actually.
Yes, and no doubt you'll find that the road density of England is also comparable to that of the Netherlands.
No, its not, not even close.
Which should be fairly obvious considering that England makes up most of the area of the UK, then even if every single km of road in the entire UK were located in England (with not a single road at all in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland), then we'd still be less dense than them.
But not every km of road exists in England. Not even close.
What is the road density of England?
175 km per 100km^s is uk figure cant find an england only figure, you only want to go to full uk because wales and scotland are both poorly populated as though I doubt they add much to the 175 km^2
First song ever to debut at #1 in the US from an artist with no record label. No promotion for it at all, just word of mouth. Brilliant to see cultural moments like that.
See also the film “Sound of Freedom”, which is one of the top films of the summer in the US, made on a tiny budget.
Both are alt-right nutjob affairs.
So the far-left nutjobs have been saying.
Do you believe large numbers of children are being abducted by organised sex traffickers who control the media?
I think it unlikely, although the truth about the prevalence of child sex abuse, and the willingness of people in authority to turn a blind eye to it, is already sufficiently disturbing.
I suspect child sex abuse is much less common than it was when I was young.
There was a woodwork teacher at my old school, who had had to leave the local girls school for bringing girls back to his home and taking nude photos of them. This wasn't considered a problem at the local mixed comprehensive.
Why is it always the woodwork teachers?
I had a colleague who went to boarding school in the UK, and he told me there was one particular (non-PE) teacher that would always find an excuse to be there when they were showering.
This not to justify this behaviour. It's recognizing that there are - and have always been - a class of people (mostly men) who seek to sexually abuse children and adolescents.
This abuse tends to happen in one of two ways: either a family member / friend; or via someone in a position of authority / power.
If we were to do a British Crime Survey and ask people if they were victims of childhood (i.e. pre-18) sexual abuse, I suspect that we would find that a large number of people from every age cohort suffered. But I also suspect that it is less common for today's youth.
Firstly, schools are much more aware of the issue, and toleration of teachers' misbehaviour is much less tolerated. And secondly, in an age of smartphones, kids today are much less likely to be situations where they might be able to be abused. There are few alter boys these days.
Agree. Back in the late 60s, my state school PE teacher used to line us all up and walk down the line pulling our shorts forward at the waistband to 'check' that we weren't wearing underpants (which were not allowed under shorts, apparently). We were uncomfortable, but nobody complained.
He would not get away with that these days, and probably wouldn't even try. Things have got better.
Yes, I can see this make sense, they obviously had no alternatives. Who is this content for? Anyone already on board with Russia doesn't need historical justifications for things.
And it was those pesky Brits and French that literally FORCED the Soviet Union to invade Poland alongside the Nazis, as well DEMANDING they invaded the Baltic States and went to war with Finland.
Did I get that right?
I think it is a reference to the Munich agreement between UK, France and Germany. The Soviets were excluded from that (as indeed were the Czechs!) despite having a defensive agreement with both France and Czechoslovakia.
The Soviets saw Munich as a betrayal of the Czechoslovakians, but also of themselves.
No the Munich Agreement was signed on the 30th September 1938.
The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was 84 years ago today 23rd of August 1939.
Yes, but the MR pact was in part that Stalin felt he couldn't trust UK and France to fight. It was at least in part a response to Munich.
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would be an economic black hole. Nor will in my opinion most people in britain get on a bike. I am fairly typical of most people I know that way....we hated riding a bike when we were a kid and we aren't going to get on one now.
Take away peoples cars and most will end up doing what I do which is not bother going out unless I absolutely have to. All those clubs will end up shutting down due to lack of members therefore and all the country pubs and restaurants. The country will end up a bunch of virtual hermits because going anywhere you want to go if its not the town centre is just to damn hard.
About 10% of the population cycle and it has remained stationary pretty much over the last 5 years. A lot of those 6.5 million will no doubt be kids
Most people just dont want to cycle no matter how many cycle lanes you put in. We just don't bloody enjoy it
Is there a British anti-cycling gene? Or a Dutch cycling one?
Even in holland "Cycling has a modal share of 27% of all trips (urban and rural) nationwide." and "36% of Dutch people listing the bicycle as their most frequent way of getting around on a typical day". Sure make your cycle paths and maybe you might get up to that though I frankly doubt it. But lets assume you do....your active travel bugbear covers 27% of journeys only and 36% of people. For the rest, a mere two thirds of the country, once you have got your way and banned private cars will be stuck in and end up like me going out only when its within easy walking distance or I have no choice and have to deal with public transport. But I guess thats ok for the active travel zealots like you....less pedestrians in your way
Zealots here fall for a romanticised myth of what the Netherlands have done, rather than the reality.
