There are currently 13 political parties represented in the Commons (10 elected at the general election, 1 through a by-election, and 2 from defections). Is that a record?
The previous Parliament peaked at 10, I think: 8 elected at the general election, plus 2 from defections (if we count The Independents as a party). The 2015 election saw 11 parties elected (a record?), but I don't think the number ever increased. The closest was, therefore, the 2014-5 period at 12 parties in the Commons. The 2010 general had seen 10 parties elected and then 2 won seats at by-elections. There were 11 parties before the 2010 general.
I think you have to go back to the '30s for similar numbers. The 1931 election is complicated: there are National government MPs elected under 5 different labels, there are 3 flavours of Labour affiliated MPs, the Lloyd George group, and Irish Nationalists. So, should we count that as 4 or 9 parties?
Possibly at some point in the 1945 parliament, too?
You had the the big three, plus various regional parties, the National Liberals, Communists, the remains of the ILP until 1947, and the various Common Wealth, Social Credit, and Democractic mini-parties.
And then, depending on what exactly you define as a party, a handful of individual MPs under various agrarian and socialist banners, to which you can add a number of Labour MPs who temporarily left in protest over specific nationalisations (steel being the main one, I think).
Possibly as many as 16 parties, I think, depending on how you count them...
I’m taking consolation for our royal troubles in the ancient Catedral de Catalina de Alejandria, where Bolivar prayed
It is soothing. Join me for a custard apple in the cloisters
What the fuck is a custard apple.
I enjoy it when minor details like semi-obscure fruit accelerates pb.com to quite surprising levels of anger.
It’s because @TOPPING likes to consider himself as urbane and worldly, a well travelled hombre - and he is - just not when compared to me. Evidence of this irks him
A custard apple is a magnificent fruit of the Caribbean tropics, also known as the cherimoya. Creamy and delicious
Mary Robinson was not well known by the public when she became President of Ireland. But was a very good one. An equivalent here - and I have suggested a few - would be a lot better than @Topping's list of aged celebrities/TV people. They are the same old faces. Time for some new ones - with some substantive achievements in the public sphere to their name.
The big problem with this elected head of state business is that the only people I would vote for wouldn't want it, and all the people who want it I wouldn't vote for.
Other countries are different, but our history means that this would be true. But all the names people have been putting up today, has anyone tried asking them if they want it? Of course they don't.
I’m taking consolation for our royal troubles in the ancient Catedral de Catalina de Alejandria, where Bolivar prayed
It is soothing. Join me for a custard apple in the cloisters
What the fuck is a custard apple.
I enjoy it when minor details like semi-obscure fruit accelerates pb.com to quite surprising levels of anger.
It’s because @TOPPING likes to consider himself as urbane and worldly, a well travelled hombre - and he is - just not when compared to me. Evidence of this irks him
A custard apple is a magnificent fruit of the Caribbean tropics, also known as the cherimoya. Creamy and delicious
Mary Robinson was not well known by the public when she became President of Ireland. But was a very good one. An equivalent here - and I have suggested a few - would be a lot better than @Topping's list of aged celebrities/TV people. They are the same old faces. Time for some new ones - with some substantive achievements in the public sphere to their name.
The big problem with this elected head of state business is that the only people I would vote for wouldn't want it, and all the people who want it I wouldn't vote for.
Other countries are different, but our history means that this would be true. But all the names people have been putting up today, has anyone tried asking them if they want it? Of course they don't.
If we want to stick to the random posho as Head of State, then why not get the Lords to draw lots?
Of course we may need to clear out the odd Russian spy and random love-child of former PMs first.
This is a great point regarding the recent Supreme Court decision in the disqualification case.
https://stevevladeck.substack.com/p/70-the-three-biggest-problems-with ..when I think of the Court’s leading “political” decisions across its history—cases in which the justices were clearly focused on high institutional politics/constitutional statesmanship, and the legal analysis was, at best, an afterthought—the ones we hold in the highest acclaim were all unanimous not just as to the result, but as to the rationale. Brown was unanimous, with no separate opinions. Ditto Loving. Ditto the Watergate tapes case. Cooper v. Aaron went even further—with every justice signing their name to the opinion of the Court. We know that the justices didn’t all agree with every word that the Court wrote in each of these cases, but speaking in one voice was a central part of the political enterprise; these rulings were about the Court as an institution, not the justices as individuals.
In contrast, some of the Court’s most controversial decisions have involved overtly political rulings that failed to produce unanimous rationales—like Dred Scott and Bush v. Gore, just to name two. The reason for this distinction is simple enough: it is easiest to accept a decision on terms of high institutional politics when the Court speaks as an institution. When it’s just a subset of the justices, the decision looks less like the Court is engaging in judicial statesmanship—and more like it’s just dressing up more ordinary disagreements in institutional clothing. And although a unanimous rationale was never going to be in the cards in Dred Scott and Bush v. Gore, it clearly was a possibility here, per Justice Barrett’s concurrence. For five justices to knowingly embrace a majority rationale that ended up depriving the Court of the ability to speak in one voice is, I fear, a self-inflicted wound...
Mary Robinson was not well known by the public when she became President of Ireland. But was a very good one. An equivalent here - and I have suggested a few - would be a lot better than @Topping's list of aged celebrities/TV people. They are the same old faces. Time for some new ones - with some substantive achievements in the public sphere to their name.
The big problem with this elected head of state business is that the only people I would vote for wouldn't want it, and all the people who want it I wouldn't vote for.
Other countries are different, but our history means that this would be true. But all the names people have been putting up today, has anyone tried asking them if they want it? Of course they don't.
Would be a bit of a weird question, the answer would be "I didn't know there was a vacancy"
I’m taking consolation for our royal troubles in the ancient Catedral de Catalina de Alejandria, where Bolivar prayed
It is soothing. Join me for a custard apple in the cloisters
What the fuck is a custard apple.
I enjoy it when minor details like semi-obscure fruit accelerates pb.com to quite surprising levels of anger.
