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Referendum blues – politicalbetting.com
Referendum blues – politicalbetting.com
"It was our responsibility to convince the majority of people to vote yes and we clearly failed to do so."Irish PM Leo Varadkar spoke to reporters following the governments defeat in twin referendums on changing the country's constitution.https://t.co/oALM8y0EOS? Sky 501 pic.twitter.com/nonhrtqanj
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Congratulations to @Roger for more successful tips, in particular Poor Things.
Nearly half of UK award nominees in last decade were privately educated
Labour analysis finds 40% of Britons nominated for main prizes at major cultural awards went to private school
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2024/mar/10/uk-award-nominees-privately-educated-labour-analysis
Anyone surprised Barbie was nominated less and lost out to a successful WW2 based biopic doesn't know the Academy.
In an unusually personal intervention, [Keir Starmer] added: “Growing up in a working-class household, the opportunity to learn an instrument gave me benefits far beyond the music. It gave me the confidence to kick on, and the drive to achieve.”
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2024/mar/10/uk-award-nominees-privately-educated-labour-analysis
I'm not sure I get the importance of the 'undemocratic' lesson in this context, though, given the referendum simply rejected the amendments in question.
Problems about the relationship between that state and NGOs are perhaps food for a separate debate.
As far as the constitution is concerned, the existing parts which were the subject of debate could certainly do with another look at some point.
Personally I'd advocate for something along the lines of the U.S. Equal Rights Amendment, which is far simpler and clearer in its aim.
"Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex."
Still not ratified, of course.
I'd quibble on something though: families have always been founded on more than 'marriage'. That may be the norm; it *may* even be the ideal; but marriage should probably not be seen as a 'foundation'.
There have always been single mothers; less commonly, there have always been single dads. There have been cohabiting couples who do not want to go through the rules forced on them by a religion that has caused so much harm. They can still be 'families', and should be seen as such by society and the law.
To see this, just ask a simple question: can you have a family without marriage? If the answer is yes, then removal of the clause is fine. If no, then you are telling many people they are not a 'family'.
As for the word 'women' being removed: if the clause gave women more power, it should be kept. If the clause gave them less power, or was restrictive, then it shouldn't really be in, should it?
In the case of Article 41.2.2°, this seems utterly restrictive towards women. It is a very unequal clause.
All of these clauses seem somewhat archaic and based in a historic view of the world that was incompatible with reality even when they were written.
"it's a book written from a humorous perspective, it's deliberately in bad faith, arrogant, chauvinistic and so on," Cerquiglini told AFP.
Beneath the provocative title and humour, the prominent academic hopes to convey the cross-Channel linguistic tangle since the Norman conquest of 1066 -- and how ridiculous French resistance to "anglicisms" can be.
"You can also see my book as an homage to the English language, which has been able to adopt so many words... Viking, Danish, French, it's astonishing," Cerquiglini said.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/english-just-badly-pronounced-french-023325692.html
Exclusive: Independent examination of rape prosecutions hears lawyers are ‘obsessed’ with credibility of victims and use victim-blaming language
https://www.theguardian.com/law/2024/mar/11/cps-lawyers-in-england-and-wales-trivialise-teen-sexual-abuse-report-says
The geographical breakdown of voting results by Dáil constituency lends some support to some of her argument.
By Province/EU Region - proposed Amendment 39 - Family Referendum
Dublin 39.4%
Leinster 32.1%
Munster 32.0%
Connacht-U 25.0%
Total 32.3%
> Amendment 39 (trends for Amendment 40 similar) did best (very relatively speaking) in Dublin City and (former) County, the most urban/suburbanized part of the Republic. In cluster of four southeast Dublin constituencies (Dublin 6 postal code area) with highest socio-economics and socio-political progressivism, Amend 39 got over 49% of the vote, including a very slight +250 majority in Dún Laoghaire ("Kingston" to British Empire Loyalist PBers). By contrast, Yes was less robust in the central city, and even worse out in more downmarket urban/suburban fringe west & southwestern Dublin.
> Beyond the Great Wen of the Emerald Isle, the Amend 39 Yes % in Leinster AND Munster mirrored the national average. However, Yes ran better (again relatively speaking) in areas like exurban Kildare North (40.2%) and urban Cork Southcentral (38.6%) than in rural constituencies such as Galway East (28.0%), Meath West (28.1%) and Kerry (28.7%).
