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Hoist with his own petard – politicalbetting.com

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  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,239
    boulay said:

    Leon said:

    boulay said:

    Foxy said:

    Carnyx said:

    Leon said:

    Trent said:

    Leon said:

    I think this is my favourite sentence of all the sentences I’ve ever written on PB


    “If America could borrow some of Britain’s Malvern Army of Top Off Duty Drugs Boffins they’d fix the Fentanyl thing within a fortnight, after several days of being baffled”

    That’s poetry. Also it’s more fun to write that than stare out of the window at the incomprehensibly awful weather

    Yes a truly dire day across the country today. Some slight improvement saturday i think but friday and monday look awful. Oh well roll on May Day.
    It’s hideous. I’m still in bed. I’ve had three solid months of pure blue skies and sun. It is so easy to get out of bed when it is warm and sunny - you WANT to sit on the balcony with your coffee. Bliss

    This shit? You want to hide away. Duvet day is every day
    Sun shining here in Scotland.
    Blustery but sunny on the Island. Lovely now.
    It’s force 7 gusting force 8 here. Quite a wild walk just before.


    Beautiful

    Where is that? Hebrides? Connemara? West Wales?


    I always think the best way to handle shite weather like this is to lean into it (literally): go to the cliffs for a savage walk. Then it becomes entertaining
    Jersey. South west tip. Although the weather more like the Faroes at the moment.
    Ah, nice

    I've only been to Jersey once and I remember a pleasant place, orderly and quaint

    That looks much wilder
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,129

    Carnyx said:

    Leon said:

    Trent said:

    Leon said:

    I think this is my favourite sentence of all the sentences I’ve ever written on PB


    “If America could borrow some of Britain’s Malvern Army of Top Off Duty Drugs Boffins they’d fix the Fentanyl thing within a fortnight, after several days of being baffled”

    That’s poetry. Also it’s more fun to write that than stare out of the window at the incomprehensibly awful weather

    Yes a truly dire day across the country today. Some slight improvement saturday i think but friday and monday look awful. Oh well roll on May Day.
    It’s hideous. I’m still in bed. I’ve had three solid months of pure blue skies and sun. It is so easy to get out of bed when it is warm and sunny - you WANT to sit on the balcony with your coffee. Bliss

    This shit? You want to hide away. Duvet day is every day
    Sun shining here in Scotland.
    Not all of Scotland. Dodging the hailstones here. At least the snow has melted from the hills behind the village.
    Talking of hailstones:

    https://www.newsweek.com/thousands-solar-panels-texas-destroyed-hailstorm-1883546

    Thousands of panels on a solar farm southwest of Houston, Texas, were damaged by a powerful hailstorm on March 15.

    Aerial footage showed rows of cracked photovoltaic cells at the Fighting Jays Solar Farm near Needville in Fort Bend County, local news channel KTRK reported on Saturday. Baseball-sized hail stones were observed falling in the area overnight, as per the Houston Chronicle.
    Fortunately, the glass is not the expensive part.
  • Pulpstar said:

    Not sure if anyone has noticed it yet but Labour are prevaricating on future nursery funded hours

    https://twitter.com/BBCNews/status/1772755237196980320

    Unless Labour detail plans in their manifesto (They might I suppose) one of the attack lines for the Tories can use will be "Labour is going to take away your childcare".

    Gillian is already on it. Will it make any difference?

    https://twitter.com/GillianKeegan/status/1772990648754278647?t=cC9yvWQUX66OanwYbyq1_g&s=19
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,239

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Trent said:

    Leon said:

    I think this is my favourite sentence of all the sentences I’ve ever written on PB


    “If America could borrow some of Britain’s Malvern Army of Top Off Duty Drugs Boffins they’d fix the Fentanyl thing within a fortnight, after several days of being baffled”

    That’s poetry. Also it’s more fun to write that than stare out of the window at the incomprehensibly awful weather

    Yes a truly dire day across the country today. Some slight improvement saturday i think but friday and monday look awful. Oh well roll on May Day.
    It’s hideous. I’m still in bed. I’ve had three solid months of pure blue skies and sun. It is so easy to get out of bed when it is warm and sunny - you WANT to sit on the balcony with your coffee. Bliss

    This shit? You want to hide away. Duvet day is every day
    Easter weekend looks pretty nice in London. Showers kinda fizzling out tomorrow then mostly fine and mild Saturday and Sunday.

    Stop whining.
    You get weirdly ANGRY when people moan about the weather. Given that you live in Britain, where "moaning about the weather" is a national pastime, you must be angry most of the day. Not healthy
    Not angry, just utterly bored with you droning on about it day after day, hour after hour.

    I’ve mentioned it once today. Its 3.30pm

    I have a theory. I think you get upset by shit British weather but you try and live in denial of it, and say it’s all good. So if someone points out that actually it’s pretty shit, that kicks away the denial leaving you exposed. And angry

    Just a theory
    I can see what the weather is doing now, by looking out of the window. I can see what it’s doing in the next few days, by looking at my weather app.

    Your tedious posts on the subject add nothing to the gaiety of the nation.
    There you go again, weirdly overwrought - I believe my theory is correct

    Top Anabobazina Boffins No Longer Baffled
    Jesus you are a boring sod when you have jet lag.

    Go back to bed.
    Whereas you are fascinating and enchanting, 24/7
  • TazTaz Posts: 14,362
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Trent said:

    Leon said:

    I think this is my favourite sentence of all the sentences I’ve ever written on PB


    “If America could borrow some of Britain’s Malvern Army of Top Off Duty Drugs Boffins they’d fix the Fentanyl thing within a fortnight, after several days of being baffled”

    That’s poetry. Also it’s more fun to write that than stare out of the window at the incomprehensibly awful weather

    Yes a truly dire day across the country today. Some slight improvement saturday i think but friday and monday look awful. Oh well roll on May Day.
    It’s hideous. I’m still in bed. I’ve had three solid months of pure blue skies and sun. It is so easy to get out of bed when it is warm and sunny - you WANT to sit on the balcony with your coffee. Bliss

    This shit? You want to hide away. Duvet day is every day
    Easter weekend looks pretty nice in London. Showers kinda fizzling out tomorrow then mostly fine and mild Saturday and Sunday.

    Stop whining.
    You get weirdly ANGRY when people moan about the weather. Given that you live in Britain, where "moaning about the weather" is a national pastime, you must be angry most of the day. Not healthy
    Not angry, just utterly bored with you droning on about it day after day, hour after hour.

    I’ve mentioned it once today. Its 3.30pm

    I have a theory. I think you get upset by shit British weather but you try and live in denial of it, and say it’s all good. So if someone points out that actually it’s pretty shit, that kicks away the denial leaving you exposed. And angry

    Just a theory
    I can see what the weather is doing now, by looking out of the window. I can see what it’s doing in the next few days, by looking at my weather app.

    Your tedious posts on the subject add nothing to the gaiety of the nation.
    There you go again, weirdly overwrought - I believe my theory is correct

    Top Anabobazina Boffins No Longer Baffled
    Jesus you are a boring sod when you have jet lag.

    Go back to bed.
    Whereas you are fascinating and enchanting, 24/7
    Especially when it comes to cash.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 51,814
    TimS said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Carnyx said:

    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/mar/28/fresh-crisis-for-thames-water-as-investors-pull-plug-on-500m-of-funding

    'Chris Weston, the chief executive of Thames Water, said on Thursday that [special administration] was a “long way off” but did not rule out the possibility.

    Weston said the company had £2.4bn of funds it could draw on, which would last until next May or June. “There is a chance that somewhere down the stream you might get to a specific special administration outcome but there’s a lot of water to go under the bridge.”'

    What this country desperately needs is more boffins. eg we obviously require “Water Boffins” - to fix the whole mess there. “Britain’s Armada of Water Boffins” - just by writing that phrase down we’re halfway to solving the sewage crisis

    Fuck all this American “tsar” nonsense. Bring back The Boffin

    “Britain’s Top Small Boat Boffin” would sort out the small boat problem over a weekend. In Great Malvern or maybe Malvern Spa. Wearing a white coat
    American "tsar" nonsense?
    “Drugs tsar”, “Common sense tsar” etc

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/nov/14/what-views-will-esther-mcvey-bring-to-cabinet-as-the-common-sense-tsar

    All tsars do is propose policies that never do anything useful. How many drugs tsars has America had? Are they working? No

    If America could borrow some of Britain’s Malvern Army of Top Off Duty Drugs Boffins they’d fix the Fentanyl thing within a fortnight, after several days of being baffled
    Whoosh.

    Tsars did not come from America.
    Amazingly, I am aware that tsars are Russian in origin

    Or Roman. “Tsar” comes from Caesar. Likewise Kaiser
    And Shah

    Hence Checkmate. Shah Maht (King is dead).
    The word descends from Old Persian xšāyaθiya "king", which used to be considered a borrowing from Median,[3] as it was compared to Avestan xšaθra-, "power" and "command", corresponding to Sanskrit kṣatra- (same meaning), from which kṣatriya-, "warrior", is derived. Most recently, the form xšāyaθiya has been analyzed as a genuine, inherited Persian formation with the meaning 'pertaining to reigning, ruling'. This formation with the "origin" suffix -iya is derived from a deverbal abstract noun *xšāy-aθa- 'rule, ruling, Herrschaft', from the (Old Persian) verb xšāy- 'to rule, reign'.[4] The full, Old Persian title of the Achaemenid rulers of the First Persian Empire was Xšāyaθiya Xšāyaθiyānām or (Middle Persian) Šâhân Šâh, "King of Kings"[5] or "Emperor". This title has ancient Near Eastern or Mesopotamian precedents. The earliest attestation of such a title dates back to the Middle Assyrian period as šar šarrāni, in reference to the Assyrian ruler Tukulti-Ninurta I (1243–1207 BC).

