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Angela, Angela, when will those clouds all disappear? – politicalbetting.com

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  • kle4kle4 Posts: 95,714

    kle4 said:

    Slipped out on eve of Bank Holiday


    Pippa Crerar

    @PippaCrerar
    NEW: Rishi Sunak has just given a knighthood to businessman Mohamed Mansour, a Tory party treasurer who gave them £5m last year 🤨

    https://twitter.com/PippaCrerar/status/1773407891501789562

    Big donors getting knighthoods is so mundane it barely counts as a news story even without the holiday period. I'm more surprised when a big donor is revealed not to have at least some kind of honours.

    It shouldn't be so mundane, but the shamelessness crept in a long time ago.
    Many years back, before Blair inflated the market, I was told that the rate to get a peerage was a surprisingly low number of thousands per year over a decade or so. That and not being too mad.

    Given the per diem etc, it actually worked out as a really good pension plan.
    So grubby. I'm going for my peerage with some good old fashioned obsequious bootlicking.

    Sure, the odds of bootlicking the right person are low, but that's where the skill comes in.
  • anothernickanothernick Posts: 3,591
    kle4 said:

    Slipped out on eve of Bank Holiday


    Pippa Crerar

    @PippaCrerar
    NEW: Rishi Sunak has just given a knighthood to businessman Mohamed Mansour, a Tory party treasurer who gave them £5m last year 🤨

    https://twitter.com/PippaCrerar/status/1773407891501789562

    Big donors getting knighthoods is so mundane it barely counts as a news story even without the holiday period. I'm more surprised when a big donor is revealed not to have at least some kind of honours.

    It shouldn't be so mundane, but the shamelessness crept in a long time ago.
    I'm prepared to stand corrected on this but I don't recall Labour slipping out individual honours in this furtive way, certainly donors were given gongs but these were announced as part of the regular lists and publicised accordingly.

    The Tories have so devalued the system that I can't believe any self-respecting person would want an honour - they have become a badge of dishonesty and shady dealings rather than merit and public service,
  • TimSTimS Posts: 12,678
    kle4 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.

    Can't say I've come across people being shy about calling it Easter myself. Is this something concerted or just some general trend?
    Nor me. I think people refer to the long bank holiday weekend because that’s what it means to a lot of us. An extended and welcome 4 days off and the start of our UK string of spring bank holidays that culminate at Whitsun. Time to head to IKEA/B&Q/Garden centre, have a nice leg of lamb on Easter Day and if you’re young enough do a 2 day clubbing marathon.

    I like the Christian bits of Easter too, not because I’m religious (I’m not) but because the biblical texts and the music that accompanies them are pretty epic: cornerstones of our literary universe. Tonight and Good Friday in particular:

    The last supper; Judas kiss; the garden of gethsemane; Pilate washing his hands; let his blood be upon us; Centurions playing dice; crown of thorns; Eloi Eloi lama sabactani; gave up the ghost; the earth rent in twain etc etc. It’s probably the only story in “Western” literature as influential on English language and idiom as Shakespeare.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 49,525
    Foxy said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Trent said:

    Uh oh. I dont like the sound of this. Is an Easter surprise in the offing.

    JUST IN: 🇷🇺 Russian Warships have officially entered the Red Sea. Possible sea confrontation with NATO.

    Russian Pacific Fleet entered the Red Sea and is heading towards Yemen where American and British ships have carried out strikes on Houthis.

    https://x.com/BRICSinfo/status/1773413722733842766?s=20

    You've got to feel for those poor Russian sailors.
    You've got to admire their willingness to hold hope over experience. After all we have to go back to the Crimean war to find the last Russian Navy victory.
    I presume they will shoot at some Ukrainian attack drones in the Red Sea.

    #DoggerBank
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 49,525
    edited March 28

    kle4 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.

    Can't say I've come across people being shy about calling it Easter myself. Is this something concerted or just some general trend?
    It's the people at the anti-vegan, anti-woke pub where he hangs out on Thursdays. They always have their fingers on the pulse of the nation.

    Probably had a few British beers, with six Union flags on the glasses, followed by a rendition of Rule Britannia.

    Aren't you feeling patriotic?
    I sometimes drink in the pub where Rule Britannia was composed.

    Edit: and they often have venison on the menu.
  • ohnotnowohnotnow Posts: 3,685
    viewcode said:

    stodge said:

    Have we mentioned the result of the Senegalese Presidential election a couple of days ago?

    The clear winner was one Bassirou Diomaye Faye, just 44 years old, who easily defeated the candidate of the ruling party by 54-36. He is a left-wing pan-African (apparently) which essentially means he will move Senegal away from France and Europe to a more neutral position which marks another former Francophone country trying to distance itself from Paris.

    Indeed. The death of the French (pseudo) empire in Africa is ignored in the UK TLDR: France has held sway over many countries in Africa for decades by overseeing a currency system. Nations are breaking away and Russia is waging a proxy war there, as part of the Russian and Chinese move to push the West out of Africa.
    I'm now minded to dig out the documentary series about Che Guevara's political/military adventures in The Congo. Worth a watch if you can find it - possibly 'Che in Congo'. There's an old BBC article here :

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4036605.stm

  • TazTaz Posts: 14,124
    Trent said:

    Cookie said:

    Anyway. Happy Easter everyone.
    I bloody love Easter. Easter asks absolutely nothing of you. It doesn't give you a list of things to do; doesn't ask you to wear fancy dress, or to feel a certain emotion. Greetings cards companies might see a market for their product, but they're fooling no-one. All Easter does is come along without you really budgeting for it and gives you a lovely long weekend.
    I'm going to have a lie in tomorrow. Christ may be risen, but I'm not planning on following his example until gone 10.

    Very true. Never thought of it like that. The runup to xmas is so long and tedious that by the time the day arrives you just want it all over with. Easter just sneaks up on you.
    Worst thing about Xmas break is the days from the 27th to the 30th. Mind numbingly boring..
  • BurgessianBurgessian Posts: 2,724
    Leon said:

    Trent said:

    Leon said:

    I’ve been away so london feels like a foreign city. A really IMPRESSIVE foreign city

    What an odd feeling

    Central London is impressive one of the great cities of the world. I would say only New York City compares.
    London is a magnificent glittering prosperous world city, full of beautiful women. When you go away for six months, you realise this when you return

    Also the Groucho is really hopping. Astonishing. Haven’t seen it this full since pre Covid. And it’s a rainy chilly midweek night. Encouraging

    Just back from a four day trip to London. The city vertainly seems spruced up. Everywhere clean and tidy. Bright and wind-picked in the wintry sum. And it seems so much quieter - Ulez presumably, and EVs. Almost feels a bit sterile but on the whole defo an improvement. Full buses too. But you do have to take care not to be mown down by a cyclist but even that's a positive really. The parakeets are noisy tho.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,122

    kle4 said:

    Slipped out on eve of Bank Holiday


    Pippa Crerar

    @PippaCrerar
    NEW: Rishi Sunak has just given a knighthood to businessman Mohamed Mansour, a Tory party treasurer who gave them £5m last year 🤨

    https://twitter.com/PippaCrerar/status/1773407891501789562

    Big donors getting knighthoods is so mundane it barely counts as a news story even without the holiday period. I'm more surprised when a big donor is revealed not to have at least some kind of honours.

    It shouldn't be so mundane, but the shamelessness crept in a long time ago.
    I'm prepared to stand corrected on this but I don't recall Labour slipping out individual honours in this furtive way, certainly donors were given gongs but these were announced as part of the regular lists and publicised accordingly.

    The Tories have so devalued the system that I can't believe any self-respecting person would want an honour - they have become a badge of dishonesty and shady dealings rather than merit and public service,
    Not honours, but I remember Brown sneaking in the back door to sign the Lisbon Treaty, you know, then one they said we’d get a vote on? What do you mean it wasn’t the same treaty?
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,122
    Taz said:

    Trent said:

    Cookie said:

    Anyway. Happy Easter everyone.
    I bloody love Easter. Easter asks absolutely nothing of you. It doesn't give you a list of things to do; doesn't ask you to wear fancy dress, or to feel a certain emotion. Greetings cards companies might see a market for their product, but they're fooling no-one. All Easter does is come along without you really budgeting for it and gives you a lovely long weekend.
    I'm going to have a lie in tomorrow. Christ may be risen, but I'm not planning on following his example until gone 10.

    Very true. Never thought of it like that. The runup to xmas is so long and tedious that by the time the day arrives you just want it all over with. Easter just sneaks up on you.
    Worst thing about Xmas break is the days from the 27th to the 30th. Mind numbingly boring..
    Horses for courses - I love that time. Genuinely. The fuss and hassle of Christmas done. Work shuts down (Uni even turns the heating off). Nothing to do but a bit of walking, watch some TV, chill out. It’s glorious.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,324
    Start of a 17 day long weekend for me.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 95,714
    edited March 28

    kle4 said:

    Slipped out on eve of Bank Holiday


    Pippa Crerar

    @PippaCrerar
    NEW: Rishi Sunak has just given a knighthood to businessman Mohamed Mansour, a Tory party treasurer who gave them £5m last year 🤨

    https://twitter.com/PippaCrerar/status/1773407891501789562

    Big donors getting knighthoods is so mundane it barely counts as a news story even without the holiday period. I'm more surprised when a big donor is revealed not to have at least some kind of honours.