> Underlining the urban/rural, affluent/not-so-much split, Amendment 39 achieved (in a manner of speaking) it's electoral abyss in the wilds of Connacht and fringes of Ulster (oustide NI). Yes did "best" in Limerick City (31.7%) and hit rock bottom in my own ancestral stomping grounds on the edge of creation in County Donegal (19.8%).
I've been up a couple of hours, we're out of coffee, and the shop does not open for another hour.
I'm afraid that, for the next hour and fifteen minutes, I may appear unusually human.
Apologies in advance.
Ireland has a written constitution and any amendments must be supported by referenda. It's a system we know of but consider little, discussing only when it intersects with us or our interests. I think countries such as Ireland and Switzerland with that system are fortunate.
Monty Python and The Holy Grail - Insulting Frenchman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSo0duY7-9s
Some people have quasi-religious rites when it comes to tea and coffee. A friend washes a tea cup out three or five times with hot water, before leaving boiling water in the cups 'to allow the cups to warm'. She then empties the water and pours the tea.
Likewise, an old boss of mine had a really expensive coffee machine, and treated coffee-making as almost a religious experience. He would also get into heated discussions (non-seriously) with another caffeine addict who used a rival machine.
I just don't get it. The expensive coffee often tastes like sh*t anyway.
Aeropress is great, particularly when camping. Has improved my life almost as much as my electric toothbrush.
"Indonesia's Batik Air faces probe after pilots fall asleep mid-flight"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-68488416
AIUI the railways have been doing some research into quality of rest as well as required rest times between shifts.
It also reminds me of the 1892 Thirsk Crash, where a signalman was forced to work despite being in no state to:
"Holmes was charged with manslaughter and found guilty, but was given an absolute discharge upon the strong recommendation of the jury, who were sympathetic to Holmes' personal tragedy; public opinion was also in Holmes' favour"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1892_Thirsk_rail_crash
Bit like Vimes and his shoes.
https://www.flyingmag.com/controlled-rest-best-practices-guide/
Pilots falling asleep happens more frequently than one might imagine!
Good quality coffee requires pressure to make, pressure you can't get from a kettle and can get from almost any other machine. That's [part of the] reason why instant is ****.
https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/03/10/2213245/mock-news-sites-with-russian-ties-pop-up-in-us
It’s going to make sorting out the real news from the fake news much harder as the election draws nearer.
The pod machines are like razor blades, way more expensive over time and tied to one manufacturer. In their favour they’re slightly less messy.
1. Women were very suspicious of the removal of any reference to them at all, whether married or not, whether carers or not because they felt that this would result in their interests being overlooked. The proponents had no answer to this. Better to be mentioned in archaic language than not mentioned at all, especially as the archaic language has not really stopped women doing what they want. There was a concern that this was part of a wider movement to remove references to women in public documents.
2. Conversely the care amendment was seen as reducing the state's obligations and dumping these on - mostly - women.
So women would end up with more responsibilities, less support and no mention of them at all. The proponents were arguing about some archaic language while the opponents were talking about real world realities. It's worth reading what families with disabled children were saying - they were furious.
The surprise is not the size of the No vote. It's that the political class ever thought it would get through. They were hugely out of touch.
Normality can be resumed. Sadly for you....
Nothing wrong with people preferring other coffee, but if it works for me, so I'll stick with it.
(In addition, as a vague generalisations, I'd argue the more expensive the coffee, the more hideous the taste. Some of the 'rocket fuel' people used to brew as their 'favourite' at various workplaces were invariably horrible.)
2. Buy kettle
3. Boil kettle
4. Put instant coffee in cup
5. Pour boiling water in cup
6. Add milk and sugar to taste
7. Stir
8. Drink
Maintenance costs: wash spoon and mug
Number of moving parts: tap valve (1)
Cost: negligible
I am a fan of my Nespresso machine though, great crema and aroma, very convenient and about 40p a cup, so fine for anyone apart from 30p Lee.
What are the Royals up to???
Four international photo agencies have retracted a picture of the Princess of Wales and her children over concerns it has been "manipulated".
The image, taken by Prince William for Mother's Day, was the first of Catherine to be released by Kensington Palace since her surgery in January.
But, Getty Images, AFP, Reuters and Associated Press have pulled the photo - noting an "inconsistency in alignment of Princess Charlotte's left hand".
