Yet another beautiful French city. Quimper. How do they do it?
No noom in that lovely cathedral tho
I got there too late, and left too early, to get into the cathedral, but loved my stroll around exploring Quimper
Quimper sounds like it should be an English word - or one of those fake answers in Call My Bluff.
What would it mean?
Isn't it pronounced Kim-pair?
In Chaucerian English I fear Quimper would be very rude.
It means “confluence” in Breton, because three rivers merge here. Which gives me an excuse to post another photo of relentlessly charming Quimper
Its pronounced khhaaaaAAAMP-eeaarrr
Camp-Ear?
You basically have to sound like you’re gargling mouthwash
That's most French words AFAIAC. Daft unpronounceable language for the Northern English male. Makes Welsh look easy.
I think I disagree.
Try and say "hamper" with an extra R and a faux-Scottish (?) accent.
Or think of a poor quality pear: ham-pear.
I'm surprised that @Leon put "a"s in the second half, which according to me nearly adds an extra syllable in French.
Or even better, ask Nick Clegg or Ed Davey, who have 4 or 5 languages each.
I knew about Nick Clegg's languages skills but not Ed Davey. Which are they?
Waffle and obfuscation.
... apparently in 3 European languages too. According to Wikipedia "Davey speaks English, French, German and Spanish."
Four surely.
French hardly counts as a language
Naughty!
Which is why we should teach our kids French, German or Spanish as a first language before the age of 10. Tory morons who think that there will be any success teaching Japanese or Mandarin in high school "because its more useful" should be place in a maximum security home for cretins.
Should also add that the vocal opposition to a smartphone ban comes from certain parents. Not from the kids.
What kind of parent WANTS their kid to use a smartphone in school?!
They want them to be contactable. Or to just ramble on about the parent's day during lesson time. Or text them. Or send them memes. Or send utterly inappropriate videos. To take photos. To record lessons or incidents, to prove the school is lying. Or a hundred and one other things. We are frequently assured Child x "won't cope" without a phone. They do.
Yet another beautiful French city. Quimper. How do they do it?
No noom in that lovely cathedral tho
I got there too late, and left too early, to get into the cathedral, but loved my stroll around exploring Quimper
Quimper sounds like it should be an English word - or one of those fake answers in Call My Bluff.
What would it mean?
Isn't it pronounced Kim-pair?
In Chaucerian English I fear Quimper would be very rude.
It means “confluence” in Breton, because three rivers merge here. Which gives me an excuse to post another photo of relentlessly charming Quimper
Its pronounced khhaaaaAAAMP-eeaarrr
Camp-Ear?
You basically have to sound like you’re gargling mouthwash
That's most French words AFAIAC. Daft unpronounceable language for the Northern English male. Makes Welsh look easy.
I think I disagree.
Try and say "hamper" with an extra R and a faux-Scottish (?) accent.
Or think of a poor quality pear: ham-pear.
I'm surprised that @Leon put "a"s in the second half, which according to me nearly adds an extra syllable in French.
Or even better, ask Nick Clegg or Ed Davey, who have 4 or 5 languages each.
The Qu is like a K, so it’s more like Camp Air.
Is the Qu a hard pronunciation? I put it a little in the throat.
Perhaps languages will be by retirement project .
I just have the dubious advantage of a lifetime spent around these dodgy Bretons, Normans and their island cousins. The amount of incommers who will see a surname like “Le Quesne” and pronounce it as “Le Kwesnee” instead of “Le Kane” or place names beginning with Qu as Kw is normal.
All you ever have to remember is that we beat the French at the Bay of Quiberon in the seven years war and it’s Keeberon Bay.
Basically, what you're saying is "remember how you pronounce quiche".
As a very manly man I have no idea what this “quiche” is, yet alone how to pronounce it.
No, it means that it all turns on the vote of Ash Regan who is now in Alba. If she votes for the government, and the story is that she intends to, then the vote will be a tie at 64 votes each. In those circumstances the Presiding Officer will normally vote in favour of the government of the day.
Salmond did not give impression she was voting for Humza unless he eats humble pie and signs up to her shopping list.
There are exceptionally serious safeguarding issues around kids having phones in school. Particularly concerning the photographing and filming of other children without consent, or parental consent. (Remember schools need written permission to take photos or film children). Not to mention Witness Protection kids. And around the sharing of videos and other inappropriate age-restricted material. Any school which allows them ought to be an automatic safeguarding inspection fail.
Yet another beautiful French city. Quimper. How do they do it?
No noom in that lovely cathedral tho
I got there too late, and left too early, to get into the cathedral, but loved my stroll around exploring Quimper
Quimper sounds like it should be an English word - or one of those fake answers in Call My Bluff.
What would it mean?
Isn't it pronounced Kim-pair?
In Chaucerian English I fear Quimper would be very rude.
It means “confluence” in Breton, because three rivers merge here. Which gives me an excuse to post another photo of relentlessly charming Quimper
Its pronounced khhaaaaAAAMP-eeaarrr
Camp-Ear?
You basically have to sound like you’re gargling mouthwash
That's most French words AFAIAC. Daft unpronounceable language for the Northern English male. Makes Welsh look easy.
I think I disagree.
Try and say "hamper" with an extra R and a faux-Scottish (?) accent.
Or think of a poor quality pear: ham-pear.
I'm surprised that @Leon put "a"s in the second half, which according to me nearly adds an extra syllable in French.
Or even better, ask Nick Clegg or Ed Davey, who have 4 or 5 languages each.
I knew about Nick Clegg's languages skills but not Ed Davey. Which are they?
Waffle and obfuscation.
... apparently in 3 European languages too. According to Wikipedia "Davey speaks English, French, German and Spanish."
Four surely.
French hardly counts as a language
Naughty!
Which is why we should teach our kids French, German or Spanish as a first language before the age of 10. Tory morons who think that there will be any success teaching Japanese or Mandarin in high school "because its more useful" should be place in a maximum security home for cretins.
Teaching them English would be a start. Nowadays they use American spelling and incomprehensible slang.
Didn't get all the way to the top, but only 250m to go
I have managed to get another 40km done, and found myself quite a nice hotel room for 50€
Where are you going? Is this like the Grand Tour and you will finish by looking at painted ceilings in Rome?
I'm walking the whole French route of the Camino de Santiago the wrong way, from Santiago to Saint Jean Pied de Port, and trying to do it in twenty days
BREAKING | Greens will vote to oust First Minister meaning Humza Yousaf's fate hangs on single MSP.
Look at the headline to this thread.
***Legendary modesty klaxon***
Shouting-it-from-the-rooftops levels of modesty.
I like to remind people of my never been wrong on Scottish politics stretch that has been going on for nearly two decades
You make an interesting point that this could - in the end - be good for the nats if it means they dump an unpopular leader like Yousless - and find someone better
But is there someone better? Forbes is clearly papabile but she’s too unwoke. She will wind up too many people in a party already split on woke issues (as we see)
Is there anyone else? This putative leader ALSO has to bridge the divide between Indy fundamentalists and the hmmm gradualists
I quite like Angus Robertson and suspect he will do better.
The god bothering ways of Kate Forbes (I mean she's closer to the American right than the rank and file of the SNP and indeed Scottish voters) when it comes to abortion will be a bit like dubious about homosexuality Tim Farron leading the Lib Dems.
Robertson is not well liked and there is Lady Macbeth
Reflecting on yesterday's interesting conversations on numinousness, I think when visiting somewhere historic, we look through personal sets of spectacles.
My habit is to take an interest in the human community that was there, looking at that story through the lens of the details that are still there, and my knowledge of the history. Others ways of looking are through an architectural view, or an aesthetic or artistic view.
I think the difference I feel between say a French and an English village church is that in the case of the English church it is the backstory of a community that still exists, whilst in French examples I have seen there is a feel of a memorial or museum to a community that ceased to exist in that place some time ago. Almost a skeleton vs a living body, to reach for an over-crude contrast.
I'd draw a comparison with my experiences some years ago (1990s) of walking the routes of London's now-subterranean rivers reading the signs in the landscape which remember where the used to flow. An example might be a garden boundary that used to follow the bank, but is still left now that the river has gone.
If you want simple "noom", I'd go for Escomb near Bishop Auckland over St Peter's on the Wall. A saxon church built around 675AD with stone mined from a roman fort, still in its round churchyard which is a a mark of 'ancient', simply dressed inside, still in the middle of its village inside a boundary road called Saxon Green. What a place to go to Midnight Communion on Christmas Eve.
For noom in London two I'd think about would be St Barts the Great, with (still, I hope) an amazing, small professional choir. And All Hallows on the Wall in the City, which has a ceiling like a regency drawing room inside.
But for me I'm equally interested in the human community, so that pulls in modern times. I used to be a member of the Othona Community, which is a network contemporaneous with the modern Iona Community (ie 1950s iirc) with their base at a centre in Bradwell near St Peter's on the Wall, where members visit to recharge their batteries. It's the only place known to me where I can gather kilos of damsons in the hedgerows.
In London I like the journey made by the now Lord Mawson, from being a discouraged young URC Minister in the early 1980s with an empty, echoing church in Bromley-by-Bow in the East End, to what is now a major community hub providing a plethora of community services used by 2000 people per week. There are not dissimilar projects of development of communities everywhere, which I see as part of the same story. I really enjoy exploring that type of story - whether in the 1600s or the 2000s.
Enough of that - have a good evening, all.
Good choices!
In terms of London churches with noom I’d also go for St John’s Chapel inside the Tower of London. Meganoom. Also St Sepulchre without Newgate - the Old Bailey church - all those condemned men. Anything by Hawksmoor but especially Spitalfields. And the Temple church is pretty noomy
I was living within 10 minute's walk of Spitalfields when it was being restored in the late 1990s, and the vicar was looking for how he would create a future for the community. I was just behind Wesley's Chapel - so on a street called "Paul Street", with Mark Street and Luke Street on the two other sides of the block - which was (I assume) a late 19C set of tiny apartments called Victoria Chambers. History everywhere, and an Architectural Salvage Yard out of the window.
It has one of the best, and most pleasant to use, rings of bells in London.
Good times with challenges.
A bit got chopped. I am off now.
Good times with challenges.
Another example of my favourite type of story is the Mansion House 9000 telephone which still exists (or did when I last visited) in St Stephens Walbrook, which is the original one used by Chad Varah the Curate when he founded the organisation in 1953.
To me that's a part of the same story as the Ducking Stool in St Mary's Warwick, the Maidens' Garlands in Holy Trinity at Ashford-in-the-Water, the churches with Cromwellian weapon-impressions or marks on the outside walls where weapons were sharpened, or ones where a full immersion baptistry has been installed in the last decade.
For other types of story - the routes of public footpaths qualify for me eg walks with coffin stones in place, or areas of places such as Bedford Park or the Moravian Settlement at Ockbrook (there is really a thing called the Ock Brook).
Or for another modern one perhaps the locations of Elim Pentecostal Churches, which still in measure trace the preaching tours in the 1920-30s of the Jeffreys brothers - just as Methodist Churches did for Wesley.
YouGov offers normal service with the Conservatives on 20% (as with Redfield & Wilton) while thr week's other pollsters have had the Conservative share at 25-27%. That's a big difference however you spin it. I imagine it's to do with methodology such as prompting for other parties.
We've also got another West Midlands Mayoralty poll from R&W and this is much closer to another poll.