Reality is the Netherlands have, quite rightly, invested for decades in improving roads for both cars and for cyclists. They've never stopped constructing more roads.
Build more roads, capacity improves, congestion eases, and people can take their preferred mode of transportation whether it be cycling or driving. The Dutch do both, with pleasure, because they invest in roads.
In this country people have fallen for the myth of induced demand and think that investing in critical infrastructure like roads is a problem.
The Netherlands has 332km of roads per 100km^2 The UK has 175km of roads per 100km^2
We have less than half the infrastructure they have. Then people wonder why we don't have the mobility the Dutch have?
Invest in roads and boost mobility.
You're comparing apples with oranges. The Netherlands has around twice the population density of the UK, so you'd expect it to have around twice the road density.
Not really as there's economies of scale. If I drive 20 miles through the countryside with no towns, or 20 miles past 6 towns, then either way I've done same mileage on same amount of road.
Plus English density is reasonably comparable actually.
Yes, and no doubt you'll find that the road density of England is also comparable to that of the Netherlands.
I already did that calculation england vs holland for you road density in holland is 50% higher
No, you got your sums wrong. You were mixing up the road densities and populations of England and the UK.
The Netherlands has around twice the road density and population density of the UK. But the Netherlands has roughly the same road density and population density as England.
No, it doesn't.
Netherland has double the road density of the UK.
Netherlands has roughly the same population density but 50% more road density than England.
Isn't the Netherlands about 550/km2 vs 425/km2 in England?
Yes, and I'd imagine that the road densities are a similar ratio.
But they're not. As although I've given you the figures already, it also should have been obvious from the start as you'd need 0 roads in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland to make the figures comparable.
244 vs 332 for roads 425 vs 550 for population
Despite economies of scale for denser populations, they have significantly more extra roads than we do.
Build more roads, with more cycling paths, that is what the Dutch have done and it works.
@Sandpit was celebrating the success of “The Sound of Freedom”, a film starring, associated with and heavily promoted by Jim Caviezel.
Promoting the film, Caviezel repeatedly spoke about how he is worried about “the adrenochroming of children.” That’s the QAnon conspiracy that Democrat politicians and Hollywood moguls are extracting blood from children under torture and in sacrifices to make a psychoactive drug, adrenochrome. Caviezel said: “Essentially, you have adrenaline in your body and when you are scared, you produce the adrenaline. … If a child knows he’s going to die, his body will secrete this adrenaline and they have a lot of terms that they use that he takes me through but it’s the worst horror I’ve seen. It’s screaming alone. Even if I never, ever, ever saw it, it’s beyond. And these people that do it, um, there will be no mercy for them.” He’s said the issue is “greater than” the Nuremberg trials.
He's also said, “the storm is upon us”. The Storm is the moment when Donald Trump reveals that he’s been President all this time and orders mass arrests of the evil cabal of elites behind the child sex trafficking. He’s talked about "the Rothschild banks" and "a Rothschild pope" oppressing Christians. "I'm certainly not antisemitic," Caviezel told Steve Bannon in an interview. "The studios wouldn't hire me, but see they're all controlled by the central banks."
Former co-workers have described Caviezel as abusing a dog on set; not wanting to shoot a scene on a production where his character rescues a gay couple; saying interracial relationships should be banned; and saying Hitler “had the right idea” but went “too far”. Another former colleague said, “Working with Jim, is like working with a puppy… If that puppy liked Hitler”.
Err, nope. That’s far-left conspiracy theory that’s no better than far-right conspiracy theory.
What part of the above is untrue? There is video of Caviezel saying the things in the first paragraph: https://twitter.com/ehananoki/status/1383419877881303045 The podcast with Steve Bannon is publicly available. There are multiple reports of Caviezel's behaviour.
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would be an economic black hole. Nor will in my opinion most people in britain get on a bike. I am fairly typical of most people I know that way....we hated riding a bike when we were a kid and we aren't going to get on one now.
Take away peoples cars and most will end up doing what I do which is not bother going out unless I absolutely have to. All those clubs will end up shutting down due to lack of members therefore and all the country pubs and restaurants. The country will end up a bunch of virtual hermits because going anywhere you want to go if its not the town centre is just to damn hard.