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shah
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 51,814

    Pulpstar said:

    Not sure if anyone has noticed it yet but Labour are prevaricating on future nursery funded hours

    https://twitter.com/BBCNews/status/1772755237196980320

    Unless Labour detail plans in their manifesto (They might I suppose) one of the attack lines for the Tories can use will be "Labour is going to take away your childcare".

    Gillian is already on it. Will it make any difference?

    https://twitter.com/GillianKeegan/status/1772990648754278647?t=cC9yvWQUX66OanwYbyq1_g&s=19
    Is she working fucking hard?
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 11,044
    isam said:

    isam said:

    It would be interesting if somebody wrote a header on what is going on with the Reform VI. They are almost at Kipper 2014-15 levels, yet…

    No one on here is admitting that they plan on voting for them
    There is no totemic issue that sums up what they’re for
    They never get a decent result in By Elections
    They have fewer than ten councillors

    Unless I’m missing something quite important, it seems like the softest polling ever. When they were called The Brexit Party in 2019, there was reason to believe they were polling in the 20%s, the Tories looked like they were about to succumb to the ‘Peoples Vote’ nonsense, and all the hard work done by UKIP could be undone. But now, why?

    Isn't their totemic issue immigration with their one-in-one-out plan? They're also pushing on completing Brexit "properly", as per their TUV electoral pact agreement.

    They have (according to Wikipedia) 9 councillors, but they do also have 1 MP! If we include TUV, that adds 1 MLA and 10 more councillors. I would be surprised if they don't gain a London Assembly member this May.

    Their by-election performances haven't been stellar, but they have saved their deposit in the last 4 by-elections, have been increasing their vote shares (or increasing compared to a previous UKIP candidate) and they got into double figures in Kingswood and Wellingborough.
    Immigration has been an issue for sixty years, it isn’t totemic in the way leaving the EU was for UKIP in 2015 & BXP in 2019.

    As for By Elections, UKIP won two (admittedly because they had the incumbent as candidate) and came an often quite close second in five of the last seven in the 2010-15 parliament (one of my unluckiest bets ever was backing them in Heywood and Middleton at something like 20/1 only to see them lose by 617 votes. The election was the sand day Carswell won Clacton by a mile, and UKIP. had quite stupidly stuffed every campaigner they could into that seat, ignoring the other). Reform haven’t even come close to a second place gave they?
    Yes, immigration has been an issue for many decades, but I don't think that means it can't be totemic for Reform UK. Immigration is at record highs under the Conservatives and it's been rising in importance in topic polling. If the Tories have ceded ground on the topic (they talk about it a lot, but don't deliver), then there's a space for Reform UK to prosper.

    No, Reform UK are not doing as well in by-elections as UKIP, but that doesn't mean they're nowhere. Wellingborough was their best performance, 13% and third. They were third also in Kingswood and Tamworth. They've come higher than the Greens in the last 5 by-elections.

    As others have said, Blackpool South is a big test for the party. It's a very Leave seat. Reform UK (as then the Brexit Party) were third with 6% in 2019. I think Labour are sure to win (unless there's a repeat of the Azhar Ali situation), but Reform UK should be up there. It'll look great for them if they can come second.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,098
    edited March 28
    felix said:

    kinabalu said:

    felix said:

    isam said:

    TimS said:


    Britain Elects
    @BritainElects
    ·
    28m
    Labour lead at 18pts
    Westminster voting intention:

    LAB: 44% (-2)
    CON: 26% (+3)
    REF: 11% (-1)
    LDEM: 9% (-)
    GRN: 6% (+1)

    via
    @Deltapoll

    The trend is your friend 🧡

    Go to the poll of polls. Starting in 2022, draw a trend line through labour and conservative ratings and get back to me about trends. FYI, one poll is not a trend
    Im sort of with BJO on this (the trend, not the rest of his ideological apparatus). There is I think a tightening between the blocs, and a decline in Labour favourability, that’s being hidden by the Reform rise.
    I am.just not seeing it the poll of polls. They regularly undulate back and forth. It would take a more decisive shift for me to call it. I guess I would have to do a t-test to prove it. But eyeballing the running average of tory and labour support I would say it is overall still widening.
    4th poll of the week this one shows a 3% drop in Lab lead to 15 confirms the trend

    Voting Intention:

    LAB: 42% (-1)
    CON: 27% (+2)
    RFM: 11% (=)
    LDM: 10% (-1)
    GRN: 5% (=)

    Via
    @Moreincommon_
    , 23-24 Mar.
    Changes w/ 19-20 Mar
    No, because one week isn't a trend.

    Especially when there was a perceptible upblip last week, which I think got attributed to Racistdonorgate.
    On that point, it's worth considering four polls BJO gleefully highlights which show a reduction in the Labour lead this week and note what their previous move was:

    Pollster / this poll's lead change / previous lead change

    YouGov / -6% / +1%
    Deltapoll / -5% / +6%
    More in Common / -3% / -1%
    R&W / -6% / +8%

    Average -5% this poll, +3.5% last poll.
    As far as YouGov is concerned it’s a decent dip in support, as the poll three weeks ago was a dip of a few points as well. It’s their lowest Labour score since 2022, so not just up one week/down the next and balancing out

    Strange thing you said the other day, that I was desperately searching for a reason to vote Tory. I am not a Tory, and only voted for them in 2019 to Get Brexit Done. I’m unlikely to be voting for them next time, and haven’t praised any of their policies, campaign adverts or any individual MP they have.

    You may try to label me as a Boris fan, but even there I only argue that he is the most popular choice of 2019 Tories according to polling, which would be true whether I liked him or not, and that they’d be better off had they kept him in charge. I don’t think you’d find anything from me saying he was a fantastic leader, this or that was a tremendous policy, he has a great vision for the country etc, just that he was charismatic and that goes further than dry politico’s care to admit… usually because they aren’t charismatic themselves, so don’t value its importance



    Why should anyone care what someone else votes or indeed say it as "gotcha".? I vote Tory and am content to continue. O couldn't give a rat's behind what anyone here or anywhere else thinks about it. Nor do I care how others vote. The biggest weakness of the site is small the ad hominem crap.
    Not to be ad hominem but I do care how others vote. I want them to vote Labour. If enough of them fail to do that I'll have to suffer yet another Conservative government.
    You missed the point.
    Course I got your point. C'mon. It's me here. You dislike it when people play the man not the ball and you think there's too much of that on PB.

    I was more making another point. That if I don't care how others vote it would mean I'm not fussed who wins the election. Which I am - so I do.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,479
    Taz said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Trent said:

    Leon said:

    I think this is my favourite sentence of all the sentences I’ve ever written on PB


    “If America could borrow some of Britain’s Malvern Army of Top Off Duty Drugs Boffins they’d fix the Fentanyl thing within a fortnight, after several days of being baffled”

    That’s poetry. Also it’s more fun to write that than stare out of the window at the incomprehensibly awful weather

    Yes a truly dire day across the country today. Some slight improvement saturday i think but friday and monday look awful. Oh well roll on May Day.
    It’s hideous. I’m still in bed. I’ve had three solid months of pure blue skies and sun. It is so easy to get out of bed when it is warm and sunny - you WANT to sit on the balcony with your coffee. Bliss

    This shit? You want to hide away. Duvet day is every day
    Easter weekend looks pretty nice in London. Showers kinda fizzling out tomorrow then mostly fine and mild Saturday and Sunday.

    Stop whining.
    You get weirdly ANGRY when people moan about the weather. Given that you live in Britain, where "moaning about the weather" is a national pastime, you must be angry most of the day. Not healthy
    Not angry, just utterly bored with you droning on about it day after day, hour after hour.

    I’ve mentioned it once today. Its 3.30pm

    I have a theory. I think you get upset by shit British weather but you try and live in denial of it, and say it’s all good. So if someone points out that actually it’s pretty shit, that kicks away the denial leaving you exposed. And angry

    Just a theory
    I can see what the weather is doing now, by looking out of the window. I can see what it’s doing in the next few days, by looking at my weather app.

    Your tedious posts on the subject add nothing to the gaiety of the nation.
    There you go again, weirdly overwrought - I believe my theory is correct

    Top Anabobazina Boffins No Longer Baffled
    Jesus you are a boring sod when you have jet lag.

    Go back to bed.
    Whereas you are fascinating and enchanting, 24/7
    Especially when it comes to cash.
    PBers who say they don't like reading posts about cash bringing it up YET AGAIN.