It’s because @TOPPING likes to consider himself as urbane and worldly, a well travelled hombre - and he is - just not when compared to me. Evidence of this irks him
A custard apple is a magnificent fruit of the Caribbean tropics, also known as the cherimoya. Creamy and delicious
I’m taking consolation for our royal troubles in the ancient Catedral de Catalina de Alejandria, where Bolivar prayed
It is soothing. Join me for a custard apple in the cloisters
What the fuck is a custard apple.
I enjoy it when minor details like semi-obscure fruit accelerates pb.com to quite surprising levels of anger.
It’s because @TOPPING likes to consider himself as urbane and worldly, a well travelled hombre - and he is - just not when compared to me. Evidence of this irks him
A custard apple is a magnificent fruit of the Caribbean tropics, also known as the cherimoya. Creamy and delicious
I’m taking consolation for our royal troubles in the ancient Catedral de Catalina de Alejandria, where Bolivar prayed
It is soothing. Join me for a custard apple in the cloisters
What the fuck is a custard apple.
I enjoy it when minor details like semi-obscure fruit accelerates pb.com to quite surprising levels of anger.
It’s because @TOPPING likes to consider himself as urbane and worldly, a well travelled hombre - and he is - just not when compared to me. Evidence of this irks him
A custard apple is a magnificent fruit of the Caribbean tropics, also known as the cherimoya. Creamy and delicious
I’m taking consolation for our royal troubles in the ancient Catedral de Catalina de Alejandria, where Bolivar prayed
It is soothing. Join me for a custard apple in the cloisters
I need a proper picture of that gorgeous building just visibile through that doorway, when you're done with the custard apple, please
You’re welcome
It’s the Casa del Cabildo
It’s where the independence of Colombia - then called New Granada - and indeed the liberation of all South America - was proclaimed in 1811
The ever informative "extreme temperatures around the world" account just tweeted that Colombia has been breaking various temperature records the last few days (and apparently almost daily for the last 9 months). Which would explain your current Cartagena heat.
Indeed most parts of the tropics have been smashing records repeatedly over the last year as El Nino supercharges our already overheated world.
On topic, I note that the Conservative line on Anderson is that a vote for Reform makes a Labour government more likely, which is probably undeniable. But they make no criticism whatsoever of Reform's (batshit crazy) policy platform.
One would have thought that the governing party would have a political argument with their rival on the right and seek to persuade voters that voting Tory is a better policy choice than voting Reform. But they don't. I've never heard a leading Tory tear into Reform's policies. I wonder why?
On topic, I note that the Conservative line on Anderson is that a vote for Reform makes a Labour government more likely, which is probably undeniable. But they make no criticism whatsoever of Reform's (batshit crazy) policy platform.
One would have thought that the governing party would have a political argument with their rival on the right and seek to persuade voters that voting Tory is a better policy choice than voting Reform. But they don't. I've never heard a leading Tory tear into Reform's policies. I wonder why?
The Conservatives dont criticise Labour policies either.
But then that may be because Labour dont have any.
I’m taking consolation for our royal troubles in the ancient Catedral de Catalina de Alejandria, where Bolivar prayed
It is soothing. Join me for a custard apple in the cloisters
What the fuck is a custard apple.
I enjoy it when minor details like semi-obscure fruit accelerates pb.com to quite surprising levels of anger.
It’s because @TOPPING likes to consider himself as urbane and worldly, a well travelled hombre - and he is - just not when compared to me. Evidence of this irks him
A custard apple is a magnificent fruit of the Caribbean tropics, also known as the cherimoya. Creamy and delicious
I’m drinking a fresh cup of ice cold sweetened lime juice (surprisingly delicious) while listening to an account of the death of Simon Bolivar, in the book “Bolivar”, as I salute the statue of Simon Bolivar, in Plaza Bolivar, in the city liberated by Bolivar
Has any PB-er ever had a more Bolivary experience than that?
On topic, I note that the Conservative line on Anderson is that a vote for Reform makes a Labour government more likely, which is probably undeniable. But they make no criticism whatsoever of Reform's (batshit crazy) policy platform.
One would have thought that the governing party would have a political argument with their rival on the right and seek to persuade voters that voting Tory is a better policy choice than voting Reform. But they don't. I've never heard a leading Tory tear into Reform's policies. I wonder why?
In 2015, the line from Cameron was that a vote for UKIP meant higher immigration under a Labour government. Even Cameron couldn't say that with a straight face this time.
On topic, I note that the Conservative line on Anderson is that a vote for Reform makes a Labour government more likely, which is probably undeniable. But they make no criticism whatsoever of Reform's (batshit crazy) policy platform.
One would have thought that the governing party would have a political argument with their rival on the right and seek to persuade voters that voting Tory is a better policy choice than voting Reform. But they don't. I've never heard a leading Tory tear into Reform's policies. I wonder why?
The Conservatives dont criticise Labour policies either.
But then that may be because Labour dont have any.
Apart from the ones that the Conservatives criticise then adopt.
As for the Conservative-Reform thing, there's a proportion who desire the same thing, and the rest of the Conservative party is terrified of the ones who want to go full-on Faragist.
On topic, I note that the Conservative line on Anderson is that a vote for Reform makes a Labour government more likely, which is probably undeniable. But they make no criticism whatsoever of Reform's (batshit crazy) policy platform.
One would have thought that the governing party would have a political argument with their rival on the right and seek to persuade voters that voting Tory is a better policy choice than voting Reform. But they don't. I've never heard a leading Tory tear into Reform's policies. I wonder why?
The Conservatives dont criticise Labour policies either.
But then that may be because Labour dont have any.
That's balls. They spend years criticising some of them - which they then nick.
On topic, I note that the Conservative line on Anderson is that a vote for Reform makes a Labour government more likely, which is probably undeniable. But they make no criticism whatsoever of Reform's (batshit crazy) policy platform.
One would have thought that the governing party would have a political argument with their rival on the right and seek to persuade voters that voting Tory is a better policy choice than voting Reform. But they don't. I've never heard a leading Tory tear into Reform's policies. I wonder why?
The Conservatives dont criticise Labour policies either.