Richard Parker (Labour) 43% (+1) Andy Street (Conservative) 37% (+9) Sunny Virk (Liberal Democrat) 8% (+1) Siobhan Harper-Nunes (Green) 5% (-2) Elaine Williams (Reform UK) 4% (-9) Another candidate 3% (+1)
Changes since the last R&W poll of 10-14 April. What we seem to be seeing is a merciless squeeze of Reform and subsequent improvement for the Conservatives but Street remains six points behind with a week to go. OTOH, it could be a divorcing of this particular Mayoral contest from national voting. Parker leads Street 39-33 with the 10% DKs including so they would need to break disproportionately to Street to put him in with a real chance.
Street beat Liam Byrne by nine points in 2021 so the swing is just 7.5%, well below the Westminster polling.
BREAKING | Greens will vote to oust First Minister meaning Humza Yousaf's fate hangs on single MSP.
Look at the headline to this thread.
***Legendary modesty klaxon***
Shouting-it-from-the-rooftops levels of modesty.
I like to remind people of my never been wrong on Scottish politics stretch that has been going on for nearly two decades
You make an interesting point that this could - in the end - be good for the nats if it means they dump an unpopular leader like Yousless - and find someone better
But is there someone better? Forbes is clearly papabile but she’s too unwoke. She will wind up too many people in a party already split on woke issues (as we see)
Is there anyone else? This putative leader ALSO has to bridge the divide between Indy fundamentalists and the hmmm gradualists
I quite like Angus Robertson and suspect he will do better.
The god bothering ways of Kate Forbes (I mean she's closer to the American right thank the rank and file of the SNP and indeed Scottish voters) when it comes to abortion will be a bit like dubious about homosexuality Tim Farron leading the Lib Dems.
Yes exactly. She’s the best candidate in terms of the voters but the Nats won’t want the division she brings
I wonder what she will do. Very talented and bright, but stuck in a limited, provincial British party that no longer really wants her
Yes but according to Tory logic they're all faking it, or there are 2 million working from home jobs that they would have no trouble getting, so just cut any benefits that they get and and that will sort it all out.
YouGov offers normal service with the Conservatives on 20% (as with Redfield & Wilton) while thr week's other pollsters have had the Conservative share at 25-27%. That's a big difference however you spin it. I imagine it's to do with methodology such as prompting for other parties.
We've also got another West Midlands Mayoralty poll from R&W and this is much closer to another poll.
Richard Parker (Labour) 43% (+1) Andy Street (Conservative) 37% (+9) Sunny Virk (Liberal Democrat) 8% (+1) Siobhan Harper-Nunes (Green) 5% (-2) Elaine Williams (Reform UK) 4% (-9) Another candidate 3% (+1)
Changes since the last R&W poll of 10-14 April. What we seem to be seeing is a merciless squeeze of Reform and subsequent improvement for the Conservatives but Street remains six points behind with a week to go. OTOH, it could be a divorcing of this particular Mayoral contest from national voting. Parker leads Street 39-33 with the 10% DKs including so they would need to break disproportionately to Street to put him in with a real chance.
Street beat Liam Byrne by nine points in 2021 so the swing is just 7.5%, well below the Westminster polling.
In reality, of course, it is the parent who "can't cope" with their child not having a phone. I suspect a great many have convinced themselves that they need one for "safety", as an excuse for giving in to them and buying them one.
Yet another beautiful French city. Quimper. How do they do it?
No noom in that lovely cathedral tho
I got there too late, and left too early, to get into the cathedral, but loved my stroll around exploring Quimper
Quimper sounds like it should be an English word - or one of those fake answers in Call My Bluff.
What would it mean?
Isn't it pronounced Kim-pair?
In Chaucerian English I fear Quimper would be very rude.
It means “confluence” in Breton, because three rivers merge here. Which gives me an excuse to post another photo of relentlessly charming Quimper
Its pronounced khhaaaaAAAMP-eeaarrr
Camp-Ear?
You basically have to sound like you’re gargling mouthwash
That's most French words AFAIAC. Daft unpronounceable language for the Northern English male. Makes Welsh look easy.
I think I disagree.
Try and say "hamper" with an extra R and a faux-Scottish (?) accent.
Or think of a poor quality pear: ham-pear.
I'm surprised that @Leon put "a"s in the second half, which according to me nearly adds an extra syllable in French.
Or even better, ask Nick Clegg or Ed Davey, who have 4 or 5 languages each.
I knew about Nick Clegg's languages skills but not Ed Davey. Which are they?
Waffle and obfuscation.
... apparently in 3 European languages too. According to Wikipedia "Davey speaks English, French, German and Spanish."
Four surely.
French hardly counts as a language
Naughty!
Which is why we should teach our kids French, German or Spanish as a first language before the age of 10. Tory morons who think that there will be any success teaching Japanese or Mandarin in high school "because its more useful" should be place in a maximum security home for cretins.
Teaching them English would be a start. Nowadays they use American spelling and incomprehensible slang.
Like you didn't use incomprehensible slang as a kid.
BREAKING | Greens will vote to oust First Minister meaning Humza Yousaf's fate hangs on single MSP.
Look at the headline to this thread.
***Legendary modesty klaxon***
Shouting-it-from-the-rooftops levels of modesty.
I like to remind people of my never been wrong on Scottish politics stretch that has been going on for nearly two decades
You make an interesting point that this could - in the end - be good for the nats if it means they dump an unpopular leader like Yousless - and find someone better
But is there someone better? Forbes is clearly papabile but she’s too unwoke. She will wind up too many people in a party already split on woke issues (as we see)
Is there anyone else? This putative leader ALSO has to bridge the divide between Indy fundamentalists and the hmmm gradualists
I suspect a reason Humza succeeded Nicola was he was "out of the room" when the [ahem] problems were accruing at SNP HQ. Notwithstanding that the two most senior ministers seem to be Angus Robertson and Shona Robison if they want more "continuity". Forbes is unacceptable to many in the SNP and her elevation would amount to a hostile takeover and a total reversal of the Sturgeon progressive political strategy.
It could never be Robison , she is as thick as a brick. Robertson has a lot of baggage as well as Lady Macbeth to worry about. Needs to be a clear out but question is does anyone have the backbone. Flynn if he cannot take it himself will be the Kingmaker.
YouGov offers normal service with the Conservatives on 20% (as with Redfield & Wilton) while thr week's other pollsters have had the Conservative share at 25-27%. That's a big difference however you spin it. I imagine it's to do with methodology such as prompting for other parties.
We've also got another West Midlands Mayoralty poll from R&W and this is much closer to another poll.
Richard Parker (Labour) 43% (+1) Andy Street (Conservative) 37% (+9) Sunny Virk (Liberal Democrat) 8% (+1) Siobhan Harper-Nunes (Green) 5% (-2) Elaine Williams (Reform UK) 4% (-9) Another candidate 3% (+1)
Changes since the last R&W poll of 10-14 April. What we seem to be seeing is a merciless squeeze of Reform and subsequent improvement for the Conservatives but Street remains six points behind with a week to go. OTOH, it could be a divorcing of this particular Mayoral contest from national voting. Parker leads Street 39-33 with the 10% DKs including so they would need to break disproportionately to Street to put him in with a real chance.
Street beat Liam Byrne by nine points in 2021 so the swing is just 7.5%, well below the Westminster polling.
Street for Tory Leader !
If he’s made Tory leader unopposed the Red Wall will love it, the result they wanted, Coronation Street.
The SC is on dangerous ground and should have not heard the case but left the lower courts decision to stand .
If they start trying to separate official v private the ramifications will be huge . Ironically giving the Dems perhaps their strongest message .
Just imagine what Trump could do without constraints . If the SC continues to act as a GOP arse licker calls for an expansion of the court will grow if Biden wins.
A coupla thoughts. 1. This is a VONC in Humza - not the Govt. Therefore if he loses doesn't mean an election. 2. With Greens supporting the VONC the math indicates he will need Alba MSP Ash Regan's support. That means, effectively, that his fate rests in Alex Salmond's hands. A real LOL.
There is a lively debate about this on Wings at the moment. Campbell is suggesting that Ross has fluffed this by having a VONC in Yousaf rather than the government. I am not sure that is right. I think that a VONC in Yousaf would require him to resign. I am not sure how we would get another FM within 28 days.
Losing a personal VONC does not REQUIRE him to do anything.
No, it means that it all turns on the vote of Ash Regan who is now in Alba. If she votes for the government, and the story is that she intends to, then the vote will be a tie at 64 votes each. In those circumstances the Presiding Officer will normally vote in favour of the government of the day.
I'm lost. So the SNP and greens are voting against Humza and everyone else is voting in favour?
No, the mistake in @Andy_JS's post is that he said the SNP are voting against Yousaf when he meant the Greens. There are 63 SNP MSPs. The opposition have 65 but this includes Ash Regan who is now in Alba. If she votes with the SNP they win (just). If she votes against they should lose if everyone else votes the way they have announced. Big call for her. She'd very likely lose her seat given Alba is barely troubling the scorers.
Clearly someone here is walking into a trap signposted THIS IS A TRAP. Like the SNP did in the Westminster confidence vote in 1979.
Question is- who?
I mentioned that earlier. The only obvious winner in an election now is Labour and, possibly, the Lib Dems if they ended up back in Coalition again. Pretty much everyone else loses.
Thanks. That's Greens and Cons so excited by the game of whack-a-nat that they're not thinking about the other side of the vote.
Makes sense.
There will be no election, they are thick but not that thick , it is vote on FM only.
Yes but according to Tory logic they're all faking it, or there are 2 million working from home jobs that they would have no trouble getting, so just cut any benefits that they get and and that will sort it all out.
Are all those two million out of work? There's quite an extensive list of long-covid symptoms, several of which don't appear to be debilitating to the point of not being able to work.
Yet another beautiful French city. Quimper. How do they do it?
No noom in that lovely cathedral tho
I got there too late, and left too early, to get into the cathedral, but loved my stroll around exploring Quimper
Quimper sounds like it should be an English word - or one of those fake answers in Call My Bluff.
What would it mean?
Isn't it pronounced Kim-pair?
In Chaucerian English I fear Quimper would be very rude.
It means “confluence” in Breton, because three rivers merge here. Which gives me an excuse to post another photo of relentlessly charming Quimper
Its pronounced khhaaaaAAAMP-eeaarrr
Camp-Ear?
You basically have to sound like you’re gargling mouthwash
That's most French words AFAIAC. Daft unpronounceable language for the Northern English male. Makes Welsh look easy.
I think I disagree.
Try and say "hamper" with an extra R and a faux-Scottish (?) accent.
Or think of a poor quality pear: ham-pear.
I'm surprised that @Leon put "a"s in the second half, which according to me nearly adds an extra syllable in French.
Or even better, ask Nick Clegg or Ed Davey, who have 4 or 5 languages each.
I knew about Nick Clegg's languages skills but not Ed Davey. Which are they?
Waffle and obfuscation.
... apparently in 3 European languages too. According to Wikipedia "Davey speaks English, French, German and Spanish."
Four surely.
French hardly counts as a language
Naughty!
Which is why we should teach our kids French, German or Spanish as a first language before the age of 10. Tory morons who think that there will be any success teaching Japanese or Mandarin in high school "because its more useful" should be place in a maximum security home for cretins.
