His analysis reads pretty logically. Funny how much more level headed he is on his blog than during the heydey of his excoriating PB thread headers. That's what Brexit did to us all.
Sadly his prognosis for the Lib Dems' seat count is both downbeat and worryingly credible.
What would you be content with for LD seats?
35 would be my mental threshold I think. But most important is leapfrogging the SNP into the 3rd party in parliament.
That could be very close, LD v SNP. An interesting sub-plot to the main drama.
Tragic really. And they talk about 'Intelligent Design'. What sort of designer would use the same pipe for both breathing in vital oxygen and consuming solid food stuff that could easily block it?
Indeed, 'design' in nature appears extraordinarily clever though much less intelligent. ID however doesn't start from the butterfly wing or the tiger's stripes, nor from alleged perfections in design engineering. It (controversially) starts from (alleged) empirical conclusions about the complexity and interaction required to achieve microbiological result X showing (allegedly) that this cannot occur purely at random or by accident.
It should (IMHO) be neither adopted by the credulous nor dismissed by the Dawkins tendency. The working assumption of empiricism that there is no such thing as intention in the universe taken as whole is only an assumption. Aristotle would have scratched his head at such an arcane and weird assumption.
On that polling, Susan Hall is now polling slightly higher in London than Andy Street is in the West Midlands
Doing quite a bit better at keeping Reform in their box.
How much that is because London is mostly very poor territory for Reform, and how much it's because Hall is more Reform-friendly than Street, I don't know.
As noted upthread, he ought to have martyred himself on Sunak’s wanton destruction of HS2.
A very peculiar decision by Rishi. Yes, there were elements on the Right who bitched about HS2, so perhaps Rishi thought he'd ingratiate himself with them. But after he'd scrapped it literally everyone on earth started saying what a great idea HS2 was and how Rishi was a twit for mucking it up. Daft.
That was in his "tough decisions favouring commonsense over blob consensus" phase.
It would have been tactically smarter for Truss to begin with something like that rather than what she did.
I think she should have called an election if she intended doing anything radical. The mandate went with Boris.
I am a liberal. I think people should be free. Sunak's smoking proposals are a restriction on people's freedoms to buy cigarettes. So, why support them?
Most people who smoke want to give up. That's because nicotine is astonishingly addictive. Most people smoking are doing something they would rather not be doing, because they are compelled by their addiction. That is a restriction on people's freedoms. We increase liberty by banning an addictive drug.
Social media is also astonishingly addictive. Maybe it also needs to be banned.
Why are ecstasy and mushrooms banned? There could be huge social and economic benefits to regulating them.
Less likely from mushrooms (as long as you pick the right ones)
Drug testing in the Netherlands seems to have eliminated Ecstasy related deaths - which were associated with contaminants, wildly varying dosages and pills simply being other drugs.
Which strongly suggests that legalised and regulated sale would have a similar effect.
I think you are probably right with this, however I think ecstasy is still a pretty dangerous drug to take.
David Nutt's point about horse riding is germane. Plenty die or are paralysed riding horses each year but we don't ban it. Should people be allowed to take the chance on regulated, QC passed ecstasy? Probably. Mushrooms I'd argue definitely.
A pretty dangerous drug on what basis? Toxicity, risk, harm to others? And compared to what, alcohol, caffeine, paracetamol?
As @Malmsbury has shown, ecstasy deaths have been effectively eliminated where quasi-regulation and decriminalisation exists.
No time to go into much depth but a cursory flick through web of science suggests enough to be concerned (even if only for safety doing other things after taking MDMA).
Er, so like booze, mushrooms or, erm, most other drugs. True, one shouldn't drive or work on building site when loved up, but I guess most of us knew that.
Its not just that. Hyperpyrexia seems to be a danger too. As I said, I don't think ecstasy is 'safe', and there would be risks associated with it.
That's the interesting thing, isn't it? Unless it's impurities or a dose issue, there is perhaps a risk of rare but extreme adverse outcomes with MDMA that are not present with alcohol at sane doses.
One would need to establish whether such adverse reactions are due to taking the equivalent of a couple of bottles of whisky (or a methanol-based drink) of MDMA or whether it's possible from taking the equivalent of a clean pint of session IPA.
The increased risks for those with CV disease are probably less of an issue for 18 year olds at Reading Festival, but maybe more so for the ageing rocker types (PB members) at Glastonbury.
The problem with making it legal (or one of the problems) is the deaths from taking MDMA. It doesn't matter that they were almost certainly mostly due to contamenents, You can imagine the campaigns from mothers of deceased kids all over BBC breakfast...
Yes, that's why it will never happen. There's little political upside and masses of potential downside - even if regulated, pure and 'safe' some kids will get off their tit and fall off something/crash a car or something.
I can think of two upsides *if* you're brave enough. Tax revenue and pressure off policing/prisons. But you have to be brave enough. Possibly much more feasible in 20 or so years - the generations for whom drug use was a big taboo (rather than a choice they wouldn't make) are beginning to disappear. Plus there's odd allies on all parts of the political spectrum where it could end up party policy if the faction that buys into legalisation is in the ascendant.
I wouldn't bet on it, but it's plausible that in 20-30 years a Tory leader who's emerged from what you might call the 'techbro' right, puts it in a manifesto in a bid to convince voters his or her party has changed and is modern.
I'd love a think tank to do a proper line by line ranking of all narcotics, legal and illegal, based on 4 variables:
1. Risk of harm to user 2. Risk of harm to others 3. Non-health costs of making / remaining illegal 4. Non-health benefits of making / remaining legal
Actually I probably wouldn't because it would have alcohol high up on 1 and extremely high up on 2.
I think David Nutt did that for Blair. IIRC he got sacked for his troubles.
Seattle Times - WA governor candidate Semi Bird says ‘no excuse’ for [his past] financial crime
Republican gubernatorial candidate Semi Bird pleaded guilty in 1993 to a misdemeanor count of bank larceny for lying on a credit application by using the name and Social Security number of his father, records show.
According to the previously unreported federal conviction, Bird, then 30 and living in Sunnyside, Yakima County, falsified a 1991 credit application “with intent to steal and purloin” funds from U.S. Bank.
Under the plea agreement, signed May 11, 1993, Bird, whose full name is Misipati Semi Bird, was sentenced to two years of probation and agreed to pay restitution of $1,963 and a fine of $500.
n an interview Tuesday, Bird, now 63, said he makes no excuses for the mistake decades ago.
“Guilty as charged — 100%,” he said. “It was wrong . . . . “there was no excuse.”
SSI - Timing of this revelation is quite interesting, coming on eve of this week's WA State Republican Convention. Which will endorse candidates for Governor and other state & federal offices on August primary ballot.
Top Republican candidate for Gov - and sole credible hope for the general election - is former WA congressman and King Co sheriff Dave Reichert. My guess is this story MAY (emphasis on conditional) help him at a convention sure to be dominated by wingnuts.
But maybe not.
BTW, Reichert tried to help himself on that front, by stating before a GOPer audience that, “No. 1, my wife is a woman and I’m a man . . . There’s only man and woman. I was raised as a Christian. And marriage is between a man and a woman.”
This was an ad hoc response, to questions about his position of transgender issues. Will NOT hurt him with GOP convention delegates & politicos. BUT likely will NOT help him in the general election PROVIDED he makes it through the "Top Two" primary. Which is a VERY good bet IMHO.
We don't thank you enough, SSI2. I have no idea about any of the above, but it is interesting, thank you.
Q> Would they do better at impending general election IF they defenestrated Ed Davey? Or worse? Or no difference?
2 answers:
- On purely leadership terms, no difference - As a result of the actual defenestration process and the message that sends, probably worse
There are OK candidates waiting in the wings for next time but no obvious king/queen across the water. The personality of the local PPC will matter more than the leader I think, come the election. After all the LDs are unlikely to provide the next prime minister, or indeed be in coalition.
There are only 3 Lib Dem MPs with significant pre-2017 Parliamentary experience - Davey, Carmichael and Farron, and only one with any significant Ministerial experience - Davey himself.
I think he needs to fight this one, and train up the new members for some time before he steps back, or step down if he flops. And I think the Tories shooting themselves between the eyes has made sure he won't flop.
As for when to step down if he succeeds (which I take as say between 15 and X MPs), I'd say it depends on the result - either part way through the next term, or part way through the term after that. He needs to build a wider effective team.