About 10% of the population cycle and it has remained stationary pretty much over the last 5 years. A lot of those 6.5 million will no doubt be kids
Most people just dont want to cycle no matter how many cycle lanes you put in. We just don't bloody enjoy it
Is there a British anti-cycling gene? Or a Dutch cycling one?
Even in holland "Cycling has a modal share of 27% of all trips (urban and rural) nationwide." and "36% of Dutch people listing the bicycle as their most frequent way of getting around on a typical day". Sure make your cycle paths and maybe you might get up to that though I frankly doubt it. But lets assume you do....your active travel bugbear covers 27% of journeys only and 36% of people. For the rest, a mere two thirds of the country, once you have got your way and banned private cars will be stuck in and end up like me going out only when its within easy walking distance or I have no choice and have to deal with public transport. But I guess thats ok for the active travel zealots like you....less pedestrians in your way
Zealots here fall for a romanticised myth of what the Netherlands have done, rather than the reality.
Reality is the Netherlands have, quite rightly, invested for decades in improving roads for both cars and for cyclists. They've never stopped constructing more roads.
Build more roads, capacity improves, congestion eases, and people can take their preferred mode of transportation whether it be cycling or driving. The Dutch do both, with pleasure, because they invest in roads.
In this country people have fallen for the myth of induced demand and think that investing in critical infrastructure like roads is a problem.
The Netherlands has 332km of roads per 100km^2 The UK has 175km of roads per 100km^2
We have less than half the infrastructure they have. Then people wonder why we don't have the mobility the Dutch have?
Invest in roads and boost mobility.
You're comparing apples with oranges. The Netherlands has around twice the population density of the UK, so you'd expect it to have around twice the road density.
Not really as there's economies of scale. If I drive 20 miles through the countryside with no towns, or 20 miles past 6 towns, then either way I've done same mileage on same amount of road.
Plus English density is reasonably comparable actually.
Yes, and no doubt you'll find that the road density of England is also comparable to that of the Netherlands.
I already did that calculation england vs holland for you road density in holland is 50% higher
No, you got your sums wrong. You were mixing up the road densities and populations of England and the UK.
The Netherlands has around twice the road density and population density of the UK. But the Netherlands has roughly the same road density and population density as England.
No, it doesn't.
Netherland has double the road density of the UK.
Netherlands has roughly the same population density but 50% more road density than England.
Isn't the Netherlands about 550/km2 vs 425/km2 in England?
With the figures given I make it that the Netherlands has a 21% higher population density and a 36% higher road density.
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would be an economic black hole. Nor will in my opinion most people in britain get on a bike. I am fairly typical of most people I know that way....we hated riding a bike when we were a kid and we aren't going to get on one now.
Take away peoples cars and most will end up doing what I do which is not bother going out unless I absolutely have to. All those clubs will end up shutting down due to lack of members therefore and all the country pubs and restaurants. The country will end up a bunch of virtual hermits because going anywhere you want to go if its not the town centre is just to damn hard.
About 10% of the population cycle and it has remained stationary pretty much over the last 5 years. A lot of those 6.5 million will no doubt be kids
Most people just dont want to cycle no matter how many cycle lanes you put in. We just don't bloody enjoy it
Is there a British anti-cycling gene? Or a Dutch cycling one?
Even in holland "Cycling has a modal share of 27% of all trips (urban and rural) nationwide." and "36% of Dutch people listing the bicycle as their most frequent way of getting around on a typical day". Sure make your cycle paths and maybe you might get up to that though I frankly doubt it. But lets assume you do....your active travel bugbear covers 27% of journeys only and 36% of people. For the rest, a mere two thirds of the country, once you have got your way and banned private cars will be stuck in and end up like me going out only when its within easy walking distance or I have no choice and have to deal with public transport. But I guess thats ok for the active travel zealots like you....less pedestrians in your way
Zealots here fall for a romanticised myth of what the Netherlands have done, rather than the reality.
Reality is the Netherlands have, quite rightly, invested for decades in improving roads for both cars and for cyclists. They've never stopped constructing more roads.
Build more roads, capacity improves, congestion eases, and people can take their preferred mode of transportation whether it be cycling or driving. The Dutch do both, with pleasure, because they invest in roads.
In this country people have fallen for the myth of induced demand and think that investing in critical infrastructure like roads is a problem.