But then that may be because Labour dont have any.
Apart from the ones that the Conservatives criticise then adopt.
As for the Conservative-Reform thing, there's a proportion who desire the same thing, and the rest of the Conservative party is terrified of the ones who want to go full-on Faragist.
Remember, They're Not Called Wets For Nothing.
Why would anyone care ? The Conservatives dont have any conservative policies either. Sir continuity Sunak will just do the same wibble job for the next five years.
Everyone nods wisely when we discuss the Supreme Court accepting an application for certiorari, but how many of us have a clue what that's actually about ?
The Supreme Court’s acceptance of appeals — called a writ of certiorari — requires the votes of only four justices, but the actual total is rarely disclosed, nor are the names of the justices who voted for or against the review.
The result is a shrouded process in which the public never learns which justices are responsible for placing cases on the Supreme Court’s docket. The secrecy of certiorari votes has gone on for so long that it probably seems normal, but it is otherwise an anomaly in a democratic society.
It is understandably necessary for the justices to deliberate in private, but that does not require their actual votes to remain a mystery. For its first 186 years, the Supreme Court had to accept almost every appeal that came before it. The court only gained discretionary control over its caseload when, at the urging of Chief Justice and former President William Howard Taft, Congress passed the Judiciary Act of 1925, which made the writ of certiorari the nearly exclusive means of review.
The legislation did not create the “rule of four” requirement for certiorari, nor did it call for secret voting. Those and other details were left to the court, which adopted both practices without written rules or formal announcements.
The Supreme Court has never explained the rationale for withholding information on certiorari votes...
This poem works more or less if you substitute Custard apple for Breadfruit. One of Philip Larkin's less well known efforts. What on earth made me think of it?
Breadfruit
Boys dream of native girls who bring breadfruit, Whatever they are, As bribes to teach them how to execute Sixteen sexual positions on the sand; This makes them join (the boys) the tennis club, Jive at the Mecca, use deodorants, and On Saturdays squire ex-schoolgirls to the pub By private car.
Such uncorrected visions end in church Or registrar: A mortgaged semi- with a silver birch; Nippers; the widowed mum; having to scheme With money; illness; age. So absolute Maturity falls, when old men sit and dream Of naked native girls who bring breadfruit Whatever they are.
On topic, I note that the Conservative line on Anderson is that a vote for Reform makes a Labour government more likely, which is probably undeniable. But they make no criticism whatsoever of Reform's (batshit crazy) policy platform.
One would have thought that the governing party would have a political argument with their rival on the right and seek to persuade voters that voting Tory is a better policy choice than voting Reform. But they don't. I've never heard a leading Tory tear into Reform's policies. I wonder why?
The Conservatives dont criticise Labour policies either.
But then that may be because Labour dont have any.
That's balls. They spend years criticising some of them - which they then nick.
I’m taking consolation for our royal troubles in the ancient Catedral de Catalina de Alejandria, where Bolivar prayed
It is soothing. Join me for a custard apple in the cloisters
What the fuck is a custard apple.
I enjoy it when minor details like semi-obscure fruit accelerates pb.com to quite surprising levels of anger.
It’s because @TOPPING likes to consider himself as urbane and worldly, a well travelled hombre - and he is - just not when compared to me. Evidence of this irks him
A custard apple is a magnificent fruit of the Caribbean tropics, also known as the cherimoya. Creamy and delicious
“Mark Twain once called the custard apple - the chirimoya - “the most delicious fruit known to men” and I wholeheartedly agree. On my most recent trip to Chile, I was able to taste the rich, velvety sweetness of a chirimoya for the first time.”
On topic, I note that the Conservative line on Anderson is that a vote for Reform makes a Labour government more likely, which is probably undeniable. But they make no criticism whatsoever of Reform's (batshit crazy) policy platform.
One would have thought that the governing party would have a political argument with their rival on the right and seek to persuade voters that voting Tory is a better policy choice than voting Reform. But they don't. I've never heard a leading Tory tear into Reform's policies. I wonder why?
The Conservatives dont criticise Labour policies either.
But then that may be because Labour dont have any.
Apart from the ones that the Conservatives criticise then adopt.
As for the Conservative-Reform thing, there's a proportion who desire the same thing, and the rest of the Conservative party is terrified of the ones who want to go full-on Faragist.
Remember, They're Not Called Wets For Nothing.
Why would anyone care ? The Conservatives dont have any conservative policies either. Sir continuity Sunak will just do the same wibble job for the next five years.
Could you remind us the basis on which something is called 'a conservative policy?'. Examples would help too.
Everyone nods wisely when we discuss the Supreme Court accepting an application for certiorari, but how many of us have a clue what that's actually about ?
The Supreme Court’s acceptance of appeals — called a writ of certiorari — requires the votes of only four justices, but the actual total is rarely disclosed, nor are the names of the justices who voted for or against the review.
The result is a shrouded process in which the public never learns which justices are responsible for placing cases on the Supreme Court’s docket. The secrecy of certiorari votes has gone on for so long that it probably seems normal, but it is otherwise an anomaly in a democratic society.
It is understandably necessary for the justices to deliberate in private, but that does not require their actual votes to remain a mystery. For its first 186 years, the Supreme Court had to accept almost every appeal that came before it. The court only gained discretionary control over its caseload when, at the urging of Chief Justice and former President William Howard Taft, Congress passed the Judiciary Act of 1925, which made the writ of certiorari the nearly exclusive means of review.
The legislation did not create the “rule of four” requirement for certiorari, nor did it call for secret voting. Those and other details were left to the court, which adopted both practices without written rules or formal announcements.
The Supreme Court has never explained the rationale for withholding information on certiorari votes...
You're welcome.
Anyone challenging this Courts commitment to family values is clearly not giving enough weight to the extraordinary efforts Justice Thomas is making on behalf of his wife. It has gone beyond heroic.
On topic, I note that the Conservative line on Anderson is that a vote for Reform makes a Labour government more likely, which is probably undeniable. But they make no criticism whatsoever of Reform's (batshit crazy) policy platform.