He has at least another 2 Parliaments before he even reaches normal retirement age - which for him will be 66, 67 or 68. He is now 58.
eg in Zurich right now it is 8C. That's about 6 degrees below normal
Went for a walk along the Serpentine in Hyde Park earlier. It was very cold, what with the windchill. Only saving grace was that I saw a Mandarin Duck, quite rare in London!
Q> Would they do better at impending general election IF they defenestrated Ed Davey? Or worse? Or no difference?
2 answers:
- On purely leadership terms, no difference - As a result of the actual defenestration process and the message that sends, probably worse
There are OK candidates waiting in the wings for next time but no obvious king/queen across the water. The personality of the local PPC will matter more than the leader I think, come the election. After all the LDs are unlikely to provide the next prime minister, or indeed be in coalition.
There are only 3 Lib Dem MPs with significant pre-2017 Parliamentary experience - Davey, Carmichael and Farron, and only one with any significant Ministerial experience - Davey himself.
I think he needs to fight this one, and train up the new members for some time before he steps back, or step down if he flops. And I think the Tories shooting themselves between the eyes has made sure he won't flop.
As for when to step down if he succeeds (which I take as say between 15 and X MPs), I'd say it depends on the result - either part way through the next term, or part way through the term after that. He needs to build a wider effective team.
He has at least another 2 Parliaments before he even reaches normal retirement age - which for him will be 66, 67 or 68. He is now 58.
I'd say he really wants to put the LDs back where they were before the coalition and the subsequent Tory Social Media Micro-mugging, or at least in sight of getting there. Perhaps what he would really like would be to get in a position when Labour's wave has crested to force them to embrace PR, but no Labour leader will do that until there is an existential threat.
For Davey, personal reasons may also impact, as he has his disabled child and his wife has MS iirc.
It's also the case that only the same 3 Lib Dem MPs have experience of operating in a Parliamentary Party of more than than 15. That is important experience to pass on.
Well I never, Leon is at home and I am not...mind you, it's quite cold here as well, but less so than at home
Nice!
Cold and French but also slightly Flemish-looking buildings, so I'm guessing somewhere in Picardy?
Or maybe the Jura?
I think it's Alsace. Those buildings look germanic.
Mulhouse
Top of the class, assuming no image search
My dinner is a hearty bowl of pasta, lightly smoked ham, fermented cabbage, all covered in melted cheese.
No image search. Clearly not Strasbourg, and too urban looking to be Colmar. Nice part of world. Beautiful wines including the best cooperatives in France, and you get to hop across the border where the Germans make their cheapest but nice plonk.
Well I never, Leon is at home and I am not...mind you, it's quite cold here as well, but less so than at home
Nice!
Cold and French but also slightly Flemish-looking buildings, so I'm guessing somewhere in Picardy?
Or maybe the Jura?
I think it's Alsace. Those buildings look germanic.
Mulhouse
Top of the class, assuming no image search
My dinner is a hearty bowl of pasta, lightly smoked ham, fermented cabbage, all covered in melted cheese.
No image search. Clearly not Strasbourg, and too urban looking to be Colmar. Nice part of world. Beautiful wines including the best cooperatives in France, and you get to hop across the border where the Germans make their cheapest but nice plonk.
Well I never, Leon is at home and I am not...mind you, it's quite cold here as well, but less so than at home
Nice!
Cold and French but also slightly Flemish-looking buildings, so I'm guessing somewhere in Picardy?
Or maybe the Jura?
I think it's Alsace. Those buildings look germanic.
Mulhouse
Top of the class, assuming no image search
My dinner is a hearty bowl of pasta, lightly smoked ham, fermented cabbage, all covered in melted cheese.
No image search. Clearly not Strasbourg, and too urban looking to be Colmar. Nice part of world. Beautiful wines including the best cooperatives in France, and you get to hop across the border where the Germans make their cheapest but nice plonk.
Bravo. I don't know Alsace that well, apart from Strasbourg
I am actually off to France myself, at the weekend. The frigging forecast there looks little better. COLD for April
Well I never, Leon is at home and I am not...mind you, it's quite cold here as well, but less so than at home
Nice!
Cold and French but also slightly Flemish-looking buildings, so I'm guessing somewhere in Picardy?
Or maybe the Jura?
I think it's Alsace. Those buildings look germanic.
Mulhouse
Top of the class, assuming no image search
My dinner is a hearty bowl of pasta, lightly smoked ham, fermented cabbage, all covered in melted cheese.
No image search. Clearly not Strasbourg, and too urban looking to be Colmar. Nice part of world. Beautiful wines including the best cooperatives in France, and you get to hop across the border where the Germans make their cheapest but nice plonk.
There are plenty of interesting places to stay in this French/German/Swiss corner, without having to detour much - previously I have stopped over in Colmar, Freiburg, Lorrach, Thann and here.
If you lived here, there is an astounding variety of places within a reasonable day's drive.
Well I never, Leon is at home and I am not...mind you, it's quite cold here as well, but less so than at home
Nice!
Cold and French but also slightly Flemish-looking buildings, so I'm guessing somewhere in Picardy?
Or maybe the Jura?
I think it's Alsace. Those buildings look germanic.
Mulhouse
Top of the class, assuming no image search
My dinner is a hearty bowl of pasta, lightly smoked ham, fermented cabbage, all covered in melted cheese.
No image search. Clearly not Strasbourg, and too urban looking to be Colmar. Nice part of world. Beautiful wines including the best cooperatives in France, and you get to hop across the border where the Germans make their cheapest but nice plonk.
Do you as a traveller form Brexit Britain?
Fortunately they've not yet cancelled Schengen just to annoy the Brits. If Ian is planning on checking out the bit across the border then I recommend Staufen, lovely little town surrounded by vineyards and a pretty castle. Looks like something out of Disney. Last time I was there it was completely spoiled by wasps, but it's not the season yet. Then a trip up the Belchen for very good views to the Alps.
Well I never, Leon is at home and I am not...mind you, it's quite cold here as well, but less so than at home
Nice!
Cold and French but also slightly Flemish-looking buildings, so I'm guessing somewhere in Picardy?
Or maybe the Jura?
I think it's Alsace. Those buildings look germanic.
Mulhouse
Top of the class, assuming no image search
My dinner is a hearty bowl of pasta, lightly smoked ham, fermented cabbage, all covered in melted cheese.
No image search. Clearly not Strasbourg, and too urban looking to be Colmar. Nice part of world. Beautiful wines including the best cooperatives in France, and you get to hop across the border where the Germans make their cheapest but nice plonk.
Bravo. I don't know Alsace that well, apart from Strasbourg
I am actually off to France myself, at the weekend. The frigging forecast there looks little better. COLD for April
Whereabouts? If you're in a wine region you may get to see the pretty but sad phenomenon of night hillsides lit up by millions of frost candles.
Well I never, Leon is at home and I am not...mind you, it's quite cold here as well, but less so than at home
Nice!
Cold and French but also slightly Flemish-looking buildings, so I'm guessing somewhere in Picardy?
Or maybe the Jura?
I think it's Alsace. Those buildings look germanic.
Mulhouse
Top of the class, assuming no image search
My dinner is a hearty bowl of pasta, lightly smoked ham, fermented cabbage, all covered in melted cheese.
No image search. Clearly not Strasbourg, and too urban looking to be Colmar. Nice part of world. Beautiful wines including the best cooperatives in France, and you get to hop across the border where the Germans make their cheapest but nice plonk.
Do you as a traveller form Brexit Britain?
Fortunately they've not yet cancelled Schengen just to annoy the Brits. If Ian is planning on checking out the bit across the border then I recommend Staufen, lovely little town surrounded by vineyards and a pretty castle. Looks like something out of Disney. Last time I was there it was completely spoiled by wasps, but it's not the season yet. Then a trip up the Belchen for very good views to the Alps.
Well I never, Leon is at home and I am not...mind you, it's quite cold here as well, but less so than at home
Nice!
Cold and French but also slightly Flemish-looking buildings, so I'm guessing somewhere in Picardy?
Or maybe the Jura?
I think it's Alsace. Those buildings look germanic.
Mulhouse
Top of the class, assuming no image search
My dinner is a hearty bowl of pasta, lightly smoked ham, fermented cabbage, all covered in melted cheese.