Kensington Palace declined to comment.
The photo shows the princess sitting down, surrounded by Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis and Prince George, the latter wrapping his arms around her.
It was the first official photo of the Princess of Wales since her abdominal surgery two months ago. Since then she has stayed out of the public eye.
The image was posted on the Prince and Princess of Wales's social media accounts with a message from Catherine which said: "Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months.
"Wishing everyone a Happy Mother's Day."
It has become a regular routine for the royal couple to release their own photos of special family occasions. More often than not, the photos are taken by Catherine and are issued to the media with instructions on how they can be used.
But, before Prince William's image of his family was posted online, it would have gone through the social media team at Kensington Palace who manage the online accounts of the Prince and Princess of Wales.
It may well have been that some editing was done on the original photo which has now resulted in the discrepancies in its appearance.
The implication here is not that the entire photo is a fake or that the Princess of Wales is more unwell than she appears in the image. That seems unlikely and would be a very high-risk strategy from the Kensington Palace team.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68526972
I don't think they can maintain the current silence. Our normally Royalty obsessed press has been strangely reticent about recent goings on in the Royal Family.
"Better to be mentioned in archaic language than not mentioned at all"
I thoroughly disagree with this. Clauses can be restrictive or free; granting freedoms or restricting them. That is very much a restrictive clause, and IMO has no place in a constitution. It makes vast assumptions about the way families live their lives.
I don't see how the care amendment dumps more responsibilities onto women. Take my family situation: Mrs J works, whilst I'm a house-husband. we freely chose this, and it works well for us (and other people we know). Clause 41.2.1 and 41.2.2 utterly ignore the role I play in the home, which is traditionally the 'female' one. Imagine if Mrs J was to be made redundant: that clause may put us under a worse situation than if I worked and Mrs J was at home.
" especially as the archaic language has not really stopped women doing what they want."
That can change. The US shows how constitutions can become akin to a religion, with every word providing a powerful meaning to adherents. How might government and society view 41.2.2 in fifty years' time? Might it be seen as a requirement for women to stay at home?
These clauses are anti-equality. More importantly to me, if I was Irish, they're against the situation our family is in.
Heads need to roll at the palace.
FWIW, I think their real motivation is to try and drum up a story so they can have more pictures released. There's nothing especially odd about the photo that can't be explained by a not very good amateur photographer using a Google Pixar, and while you would expect the RF to have a decent camera and photographer for some reason they think it's cool and clever not to.
But - now they've sold that one, they want more, and circumstances give them the opportunity to whip up a storm.
Hackers Behind the Change Healthcare Ransomware Attack Just Received a $22 Million Payment
The transaction, visible on Bitcoin's blockchain, suggests the victim of one of the worst ransomware attacks in years may have paid a very large ransom.
https://www.wired.com/story/alphv-change-healthcare-ransomware-payment/
The damage is perhaps worse there because the insurance system depends entirely on regular cash transfers.
It has bankrupted quite a few providers ... some of whom Change Healthcare has subsequently acquired.
It seems to be one of the rare cases where conspiracy theories (albeit a short-lived one) turn out to be true: the photos probably were doctored.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_2024_Irish_constitutional_referendums
Moral: turnout matters, and so intensity of belief matters. A determined minority can outvote a less determined majority if that majority can't be bothered to turn up.
Something similar here in 2016.
He should, of course, ignore the backbenchers
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/lord-cameron-urged-to-stop-sniping-at-israel/ar-BB1jCdWR?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=e2884df50d05425285e6ae82f247a0d8&ei=28
https://coffeebeanshop.co.uk/products/kopi-luwak
This marketing-speak BTW reminds me of the old 1980s student rag mag joke about 'Eat squirrel shite - a hazelnut in every bite'*
* an ad slogan for a particular choc bar which had lots of nuts in it, for those who are too young to recall it
Americans fear drunk fans as cricket fever sweeps country
The sport is becoming increasingly popular in the US, with plans for new stadiums in several areas — triggering concerns of increased hooliganism
A recent village hall meeting in Oswego in Illinois began in the usual fashion, with trustees and members of the public rising to their feet to place their hands on their hearts as a military veteran recited the pledge of allegiance.
But most of the meeting was taken up with talk of a game known to be played in far-flung parts of the world and now said to be so popular in the United States that it required a stadium in the village.