    Very weird. It's almost as if they want me to talk about it!!
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,479
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Trent said:

    Leon said:

    I think this is my favourite sentence of all the sentences I’ve ever written on PB


    “If America could borrow some of Britain’s Malvern Army of Top Off Duty Drugs Boffins they’d fix the Fentanyl thing within a fortnight, after several days of being baffled”

    That’s poetry. Also it’s more fun to write that than stare out of the window at the incomprehensibly awful weather

    Yes a truly dire day across the country today. Some slight improvement saturday i think but friday and monday look awful. Oh well roll on May Day.
    It’s hideous. I’m still in bed. I’ve had three solid months of pure blue skies and sun. It is so easy to get out of bed when it is warm and sunny - you WANT to sit on the balcony with your coffee. Bliss

    This shit? You want to hide away. Duvet day is every day
    Easter weekend looks pretty nice in London. Showers kinda fizzling out tomorrow then mostly fine and mild Saturday and Sunday.

    Stop whining.
    You get weirdly ANGRY when people moan about the weather. Given that you live in Britain, where "moaning about the weather" is a national pastime, you must be angry most of the day. Not healthy
    Not angry, just utterly bored with you droning on about it day after day, hour after hour.

    I’ve mentioned it once today. Its 3.30pm

    I have a theory. I think you get upset by shit British weather but you try and live in denial of it, and say it’s all good. So if someone points out that actually it’s pretty shit, that kicks away the denial leaving you exposed. And angry

    Just a theory
    I can see what the weather is doing now, by looking out of the window. I can see what it’s doing in the next few days, by looking at my weather app.

    Your tedious posts on the subject add nothing to the gaiety of the nation.
    There you go again, weirdly overwrought - I believe my theory is correct

    Top Anabobazina Boffins No Longer Baffled
    Jesus you are a boring sod when you have jet lag.

    Go back to bed.
    Whereas you are fascinating and enchanting, 24/7
    Get some sleep.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,129

    ydoethur said:

    Bankman Fried gets 25 years

    Gosh. The American justice system finally jails a rich, white, well-connected crook?

    Donald Trump has just shat himself.
    Hmmm….

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Holmes
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Madoff
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NatWest_Three
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Lay
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghislaine_Maxwell

    Ken Lay *did* avoid jail - by committing suicide.

    Indeed, the NatWest Three tried the argument that the US barbarically sends white collar criminals to jail, rather than not bothering to prosecute them. As a “civilised” country would.
    Lay died of a heart attack, I thought?

    You might add Weinberg to the list, and also Epstein (who may, or may not, have cooked suicide)
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 60,407
    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.
  • TrentTrent Posts: 150

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    For most people its just a slightly longer weekend. I imagine the majority of the country now dont realise what easter is really about apart from chocolate eggs.
  • isamisam Posts: 41,118
    Trent said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    For most people its just a slightly longer weekend. I imagine the majority of the country now dont realise what easter is really about apart from chocolate eggs.
    I was in the bakery with my 4yo son last Saturday, and he mentioned that his teacher at Play School had told him the crosses on Hot Cross Buns were going to be replaced by Nike ticks!
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,129
    edited March 28

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    I always refer to the last weekend in March as a short weekend...
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,368
    ...

    Post
    See new posts
    Conversation
    Britain Elects
    @BritainElects
    Labour lead at 19pts
    Westminster voting intention:

    LAB: 40% (-4)
    CON: 21% (+2)
    REF: 16% (+1)
    LDEM: 10% (+1)

    via
    @YouGov
    , 26 - 27 Mar

    SKS fans?

    At this rate of attrition you will return a Conservative Government in June!

    Latest Quinnipiac poll: Biden 48%, Trump 45% (polling 21-25 March)

    Bugger, you've beaten William Glenn to it!
    William Glenn won't be posting that kind of communism. William only posts Trump favourable polls.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,098

    isam said:

    isam said:

    It would be interesting if somebody wrote a header on what is going on with the Reform VI. They are almost at Kipper 2014-15 levels, yet…

    No one on here is admitting that they plan on voting for them
    There is no totemic issue that sums up what they’re for
    They never get a decent result in By Elections
    They have fewer than ten councillors

    Unless I’m missing something quite important, it seems like the softest polling ever. When they were called The Brexit Party in 2019, there was reason to believe they were polling in the 20%s, the Tories looked like they were about to succumb to the ‘Peoples Vote’ nonsense, and all the hard work done by UKIP could be undone. But now, why?

    Isn't their totemic issue immigration with their one-in-one-out plan? They're also pushing on completing Brexit "properly", as per their TUV electoral pact agreement.

    They have (according to Wikipedia) 9 councillors, but they do also have 1 MP! If we include TUV, that adds 1 MLA and 10 more councillors. I would be surprised if they don't gain a London Assembly member this May.

    Their by-election performances haven't been stellar, but they have saved their deposit in the last 4 by-elections, have been increasing their vote shares (or increasing compared to a previous UKIP candidate) and they got into double figures in Kingswood and Wellingborough.
    Immigration has been an issue for sixty years, it isn’t totemic in the way leaving the EU was for UKIP in 2015 & BXP in 2019.

    As for By Elections, UKIP won two (admittedly because they had the incumbent as candidate) and came an often quite close second in five of the last seven in the 2010-15 parliament (one of my unluckiest bets ever was backing them in Heywood and Middleton at something like 20/1 only to see them lose by 617 votes. The election was the sand day Carswell won Clacton by a mile, and UKIP. had quite stupidly stuffed every campaigner they could into that seat, ignoring the other). Reform haven’t even come close to a second place gave they?
    Yes, immigration has been an issue for many decades, but I don't think that means it can't be totemic for Reform UK. Immigration is at record highs under the Conservatives and it's been rising in importance in topic polling. If the Tories have ceded ground on the topic (they talk about it a lot, but don't deliver), then there's a space for Reform UK to prosper.

    No, Reform UK are not doing as well in by-elections as UKIP, but that doesn't mean they're nowhere. Wellingborough was their best performance, 13% and third. They were third also in Kingswood and Tamworth. They've come higher than the Greens in the last 5 by-elections.

    As others have said, Blackpool South is a big test for the party. It's a very Leave seat. Reform UK (as then the Brexit Party) were third with 6% in 2019. I think Labour are sure to win (unless there's a repeat of the Azhar Ali situation), but Reform UK should be up there. It'll look great for them if they can come second.
    Blackpool has the potential to tell us a lot about how serious a GE player Reform are likely to be. Perhaps already posted but Meeks' latest piece is mainly about this. Elegantly written as always:

    https://alastair-meeks.medium.com/four-polling-mysteries-63a4bae31816
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,213
    rcs1000 said:

    ydoethur said:

    Bankman Fried gets 25 years

    Gosh. The American justice system finally jails a rich, white, well-connected crook?

    Donald Trump has just shat himself.
    Hmmm….

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Holmes
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Madoff
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NatWest_Three
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Lay
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghislaine_Maxwell

    Ken Lay *did* avoid jail - by committing suicide.

    Indeed, the NatWest Three tried the argument that the US barbarically sends white collar criminals to jail, rather than not bothering to prosecute them. As a “civilised” country would.
    Lay died of a heart attack, I thought?

    You might add Weinberg to the list, and also Epstein (who may, or may not, have cooked suicide)
    Lay died between conviction and sentencing. In Texas law, if you die while on appeal, the conviction is voided. This had the effect of saving his home and personal assets for his family.

    He died from a heart attack on an exercise bike at home. Having been diagnosed with serious heart issues.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 51,814

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    "Your dependence on hardware really does amuse me, Bough. I've been dropped into the Kalahari Desert carrying nothing more than a toothbrush and a packet of sherbet lemons. And I still managed to find my way to Bulawayo before Ramadan."
  • DonkeysDonkeys Posts: 723
    edited March 28

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    Funny you should mention that. One thing perturbing me right now is that so few people in Europe have a clue about the red heifer business, or even the yellow cow story, despite the heifer's possibly imminent pivotal role in the triggering of WW3 some time between Shabbat Parah (tomorrow) and Eid (~10 April).
  • FeersumEnjineeyaFeersumEnjineeya Posts: 4,408

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    Your woke-detection knob seems to have been twisted to maximum sensitivity today. How can you possibly get annoyed about what words people are using to refer to the (long, because two days off rather than one) Easter bank holiday weekend? You truly are a proud culture war warrior!
  • ToryJimToryJim Posts: 4,189
    Trent said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    For most people its just a slightly longer weekend. I imagine the majority of the country now dont realise what easter is really about apart from chocolate eggs.
    Indeed, pretty sad state of affairs really. I think even if you choose not to participate in religion you ought to have a passing acquaintance with some of its core ideas.
  • TrentTrent Posts: 150
    We have snow in Plymouth. From netweather.

    Last night we had our first lying snow in Plymouth since 2019 - incredible scenes and this late in the season!! The latest I can remember for sure. This morning there's a loud thunderstorm... an absolutely crazy 12 hours of weather that almost makes the rain worth it as an enthusiast.

    It was a very rapid rain to snow event that was completely unforecasted and surprisingly was so heavy it even settled!

    Can't wait for it to settle down and warm up but at least it's giving us some interesting conditions now!
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,479
    edited March 28
    Trent said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    For most people its just a slightly longer weekend. I imagine the majority of the country now dont realise what easter is really about apart from chocolate eggs.
    What is it 'about'? Certainly not JC, who cannot possibly have died on a different day each year?