No image search. Clearly not Strasbourg, and too urban looking to be Colmar. Nice part of world. Beautiful wines including the best cooperatives in France, and you get to hop across the border where the Germans make their cheapest but nice plonk.
Bravo. I don't know Alsace that well, apart from Strasbourg
I am actually off to France myself, at the weekend. The frigging forecast there looks little better. COLD for April
Whereabouts? If you're in a wine region you may get to see the pretty but sad phenomenon of night hillsides lit up by millions of frost candles.
Not wine, cider. Brittany/Normandy
How is your vineyard doing? You said you were scared you might lose the lot, with this insane weather
Well I never, Leon is at home and I am not...mind you, it's quite cold here as well, but less so than at home
Nice!
Cold and French but also slightly Flemish-looking buildings, so I'm guessing somewhere in Picardy?
Or maybe the Jura?
I think it's Alsace. Those buildings look germanic.
Mulhouse
Top of the class, assuming no image search
My dinner is a hearty bowl of pasta, lightly smoked ham, fermented cabbage, all covered in melted cheese.
No image search. Clearly not Strasbourg, and too urban looking to be Colmar. Nice part of world. Beautiful wines including the best cooperatives in France, and you get to hop across the border where the Germans make their cheapest but nice plonk.
Bravo. I don't know Alsace that well, apart from Strasbourg
I am actually off to France myself, at the weekend. The frigging forecast there looks little better. COLD for April
Like many border zones that have swapped between very different cultures, Alsace is well worth a visit. Some charming towns and villages, mostly untouched by war, excellent wines often overlooked by the UK market, and its distinctive cuisine which is fine provided your heart holds out. Thoroughly Frenchified now, if with a lingering Germanic accent, yet most of the adults' grandparents would have been German speaking.
Well I never, Leon is at home and I am not...mind you, it's quite cold here as well, but less so than at home
Nice!
Cold and French but also slightly Flemish-looking buildings, so I'm guessing somewhere in Picardy?
Or maybe the Jura?
I think it's Alsace. Those buildings look germanic.
Mulhouse
Top of the class, assuming no image search
My dinner is a hearty bowl of pasta, lightly smoked ham, fermented cabbage, all covered in melted cheese.
No image search. Clearly not Strasbourg, and too urban looking to be Colmar. Nice part of world. Beautiful wines including the best cooperatives in France, and you get to hop across the border where the Germans make their cheapest but nice plonk.
Bravo. I don't know Alsace that well, apart from Strasbourg
I am actually off to France myself, at the weekend. The frigging forecast there looks little better. COLD for April
Whereabouts? If you're in a wine region you may get to see the pretty but sad phenomenon of night hillsides lit up by millions of frost candles.
If Andy Street is defeated, hopefully Con will find him a safe Westminster seat (if there is such a thing at Election 24) - He'd make a pretty good addition to the Conservatives in Parliament.
Well I never, Leon is at home and I am not...mind you, it's quite cold here as well, but less so than at home
Nice!
Cold and French but also slightly Flemish-looking buildings, so I'm guessing somewhere in Picardy?
Or maybe the Jura?
I think it's Alsace. Those buildings look germanic.
Mulhouse
Top of the class, assuming no image search
My dinner is a hearty bowl of pasta, lightly smoked ham, fermented cabbage, all covered in melted cheese.
No image search. Clearly not Strasbourg, and too urban looking to be Colmar. Nice part of world. Beautiful wines including the best cooperatives in France, and you get to hop across the border where the Germans make their cheapest but nice plonk.
Do you as a traveller from Brexit Britain?
Complete the above in 14 lines, in the style of Shelley.
Well I never, Leon is at home and I am not...mind you, it's quite cold here as well, but less so than at home
Nice!
Cold and French but also slightly Flemish-looking buildings, so I'm guessing somewhere in Picardy?
Or maybe the Jura?
I think it's Alsace. Those buildings look germanic.
Mulhouse
Top of the class, assuming no image search
My dinner is a hearty bowl of pasta, lightly smoked ham, fermented cabbage, all covered in melted cheese.
No image search. Clearly not Strasbourg, and too urban looking to be Colmar. Nice part of world. Beautiful wines including the best cooperatives in France, and you get to hop across the border where the Germans make their cheapest but nice plonk.
Bravo. I don't know Alsace that well, apart from Strasbourg
I am actually off to France myself, at the weekend. The frigging forecast there looks little better. COLD for April
Like many border zones that have swapped between very different cultures, Alsace is well worth a visit. Some charming towns and villages, mostly untouched by war, excellent wines often overlooked by the UK market, and its distinctive cuisine which is fine provided your heart holds out. Thoroughly Frenchified now, if with a lingering Germanic accent, yet most of the adults' grandparents would have been German speaking.
I have been to Strsbourg etc. And driven though a few times. I don't like the food much, because I really dislike German food, and you can detect the Teutonic influence (as you say)
The military history is fascinating. You can still tell it is THE border. France/Germany. Lots of barracks and forts and the like. Soldiers training. Cemeteries
Well I never, Leon is at home and I am not...mind you, it's quite cold here as well, but less so than at home
Nice!
Cold and French but also slightly Flemish-looking buildings, so I'm guessing somewhere in Picardy?
Or maybe the Jura?
I think it's Alsace. Those buildings look germanic.
Mulhouse
Top of the class, assuming no image search
My dinner is a hearty bowl of pasta, lightly smoked ham, fermented cabbage, all covered in melted cheese.
No image search. Clearly not Strasbourg, and too urban looking to be Colmar. Nice part of world. Beautiful wines including the best cooperatives in France, and you get to hop across the border where the Germans make their cheapest but nice plonk.
Do you as a traveller form Brexit Britain?
Fortunately they've not yet cancelled Schengen just to annoy the Brits. If Ian is planning on checking out the bit across the border then I recommend Staufen, lovely little town surrounded by vineyards and a pretty castle. Looks like something out of Disney. Last time I was there it was completely spoiled by wasps, but it's not the season yet. Then a trip up the Belchen for very good views to the Alps.
Last time I came through here I drove up the Grand Ballon, from where they claim a dramatic Alpine horizon, but sadly it was hazy that day. But I did buy a chicken candle for my Polish-French friend, who collects everything to do with chickens, including chickens. Today it's cold and clear and there is still plenty of snow on the hills.
I will remember Staufen for next year; my return will be via Lorrach which is a fine, little known place for a stopover, with a very dog-friendly beer-cellar style restaurant, and great views over to Basle; somewhere best seen from a distance
If Andy Street is defeated, hopefully Con will find him a safe Westminster seat (if there is such a thing at Election 24) - He'd make a pretty good addition to the Conservatives in Parliament.
If he'd wanted to be an MP surely he'd have found one by now? Two terms as mayor and then into Parliament wouldn't have looked amiss.
New blog post on the search for MH370 by Richard Godfrey, who had a "Eureka moment" about 3 years ago that WSPR radio signals could be used to detect where the plane crashed.
Switzerland was the richest country in the world per capita in 1990.
Amazingly, it was one of the POOREST countries in Europe for centuries. Hence the Swiss Guards. Swiss people were so poor they became the great source of mercenaries
Then they decided to have a hundred years of total peace, democracy, watchmaking and clever if selfish banking, even as every other nation around them tipped into mayhem. Et voila
I thought it was massively overrated. The huge twist did not make up for a decidedly average novel
What twist? The Tiger fucks off at the end?
All I remember is a twist. It was so forgettable I have (honestly) forgotten what it was. I was bewildered by the praise
I have felt same about several Booker Prize winners and I gave up reading acclaimed literary fiction as a result, it was all so shit
The nadir was some massively hyped book by Richard Ford which consisted of no plot whatsoever. And, what's more, the writing wasn't even that good. Not beautiful, not funny, not clever, just mildly well shaped. The only thing I remember is a bit where the protagonist spilt a bit of rootbeer
Well I never, Leon is at home and I am not...mind you, it's quite cold here as well, but less so than at home
Nice!
Cold and French but also slightly Flemish-looking buildings, so I'm guessing somewhere in Picardy?
Or maybe the Jura?
I think it's Alsace. Those buildings look germanic.
Mulhouse
Top of the class, assuming no image search
My dinner is a hearty bowl of pasta, lightly smoked ham, fermented cabbage, all covered in melted cheese.