“I would like to start by saying I’m not opposed to cricket,” said Dawn DeRosa, who lives near the site of the proposed cricket stadium. “I work from home,” she said. “Can you imagine having professional meetings with CEOs of Fortune 500 companies with construction sounds, cheering, announcements going on in the background?”
And what would it be like, she asked, if the village was overrun with cricket fans? “We would have strangers walking through our yards, urinating in our pond and throwing up in our flowerbeds.”
Oswego, about 40 miles southwest of Chicago, is by no means the only American community grappling with the prospect of a cricket stadium. In Fairfax, northern Virginia, a resident’s group has sprung up to protest against a planned cricket stadium on the grounds of George Mason University. It would serve as the home ground for Washington Freedom, a new professional T20 cricket team that recently hired the Australian cricket great Ricky Ponting as its head coach.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/americans-fear-drunk-fans-as-cricket-fever-sweeps-country-fl7p6wqf8
[Goes into hiding.]
Coffee should be made in a cafetiere first pouring a small amount of not boiled water over the ground beans and then just off boiling water added later. Stirred with a wooden spoon.
As followers of my coffee adventures will be only too well aware, I would out of choice use Swiss Water Processed Decaffeinated Colombian from the Algerian Coffee Store, obvs.
All the fancy gizmos on the planet, and for sure not those gopping "pods" can't compare with that.
In fact, it was put to me some time ago that "proper" coffee should be made by putting the ground beans in a jug and filling with off-boiling water, and then one small cup of cold water should be poured over it once settled, which would take all the grounds to the bottom of the jug. No plunger required.
Plus there is a slight illogicality whereby on the one hand the patriarchy is condemned for being the patriarchy, while on the other, efforts to change things are criticised because there is no public will to do so. A public, presumably, consisting of, not to say dominated by that very same patriarchy.
If that person is typical of their workforce, I'm not surprised things are chaotic. Not stupid, by any means, and a nice person as well as determined and resilient, but with the attention span of a concussed goldfish and the organisational abilities of Cummings after the third works meeting. Not even made captain of a sports team because of a remarkable ability to muddle up the positions everyone else should be in.
So I would not be looking for conspiracy here. I could be completely wrong, of course, and Leon right. But the odds are against it.
As the piece asks, how bad must things be if (a) they have to use an old image and (b) are is such a rush that they bollox it up.
In both cases the proposed changes received over 90% support from these assemblies.
Alot of politics now is sock puppet, govt funded, pressure groups lobbying the govt for policies it wants. This comment from Cyclefree is certainly the case. I cannot see it changing either, if anything I expect it to accelerate in the next few years.
"The system of patronage which has developed whereby the political class maintain and fund unaccountable client NGO’s, rewarding their messaging with behind the scenes influence is both fundamentally undemocratic, risks creating a false narrative disconnecting politicians from voters and creates conflicts of interest."
Now that's probably something no-one would care about in a family photo but in a photo sent around the world and one intended to dismiss rumours something so obviously fake is going to be obvious..
(The reality is he hasn't uploaded it yet.)
Less moving parts.
Buy it in stainless steel and it will live for decades - I’ve had one (got a range of sizes) that is 30 years old and still good.
There’s a rubber o ring you change every so often. And a metal filter disc that needs changing every couple of years.
Cleaning is simple with stainless - puts it in the dishwasher.
Which meant that the Royal Family uses Android rather than Apple. Firstly I never knew such poverty existed and secondly I didn't realise the Royal Family were so hard up that they couldn't afford iPhones...
Watching my daughters use various apps on their phones to rework photos - point and click effects like masking, partial focus etc - the idea of a photo as anything like a raw* image is long gone.
*boom boom
Or do they prefer levelling down to leveling up?
After defeats in Irish referendums on divorce, abortion and same sex marriage it was therefore the first victories for the Vatican in an Irish referendum ironically. There were massive No votes in rural socially conservative Donegal for instance with only one part of socially liberal Dublin voting Yes.
The role of the Irish Catholic church in Irish society is not yet dead therefore despite the
efforts of Varadkar and SF to
have a fully secular and socially liberal Ireland
Not paying much attention to it but it seems the media's decided to manufacture a story. Photograph possibly over-edited. That's it. Yet apparently the most important story in the world.
The Citizen Assembly prices had been used very successfully to create a nuanced position that could win wife public support, but in this case the government disregarded the recommendations of the citizens assembly.