    It shouldn't be so mundane, but the shamelessness crept in a long time ago.
    I'm prepared to stand corrected on this but I don't recall Labour slipping out individual honours in this furtive way, certainly donors were given gongs but these were announced as part of the regular lists and publicised accordingly.

    The Tories have so devalued the system that I can't believe any self-respecting person would want an honour - they have become a badge of dishonesty and shady dealings rather than merit and public service,
    There's still innumerable people of merit getting recognition through the system. But although it's not as though we have statistics on how many are wrong 'uns or just purchasing something nice from the donor package, the general perception is probably not far off your summary, even if proportionally it's still on the lower end.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 12,678

    Taz said:

    Trent said:

    Cookie said:

    Anyway. Happy Easter everyone.
    I bloody love Easter. Easter asks absolutely nothing of you. It doesn't give you a list of things to do; doesn't ask you to wear fancy dress, or to feel a certain emotion. Greetings cards companies might see a market for their product, but they're fooling no-one. All Easter does is come along without you really budgeting for it and gives you a lovely long weekend.
    I'm going to have a lie in tomorrow. Christ may be risen, but I'm not planning on following his example until gone 10.

    Very true. Never thought of it like that. The runup to xmas is so long and tedious that by the time the day arrives you just want it all over with. Easter just sneaks up on you.
    Worst thing about Xmas break is the days from the 27th to the 30th. Mind numbingly boring..
    Horses for courses - I love that time. Genuinely. The fuss and hassle of Christmas done. Work shuts down (Uni even turns the heating off). Nothing to do but a bit of walking, watch some TV, chill out. It’s glorious.
    Best thing for the twixtmas period (as I believe it’s now called) is to go on holiday. UK or abroad, but important to go somewhere.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 95,714

    Taz said:

    Trent said:

    Cookie said:

    Anyway. Happy Easter everyone.
    I bloody love Easter. Easter asks absolutely nothing of you. It doesn't give you a list of things to do; doesn't ask you to wear fancy dress, or to feel a certain emotion. Greetings cards companies might see a market for their product, but they're fooling no-one. All Easter does is come along without you really budgeting for it and gives you a lovely long weekend.
    I'm going to have a lie in tomorrow. Christ may be risen, but I'm not planning on following his example until gone 10.

    Very true. Never thought of it like that. The runup to xmas is so long and tedious that by the time the day arrives you just want it all over with. Easter just sneaks up on you.
    Worst thing about Xmas break is the days from the 27th to the 30th. Mind numbingly boring..
    Horses for courses - I love that time. Genuinely. The fuss and hassle of Christmas done. Work shuts down (Uni even turns the heating off). Nothing to do but a bit of walking, watch some TV, chill out. It’s glorious.
    Even if you do work in that period (unless in an industry where the work never stops, like care work), you can usually have a relaxing time.
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 28,188
    PM4PM dealing with some SNP snark (oddly from an Australian) by claiming she's going to make a hate crime complaint - quite funny.

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=M7_1WtZQNb0&pp=ygUOUGVubnkgbW9yZGF1bnQ=
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 70,339
    Watching "The Three-Body Problem" and so many times people being asked "Do you believe in God?" and responding without asking the Carl Sagan counter-question: "Define 'God'".
    https://twitter.com/curiouswavefn/status/1773424610241057168
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,625
    kle4 said:

    kle4 said:

    Slipped out on eve of Bank Holiday


    Pippa Crerar

    @PippaCrerar
    NEW: Rishi Sunak has just given a knighthood to businessman Mohamed Mansour, a Tory party treasurer who gave them £5m last year 🤨

    https://twitter.com/PippaCrerar/status/1773407891501789562

    Big donors getting knighthoods is so mundane it barely counts as a news story even without the holiday period. I'm more surprised when a big donor is revealed not to have at least some kind of honours.

    It shouldn't be so mundane, but the shamelessness crept in a long time ago.
    Many years back, before Blair inflated the market, I was told that the rate to get a peerage was a surprisingly low number of thousands per year over a decade or so. That and not being too mad.

    Given the per diem etc, it actually worked out as a really good pension plan.
    So grubby. I'm going for my peerage with some good old fashioned obsequious bootlicking.

    Sure, the odds of bootlicking the right person are low, but that's where the skill comes in.
    If it's only boots, you're doing very well.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 51,560
    dixiedean said:

    Start of a 17 day long weekend for me.

    "Seventeen *days*? Hey man, I don't wanna rain on your parade, but we're not gonna last seventeen hours! Those things are gonna come in here just like they did before. And they're gonna come in here... and they're gonna come in here AND THEY'RE GONNA GET US!"
  • No_Offence_AlanNo_Offence_Alan Posts: 4,465
    Leon said:

    Trent said:

    Leon said:

    I’ve been away so london feels like a foreign city. A really IMPRESSIVE foreign city

    What an odd feeling

    Central London is impressive one of the great cities of the world. I would say only New York City compares.
    London is a magnificent glittering prosperous world city, full of beautiful women. When you go away for six months, you realise this when you return

    Also the Groucho is really hopping. Astonishing. Haven’t seen it this full since pre Covid. And it’s a rainy chilly midweek night. Encouraging

    Shall I put you down as a "probable" for Khan, then?
  • WillGWillG Posts: 2,366
    viewcode said:

    stodge said:

    Have we mentioned the result of the Senegalese Presidential election a couple of days ago?

    The clear winner was one Bassirou Diomaye Faye, just 44 years old, who easily defeated the candidate of the ruling party by 54-36. He is a left-wing pan-African (apparently) which essentially means he will move Senegal away from France and Europe to a more neutral position which marks another former Francophone country trying to distance itself from Paris.

    Indeed. The death of the French (pseudo) empire in Africa is ignored in the UK TLDR: France has held sway over many countries in Africa for decades by overseeing a currency system. Nations are breaking away and Russia is waging a proxy war there, as part of the Russian and Chinese move to push the West out of Africa.
    Using time and money to buy influence in Africa is as foolish as the Scramble was in the 1800s. Sure, cut trade deals and intervene to stop a genocide if we must. But all the Russian, Chinese and French style stuff just breeds resentment and is counter productive.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 51,246
    What is the government going to do about the weather? We can’t go on like this.
  • ThomasNasheThomasNashe Posts: 5,325
    Cookie said:

    Anyway. Happy Easter everyone.
    I bloody love Easter. Easter asks absolutely nothing of you. It doesn't give you a list of things to do; doesn't ask you to wear fancy dress, or to feel a certain emotion. Greetings cards companies might see a market for their product, but they're fooling no-one. All Easter does is come along without you really budgeting for it and gives you a lovely long weekend.
    I'm going to have a lie in tomorrow. Christ may be risen, but I'm not planning on following his example until gone 10.

    The rising will be on Sunday. I'm afraid the Friday didn't go that well for him.
  • Alphabet_SoupAlphabet_Soup Posts: 3,171
    WillG said:

    viewcode said:

    stodge said:

    Have we mentioned the result of the Senegalese Presidential election a couple of days ago?

    The clear winner was one Bassirou Diomaye Faye, just 44 years old, who easily defeated the candidate of the ruling party by 54-36. He is a left-wing pan-African (apparently) which essentially means he will move Senegal away from France and Europe to a more neutral position which marks another former Francophone country trying to distance itself from Paris.

    Indeed. The death of the French (pseudo) empire in Africa is ignored in the UK TLDR: France has held sway over many countries in Africa for decades by overseeing a currency system. Nations are breaking away and Russia is waging a proxy war there, as part of the Russian and Chinese move to push the West out of Africa.
    Using time and money to buy influence in Africa is as foolish as the Scramble was in the 1800s. Sure, cut trade deals and intervene to stop a genocide if we must. But all the Russian, Chinese and French style stuff just breeds resentment and is counter productive.
    I'm guessing China's long-term strategy is (1) entangle Africa in a web of debt (2) force the surplus population to Europe, and (3) keep anyone who can handle a shovel.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,119

    What is the government going to do about the weather? We can’t go on like this.

    If they kill Charles, the reign will end.
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 17,038
    Foxy said:

    DavidL said:

    Foxy said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    Much ado about nothing.

    Should it not be Angie rather than Angela? Great song.

    Apparently she hates being called Angie, so out of respect I used her proper name.
    Presumably she hates being called a hypocrite who benefitted from council house sales when she was criticising them as well but them's the breaks.
    I prefer to be charitable, I love it when another leftie benefits from Thatcher's policies, see also Arthur Scargill.
    I've expressed this view before and still don't think she has done anything wrong. But it is still a bit hypocritical.
    Would only be hypocritical if she opposed RTB. She supports it!
    Really?

    "Ms Rayner, who has committed to reforming the scheme, which she says has “helped fuel the housing crisis” by depleting publicly-owned housing stock, is said to have made a £48,500 profit when selling the house eight years later."

    https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/starmer-backs-rayner-over-right-to-buy-council-house-sale-369490/
    Reforming doesn't mean destroying.