No image search. Clearly not Strasbourg, and too urban looking to be Colmar. Nice part of world. Beautiful wines including the best cooperatives in France, and you get to hop across the border where the Germans make their cheapest but nice plonk.
Bravo. I don't know Alsace that well, apart from Strasbourg
I am actually off to France myself, at the weekend. The frigging forecast there looks little better. COLD for April
Like many border zones that have swapped between very different cultures, Alsace is well worth a visit. Some charming towns and villages, mostly untouched by war, excellent wines often overlooked by the UK market, and its distinctive cuisine which is fine provided your heart holds out. Thoroughly Frenchified now, if with a lingering Germanic accent, yet most of the adults' grandparents would have been German speaking.
I have been to Strsbourg etc. And driven though a few times. I don't like the food much, because I really dislike German food, and you can detect the Teutonic influence (as you say)
The military history is fascinating. You can still tell it is THE border. France/Germany. Lots of barracks and forts and the like. Soldiers training. Cemeteries
Königsbourg is an astonishing sight, seen from a distance
Can anyone tell me what Street has actually done for “Greater Birmingham and the Black Country” (my preferred nomenclature) apart from not be insane like his party colleagues?
He deserves to lose.
He's done quite a bit in attracting business, jobs and investment for the West Midlands without increasing tax and has been a good advocate for the region: https://www.andystreet.org.uk/about-andy-street
He also moonlights as the Wealdstone Raider, so you've got to respect him for that.
As noted upthread, he ought to have martyred himself on Sunak’s wanton destruction of HS2.
A very peculiar decision by Rishi. Yes, there were elements on the Right who bitched about HS2, so perhaps Rishi thought he'd ingratiate himself with them. But the moment he scrapped it literally everyone on earth started saying what a great idea HS2 was and how Rishi was a twit for mucking it up. Daft.
He's just not someone who gets how public transport works and why it's important. So I imagine he saw a big pot of money to raid for pre-election bungs or promises of bungs in electorally convenient places.
Because he has the political antenna of a gnat he didn't realise how damaging scrapping that bit was in that it rendered much of what was left a bit pointless and blew a hole in plans for much needed improvements to the north's lines. And it's just completely symbolic of Tory failure to do anything to improve things.
Well I never, Leon is at home and I am not...mind you, it's quite cold here as well, but less so than at home
Nice!
Cold and French but also slightly Flemish-looking buildings, so I'm guessing somewhere in Picardy?
Or maybe the Jura?
I think it's Alsace. Those buildings look germanic.
Mulhouse
Top of the class, assuming no image search
My dinner is a hearty bowl of pasta, lightly smoked ham, fermented cabbage, all covered in melted cheese.
No image search. Clearly not Strasbourg, and too urban looking to be Colmar. Nice part of world. Beautiful wines including the best cooperatives in France, and you get to hop across the border where the Germans make their cheapest but nice plonk.
Bravo. I don't know Alsace that well, apart from Strasbourg
I am actually off to France myself, at the weekend. The frigging forecast there looks little better. COLD for April
Like many border zones that have swapped between very different cultures, Alsace is well worth a visit. Some charming towns and villages, mostly untouched by war, excellent wines often overlooked by the UK market, and its distinctive cuisine which is fine provided your heart holds out. Thoroughly Frenchified now, if with a lingering Germanic accent, yet most of the adults' grandparents would have been German speaking.
I have been to Strsbourg etc. And driven though a few times. I don't like the food much, because I really dislike German food, and you can detect the Teutonic influence (as you say)
The military history is fascinating. You can still tell it is THE border. France/Germany. Lots of barracks and forts and the like. Soldiers training. Cemeteries
Königsbourg is an astonishing sight, seen from a distance
I've never been to Verdun. It's on my, er, bucket list. The ossuary. Have you?
I imagine it is quite intense. I found the Somme fucking intense. Thiepval. However, also fascinating. I toured it for the Gazette with my then 19 year old girlfriend who had no interest in history, so she stayed in the hotels drinking, texting and lazing and in the evenings we would have vigorous sex and eat Picardy pork with puy lentils. The sex was great, and I am SURE it was fired by all that death. A brilliant trip
AP (via CBC) - [Toronto] Raptors' Jontay Porter banned for life from NBA for betting on [pro basketball] games League investigation finds player guilty of manipulating games for betting purposes
Jontay Porter has been banned for life from the NBA after a league probe found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors and bet on games.
Porter, who was a two-way player for the Toronto Raptors, is the second person to be banned from the league by Commissioner Adam Silver for violating league rules. The other was now-former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling in 2014.
The investigation started once the league learned about unusual betting patterns surrounding Porter's performance in a game on March 20. The league determined that Porter gave a bettor information about his own health status prior that game, and another individual — known to be an NBA bettor — placed an $80,000 US bet that Porter would not hit the numbers set for him in parlays through an online sports book. That bet would have won $1.1 million.
Porter took himself out of that game after only a few minutes, claiming illness, none of his stats meeting the totals set in the parlay. The bet was frozen and not paid out, and the NBA started an investigation. . . .
His analysis reads pretty logically. Funny how much more level headed he is on his blog than during the heydey of his excoriating PB thread headers. That's what Brexit did to us all.
Sadly his prognosis for the Lib Dems' seat count is both downbeat and worryingly credible.
I'm obviously biased, but I do think the LibDems should concentrate resources on the top targets where there isn't a serious Labour effort - I know of at least two in Surrey and think there are several more, plus others in the southwest. None of them are in the bag but they do have a good shot in those, and if they spread their spending too thinly they risk having a lot of 20-25% results but almost no gains. The problem is that their USP is "not Tory and not mad", and Labour is ticking that box more obviously.
I've voted LD more than Labour in the past and concur. My strongest feeling at the moment is anti Tory (and have voted for them in the past), and struggle to see much of a distinction between current LDs and Labour Starmerites. Maybe there will be more differentiation by the time of the election but 1) there might not be 2) will it cut through the noise even if there is and 3) I'm still going to be mostly anti Tory this time anyway unless Labour do something pretty silly.
In a lot of places it should be obvious whether Labour or the LibDems are the main challengers to the Tories (last result, number of councillors). If not we'll have the local election results to look at.
I thought it was massively overrated. The huge twist did not make up for a decidedly average novel
What twist? The Tiger fucks off at the end?
All I remember is a twist. It was so forgettable I have (honestly) forgotten what it was. I was bewildered by the praise
I have felt same about several Booker Prize winners and I gave up reading acclaimed literary fiction as a result, it was all so shit
The nadir was some massively hyped book by Richard Ford which consisted of no plot whatsoever. And, what's more, the writing wasn't even that good. Not beautiful, not funny, not clever, just mildly well shaped. The only thing I remember is a bit where the protagonist spilt a bit of rootbeer
I'm a bit of a reverse snob when it comes to acclaimed things. Critics tend to get a bit abstract in their praise as they hype it, or talk about how 'important' a work is, rather than if it is a good story or has good characters, and that makes me naturally suspicious. I've even seen reviews for things I like that make them sound crap by doing that. Then you get stuff which is just perfectly ordinary, but because of who wrote it it's presented like some masterpiece of originality.
Of course, I don't mind many acclaimed things, some are indeed good, but if it is super insightful or culturally important or whatever, I prefer to figure that out for myself.
Switzerland was the richest country in the world per capita in 1990.
Amazingly, it was one of the POOREST countries in Europe for centuries. Hence the Swiss Guards. Swiss people were so poor they became the great source of mercenaries
Then they decided to have a hundred years of total peace, democracy, watchmaking and clever if selfish banking, even as every other nation around them tipped into mayhem. Et voila
If you fancied a military career within Switzerland your options were rather limited.
The Nazis stashed all their gold and other plundered wealth there, and it's not been seen since?
Well I never, Leon is at home and I am not...mind you, it's quite cold here as well, but less so than at home
Nice!
Cold and French but also slightly Flemish-looking buildings, so I'm guessing somewhere in Picardy?
Or maybe the Jura?
I think it's Alsace. Those buildings look germanic.
Mulhouse
Top of the class, assuming no image search
My dinner is a hearty bowl of pasta, lightly smoked ham, fermented cabbage, all covered in melted cheese.