The recommendation from the citizens assembly had been to extend constitutional protection to families other than married families, but the government's position was that the change they proposed to the constitution would not make any legal change to family rights. The assembly had also voted in favour of placing a duty on the state to provide care, while the amendment offered by the government avoided doing so.
In both cases the recommendation of the citizens assembly was more "progressive" than the government text, and would have given the public something positive to vote for.
It looks too me like an example where taking what looks like a more moderate position actually loses support, rather than gains it. Perhaps a warning for others?
She is recovering from surgery and won't be seen in public again until Easter, as we have known for weeks. She deserves privacy
"Having a great first day as Kensington Palace press officer. Slightly regretting lying on my CV and listing “Photoshop proficiency” as one of my skills, but I think I got away with it.
Anyway, now to take a big gulp of water and log on to Twitter to see the latest news."
https://twitter.com/Psythor/status/1766954953153675439?t=IBF9lNRXaHDSTYdChKcEQA&s=19
Most photography is on phones now, and is already highly computational. You can get RAW images from iPhones, but very few people do.
What happens when phones have the processing capacity to analyse and manipulate images in real time (as in alter completely, rather than adjust contrast, white balance etc) ?
You could, for example, program them simply not to 'see' certain things or people at all. That's not very far off.
One thing that comes to mind is that the Government-NGO loop can, indeed, very easily become a closed circle. With both the NGO and the Government losing touching with the reality of the voters.
From there you have a variant of the self radicalisation spiral, complete with a growing contempt for “the stupid voters”. Which is a standard feature of such spirals.
The voters sense being talked down to, quite rapidly, and reject it. The politicians/NGOs see this as evidence that the voters are the problem…
When you add in the modern style of politics - “I am right, and even asking me to explain why is evidence that you are repulsive scum” - and you have an explanation for the disconnect with the political classes.
The missing piece is the old idea of trying to persuade the voters. When was the last time you saw a politician come up with a plan, then make a series of speeches, interviews etc arguing for it. Beyond a few ya boo sound bites, that is?
This shows two things. Firstly, that citizen assemblies are not a threat to governments or Parliament. They're an advisory body only. Secondly, that they actually provide really good advice and when a government follows that advice (as on abortion) they are successful, but when they ignore that advice (as in these latest referendums) the government makes a hames of it and fails.
There is no good reason to remove references to women, especially since had this been done the Constitution would have had, according to reports, 117 references to men and only 1 to women. It would have made it even more archaic. I agree with you that families come in all shapes and sizes but removing references to women does not strike me as a female-friendly act. And in a patriarchal society such as Ireland a which has a long history of, frankly, treating women very shabbily indeed, such a move seems like a very easy way of not having to worry about their concerns at all. The proposal could very easily have included non-conventional families and strengthened women's rights without removing the references to women. But the proponents chose not to do that.
The issue with the care amendment is that the proposed language is so watered down from what is there currently and so woolly that it gives no legal rights (indeed is probably not justiciable at all) and, in the view of opponents, makes it all but impossible to rely on it legally. It was seen as codifying discrimination against the disabled and those needing care into the Constitution by denying them legal rights or the ability to claim them.
There is currently a case going through the Irish courts in which a single mother of a disabled child is seeking support by relying on the existing care article. There was concern that had the amendment been accepted people in her position would have lost even this route. The concerns cannot really be fully understood without understanding the background against which these proposals were being made. The position for the disabled in Ireland is particularly poor and the amendments were seen as entrenching this in the Constitution rather than making things better.
I have necessarily tried to summarise a complex subject with a lot of moving parts. There is a lot of material in the Irish press if you want to take it further.
The first lesson to be learned is a particularly important one. Government funded NGOs have pushed the Trans agenda in Scotland harder than anyone else and actually caused the SG almost endless trouble as a result. It is, simply, corrupt for Politicians to channel public money to causes they support creating conflicts of interest, a lack of perspective and ultimately damaging the charities or NGOs themselves by making them beholden to power rather than holding it to account. We need to stop it.
Most people don’t realise that every photo they take is manipulated, automaticallly.
There is nothing "moderate" in my view in the state choosing not to have a duty to provide care. It was unsurprising to see it being described by a pro-disabled rights campaigner as Thatcherite in its disregard for society's obligations.