    Except when used in the context of NHS reforms.
    Not sure I can be bothered arguing about this because I really don't care. But claiming that it "helped fuel the housing crisis" hardly suggests to me that she was supporting RTB as claimed by @Anabobazina.
    RTB with the money reinvested in new Scial Housing is not such a problem.
    It's also a cute way to get mixed tenure by stealth. The state is a pretty efficient way of getting large numbers of new homes built quickly, but one of the lessons of the 1960s is that enormous social rental monocultures create social problems.
  • londonpubmanlondonpubman Posts: 3,629

    What is the government going to do about the weather? We can’t go on like this.

    Keir will be here soon and every day will be sunny ☀️
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 51,246
    ydoethur said:

    What is the government going to do about the weather? We can’t go on like this.

    If they kill Charles, the reign will end.
    Is this a wind up?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,119

    ydoethur said:

    What is the government going to do about the weather? We can’t go on like this.

    If they kill Charles, the reign will end.
    Is this a wind up?
    It snow joke.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,625
    edited March 28
    ydoethur said:

    What is the government going to do about the weather? We can’t go on like this.

    If they kill Charles, the reign will end.
    This sort of thing? A bit extreme, surely.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midvinterblot
  • stodgestodge Posts: 13,791
    Savanta has a poll out this evening which restores a 21 point Labour lead.

    45-24 with Reform on 12 and the LDs on 10. With the Greens on 3 that's 58-36 on the main scale so nothing out of the ordinary,

    Savanta is usually a decent pollster for the Conservatives and now goes sub 25 for the second poll in a row. The numbers for this poll for the Currant Bun now much different to those for the Torygraph at the weekend.

    The headline Con-Lab swing is 17%.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,119

    What is the government going to do about the weather? We can’t go on like this.

    Keir will be here soon and every day will be sunny ☀️
    That was James Callaghan,
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,119
    Carnyx said:

    ydoethur said:

    What is the government going to do about the weather? We can’t go on like this.

    If they kill Charles, the reign will end.
    This sort of thing? A bit extreme, surely.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midvinterblot
    Well, worked for Truss.
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 17,038
    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    What is the government going to do about the weather? We can’t go on like this.

    If they kill Charles, the reign will end.
    Is this a wind up?
    It snow joke.
    All hail the punmeister.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,625
    ydoethur said:

    Carnyx said:

    ydoethur said:

    What is the government going to do about the weather? We can’t go on like this.

    If they kill Charles, the reign will end.
    This sort of thing? A bit extreme, surely.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midvinterblot
    Well, worked for Truss.
    Oh, really!!?
  • ThomasNasheThomasNashe Posts: 5,325

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    What is the government going to do about the weather? We can’t go on like this.

    If they kill Charles, the reign will end.
    Is this a wind up?
    It snow joke.
    All hail the punmeister.
    Yes, it was a sleet turn of phrase.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,119

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    What is the government going to do about the weather? We can’t go on like this.

    If they kill Charles, the reign will end.
    Is this a wind up?
    It snow joke.
    All hail the punmeister.
    Yes, it was a sleet turn of phrase.
    I think you are in eira.

    (The problem with that pun is it only makes sense if you speak Welsh.)
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,273
    TimS said:

    Taz said:

    Trent said:

    Cookie said:

    Anyway. Happy Easter everyone.
    I bloody love Easter. Easter asks absolutely nothing of you. It doesn't give you a list of things to do; doesn't ask you to wear fancy dress, or to feel a certain emotion. Greetings cards companies might see a market for their product, but they're fooling no-one. All Easter does is come along without you really budgeting for it and gives you a lovely long weekend.
    I'm going to have a lie in tomorrow. Christ may be risen, but I'm not planning on following his example until gone 10.

    Very true. Never thought of it like that. The runup to xmas is so long and tedious that by the time the day arrives you just want it all over with. Easter just sneaks up on you.
    Worst thing about Xmas break is the days from the 27th to the 30th. Mind numbingly boring..
    Horses for courses - I love that time. Genuinely. The fuss and hassle of Christmas done. Work shuts down (Uni even turns the heating off). Nothing to do but a bit of walking, watch some TV, chill out. It’s glorious.
    Best thing for the twixtmas period (as I believe it’s now called) is to go on holiday. UK or abroad, but important to go somewhere.
    I settle down with one of the long history books I have been given as a present and binge read.
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 21,959
    Taz said:

    Trent said:

    Cookie said:

    Anyway. Happy Easter everyone.
    I bloody love Easter. Easter asks absolutely nothing of you. It doesn't give you a list of things to do; doesn't ask you to wear fancy dress, or to feel a certain emotion. Greetings cards companies might see a market for their product, but they're fooling no-one. All Easter does is come along without you really budgeting for it and gives you a lovely long weekend.
    I'm going to have a lie in tomorrow. Christ may be risen, but I'm not planning on following his example until gone 10.

    Very true. Never thought of it like that. The runup to xmas is so long and tedious that by the time the day arrives you just want it all over with. Easter just sneaks up on you.
    Worst thing about Xmas break is the days from the 27th to the 30th. Mind numbingly boring..
    I always describe it as a dress rehearsal for retirement.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 12,678
    stodge said:

    Savanta has a poll out this evening which restores a 21 point Labour lead.

    45-24 with Reform on 12 and the LDs on 10. With the Greens on 3 that's 58-36 on the main scale so nothing out of the ordinary,

    Savanta is usually a decent pollster for the Conservatives and now goes sub 25 for the second poll in a row. The numbers for this poll for the Currant Bun now much different to those for the Torygraph at the weekend.

    The headline Con-Lab swing is 17%.

    Green on 3 is extremely low even by Savanta’s standards.

    Shows how difficult the pollsters find it to get an accurate number for the minor national parties. Green are spanning a range of 3-9% across the polls. Reform also a wide range. Lib Dems tighter around the 8-11% range.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 12,678

    Taz said:

    Trent said:

    Cookie said:

    Anyway. Happy Easter everyone.
    I bloody love Easter. Easter asks absolutely nothing of you. It doesn't give you a list of things to do; doesn't ask you to wear fancy dress, or to feel a certain emotion. Greetings cards companies might see a market for their product, but they're fooling no-one. All Easter does is come along without you really budgeting for it and gives you a lovely long weekend.
    I'm going to have a lie in tomorrow. Christ may be risen, but I'm not planning on following his example until gone 10.

    Very true. Never thought of it like that. The runup to xmas is so long and tedious that by the time the day arrives you just want it all over with. Easter just sneaks up on you.
    Worst thing about Xmas break is the days from the 27th to the 30th. Mind numbingly boring..
    I always describe it as a dress rehearsal for retirement.
    With the same prescription: go on holiday
  • Alphabet_SoupAlphabet_Soup Posts: 3,171

    Cookie said:

    Anyway. Happy Easter everyone.
    I bloody love Easter. Easter asks absolutely nothing of you. It doesn't give you a list of things to do; doesn't ask you to wear fancy dress, or to feel a certain emotion. Greetings cards companies might see a market for their product, but they're fooling no-one. All Easter does is come along without you really budgeting for it and gives you a lovely long weekend.
    I'm going to have a lie in tomorrow. Christ may be risen, but I'm not planning on following his example until gone 10.

    The rising will be on Sunday. I'm afraid the Friday didn't go that well for him.
    Could have been worse. Jesus was an ascetic and in fairly good shape so he survived longer on the cross than usual. A kind-hearted Roman soldier administered the coup de grace but missed his vital organs. Jesus was still alive when they took him to Gethsemane and sealed the tomb. Luckily, for Jesus, tomb robbers turned up on Saturday (when the locals were otherwise engaged) and had the freight of their lives when they rolled away the boulder and were met with a cheery 'Shalom' from a bloke in a shroud. They scarpered pdq and Jesus wandered off looking for a bite to eat. When Mary'n'Mary showed up on the Lord's Day they jumped to the obvious, if fallacious, conclusion. The rest, as they say, is History.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,273
    I see Lent's over...


    Sophy Ridge
    @SophyRidgeSky
    Venom cocktail ingredients…

    1x bottle vodka
    1x bottle southern comfort
    10x bottle WKD
    1x bottle orange juice

    Verdict:
    @AngelaRayner
    is right, absolutely lethal

    https://twitter.com/SophyRidgeSky/status/1773443819947601982
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 21,959

    Cookie said:

    Anyway. Happy Easter everyone.
    I bloody love Easter. Easter asks absolutely nothing of you. It doesn't give you a list of things to do; doesn't ask you to wear fancy dress, or to feel a certain emotion. Greetings cards companies might see a market for their product, but they're fooling no-one. All Easter does is come along without you really budgeting for it and gives you a lovely long weekend.
    I'm going to have a lie in tomorrow. Christ may be risen, but I'm not planning on following his example until gone 10.

    The rising will be on Sunday. I'm afraid the Friday didn't go that well for him.
    Could have been worse. Jesus was an ascetic and in fairly good shape so he survived longer on the cross than usual. A kind-hearted Roman soldier administered the coup de grace but missed his vital organs. Jesus was still alive when they took him to Gethsemane and sealed the tomb. Luckily, for Jesus, tomb robbers turned up on Saturday (when the locals were otherwise engaged) and had the freight of their lives when they rolled away the boulder and were met with a cheery 'Shalom' from a bloke in a shroud. They scarpered pdq and Jesus wandered off looking for a bite to eat. When Mary'n'Mary showed up on the Lord's Day they jumped to the obvious, if fallacious, conclusion. The rest, as they say, is History.
    Yep, three options.