No image search. Clearly not Strasbourg, and too urban looking to be Colmar. Nice part of world. Beautiful wines including the best cooperatives in France, and you get to hop across the border where the Germans make their cheapest but nice plonk.
Bravo. I don't know Alsace that well, apart from Strasbourg
I am actually off to France myself, at the weekend. The frigging forecast there looks little better. COLD for April
Whereabouts? If you're in a wine region you may get to see the pretty but sad phenomenon of night hillsides lit up by millions of frost candles.
Not wine, cider. Brittany/Normandy
How is your vineyard doing? You said you were scared you might lose the lot, with this insane weather
0.7C last night so escaped. But there’s more frost risk in Kent next week.
Down to -3C in parts of burgundy and the rhone valley the next few days.
HS2 was cancelled for tax cuts, and to try to create a trap for Labour.
Rishi is also ideologically opposed to public infrastructure, with the possible exception of chess boards.
There's a certain sort of ideological Conservative whose neo-Thatcherite views don't run much further than achieving nirvana is only a question of cutting the right tax and the market will then do the rest. And the further the better.
It wasn't true in her day, isn't now, and is a gross simplification and misrepresentation of her position: competitive taxes can and do help businesses, and stimulate risk-taking and innovation, but they aren't a substitute for an abdication of leadership or Government.
When the Tories get desperate they typically resort to opposing things that no-one is proposing. I predict the GE will be full of it
In fairness, political parties are always misrepresenting what their opponents will or might do, as that is typically more politically fruitful than sticking precisely to what they are proposing.
Also in fairness, the Tories have made an increasing habit of it, and the political gaslighting will probably be quite strong this time around.
I thought it was massively overrated. The huge twist did not make up for a decidedly average novel
What twist? The Tiger fucks off at the end?
All I remember is a twist. It was so forgettable I have (honestly) forgotten what it was. I was bewildered by the praise
I have felt same about several Booker Prize winners and I gave up reading acclaimed literary fiction as a result, it was all so shit
The nadir was some massively hyped book by Richard Ford which consisted of no plot whatsoever. And, what's more, the writing wasn't even that good. Not beautiful, not funny, not clever, just mildly well shaped. The only thing I remember is a bit where the protagonist spilt a bit of rootbeer
I'm a bit of a reverse snob when it comes to acclaimed things. Critics tend to get a bit abstract in their praise as they hype it, or talk about how 'important' a work is, rather than if it is a good story or has good characters, adn that makes me naturally suspicious. I've even seen reviews for things I like that make them sound crap by doing that. Then you get stuff which is just perfectly ordinary, but because of who wrote it it's presented like some masterpiece of originality.
Of course, I don't mind many acclaimed things, some are indeed good, but if it is super insightful or culturally important or whatever, I prefer to figure that out for myself.
It's an affliction particular to literary novels, for some reason
What I mean is: if a movie is widely acclaimed and I go see it, generally I think: Yeah, wow, that's great, or I do at least see why people love it (even if I don't). Likewise good TV drama, or conceptual art
However the criticism of literary fiction commonly seems weirdly divorced from real merit. What is loved by a coterie of critics is often not just overpraised but actively mediocre or awful. It is a SURPRISE when I read an acclaimed novel and it turns out to be worth the hype
However this does NOT affect non fiction, history, biography. If a history book wins loads of awards, it's generally really good
This tells me that literary fiction is doomed, probably. As happened to modernist classical music. Sir Harrison Birtwistle, FFS
Well I never, Leon is at home and I am not...mind you, it's quite cold here as well, but less so than at home
Nice!
Cold and French but also slightly Flemish-looking buildings, so I'm guessing somewhere in Picardy?
Or maybe the Jura?
I think it's Alsace. Those buildings look germanic.
Mulhouse
Top of the class, assuming no image search
My dinner is a hearty bowl of pasta, lightly smoked ham, fermented cabbage, all covered in melted cheese.
No image search. Clearly not Strasbourg, and too urban looking to be Colmar. Nice part of world. Beautiful wines including the best cooperatives in France, and you get to hop across the border where the Germans make their cheapest but nice plonk.
Bravo. I don't know Alsace that well, apart from Strasbourg
I am actually off to France myself, at the weekend. The frigging forecast there looks little better. COLD for April
Like many border zones that have swapped between very different cultures, Alsace is well worth a visit. Some charming towns and villages, mostly untouched by war, excellent wines often overlooked by the UK market, and its distinctive cuisine which is fine provided your heart holds out. Thoroughly Frenchified now, if with a lingering Germanic accent, yet most of the adults' grandparents would have been German speaking.
I have been to Strsbourg etc. And driven though a few times. I don't like the food much, because I really dislike German food, and you can detect the Teutonic influence (as you say)
The military history is fascinating. You can still tell it is THE border. France/Germany. Lots of barracks and forts and the like. Soldiers training. Cemeteries
Königsbourg is an astonishing sight, seen from a distance
I've never been to Verdun. It's on my, er, bucket list. The ossuary. Have you?
I imagine it is quite intense. I found the Somme fucking intense. Thiepval. However, also fascinating. I toured it for the Gazette with my then 19 year old girlfriend who had no interest in history, so she stayed in the hotels drinking, texting and lazing and in the evenings we would have vigorous sex and eat Picardy pork with puy lentils. The sex was great, and I am SURE it was fired by all that death. A brilliant trip
That post reads like an old man's masturbatory fantasy.
HS2 was cancelled for tax cuts, and to try to create a trap for Labour.
Rishi is also ideologically opposed to public infrastructure, with the possible exception of chess boards.
There's a certain sort of ideological Conservative whose neo-Thatcherite views don't run much further than achieving nirvana is only a question of cutting the right tax and the market will then do the rest. And the further the better.
It wasn't true in her day, isn't now, and is a gross simplification and misrepresentation of her position: competitive taxes can and do help businesses, and stimulate risk-taking and innovation, but they aren't a substitute for an abdication of leadership or Government.
Good post.
Whilst politics is often made more complicated than it needs to be, there are also big issues in making things far too simple. People selling really simple solutions as a panacea is not impossible, but it probably isn't quite that easy. Governments wouldn't leave an easy option off the table.
As it applies to Thatcher as someone who did not grow up in those times, and nor did many of those now rising to prominence in politics, it looks like a form of cosplaying, or hazy nostalgic remembrance.
Well I never, Leon is at home and I am not...mind you, it's quite cold here as well, but less so than at home
Nice!
Cold and French but also slightly Flemish-looking buildings, so I'm guessing somewhere in Picardy?
Or maybe the Jura?
I think it's Alsace. Those buildings look germanic.
Mulhouse
Top of the class, assuming no image search
My dinner is a hearty bowl of pasta, lightly smoked ham, fermented cabbage, all covered in melted cheese.
No image search. Clearly not Strasbourg, and too urban looking to be Colmar. Nice part of world. Beautiful wines including the best cooperatives in France, and you get to hop across the border where the Germans make their cheapest but nice plonk.
Bravo. I don't know Alsace that well, apart from Strasbourg
I am actually off to France myself, at the weekend. The frigging forecast there looks little better. COLD for April
Like many border zones that have swapped between very different cultures, Alsace is well worth a visit. Some charming towns and villages, mostly untouched by war, excellent wines often overlooked by the UK market, and its distinctive cuisine which is fine provided your heart holds out. Thoroughly Frenchified now, if with a lingering Germanic accent, yet most of the adults' grandparents would have been German speaking.
I have been to Strsbourg etc. And driven though a few times. I don't like the food much, because I really dislike German food, and you can detect the Teutonic influence (as you say)
The military history is fascinating. You can still tell it is THE border. France/Germany. Lots of barracks and forts and the like. Soldiers training. Cemeteries
Königsbourg is an astonishing sight, seen from a distance
I've never been to Verdun. It's on my, er, bucket list. The ossuary. Have you?
I imagine it is quite intense. I found the Somme fucking intense. Thiepval. However, also fascinating. I toured it for the Gazette with my then 19 year old girlfriend who had no interest in history, so she stayed in the hotels drinking, texting and lazing and in the evenings we would have vigorous sex and eat Picardy pork with puy lentils. The sex was great, and I am SURE it was fired by all that death. A brilliant trip
That post reads like an old man's masturbatory fantasy.