The Netherlands has 332km of roads per 100km^2 The UK has 175km of roads per 100km^2
We have less than half the infrastructure they have. Then people wonder why we don't have the mobility the Dutch have?
Invest in roads and boost mobility.
You're comparing apples with oranges. The Netherlands has around twice the population density of the UK, so you'd expect it to have around twice the road density.
Not really as there's economies of scale. If I drive 20 miles through the countryside with no towns, or 20 miles past 6 towns, then either way I've done same mileage on same amount of road.
Plus English density is reasonably comparable actually.
Yes, and no doubt you'll find that the road density of England is also comparable to that of the Netherlands.
No, its not, not even close.
Which should be fairly obvious considering that England makes up most of the area of the UK, then even if every single km of road in the entire UK were located in England (with not a single road at all in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland), then we'd still be less dense than them.
But not every km of road exists in England. Not even close.
What is the road density of England?
175 km per 100km^s is uk figure cant find an england only figure, you only want to go to full uk because wales and scotland are both poorly populated as though I doubt they add much to the 175 km^2
The point is that Wales and Scotland add a lot more to the denominator of roads per square kilometer!
To take an extreme example, you'll find that Norway has a far lower road density than the UK. That's not because Norway is crap at building roads; it's because Noway has a far lower population density than the UK. Similarly, the UK has a lower road density than the Netherlands because it has a lower population density than the Netherlands, not because the UK is crap at building roads compared to the Netherlands.
This roads density thing is actually really interesting. There must be loads of factors at play - topography, population density, types of roads, interactions with public transport etc.
Currently working out my notice (hence the PB activity...) so will have a look into it.
@Sandpit was celebrating the success of “The Sound of Freedom”, a film starring, associated with and heavily promoted by Jim Caviezel.
Promoting the film, Caviezel repeatedly spoke about how he is worried about “the adrenochroming of children.” That’s the QAnon conspiracy that Democrat politicians and Hollywood moguls are extracting blood from children under torture and in sacrifices to make a psychoactive drug, adrenochrome. Caviezel said: “Essentially, you have adrenaline in your body and when you are scared, you produce the adrenaline. … If a child knows he’s going to die, his body will secrete this adrenaline and they have a lot of terms that they use that he takes me through but it’s the worst horror I’ve seen. It’s screaming alone. Even if I never, ever, ever saw it, it’s beyond. And these people that do it, um, there will be no mercy for them.” He’s said the issue is “greater than” the Nuremberg trials.
He's also said, “the storm is upon us”. The Storm is the moment when Donald Trump reveals that he’s been President all this time and orders mass arrests of the evil cabal of elites behind the child sex trafficking. He’s talked about "the Rothschild banks" and "a Rothschild pope" oppressing Christians. "I'm certainly not antisemitic," Caviezel told Steve Bannon in an interview. "The studios wouldn't hire me, but see they're all controlled by the central banks."
Former co-workers have described Caviezel as abusing a dog on set; not wanting to shoot a scene on a production where his character rescues a gay couple; saying interracial relationships should be banned; and saying Hitler “had the right idea” but went “too far”. Another former colleague said, “Working with Jim, is like working with a puppy… If that puppy liked Hitler”.
Err, nope. That’s far-left conspiracy theory that’s no better than far-right conspiracy theory.
What part of the above is untrue? There is video of Caviezel saying the things in the first paragraph: https://twitter.com/ehananoki/status/1383419877881303045 The podcast with Steve Bannon is publicly available. There are multiple reports of Caviezel's behaviour.
https://twitter.com/ehananoki/status/1383421963104788489?s=20 That's video of Caviezel "explaining" about adrenochrome. Are you saying that video is faked? Are you saying there's no QAnon adrenochrome conspiracy nonsense and Caviezel meant something else?
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would be an economic black hole. Nor will in my opinion most people in britain get on a bike. I am fairly typical of most people I know that way....we hated riding a bike when we were a kid and we aren't going to get on one now.
Take away peoples cars and most will end up doing what I do which is not bother going out unless I absolutely have to. All those clubs will end up shutting down due to lack of members therefore and all the country pubs and restaurants. The country will end up a bunch of virtual hermits because going anywhere you want to go if its not the town centre is just to damn hard.
About 10% of the population cycle and it has remained stationary pretty much over the last 5 years. A lot of those 6.5 million will no doubt be kids
Most people just dont want to cycle no matter how many cycle lanes you put in. We just don't bloody enjoy it
Is there a British anti-cycling gene? Or a Dutch cycling one?