Mate. Language learning is dead. If it’s not dead, AI is about to kill it. We will very soon have literal Babel fish that translate everything perfectly in real time into our AirPods, and likewise in reverse. We may even have lenses that lip synch the words so it looks like the person talking in French to you is talking in English but in their accent, this technology already exists
Who on earth is going to spend much of their youth learning something pointless, that brings no material advantage? Granted, some privileged kids still might, the way they learn the flute or the cello, but for 97% of children the time will be spent better on something useful and beneficial
So many on this site have no idea what AI is about to do to the world
Yet another beautiful French city. Quimper. How do they do it?
No noom in that lovely cathedral tho
I got there too late, and left too early, to get into the cathedral, but loved my stroll around exploring Quimper
Quimper sounds like it should be an English word - or one of those fake answers in Call My Bluff.
What would it mean?
Isn't it pronounced Kim-pair?
In Chaucerian English I fear Quimper would be very rude.
It means “confluence” in Breton, because three rivers merge here. Which gives me an excuse to post another photo of relentlessly charming Quimper
Its pronounced khhaaaaAAAMP-eeaarrr
Camp-Ear?
You basically have to sound like you’re gargling mouthwash
That's most French words AFAIAC. Daft unpronounceable language for the Northern English male. Makes Welsh look easy.
I think I disagree.
Try and say "hamper" with an extra R and a faux-Scottish (?) accent.
Or think of a poor quality pear: ham-pear.
I'm surprised that @Leon put "a"s in the second half, which according to me nearly adds an extra syllable in French.
Or even better, ask Nick Clegg or Ed Davey, who have 4 or 5 languages each.
I knew about Nick Clegg's languages skills but not Ed Davey. Which are they?
Waffle and obfuscation.
... apparently in 3 European languages too. According to Wikipedia "Davey speaks English, French, German and Spanish."
Four surely.
French hardly counts as a language
Naughty!
Which is why we should teach our kids French, German or Spanish as a first language before the age of 10. Tory morons who think that there will be any success teaching Japanese or Mandarin in high school "because its more useful" should be place in a maximum security home for cretins.
My granddaughter (21) speaks English, Welsh, French, Italian, and Japanese, was offered a place at Kyoto University, and is presently studying at Turin University
BREAKING | Greens will vote to oust First Minister meaning Humza Yousaf's fate hangs on single MSP.
Look at the headline to this thread.
***Legendary modesty klaxon***
Shouting-it-from-the-rooftops levels of modesty.
I like to remind people of my never been wrong on Scottish politics stretch that has been going on for nearly two decades
You make an interesting point that this could - in the end - be good for the nats if it means they dump an unpopular leader like Yousless - and find someone better
But is there someone better? Forbes is clearly papabile but she’s too unwoke. She will wind up too many people in a party already split on woke issues (as we see)
Is there anyone else? This putative leader ALSO has to bridge the divide between Indy fundamentalists and the hmmm gradualists
I quite like Angus Robertson and suspect he will do better.
The god bothering ways of Kate Forbes (I mean she's closer to the American right than the rank and file of the SNP and indeed Scottish voters) when it comes to abortion will be a bit like dubious about homosexuality Tim Farron leading the Lib Dems.
Robertson is not well liked and there is Lady Macbeth
No, it means that it all turns on the vote of Ash Regan who is now in Alba. If she votes for the government, and the story is that she intends to, then the vote will be a tie at 64 votes each. In those circumstances the Presiding Officer will normally vote in favour of the government of the day.
Salmond did not give impression she was voting for Humza unless he eats humble pie and signs up to her shopping list.
Wouldn’t it be fitting if a condition of Alba support was Sturgeon and the alphabetties having to admit to perjury in the Salmond trial.
No, it means that it all turns on the vote of Ash Regan who is now in Alba. If she votes for the government, and the story is that she intends to, then the vote will be a tie at 64 votes each. In those circumstances the Presiding Officer will normally vote in favour of the government of the day.
I'm lost. So the SNP and greens are voting against Humza and everyone else is voting in favour?
you really are lost Cookie. Everybody apart from SNP is voting against Humza and Ash Regan has the casting vote, what fun.
Well that makes sense. Someone was saying the SNP were voting against Humza; and someone else that Ash had the deciding vote - which implied most of the opposition parties were voting FOR Humza. But I think someone mistyped.
Reflecting on yesterday's interesting conversations on numinousness, I think when visiting somewhere historic, we look through personal sets of spectacles.
My habit is to take an interest in the human community that was there, looking at that story through the lens of the details that are still there, and my knowledge of the history. Others ways of looking are through an architectural view, or an aesthetic or artistic view.
I think the difference I feel between say a French and an English village church is that in the case of the English church it is the backstory of a community that still exists, whilst in French examples I have seen there is a feel of a memorial or museum to a community that ceased to exist in that place some time ago. Almost a skeleton vs a living body, to reach for an over-crude contrast.
I'd draw a comparison with my experiences some years ago (1990s) of walking the routes of London's now-subterranean rivers reading the signs in the landscape which remember where the used to flow. An example might be a garden boundary that used to follow the bank, but is still left now that the river has gone.
If you want simple "noom", I'd go for Escomb near Bishop Auckland over St Peter's on the Wall. A saxon church built around 675AD with stone mined from a roman fort, still in its round churchyard which is a a mark of 'ancient', simply dressed inside, still in the middle of its village inside a boundary road called Saxon Green. What a place to go to Midnight Communion on Christmas Eve.
For noom in London two I'd think about would be St Barts the Great, with (still, I hope) an amazing, small professional choir. And All Hallows on the Wall in the City, which has a ceiling like a regency drawing room inside.
But for me I'm equally interested in the human community, so that pulls in modern times. I used to be a member of the Othona Community, which is a network contemporaneous with the modern Iona Community (ie 1950s iirc) with their base at a centre in Bradwell near St Peter's on the Wall, where members visit to recharge their batteries. It's the only place known to me where I can gather kilos of damsons in the hedgerows.
In London I like the journey made by the now Lord Mawson, from being a discouraged young URC Minister in the early 1980s with an empty, echoing church in Bromley-by-Bow in the East End, to what is now a major community hub providing a plethora of community services used by 2000 people per week. There are not dissimilar projects of development of communities everywhere, which I see as part of the same story. I really enjoy exploring that type of story - whether in the 1600s or the 2000s.
Enough of that - have a good evening, all.
Good choices!
In terms of London churches with noom I’d also go for St John’s Chapel inside the Tower of London. Meganoom. Also St Sepulchre without Newgate - the Old Bailey church - all those condemned men. Anything by Hawksmoor but especially Spitalfields. And the Temple church is pretty noomy
I was living within 10 minute's walk of Spitalfields when it was being restored in the late 1990s, and the vicar was looking for how he would create a future for the community. I was just behind Wesley's Chapel - so on a street called "Paul Street", with Mark Street and Luke Street on the two other sides of the block - which was (I assume) a late 19C set of tiny apartments called Victoria Chambers. History everywhere, and an Architectural Salvage Yard out of the window.
It has one of the best, and most pleasant to use, rings of bells in London.
Good times with challenges.
A bit got chopped. I am off now.
Good times with challenges.
Another example of my favourite type of story is the Mansion House 9000 telephone which still exists (or did when I last visited) in St Stephens Walbrook, which is the original one used by Chad Varah the Curate when he founded the organisation in 1953.
To me that's a part of the same story as the Ducking Stool in St Mary's Warwick, the Maidens' Garlands in Holy Trinity at Ashford-in-the-Water, the churches with Cromwellian weapon-impressions or marks on the outside walls where weapons were sharpened, or ones where a full immersion baptistry has been installed in the last decade.
For other types of story - the routes of public footpaths qualify for me eg walks with coffin stones in place, or areas of places such as Bedford Park or the Moravian Settlement at Ockbrook (there is really a thing called the Ock Brook).
Or for another modern one perhaps the locations of Elim Pentecostal Churches, which still in measure trace the preaching tours in the 1920-30s of the Jeffreys brothers - just as Methodist Churches did for Wesley.
I went on a great walk last summer which took me through the Moravian settlement at Ockbrook. And then tapas in the pub in the village. Was a glorious day. Also, interested that you're a ringer. I knew there had to be at least one here! I used to, though haven't for some time.
YouGov offers normal service with the Conservatives on 20% (as with Redfield & Wilton) while thr week's other pollsters have had the Conservative share at 25-27%. That's a big difference however you spin it. I imagine it's to do with methodology such as prompting for other parties.
We've also got another West Midlands Mayoralty poll from R&W and this is much closer to another poll.
Richard Parker (Labour) 43% (+1) Andy Street (Conservative) 37% (+9) Sunny Virk (Liberal Democrat) 8% (+1) Siobhan Harper-Nunes (Green) 5% (-2) Elaine Williams (Reform UK) 4% (-9) Another candidate 3% (+1)
Changes since the last R&W poll of 10-14 April. What we seem to be seeing is a merciless squeeze of Reform and subsequent improvement for the Conservatives but Street remains six points behind with a week to go. OTOH, it could be a divorcing of this particular Mayoral contest from national voting. Parker leads Street 39-33 with the 10% DKs including so they would need to break disproportionately to Street to put him in with a real chance.
Street beat Liam Byrne by nine points in 2021 so the swing is just 7.5%, well below the Westminster polling.
Street for Tory Leader !
If he’s made Tory leader unopposed the Red Wall will love it, the result they wanted, Coronation Street.
On this polling he loses his Mayoralty. Is that a great springboard to leadership in an election where Tory safe seats are as rare as rocking horse poo?
New study from Norway: Banning smartphones in schools significantly decreases the proportion of girls presenting with mental health issues and bullying drops dramatically. Benefits most strongly felt by disadvantaged girls.
That's all very well. But how many schools allow kids to be on smartphones? It's yet another solution the government is trumpeting which has been in place for years. Like the recent announcement that the unemployed who refuse a job will lose their benefits.
Yes but according to Tory logic they're all faking it, or there are 2 million working from home jobs that they would have no trouble getting, so just cut any benefits that they get and and that will sort it all out.
Yet another beautiful French city. Quimper. How do they do it?
No noom in that lovely cathedral tho
I got there too late, and left too early, to get into the cathedral, but loved my stroll around exploring Quimper
Quimper sounds like it should be an English word - or one of those fake answers in Call My Bluff.
What would it mean?
Isn't it pronounced Kim-pair?
In Chaucerian English I fear Quimper would be very rude.
It means “confluence” in Breton, because three rivers merge here. Which gives me an excuse to post another photo of relentlessly charming Quimper
Its pronounced khhaaaaAAAMP-eeaarrr
Camp-Ear?
You basically have to sound like you’re gargling mouthwash
That's most French words AFAIAC. Daft unpronounceable language for the Northern English male. Makes Welsh look easy.
I think I disagree.
Try and say "hamper" with an extra R and a faux-Scottish (?) accent.
Or think of a poor quality pear: ham-pear.
I'm surprised that @Leon put "a"s in the second half, which according to me nearly adds an extra syllable in French.
Or even better, ask Nick Clegg or Ed Davey, who have 4 or 5 languages each.
I knew about Nick Clegg's languages skills but not Ed Davey. Which are they?
Waffle and obfuscation.
... apparently in 3 European languages too. According to Wikipedia "Davey speaks English, French, German and Spanish."
Four surely.
French hardly counts as a language
Naughty!
Which is why we should teach our kids French, German or Spanish as a first language before the age of 10. Tory morons who think that there will be any success teaching Japanese or Mandarin in high school "because its more useful" should be place in a maximum security home for cretins.