Well I never, Leon is at home and I am not...mind you, it's quite cold here as well, but less so than at home
Nice!
Cold and French but also slightly Flemish-looking buildings, so I'm guessing somewhere in Picardy?
Or maybe the Jura?
I think it's Alsace. Those buildings look germanic.
Mulhouse
Top of the class, assuming no image search
My dinner is a hearty bowl of pasta, lightly smoked ham, fermented cabbage, all covered in melted cheese.
No image search. Clearly not Strasbourg, and too urban looking to be Colmar. Nice part of world. Beautiful wines including the best cooperatives in France, and you get to hop across the border where the Germans make their cheapest but nice plonk.
Bravo. I don't know Alsace that well, apart from Strasbourg
I am actually off to France myself, at the weekend. The frigging forecast there looks little better. COLD for April
Like many border zones that have swapped between very different cultures, Alsace is well worth a visit. Some charming towns and villages, mostly untouched by war, excellent wines often overlooked by the UK market, and its distinctive cuisine which is fine provided your heart holds out. Thoroughly Frenchified now, if with a lingering Germanic accent, yet most of the adults' grandparents would have been German speaking.
I have been to Strsbourg etc. And driven though a few times. I don't like the food much, because I really dislike German food, and you can detect the Teutonic influence (as you say)
The military history is fascinating. You can still tell it is THE border. France/Germany. Lots of barracks and forts and the like. Soldiers training. Cemeteries
Königsbourg is an astonishing sight, seen from a distance
You're not referring to the Russian's WWII booty in Kaliningrad, are you?
They effectively annexed the top half of what was East Prussia, depopulated it and filled it with Russians. The southern half was given to Poland, but at least they and Germany have a border treaty now with agreement on treatment of ancestors and families.
It should really have been given back to Germany after the Cold War or, at worst, Poland with some recognition that some of the German diaspora could return there.
Well I never, Leon is at home and I am not...mind you, it's quite cold here as well, but less so than at home
Nice!
Cold and French but also slightly Flemish-looking buildings, so I'm guessing somewhere in Picardy?
Or maybe the Jura?
I think it's Alsace. Those buildings look germanic.
Mulhouse
Top of the class, assuming no image search
My dinner is a hearty bowl of pasta, lightly smoked ham, fermented cabbage, all covered in melted cheese.
No image search. Clearly not Strasbourg, and too urban looking to be Colmar. Nice part of world. Beautiful wines including the best cooperatives in France, and you get to hop across the border where the Germans make their cheapest but nice plonk.
Bravo. I don't know Alsace that well, apart from Strasbourg
I am actually off to France myself, at the weekend. The frigging forecast there looks little better. COLD for April
Like many border zones that have swapped between very different cultures, Alsace is well worth a visit. Some charming towns and villages, mostly untouched by war, excellent wines often overlooked by the UK market, and its distinctive cuisine which is fine provided your heart holds out. Thoroughly Frenchified now, if with a lingering Germanic accent, yet most of the adults' grandparents would have been German speaking.
I have been to Strsbourg etc. And driven though a few times. I don't like the food much, because I really dislike German food, and you can detect the Teutonic influence (as you say)
The military history is fascinating. You can still tell it is THE border. France/Germany. Lots of barracks and forts and the like. Soldiers training. Cemeteries
Königsbourg is an astonishing sight, seen from a distance
I've never been to Verdun. It's on my, er, bucket list. The ossuary. Have you?
I imagine it is quite intense. I found the Somme fucking intense. Thiepval. However, also fascinating. I toured it for the Gazette with my then 19 year old girlfriend who had no interest in history, so she stayed in the hotels drinking, texting and lazing and in the evenings we would have vigorous sex and eat Picardy pork with puy lentils. The sex was great, and I am SURE it was fired by all that death. A brilliant trip
That post reads like an old man's masturbatory fantasy.
Well I never, Leon is at home and I am not...mind you, it's quite cold here as well, but less so than at home
Nice!
Cold and French but also slightly Flemish-looking buildings, so I'm guessing somewhere in Picardy?
Or maybe the Jura?
I think it's Alsace. Those buildings look germanic.
Mulhouse
Top of the class, assuming no image search
My dinner is a hearty bowl of pasta, lightly smoked ham, fermented cabbage, all covered in melted cheese.
No image search. Clearly not Strasbourg, and too urban looking to be Colmar. Nice part of world. Beautiful wines including the best cooperatives in France, and you get to hop across the border where the Germans make their cheapest but nice plonk.
Bravo. I don't know Alsace that well, apart from Strasbourg
I am actually off to France myself, at the weekend. The frigging forecast there looks little better. COLD for April
Like many border zones that have swapped between very different cultures, Alsace is well worth a visit. Some charming towns and villages, mostly untouched by war, excellent wines often overlooked by the UK market, and its distinctive cuisine which is fine provided your heart holds out. Thoroughly Frenchified now, if with a lingering Germanic accent, yet most of the adults' grandparents would have been German speaking.
I have been to Strsbourg etc. And driven though a few times. I don't like the food much, because I really dislike German food, and you can detect the Teutonic influence (as you say)
The military history is fascinating. You can still tell it is THE border. France/Germany. Lots of barracks and forts and the like. Soldiers training. Cemeteries
Königsbourg is an astonishing sight, seen from a distance
I've never been to Verdun. It's on my, er, bucket list. The ossuary. Have you?
I imagine it is quite intense. I found the Somme fucking intense. Thiepval. However, also fascinating. I toured it for the Gazette with my then 19 year old girlfriend who had no interest in history, so she stayed in the hotels drinking, texting and lazing and in the evenings we would have vigorous sex and eat Picardy pork with puy lentils. The sex was great, and I am SURE it was fired by all that death. A brilliant trip
That post reads like an old man's masturbatory fantasy.
Well I never, Leon is at home and I am not...mind you, it's quite cold here as well, but less so than at home
Nice!
Cold and French but also slightly Flemish-looking buildings, so I'm guessing somewhere in Picardy?
Or maybe the Jura?
I think it's Alsace. Those buildings look germanic.
Mulhouse
Top of the class, assuming no image search
My dinner is a hearty bowl of pasta, lightly smoked ham, fermented cabbage, all covered in melted cheese.
No image search. Clearly not Strasbourg, and too urban looking to be Colmar. Nice part of world. Beautiful wines including the best cooperatives in France, and you get to hop across the border where the Germans make their cheapest but nice plonk.
Bravo. I don't know Alsace that well, apart from Strasbourg
I am actually off to France myself, at the weekend. The frigging forecast there looks little better. COLD for April
Like many border zones that have swapped between very different cultures, Alsace is well worth a visit. Some charming towns and villages, mostly untouched by war, excellent wines often overlooked by the UK market, and its distinctive cuisine which is fine provided your heart holds out. Thoroughly Frenchified now, if with a lingering Germanic accent, yet most of the adults' grandparents would have been German speaking.
I have been to Strsbourg etc. And driven though a few times. I don't like the food much, because I really dislike German food, and you can detect the Teutonic influence (as you say)
The military history is fascinating. You can still tell it is THE border. France/Germany. Lots of barracks and forts and the like. Soldiers training. Cemeteries
Königsbourg is an astonishing sight, seen from a distance
You're not referring to the Russian's WWII booty in Kaliningrad, are you?
They effectively annexed the top half of what was East Prussia, depopulated it and filled it with Russians. The southern half was given to Poland, but at least they and Germany have a border treaty now with agreement on treatment of ancestors and families.
It should really have been given back to Germany after the Cold War or, at worst, Poland with some recognition that some of the German diaspora could return there.
No, the stunningly dramatic castle in the Alsace foothills, overlooking the Rhine plain
I thought it was massively overrated. The huge twist did not make up for a decidedly average novel
What twist? The Tiger fucks off at the end?
All I remember is a twist. It was so forgettable I have (honestly) forgotten what it was. I was bewildered by the praise
I have felt same about several Booker Prize winners and I gave up reading acclaimed literary fiction as a result, it was all so shit
The nadir was some massively hyped book by Richard Ford which consisted of no plot whatsoever. And, what's more, the writing wasn't even that good. Not beautiful, not funny, not clever, just mildly well shaped. The only thing I remember is a bit where the protagonist spilt a bit of rootbeer
As a philistine I agree. I gave up watching late night BBC2 book reviews after wading through too many novels with no discernible plot but a sparkling metaphor on page 203.