    1. He wasn't dead.
    2. Someone or some people removed his body.
    3. He rose from the dead.

    Actually, four options...

    4. The biblical account is a fictionalised version of events.

    If someone was offering odds, I think number 3 would be the 1,000,000/1 outsider.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 12,678

    Cookie said:

    Anyway. Happy Easter everyone.
    I bloody love Easter. Easter asks absolutely nothing of you. It doesn't give you a list of things to do; doesn't ask you to wear fancy dress, or to feel a certain emotion. Greetings cards companies might see a market for their product, but they're fooling no-one. All Easter does is come along without you really budgeting for it and gives you a lovely long weekend.
    I'm going to have a lie in tomorrow. Christ may be risen, but I'm not planning on following his example until gone 10.

    The rising will be on Sunday. I'm afraid the Friday didn't go that well for him.
    Could have been worse. Jesus was an ascetic and in fairly good shape so he survived longer on the cross than usual. A kind-hearted Roman soldier administered the coup de grace but missed his vital organs. Jesus was still alive when they took him to Gethsemane and sealed the tomb. Luckily, for Jesus, tomb robbers turned up on Saturday (when the locals were otherwise engaged) and had the freight of their lives when they rolled away the boulder and were met with a cheery 'Shalom' from a bloke in a shroud. They scarpered pdq and Jesus wandered off looking for a bite to eat. When Mary'n'Mary showed up on the Lord's Day they jumped to the obvious, if fallacious, conclusion. The rest, as they say, is History.
    Yep, three options.

    1. He wasn't dead.
    2. Someone or some people removed his body.
    3. He rose from the dead.

    Actually, four options...

    4. The biblical account is a fictionalised version of events.

    If someone was offering odds, I think number 3 would be the 1,000,000/1 outsider.
    5 His lookalike went round claiming to be him, risen from the dead.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,119
    TimS said:

    Cookie said:

    Anyway. Happy Easter everyone.
    I bloody love Easter. Easter asks absolutely nothing of you. It doesn't give you a list of things to do; doesn't ask you to wear fancy dress, or to feel a certain emotion. Greetings cards companies might see a market for their product, but they're fooling no-one. All Easter does is come along without you really budgeting for it and gives you a lovely long weekend.
    I'm going to have a lie in tomorrow. Christ may be risen, but I'm not planning on following his example until gone 10.

    The rising will be on Sunday. I'm afraid the Friday didn't go that well for him.
    Could have been worse. Jesus was an ascetic and in fairly good shape so he survived longer on the cross than usual. A kind-hearted Roman soldier administered the coup de grace but missed his vital organs. Jesus was still alive when they took him to Gethsemane and sealed the tomb. Luckily, for Jesus, tomb robbers turned up on Saturday (when the locals were otherwise engaged) and had the freight of their lives when they rolled away the boulder and were met with a cheery 'Shalom' from a bloke in a shroud. They scarpered pdq and Jesus wandered off looking for a bite to eat. When Mary'n'Mary showed up on the Lord's Day they jumped to the obvious, if fallacious, conclusion. The rest, as they say, is History.
    Yep, three options.

    1. He wasn't dead.
    2. Someone or some people removed his body.
    3. He rose from the dead.

    Actually, four options...

    4. The biblical account is a fictionalised version of events.

    If someone was offering odds, I think number 3 would be the 1,000,000/1 outsider.
    5 His lookalike went round claiming to be him, risen from the dead.
    Donald Trump looks nothing like Jesus.
  • stodgestodge Posts: 13,791
    TimS said:

    stodge said:

    Savanta has a poll out this evening which restores a 21 point Labour lead.

    45-24 with Reform on 12 and the LDs on 10. With the Greens on 3 that's 58-36 on the main scale so nothing out of the ordinary,

    Savanta is usually a decent pollster for the Conservatives and now goes sub 25 for the second poll in a row. The numbers for this poll for the Currant Bun now much different to those for the Torygraph at the weekend.

    The headline Con-Lab swing is 17%.

    Green on 3 is extremely low even by Savanta’s standards.

    Shows how difficult the pollsters find it to get an accurate number for the minor national parties. Green are spanning a range of 3-9% across the polls. Reform also a wide range. Lib Dems tighter around the 8-11% range.
    A lot depends on the methodology.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,086
    ...
    ydoethur said:

    TimS said:

    Cookie said:

    Anyway. Happy Easter everyone.
    I bloody love Easter. Easter asks absolutely nothing of you. It doesn't give you a list of things to do; doesn't ask you to wear fancy dress, or to feel a certain emotion. Greetings cards companies might see a market for their product, but they're fooling no-one. All Easter does is come along without you really budgeting for it and gives you a lovely long weekend.
    I'm going to have a lie in tomorrow. Christ may be risen, but I'm not planning on following his example until gone 10.

    The rising will be on Sunday. I'm afraid the Friday didn't go that well for him.
    Could have been worse. Jesus was an ascetic and in fairly good shape so he survived longer on the cross than usual. A kind-hearted Roman soldier administered the coup de grace but missed his vital organs. Jesus was still alive when they took him to Gethsemane and sealed the tomb. Luckily, for Jesus, tomb robbers turned up on Saturday (when the locals were otherwise engaged) and had the freight of their lives when they rolled away the boulder and were met with a cheery 'Shalom' from a bloke in a shroud. They scarpered pdq and Jesus wandered off looking for a bite to eat. When Mary'n'Mary showed up on the Lord's Day they jumped to the obvious, if fallacious, conclusion. The rest, as they say, is History.
    Yep, three options.

    1. He wasn't dead.
    2. Someone or some people removed his body.
    3. He rose from the dead.

    Actually, four options...

    4. The biblical account is a fictionalised version of events.

    If someone was offering odds, I think number 3 would be the 1,000,000/1 outsider.
    5 His lookalike went round claiming to be him, risen from the dead.
    Donald Trump looks nothing like Jesus.
    Isn't the Western interpretation of Jesus as a bearded white man open to debate? It's not beyond imagination that he was orange with tiny, tiny hands and a hairpiece.

    Today, Jesus claimed to be a better and more successful golfer than Tiger Woods.
  • DonkeysDonkeys Posts: 723

    Trent said:

    Cookie said:

    Anyway. Happy Easter everyone.
    I bloody love Easter. Easter asks absolutely nothing of you. It doesn't give you a list of things to do; doesn't ask you to wear fancy dress, or to feel a certain emotion. Greetings cards companies might see a market for their product, but they're fooling no-one. All Easter does is come along without you really budgeting for it and gives you a lovely long weekend.
    I'm going to have a lie in tomorrow. Christ may be risen, but I'm not planning on following his example until gone 10.

    Very true. Never thought of it like that. The runup to xmas is so long and tedious that by the time the day arrives you just want it all over with. Easter just sneaks up on you.
    Yes indeed but I want our children to understand that Easter is because Jesus died for us. Easter Eggs are OK because of what the Egg signifies but I can't understand why they are singing songs about rabbits!
    What the egg signifies...
    Mary Magdalene's fertility?
  • DonkeysDonkeys Posts: 723
    edited March 28
    ydoethur said:

    TimS said:

    Cookie said:

    Anyway. Happy Easter everyone.
    I bloody love Easter. Easter asks absolutely nothing of you. It doesn't give you a list of things to do; doesn't ask you to wear fancy dress, or to feel a certain emotion. Greetings cards companies might see a market for their product, but they're fooling no-one. All Easter does is come along without you really budgeting for it and gives you a lovely long weekend.
    I'm going to have a lie in tomorrow. Christ may be risen, but I'm not planning on following his example until gone 10.

    The rising will be on Sunday. I'm afraid the Friday didn't go that well for him.
    Could have been worse. Jesus was an ascetic and in fairly good shape so he survived longer on the cross than usual. A kind-hearted Roman soldier administered the coup de grace but missed his vital organs. Jesus was still alive when they took him to Gethsemane and sealed the tomb. Luckily, for Jesus, tomb robbers turned up on Saturday (when the locals were otherwise engaged) and had the freight of their lives when they rolled away the boulder and were met with a cheery 'Shalom' from a bloke in a shroud. They scarpered pdq and Jesus wandered off looking for a bite to eat. When Mary'n'Mary showed up on the Lord's Day they jumped to the obvious, if fallacious, conclusion. The rest, as they say, is History.
    Yep, three options.

    1. He wasn't dead.
    2. Someone or some people removed his body.
    3. He rose from the dead.

    Actually, four options...

    4. The biblical account is a fictionalised version of events.

    If someone was offering odds, I think number 3 would be the 1,000,000/1 outsider.
    5 His lookalike went round claiming to be him, risen from the dead.
    Donald Trump looks nothing like Jesus.
    Donald Trump tried to ban many who do look like Jesus from entering the USA.
  • DonkeysDonkeys Posts: 723
    ohnotnow said:

    On topic, I'm not entirely convinced that pursuing Ange for what looks, at worst, as a minor misdemeanour will prove to be fertile ground for the current bunch of Tories many of whom, I suspect, have financial, tax and property skeletons widespread enough to fill Highgate cemetery.