Mate. Language learning is dead. If it’s not dead, AI is about to kill it. We will very soon have literal Babel fish that translate everything perfectly in real time into our AirPods, and likewise in reverse. We may even have lenses that lip synch the words so it looks like the person talking in French to you is talking in English but in their accent, this technology already exists
Who on earth is going to spend much of their youth learning something pointless, that brings no material advantage? Granted, some privileged kids still might, the way they learn the flute or the cello, but for 97% of children the time will be spent better on something useful and beneficial
So many on this site have no idea what AI is about to do to the world
Why are you obsessed with material advantage? Surely your degree was non-vocational iirc your past postings. Most people make no great use of what they study at A-level or beyond. In the words of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, when in the real world am I going to need history, maths or the English language?
Yes but according to Tory logic they're all faking it, or there are 2 million working from home jobs that they would have no trouble getting, so just cut any benefits that they get and and that will sort it all out.
Are all those two million out of work? There's quite an extensive list of long-covid symptoms, several of which don't appear to be debilitating to the point of not being able to work.
Yes but according to Tory logic they're all faking it, or there are 2 million working from home jobs that they would have no trouble getting, so just cut any benefits that they get and and that will sort it all out.
That's not what that article says. The article says the prevalence is the same as post other viruses, at about 3%, the spike being because of the near universality of covid infection.
We have a landmark lighthouse here which has just hit its 150th birthday and they’ve lit it beautifully to celebrate it. I wish it would be permanently like this but then it might lose its “noom”.
The lighthouse incidentally gave its name to the Grand National winner Corbiere to find some tendentious link to betting.
So here’s a lighthouse being lit for the people on land not the sea. (Not my photos.)
Wasn't Bibi saying the protests at US universities were reminiscent of the Nazis in the 1930s? He's right, pretty sure arresting academics was one of their things.
Yet another beautiful French city. Quimper. How do they do it?
No noom in that lovely cathedral tho
I got there too late, and left too early, to get into the cathedral, but loved my stroll around exploring Quimper
Quimper sounds like it should be an English word - or one of those fake answers in Call My Bluff.
What would it mean?
Isn't it pronounced Kim-pair?
In Chaucerian English I fear Quimper would be very rude.
It means “confluence” in Breton, because three rivers merge here. Which gives me an excuse to post another photo of relentlessly charming Quimper
Its pronounced khhaaaaAAAMP-eeaarrr
Camp-Ear?
You basically have to sound like you’re gargling mouthwash
That's most French words AFAIAC. Daft unpronounceable language for the Northern English male. Makes Welsh look easy.
I think I disagree.
Try and say "hamper" with an extra R and a faux-Scottish (?) accent.
Or think of a poor quality pear: ham-pear.
I'm surprised that @Leon put "a"s in the second half, which according to me nearly adds an extra syllable in French.
Or even better, ask Nick Clegg or Ed Davey, who have 4 or 5 languages each.
I knew about Nick Clegg's languages skills but not Ed Davey. Which are they?
Waffle and obfuscation.
... apparently in 3 European languages too. According to Wikipedia "Davey speaks English, French, German and Spanish."
Four surely.
French hardly counts as a language
Naughty!
Which is why we should teach our kids French, German or Spanish as a first language before the age of 10. Tory morons who think that there will be any success teaching Japanese or Mandarin in high school "because its more useful" should be place in a maximum security home for cretins.
Mate. Language learning is dead. If it’s not dead, AI is about to kill it. We will very soon have literal Babel fish that translate everything perfectly in real time into our AirPods, and likewise in reverse. We may even have lenses that lip synch the words so it looks like the person talking in French to you is talking in English but in their accent, this technology already exists
Who on earth is going to spend much of their youth learning something pointless, that brings no material advantage? Granted, some privileged kids still might, the way they learn the flute or the cello, but for 97% of children the time will be spent better on something useful and beneficial
So many on this site have no idea what AI is about to do to the world
Why are you obsessed with material advantage? Surely your degree was non-vocational iirc your past postings. Most people make no great use of what they study at A-level or beyond. In the words of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, when in the real world am I going to need history, maths or the English language?
I’m not obsessed with material advantage because I am comfortable. I’ve got my career. And life was easier for the top 10% that went to uni in the 1980s
Things are very different now for young people: much harder and more competitive. Learning a language will seem like a decadent indulgence when everyone has a machine which can translate every single language instantly and perfectly in real time - and even make it look like people are speaking your language when they are not
Yes but according to Tory logic they're all faking it, or there are 2 million working from home jobs that they would have no trouble getting, so just cut any benefits that they get and and that will sort it all out.
There will be a small minority of people who *do* have long covid; who had an adverse reaction to the disease that will take months or years to clear. AFAIAA this is relatively uncontroversial, as people have such reactions to other common viruses all the time. Some people are just unlucky. In the same way, some people will have been exposed to Covid many times and not suffered symptoms. Because they were lucky.
But with all the stories of long covid that inflicted our media (a disease in itself...), some people will be blame any illness on 'long covid' because they want an answer to what is ailing them.
So... long covid is real. But rarer than it is made out to be.
In reality, of course, it is the parent who "can't cope" with their child not having a phone. I suspect a great many have convinced themselves that they need one for "safety", as an excuse for giving in to them and buying them one.
Admittedly smart phones were not a thing, but I had a phone going to school between 16 and 20 years' ago.
So did everyone else there. The official policy was you had to hand them in at the front office, but precisely zero pupils did.
And that was in the days where there were still payphones you could call home to let them know you'd be late if trains etc were cancelled. Or if you chose to socialise with friends after school rather than go straight home. Which was a reasonably frequent occurrence.
I can't imagine any world where banning phones in school will be effective. Banning using them during school at risk of confiscation, sure. But kids will just keep them in their bags and use them when they get out.
No change in government or school policy will stop that.
Yes but according to Tory logic they're all faking it, or there are 2 million working from home jobs that they would have no trouble getting, so just cut any benefits that they get and and that will sort it all out.
Are all those two million out of work? There's quite an extensive list of long-covid symptoms, several of which don't appear to be debilitating to the point of not being able to work.
More and more sick people are around now im noticing it, others are noticing it. Its not a good thing for the country at all.
"Chris Aujard answered questions at the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry yesterday. The day before, he resigned as General Counsel for five separate companies, and the day before that, he chucked it in at another.
Is it mere coincidence he ceased to be an active director of any UK company within 48 hours of giving evidence at the Inquiry? Perhaps we should be told. FNZ’s insurers almost certainly were."
In reality, of course, it is the parent who "can't cope" with their child not having a phone. I suspect a great many have convinced themselves that they need one for "safety", as an excuse for giving in to them and buying them one.
Admittedly smart phones were not a thing, but I had a phone going to school between 16 and 20 years' ago.
So did everyone else there. The official policy was you had to hand them in at the front office, but precisely zero pupils did.
And that was in the days where there were still payphones you could call home to let them know you'd be late if trains etc were cancelled. Or you chose to socialise with friends after school rather than go straight home. Which was a reasonably frequent occurrence.
I can't imagine any world where banning phones in school will be effective. Banning using them during school at risk of confiscation, sure. But kids will just keep them in their bags and use them when they get out.
No change in government or school policy will stop that.
The study under discussion did not look at out of school usage, just in school.
Yet another beautiful French city. Quimper. How do they do it?
No noom in that lovely cathedral tho
I got there too late, and left too early, to get into the cathedral, but loved my stroll around exploring Quimper
Quimper sounds like it should be an English word - or one of those fake answers in Call My Bluff.
What would it mean?
Isn't it pronounced Kim-pair?
In Chaucerian English I fear Quimper would be very rude.
It means “confluence” in Breton, because three rivers merge here. Which gives me an excuse to post another photo of relentlessly charming Quimper
Its pronounced khhaaaaAAAMP-eeaarrr
Camp-Ear?
You basically have to sound like you’re gargling mouthwash
That's most French words AFAIAC. Daft unpronounceable language for the Northern English male. Makes Welsh look easy.
I think I disagree.
Try and say "hamper" with an extra R and a faux-Scottish (?) accent.
Or think of a poor quality pear: ham-pear.
I'm surprised that @Leon put "a"s in the second half, which according to me nearly adds an extra syllable in French.
Or even better, ask Nick Clegg or Ed Davey, who have 4 or 5 languages each.
I knew about Nick Clegg's languages skills but not Ed Davey. Which are they?
Waffle and obfuscation.
... apparently in 3 European languages too. According to Wikipedia "Davey speaks English, French, German and Spanish."
Four surely.
French hardly counts as a language
Naughty!
Which is why we should teach our kids French, German or Spanish as a first language before the age of 10. Tory morons who think that there will be any success teaching Japanese or Mandarin in high school "because its more useful" should be place in a maximum security home for cretins.
You say "which is why..." but it looks like you're saying we should do it because Ed Davey speaks multiple languages. I'm sure this can't be what you mean! To what end ahould we be teaching otger languages? I'm not unsympathetic to your argument. I have always been a monoglot and I simply cannot understand how people becime fluent in other languages. It just seems impossibly hard. But fortunately English monolingualism doesn't appear to hold anyone back. But I'm interested in your argument. The problem is there are just so many otger languages. Even if you were to master three or four, there would still be thousands you couldn't speak.
Yes but according to Tory logic they're all faking it, or there are 2 million working from home jobs that they would have no trouble getting, so just cut any benefits that they get and and that will sort it all out.
Are all those two million out of work? There's quite an extensive list of long-covid symptoms, several of which don't appear to be debilitating to the point of not being able to work.
More and more sick people are around now im noticing it, others are noticing it. Its not a good thing for the country at all.
I've heard the situation amongst airline pilots is dramatic.
Its funny i caught covid twice yet i dont seem to have a problem with long covid yet others i know who never got covid once seem to have got very sick.
Can this appalling weather really continue? 8C in London with heavy rain. It is nearly May
FWIW they have had basically the same in Brittany. My guide today told me ‘it hasn’t stopped raining since last July’. I’ve lucked out with some of the first sunny days since last autumn, and even then there have been overcast days and it’s notably chilly
The issue for the SNP is that Humza has based his whole leadership around the progressive alliance for independence. Hitching his cart to Alba and Ash Regan just isn’t part of the plan, and I think goes against his sensibilities. He can’t acknowledge that the SNP moved too far left on culture war topics, which is what it sounds like Alba want, because that is essentially repudiating his whole political persona and image. If he does, he is a lame duck trying to cling to power. The axe will fall shortly thereafter. He may manage to cling on until the GE, but it’s hard to see him managing to stay beyond that.
Yes but according to Tory logic they're all faking it, or there are 2 million working from home jobs that they would have no trouble getting, so just cut any benefits that they get and and that will sort it all out.
In reality, of course, it is the parent who "can't cope" with their child not having a phone. I suspect a great many have convinced themselves that they need one for "safety", as an excuse for giving in to them and buying them one.
Admittedly smart phones were not a thing, but I had a phone going to school between 16 and 20 years' ago.
So did everyone else there. The official policy was you had to hand them in at the front office, but precisely zero pupils did.
And that was in the days where there were still payphones you could call home to let them know you'd be late if trains etc were cancelled. Or you chose to socialise with friends after school rather than go straight home. Which was a reasonably frequent occurrence.
I can't imagine any world where banning phones in school will be effective. Banning using them during school at risk of confiscation, sure. But kids will just keep them in their bags and use them when they get out.
No change in government or school policy will stop that.
The study under discussion did not look at out of school usage, just in school.
And how does a study control for people bringing in phones hidden and undisclosed?
Maybe banning reduces usage and is beneficial as a policy. My point is it won't stop children bringing in phones in practice.