HS2 was cancelled for tax cuts, and to try to create a trap for Labour.
Rishi is also ideologically opposed to public infrastructure, with the possible exception of chess boards.
There's a certain sort of ideological Conservative whose neo-Thatcherite views don't run much further than achieving nirvana is only a question of cutting the right tax and the market will then do the rest. And the further the better.
It wasn't true in her day, isn't now, and is a gross simplification and misrepresentation of her position: competitive taxes can and do help businesses, and stimulate risk-taking and innovation, but they aren't a substitute for an abdication of leadership or Government.
Good post.
Whilst politics is often made more complicated than it needs to be, there are also big issues in making things far too simple. People selling really simple solutions as a panacea is not impossible, but it probably isn't quite that easy. Governments wouldn't leave an easy option off the table.
As it applies to Thatcher as someone who did not grow up in those times, and nor did many of those now rising to prominence in politics, it looks like a form of cosplaying, or hazy nostalgic remembrance.
There's a whole industry that's built up over the myth of Thatcher rather than the reality.
One, in all honesty, she contributed to a little bit herself after the mid 1990s because it helped her cope.
I thought it was massively overrated. The huge twist did not make up for a decidedly average novel
What twist? The Tiger fucks off at the end?
All I remember is a twist. It was so forgettable I have (honestly) forgotten what it was. I was bewildered by the praise
I have felt same about several Booker Prize winners and I gave up reading acclaimed literary fiction as a result, it was all so shit
The nadir was some massively hyped book by Richard Ford which consisted of no plot whatsoever. And, what's more, the writing wasn't even that good. Not beautiful, not funny, not clever, just mildly well shaped. The only thing I remember is a bit where the protagonist spilt a bit of rootbeer
As a philistine I agree. I gave up watching late night BBC2 book reviews after wading through too many novels with no discernible plot but a sparkling metaphor on page 203.
White Teeth by Zadie Smith
I mean, full of lovely similles, but my God it was all over the place. Perhaps forgivable because of her youth. She was genuinely talented
The God of Small Things, by Arundhati Roy, just wittering on about any old shit, with some butterflies eating a leaf
Loads like that.
I blame James Joyce. He wrote the greatest novel in history, Ulysses, but every writer saw it as a signpost rather than what it is: a dead end, Ne plus ultra. As far as you can go without a plot. And almost every literary writer since has tried to go further than him, without a plot, and failed
I thought it was massively overrated. The huge twist did not make up for a decidedly average novel
What twist? The Tiger fucks off at the end?
All I remember is a twist. It was so forgettable I have (honestly) forgotten what it was. I was bewildered by the praise
I have felt same about several Booker Prize winners and I gave up reading acclaimed literary fiction as a result, it was all so shit
The nadir was some massively hyped book by Richard Ford which consisted of no plot whatsoever. And, what's more, the writing wasn't even that good. Not beautiful, not funny, not clever, just mildly well shaped. The only thing I remember is a bit where the protagonist spilt a bit of rootbeer
I'm a bit of a reverse snob when it comes to acclaimed things. Critics tend to get a bit abstract in their praise as they hype it, or talk about how 'important' a work is, rather than if it is a good story or has good characters, adn that makes me naturally suspicious. I've even seen reviews for things I like that make them sound crap by doing that. Then you get stuff which is just perfectly ordinary, but because of who wrote it it's presented like some masterpiece of originality.
Of course, I don't mind many acclaimed things, some are indeed good, but if it is super insightful or culturally important or whatever, I prefer to figure that out for myself.
It's an affliction particular to literary novels, for some reason
What I mean is: if a movie is widely acclaimed and I go see it, generally I think: Yeah, wow, that's great, or I do at least see why people love it (even if I don't). Likewise good TV drama, or conceptual art
However the criticism of literary fiction commonly seems weirdly divorced from real merit. What is loved by a coterie of critics is often not just overpraised but actively mediocre or awful. It is a SURPRISE when I read an acclaimed novel and it turns out to be worth the hype
However this does NOT affect non fiction, history, biography. If a history book wins loads of awards, it's generally really good
This tells me that literary fiction is doomed, probably. As happened to modernist classical music. Sir Harrison Birtwistle, FFS
That's a good point regarding the contrast with film. Many an acclaimed film might not be my cup of tea but I can see it was really well shot or acted or something, the technical merits may be obvious at least.
The HOL should absolutely refuse to pass the Rwanda Bill unless the government accepts the amendment which gives an exemption to those who supported the British army in Afghanistan.
Only one Tory MP supported that amendment today , the rest showed zero humanity . Absolute scum the lot of them .
HS2 was cancelled for tax cuts, and to try to create a trap for Labour.
Rishi is also ideologically opposed to public infrastructure, with the possible exception of chess boards.
There's a certain sort of ideological Conservative whose neo-Thatcherite views don't run much further than achieving nirvana is only a question of cutting the right tax and the market will then do the rest. And the further the better.
It wasn't true in her day, isn't now, and is a gross simplification and misrepresentation of her position: competitive taxes can and do help businesses, and stimulate risk-taking and innovation, but they aren't a substitute for an abdication of leadership or Government.
Good post.
Whilst politics is often made more complicated than it needs to be, there are also big issues in making things far too simple. People selling really simple solutions as a panacea is not impossible, but it probably isn't quite that easy. Governments wouldn't leave an easy option off the table.
As it applies to Thatcher as someone who did not grow up in those times, and nor did many of those now rising to prominence in politics, it looks like a form of cosplaying, or hazy nostalgic remembrance.
There's a whole industry that's built up over the myth of Thatcher rather than the reality.
One, in all honesty, she contributed to a little bit herself after the mid 1990s because it helped her cope.
Who wouldn't prefer to feed the idolised version of ourselves rather than the grubby reality?
Switzerland was the richest country in the world per capita in 1990.
Amazingly, it was one of the POOREST countries in Europe for centuries. Hence the Swiss Guards. Swiss people were so poor they became the great source of mercenaries
Then they decided to have a hundred years of total peace, democracy, watchmaking and clever if selfish banking, even as every other nation around them tipped into mayhem. Et voila
If you fancied a military career within Switzerland your options were rather limited.
The Nazis stashed all their gold and other plundered wealth there, and it's not been seen since?
There were loads of wars in Switzerland over the centuries with invasions from Austria, Savoie, France, Burgundians, and plenty of civil wars between cantons and cantonal groupings or religious wars.
The Swiss became valued mercenaries because they had so much practice and developed the specialist pikemen. Plentiful military career options.
Furious European Union officials have demanded talks with the British Government over a new fishing regulation, which has sparked anger among Eurocrats.
The European Commission wants an explanation three months after leaders in London and devolved Scotland announced the end of industrial sand eel fishing.
This announcement, dating back to the end of January, was made on environmental grounds and was welcomed by, among others, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).
But the decision to ban the industrial fishing of sand eel in the English waters of the North Sea and all Scottish waters respectively has sparked anger in Denmark.
This has led leaders in Brussels to trigger on April 16 the dispute settlement mechanism in the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). When triggered, this mechanism asks the EU and Britain to try to reach an agreement on the matter within 30 days - or more, if they agree to extend talks.
If the parties can't strike a deal, Brussels may request an arbitration tribunal adjudicate on the "compatibility of the UK's measures" with provisions in the agreement, which the EU executive said called for an "evidence-based, proportionate and non-discriminatory" approach to marine conservation.
Comments
It should (IMHO) be neither adopted by the credulous nor dismissed by the Dawkins tendency. The working assumption of empiricism that there is no such thing as intention in the universe taken as whole is only an assumption. Aristotle would have scratched his head at such an arcane and weird assumption.
How much that is because London is mostly very poor territory for Reform, and how much it's because Hall is more Reform-friendly than Street, I don't know.
https://twitter.com/GQP_WTF/status/1780634284816015547
Cold and French but also slightly Flemish-looking buildings, so I'm guessing somewhere in Picardy?
"Richard Parker"?
Am sad
While saying "scone" to rhyme with "cone"
I think he needs to fight this one, and train up the new members for some time before he steps back, or step down if he flops. And I think the Tories shooting themselves between the eyes has made sure he won't flop.