    Personally, I think it's about a four-days of partying, good walks and great food and pubs. But, each to their own.
  • DonkeysDonkeys Posts: 723
    edited March 28
    isam said:

    Trent said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    For most people its just a slightly longer weekend. I imagine the majority of the country now dont realise what easter is really about apart from chocolate eggs.
    I was in the bakery with my 4yo son last Saturday, and he mentioned that his teacher at Play School had told him the crosses on Hot Cross Buns were going to be replaced by Nike ticks!
    That teacher's a right wind-up merchant.

    In my local Tesco's, they sell hot cross buns all year round.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzqSuHy8G-o
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559
    rcs1000 said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    I always refer to the last weekend in March as a short weekend...
    Rishi Weeke?
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 11,044

    Trent said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    For most people its just a slightly longer weekend. I imagine the majority of the country now dont realise what easter is really about apart from chocolate eggs.
    What is it 'about'? Certainly not JC, who cannot possibly have died on a different day each year?

    Personally, I think it's about a four-days of partying, good walks and great food and pubs. But, each to their own.
    It's about how the Easter Bunny died for our sins, something something chocolate.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,129
    isam said:

    Trent said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    For most people its just a slightly longer weekend. I imagine the majority of the country now dont realise what easter is really about apart from chocolate eggs.
    I was in the bakery with my 4yo son last Saturday, and he mentioned that his teacher at Play School had told him the crosses on Hot Cross Buns were going to be replaced by Nike ticks!
    Well, at least they are sticking with religious marks
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,479
    ToryJim said:

    Trent said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    For most people its just a slightly longer weekend. I imagine the majority of the country now dont realise what easter is really about apart from chocolate eggs.
    Indeed, pretty sad state of affairs really. I think even if you choose not to participate in religion you ought to have a passing acquaintance with some of its core ideas.
    I defer to your inside knowledge of Zoroastrianism and Jainism.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,814

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    Both descriptions are entirely correct.
  • DonkeysDonkeys Posts: 723
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Trent said:

    Leon said:

    I think this is my favourite sentence of all the sentences I’ve ever written on PB


    “If America could borrow some of Britain’s Malvern Army of Top Off Duty Drugs Boffins they’d fix the Fentanyl thing within a fortnight, after several days of being baffled”

    That’s poetry. Also it’s more fun to write that than stare out of the window at the incomprehensibly awful weather

    Yes a truly dire day across the country today. Some slight improvement saturday i think but friday and monday look awful. Oh well roll on May Day.
    It’s hideous. I’m still in bed. I’ve had three solid months of pure blue skies and sun. It is so easy to get out of bed when it is warm and sunny - you WANT to sit on the balcony with your coffee. Bliss

    This shit? You want to hide away. Duvet day is every day
    Easter weekend looks pretty nice in London. Showers kinda fizzling out tomorrow then mostly fine and mild Saturday and Sunday.

    Stop whining.
    You get weirdly ANGRY when people moan about the weather. Given that you live in Britain, where "moaning about the weather" is a national pastime, you must be angry most of the day. Not healthy
    Not angry, just utterly bored with you droning on about it day after day, hour after hour.

    I’ve mentioned it once today. Its 3.30pm

    I have a theory. I think you get upset by shit British weather but you try and live in denial of it, and say it’s all good. So if someone points out that actually it’s pretty shit, that kicks away the denial leaving you exposed. And angry

    Just a theory
    I can see what the weather is doing now, by looking out of the window. I can see what it’s doing in the next few days, by looking at my weather app.

    Your tedious posts on the subject add nothing to the gaiety of the nation.
    There you go again, weirdly overwrought - I believe my theory is correct

    Top Anabobazina Boffins No Longer Baffled
    Jesus you are a boring sod when you have jet lag.

    Go back to bed.
    Whereas you are fascinating and enchanting, 24/7
    Get some sleep.
    Also, point of order Mister Angry Weather Cashless Guy, the entire conversation about "boffins" has been PB at its best

    It has evolved from a detailed discussion of the definition of boffin, to the use of tabloidese language, to the etymology of boffin (possibly BASED on Charles Dickens), taking in the development of radar in the Malverns in the 1940s, informing us about the Cavity Magnetron (and how it goes in microwaves), then it went on to British boffins V American tsars, then we discussed how tsar, ceasar, shah and Kaiser ar all cognate, and now we've reached the stage where @Sunil_Prasannan is informing us that Iranian "shah" actually comes from the Sanskrit, and "the Assyrian ruler Tukulti-Ninurta I (1243–1207 BC)," and all along the conversational road various PBers have chipped in with detailed knowledge of history, culture, science, and tabloid linguistics
    Checkmate.

    (Apologies if someone already said that.)
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 11,044
    Donkeys said:

    isam said:

    Trent said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    For most people its just a slightly longer weekend. I imagine the majority of the country now dont realise what easter is really about apart from chocolate eggs.
    I was in the bakery with my 4yo son last Saturday, and he mentioned that his teacher at Play School had told him the crosses on Hot Cross Buns were going to be replaced by Nike ticks!
    That teacher's a right wind-up merchant.

    In my local Tesco's, they sell hot cross buns all year round.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzqSuHy8G-o
    You can get gluten-free M&S hot cross buns in November, but then gluten-free Easter has different dates.
  • TrentTrent Posts: 150

    Trent said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    For most people its just a slightly longer weekend. I imagine the majority of the country now dont realise what easter is really about apart from chocolate eggs.
    What is it 'about'? Certainly not JC, who cannot possibly have died on a different day each year?

    Personally, I think it's about a four-days of partying, good walks and great food and pubs. But, each to their own.
    They should have it on the same date in late April each year. March easters are always total cr.p with the weather.
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,656
    NEW: Laurence Fox will not be a candidate for the London mayoral election after after filling in the form wrong
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,479

    Trent said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    For most people its just a slightly longer weekend. I imagine the majority of the country now dont realise what easter is really about apart from chocolate eggs.
    What is it 'about'? Certainly not JC, who cannot possibly have died on a different day each year?

    Personally, I think it's about a four-days of partying, good walks and great food and pubs. But, each to their own.
    It's about how the Easter Bunny died for our sins, something something chocolate.
    I heard a theory that the Easter Bunny is actually a bad guy, and should be avoided if encountered.

    The thesis rather lends a somewhat sinister edge to what would otherwise be a cheering celebration of spring.
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559
    rcs1000 said:

    Carnyx said:

    Leon said:

    Trent said:

    Leon said:

    I think this is my favourite sentence of all the sentences I’ve ever written on PB


    “If America could borrow some of Britain’s Malvern Army of Top Off Duty Drugs Boffins they’d fix the Fentanyl thing within a fortnight, after several days of being baffled”

    That’s poetry. Also it’s more fun to write that than stare out of the window at the incomprehensibly awful weather

    Yes a truly dire day across the country today. Some slight improvement saturday i think but friday and monday look awful. Oh well roll on May Day.
    It’s hideous. I’m still in bed. I’ve had three solid months of pure blue skies and sun. It is so easy to get out of bed when it is warm and sunny - you WANT to sit on the balcony with your coffee. Bliss

    This shit? You want to hide away. Duvet day is every day
    Sun shining here in Scotland.
    Not all of Scotland. Dodging the hailstones here. At least the snow has melted from the hills behind the village.
    Talking of hailstones:

    https://www.newsweek.com/thousands-solar-panels-texas-destroyed-hailstorm-1883546

    Thousands of panels on a solar farm southwest of Houston, Texas, were damaged by a powerful hailstorm on March 15.

    Aerial footage showed rows of cracked photovoltaic cells at the Fighting Jays Solar Farm near Needville in Fort Bend County, local news channel KTRK reported on Saturday. Baseball-sized hail stones were observed falling in the area overnight, as per the Houston Chronicle.
    Fortunately, the glass is not the expensive part.
    Nor is baseball-size hail a unique (or even especially rare) phenomenon, not in much/most of USA, esp the Great Lone Star State.

    WAY more worrisome than a few super-sized hail stones (which will however make you wish you'd parked your car in your garage) are TORNADOES spawned by same collision of spring-time weather patterns over Middle America.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 51,814

    Donkeys said:

    isam said:

    Trent said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    For most people its just a slightly longer weekend. I imagine the majority of the country now dont realise what easter is really about apart from chocolate eggs.
    I was in the bakery with my 4yo son last Saturday, and he mentioned that his teacher at Play School had told him the crosses on Hot Cross Buns were going to be replaced by Nike ticks!
    That teacher's a right wind-up merchant.

    In my local Tesco's, they sell hot cross buns all year round.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzqSuHy8G-o
    You can get gluten-free M&S hot cross buns in November, but then gluten-free Easter has different dates.
    M&S even sell chocolate hot cross buns, caramel hot cross buns, and cheese(!) hot cross buns.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 51,814

    NEW: Laurence Fox will not be a candidate for the London mayoral election after after filling in the form wrong

    You must be devastated, BJO!
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,479

    NEW: Laurence Fox will not be a candidate for the London mayoral election after after filling in the form wrong

    LPF fans please explain.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,627
    ToryJim said:

    Trent said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    For most people its just a slightly longer weekend. I imagine the majority of the country now dont realise what easter is really about apart from chocolate eggs.
    Indeed, pretty sad state of affairs really. I think even if you choose not to participate in religion you ought to have a passing acquaintance with some of its core ideas.
    There are three large wooden crosses on a hill by the Newport to Brading Road. Its an impressive sight.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,479
    Trent said:

    Trent said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    For most people its just a slightly longer weekend. I imagine the majority of the country now dont realise what easter is really about apart from chocolate eggs.
    What is it 'about'? Certainly not JC, who cannot possibly have died on a different day each year?