Can this appalling weather really continue? 8C in London with heavy rain. It is nearly May
FWIW they have had basically the same in Brittany. My guide today told me ‘it hasn’t stopped raining since last July’. I’ve lucked out with some of the first sunny days since last autumn, and even then there have been overcast days and it’s notably chilly
Have we broken the Gulf Stream?
Doesn't seem that long ago since that day in July 2022 when everyone nearly died of heatstroke.
Yes but according to Tory logic they're all faking it, or there are 2 million working from home jobs that they would have no trouble getting, so just cut any benefits that they get and and that will sort it all out.
Are all those two million out of work? There's quite an extensive list of long-covid symptoms, several of which don't appear to be debilitating to the point of not being able to work.
More and more sick people are around now im noticing it, others are noticing it. Its not a good thing for the country at all.
Can this appalling weather really continue? 8C in London with heavy rain. It is nearly May
FWIW they have had basically the same in Brittany. My guide today told me ‘it hasn’t stopped raining since last July’. I’ve lucked out with some of the first sunny days since last autumn, and even then there have been overcast days and it’s notably chilly
Have we broken the Gulf Stream?
Global warming i think is likely to lead to the uk becoming cloudier and wetter. A more miserable climate than before if thats possible.
Can this appalling weather really continue? 8C in London with heavy rain. It is nearly May
FWIW they have had basically the same in Brittany. My guide today told me ‘it hasn’t stopped raining since last July’. I’ve lucked out with some of the first sunny days since last autumn, and even then there have been overcast days and it’s notably chilly
Have we broken the Gulf Stream?
Doesn't seem that long ago since that day in July 2022 when everyone nearly died of heatstroke.
Since then we’ve had the wettest 18 months in British history and the dullest start to a year that anyone can remember. This is not imaginary, this is record breaking stuff
There are, according to Wiki, 2,655 seats being fought. The Conservatives have 985, Labour 966, LDs 410 and Greens 107 which would put 197 in the hands of Residents, Independents and Others.
Last time these seats were fought it was 2021 and we had two years worth of seats up for grabs (the 2020 round having been postponed due to Covid).
4,737 seats were contested with the Conservatives winning 2,345 or nearly half, Labour won exactly 1,000 fewer, the LDs won 588 and the Greens 151 and 308 won by minor parties, Residents and Independents.
The Conservatives led Labour 36-29 on vote share with the LDs on 17% - the national Westminster polls at the time had the Conservatives up to 10 points ahead - the YouGov had the Conservatives ahead 43-33 with the LDs on 7.
The current national polling has Labour ahead by 16-20 points (YouGov today has a 25 point lead) so we could see a huge swing of 13-17% to Labour with the LDs probably polling around 17% again.
The Conservatives might be happy with a 40% seat loss but the polling suggests it might be nearer 50% so I'll plump for a 500+ seat loss next week.
Yes but according to Tory logic they're all faking it, or there are 2 million working from home jobs that they would have no trouble getting, so just cut any benefits that they get and and that will sort it all out.
Are all those two million out of work? There's quite an extensive list of long-covid symptoms, several of which don't appear to be debilitating to the point of not being able to work.
More and more sick people are around now im noticing it, others are noticing it. Its not a good thing for the country at all.
Are any of them BA pilots?
I should hope not the amount of air travel you do.
Saw my first Political ad on YouTube today. In between a video of the Eagles playing Hotel California at the a Rock N Roll hall induction and a homemade banana wine recipe it was for Kim McGuinness. Vote for me piece to camera. Cheap and not brilliant but interesting to me. First time I’ve ever seen a political ad on the platform.
Can this appalling weather really continue? 8C in London with heavy rain. It is nearly May
FWIW they have had basically the same in Brittany. My guide today told me ‘it hasn’t stopped raining since last July’. I’ve lucked out with some of the first sunny days since last autumn, and even then there have been overcast days and it’s notably chilly
Have we broken the Gulf Stream?
Global warming i think is likely to lead to the uk becoming cloudier and wetter. A more miserable climate than before if thats possible.
Yet another beautiful French city. Quimper. How do they do it?
No noom in that lovely cathedral tho
I got there too late, and left too early, to get into the cathedral, but loved my stroll around exploring Quimper
Quimper sounds like it should be an English word - or one of those fake answers in Call My Bluff.
What would it mean?
Isn't it pronounced Kim-pair?
In Chaucerian English I fear Quimper would be very rude.
It means “confluence” in Breton, because three rivers merge here. Which gives me an excuse to post another photo of relentlessly charming Quimper
Its pronounced khhaaaaAAAMP-eeaarrr
Camp-Ear?
You basically have to sound like you’re gargling mouthwash
That's most French words AFAIAC. Daft unpronounceable language for the Northern English male. Makes Welsh look easy.
I think I disagree.
Try and say "hamper" with an extra R and a faux-Scottish (?) accent.
Or think of a poor quality pear: ham-pear.
I'm surprised that @Leon put "a"s in the second half, which according to me nearly adds an extra syllable in French.
Or even better, ask Nick Clegg or Ed Davey, who have 4 or 5 languages each.
I knew about Nick Clegg's languages skills but not Ed Davey. Which are they?
Waffle and obfuscation.
... apparently in 3 European languages too. According to Wikipedia "Davey speaks English, French, German and Spanish."
Four surely.
French hardly counts as a language
Naughty!
Which is why we should teach our kids French, German or Spanish as a first language before the age of 10. Tory morons who think that there will be any success teaching Japanese or Mandarin in high school "because its more useful" should be place in a maximum security home for cretins.
Mate. Language learning is dead. If it’s not dead, AI is about to kill it. We will very soon have literal Babel fish that translate everything perfectly in real time into our AirPods, and likewise in reverse. We may even have lenses that lip synch the words so it looks like the person talking in French to you is talking in English but in their accent, this technology already exists
Who on earth is going to spend much of their youth learning something pointless, that brings no material advantage? Granted, some privileged kids still might, the way they learn the flute or the cello, but for 97% of children the time will be spent better on something useful and beneficial
So many on this site have no idea what AI is about to do to the world
You don't run or cycle? Speaking another language changes the shape of your brain and makes you live longer. Speaking another language does for the brain what being physically active does for the body.
If you think education is just about getting on the corporate hamster wheel you really are a philistine reactionary. We live as sentient beings in a vast and majestic universe...
You can translate docs using technology but actually talking to people is a whole different thing. I live in a country where technology is already used in ways that an inky reactionary wouldn't get... which means we understand the uses but also the limitations of "AI" and a whole load of other stuff coming gown the line. It will, I think be pretty exciting. Languages and language learning won't be going away though... unless you are happy with a one dimensional understanding of things, which , given your often expressed rather negative view of life, perhaps you are.
Can this appalling weather really continue? 8C in London with heavy rain. It is nearly May
FWIW they have had basically the same in Brittany. My guide today told me ‘it hasn’t stopped raining since last July’. I’ve lucked out with some of the first sunny days since last autumn, and even then there have been overcast days and it’s notably chilly
Have we broken the Gulf Stream?
Global warming i think is likely to lead to the uk becoming cloudier and wetter. A more miserable climate than before if thats possible.
Could be worse though. It could be Moscow. As I understand that place it's wet, cold, drab, dreary, and the regime is run by a nutter. I'm sure you'll agree.
Can this appalling weather really continue? 8C in London with heavy rain. It is nearly May
FWIW they have had basically the same in Brittany. My guide today told me ‘it hasn’t stopped raining since last July’. I’ve lucked out with some of the first sunny days since last autumn, and even then there have been overcast days and it’s notably chilly
Have we broken the Gulf Stream?
Global warming i think is likely to lead to the uk becoming cloudier and wetter. A more miserable climate than before if thats possible.
Yes. Britain will join the Faroe Islands
Yes an economically depressed island with shit weather. Whats not to like.
The Christian Democrats still riding high. Social Democrats and liberals (FDP) still in deep trouble, while Greens weathering the anti-Government swing a bit better. AfD somewhat off the boil, with the anti-immigration and pro-Russian far left BSW picking up and probably safely above the 5% hurdle (unlike the Corbynist Die Linke which they split from). The problem of forming a potential non-SPD government remains - if the AfD are off-limits, the CDU will need both Greens and FDP to get a majority, which looks unlikely.
You skip the most incredible - and momentous - polling data from Germany. The hard right AfD is now the most popular party amongst Germans aged 14-29
This is really important because this is why Le pen is close to the French presidency. The young vote for her, it’s not just the old
I am pretty sure Britain will eventually follow this pattern. Why should we be immune? We might be. We probably aren’t
The youth in France and Germany are protesting the mass immigration from extremist countries. Algeria and Tunisia in France's case. Turkey, Syria and Iraq in Germany's case.
Thankfully in Britain, the elite has partially taken notice and acted on it. We fortunately Brexited before that million odd Middle Easterners got EU passports and we have ramped up the income thresholds for worker and family visas, which should stem the flow from places like Pakistan and Bangladesh. The question is whether Starmer and the bleeding hearts in Labour reverse those changes to appeal to parts of their base, who quite like bringing in arranged spouses.
We’ve had more immigration from the Middle East since Brexit than before Brexit.
I always wondered why the Lib Dems didn't bring down the coalition just before the 2015 election. They had an electoral base that was a combination of protest vote and hyper local, which wasn't ready for the compromises of government. Becoming awkward and then resigning over some carefully chosen issue would have opened up space between them and the Conservatives, and restored a bit of the idea that they had some principles. Also, there was going to be an election anyway, and the idea that there would be the same coalition afterwards was a bit silly given how often that hasn't happened. Instead, Clegg & co hung on to their ministerships until the very end, and the party was wiped out - and still hasn't recovered. It will be interesting to see if the Scottish Greens manage better.
Should also add that the vocal opposition to a smartphone ban comes from certain parents. Not from the kids.
What kind of parent WANTS their kid to use a smartphone in school?!
Helicopter parents who demand their kid is constantly contactable.
My daughter's school's system of collecting them all up in a box in the morning and giving them back out at the end of the day works very well.
They can text us if they want to go round to a friend's place after school instead of coming straight home. It gives them some independence, and gets them in the habit of letting us know where they are in return for more freedom/latitude.
They didn't ask for the phone so there was no "giving in" to anything.
Yet another beautiful French city. Quimper. How do they do it?
No noom in that lovely cathedral tho
I got there too late, and left too early, to get into the cathedral, but loved my stroll around exploring Quimper
Quimper sounds like it should be an English word - or one of those fake answers in Call My Bluff.
What would it mean?
Isn't it pronounced Kim-pair?
In Chaucerian English I fear Quimper would be very rude.
It means “confluence” in Breton, because three rivers merge here. Which gives me an excuse to post another photo of relentlessly charming Quimper
Its pronounced khhaaaaAAAMP-eeaarrr
Camp-Ear?
You basically have to sound like you’re gargling mouthwash
That's most French words AFAIAC. Daft unpronounceable language for the Northern English male. Makes Welsh look easy.
I think I disagree.
Try and say "hamper" with an extra R and a faux-Scottish (?) accent.
Or think of a poor quality pear: ham-pear.
I'm surprised that @Leon put "a"s in the second half, which according to me nearly adds an extra syllable in French.
Or even better, ask Nick Clegg or Ed Davey, who have 4 or 5 languages each.
I knew about Nick Clegg's languages skills but not Ed Davey. Which are they?
Waffle and obfuscation.