    It's strange the press isn't digging into any of the Tory MP's who might be landlords, or otherwise being 'tax efficient'.

    Odd oversight.
    Funnily enough they are also leading on stabbings in London rather than on Caribbean steel drum bands and the role they play in enlivening some parts of Britain's inner cities.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,122
    Donkeys said:

    ydoethur said:

    TimS said:

    Cookie said:

    Anyway. Happy Easter everyone.
    I bloody love Easter. Easter asks absolutely nothing of you. It doesn't give you a list of things to do; doesn't ask you to wear fancy dress, or to feel a certain emotion. Greetings cards companies might see a market for their product, but they're fooling no-one. All Easter does is come along without you really budgeting for it and gives you a lovely long weekend.
    I'm going to have a lie in tomorrow. Christ may be risen, but I'm not planning on following his example until gone 10.

    The rising will be on Sunday. I'm afraid the Friday didn't go that well for him.
    Could have been worse. Jesus was an ascetic and in fairly good shape so he survived longer on the cross than usual. A kind-hearted Roman soldier administered the coup de grace but missed his vital organs. Jesus was still alive when they took him to Gethsemane and sealed the tomb. Luckily, for Jesus, tomb robbers turned up on Saturday (when the locals were otherwise engaged) and had the freight of their lives when they rolled away the boulder and were met with a cheery 'Shalom' from a bloke in a shroud. They scarpered pdq and Jesus wandered off looking for a bite to eat. When Mary'n'Mary showed up on the Lord's Day they jumped to the obvious, if fallacious, conclusion. The rest, as they say, is History.
    Yep, three options.

    1. He wasn't dead.
    2. Someone or some people removed his body.
    3. He rose from the dead.

    Actually, four options...

    4. The biblical account is a fictionalised version of events.

    If someone was offering odds, I think number 3 would be the 1,000,000/1 outsider.
    5 His lookalike went round claiming to be him, risen from the dead.
    Donald Trump looks nothing like Jesus.
    Donald Trump tried to ban many who do look like Jesus from entering the USA.
    No, no, no. Jesus was a white guy. All the renaissance artists and the filmmakers agree.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,051
    edited March 28
    "Two-thirds of Britons want ban on smartphones for under-16s

    Survey results hailed as ‘tipping point’ when public recognises devices have ‘transformed childhood’ for the ‘worse’"

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/02/24/two-thirds-of-britons-want-ban-on-smartphones-for-under-16s/
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,119

    ...

    ydoethur said:

    TimS said:

    Cookie said:

    Anyway. Happy Easter everyone.
    I bloody love Easter. Easter asks absolutely nothing of you. It doesn't give you a list of things to do; doesn't ask you to wear fancy dress, or to feel a certain emotion. Greetings cards companies might see a market for their product, but they're fooling no-one. All Easter does is come along without you really budgeting for it and gives you a lovely long weekend.
    I'm going to have a lie in tomorrow. Christ may be risen, but I'm not planning on following his example until gone 10.

    The rising will be on Sunday. I'm afraid the Friday didn't go that well for him.
    Could have been worse. Jesus was an ascetic and in fairly good shape so he survived longer on the cross than usual. A kind-hearted Roman soldier administered the coup de grace but missed his vital organs. Jesus was still alive when they took him to Gethsemane and sealed the tomb. Luckily, for Jesus, tomb robbers turned up on Saturday (when the locals were otherwise engaged) and had the freight of their lives when they rolled away the boulder and were met with a cheery 'Shalom' from a bloke in a shroud. They scarpered pdq and Jesus wandered off looking for a bite to eat. When Mary'n'Mary showed up on the Lord's Day they jumped to the obvious, if fallacious, conclusion. The rest, as they say, is History.
    Yep, three options.

    1. He wasn't dead.
    2. Someone or some people removed his body.
    3. He rose from the dead.

    Actually, four options...

    4. The biblical account is a fictionalised version of events.

    If someone was offering odds, I think number 3 would be the 1,000,000/1 outsider.
    5 His lookalike went round claiming to be him, risen from the dead.
    Donald Trump looks nothing like Jesus.
    Isn't the Western interpretation of Jesus as a bearded white man open to debate? It's not beyond imagination that he was orange with tiny, tiny hands and a hairpiece.

    Today, Jesus claimed to be a better and more successful golfer than Tiger Woods.
    The whole point is that he wasn't.

    So, Moses and Jesus are golfing at Shinnecock Hills before the US Open. They get to #6 and Jesus says to Moses, “I saw Tiger hit this with a 3 iron.”
    “Yeah, well, you’re not him,” says Moses.

    Jesus, smirks, picks up his 3 iron and thwack, the ball plops in the water.

    “I’ll get it, I’ll get it,” says Moses. Who parts the water and finds the ball.

    “Now, just hit the driver,” Moses urges

    “Tiger did it,” says Jesus.

    “You’re going in after it this time then,” Moses says.

    “Sure, if it goes in,” Jesus answers. “But it won’t.”

    He takes his time. Lines up the shot. Reads the wind. Approaches the ball. Sets his sandals in the grass. Breathes in. Pulls his 2 iron back. THWACK. The ball sails then slices into the water. Jesus lets his shoulders sit momentarily then is unbowed. “Tiger did it,” he says to Moses brightly, then takes off his sandals and goes out after the ball. He wades into the water, looking down and around about where the ball plopped. Moses watches from the tee as Jesus, as he is wont to do, rises up onto the surface of the water, walking along the surface, searching.

    Two men in the next party approach Moses and point out toward the water. “Who’s that guy think he is?” they ask, “Jesus Christ?”

    Moses answers, “No, he thinks he’s Tiger Woods.”
  • TrentTrent Posts: 150
    Leon said:

    Trent said:

    Leon said:

    I’ve been away so london feels like a foreign city. A really IMPRESSIVE foreign city

    What an odd feeling

    Central London is impressive one of the great cities of the world. I would say only New York City compares.
    London is a magnificent glittering prosperous world city, full of beautiful women. When you go away for six months, you realise this when you return

    Also the Groucho is really hopping. Astonishing. Haven’t seen it this full since pre Covid. And it’s a rainy chilly midweek night. Encouraging

    One american described the uk to me as one great city with a shit country attached. Maybe not too far wrong.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,122
    Andy_JS said:

    Bloody hell, the lead item on BBC 10 News about the Post Office.

    Quite right. Some very naughty people have been caught out telling lies that led to people going to prison, being made bankrupt and generally having their lives ruined.
    A reckoning is coming.
  • GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 22,135
    edited March 28
    isam said:

    Well all the neighbours are saying that Rayner was living in the house she says she wasn’t, and her brother was living in the house she claims to have been. If what she says is true, then she got married, registered her kids at her husbands address, then stayed living at her own house rather than with the man she just wed.

    Sounds like porky pies.

    If it’s only £1500, and she was ignorant rather than devious, why not just fess up? No one would have cared.

    Is this another example of the cover up doing for a politician when the truth was no big deal?

    It's the opposite of the expenses scandal when Jackie Smith (EX-MP) said she was living at a property she claimed expenses for but clearly didn't know how to open the front door and the neighbours said they'd never set eyes on her. 😂
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,257

    What is the government going to do about the weather? We can’t go on like this.

    Keir will be here soon and every day will be sunny ☀️
    Then he'll get the blame for the hosepipe ban!
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,740
    stodge said:

    …is going to spend every second between now and the election reassuring former Conservatives he's no Corbyn and is at best a mild social democrat who would have been comfortable in Blair's Labour or the SDP of Jenkins or even Kennedy's Liberal Democrats…

    except without the ambition.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 54,557
    What a fanTAStic city


  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,273

    Andy_JS said:

    Bloody hell, the lead item on BBC 10 News about the Post Office.

    Quite right. Some very naughty people have been caught out telling lies that led to people going to prison, being made bankrupt and generally having their lives ruined.
    A reckoning is coming.
    Perversion of justice charges coming???

  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 4,867

    Andy_JS said:

    Bloody hell, the lead item on BBC 10 News about the Post Office.

    Quite right. Some very naughty people have been caught out telling lies that led to people going to prison, being made bankrupt and generally having their lives ruined.
    A reckoning is coming.
    I don’t know how Paula Vennells and other Post Office managers can avoid being charged with perjury. If they are, I hope they are refused bail.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,122

    Andy_JS said:

    Bloody hell, the lead item on BBC 10 News about the Post Office.

    Quite right. Some very naughty people have been caught out telling lies that led to people going to prison, being made bankrupt and generally having their lives ruined.
    A reckoning is coming.
    Perversion of justice charges coming???

    We are about to find out if the NU10K crowd will stand by their compatriots.

    Let’s hope not.
  • StillWatersStillWaters Posts: 8,064

    Trent said:

    Uh oh. I dont like the sound of this. Is an Easter surprise in the offing.

    JUST IN: 🇷🇺 Russian Warships have officially entered the Red Sea. Possible sea confrontation with NATO.

    Russian Pacific Fleet entered the Red Sea and is heading towards Yemen where American and British ships have carried out strikes on Houthis.

    https://x.com/BRICSinfo/status/1773413722733842766?s=20

    Yes, I understand thanks to Ukraine the Russians have several new submarines.
    Yeman’s not their destination.