Even in holland "Cycling has a modal share of 27% of all trips (urban and rural) nationwide." and "36% of Dutch people listing the bicycle as their most frequent way of getting around on a typical day". Sure make your cycle paths and maybe you might get up to that though I frankly doubt it. But lets assume you do....your active travel bugbear covers 27% of journeys only and 36% of people. For the rest, a mere two thirds of the country, once you have got your way and banned private cars will be stuck in and end up like me going out only when its within easy walking distance or I have no choice and have to deal with public transport. But I guess thats ok for the active travel zealots like you....less pedestrians in your way
Zealots here fall for a romanticised myth of what the Netherlands have done, rather than the reality.
Reality is the Netherlands have, quite rightly, invested for decades in improving roads for both cars and for cyclists. They've never stopped constructing more roads.
Build more roads, capacity improves, congestion eases, and people can take their preferred mode of transportation whether it be cycling or driving. The Dutch do both, with pleasure, because they invest in roads.
In this country people have fallen for the myth of induced demand and think that investing in critical infrastructure like roads is a problem.
The Netherlands has 332km of roads per 100km^2 The UK has 175km of roads per 100km^2
We have less than half the infrastructure they have. Then people wonder why we don't have the mobility the Dutch have?
Invest in roads and boost mobility.
You're comparing apples with oranges. The Netherlands has around twice the population density of the UK, so you'd expect it to have around twice the road density.
Not really as there's economies of scale. If I drive 20 miles through the countryside with no towns, or 20 miles past 6 towns, then either way I've done same mileage on same amount of road.
Plus English density is reasonably comparable actually.
Yes, and no doubt you'll find that the road density of England is also comparable to that of the Netherlands.
I already did that calculation england vs holland for you road density in holland is 50% higher
No, you got your sums wrong. You were mixing up the road densities and populations of England and the UK.
The Netherlands has around twice the road density and population density of the UK. But the Netherlands has roughly the same road density and population density as England.
No, it doesn't.
Netherland has double the road density of the UK.
Netherlands has roughly the same population density but 50% more road density than England.
Isn't the Netherlands about 550/km2 vs 425/km2 in England?
Yes, and I'd imagine that the road densities are a similar ratio.
But they're not. As although I've given you the figures already, it also should have been obvious from the start as you'd need 0 roads in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland to make the figures comparable.
244 vs 332 for roads 425 vs 550 for population
Despite economies of scale for denser populations, they have significantly more extra roads than we do.
Build more roads, with more cycling paths, that is what the Dutch have done and it works.
And don't make it so cyclists are sharing paths with pedestrians. As a pedestrian I feel more in fear of being hit by a cyclist than a car though that is anecdotal as number of times been hit by a car = 0, number of times in collision with cyclists = 2
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would
We should all be getting 1 hour of exercise a day (or at least 150 mins a week). That means that most people with a commute less than 10km (6 miles) should be cycling or walking to work.
In England and Wales, 65% of commuters are within 10km of their workplace. 43% are within 5km. Yet only 14% walk or cycle.
Whatever happened to "protect the NHS"?
It's that kind of hectoring tone, particularly when combined with a message that (1) tells people that they're not good enough - for themselves and for humanity - and (2) wants to make their life less pleasant*, that makes them want to go and order a big fat pizza just out of spite.
* There's a reason people drive or take a bus/train and it comes down to the traditional four metrics of modal choice: cost, speed, convenience and pleasantness. Granted, cost will always tend to weigh for cycling and will always do so for walking; the other three, however, usually more than offset it.
I don't blame people at all for driving everywhere given the lack of safe and pleasant walking and cycling infrastructure. I think it's a huge government failure that so many people use a car for short journeys.
It's crazy that the NHS is under such pressure but we never do anything to reduce it - the answer is always more funding, more doctors, more beds.
I'm still baffled that the government didn't use COVID lockdowns to reduce obesity and to get people exercising more, particularly given these were the known co- morbidities we could do something about.
But they did.
They made announcements on the news.
They made adverts. Though lots of people don't even see adverts anymore.
They had schools push things.
They had the NHS pushing out messages.
What more could be done that wasn't done?
We are constantly getting Change4Life materials from the kids school.
If people aren't eating healthy or exercising then that's by choice, not ignorance.
Ironically for all Eabhals wanting people out of cars I would actually do more exercise if I had one.
Having to rely on walking or public transport keeps me mostly at home and prevents me doing things I would otherwise do.