... apparently in 3 European languages too. According to Wikipedia "Davey speaks English, French, German and Spanish."
Four surely.
French hardly counts as a language
Naughty!
Which is why we should teach our kids French, German or Spanish as a first language before the age of 10. Tory morons who think that there will be any success teaching Japanese or Mandarin in high school "because its more useful" should be place in a maximum security home for cretins.
Mate. Language learning is dead. If it’s not dead, AI is about to kill it. We will very soon have literal Babel fish that translate everything perfectly in real time into our AirPods, and likewise in reverse. We may even have lenses that lip synch the words so it looks like the person talking in French to you is talking in English but in their accent, this technology already exists
Who on earth is going to spend much of their youth learning something pointless, that brings no material advantage? Granted, some privileged kids still might, the way they learn the flute or the cello, but for 97% of children the time will be spent better on something useful and beneficial
So many on this site have no idea what AI is about to do to the world
You don't run or cycle? Speaking another language changes the shape of your brain and makes you live longer. Speaking another language does for the brain what being physically active does for the body.
If you think education is just about getting on the corporate hamster wheel you really are a philistine reactionary. We live as sentient beings in a vast and majestic universe...
You can translate docs using technology but actually talking to people is a whole different thing. I live in a country where technology is already used in ways that an inky reactionary wouldn't get... which means we understand the uses but also the limitations of "AI" and a whole load of other stuff coming gown the line. It will, I think be pretty exciting. Languages and language learning won't be going away though... unless you are happy with a one dimensional understanding of things, which , given your often expressed rather negative view of life, perhaps you are.
Why are you such a relentlessly pompous old nun’s vulva
I know languages are good for the soul blah blah fucking blah
I am merely pointing out what is coming our way and extrapolating how humans will react. You’ll thank me when it happens, for warning you
Yet another beautiful French city. Quimper. How do they do it?
No noom in that lovely cathedral tho
I got there too late, and left too early, to get into the cathedral, but loved my stroll around exploring Quimper
Quimper sounds like it should be an English word - or one of those fake answers in Call My Bluff.
What would it mean?
Isn't it pronounced Kim-pair?
In Chaucerian English I fear Quimper would be very rude.
It means “confluence” in Breton, because three rivers merge here. Which gives me an excuse to post another photo of relentlessly charming Quimper
Its pronounced khhaaaaAAAMP-eeaarrr
Camp-Ear?
You basically have to sound like you’re gargling mouthwash
That's most French words AFAIAC. Daft unpronounceable language for the Northern English male. Makes Welsh look easy.
I think I disagree.
Try and say "hamper" with an extra R and a faux-Scottish (?) accent.
Or think of a poor quality pear: ham-pear.
I'm surprised that @Leon put "a"s in the second half, which according to me nearly adds an extra syllable in French.
Or even better, ask Nick Clegg or Ed Davey, who have 4 or 5 languages each.
I knew about Nick Clegg's languages skills but not Ed Davey. Which are they?
Waffle and obfuscation.
... apparently in 3 European languages too. According to Wikipedia "Davey speaks English, French, German and Spanish."
Four surely.
French hardly counts as a language
Naughty!
Which is why we should teach our kids French, German or Spanish as a first language before the age of 10. Tory morons who think that there will be any success teaching Japanese or Mandarin in high school "because its more useful" should be place in a maximum security home for cretins.
My granddaughter (21) speaks English, Welsh, French, Italian, and Japanese, was offered a place at Kyoto University, and is presently studying at Turin University
But I bet she doesn't know what Reynolds Number is.
Can this appalling weather really continue? 8C in London with heavy rain. It is nearly May
FWIW they have had basically the same in Brittany. My guide today told me ‘it hasn’t stopped raining since last July’. I’ve lucked out with some of the first sunny days since last autumn, and even then there have been overcast days and it’s notably chilly
Have we broken the Gulf Stream?
Global warming i think is likely to lead to the uk becoming cloudier and wetter. A more miserable climate than before if thats possible.
Could be worse though. It could be Moscow. As I understand that place it's wet, cold, drab, dreary, and the regime is run by a nutter. I'm sure you'll agree.
Should also add that the vocal opposition to a smartphone ban comes from certain parents. Not from the kids.
What kind of parent WANTS their kid to use a smartphone in school?!
Helicopter parents who demand their kid is constantly contactable.
My daughter's school's system of collecting them all up in a box in the morning and giving them back out at the end of the day works very well.
They can text us if they want to go round to a friend's place after school instead of coming straight home. It gives them some independence, and gets them in the habit of letting us know where they are in return for more freedom/latitude.
They didn't ask for the phone so there was no "giving in" to anything.
Smart watches seem a good compromise. Not a perfect one as you can do a lot on them including take pictures, but I don't think they take most kids' complete attention like a phone.
Can this appalling weather really continue? 8C in London with heavy rain. It is nearly May
FWIW they have had basically the same in Brittany. My guide today told me ‘it hasn’t stopped raining since last July’. I’ve lucked out with some of the first sunny days since last autumn, and even then there have been overcast days and it’s notably chilly
Have we broken the Gulf Stream?
Global warming i think is likely to lead to the uk becoming cloudier and wetter. A more miserable climate than before if thats possible.
Could be worse though. It could be Moscow. As I understand that place it's wet, cold, drab, dreary, and the regime is run by a nutter. I'm sure you'll agree.
Can this appalling weather really continue? 8C in London with heavy rain. It is nearly May
FWIW they have had basically the same in Brittany. My guide today told me ‘it hasn’t stopped raining since last July’. I’ve lucked out with some of the first sunny days since last autumn, and even then there have been overcast days and it’s notably chilly
Have we broken the Gulf Stream?
Global warming i think is likely to lead to the uk becoming cloudier and wetter. A more miserable climate than before if thats possible.
Could be worse though. It could be Moscow. As I understand that place it's wet, cold, drab, dreary, and the regime is run by a nutter. I'm sure you'll agree.
Sounds like the uk under Liz Truss.
Quite - although we got rid of her smartish. You on the other hand embrace your great leader.
We have a landmark lighthouse here which has just hit its 150th birthday and they’ve lit it beautifully to celebrate it. I wish it would be permanently like this but then it might lose its “noom”.
The lighthouse incidentally gave its name to the Grand National winner Corbiere to find some tendentious link to betting.
So here’s a lighthouse being lit for the people on land not the sea. (Not my photos.)
(Snip)
This is perhaps my favourite photo I've ever taken. Strumble Head lighthouse in Pemborkeshire, at dusk. A vertical red beam of light from the sun disappearing below the distant horizon, and a horizontal beam of light from the lighthouse.
I had only a few seconds to take the shot whilst the lighthouse's beam was visible at the same time as the sun's beam, and in the right direction. I took the photo hurriedly and at a slight slant. And I'm no photographer. It's an imperfect photo.
But I know I'll never experience those few moments again.
Can this appalling weather really continue? 8C in London with heavy rain. It is nearly May
FWIW they have had basically the same in Brittany. My guide today told me ‘it hasn’t stopped raining since last July’. I’ve lucked out with some of the first sunny days since last autumn, and even then there have been overcast days and it’s notably chilly
Have we broken the Gulf Stream?
Global warming i think is likely to lead to the uk becoming cloudier and wetter. A more miserable climate than before if thats possible.
Could be worse though. It could be Moscow. As I understand that place it's wet, cold, drab, dreary, and the regime is run by a nutter. I'm sure you'll agree.
Sounds like the uk under Liz Truss.
Nah, in this country we can mock the PM relentlessly and compare them to a lettuce, if in Moscow you did the same you'd be falling out of a window.
We have a landmark lighthouse here which has just hit its 150th birthday and they’ve lit it beautifully to celebrate it. I wish it would be permanently like this but then it might lose its “noom”.
The lighthouse incidentally gave its name to the Grand National winner Corbiere to find some tendentious link to betting.
So here’s a lighthouse being lit for the people on land not the sea. (Not my photos.)
(Snip)
This is perhaps my favourite photo I've ever taken. Strumble Head lighthouse in Pemborkeshire, at dusk. A vertical red beam of light from the sun disappearing below the distant horizon, and a horizontal beam of light from the lighthouse.
I had only a few seconds to take the shot whilst the lighthouse's beam was visible at the same time as the sun's beam, and in the right direction. I took the photo hurriedly and at a slight slant. And I'm no photographer. It's an imperfect photo.
But I know I'll never experience those few moments again.
Can this appalling weather really continue? 8C in London with heavy rain. It is nearly May
FWIW they have had basically the same in Brittany. My guide today told me ‘it hasn’t stopped raining since last July’. I’ve lucked out with some of the first sunny days since last autumn, and even then there have been overcast days and it’s notably chilly
Have we broken the Gulf Stream?
Global warming i think is likely to lead to the uk becoming cloudier and wetter. A more miserable climate than before if thats possible.
Could be worse though. It could be Moscow. As I understand that place it's wet, cold, drab, dreary, and the regime is run by a nutter. I'm sure you'll agree.
Can this appalling weather really continue? 8C in London with heavy rain. It is nearly May
FWIW they have had basically the same in Brittany. My guide today told me ‘it hasn’t stopped raining since last July’. I’ve lucked out with some of the first sunny days since last autumn, and even then there have been overcast days and it’s notably chilly
Have we broken the Gulf Stream?
Global warming i think is likely to lead to the uk becoming cloudier and wetter. A more miserable climate than before if thats possible.
Could be worse though. It could be Moscow. As I understand that place it's wet, cold, drab, dreary, and the regime is run by a nutter. I'm sure you'll agree.
Sounds like the uk under Liz Truss.
Quite - although we got rid of her smartish. You on the other hand embrace your great leader.
Can this appalling weather really continue? 8C in London with heavy rain. It is nearly May
FWIW they have had basically the same in Brittany. My guide today told me ‘it hasn’t stopped raining since last July’. I’ve lucked out with some of the first sunny days since last autumn, and even then there have been overcast days and it’s notably chilly
Have we broken the Gulf Stream?
Global warming i think is likely to lead to the uk becoming cloudier and wetter. A more miserable climate than before if thats possible.
Could be worse though. It could be Moscow. As I understand that place it's wet, cold, drab, dreary, and the regime is run by a nutter. I'm sure you'll agree.
Can this appalling weather really continue? 8C in London with heavy rain. It is nearly May
FWIW they have had basically the same in Brittany. My guide today told me ‘it hasn’t stopped raining since last July’. I’ve lucked out with some of the first sunny days since last autumn, and even then there have been overcast days and it’s notably chilly
Have we broken the Gulf Stream?
Global warming i think is likely to lead to the uk becoming cloudier and wetter. A more miserable climate than before if thats possible.
Could be worse though. It could be Moscow. As I understand that place it's wet, cold, drab, dreary, and the regime is run by a nutter. I'm sure you'll agree.
Sounds like the uk under Liz Truss.
Quite - although we got rid of her smartish. You on the other hand embrace your great leader.
I wouldnt do that he might get the wrong idea.
Well, only if you're a girl. Off to the Dascha otherwise,
Can this appalling weather really continue? 8C in London with heavy rain. It is nearly May
FWIW they have had basically the same in Brittany. My guide today told me ‘it hasn’t stopped raining since last July’. I’ve lucked out with some of the first sunny days since last autumn, and even then there have been overcast days and it’s notably chilly
Have we broken the Gulf Stream?
Global warming i think is likely to lead to the uk becoming cloudier and wetter. A more miserable climate than before if thats possible.