One would have thought that the governing party would have a political argument with their rival on the right and seek to persuade voters that voting Tory is a better policy choice than voting Reform. But they don't. I've never heard a leading Tory tear into Reform's policies. I wonder why?
The Conservatives dont criticise Labour policies either.
But then that may be because Labour dont have any.
That's balls. They spend years criticising some of them - which they then nick.
Oh yeah non-doms
changed my life that has
we get so many of them up here in the sticks
The windfall tax; Ed Milliband's energy cap etc. Happens not infrequently.
On topic, I note that the Conservative line on Anderson is that a vote for Reform makes a Labour government more likely, which is probably undeniable. But they make no criticism whatsoever of Reform's (batshit crazy) policy platform.
One would have thought that the governing party would have a political argument with their rival on the right and seek to persuade voters that voting Tory is a better policy choice than voting Reform. But they don't. I've never heard a leading Tory tear into Reform's policies. I wonder why?
The Conservatives dont criticise Labour policies either.
But then that may be because Labour dont have any.
Apart from the ones that the Conservatives criticise then adopt.
As for the Conservative-Reform thing, there's a proportion who desire the same thing, and the rest of the Conservative party is terrified of the ones who want to go full-on Faragist.
Remember, They're Not Called Wets For Nothing.
Why would anyone care ? The Conservatives dont have any conservative policies either. Sir continuity Sunak will just do the same wibble job for the next five years.
Could you remind us the basis on which something is called 'a conservative policy?'. Examples would help too.
small government low taxes citizen has more rights than the government
On topic, I note that the Conservative line on Anderson is that a vote for Reform makes a Labour government more likely, which is probably undeniable. But they make no criticism whatsoever of Reform's (batshit crazy) policy platform.
One would have thought that the governing party would have a political argument with their rival on the right and seek to persuade voters that voting Tory is a better policy choice than voting Reform. But they don't. I've never heard a leading Tory tear into Reform's policies. I wonder why?
The Conservatives dont criticise Labour policies either.
But then that may be because Labour dont have any.
Apart from the ones that the Conservatives criticise then adopt.
As for the Conservative-Reform thing, there's a proportion who desire the same thing, and the rest of the Conservative party is terrified of the ones who want to go full-on Faragist.
Remember, They're Not Called Wets For Nothing.
Why would anyone care ? The Conservatives dont have any conservative policies either. Sir continuity Sunak will just do the same wibble job for the next five years.
Could you remind us the basis on which something is called 'a conservative policy?'. Examples would help too.
small government low taxes citizen has more rights than the government
On topic, I note that the Conservative line on Anderson is that a vote for Reform makes a Labour government more likely, which is probably undeniable. But they make no criticism whatsoever of Reform's (batshit crazy) policy platform.
One would have thought that the governing party would have a political argument with their rival on the right and seek to persuade voters that voting Tory is a better policy choice than voting Reform. But they don't. I've never heard a leading Tory tear into Reform's policies. I wonder why?
The Conservatives dont criticise Labour policies either.
But then that may be because Labour dont have any.
Apart from the ones that the Conservatives criticise then adopt.
As for the Conservative-Reform thing, there's a proportion who desire the same thing, and the rest of the Conservative party is terrified of the ones who want to go full-on Faragist.
Remember, They're Not Called Wets For Nothing.
Why would anyone care ? The Conservatives dont have any conservative policies either. Sir continuity Sunak will just do the same wibble job for the next five years.
Could you remind us the basis on which something is called 'a conservative policy?'. Examples would help too.
small government fiscal responsibility people in charge of their own lives
On topic, I note that the Conservative line on Anderson is that a vote for Reform makes a Labour government more likely, which is probably undeniable. But they make no criticism whatsoever of Reform's (batshit crazy) policy platform.
One would have thought that the governing party would have a political argument with their rival on the right and seek to persuade voters that voting Tory is a better policy choice than voting Reform. But they don't. I've never heard a leading Tory tear into Reform's policies. I wonder why?
The Conservatives dont criticise Labour policies either.
But then that may be because Labour dont have any.
That's balls. They spend years criticising some of them - which they then nick.
Oh yeah non-doms
changed my life that has
we get so many of them up here in the sticks
The windfall tax; Ed Milliband's energy cap etc. Happens not infrequently.
And vice versa, which is of course why the two main parties are so alike.
I’m also curious. Am I literally the only PB-er that’s tried a custard apple? Surely not. They’re uncommon in the UK but fairly common in sunnier climes, especially South America
Ok now I’m about to try “the best coffee in Colombia”
I’m taking consolation for our royal troubles in the ancient Catedral de Catalina de Alejandria, where Bolivar prayed
It is soothing. Join me for a custard apple in the cloisters
What the fuck is a custard apple.
I enjoy it when minor details like semi-obscure fruit accelerates pb.com to quite surprising levels of anger.
It’s because @TOPPING likes to consider himself as urbane and worldly, a well travelled hombre - and he is - just not when compared to me. Evidence of this irks him
A custard apple is a magnificent fruit of the Caribbean tropics, also known as the cherimoya. Creamy and delicious
It doesn't irk me at all that I hadn't heard of it, nor that you, engaged in a bit of (teeny bit needy) exotic fruit-dropping.
It sounds absurd is all.
I first had them at a breakfast on a balcony overlooking Bangkok, at the house of the King's personal secretary, with a man so famous that his name had become a euphemism for "condom". (Am I doing this exotic fruit namedropping right?)
On topic, I note that the Conservative line on Anderson is that a vote for Reform makes a Labour government more likely, which is probably undeniable. But they make no criticism whatsoever of Reform's (batshit crazy) policy platform.
One would have thought that the governing party would have a political argument with their rival on the right and seek to persuade voters that voting Tory is a better policy choice than voting Reform. But they don't. I've never heard a leading Tory tear into Reform's policies. I wonder why?
The Conservatives dont criticise Labour policies either.
But then that may be because Labour dont have any.
Apart from the ones that the Conservatives criticise then adopt.
As for the Conservative-Reform thing, there's a proportion who desire the same thing, and the rest of the Conservative party is terrified of the ones who want to go full-on Faragist.