Examples I have considered doing since the move to the south west but cant because no public transport and not within a range I am willing to walk
Archery Taking Aikido back up Hiking in the local forest To name but a few and note I think the bus here is a damn sight better than the bus service in Slough
It would be great to fix that with better public transport and active travel provision.
You aren't going to fix it by public transport. Buses can't go everywhere people want to go from and to it would be an economic black hole. Nor will in my opinion most people in britain get on a bike. I am fairly typical of most people I know that way....we hated riding a bike when we were a kid and we aren't going to get on one now.
Take away peoples cars and most will end up doing what I do which is not bother going out unless I absolutely have to. All those clubs will end up shutting down due to lack of members therefore and all the country pubs and restaurants. The country will end up a bunch of virtual hermits because going anywhere you want to go if its not the town centre is just to damn hard.
About 10% of the population cycle and it has remained stationary pretty much over the last 5 years. A lot of those 6.5 million will no doubt be kids
Most people just dont want to cycle no matter how many cycle lanes you put in. We just don't bloody enjoy it
Is there a British anti-cycling gene? Or a Dutch cycling one?
Even in holland "Cycling has a modal share of 27% of all trips (urban and rural) nationwide." and "36% of Dutch people listing the bicycle as their most frequent way of getting around on a typical day". Sure make your cycle paths and maybe you might get up to that though I frankly doubt it. But lets assume you do....your active travel bugbear covers 27% of journeys only and 36% of people. For the rest, a mere two thirds of the country, once you have got your way and banned private cars will be stuck in and end up like me going out only when its within easy walking distance or I have no choice and have to deal with public transport. But I guess thats ok for the active travel zealots like you....less pedestrians in your way
Zealots here fall for a romanticised myth of what the Netherlands have done, rather than the reality.
Reality is the Netherlands have, quite rightly, invested for decades in improving roads for both cars and for cyclists. They've never stopped constructing more roads.
Build more roads, capacity improves, congestion eases, and people can take their preferred mode of transportation whether it be cycling or driving. The Dutch do both, with pleasure, because they invest in roads.
In this country people have fallen for the myth of induced demand and think that investing in critical infrastructure like roads is a problem.
The Netherlands has 332km of roads per 100km^2 The UK has 175km of roads per 100km^2
We have less than half the infrastructure they have. Then people wonder why we don't have the mobility the Dutch have?
Invest in roads and boost mobility.
You're comparing apples with oranges. The Netherlands has around twice the population density of the UK, so you'd expect it to have around twice the road density.
Not really as there's economies of scale. If I drive 20 miles through the countryside with no towns, or 20 miles past 6 towns, then either way I've done same mileage on same amount of road.
Plus English density is reasonably comparable actually.
Yes, and no doubt you'll find that the road density of England is also comparable to that of the Netherlands.
I already did that calculation england vs holland for you road density in holland is 50% higher
No, you got your sums wrong. You were mixing up the road densities and populations of England and the UK.
The Netherlands has around twice the road density and population density of the UK. But the Netherlands has roughly the same road density and population density as England.
No, it doesn't.
Netherland has double the road density of the UK.
Netherlands has roughly the same population density but 50% more road density than England.
Isn't the Netherlands about 550/km2 vs 425/km2 in England?
With the figures given I make it that the Netherlands has a 21% higher population density and a 36% higher road density.
The discrepancy doesn't seem that large to me.
Our road capacity has been more than decimated relative to theirs, by the failure to invest in enough new roads.
15% extra seems quite significant to me.
Boost our roads by 15% and you'd free up plenty of space to reduce congestion and boost driving and cycling safely.
Comments
(Was I supposed to say that?)
Couple of them ended up with ten year sentences.
The 4-1 ruling departs from the court’s own decision earlier this year to strike down a similar law.
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/23/south-carolina-abortion-supreme-court-00112431
Reality is the Netherlands have, quite rightly, invested for decades in improving roads for both cars and for cyclists. They've never stopped constructing more roads.
Build more roads, capacity improves, congestion eases, and people can take their preferred mode of transportation whether it be cycling or driving. The Dutch do both, with pleasure, because they invest in roads.
In this country people have fallen for the myth of induced demand and think that investing in critical infrastructure like roads is a problem.
The Netherlands has 332km of roads per 100km^2
The UK has 175km of roads per 100km^2
We have less than half the infrastructure they have. Then people wonder why we don't have the mobility the Dutch have?