    They are planning to force the Bosporus and call Turkeys bluff on whether it will enforce the Montreux Convention.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 54,557
    As Christopher Columbus said: the more you travel the more you know

    I had to leave for 6 months to see London for what it is. Cold rainy sometimes violent - but absolutely astonishing. A peak moment in human civilisation
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,086

    What is the government going to do about the weather? We can’t go on like this.

    Keir will be here soon and every day will be sunny ☀️
    Then he'll get the blame for the hosepipe ban!
    Should Labour win the election on January 23rd, you will have every justification on Friday January 24th in demanding Starmer's resignation for the state of the nation on Labour's watch.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,051
    Leon said:

    As Christopher Columbus said: the more you travel the more you know

    I had to leave for 6 months to see London for what it is. Cold rainy sometimes violent - but absolutely astonishing. A peak moment in human civilisation

    The best city on the planet?
  • StillWatersStillWaters Posts: 8,064
    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    Much ado about nothing.

    Should it not be Angie rather than Angela? Great song.

    Apparently she hates being called Angie, so out of respect I used her proper name.
    Presumably she hates being called a hypocrite who benefitted from council house sales when she was criticising them as well but them's the breaks.
    I prefer to be charitable, I love it when another leftie benefits from Thatcher's policies, see also Arthur Scargill.
    I've expressed this view before and still don't think she has done anything wrong. But it is still a bit hypocritical.
    How can you reach that conclusion unless you take her word at face value?

    If she lived with her husband and claimed there principal residence was else where it was wrong. It may have been legal but that is different to right/wrong
  • TimSTimS Posts: 12,678
    Trent said:

    Leon said:

    Trent said:

    Leon said:

    I’ve been away so london feels like a foreign city. A really IMPRESSIVE foreign city

    What an odd feeling

    Central London is impressive one of the great cities of the world. I would say only New York City compares.
    London is a magnificent glittering prosperous world city, full of beautiful women. When you go away for six months, you realise this when you return

    Also the Groucho is really hopping. Astonishing. Haven’t seen it this full since pre Covid. And it’s a rainy chilly midweek night. Encouraging

    One american described the uk to me as one great city with a shit country attached. Maybe not too far wrong.
    You were telling us all that London is borderline third world yesterday. Make your mind up.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,118
    TimS said:

    kle4 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.

    Can't say I've come across people being shy about calling it Easter myself. Is this something concerted or just some general trend?
    Nor me. I think people refer to the long bank holiday weekend because that’s what it means to a lot of us. An extended and welcome 4 days off and the start of our UK string of spring bank holidays that culminate at Whitsun. Time to head to IKEA/B&Q/Garden centre, have a nice leg of lamb on Easter Day and if you’re young enough do a 2 day clubbing marathon.

    I like the Christian bits of Easter too, not because I’m religious (I’m not) but because the biblical texts and the music that accompanies them are pretty epic: cornerstones of our literary universe. Tonight and Good Friday in particular:

    The last supper; Judas kiss; the garden of gethsemane; Pilate washing his hands; let his blood be upon us; Centurions playing dice; crown of thorns; Eloi Eloi lama sabactani; gave up the ghost; the earth rent in twain etc etc. It’s probably the only story in “Western” literature as influential on English language and idiom as Shakespeare.
    Had our meal, communion and hand washing church service this evening. For me Easter is more meaningful even than Christmas in Christian terms as its message goes to the heart of Christianity
  • LeonLeon Posts: 54,557
    Andy_JS said:

    Leon said:

    As Christopher Columbus said: the more you travel the more you know

    I had to leave for 6 months to see London for what it is. Cold rainy sometimes violent - but absolutely astonishing. A peak moment in human civilisation

    The best city on the planet?
    I think probably yes. That said I haven’t been to New York for a while; I’m off to Paris in a few weeks and I will compare!

    After six months of Bangkok and Phnom Penh and Bogotá and Cartagena the intense culture-rich shock of a superb world city is quite palpable
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,118
    I doubt the Rayner story will get very far, Starmer needs her anyway to be his Prescott and appeal to the working classes
  • Pro_RataPro_Rata Posts: 5,242
    Leon said:

    Trent said:

    Leon said:

    I’ve been away so london feels like a foreign city. A really IMPRESSIVE foreign city

    What an odd feeling

    Central London is impressive one of the great cities of the world. I would say only New York City compares.
    London is a magnificent glittering prosperous world city, full of beautiful women. When you go away for six months, you realise this when you return

    Also the Groucho is really hopping. Astonishing. Haven’t seen it this full since pre Covid. And it’s a rainy chilly midweek night. Encouraging

    You're not fearing going out due to the masked ULEZ enforcement officers then?

    Deffo scarier than Colombian drug lords.
  • StillWatersStillWaters Posts: 8,064

    On topic, I'm not entirely convinced that pursuing Ange for what looks, at worst, as a minor misdemeanour will prove to be fertile ground for the current bunch of Tories many of whom, I suspect, have financial, tax and property skeletons widespread enough to fill Highgate cemetery.

    IIRC the amount of CGT that is suggested might have been due from Rayner is about £1.5k.

    This is approximately 0.03% of the settlement Nadhim Zadhawi is alleged to have made with HMRC.
    It’s a lot to ordinary people
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 95,714

    Andy_JS said:

    Bloody hell, the lead item on BBC 10 News about the Post Office.

    Quite right. Some very naughty people have been caught out telling lies that led to people going to prison, being made bankrupt and generally having their lives ruined.
    A reckoning is coming.
    I don’t know how Paula Vennells and other Post Office managers can avoid being charged with perjury.
    They are of the ruling classes?

    Though fail too spectacularly and even that does not save you.
  • GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 22,135
    Raynergate won't make much difference this side of the election but it's another sign that very soon the spotlight will be on Labour and of course, they will have their fair share of spivs, wrongun's and fruitcakes (plus a fair old smattering of antisemites) not that I'm suggesting the lovely Angela is anything other than pure as the driven snow of course...
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 95,714
    edited March 28
    HYUFD said:

    TimS said:

    kle4 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.

    Can't say I've come across people being shy about calling it Easter myself. Is this something concerted or just some general trend?
    Nor me. I think people refer to the long bank holiday weekend because that’s what it means to a lot of us. An extended and welcome 4 days off and the start of our UK string of spring bank holidays that culminate at Whitsun. Time to head to IKEA/B&Q/Garden centre, have a nice leg of lamb on Easter Day and if you’re young enough do a 2 day clubbing marathon.

    I like the Christian bits of Easter too, not because I’m religious (I’m not) but because the biblical texts and the music that accompanies them are pretty epic: cornerstones of our literary universe. Tonight and Good Friday in particular:

    The last supper; Judas kiss; the garden of gethsemane; Pilate washing his hands; let his blood be upon us; Centurions playing dice; crown of thorns; Eloi Eloi lama sabactani; gave up the ghost; the earth rent in twain etc etc. It’s probably the only story in “Western” literature as influential on English language and idiom as Shakespeare.
    Had our meal, communion and hand washing church service this evening. For me Easter is more meaningful even than Christmas in Christian terms as its message goes to the heart of Christianity
    As a non-Christian that seems like it should obviously be the case in terms of what the holiday is about, but I don't know at what point Christmas became the most celebrated, er, celebration on the Christian calendar, or if that has always been the case. Certainly some sects and renewals have not been fans of Christmas, though I don't know what they thougth about Easter (other than I assume generally denigrating the concept of holy days).
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,122

    On topic, I'm not entirely convinced that pursuing Ange for what looks, at worst, as a minor misdemeanour will prove to be fertile ground for the current bunch of Tories many of whom, I suspect, have financial, tax and property skeletons widespread enough to fill Highgate cemetery.

    IIRC the amount of CGT that is suggested might have been due from Rayner is about £1.5k.

    This is approximately 0.03% of the settlement Nadhim Zadhawi is alleged to have made with HMRC.
    It’s a lot to ordinary people
    If (and it’s still an if) she has bent/broken the rules/laws then it just reinforces the idea that ALL politicians are the same, whether they speak with a ‘common’ accent or sound like an old Etonion.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 95,714
    Leon said:

    As Christopher Columbus said: the more you travel the more you know

    I had to leave for 6 months to see London for what it is. Cold rainy sometimes violent - but absolutely astonishing. A peak moment in human civilisation

    What would you say elevates it above other major cities? There are bigger ones, ones which are very diverse and vibrant etc

    Genuine question.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 95,714
    Maybe this weekend is the perfect time for me to read a book I picked up ages ago: The unauthorised version: Truth and fiction in the Bible.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,118
    kle4 said:

    HYUFD said:

    TimS said:

    kle4 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.

    Can't say I've come across people being shy about calling it Easter myself. Is this something concerted or just some general trend?
    Nor me. I think people refer to the long bank holiday weekend because that’s what it means to a lot of us. An extended and welcome 4 days off and the start of our UK string of spring bank holidays that culminate at Whitsun. Time to head to IKEA/B&Q/Garden centre, have a nice leg of lamb on Easter Day and if you’re young enough do a 2 day clubbing marathon.