Yes. Britain will join the Faroe Islands
Yes an economically depressed island with shit weather. Whats not to like.
Faroe Islands' GDP growth seems quite healthy, tripling in 20 years. Can't say much about the weather though.
Yet another beautiful French city. Quimper. How do they do it?
No noom in that lovely cathedral tho
I got there too late, and left too early, to get into the cathedral, but loved my stroll around exploring Quimper
Quimper sounds like it should be an English word - or one of those fake answers in Call My Bluff.
What would it mean?
Isn't it pronounced Kim-pair?
In Chaucerian English I fear Quimper would be very rude.
It means “confluence” in Breton, because three rivers merge here. Which gives me an excuse to post another photo of relentlessly charming Quimper
Its pronounced khhaaaaAAAMP-eeaarrr
Camp-Ear?
You basically have to sound like you’re gargling mouthwash
That's most French words AFAIAC. Daft unpronounceable language for the Northern English male. Makes Welsh look easy.
I think I disagree.
Try and say "hamper" with an extra R and a faux-Scottish (?) accent.
Or think of a poor quality pear: ham-pear.
I'm surprised that @Leon put "a"s in the second half, which according to me nearly adds an extra syllable in French.
Or even better, ask Nick Clegg or Ed Davey, who have 4 or 5 languages each.
I knew about Nick Clegg's languages skills but not Ed Davey. Which are they?
Waffle and obfuscation.
... apparently in 3 European languages too. According to Wikipedia "Davey speaks English, French, German and Spanish."
Four surely.
French hardly counts as a language
Naughty!
Which is why we should teach our kids French, German or Spanish as a first language before the age of 10. Tory morons who think that there will be any success teaching Japanese or Mandarin in high school "because its more useful" should be place in a maximum security home for cretins.
Mate. Language learning is dead. If it’s not dead, AI is about to kill it. We will very soon have literal Babel fish that translate everything perfectly in real time into our AirPods, and likewise in reverse. We may even have lenses that lip synch the words so it looks like the person talking in French to you is talking in English but in their accent, this technology already exists
Who on earth is going to spend much of their youth learning something pointless, that brings no material advantage? Granted, some privileged kids still might, the way they learn the flute or the cello, but for 97% of children the time will be spent better on something useful and beneficial
So many on this site have no idea what AI is about to do to the world
Why are you obsessed with material advantage? Surely your degree was non-vocational iirc your past postings. Most people make no great use of what they study at A-level or beyond. In the words of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, when in the real world am I going to need history, maths or the English language?
I’m not obsessed with material advantage because I am comfortable. I’ve got my career. And life was easier for the top 10% that went to uni in the 1980s
Things are very different now for young people: much harder and more competitive. Learning a language will seem like a decadent indulgence when everyone has a machine which can translate every single language instantly and perfectly in real time - and even make it look like people are speaking your language when they are not
If true it removes the advantage England has through so many speaking English, and makes all those kids currently learning Mandarin feel like they’re wasting their time.. unless people still like to talk to each other in this brave new world
Yet another beautiful French city. Quimper. How do they do it?
No noom in that lovely cathedral tho
I got there too late, and left too early, to get into the cathedral, but loved my stroll around exploring Quimper
Quimper sounds like it should be an English word - or one of those fake answers in Call My Bluff.
What would it mean?
Isn't it pronounced Kim-pair?
In Chaucerian English I fear Quimper would be very rude.
It means “confluence” in Breton, because three rivers merge here. Which gives me an excuse to post another photo of relentlessly charming Quimper
Its pronounced khhaaaaAAAMP-eeaarrr
Camp-Ear?
You basically have to sound like you’re gargling mouthwash
That's most French words AFAIAC. Daft unpronounceable language for the Northern English male. Makes Welsh look easy.
I think I disagree.
Try and say "hamper" with an extra R and a faux-Scottish (?) accent.
Or think of a poor quality pear: ham-pear.
I'm surprised that @Leon put "a"s in the second half, which according to me nearly adds an extra syllable in French.
Or even better, ask Nick Clegg or Ed Davey, who have 4 or 5 languages each.
I knew about Nick Clegg's languages skills but not Ed Davey. Which are they?
Waffle and obfuscation.
... apparently in 3 European languages too. According to Wikipedia "Davey speaks English, French, German and Spanish."
Four surely.
French hardly counts as a language
Naughty!
Which is why we should teach our kids French, German or Spanish as a first language before the age of 10. Tory morons who think that there will be any success teaching Japanese or Mandarin in high school "because its more useful" should be place in a maximum security home for cretins.
You say "which is why..." but it looks like you're saying we should do it because Ed Davey speaks multiple languages. I'm sure this can't be what you mean! To what end ahould we be teaching otger languages? I'm not unsympathetic to your argument. I have always been a monoglot and I simply cannot understand how people becime fluent in other languages. It just seems impossibly hard. But fortunately English monolingualism doesn't appear to hold anyone back. But I'm interested in your argument. The problem is there are just so many otger languages. Even if you were to master three or four, there would still be thousands you couldn't speak.
Learning another language gives you a perspective on how language works, because other languages do things in other ways, it gives you a window into a culture too. And you don’t need to obtain fluency to get those benefits. I speak a little Japanese, not remotely anywhere near fluent, but it opened my eyes to many things and made travelling around Japan very different.
We have a landmark lighthouse here which has just hit its 150th birthday and they’ve lit it beautifully to celebrate it. I wish it would be permanently like this but then it might lose its “noom”.
The lighthouse incidentally gave its name to the Grand National winner Corbiere to find some tendentious link to betting.
So here’s a lighthouse being lit for the people on land not the sea. (Not my photos.)
(Snip)
This is perhaps my favourite photo I've ever taken. Strumble Head lighthouse in Pemborkeshire, at dusk. A vertical red beam of light from the sun disappearing below the distant horizon, and a horizontal beam of light from the lighthouse.
I had only a few seconds to take the shot whilst the lighthouse's beam was visible at the same time as the sun's beam, and in the right direction. I took the photo hurriedly and at a slight slant. And I'm no photographer. It's an imperfect photo.
But I know I'll never experience those few moments again.
Nooooooom!
Very nice
Does anyone know what those vertical beams or light from the sun are called as it dips below the horizon? I've seen a couple since (including in my home village), but they seem to be blooming rare.
Should also add that the vocal opposition to a smartphone ban comes from certain parents. Not from the kids.
What kind of parent WANTS their kid to use a smartphone in school?!
Helicopter parents who demand their kid is constantly contactable.
My daughter's school's system of collecting them all up in a box in the morning and giving them back out at the end of the day works very well.
They can text us if they want to go round to a friend's place after school instead of coming straight home. It gives them some independence, and gets them in the habit of letting us know where they are in return for more freedom/latitude.
They didn't ask for the phone so there was no "giving in" to anything.
Sounds like a good way to upgrade your phone.
Pop a Blackberry in the box in the morning, out pops the latest iPhone on the way home.
Can this appalling weather really continue? 8C in London with heavy rain. It is nearly May
FWIW they have had basically the same in Brittany. My guide today told me ‘it hasn’t stopped raining since last July’. I’ve lucked out with some of the first sunny days since last autumn, and even then there have been overcast days and it’s notably chilly
Have we broken the Gulf Stream?
Global warming i think is likely to lead to the uk becoming cloudier and wetter. A more miserable climate than before if thats possible.
Could be worse though. It could be Moscow. As I understand that place it's wet, cold, drab, dreary, and the regime is run by a nutter. I'm sure you'll agree.
Sounds like the uk under Liz Truss.
Nah, in this country we can mock the PM relentlessly and compare them to a lettuce, if in Moscow you did the same you'd be falling out of a window.
Putin is a fanny.
Whatever you think about Putin he aint no fanny. Ruthless and murderous maybe. He once killed a rat with his bare hands.
When Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, made an alliance with Margaret d'Anjou in 1470 she forced him to grovel in front of her for fifteen solid minutes on a stone-cold (literally, as it consisted of flagstones) floor while apologising for all his past misdeeds towards her and her husband before she accepted him.
We have a landmark lighthouse here which has just hit its 150th birthday and they’ve lit it beautifully to celebrate it. I wish it would be permanently like this but then it might lose its “noom”.
The lighthouse incidentally gave its name to the Grand National winner Corbiere to find some tendentious link to betting.
So here’s a lighthouse being lit for the people on land not the sea. (Not my photos.)
(Snip)
This is perhaps my favourite photo I've ever taken. Strumble Head lighthouse in Pemborkeshire, at dusk. A vertical red beam of light from the sun disappearing below the distant horizon, and a horizontal beam of light from the lighthouse.
I had only a few seconds to take the shot whilst the lighthouse's beam was visible at the same time as the sun's beam, and in the right direction. I took the photo hurriedly and at a slight slant. And I'm no photographer. It's an imperfect photo.
But I know I'll never experience those few moments again.
Nooooooom!
Very nice
Two different companies have beaten you to the word:
Yet another beautiful French city. Quimper. How do they do it?
No noom in that lovely cathedral tho
I got there too late, and left too early, to get into the cathedral, but loved my stroll around exploring Quimper
Quimper sounds like it should be an English word - or one of those fake answers in Call My Bluff.
What would it mean?
Isn't it pronounced Kim-pair?
In Chaucerian English I fear Quimper would be very rude.
It means “confluence” in Breton, because three rivers merge here. Which gives me an excuse to post another photo of relentlessly charming Quimper
Its pronounced khhaaaaAAAMP-eeaarrr
Camp-Ear?
You basically have to sound like you’re gargling mouthwash
That's most French words AFAIAC. Daft unpronounceable language for the Northern English male. Makes Welsh look easy.
I think I disagree.
Try and say "hamper" with an extra R and a faux-Scottish (?) accent.
Or think of a poor quality pear: ham-pear.
I'm surprised that @Leon put "a"s in the second half, which according to me nearly adds an extra syllable in French.
Or even better, ask Nick Clegg or Ed Davey, who have 4 or 5 languages each.
I knew about Nick Clegg's languages skills but not Ed Davey. Which are they?
Waffle and obfuscation.
... apparently in 3 European languages too. According to Wikipedia "Davey speaks English, French, German and Spanish."
Four surely.
French hardly counts as a language
Naughty!
Which is why we should teach our kids French, German or Spanish as a first language before the age of 10. Tory morons who think that there will be any success teaching Japanese or Mandarin in high school "because its more useful" should be place in a maximum security home for cretins.
Mate. Language learning is dead. If it’s not dead, AI is about to kill it. We will very soon have literal Babel fish that translate everything perfectly in real time into our AirPods, and likewise in reverse. We may even have lenses that lip synch the words so it looks like the person talking in French to you is talking in English but in their accent, this technology already exists
Who on earth is going to spend much of their youth learning something pointless, that brings no material advantage? Granted, some privileged kids still might, the way they learn the flute or the cello, but for 97% of children the time will be spent better on something useful and beneficial
So many on this site have no idea what AI is about to do to the world
You don't run or cycle? Speaking another language changes the shape of your brain and makes you live longer. Speaking another language does for the brain what being physically active does for the body.
If you think education is just about getting on the corporate hamster wheel you really are a philistine reactionary. We live as sentient beings in a vast and majestic universe...
You can translate docs using technology but actually talking to people is a whole different thing. I live in a country where technology is already used in ways that an inky reactionary wouldn't get... which means we understand the uses but also the limitations of "AI" and a whole load of other stuff coming gown the line. It will, I think be pretty exciting. Languages and language learning won't be going away though... unless you are happy with a one dimensional understanding of things, which , given your often expressed rather negative view of life, perhaps you are.