Invest in roads and boost mobility.
Ironically, a DeHavilland proposal for a 2 stager, LOX/Kero, same engines both stages, just more on the first stage, was dropped as “technically not interesting”.
On the way back we went through Cologne in the early evening and I was standing in the corridor talking to a German who told me about the cathedral being the first important building reconstructed. Everything around it reminded me of London’s East End…..ruins.
There’s always been all sorts of scams that involve switching VINs, usually from a wrecked or scrapped car, to either a stolen car or one that’s short of paperwork.
But people who want to cycle can. Aided by decades of investment in roads. Investment you oppose in this country.
The rest I can understand.
You remind me of those zero-covid people, unable or unwilling to consider the impact of your policy on people who wish to live a different kind of life to you.
'Ere have you seen that ginger slapper, had a kid as a schoolgirl and raving like a teenager in Shagaluf. Disgusting!
I may be wrong, but somehow Angela's antics would appear to cause less heartache than Boris's.
population density of england 434 square km
Hardly double
Using those figures an equivalent road density would be holland having 210.5 km of road
On cloned numberplates I have seen numbers from 10k to 50k offences committed (ie presumably detected) per annum, and up to 4 million number plates being cloned (various press articles),
I think that tightening up the supply chain for number plates is part of the answer to that, and as you saying going for some form of high security plate. That would reduce the issue to a small problem amongst the criminal set. The strategy also offers a means to apply a control to illegal motorbikes - make pre-sale registration a requirement.
As it stands to derestrict a Surron from 30mph to 50+mph, all that has to be done is cutting one sticking out loop of wire. And those two teenage lads in Ely, Cardiff killed themselves with one that had been a present from a parent.
"The formidable recipe involves mixing a bottle of vodka, a bottle of Southern Comfort, ten bottles of Blue WKD and a litre of orange juice"
> Any polite request by a superior ("Please avoid ramming the dock yet again") is an ORDER and must be obeyed, unless illegal ("Keelhaul the chaplain, if you please").
> In social situations, attention MUST be paid and priority given, to OLDER women who should NOT be ignored or slighted in favor of younger and (presumably) more attractive ladies. ("Of course, madam, please tell me more about the admiral's struggles with his lumbago" as opposed to, "Hey, cutie, get a load of THIS!")
Plus English density is reasonably comparable actually.
Might have a market failure on our hands.
You? Or me?
Who is this content for? Anyone already on board with Russia doesn't need historical justifications for things.
She advised my Mum to get a job there on reception so she could meet a doctor
My Dad trained there, and met my Mum there
My sister and I were born there
I guess the answer is to turn the beach into a multi-storey car park?
IIUI a car (with a genuine plate) that’s untaxed or uninsured will send an alarm to a police traffic car that passes it, and they’re pretty ruthless in confiscating them, telling the drivers to call a taxi.
If you spend time looking at the rare instances of a rich Jewish guy doing this that feeds in to all the conspiracy stuff, rather than discussing the overarching patriarchal reasons for child sexual abuse and really the majority if all sexual abuse - I think it is reasonable to question why.
So to your original position of “this anti woke song and anti woke film are based, actually” begs the question: why should those things that titillate and fascinate and scratch that impulse to codify the conspiratorial myth be celebrated when they exist as a projection to ignore the real issue?
Did I get that right?
The lady in question is no longer a friend of my brother's.
But it’s important to know that Epstein existed, precisely because his ‘friends’ were all well-connected.
Which should be fairly obvious considering that England makes up most of the area of the UK, then even if every single km of road in the entire UK were located in England (with not a single road at all in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland), then we'd still be less dense than them.
But not every km of road exists in England. Not even close.
Rayner the ladette going full 90s revival. Southern Comfort, though... What is she, like 15 years old? Also, vaping is so basic. I come away from this somewhat less impressed overall, and concerned about an incipient mid life crisis in the making.
But it is nice when some at least do actually seem like regular people. Even if that means doing things a bit silly or out there sometimes.
The Netherlands has around twice the road density and population density of the UK. But the Netherlands has roughly the same road density and population density as England.
Netherland has double the road density of the UK.
Netherlands has roughly the same population density but 50% more road density than England.
The Soviets saw Munich as a betrayal of the Czechoslovakians, but also of themselves.
I did that calculation for you it isn't
This not to justify this behaviour. It's recognizing that there are - and have always been - a class of people (mostly men) who seek to sexually abuse children and adolescents.
