Rishi needs to major on Curry-Gate. Say: 'We've already had one lockdown breaker in Number Ten in the form of Boris and look where that got us. Do we really want to inflict another one on ourselves with this Starmer guy?' The beauty here is that it distances Rishi from the era of Boris's misrule whilst also portraying Sir Keir as Boris's heir. But does Rishi have the chutzpah to go for it?
Nah, 1) that was well in the past, 2) it highlights Johnson and reminds people that Sunak probably stabbed him in the back and 3) Sunak himself probably broke the rules too and if that time comes back in the spotlight he'll have to deal with the findings of the Covid Enquiry which suggest Eat out to Help out killed people and treasury didn't care as long as people spent money.
Voters want to forget lockdown ever happened, not be reminded of it. Being the person to remind them of it, even to make a point in his favour, will make people dislike Sunak even more. I think his only real point of attack is the points he is currently making - that SKS doesn't believe in anything and has no real plans for government - but he fails at this because his government is a group of tired idiots with no plans and he is also clearly just a power hungry bastard too. If the messenger was different and he was better at giving the message, I think the Tories could paint SKS as an empty suit. But it rings hollow atm.
BIB - I did't think the Covid inquiry had reported yet? EOTHO has been linked to an increase in cases in papers and the implication is more cases = more deaths. However at the same time we were importing many more new cases from the continent as we had resumed travel. Like so much of the pandemic it was a trade off. You could keep printing magic money to keep business going while shut for ever, but economically there will be a reckoning. As there is, in fact, now.
But you are right. Go out, eat in a restaurant, go to the cinema, go to a play, or the football. Normal life returned and most people don't want to think about those times again.
Mistakes were made all round. Sadly the Inquiry in traditional British style has been portrayed in the meida far too often as a trial of those in power, rather than a genuine attempt to learn. I hope the report, when it emerges, is more of the latter than the former.
Mrs P. has just thrown out a whole collection of masks she made during the early lock-down days "We'll not be needing these again, thank Christ".
I have had a cough now for almost 2 months. Dry cough, catching in my throat, stabbing pain in my chest. Dunno if it's long covid related, but I can't seem to shift it. Very annoying...
I hope you've had that checked out properly.
Nurse a few weeks back said it was likely just viral, but now GP is gonna see me at the end of the week. We shall see
Could be allergic (possibly hay fever related, or dust). Or just a long, lingering cough from a viral infection. Sometimes the irritation from coughing perpetuates the cough. Hopefully you will get a swift resolution!
Good to see the priority problems the country faces being addressed. You can't go anywhere these days without bumping into someone whose life has been utterly ruined by a coloured lanyard.
Exactly my view - coloured lanyards may or may not be a good thing (and they may or may not be appropriate for work - I err to the side of “I couldn’t give a toss either way”). But of all the things going on in the world Esther McVey found time to ban this! Pointless, gesture politics from a fag-end Government.
And if that’s the biggest issue they can identify that needs to be fixed - it really is time for this Government* to be put out of its misery
* this may well be equally true of the Tory party as a whole
Fairly silly debate this afternoon, reflecting its origin: the very real silliness of our minister for common sense and her bloke-down-the-pub approach to policy.
People claiming to be the voice of "common sense" are invariably obsessed nutcases.
Belfast high court judge suspends most of the Illegal Migration Act from coming into force in NI as it breaches the Windsor Framework and therefore the GFA .
The wheels are coming off already from the Rwanda plan .
Those bloody foreign courts again!
Oh...
The ERG and assorted nutjobs will of course jump on the full ruling where it mentions the ECHR . Of course the pathetic spineless gimp Sunak just threatens to remove the UK from the ECHR in the full knowledge that that would be a major breach of the GFA . And open a Pandora’s box of further problems .
Was that the alleged Star Chamber of lawyers that the odious Mark Francois referred to with such glee ?
It’s likely to end up in the Supreme Court now regardless of any future Appeals Court Decision .
Sunak can say what he likes but you can’t have this type of legislation only in the UK excluding NI . The government can’t be that stupid ? Or can they . Asylum seekers can get to NI and stay there now . The only way to stop that is for full passport checks at all ports . The DUP will love that !
#Sunak Winning Bigly !!!
To be fair, you already need to show photographic ID at ports and airports. Ryanair will only accept a passport, Easyjet and Aer Lingus want a passport or EU/EEA national ID. I think it's only BA who will accept a driving licence.
The real issue would be breaking up the Common Travel Area and requiring passports at the Irish border.