    Personally, I think it's about a four-days of partying, good walks and great food and pubs. But, each to their own.
    They should have it on the same date in late April each year. March easters are always total cr.p with the weather.
    This one looks pretty good down here in London at least, but yes, I'd fix it for the middle weekend of April. Changing it every year is crackers.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 12,984

    Trent said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    For most people its just a slightly longer weekend. I imagine the majority of the country now dont realise what easter is really about apart from chocolate eggs.
    What is it 'about'? Certainly not JC, who cannot possibly have died on a different day each year?

    Personally, I think it's about a four-days of partying, good walks and great food and pubs. But, each to their own.
    It's about how the Easter Bunny died for our sins, something something chocolate.
    I heard a theory that the Easter Bunny is actually a bad guy, and should be avoided if encountered.

    The thesis rather lends a somewhat sinister edge to what would otherwise be a cheering celebration of spring.
    Rabbits and hares do have a strange evil thing about them.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,627
    edited March 28

    Donkeys said:

    isam said:

    Trent said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    For most people its just a slightly longer weekend. I imagine the majority of the country now dont realise what easter is really about apart from chocolate eggs.
    I was in the bakery with my 4yo son last Saturday, and he mentioned that his teacher at Play School had told him the crosses on Hot Cross Buns were going to be replaced by Nike ticks!
    That teacher's a right wind-up merchant.

    In my local Tesco's, they sell hot cross buns all year round.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzqSuHy8G-o
    You can get gluten-free M&S hot cross buns in November, but then gluten-free Easter has different dates.
    M&S even sell chocolate hot cross buns, caramel hot cross buns, and cheese(!) hot cross buns.
    I had the cheese hot cross buns from Tesco. Not a great choice, but the blueberry and lemon ones from the Co-op are lovely.
  • ToryJimToryJim Posts: 4,189

    Trent said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    For most people its just a slightly longer weekend. I imagine the majority of the country now dont realise what easter is really about apart from chocolate eggs.
    What is it 'about'? Certainly not JC, who cannot possibly have died on a different day each year?

    Personally, I think it's about a four-days of partying, good walks and great food and pubs. But, each to their own.
    Jesus died at Passover which always begins on 15th Nisan according to the Jewish calendar. The Jewish calendar oscillates slightly in reference to the Gregorian calendar, and subsequently the church determined that Easter would be the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox. This broke the link between Easter and Passover but they do occasionally line up, but not this year.
  • nico679nico679 Posts: 6,275
    edited March 28

    NEW: Laurence Fox will not be a candidate for the London mayoral election after after filling in the form wrong

    Can’t Fox just move to the USA where he’ll feel at home. Perhaps a Nebraska trailer park where he can wank on about conspiracy theories .
  • TrentTrent Posts: 150
    TimS said:

    Trent said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    For most people its just a slightly longer weekend. I imagine the majority of the country now dont realise what easter is really about apart from chocolate eggs.
    What is it 'about'? Certainly not JC, who cannot possibly have died on a different day each year?

    Personally, I think it's about a four-days of partying, good walks and great food and pubs. But, each to their own.
    It's about how the Easter Bunny died for our sins, something something chocolate.
    I heard a theory that the Easter Bunny is actually a bad guy, and should be avoided if encountered.

    The thesis rather lends a somewhat sinister edge to what would otherwise be a cheering celebration of spring.
    Rabbits and hares do have a strange evil thing about them.
    Well they always run away from me so they must be up to no good.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,239
    Donkeys said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Trent said:

    Leon said:

    I think this is my favourite sentence of all the sentences I’ve ever written on PB


    “If America could borrow some of Britain’s Malvern Army of Top Off Duty Drugs Boffins they’d fix the Fentanyl thing within a fortnight, after several days of being baffled”

    That’s poetry. Also it’s more fun to write that than stare out of the window at the incomprehensibly awful weather

    Yes a truly dire day across the country today. Some slight improvement saturday i think but friday and monday look awful. Oh well roll on May Day.
    It’s hideous. I’m still in bed. I’ve had three solid months of pure blue skies and sun. It is so easy to get out of bed when it is warm and sunny - you WANT to sit on the balcony with your coffee. Bliss

    This shit? You want to hide away. Duvet day is every day
    Easter weekend looks pretty nice in London. Showers kinda fizzling out tomorrow then mostly fine and mild Saturday and Sunday.

    Stop whining.
    You get weirdly ANGRY when people moan about the weather. Given that you live in Britain, where "moaning about the weather" is a national pastime, you must be angry most of the day. Not healthy
    Not angry, just utterly bored with you droning on about it day after day, hour after hour.

    I’ve mentioned it once today. Its 3.30pm

    I have a theory. I think you get upset by shit British weather but you try and live in denial of it, and say it’s all good. So if someone points out that actually it’s pretty shit, that kicks away the denial leaving you exposed. And angry

    Just a theory
    I can see what the weather is doing now, by looking out of the window. I can see what it’s doing in the next few days, by looking at my weather app.

    Your tedious posts on the subject add nothing to the gaiety of the nation.
    There you go again, weirdly overwrought - I believe my theory is correct

    Top Anabobazina Boffins No Longer Baffled
    Jesus you are a boring sod when you have jet lag.

    Go back to bed.
    Whereas you are fascinating and enchanting, 24/7
    Get some sleep.
    Also, point of order Mister Angry Weather Cashless Guy, the entire conversation about "boffins" has been PB at its best

    It has evolved from a detailed discussion of the definition of boffin, to the use of tabloidese language, to the etymology of boffin (possibly BASED on Charles Dickens), taking in the development of radar in the Malverns in the 1940s, informing us about the Cavity Magnetron (and how it goes in microwaves), then it went on to British boffins V American tsars, then we discussed how tsar, ceasar, shah and Kaiser ar all cognate, and now we've reached the stage where @Sunil_Prasannan is informing us that Iranian "shah" actually comes from the Sanskrit, and "the Assyrian ruler Tukulti-Ninurta I (1243–1207 BC)," and all along the conversational road various PBers have chipped in with detailed knowledge of history, culture, science, and tabloid linguistics
    Checkmate.

    (Apologies if someone already said that.)
    Also also, the whole Boffin conversation has taught me about ancient, differing German rules of chess, how porters finally left Billingsgate Market in 2012, the portrayal of scientists in movies and the arts since Einstein, and how physicists in Aberdeen are trying to recreate the surface of Mars in a box. All from a silly, good natured chat originating in the word "boffin", involving at least a dozen intelligent people all chipping in, over several hours

    If I was instructed to show a non PB layman why PB can be addictive and hard-to-leave (and highly informative) I would show them this thread
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,479
    ToryJim said:

    Trent said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    For most people its just a slightly longer weekend. I imagine the majority of the country now dont realise what easter is really about apart from chocolate eggs.
    What is it 'about'? Certainly not JC, who cannot possibly have died on a different day each year?

    Personally, I think it's about a four-days of partying, good walks and great food and pubs. But, each to their own.
    Jesus died at Passover which always begins on 15th Nisan according to the Jewish calendar. The Jewish calendar oscillates slightly in reference to the Gregorian calendar, and subsequently the church determined that Easter would be the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox. This broke the link between Easter and Passover but they do occasionally line up, but not this year.
    Bonkers on stilts. "The church determined". Just fix it for the middle weekend of April.
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 11,044
    Foxy said:

    ToryJim said:

    Trent said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    For most people its just a slightly longer weekend. I imagine the majority of the country now dont realise what easter is really about apart from chocolate eggs.
    Indeed, pretty sad state of affairs really. I think even if you choose not to participate in religion you ought to have a passing acquaintance with some of its core ideas.
    There are three large wooden crosses on a hill by the Newport to Brading Road. Its an impressive sight.
    https://theweek.com/cartoons/764209/political-cartoon-trump-easter-cross-evangelical-approval
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,627
    edited March 28
    Trent said:

    Trent said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    For most people its just a slightly longer weekend. I imagine the majority of the country now dont realise what easter is really about apart from chocolate eggs.
    What is it 'about'? Certainly not JC, who cannot possibly have died on a different day each year?

    Personally, I think it's about a four-days of partying, good walks and great food and pubs. But, each to their own.
    They should have it on the same date in late April each year. March easters are always total cr.p with the weather.
    Perhaps Orthodox Easter would suit you better. Its the first weekend in May this year.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,479
    TimS said:

    Trent said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    For most people its just a slightly longer weekend. I imagine the majority of the country now dont realise what easter is really about apart from chocolate eggs.
    What is it 'about'? Certainly not JC, who cannot possibly have died on a different day each year?

    Personally, I think it's about a four-days of partying, good walks and great food and pubs. But, each to their own.
    It's about how the Easter Bunny died for our sins, something something chocolate.
    I heard a theory that the Easter Bunny is actually a bad guy, and should be avoided if encountered.

    The thesis rather lends a somewhat sinister edge to what would otherwise be a cheering celebration of spring.
    Rabbits and hares do have a strange evil thing about them.
    Indeed and, given that, it is rather odd that few have recognised the inherent malevolence of the Easter Bunny. Perhaps it is all intentional.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,627

    ToryJim said:

    Trent said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    For most people its just a slightly longer weekend. I imagine the majority of the country now dont realise what easter is really about apart from chocolate eggs.
    What is it 'about'? Certainly not JC, who cannot possibly have died on a different day each year?