The negative consequences of AI are worth discussing. I hope they aren’t as terrible as predicted. It’s a bit like the question posed by Jeremy Bentham was it? Is a life where you’re just laying in bed being injected with things that make you experience pleasure a life well lived? Or is going out and doing stuff better?
Can this appalling weather really continue? 8C in London with heavy rain. It is nearly May
FWIW they have had basically the same in Brittany. My guide today told me ‘it hasn’t stopped raining since last July’. I’ve lucked out with some of the first sunny days since last autumn, and even then there have been overcast days and it’s notably chilly
Have we broken the Gulf Stream?
Global warming i think is likely to lead to the uk becoming cloudier and wetter. A more miserable climate than before if thats possible.
Could be worse though. It could be Moscow. As I understand that place it's wet, cold, drab, dreary, and the regime is run by a nutter. I'm sure you'll agree.
Sounds like the uk under Liz Truss.
Nah, in this country we can mock the PM relentlessly and compare them to a lettuce, if in Moscow you did the same you'd be falling out of a window.
Putin is a fanny.
Whatever you think about Putin he aint no fanny. Ruthless and murderous maybe. He once killed a rat with his bare hands.
When Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, made an alliance with Margaret d'Anjou in 1470 she forced him to grovel in front of her for fifteen solid minutes on a stone-cold (literally, as it consisted of flagstones) floor while apologising for all his past misdeeds towards her and her husband before she accepted him.
We have a landmark lighthouse here which has just hit its 150th birthday and they’ve lit it beautifully to celebrate it. I wish it would be permanently like this but then it might lose its “noom”.
The lighthouse incidentally gave its name to the Grand National winner Corbiere to find some tendentious link to betting.
So here’s a lighthouse being lit for the people on land not the sea. (Not my photos.)
(Snip)
This is perhaps my favourite photo I've ever taken. Strumble Head lighthouse in Pemborkeshire, at dusk. A vertical red beam of light from the sun disappearing below the distant horizon, and a horizontal beam of light from the lighthouse.
I had only a few seconds to take the shot whilst the lighthouse's beam was visible at the same time as the sun's beam, and in the right direction. I took the photo hurriedly and at a slight slant. And I'm no photographer. It's an imperfect photo.
But I know I'll never experience those few moments again.
Yeah but did you have Nazis based at your lighthouse?
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Particularly concerning the photographing and filming of other children without consent, or parental consent. (Remember schools need written permission to take photos or film children).
Not to mention Witness Protection kids.
And around the sharing of videos and other inappropriate age-restricted material.
Any school which allows them ought to be an automatic safeguarding inspection fail.
Good times with challenges.
Another example of my favourite type of story is the Mansion House 9000 telephone which still exists (or did when I last visited) in St Stephens Walbrook, which is the original one used by Chad Varah the Curate when he founded the organisation in 1953.
To me that's a part of the same story as the Ducking Stool in St Mary's Warwick, the Maidens' Garlands in Holy Trinity at Ashford-in-the-Water, the churches with Cromwellian weapon-impressions or marks on the outside walls where weapons were sharpened, or ones where a full immersion baptistry has been installed in the last decade.
For other types of story - the routes of public footpaths qualify for me eg walks with coffin stones in place, or areas of places such as Bedford Park or the Moravian Settlement at Ockbrook (there is really a thing called the Ock Brook).
Or for another modern one perhaps the locations of Elim Pentecostal Churches, which still in measure trace the preaching tours in the 1920-30s of the Jeffreys brothers - just as Methodist Churches did for Wesley.
YouGov offers normal service with the Conservatives on 20% (as with Redfield & Wilton) while thr week's other pollsters have had the Conservative share at 25-27%. That's a big difference however you spin it. I imagine it's to do with methodology such as prompting for other parties.
We've also got another West Midlands Mayoralty poll from R&W and this is much closer to another poll.
Richard Parker (Labour) 43% (+1)
Andy Street (Conservative) 37% (+9)
Sunny Virk (Liberal Democrat) 8% (+1)
Siobhan Harper-Nunes (Green) 5% (-2)
Elaine Williams (Reform UK) 4% (-9)
Another candidate 3% (+1)
Changes since the last R&W poll of 10-14 April. What we seem to be seeing is a merciless squeeze of Reform and subsequent improvement for the Conservatives but Street remains six points behind with a week to go. OTOH, it could be a divorcing of this particular Mayoral contest from national voting. Parker leads Street 39-33 with the 10% DKs including so they would need to break disproportionately to Street to put him in with a real chance.
Street beat Liam Byrne by nine points in 2021 so the swing is just 7.5%, well below the Westminster polling.
I suspect a great many have convinced themselves that they need one for "safety", as an excuse for giving in to them and buying them one.
If they start trying to separate official v private the ramifications will be huge . Ironically giving the Dems perhaps their strongest message .
Just imagine what Trump could do without constraints . If the SC continues to act as a GOP arse licker calls for an expansion of the court will grow if Biden wins.
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/ai-just-changed-the-world-again/
Who on earth is going to spend much of their youth learning something pointless, that brings no material advantage? Granted, some privileged kids still might, the way they learn the flute or the cello, but for 97% of children the time will be spent better on something useful and beneficial
So many on this site have no idea what AI is about to do to the world
The notion of an interim FM - surely they would also lose a no-confidence motion as well?
Ash Reagan holds the reigns of power. She can bring them down, or she can save her leadership rival. So, what job does Alex Salmond want her to have?
I had chickpea and tuna salad to start, now on veal entrecote and chips for main, with a half litre carafe of house red
All for the princely sum of 14€
Also, interested that you're a ringer. I knew there had to be at least one here! I used to, though haven't for some time.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/society/2024/mar/15/long-covid-symptoms-flu-cold
If he wasn't a Muslim I would introduce him to this charming dog I own. She's called Karma.
Channel 4 News"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKo8lTaV0z0
The lighthouse incidentally gave its name to the Grand National winner Corbiere to find some tendentious link to betting.
So here’s a lighthouse being lit for the people on land not the sea. (Not my photos.)
Things are very different now for young people: much harder and more competitive. Learning a language will seem like a decadent indulgence when everyone has a machine which can translate every single language instantly and perfectly in real time - and even make it look like people are speaking your language when they are not
There will be a small minority of people who *do* have long covid; who had an adverse reaction to the disease that will take months or years to clear. AFAIAA this is relatively uncontroversial, as people have such reactions to other common viruses all the time. Some people are just unlucky. In the same way, some people will have been exposed to Covid many times and not suffered symptoms. Because they were lucky.
But with all the stories of long covid that inflicted our media (a disease in itself...), some people will be blame any illness on 'long covid' because they want an answer to what is ailing them.
So... long covid is real. But rarer than it is made out to be.
So did everyone else there. The official policy was you had to hand them in at the front office, but precisely zero pupils did.
And that was in the days where there were still payphones you could call home to let them know you'd be late if trains etc were cancelled. Or if you chose to socialise with friends after school rather than go straight home. Which was a reasonably frequent occurrence.
I can't imagine any world where banning phones in school will be effective. Banning using them during school at risk of confiscation, sure. But kids will just keep them in their bags and use them when they get out.
No change in government or school policy will stop that.
Is it mere coincidence he ceased to be an active director of any UK company within 48 hours of giving evidence at the Inquiry? Perhaps we should be told. FNZ’s insurers almost certainly were."
https://www.postofficescandal.uk/post/former-post-office-hatchet-man-gives-himself-the-chop/
I'm not unsympathetic to your argument. I have always been a monoglot and I simply cannot understand how people becime fluent in other languages. It just seems impossibly hard. But fortunately English monolingualism doesn't appear to hold anyone back. But I'm interested in your argument.
The problem is there are just so many otger languages. Even if you were to master three or four, there would still be thousands you couldn't speak.
FWIW they have had basically the same in Brittany. My guide today told me ‘it hasn’t stopped raining since last July’. I’ve lucked out with some of the first sunny days since last autumn, and even then there have been overcast days and it’s notably chilly
Have we broken the Gulf Stream?
Perhaps Leon was lurking on PB at the time and remembers this?
Either way, bet on a 2024 exit.
Maybe banning reduces usage and is beneficial as a policy. My point is it won't stop children bringing in phones in practice.
'A word that springs into your mind when I say Rishi Sunak?' -
@SophyRidgeSky
'We didn't vote for him,' says one audience member.
Listen to the other answers👇
#PoliticsHub https://trib.al/ftpea6d
Last time these seats were fought it was 2021 and we had two years worth of seats up for grabs (the 2020 round having been postponed due to Covid).
4,737 seats were contested with the Conservatives winning 2,345 or nearly half, Labour won exactly 1,000 fewer, the LDs won 588 and the Greens 151 and 308 won by minor parties, Residents and Independents.
The Conservatives led Labour 36-29 on vote share with the LDs on 17% - the national Westminster polls at the time had the Conservatives up to 10 points ahead - the YouGov had the Conservatives ahead 43-33 with the LDs on 7.
The current national polling has Labour ahead by 16-20 points (YouGov today has a 25 point lead) so we could see a huge swing of 13-17% to Labour with the LDs probably polling around 17% again.
The Conservatives might be happy with a 40% seat loss but the polling suggests it might be nearer 50% so I'll plump for a 500+ seat loss next week.
If I was Ash Regan, I’d just have a laugh with my demands.
1. Humza must buy an Ibrox season ticket and be photographed every week in the home kit
2. Angus Robertson has to dress as a duck and must quack in response to all ministerial questions
3. Bring back Take the High Road
4. Wednesday is now ‘Regansday’
5. All ministerial cars replaced with scooters
6. Appoint JK Rowling Minister of Magic
Humza Yousaf said today that, at 969 days, the Bute House Agreement lasted 19 times as long as Liz Truss.
If he loses next week's confidence vote, he will have lasted just eight Liz Trusses as FM.
It doesn't sound very long.
Although he would outlast Henry McLeish by 22 days.
If you think education is just about getting on the corporate hamster wheel you really are a philistine reactionary. We live as sentient beings in a vast and majestic universe...
You can translate docs using technology but actually talking to people is a whole different thing. I live in a country where technology is already used in ways that an inky reactionary wouldn't get... which means we understand the uses but also the limitations of "AI" and a whole load of other stuff coming gown the line. It will, I think be pretty exciting. Languages and language learning won't be going away though... unless you are happy with a one dimensional understanding of things, which , given your often expressed rather negative view of life, perhaps you are.
They can text us if they want to go round to a friend's place after school instead of coming straight home. It gives them some independence, and gets them in the habit of letting us know where they are in return for more freedom/latitude.
They didn't ask for the phone so there was no "giving in" to anything.
Before the watershed?
Are you sure that's entirely wise?
I know languages are good for the soul blah blah fucking blah
I am merely pointing out what is coming our way and extrapolating how humans will react. You’ll thank me when it happens, for warning you
I had only a few seconds to take the shot whilst the lighthouse's beam was visible at the same time as the sun's beam, and in the right direction. I took the photo hurriedly and at a slight slant. And I'm no photographer. It's an imperfect photo.
But I know I'll never experience those few moments again.
Putin is a fanny.
Very nice
Not as rare as brocken spectres though.
Pop a Blackberry in the box in the morning, out pops the latest iPhone on the way home.
I wonder if Ash Regan is feeling vindictive?
https://www.noom-home.com/
https://www.noom.com/