Remember, They're Not Called Wets For Nothing.
Why would anyone care ? The Conservatives dont have any conservative policies either. Sir continuity Sunak will just do the same wibble job for the next five years.
Could you remind us the basis on which something is called 'a conservative policy?'. Examples would help too.
small government low taxes citizen has more rights than the government
Thanks. I think the devil is going to be in the detail. As to the first two admirable aims, it seems to me that the Overton window of the voter is, contrary to this, in favour of more expenditure of every single state managed project one can imagine.
A conservative policy is going to have to detail which areas of expenditure (to enable lower taxes) will go. A good start would be the modest sum of say £100bn per year, less than 5% of GDP. Abolishing the state pension would get you there.
I’m taking consolation for our royal troubles in the ancient Catedral de Catalina de Alejandria, where Bolivar prayed
It is soothing. Join me for a custard apple in the cloisters
What the fuck is a custard apple.
I enjoy it when minor details like semi-obscure fruit accelerates pb.com to quite surprising levels of anger.
It’s because @TOPPING likes to consider himself as urbane and worldly, a well travelled hombre - and he is - just not when compared to me. Evidence of this irks him
A custard apple is a magnificent fruit of the Caribbean tropics, also known as the cherimoya. Creamy and delicious
It doesn't irk me at all that I hadn't heard of it, nor that you, engaged in a bit of (teeny bit needy) exotic fruit-dropping.
It sounds absurd is all.
I first had them at a breakfast on a balcony overlooking Bangkok, at the house of the King's personal secretary, with a man so famous that his name had become a euphemism for "condom". (Am I doing this exotic fruit namedropping right?)
You were with Johnny Mills, the 17th century apothecary shop owner?!!?
I’m taking consolation for our royal troubles in the ancient Catedral de Catalina de Alejandria, where Bolivar prayed
It is soothing. Join me for a custard apple in the cloisters
What the fuck is a custard apple.
I enjoy it when minor details like semi-obscure fruit accelerates pb.com to quite surprising levels of anger.
It’s because @TOPPING likes to consider himself as urbane and worldly, a well travelled hombre - and he is - just not when compared to me. Evidence of this irks him
A custard apple is a magnificent fruit of the Caribbean tropics, also known as the cherimoya. Creamy and delicious
It doesn't irk me at all that I hadn't heard of it, nor that you, engaged in a bit of (teeny bit needy) exotic fruit-dropping.
It sounds absurd is all.
I first had them at a breakfast on a balcony overlooking Bangkok, at the house of the King's personal secretary, with a man so famous that his name had become a euphemism for "condom". (Am I doing this exotic fruit namedropping right?)
You were with Johnny Mills, the 17th century apothecary shop owner?!!?
Waitrose in Morningside still sells them occasionally
It is over 60 years since I stayed with a work colleague in Morningside for a short time, and remember my daily bus commute to Princess Street and passing the Nat Wext Bank near the Meadows displaying an interest rate of 6%
Waitrose in Morningside still sells them occasionally
It is over 60 years since I stayed with a work colleague in Morningside for a short time, and remember my daily bus commute to Princess Street and passing the Nat West Bank near the Meadows displaying interest rate of 6%
Something funny going on with Vanilla -- I've failed several times to get a connection, instead this message comes up:
GATEWAY TIME-OUT
What happened?
The initial connection between Cloudflare's network and Vanilla timed out. As a result, the web page can not be displayed.
What can I do to resolve this?
Please try again in a few minutes. If the problem persists, you can contact the site owner to let them know you were unable to reach the website.
I’m taking consolation for our royal troubles in the ancient Catedral de Catalina de Alejandria, where Bolivar prayed
It is soothing. Join me for a custard apple in the cloisters
What the fuck is a custard apple.
I enjoy it when minor details like semi-obscure fruit accelerates pb.com to quite surprising levels of anger.
It’s because @TOPPING likes to consider himself as urbane and worldly, a well travelled hombre - and he is - just not when compared to me. Evidence of this irks him
A custard apple is a magnificent fruit of the Caribbean tropics, also known as the cherimoya. Creamy and delicious
It doesn't irk me at all that I hadn't heard of it, nor that you, engaged in a bit of (teeny bit needy) exotic fruit-dropping.
It sounds absurd is all.
I first had them at a breakfast on a balcony overlooking Bangkok, at the house of the King's personal secretary, with a man so famous that his name had become a euphemism for "condom". (Am I doing this exotic fruit namedropping right?)
Something funny going on with Vanilla -- I've failed several times to get a connection, instead this message comes up:
GATEWAY TIME-OUT
What happened?
The initial connection between Cloudflare's network and Vanilla timed out. As a result, the web page can not be displayed.
What can I do to resolve this?
Please try again in a few minutes. If the problem persists, you can contact the site owner to let them know you were unable to reach the website.
Something funny going on with Vanilla -- I've failed several times to get a connection, instead this message comes up:
GATEWAY TIME-OUT
What happened?
The initial connection between Cloudflare's network and Vanilla timed out. As a result, the web page can not be displayed.
What can I do to resolve this?
Please try again in a few minutes. If the problem persists, you can contact the site owner to let them know you were unable to reach the website.
I get that too, real PITA.
Vanilla has admitted to intermittent connectivity issues (we could have told them that) and is looking at it.
Intermittent Connectivity Issues New incident: Monitoring Our host is performing some upgrades and this is leading to intermittent errors and poor performance for community sites.
We are monitoring the situation. Time posted Mar 11, 12:18 EDT
“Mark Twain once called the custard apple - the chirimoya - “the most delicious fruit known to men” and I wholeheartedly agree. On my most recent trip to Chile, I was able to taste the rich, velvety sweetness of a chirimoya for the first time.”
“Mark Twain once called the custard apple - the chirimoya - “the most delicious fruit known to men” and I wholeheartedly agree. On my most recent trip to Chile, I was able to taste the rich, velvety sweetness of a chirimoya for the first time.”
I love media games about "up to" (whatever) "could" happen.