    Personally, I think it's about a four-days of partying, good walks and great food and pubs. But, each to their own.
    Jesus died at Passover which always begins on 15th Nisan according to the Jewish calendar. The Jewish calendar oscillates slightly in reference to the Gregorian calendar, and subsequently the church determined that Easter would be the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox. This broke the link between Easter and Passover but they do occasionally line up, but not this year.
    Bonkers on stilts. "The church determined". Just fix it for the middle weekend of April.
    The Catholic Church. Orthodox have a different system.
  • PJHPJH Posts: 643
    Leon said:

    boulay said:

    Foxy said:

    Carnyx said:

    Leon said:

    Trent said:

    Leon said:

    I think this is my favourite sentence of all the sentences I’ve ever written on PB


    “If America could borrow some of Britain’s Malvern Army of Top Off Duty Drugs Boffins they’d fix the Fentanyl thing within a fortnight, after several days of being baffled”

    That’s poetry. Also it’s more fun to write that than stare out of the window at the incomprehensibly awful weather

    Yes a truly dire day across the country today. Some slight improvement saturday i think but friday and monday look awful. Oh well roll on May Day.
    It’s hideous. I’m still in bed. I’ve had three solid months of pure blue skies and sun. It is so easy to get out of bed when it is warm and sunny - you WANT to sit on the balcony with your coffee. Bliss

    This shit? You want to hide away. Duvet day is every day
    Sun shining here in Scotland.
    Blustery but sunny on the Island. Lovely now.
    It’s force 7 gusting force 8 here. Quite a wild walk just before.


    Beautiful

    Where is that? Hebrides? Connemara? West Wales?


    I always think the best way to handle shite weather like this is to lean into it (literally): go to the cliffs for a savage walk. Then it becomes entertaining
    Thank you for posting that. There's nowhere quite like the Channel Islands in rough weather. I miss an airy walk on a windy day now I no longer have any family to visit in Guernsey.
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 28,412
    ...

    Donkeys said:

    isam said:

    Trent said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    For most people its just a slightly longer weekend. I imagine the majority of the country now dont realise what easter is really about apart from chocolate eggs.
    I was in the bakery with my 4yo son last Saturday, and he mentioned that his teacher at Play School had told him the crosses on Hot Cross Buns were going to be replaced by Nike ticks!
    That teacher's a right wind-up merchant.

    In my local Tesco's, they sell hot cross buns all year round.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzqSuHy8G-o
    You can get gluten-free M&S hot cross buns in November, but then gluten-free Easter has different dates.
    If Jesus wanted us to be gluten free, he'd have handed around a carrot at the last supper.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 12,984
    edited March 28
    I’ve just eaten a hot cross bun. Very nice.

    Casino’s post is a good example of a certain genre of culture war commentary, which has the great culture war unifying appeal of being something both sides can indulge in.

    The phenomenon of reciprocal hypocrisy.

    Because culture warriors typically support anything their side says and condemn anything the other says, they can easily be accused of hypocrisy. But it is neatly symmetrical.

    So:

    Woke lefties are hypocritical because they pointedly celebrate non-Christian religious festivals while going out of their way to avoid doing the same for Christian festivals. There is undoubtedly truth in that.

    And

    Right wing nutters are hypocritical because they moan constantly about everyone celebrating non-Christian festivals while getting very touchy if people don’t name check their own Christian ones.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,814

    TimS said:

    Trent said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    For most people its just a slightly longer weekend. I imagine the majority of the country now dont realise what easter is really about apart from chocolate eggs.
    What is it 'about'? Certainly not JC, who cannot possibly have died on a different day each year?

    Personally, I think it's about a four-days of partying, good walks and great food and pubs. But, each to their own.
    It's about how the Easter Bunny died for our sins, something something chocolate.
    I heard a theory that the Easter Bunny is actually a bad guy, and should be avoided if encountered.

    The thesis rather lends a somewhat sinister edge to what would otherwise be a cheering celebration of spring.
    Rabbits and hares do have a strange evil thing about them.
    Indeed and, given that, it is rather odd that few have recognised the inherent malevolence of the Easter Bunny. Perhaps it is all intentional.
    Highly natural pairing. Rabbit with chocolate sauce is rather good.

    https://allthingssicilianandmore.com/ways-to-cook-rabbit-with-chocolate-sauce/
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,354

    ...

    Donkeys said:

    isam said:

    Trent said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    For most people its just a slightly longer weekend. I imagine the majority of the country now dont realise what easter is really about apart from chocolate eggs.
    I was in the bakery with my 4yo son last Saturday, and he mentioned that his teacher at Play School had told him the crosses on Hot Cross Buns were going to be replaced by Nike ticks!
    That teacher's a right wind-up merchant.

    In my local Tesco's, they sell hot cross buns all year round.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzqSuHy8G-o
    You can get gluten-free M&S hot cross buns in November, but then gluten-free Easter has different dates.
    If Jesus wanted us to be gluten free, he'd have handed around a carrot at the last supper.
    I dunno, he did go to the Mount of Olives.
  • Daveyboy1961Daveyboy1961 Posts: 3,883
    nico679 said:

    NEW: Laurence Fox will not be a candidate for the London mayoral election after after filling in the form wrong

    Can’t Fox just move to the USA where he’ll feel at home. Perhaps a Nebraska trailer park where he can wank on about conspiracy theories .
    He should take Neil Oliver with him. 2 of a kind.
  • CatManCatMan Posts: 3,058

    Trent said:

    Trent said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    For most people its just a slightly longer weekend. I imagine the majority of the country now dont realise what easter is really about apart from chocolate eggs.
    What is it 'about'? Certainly not JC, who cannot possibly have died on a different day each year?

    Personally, I think it's about a four-days of partying, good walks and great food and pubs. But, each to their own.
    They should have it on the same date in late April each year. March easters are always total cr.p with the weather.
    This one looks pretty good down here in London at least, but yes, I'd fix it for the middle weekend of April. Changing it every year is crackers.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reform_of_the_date_of_Easter
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 11,044

    ...

    Donkeys said:

    isam said:

    Trent said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    For most people its just a slightly longer weekend. I imagine the majority of the country now dont realise what easter is really about apart from chocolate eggs.
    I was in the bakery with my 4yo son last Saturday, and he mentioned that his teacher at Play School had told him the crosses on Hot Cross Buns were going to be replaced by Nike ticks!
    That teacher's a right wind-up merchant.

    In my local Tesco's, they sell hot cross buns all year round.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzqSuHy8G-o
    You can get gluten-free M&S hot cross buns in November, but then gluten-free Easter has different dates.
    If Jesus wanted us to be gluten free, he'd have handed around a carrot at the last supper.
    That is pretty much the official position of the Catholic Church, yes.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 12,984

    ...

    Donkeys said:

    isam said:

    Trent said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    For most people its just a slightly longer weekend. I imagine the majority of the country now dont realise what easter is really about apart from chocolate eggs.
    I was in the bakery with my 4yo son last Saturday, and he mentioned that his teacher at Play School had told him the crosses on Hot Cross Buns were going to be replaced by Nike ticks!
    That teacher's a right wind-up merchant.

    In my local Tesco's, they sell hot cross buns all year round.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzqSuHy8G-o
    You can get gluten-free M&S hot cross buns in November, but then gluten-free Easter has different dates.
    If Jesus wanted us to be gluten free, he'd have handed around a carrot at the last supper.
    He was at it with the 5 loaves and 2 fishes too. Does seem to have avoided dairy and eggs though.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,368

    NEW: Laurence Fox will not be a candidate for the London mayoral election after after filling in the form wrong

    Starmer fans please explain?
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,627
    TimS said:

    ...

    Donkeys said:

    isam said:

    Trent said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    For most people its just a slightly longer weekend. I imagine the majority of the country now dont realise what easter is really about apart from chocolate eggs.
    I was in the bakery with my 4yo son last Saturday, and he mentioned that his teacher at Play School had told him the crosses on Hot Cross Buns were going to be replaced by Nike ticks!
    That teacher's a right wind-up merchant.

    In my local Tesco's, they sell hot cross buns all year round.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzqSuHy8G-o
    You can get gluten-free M&S hot cross buns in November, but then gluten-free Easter has different dates.
    If Jesus wanted us to be gluten free, he'd have handed around a carrot at the last supper.
    He was at it with the 5 loaves and 2 fishes too. Does seem to have avoided dairy and eggs though.
    He was very clear that "Blessed are the cheesemakers" or did he mean it more metaphorically to mean all purveyors of dairy products?
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,311
    Leon said:

    I think this is my favourite sentence of all the sentences I’ve ever written on PB


    “If America could borrow some of Britain’s Malvern Army of Top Off Duty Drugs Boffins they’d fix the Fentanyl thing within a fortnight, after several days of being baffled”

    That’s poetry. Also it’s more fun to write that than stare out of the window at the incomprehensibly awful weather

    Lovely sunshine on west coast
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,239
    Carnyx said:

    TimS said:

    Trent said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    For most people its just a slightly longer weekend. I imagine the majority of the country now dont realise what easter is really about apart from chocolate eggs.
    What is it 'about'? Certainly not JC, who cannot possibly have died on a different day each year?