    I like the Christian bits of Easter too, not because I’m religious (I’m not) but because the biblical texts and the music that accompanies them are pretty epic: cornerstones of our literary universe. Tonight and Good Friday in particular:

    The last supper; Judas kiss; the garden of gethsemane; Pilate washing his hands; let his blood be upon us; Centurions playing dice; crown of thorns; Eloi Eloi lama sabactani; gave up the ghost; the earth rent in twain etc etc. It’s probably the only story in “Western” literature as influential on English language and idiom as Shakespeare.
    Had our meal, communion and hand washing church service this evening. For me Easter is more meaningful even than Christmas in Christian terms as its message goes to the heart of Christianity
    As a non-Christian that seems like it should obviously be the case in terms of what the holiday is about, but I don't know at what point Christmas because the most celebrated, er, celebration on the Christian calendar, or if that has even always been the case. Certainly some sects and renewals have not been fans of Christmas, though I don't know what they thougth about Easter (other than I assume generally denigrating the concept of holy days).
    I think partly it relates to the fact Christmas is the one bright spot in darkest, deepest winter. While Easter arrives at the start of Spring and while there are a few eggs there aren't the same number of presents or big family meals.

    However in pure religious terms and its meaning in terms of Christ's death for our sins and resurrection and offer of eternal life it is the more meaningful message for Christians
  • StillWatersStillWaters Posts: 8,064
    Pagan2 said:

    fpt

    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.

    As a man with faith my opinion is we should all mind our own fucking business and keep our religious holidays to ourselves rather than trying to claim public holidays. Christians stole those holidays in the first place so they can especially piss off with their claims

    They didn’t steal them… just modernised them
  • MattWMattW Posts: 22,662

    ydoethur said:

    Picking up on Post Office related crimes:

    I'm reminded of the scandal that engulfs Villefort at the end of The Count of Monte Cristo. As a journalist leaves, he asks one of the guards what he thinks will happen to Villefort who has just admitted infanticide, concealing a death and conspiring to pervert the course of justice.

    The guard simply replies, 'They'll find extenuating circumstances.'

    I sadly suspect something similar will happen here.

    #NU10K

    The defining characteristic is that failure leads to a better job. And the belief that this is their *right*

    Recall the lady who transferred to the CoE and was shocked that she wasn’t catapulted to the Bishopric of London by her 3rd day on the job?
    We have evidence that she was shocked?

    I think she lost because the woman who got the job was a better candidate.
  • TrentTrent Posts: 150
    Oh dear Andrew Bridgens on the grift. Can anyone spare him some change.

    My case against Matt Hancock is on the cusp of exposing his unlawful behaviour. Mr Hancock has chosen not to file a defence, nearly 6 months into the case, which speaks volumes. His attempt to have the claim struck out failed. However there is a costs order of £44,300 to pay by next week and the crowd fund is running low. If anyone can help please let me know. I can be contacted at andrewbridgen1@protonmail.com.
    The crowd fund is at: https://democracythree.org/en-gb/en-gb/the_day_democracy_died_andrew_bridgen
    8:11 PM · Mar 28, 2024
    ·
    88.4K
    Views

    https://x.com/ABridgen/status/1773442696419385788?s=20
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 95,714
    Trent said:

    Oh dear Andrew Bridgens on the grift. Can anyone spare him some change.

    My case against Matt Hancock is on the cusp of exposing his unlawful behaviour. Mr Hancock has chosen not to file a defence, nearly 6 months into the case, which speaks volumes. His attempt to have the claim struck out failed. However there is a costs order of £44,300 to pay by next week and the crowd fund is running low. If anyone can help please let me know. I can be contacted at andrewbridgen1@protonmail.com.
    The crowd fund is at: https://democracythree.org/en-gb/en-gb/the_day_democracy_died_andrew_bridgen
    8:11 PM · Mar 28, 2024
    ·
    88.4K
    Views

    https://x.com/ABridgen/status/1773442696419385788?s=20

    How very american politician of him.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 41,780
    Leon said:

    As Christopher Columbus said: the more you travel the more you know

    I had to leave for 6 months to see London for what it is. Cold rainy sometimes violent - but absolutely astonishing. A peak moment in human civilisation

    It’s back.
    Again.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 95,714
    MattW said:

    ydoethur said:

    Picking up on Post Office related crimes:

    I'm reminded of the scandal that engulfs Villefort at the end of The Count of Monte Cristo. As a journalist leaves, he asks one of the guards what he thinks will happen to Villefort who has just admitted infanticide, concealing a death and conspiring to pervert the course of justice.

    The guard simply replies, 'They'll find extenuating circumstances.'

    I sadly suspect something similar will happen here.

    #NU10K

    The defining characteristic is that failure leads to a better job. And the belief that this is their *right*

    Recall the lady who transferred to the CoE and was shocked that she wasn’t catapulted to the Bishopric of London by her 3rd day on the job?
    We have evidence that she was shocked?

    I think she lost because the woman who got the job was a better candidate.
    In that case I can understand why she would be annoyed, that has not historically been a barrier to success.
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 62,696
    HYUFD said:

    TimS said:

    kle4 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.

    Can't say I've come across people being shy about calling it Easter myself. Is this something concerted or just some general trend?
    Nor me. I think people refer to the long bank holiday weekend because that’s what it means to a lot of us. An extended and welcome 4 days off and the start of our UK string of spring bank holidays that culminate at Whitsun. Time to head to IKEA/B&Q/Garden centre, have a nice leg of lamb on Easter Day and if you’re young enough do a 2 day clubbing marathon.

    I like the Christian bits of Easter too, not because I’m religious (I’m not) but because the biblical texts and the music that accompanies them are pretty epic: cornerstones of our literary universe. Tonight and Good Friday in particular:

    The last supper; Judas kiss; the garden of gethsemane; Pilate washing his hands; let his blood be upon us; Centurions playing dice; crown of thorns; Eloi Eloi lama sabactani; gave up the ghost; the earth rent in twain etc etc. It’s probably the only story in “Western” literature as influential on English language and idiom as Shakespeare.
    Had our meal, communion and hand washing church service this evening. For me Easter is more meaningful even than Christmas in Christian terms as its message goes to the heart of Christianity
    I wish you well in your faith and agree Easter is a huge part of the Christian faith

    I was confirmed by the Bishop of Durham into the Christian faith as a teenager, and was a sever for several years at Berwick Parish Church

    My faith and my wife's is special to us, but we respect other views and follow Dave Allen's maxim

    ' May your God go with you '
  • LeonLeon Posts: 54,557

    Leon said:

    As Christopher Columbus said: the more you travel the more you know

    I had to leave for 6 months to see London for what it is. Cold rainy sometimes violent - but absolutely astonishing. A peak moment in human civilisation

    It’s back.
    Again.
    It IS!

    BACK

    Even better, it is still YOUR capital city. Just rejoice in that news
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 95,714

    Leon said:

    As Christopher Columbus said: the more you travel the more you know

    I had to leave for 6 months to see London for what it is. Cold rainy sometimes violent - but absolutely astonishing. A peak moment in human civilisation

    It’s back.
    Again.
    To borrow an expression, it's up and down more often than a pair of kangaroos in the mating season.

    But at least if it is back again it means Khan is doing a bad job ruining it.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 54,557
    kle4 said:

    Leon said:

    As Christopher Columbus said: the more you travel the more you know

    I had to leave for 6 months to see London for what it is. Cold rainy sometimes violent - but absolutely astonishing. A peak moment in human civilisation

    What would you say elevates it above other major cities? There are bigger ones, ones which are very diverse and vibrant etc

    Genuine question.
    Sophistication, culture, architecture, history, elegance, vibe, and... a certain... THING

    If you'te in the middle of central London drinking on a rainy Thursday night you are probably quite elite in some way: beauty, money, class, style, youth, talent, knapping skill. You are surrounded by similar people. It feels right and good, you are chosen, this is how the world should be

    A great world city functions like a kind of private members' club. Its innate expense and hassle excludes the boring, the old, the stupid, and the poor

  • StillWatersStillWaters Posts: 8,064

    Cookie said:

    Anyway. Happy Easter everyone.
    I bloody love Easter. Easter asks absolutely nothing of you. It doesn't give you a list of things to do; doesn't ask you to wear fancy dress, or to feel a certain emotion. Greetings cards companies might see a market for their product, but they're fooling no-one. All Easter does is come along without you really budgeting for it and gives you a lovely long weekend.
    I'm going to have a lie in tomorrow. Christ may be risen, but I'm not planning on following his example until gone 10.

    The rising will be on Sunday. I'm afraid the Friday didn't go that well for him.
    Could have been worse. Jesus was an ascetic and in fairly good shape so he survived longer on the cross than usual. A kind-hearted Roman soldier administered the coup de grace but missed his vital organs. Jesus was still alive when they took him to Gethsemane and sealed the tomb. Luckily, for Jesus, tomb robbers turned up on Saturday (when the locals were otherwise engaged) and had the freight of their lives when they rolled away the boulder and were met with a cheery 'Shalom' from a bloke in a shroud. They scarpered pdq and Jesus wandered off looking for a bite to eat. When Mary'n'Mary showed up on the Lord's Day they jumped to the obvious, if fallacious, conclusion. The rest, as they say, is History.
    Yep, three options.

    1. He wasn't dead.
    2. Someone or some people removed his body.
    3. He rose from the dead.

    Actually, four options...