Up to 650 MPs could be elected for the Reform party at the next election.
Up to 365 days next year could have snow.
Everton could win up 38 Premier League games next season, if they're not relegated this season.
Up to 50 US States could vote for Biden in November.
Up to 52 US States could vote for Biden, for that matter.
You'd think it was 53, the way PB goes on sometimes.
In the book 51st State (obscure thing written by a Guardian hack, IIRC), after a Brexit, the U.K. ends up with England, Scotland, Wales and NI as the 51st, 52nd, 53rd and 54th states. A referendum in Ireland to become the 55th is mentioned.
“Mark Twain once called the custard apple - the chirimoya - “the most delicious fruit known to men” and I wholeheartedly agree. On my most recent trip to Chile, I was able to taste the rich, velvety sweetness of a chirimoya for the first time.”
"Custard apple" has been used to refer to various species of the family Annonaceae, cherimoya apparently being one of the more popular. (it's also sometimes used as an appellation for the North American pawpaw, apparently.)
“Mark Twain once called the custard apple - the chirimoya - “the most delicious fruit known to men” and I wholeheartedly agree. On my most recent trip to Chile, I was able to taste the rich, velvety sweetness of a chirimoya for the first time.”
"Custard apple" has been used to refer to various species of the family Annonaceae, cherimoya apparently being one of the more popular. (it's also sometimes used as an appellation for the North American pawpaw, apparently.)
“Cherimoyas are part of the custard apple family that also includes soursop and pawpaw but is not, in fact, a custard apple. Although they are often called by the same name, the cherimoya, Annona cherimola, is different from and considered by many to be superior in taste to the custard apple, Annona reticulata.”
One is from the Caribbean and one from the Andes. But the names have become interchangeable so no one is entirely sure
I first had them at a breakfast on a balcony overlooking Bangkok, at the house of the King's personal secretary, with a man so famous that his name had become a euphemism for "condom".
I love media games about "up to" (whatever) "could" happen.
Up to 650 MPs could be elected for the Reform party at the next election.
Up to 365 days next year could have snow.
Everton could win up 38 Premier League games next season, if they're not relegated this season.
Up to 50 US States could vote for Biden in November.
Up to 52 US States could vote for Biden, for that matter.
You'd think it was 53, the way PB goes on sometimes.
In the book 51st State (obscure thing written by a Guardian hack, IIRC), after a Brexit, the U.K. ends up with England, Scotland, Wales and NI as the 51st, 52nd, 53rd and 54th states. A referendum in Ireland to become the 55th is mentioned.
I’d emigrate. Son 2 says he could find someone to help look after a semi-disabled old man in Bangkok.
“Mark Twain once called the custard apple - the chirimoya - “the most delicious fruit known to men” and I wholeheartedly agree. On my most recent trip to Chile, I was able to taste the rich, velvety sweetness of a chirimoya for the first time.”
"Custard apple" has been used to refer to various species of the family Annonaceae, cherimoya apparently being one of the more popular. (it's also sometimes used as an appellation for the North American pawpaw, apparently.)
“Mark Twain once called the custard apple - the chirimoya - “the most delicious fruit known to men” and I wholeheartedly agree. On my most recent trip to Chile, I was able to taste the rich, velvety sweetness of a chirimoya for the first time.”
"Custard apple" has been used to refer to various species of the family Annonaceae, cherimoya apparently being one of the more popular. (it's also sometimes used as an appellation for the North American pawpaw, apparently.)
“Cherimoyas are part of the custard apple family that also includes soursop and pawpaw but is not, in fact, a custard apple. Although they are often called by the same name, the cherimoya, Annona cherimola, is different from and considered by many to be superior in taste to the custard apple, Annona reticulata.”
One is from the Caribbean and one from the Andes. But the names have become interchangeable so no one is entirely sure
Bloody confusing!
Have seen them on sale in Ilford North, RTS Fruit & Veg, Barkingside High Street to be precise.
I love media games about "up to" (whatever) "could" happen.
Up to 650 MPs could be elected for the Reform party at the next election.
Up to 365 days next year could have snow.
Everton could win up 38 Premier League games next season, if they're not relegated this season.
Up to 50 US States could vote for Biden in November.
Up to 52 US States could vote for Biden, for that matter.
You'd think it was 53, the way PB goes on sometimes.
In the book 51st State (obscure thing written by a Guardian hack, IIRC), after a Brexit, the U.K. ends up with England, Scotland, Wales and NI as the 51st, 52nd, 53rd and 54th states. A referendum in Ireland to become the 55th is mentioned.
Peter Preston - not just a hack, but was editor for 20 years!
Not much characterisation, and the romance sub-plot was utterly banal. I read it early in the Blair years, and remember thinking the politics were completely improbable - I suspect the failed Brexit stuff might be seen as rather prescient today...
I love media games about "up to" (whatever) "could" happen.
Up to 650 MPs could be elected for the Reform party at the next election.
Up to 365 days next year could have snow.
Everton could win up 38 Premier League games next season, if they're not relegated this season.
Up to 50 US States could vote for Biden in November.
Up to 52 US States could vote for Biden, for that matter.
You'd think it was 53, the way PB goes on sometimes.
In the book 51st State (obscure thing written by a Guardian hack, IIRC), after a Brexit, the U.K. ends up with England, Scotland, Wales and NI as the 51st, 52nd, 53rd and 54th states. A referendum in Ireland to become the 55th is mentioned.
Note that it doesn't say he wouldn't give them weapons. Trump favours using lend-lease to finance it.
You seriously think Trump will even go that far. Putin will be celebrating if Trump is elected . There is no middle ground here , you either support Trump or Ukraine . You can’t do both .
I’m taking consolation for our royal troubles in the ancient Catedral de Catalina de Alejandria, where Bolivar prayed
It is soothing. Join me for a custard apple in the cloisters
What the fuck is a custard apple.
I enjoy it when minor details like semi-obscure fruit accelerates pb.com to quite surprising levels of anger.