    Personally, I think it's about a four-days of partying, good walks and great food and pubs. But, each to their own.
    It's about how the Easter Bunny died for our sins, something something chocolate.
    I heard a theory that the Easter Bunny is actually a bad guy, and should be avoided if encountered.

    The thesis rather lends a somewhat sinister edge to what would otherwise be a cheering celebration of spring.
    Rabbits and hares do have a strange evil thing about them.
    Indeed and, given that, it is rather odd that few have recognised the inherent malevolence of the Easter Bunny. Perhaps it is all intentional.
    Highly natural pairing. Rabbit with chocolate sauce is rather good.

    https://allthingssicilianandmore.com/ways-to-cook-rabbit-with-chocolate-sauce/
    Sicily has really weird, atavistic chocolate, in Modica

    It's the original stuff imported from Aztec Mexico (where they have the original chocolate sauce: mole)

    It's quite a striking history and dissonance. #Nowadays we see chocolate as an innocent treat. Sweets. Candy. Yet when people eat a choccy bar they are actually consuming an evolved form of "chocolatl", a powerful brew used in Aztec sacrificial rituals

    "The refreshing drink chocolatl enjoyed by Aztec nobility is a remote but distinct relative of the chocolate consumed today by hundreds of millions of people. It was once so precious that chocolate beans were a common medium of exchange in preconquest Mexico. In those days a mere dozen cacao beans could command a present value of upward of $100 in goods or services. Counterfeiting was rife—entrepreneurs tried to create chocolatl from anything, including avocado seeds. Moreover, chocolatl was thought to be so potent an aphrodisiac and hallucinogen that its use was denied, under penalty of death, to commoners."

    "Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés may have been the first European to encounter chocolate when he observed it in the court of Montezuma in 1519.[19][20] In 1568, Bernal Díaz, who accompanied Cortés in the conquest of the Aztec Empire, wrote of this encounter which he witnessed:

    From time to time, they served him [Montezuma] in cups of pure gold a certain drink made from cacao. It was said that it gave one power over women, but this I never saw. I did see them bring in more than fifty large pitchers of cacao with froth in it, and he drank some of it, the women serving with great reverence."


    From the blood soaked pyramids of imperious Tenochtitlan to a Curly-Wurly in your local Co-op. Brilliant

    https://www.moon.com/travel/food-drink/taste-history-aztec-chocolatl/
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559
    One of THE Premier Betting Opportunities in America - March Madness

    NCAA Men's Division 1 Basketball 2024 Tournament is down to the Sweet Sixteen

    Clemson University (in South Carolina) versus
    U of Arizona

    San Diego State U versus
    U of Connecticut (aka UConn)

    U of Alabama versus
    U of North Carolina (UNC)

    U of Illinois versus
    Iowa State U

    North Carolina State U versus
    Marquette U (in Wisconsin)

    Duke U (in North Carolina) versus
    U of Houston

    Creighton U (in Nebraska) versus
    U of Tennessee

    Note that winners of each of these match-ups will advance to the next round.

    Further note that the great State of North Carolina, traditionally one of THE most basketball obsessed states in the Union (along with Indiana and Kentucky) is home to 3 of this year's Sweet 16.

    Also note, that 4 of above are private schools, and 2 were founded by Jesuits, and two by wealthy/well-connected Southerners (can you guess which is which)?
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 28,412
    TimS said:

    ...

    Donkeys said:

    isam said:

    Trent said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    For most people its just a slightly longer weekend. I imagine the majority of the country now dont realise what easter is really about apart from chocolate eggs.
    I was in the bakery with my 4yo son last Saturday, and he mentioned that his teacher at Play School had told him the crosses on Hot Cross Buns were going to be replaced by Nike ticks!
    That teacher's a right wind-up merchant.

    In my local Tesco's, they sell hot cross buns all year round.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzqSuHy8G-o
    You can get gluten-free M&S hot cross buns in November, but then gluten-free Easter has different dates.
    If Jesus wanted us to be gluten free, he'd have handed around a carrot at the last supper.
    He was at it with the 5 loaves and 2 fishes too. Does seem to have avoided dairy and eggs though.
    And Give Us This Day our Daily Bread. In all seriousness, bread is important to a lot of faiths I think. It's a symbol of plenty, and being settled and able to grow stuff
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,213
    TimS said:

    Trent said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    For most people its just a slightly longer weekend. I imagine the majority of the country now dont realise what easter is really about apart from chocolate eggs.
    What is it 'about'? Certainly not JC, who cannot possibly have died on a different day each year?

    Personally, I think it's about a four-days of partying, good walks and great food and pubs. But, each to their own.
    It's about how the Easter Bunny died for our sins, something something chocolate.
    I heard a theory that the Easter Bunny is actually a bad guy, and should be avoided if encountered.

    The thesis rather lends a somewhat sinister edge to what would otherwise be a cheering celebration of spring.
    Rabbits and hares do have a strange evil thing about them.
    The Flemish giant rabbits are particularly sinister.

    They sit there being cute, staring at you. With ears a foot long and teeth the size of fingers….
  • nico679nico679 Posts: 6,275
    edited March 28
    Astonishing revelations related to the Post Office scandal just appearing on the BBC News site .

    Words fail me .

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68663750
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 60,407
    Trent said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    For most people its just a slightly longer weekend. I imagine the majority of the country now dont realise what easter is really about apart from chocolate eggs.
    So what? It's still Easter.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 60,407
    Carnyx said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    Both descriptions are entirely correct.
    And your post entirely misses the point.

    Woke deliberately downplays traditions and up-plays alternatives in the name of equity.

    It's almost always Libz that do this. It's polarising and dumb, but they think it makes them look good.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,213
    Foxy said:

    TimS said:

    ...

    Donkeys said:

    isam said:

    Trent said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    For most people its just a slightly longer weekend. I imagine the majority of the country now dont realise what easter is really about apart from chocolate eggs.
    I was in the bakery with my 4yo son last Saturday, and he mentioned that his teacher at Play School had told him the crosses on Hot Cross Buns were going to be replaced by Nike ticks!
    That teacher's a right wind-up merchant.

    In my local Tesco's, they sell hot cross buns all year round.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzqSuHy8G-o
    You can get gluten-free M&S hot cross buns in November, but then gluten-free Easter has different dates.
    If Jesus wanted us to be gluten free, he'd have handed around a carrot at the last supper.
    He was at it with the 5 loaves and 2 fishes too. Does seem to have avoided dairy and eggs though.
    He was very clear that "Blessed are the cheesemakers" or did he mean it more metaphorically to mean all purveyors of dairy products?
    That kind of thing is well meaning, but led to the Martyrdom of St Paulin. Who defended his monastery for seven days and nights, alone, against 1,000 goats cheese makers during the outbreak of the Holy Cheese Schism.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 12,984

    TimS said:

    ...

    Donkeys said:

    isam said:

    Trent said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    For most people its just a slightly longer weekend. I imagine the majority of the country now dont realise what easter is really about apart from chocolate eggs.
    I was in the bakery with my 4yo son last Saturday, and he mentioned that his teacher at Play School had told him the crosses on Hot Cross Buns were going to be replaced by Nike ticks!
    That teacher's a right wind-up merchant.

    In my local Tesco's, they sell hot cross buns all year round.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzqSuHy8G-o
    You can get gluten-free M&S hot cross buns in November, but then gluten-free Easter has different dates.
    If Jesus wanted us to be gluten free, he'd have handed around a carrot at the last supper.
    He was at it with the 5 loaves and 2 fishes too. Does seem to have avoided dairy and eggs though.
    And Give Us This Day our Daily Bread. In all seriousness, bread is important to a lot of faiths I think. It's a symbol of plenty, and being settled and able to grow stuff
    Which makes sense given when and where the middle Eastern monotheistic religions developed.

    I don’t know Hindu scriptures enough to know if bread (or rice) plays a big part there.
  • ToryJimToryJim Posts: 4,189
    nico679 said:

    Astonishing revelations related to the Post Office scandal just appearing on the BBC News site .

    Words fail me .

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68663750

    It’s astonishing that so far the only people who have seen the inside of a gaol cell over this have been the victims.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 60,407

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    Your woke-detection knob seems to have been twisted to maximum sensitivity today. How can you possibly get annoyed about what words people are using to refer to the (long, because two days off rather than one) Easter bank holiday weekend? You truly are a proud culture war warrior!
    Because it's the Easter bank holiday weekend. It's the reason we have the break. So it should be referred to as such. Precisely the same people big-up Ramadan, WHM and LGBT+ history month.

    To not do it could make some people feel like their culture and traditions are being erased for alternatives, which could stoke division.

    It's amazing how Wokies, and clearly you are one, are utterly blind to this.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 53,798
    nico679 said:

    Astonishing revelations related to the Post Office scandal just appearing on the BBC News site .

    Words fail me .

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68663750

    This is an attempt to pervert the course of justice. There absolutely has to be prosecutions for this. Now. Not when everyone actually responsible is dead or retired.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 60,407

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    "Your dependence on hardware really does amuse me, Bough. I've been dropped into the Kalahari Desert carrying nothing more than a toothbrush and a packet of sherbet lemons. And I still managed to find my way to Bulawayo before Ramadan."
    Knock it off, Hudson.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 60,407
    rcs1000 said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    I always refer to the last weekend in March as a short weekend...
    rcs1000 said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    I always refer to the last weekend in March as a short weekend...
    It's certainly not long enough.