    4. The biblical account is a fictionalised
    version of events.

    If someone was offering odds, I think number 3 would be the 1,000,000/1 outsider.
    Then you get to the C S Lewis question.

    If you are right then why were so many of the apostles - who presumably knew the truth - willing to suffer torture and martyrdom for a lie?
  • StillWatersStillWaters Posts: 8,064

    On topic, I'm not entirely convinced that pursuing Ange for what looks, at worst, as a minor misdemeanour will prove to be fertile ground for the current bunch of Tories many of whom, I suspect, have financial, tax and property skeletons widespread enough to fill Highgate cemetery.

    IIRC the amount of CGT that is suggested might have been due from Rayner is about £1.5k.

    This is approximately 0.03% of the settlement Nadhim Zadhawi is alleged to have made with HMRC.
    It’s a lot to ordinary people
    If (and it’s still an if) she has bent/broken the rules/laws then it just reinforces the idea that ALL politicians are the same, whether they speak with a ‘common’ accent or sound like an old Etonion.

    Sadly yes.

    Our culture has become venal
  • LeonLeon Posts: 54,557
    edited March 28
    Trent said:

    Leon said:

    Trent said:

    Leon said:

    I’ve been away so london feels like a foreign city. A really IMPRESSIVE foreign city

    What an odd feeling

    Central London is impressive one of the great cities of the world. I would say only New York City compares.
    London is a magnificent glittering prosperous world city, full of beautiful women. When you go away for six months, you realise this when you return

    Also the Groucho is really hopping. Astonishing. Haven’t seen it this full since pre Covid. And it’s a rainy chilly midweek night. Encouraging

    One american described the uk to me as one great city with a shit country attached. Maybe not too far wrong.
    Britain isn't a shit country, it's just not as beautiful as Italy or France, and sometimes Brits feel diffident thereby, but Italy and France are possibly the most beautiful countries on earth, per square km, so it's a high bar

    Britain is on a par with Germany or Spain as a country to visit (tho significantly more interesting than either)

    London is better than Paris and much better than Rome

  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 51,560
    Pro_Rata said:

    Leon said:

    Trent said:

    Leon said:

    I’ve been away so london feels like a foreign city. A really IMPRESSIVE foreign city

    What an odd feeling

    Central London is impressive one of the great cities of the world. I would say only New York City compares.
    London is a magnificent glittering prosperous world city, full of beautiful women. When you go away for six months, you realise this when you return

    Also the Groucho is really hopping. Astonishing. Haven’t seen it this full since pre Covid. And it’s a rainy chilly midweek night. Encouraging

    You're not fearing going out due to the masked ULEZ enforcement officers then?

    Deffo scarier than Colombian drug lords.
    "If you can't trust a South American drug lord, who can you trust?"
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 95,714

    Cookie said:

    Anyway. Happy Easter everyone.
    I bloody love Easter. Easter asks absolutely nothing of you. It doesn't give you a list of things to do; doesn't ask you to wear fancy dress, or to feel a certain emotion. Greetings cards companies might see a market for their product, but they're fooling no-one. All Easter does is come along without you really budgeting for it and gives you a lovely long weekend.
    I'm going to have a lie in tomorrow. Christ may be risen, but I'm not planning on following his example until gone 10.

    The rising will be on Sunday. I'm afraid the Friday didn't go that well for him.
    Could have been worse. Jesus was an ascetic and in fairly good shape so he survived longer on the cross than usual. A kind-hearted Roman soldier administered the coup de grace but missed his vital organs. Jesus was still alive when they took him to Gethsemane and sealed the tomb. Luckily, for Jesus, tomb robbers turned up on Saturday (when the locals were otherwise engaged) and had the freight of their lives when they rolled away the boulder and were met with a cheery 'Shalom' from a bloke in a shroud. They scarpered pdq and Jesus wandered off looking for a bite to eat. When Mary'n'Mary showed up on the Lord's Day they jumped to the obvious, if fallacious, conclusion. The rest, as they say, is History.
    Yep, three options.

    1. He wasn't dead.
    2. Someone or some people removed his body.
    3. He rose from the dead.

    Actually, four options...

    4. The biblical account is a fictionalised
    version of events.

    If someone was offering odds, I think number 3 would be the 1,000,000/1 outsider.
    Then you get to the C S Lewis question.

    If you are right then why were so many of the apostles - who presumably knew the truth - willing to suffer torture and martyrdom for a lie?
    People die for lies all the time, for regimes or groups they must know have done terrible things as just one example. But in any case a simple answer would be that even people very closest to the actual historical events, whatever those might have been, may have perceived or interpreted the truth very differently, may have believed in miraculous explanations.

    If 'why would X do Y if it were not true?' wouldn't all religions be true, since people at the start of them must have 'known' and died (or killed) for it?
  • LeonLeon Posts: 54,557
    All cities in the world are culturally downstream of London, LA and New York

    The ideas are formed in those three cities, and then they disseminate
  • TrentTrent Posts: 150
    Leon said:

    kle4 said:

    Leon said:

    As Christopher Columbus said: the more you travel the more you know

    I had to leave for 6 months to see London for what it is. Cold rainy sometimes violent - but absolutely astonishing. A peak moment in human civilisation

    What would you say elevates it above other major cities? There are bigger ones, ones which are very diverse and vibrant etc

    Genuine question.
    Sophistication, culture, architecture, history, elegance, vibe, and... a certain... THING

    If you'te in the middle of central London drinking on a rainy Thursday night you are probably quite elite in some way: beauty, money, class, style, youth, talent, knapping skill. You are surrounded by similar people. It feels right and good, you are chosen, this is how the world should be

    A great world city functions like a kind of private members' club. Its innate expense and hassle excludes the boring, the old, the stupid, and the poor

    Yeah manchester is probably our 2nd city but it feels nothing like london at all and round Piccadilly Gardens is pretty sketchy. However compared to shitholes like Bradford its still a veritable metropolis.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 54,557
    Trent said:

    Leon said:

    kle4 said:

    Leon said:

    As Christopher Columbus said: the more you travel the more you know

    I had to leave for 6 months to see London for what it is. Cold rainy sometimes violent - but absolutely astonishing. A peak moment in human civilisation

    What would you say elevates it above other major cities? There are bigger ones, ones which are very diverse and vibrant etc

    Genuine question.
    Sophistication, culture, architecture, history, elegance, vibe, and... a certain... THING

    If you'te in the middle of central London drinking on a rainy Thursday night you are probably quite elite in some way: beauty, money, class, style, youth, talent, knapping skill. You are surrounded by similar people. It feels right and good, you are chosen, this is how the world should be

    A great world city functions like a kind of private members' club. Its innate expense and hassle excludes the boring, the old, the stupid, and the poor

    Yeah manchester is probably our 2nd city but it feels nothing like london at all and round Piccadilly Gardens is pretty sketchy. However compared to shitholes like Bradford its still a veritable metropolis.
    I am hoping to end my days on this earth without ever returning to Manchester, and never visiting Bradford EVER

    *shudders*
  • Jim_MillerJim_Miller Posts: 2,941
    Off topic: Historian Paula Fredriksen tries to correct the record: "To the east, the region of the biblical highlands was called Yehudah. The name predates Herodotus by centuries. By Jesus’ lifetime, the Romans labeled this whole area, coast and highlands together, as “Judaea,” a Latinization of “Yehudah.” The people living in Judaea were called “Iudaei”: “Judeans” or “Jews.” Their temple in Jerusalem, the focus of their ancestral worship since the first millennium B.C., was sacred to Jesus, which is why the gospels depict him as journeying there for pilgrimage holidays. An ethnic Judean, Jesus was, accordingly, a Jew.

    Where, then, did the name “Palestine” come from? From a foreign imperial colonizing power: Rome. Judeans revolted twice against the Romans. The first revolt, from A.D. 66 to 73, reached an awful climax with the destruction of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. Still, Rome kept “Judaea” as the region’s designation. But in A.D. 132-135, the Jews again revolted. By that point, Rome had had enough. The empire changed the administrative name of the region to “Syria-Palestina” — a full century after Jesus’ death. It was a deliberate way to “de-Judaize” the territory by using the throwback term for the coastal Philistines."
    source$: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/03/28/easter-jesus-not-palestinian-jew/

    I wish her luck, but the kind of propaganda she refutes is so useful to some that it won't die.

    (Her reminders that the Palestinian Authority and Hamas have not exactly been friendly to Christians, either, won't get much attention, for the same reason.)
  • TimSTimS Posts: 12,678
    edited March 28
    For those bemoaning the shit weather…there’s plenty more to come.

    We’ve got ourselves into one of those ruts which - you’re not imagining it - are more common and more prolonged and rutty in our warmer world.

    A few weeks ago a sudden stratospheric warming turned high level winds backwards around the pole and forced the jet stream South, where it’s been for most of the month even in that warming week mid-March. That combined with a mature El Niño (similar effect in late winter) is bringing us our cold wet weather. But next week the jet strengthens and things go more straightforwardly Westerly, so we’re into a repeating unsettled pattern until at least next weekend.

    Well over a month of rainfall in the next week across most of Western Europe. Up to 3 metres of new snow in higher parts of the Swiss alps. Flooding likely everywhere.

    Meanwhile ridiculously prolonged record breaking heatwaves across much of the tropics.
This discussion has been closed.