It’s because @TOPPING likes to consider himself as urbane and worldly, a well travelled hombre - and he is - just not when compared to me. Evidence of this irks him
A custard apple is a magnificent fruit of the Caribbean tropics, also known as the cherimoya. Creamy and delicious
“Mark Twain once called the custard apple - the chirimoya - “the most delicious fruit known to men” and I wholeheartedly agree. On my most recent trip to Chile, I was able to taste the rich, velvety sweetness of a chirimoya for the first time.”
"Custard apple" has been used to refer to various species of the family Annonaceae, cherimoya apparently being one of the more popular. (it's also sometimes used as an appellation for the North American pawpaw, apparently.)
“Cherimoyas are part of the custard apple family that also includes soursop and pawpaw but is not, in fact, a custard apple. Although they are often called by the same name, the cherimoya, Annona cherimola, is different from and considered by many to be superior in taste to the custard apple, Annona reticulata.”
One is from the Caribbean and one from the Andes. But the names have become interchangeable so no one is entirely sure
Bloody confusing!
Have seen them on sale in Ilford North, RTS Fruit & Veg, Barkingside High Street to be precise.
I first had them in Bolivia - in a market in La Paz. They are so good you remember!
So mine would have been the “original” superior Andean version - less likely to be known as the custard apple? How confuzzling
They are bloody delicious tho. I’ve no idea why they aren’t more popular in the UK. We have lots of other tropical fruits and the custard apple is clearly one of the best and most satisfying. The creaminess!
Maybe they are very hard to grow or don’t transport well or something
Maybe I am becoming thick in my old age but why is it a seemingly massive deal that Princess Katherine edited a photo? Its the main headline on the BBC not just the Express . Anyone else find this a bit unnerving that they are losing their finger on the pulse
@Sandpit do you still think Trump being elected would be good news for Ukraine, or are you prepared to accept yet that Trump cares more for Putin than Ukraine?
Notts TV @Notts_TV Nottinghamshire Police is now in Special measures, after an announcement this morning from the policing watchdog. His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services has told the force to "urgently produce an improvement plan" and say big changes must be made by September.
Comments
Up to 650 MPs could be elected for the Reform party at the next election.
Up to 365 days next year could have snow.
Everton could win up 38 Premier League games next season, if they're not relegated this season.
Up to 50 US States could vote for Biden in November.
Since 2010, the only party to make their defections face a by-election was UKIP. Not the Lib Dems, Change UK or Reform seem to want to bother.......
You had the the big three, plus various regional parties, the National Liberals, Communists, the remains of the ILP until 1947, and the various Common Wealth, Social Credit, and Democractic mini-parties.
And then, depending on what exactly you define as a party, a handful of individual MPs under various agrarian and socialist banners, to which you can add a number of Labour MPs who temporarily left in protest over specific nationalisations (steel being the main one, I think).
Possibly as many as 16 parties, I think, depending on how you count them...
A custard apple is a magnificent fruit of the Caribbean tropics, also known as the cherimoya. Creamy and delicious
https://koldenfruit.co.uk/buy-exotic-fruit-vegetable-london/p/fresh-custard-apple-cherimya-fruit-delivery
Other countries are different, but our history means that this would be true. But all the names people have been putting up today, has anyone tried asking them if they want it? Of course they don't.
Of course we may need to clear out the odd Russian spy and random love-child of former PMs first.
It’s the Casa del Cabildo
It’s where the independence of Colombia - then called New Granada - and indeed the liberation of all South America - was proclaimed in 1811
https://stevevladeck.substack.com/p/70-the-three-biggest-problems-with
..when I think of the Court’s leading “political” decisions across its history—cases in which the justices were clearly focused on high institutional politics/constitutional statesmanship, and the legal analysis was, at best, an afterthought—the ones we hold in the highest acclaim were all unanimous not just as to the result, but as to the rationale. Brown was unanimous, with no separate opinions. Ditto Loving. Ditto the Watergate tapes case. Cooper v. Aaron went even further—with every justice signing their name to the opinion of the Court. We know that the justices didn’t all agree with every word that the Court wrote in each of these cases, but speaking in one voice was a central part of the political enterprise; these rulings were about the Court as an institution, not the justices as individuals.
In contrast, some of the Court’s most controversial decisions have involved overtly political rulings that failed to produce unanimous rationales—like Dred Scott and Bush v. Gore, just to name two. The reason for this distinction is simple enough: it is easiest to accept a decision on terms of high institutional politics when the Court speaks as an institution. When it’s just a subset of the justices, the decision looks less like the Court is engaging in judicial statesmanship—and more like it’s just dressing up more ordinary disagreements in institutional clothing. And although a unanimous rationale was never going to be in the cards in Dred Scott and Bush v. Gore, it clearly was a possibility here, per Justice Barrett’s concurrence. For five justices to knowingly embrace a majority rationale that ended up depriving the Court of the ability to speak in one voice is, I fear, a self-inflicted wound...
It sounds absurd is all.
With Lee Anderson going to Reform could Braverman and Truss go as well please
And no doubt, Tice and Anderson didn't expect to have their day spoit by the Catherine photo debacle
(And wasn't a figure of £400,000 quoted for Anderson to join Reform)
And Sky reporting Charles is having treatment for cancer when I thought it had been ruled out
And let's have a GE and get a government again, though I have no confidence that Starmer will change anything
A theme played upon in the marvellous book The Fruit Palace, whose author is tangentially known by @TimS I believe
Indeed most parts of the tropics have been smashing records repeatedly over the last year as El Nino supercharges our already overheated world.
One would have thought that the governing party would have a political argument with their rival on the right and seek to persuade voters that voting Tory is a better policy choice than voting Reform. But they don't. I've never heard a leading Tory tear into Reform's policies. I wonder why?
But then that may be because Labour dont have any.
Has any PB-er ever had a more Bolivary experience than that?
As for the Conservative-Reform thing, there's a proportion who desire the same thing, and the rest of the Conservative party is terrified of the ones who want to go full-on Faragist.
Remember, They're Not Called Wets For Nothing.
They spend years criticising some of them - which they then nick.