    I will probably celebrate Good Friday tomorrow, now, and go to church. Just to annoy the Wokies.
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 11,044

    rcs1000 said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    I always refer to the last weekend in March as a short weekend...
    rcs1000 said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    I always refer to the last weekend in March as a short weekend...
    It's certainly not long enough.

    I will probably celebrate Good Friday tomorrow, now, and go to church. Just to annoy the Wokies.
    It's what Jesus would've wanted.
  • nico679nico679 Posts: 6,275
    DavidL said:

    nico679 said:

    Astonishing revelations related to the Post Office scandal just appearing on the BBC News site .

    Words fail me .

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68663750

    This is an attempt to pervert the course of justice. There absolutely has to be prosecutions for this. Now. Not when everyone actually responsible is dead or retired.
    People need to go to jail over this . It’s absolutely disgusting. They went after people , knowing that they could lose their liberty, livelihoods, etc and didn’t care a jot .

  • TimSTimS Posts: 12,984

    Carnyx said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    Both descriptions are entirely correct.
    And your post entirely misses the point.

    Woke deliberately downplays traditions and up-plays alternatives in the name of equity.

    It's almost always Libz that do this. It's polarising and dumb, but they think it makes them look good.
    I would argue it’s a. Very uncommon for people in Britain to drop religious festival names for deliberate woke reasons, and b. very common to do so in America, from whence all our culture wars come, but something that predates woke.

    I remember being admonished at my employer’s US office back in about 2003 for saying “are you going to the Christmas party” and thinking “what?”.
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559

    NEW: Laurence Fox will not be a candidate for the London mayoral election after after filling in the form wrong

    Don't know what Fox is bitching about, he's the one who screwed up the paperwork; reportedly by NOT submitting at least 10 voter signatures from every London borough. Have observed similar screw-ups this side of the Atlantic (and Pacific) hardly unique conspiracy versus LF.

    AND the election authorities even refunded his deposit.

    Ant-Woke Wack-Jobs are such freaking cry-babies . . . albeit with WAY less up-side . . . and FAR more poo-poo . . .
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 10,061

    rcs1000 said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    I always refer to the last weekend in March as a short weekend...
    rcs1000 said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    I always refer to the last weekend in March as a short weekend...
    It's certainly not long enough.

    I will probably celebrate Good Friday tomorrow, now, and go to church. Just to annoy the Wokies.
    I normally post something on my socials to mark the day on Easter Sunday and am surprised by who's heckles it raises
  • SelebianSelebian Posts: 8,721

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    Your woke-detection knob seems to have been twisted to maximum sensitivity today. How can you possibly get annoyed about what words people are using to refer to the (long, because two days off rather than one) Easter bank holiday weekend? You truly are a proud culture war warrior!
    Because it's the Easter bank holiday weekend. It's the reason we have the break. So it should be referred to as such. Precisely the same people big-up Ramadan, WHM and LGBT+ history month.

    To not do it could make some people feel like their culture and traditions are being erased for alternatives, which could stoke division.

    It's amazing how Wokies, and clearly you are one, are utterly blind to this.
    What's WHM? I think I've just failed my woke badge, but I really don't know!

    I'm tempted to change my normal terminology and wish you a happy long bank holiday weekend, but... well, Happy Easter :kissing_heart:
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 17,214

    You can't change Easter to a fixed date, it would remove 'when's Easter this year?' And 'when's pancake Tuesday?' From the handful of useful conversations couples have in any given year

    We'd still have bin day.

    Actually, there's been a UK Law to fix Easter as the Sunday between 9 and 15 April on the statute book for nearly a century;

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Act_1928

    Makes Local Government reorganisation look like a picnic.
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 22,812
    Selebian said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    Your woke-detection knob seems to have been twisted to maximum sensitivity today. How can you possibly get annoyed about what words people are using to refer to the (long, because two days off rather than one) Easter bank holiday weekend? You truly are a proud culture war warrior!
    Because it's the Easter bank holiday weekend. It's the reason we have the break. So it should be referred to as such. Precisely the same people big-up Ramadan, WHM and LGBT+ history month.

    To not do it could make some people feel like their culture and traditions are being erased for alternatives, which could stoke division.

    It's amazing how Wokies, and clearly you are one, are utterly blind to this.
    What's WHM? I think I've just failed my woke badge, but I really don't know!

    I'm tempted to change my normal terminology and wish you a happy long bank holiday weekend, but... well, Happy Easter :kissing_heart:
    Woke History Month. We celebrate the achievements of woke events with some lovely vegan grub.
  • StillWatersStillWaters Posts: 8,239
    rcs1000 said:

    ydoethur said:

    Bankman Fried gets 25 years

    Gosh. The American justice system finally jails a rich, white, well-connected crook?

    Donald Trump has just shat himself.
    Hmmm….

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Holmes
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Madoff
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NatWest_Three
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Lay
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghislaine_Maxwell

    Ken Lay *did* avoid jail - by committing suicide.

    Indeed, the NatWest Three tried the argument that the US barbarically sends white collar criminals to jail, rather than not bothering to prosecute them. As a “civilised” country would.
    Lay died of a heart attack, I thought?

    You might add Weinberg to the list, and also
    Epstein (who may, or may not, have cooked
    suicide)
    The NatWest 3 objected to the fact that they were kept locked up while awaiting trial and were threatened with a 987 year sentence to force a plea bargain

  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559
    Inspired by the infamous "Killer Rabbit" that attacked President Jimmy Carter?

    Monty Python and The Holy Grail
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcxKIJTb3Hg
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559
    Happy Holy Thursday!
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,239
    edited March 28

    rcs1000 said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    I always refer to the last weekend in March as a short weekend...
    rcs1000 said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    I always refer to the last weekend in March as a short weekend...
    It's certainly not long enough.

    I will probably celebrate Good Friday tomorrow, now, and go to church. Just to annoy the Wokies.
    It's what Jesus would've wanted.
    I'm always confused by the existence of Easter Monday

    I mean, I get Good Friday, Christ was crucified. The most sombre day of the Christian calendar

    I understand Saturday, the day of the vigil, Christ in the tomb

    And of course I comprehend Easter Sunday, the most wonderful day of the religious year: Christ the King is risen. He lives. Ecce Homo

    But what is Easter Monday about? What are we celebrating then? Is that the hioly day when Christ still felt a bit peaky, a touch below par, but managed to keep down some soup, thanks very much?
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,767

    Selebian said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    Your woke-detection knob seems to have been twisted to maximum sensitivity today. How can you possibly get annoyed about what words people are using to refer to the (long, because two days off rather than one) Easter bank holiday weekend? You truly are a proud culture war warrior!
    Because it's the Easter bank holiday weekend. It's the reason we have the break. So it should be referred to as such. Precisely the same people big-up Ramadan, WHM and LGBT+ history month.

    To not do it could make some people feel like their culture and traditions are being erased for alternatives, which could stoke division.

    It's amazing how Wokies, and clearly you are one, are utterly blind to this.
    What's WHM? I think I've just failed my woke badge, but I really don't know!

    I'm tempted to change my normal terminology and wish you a happy long bank holiday weekend, but... well, Happy Easter :kissing_heart:
    Woke History Month. We celebrate the achievements of woke events with some lovely vegan grub.
    And venison.
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 35,986

    I think the anomoly of the most powerful piece on the board being the queen arose from the misunderstanding that simply because it started next to the king it must be the queen.

    I heard a story that the Queen was originally as feeble as the King, until the game was introduced at the Spanish Court, and the Queen (Izabella maybe?) was so outraged they changed it to be the most powerful piece instead
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 35,986
    Leon said:

    But what is Easter Monday about? What are we celebrating then? Is that the hioly day when Christ still felt a bit peaky, a touch below par, but managed to keep down some soup, thanks very much?

    That's the day the rabbit delivers the eggs, isn't it?
  • TrentTrent Posts: 150
    Conspiracy theorists are all over X after King Charles only did an audio Easter message and not a video one.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,417
    edited March 28
    I don’t know whether Ms Cyclefree has seen this, bit on the BBC website there’s a report that the Post Office had a report in 2017 that made it clear that the Horizon system was faulty, and that they knew the defence they put up in 2019 was untrue.
    When the Inquiry resumes Counsel is going to have fun with the Post Office top management. We must be close to perjury charges.
  • StillWatersStillWaters Posts: 8,239
    Foxy said:

    ToryJim said:

    Trent said:

    One thing that's annoying me this week: people referring to this week as "the long bank holiday weekend".

    No, it isn't: t's the Easter bank holiday weekend.

    It's remarkable that they are almost always the same people who are first out the gates on LGBT+ history month or to applaud the celebration of Ramadan.

    For most people its just a slightly longer weekend. I imagine the majority of the country now dont realise what easter is really about apart from chocolate eggs.
    Indeed, pretty sad state of affairs really. I think even if you choose not to participate in religion you ought to have a passing acquaintance with some of its core ideas.
    There are three large wooden crosses on a hill by the Newport to Brading Road. Its an
    impressive sight.
    Would be even more striking if they were occupied!
This discussion has been closed.