This abuse tends to happen in one of two ways: either a family member / friend; or via someone in a position of authority / power.
If we were to do a British Crime Survey and ask people if they were victims of childhood (i.e. pre-18) sexual abuse, I suspect that we would find that a large number of people from every age cohort suffered. But I also suspect that it is less common for today's youth.
Firstly, schools are much more aware of the issue, and toleration of teachers' misbehaviour is much less tolerated. And secondly, in an age of smartphones, kids today are much less likely to be situations where they might be able to be abused. There are few alter boys these days.
The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was 84 years ago today 23rd of August 1939.
There was also an emphasis on robotic exploration beyond low-earth orbit and pootling around in LEO for the manned missions, the latter of which has been astonishingly expensive but a lot less inspiring than heading to Mars would have been.
If there was a Cold War style race to be the first to Mars I'm pretty sure it wouldn't take very long to get there. But there isn't. So we haven't.
Also, although Musk's efforts have made something of a difference, there's not much that technology can do to make escaping the gravity well any easier. Short of a space elevator it's always going to take a huge rocket and loads of energy.
Was pleased to read your experience.
You'd need every single road in the entire UK to be in England in order to make the figures comparable, which is patently not the case.
Build more roads with more segregated cycling lanes, that's the Dutch policy and I 100% endorse that.
I’m having cucumber and radish salad, with tomatoes, anchovies and mozzarella grilled on garlic ciabatta, for dinner
Although did we have entitled "rapey" coppers back in the day, or is that a more recent phenomenon?
Biden is of course Roman Catholic and most US Catholics voted for Biden and the Democrats in 2020
Promoting the film, Caviezel repeatedly spoke about how he is worried about “the adrenochroming of children.” That’s the QAnon conspiracy that Democrat politicians and Hollywood moguls are extracting blood from children under torture and in sacrifices to make a psychoactive drug, adrenochrome. Caviezel said: “Essentially, you have adrenaline in your body and when you are scared, you produce the adrenaline. … If a child knows he’s going to die, his body will secrete this adrenaline and they have a lot of terms that they use that he takes me through but it’s the worst horror I’ve seen. It’s screaming alone. Even if I never, ever, ever saw it, it’s beyond. And these people that do it, um, there will be no mercy for them.” He’s said the issue is “greater than” the Nuremberg trials.
He's also said, “the storm is upon us”. The Storm is the moment when Donald Trump reveals that he’s been President all this time and orders mass arrests of the evil cabal of elites behind the child sex trafficking. He’s talked about "the Rothschild banks" and "a Rothschild pope" oppressing Christians. "I'm certainly not antisemitic," Caviezel told Steve Bannon in an interview. "The studios wouldn't hire me, but see they're all controlled by the central banks."
Former co-workers have described Caviezel as abusing a dog on set; not wanting to shoot a scene on a production where his character rescues a gay couple; saying interracial relationships should be banned; and saying Hitler “had the right idea” but went “too far”. Another former colleague said, “Working with Jim, is like working with a puppy… If that puppy liked Hitler”.
In a meeting with administrators today the GMB union said they were informed there is no longer any prospect that the majority of the business will be saved.
It means redundancies for staff in store and at call centres will begin during the coming week.
Some stores may be bought, either individually or as part of larger packages, but significant job losses are now expected.
https://news.sky.com/story/majority-of-wilko-stores-to-close-in-the-next-week-gmb-union-claims-12946003
however here you go try this
https://www.nationmaster.com/nmx/ranking/road-density netherland 3rd uk 9th
He would not get away with that these days, and probably wouldn't even try. Things have got better.
https://www.lordashcroft.com/2023/08/angela-rayner-book-announcement/
244 vs 332 for roads
425 vs 550 for population
Despite economies of scale for denser populations, they have significantly more extra roads than we do.
Build more roads, with more cycling paths, that is what the Dutch have done and it works.
The discrepancy doesn't seem that large to me.
To take an extreme example, you'll find that Norway has a far lower road density than the UK. That's not because Norway is crap at building roads; it's because Noway has a far lower population density than the UK. Similarly, the UK has a lower road density than the Netherlands because it has a lower population density than the Netherlands, not because the UK is crap at building roads compared to the Netherlands.
Currently working out my notice (hence the PB activity...) so will have a look into it.
15% extra seems quite significant to me.
Boost our roads by 15% and you'd free up plenty of space to reduce congestion and boost driving and cycling safely.