Sadly we Revolting Colonials do NOT say, that takes the cookie, to a biscuit or whatever.
Which Supreme Court justices threw Trump the immunity lifeline?
https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/4522668-which-supreme-court-justices-threw-trump-the-immunity-lifeline/
..it may be that only a minority of the justices favored hearing the case, with a majority voting to let stand the lower court’s denial of immunity. Justice Clarence Thomas, despite a glaring conflict of interest, might even have cast the deciding vote.
The Supreme Court’s acceptance of appeals — called a writ of
certiorari — requires the votes of only four justices, but the actual total is rarely disclosed, nor are the names of the justices who voted for or against the review.
The result is a shrouded process in which the public never learns which justices are responsible for placing cases on the Supreme Court’s docket. The secrecy of certiorari votes has gone on for so long that it probably seems normal, but it is otherwise an anomaly in a democratic society.
It is understandably necessary for the justices to deliberate in private, but that does not require their actual votes to remain a mystery.
For its first 186 years, the Supreme Court had to accept almost every appeal that came before it. The court only gained discretionary control over its caseload when, at the urging of Chief Justice and former President William Howard Taft, Congress passed the Judiciary Act of 1925, which made the writ of certiorari the nearly exclusive means of review.
The legislation did not create the “rule of four” requirement for certiorari, nor did it call for secret voting. Those and other details were left to the court, which adopted both practices without written rules or formal announcements.
The Supreme Court has never explained the rationale for withholding information on certiorari votes...
You're welcome.
Breadfruit
Boys dream of native girls who bring breadfruit,
Whatever they are,
As bribes to teach them how to execute
Sixteen sexual positions on the sand;
This makes them join (the boys) the tennis club,
Jive at the Mecca, use deodorants, and
On Saturdays squire ex-schoolgirls to the pub
By private car.
Such uncorrected visions end in church
Or registrar:
A mortgaged semi- with a silver birch;
Nippers; the widowed mum; having to scheme
With money; illness; age. So absolute
Maturity falls, when old men sit and dream
Of naked native girls who bring breadfruit
Whatever they are.
BUT can we (that is, you!) draw the line when it comes to the overt, blatant bigotry of "fruit dropping"?
changed my life that has
we get so many of them up here in the sticks
You’ve never even heard of it. This is a peak moment in PB
“Mark Twain once called the custard apple - the chirimoya - “the most delicious fruit known to men” and I wholeheartedly agree. On my most recent trip to Chile, I was able to taste the rich, velvety sweetness of a chirimoya for the first time.”
https://foodcomas.com/2012/01/20/chirimoya-alegre/
Happens not infrequently.
low taxes
citizen has more rights than the government
low taxes
citizen has more rights than the government
The custard apple is not a hill to die on.
fiscal responsibility
people in charge of their own lives
Thus depriving the UK of it's tenuous toehold into the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
That is quintessential PB. PB dialed up to 11. PB MAXIMUS
I am slightly admiring of @TOPPING’s chutzpah
I’m also curious. Am I literally the only PB-er that’s tried a custard apple? Surely not. They’re uncommon in the UK but fairly common in sunnier climes, especially South America
Ok now I’m about to try “the best coffee in Colombia”
A conservative policy is going to have to detail which areas of expenditure (to enable lower taxes) will go. A good start would be the modest sum of say £100bn per year, less than 5% of GDP. Abolishing the state pension would get you there.
As to comparative rights, what is your measure?
I might try one more version
GATEWAY TIME-OUT What happened? The initial connection between Cloudflare's network and Vanilla timed out. As a result, the web page can not be displayed. What can I do to resolve this? Please try again in a few minutes. If the problem persists, you can contact the site owner to let them know you were unable to reach the website.Intermittent Connectivity Issues
New incident: Monitoring
Our host is performing some upgrades and this is leading to intermittent errors and poor performance for community sites.
We are monitoring the situation.
Time posted
Mar 11, 12:18 EDT
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherimoya
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annona_reticulata
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annona_senegalensis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherimoya
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annona_reticulata
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annona_senegalensis
"Custard apple" has been used to refer to various species of the family Annonaceae, cherimoya apparently being one of the more popular.
(it's also sometimes used as an appellation for the North American pawpaw, apparently.)
No doubt Leon can further illuminate the matter.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68533351
There is a dispute
“Cherimoyas are part of the custard apple family that also includes soursop and pawpaw but is not, in fact, a custard apple. Although they are often called by the same name, the cherimoya, Annona cherimola, is different from and considered by many to be superior in taste to the custard apple, Annona reticulata.”
One is from the Caribbean and one from the Andes. But the names have become interchangeable so no one is entirely sure
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annona_squamosa
Have seen them on sale in Ilford North, RTS Fruit & Veg, Barkingside High Street to be precise.
Not much characterisation, and the romance sub-plot was utterly banal. I read it early in the Blair years, and remember thinking the politics were completely improbable - I suspect the failed Brexit stuff might be seen as rather prescient today...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/51st-State-Peter-Preston/dp/0670881074 (be warned - the Kindle edition links to a book by the same name by a different author!)
(grr, Vanilla!)
So mine would have been the “original” superior Andean version - less likely to be known as the custard apple? How confuzzling
They are bloody delicious tho. I’ve no idea why they aren’t more popular in the UK. We have lots of other tropical fruits and the custard apple is clearly one of the best and most satisfying. The creaminess!
Maybe they are very hard to grow or don’t transport well or something
Trump wants to help Ukraine out, as Al Capone helped out Chicago.
EXCEPT Capone did NOT support Stalin annexing Chicago, the way Trump supports Putin annexing Ukraine.
Am wondering IF the number of X quotes in the header may be exacerbating this somehow?
Am wondering IF the number of X quotes in the header may be exacerbating this somehow?
Now Notts police go into special measures.
Notts TV
@Notts_TV
Nottinghamshire Police is now in Special measures, after an announcement this morning from the policing watchdog. His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services has told the force to "urgently produce an improvement plan" and say big changes must be made by September.
https://twitter.com/Notts_TV/status/1767239700647964764
Essential reading for those following today’s royal drama