As for when to step down if he succeeds (which I take as say between 15 and X MPs), I'd say it depends on the result - either part way through the next term, or part way through the term after that. He needs to build a wider effective team.
He has at least another 2 Parliaments before he even reaches normal retirement age - which for him will be 66, 67 or 68. He is now 58.
The food here is more hearty than normal for France
My dinner is a hearty bowl of pasta, lightly smoked ham, fermented cabbage, all covered in melted cheese.
https://www.izbori.hr/site/izbori-referendumi/izbori-zastupnika-u-hrvatski-sabor/izbori-zastupnika-u-hrvatski-sabor-2024/3861
https://www.hrt.hr/parlamentarni-izbori
For Davey, personal reasons may also impact, as he has his disabled child and his wife has MS iirc.
It's also the case that only the same 3 Lib Dem MPs have experience of operating in a Parliamentary Party of more than than 15. That is important experience to pass on.
His usual approach.
He’d fit in well with some here.
https://x.com/ambjohnbolton/status/1780617805353619468?s=61
Nice part of world. Beautiful wines including the best cooperatives in France, and you get to hop across the border where the Germans make their cheapest but nice plonk.
I am actually off to France myself, at the weekend. The frigging forecast there looks little better. COLD for April
If you lived here, there is an astounding variety of places within a reasonable day's drive.
If Ian is planning on checking out the bit across the border then I recommend Staufen, lovely little town surrounded by vineyards and a pretty castle. Looks like something out of Disney. Last time I was there it was completely spoiled by wasps, but it's not the season yet. Then a trip up the Belchen for very good views to the Alps.
How is your vineyard doing? You said you were scared you might lose the lot, with this insane weather
The military history is fascinating. You can still tell it is THE border. France/Germany. Lots of barracks and forts and the like. Soldiers training. Cemeteries
I will remember Staufen for next year; my return will be via Lorrach which is a fine, little known place for a stopover, with a very dog-friendly beer-cellar style restaurant, and great views over to Basle; somewhere best seen from a distance
Suggests a decent MoE in the readings, IMHO, which should read across to the search zone.
1) Battery storage discharge went over 6GW for the first time
AND
2) Batteries were the largest source of supply.
https://twitter.com/jdeely/status/1780604819176386894
https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/cars/1889318/car-tax-pay-per-mile-scheme-london-susan-hall-sadiq-khan
Then they decided to have a hundred years of total peace, democracy, watchmaking and clever if selfish banking, even as every other nation around them tipped into mayhem. Et voila
I have felt same about several Booker Prize winners and I gave up reading acclaimed literary fiction as a result, it was all so shit
The nadir was some massively hyped book by Richard Ford which consisted of no plot whatsoever. And, what's more, the writing wasn't even that good. Not beautiful, not funny, not clever, just mildly well shaped. The only thing I remember is a bit where the protagonist spilt a bit of rootbeer
He also moonlights as the Wealdstone Raider, so you've got to respect him for that.
Because he has the political antenna of a gnat he didn't realise how damaging scrapping that bit was in that it rendered much of what was left a bit pointless and blew a hole in plans for much needed improvements to the north's lines. And it's just completely symbolic of Tory failure to do anything to improve things.
I imagine it is quite intense. I found the Somme fucking intense. Thiepval. However, also fascinating. I toured it for the Gazette with my then 19 year old girlfriend who had no interest in history, so she stayed in the hotels drinking, texting and lazing and in the evenings we would have vigorous sex and eat Picardy pork with puy lentils. The sex was great, and I am SURE it was fired by all that death. A brilliant trip
League investigation finds player guilty of manipulating games for betting purposes
Jontay Porter has been banned for life from the NBA after a league probe found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors and bet on games.
Porter, who was a two-way player for the Toronto Raptors, is the second person to be banned from the league by Commissioner Adam Silver for violating league rules. The other was now-former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling in 2014.
The investigation started once the league learned about unusual betting patterns surrounding Porter's performance in a game on March 20. The league determined that Porter gave a bettor information about his own health status prior that game, and another individual — known to be an NBA bettor — placed an $80,000 US bet that Porter would not hit the numbers set for him in parlays through an online sports book. That bet would have won $1.1 million.
Porter took himself out of that game after only a few minutes, claiming illness, none of his stats meeting the totals set in the parlay. The bet was frozen and not paid out, and the NBA started an investigation. . . .
https://www.cbc.ca/sports/basketball/nba/nba-jontay-porter-gambling-banned-1.7176364
Of course, I don't mind many acclaimed things, some are indeed good, but if it is super insightful or culturally important or whatever, I prefer to figure that out for myself.
The Nazis stashed all their gold and other plundered wealth there, and it's not been seen since?
Home battery storage + solar is popular in California.
Utilities are already offering schemes where they rent part of your home storage capacity to smooth demand/supply.
Down to -3C in parts of burgundy and the rhone valley the next few days.
It wasn't true in her day, isn't now, and is a gross simplification and misrepresentation of her position: competitive taxes can and do help businesses, and stimulate risk-taking and innovation, but they aren't a substitute for an abdication of leadership or Government.
Also in fairness, the Tories have made an increasing habit of it, and the political gaslighting will probably be quite strong this time around.
What I mean is: if a movie is widely acclaimed and I go see it, generally I think: Yeah, wow, that's great, or I do at least see why people love it (even if I don't). Likewise good TV drama, or conceptual art
However the criticism of literary fiction commonly seems weirdly divorced from real merit. What is loved by a coterie of critics is often not just overpraised but actively mediocre or awful. It is a SURPRISE when I read an acclaimed novel and it turns out to be worth the hype
However this does NOT affect non fiction, history, biography. If a history book wins loads of awards, it's generally really good
This tells me that literary fiction is doomed, probably. As happened to modernist classical music. Sir Harrison Birtwistle, FFS
Whilst politics is often made more complicated than it needs to be, there are also big issues in making things far too simple. People selling really simple solutions as a panacea is not impossible, but it probably isn't quite that easy. Governments wouldn't leave an easy option off the table.
As it applies to Thatcher as someone who did not grow up in those times, and nor did many of those now rising to prominence in politics, it looks like a form of cosplaying, or hazy nostalgic remembrance.
Not a tip, as such. Golf is betting for masochists.
Larry Sabato's team has shifted the odds in Arizona -- toward the Democrats.
(Disturbing, but not surprising: They see only two toss-up US Senate races, Montana and Ohio.)
They effectively annexed the top half of what was East Prussia, depopulated it and filled it with Russians. The southern half was given to Poland, but at least they and Germany have a border treaty now with agreement on treatment of ancestors and families.
It should really have been given back to Germany after the Cold War or, at worst, Poland with some recognition that some of the German diaspora could return there.
One, in all honesty, she contributed to a little bit herself after the mid 1990s because it helped her cope.
I mean, full of lovely similles, but my God it was all over the place. Perhaps forgivable because of her youth. She was genuinely talented
The God of Small Things, by Arundhati Roy, just wittering on about any old shit, with some butterflies eating a leaf
Loads like that.
I blame James Joyce. He wrote the greatest novel in history, Ulysses, but every writer saw it as a signpost rather than what it is: a dead end, Ne plus ultra. As far as you can go without a plot. And almost every literary writer since has tried to go further than him, without a plot, and failed
Only one Tory MP supported that amendment today , the rest showed zero humanity . Absolute scum the lot of them .
The Swiss became valued mercenaries because they had so much practice and developed the specialist pikemen. Plentiful military career options.
Furious European Union officials have demanded talks with the British Government over a new fishing regulation, which has sparked anger among Eurocrats.
The European Commission wants an explanation three months after leaders in London and devolved Scotland announced the end of industrial sand eel fishing.
This announcement, dating back to the end of January, was made on environmental grounds and was welcomed by, among others, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).
But the decision to ban the industrial fishing of sand eel in the English waters of the North Sea and all Scottish waters respectively has sparked anger in Denmark.
This has led leaders in Brussels to trigger on April 16 the dispute settlement mechanism in the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). When triggered, this mechanism asks the EU and Britain to try to reach an agreement on the matter within 30 days - or more, if they agree to extend talks.
If the parties can't strike a deal, Brussels may request an arbitration tribunal adjudicate on the "compatibility of the UK's measures" with provisions in the agreement, which the EU executive said called for an "evidence-based, proportionate and non-discriminatory" approach to marine conservation.