Stuff like this clearly shows what the Tories would do if they could get away with it, though.
I don't disagree that a pride flag is political, but why is it so? - because LGBTQ+ people had to fight for their rights. Would the suffragette colours similarly be banned for being "political"? Poppies in November? No - because they are the right kind of political. If someone has a photo on their desk showing their cis het family with their kid/s, is that considered "political"? Most people would just say "no, that's normal" - despite the fact that marriage and childrearing are things that are political and politicised (if it was a picture of a same sex couple with a child, or a trans couple with a child, I'm sure many people would argue that would be inappropriate in the workplace). The aim here is clearly define what is normal and what isn't. This says to me, clearly, that McVey views LGBTQ+ people and support for them as not normal.
If you regard LGBTQ+ people as beloning to a separate category then are you not implicitly treating them as outside the norm?
Rishi needs to major on Curry-Gate. Say: 'We've already had one lockdown breaker in Number Ten in the form of Boris and look where that got us. Do we really want to inflict another one on ourselves with this Starmer guy?' The beauty here is that it distances Rishi from the era of Boris's misrule whilst also portraying Sir Keir as Boris's heir. But does Rishi have the chutzpah to go for it?
Nah, 1) that was well in the past, 2) it highlights Johnson and reminds people that Sunak probably stabbed him in the back and 3) Sunak himself probably broke the rules too and if that time comes back in the spotlight he'll have to deal with the findings of the Covid Enquiry which suggest Eat out to Help out killed people and treasury didn't care as long as people spent money.
Voters want to forget lockdown ever happened, not be reminded of it. Being the person to remind them of it, even to make a point in his favour, will make people dislike Sunak even more. I think his only real point of attack is the points he is currently making - that SKS doesn't believe in anything and has no real plans for government - but he fails at this because his government is a group of tired idiots with no plans and he is also clearly just a power hungry bastard too. If the messenger was different and he was better at giving the message, I think the Tories could paint SKS as an empty suit. But it rings hollow atm.
BIB - I did't think the Covid inquiry had reported yet? EOTHO has been linked to an increase in cases in papers and the implication is more cases = more deaths. However at the same time we were importing many more new cases from the continent as we had resumed travel. Like so much of the pandemic it was a trade off. You could keep printing magic money to keep business going while shut for ever, but economically there will be a reckoning. As there is, in fact, now.
But you are right. Go out, eat in a restaurant, go to the cinema, go to a play, or the football. Normal life returned and most people don't want to think about those times again.
Mistakes were made all round. Sadly the Inquiry in traditional British style has been portrayed in the meida far too often as a trial of those in power, rather than a genuine attempt to learn. I hope the report, when it emerges, is more of the latter than the former.
Mrs P. has just thrown out a whole collection of masks she made during the early lock-down days "We'll not be needing these again, thank Christ".
Too early! Twitter is awash with the next bird flu pandemic!
But, yes, I whole heartedly agree. And yet - I am heading to the Discworld convention in August and they are still (as far as I know) planning on asking everyone to mask. Madness.
That is absurd. Beyond madness, psychopathic. Plus 2x LFT tests (and where the fuck do you get those from these days).
This is what our anti-Covid measures have bequeathed us.
Weirdly the advice is the same as for 2022 and I partly wonder if no-one has bothered to update. I suspect it will not happen, as the vast majority of people do not even own a mask now.
Rishi needs to major on Curry-Gate. Say: 'We've already had one lockdown breaker in Number Ten in the form of Boris and look where that got us. Do we really want to inflict another one on ourselves with this Starmer guy?' The beauty here is that it distances Rishi from the era of Boris's misrule whilst also portraying Sir Keir as Boris's heir. But does Rishi have the chutzpah to go for it?
Nah, 1) that was well in the past, 2) it highlights Johnson and reminds people that Sunak probably stabbed him in the back and 3) Sunak himself probably broke the rules too and if that time comes back in the spotlight he'll have to deal with the findings of the Covid Enquiry which suggest Eat out to Help out killed people and treasury didn't care as long as people spent money.
Voters want to forget lockdown ever happened, not be reminded of it. Being the person to remind them of it, even to make a point in his favour, will make people dislike Sunak even more. I think his only real point of attack is the points he is currently making - that SKS doesn't believe in anything and has no real plans for government - but he fails at this because his government is a group of tired idiots with no plans and he is also clearly just a power hungry bastard too. If the messenger was different and he was better at giving the message, I think the Tories could paint SKS as an empty suit. But it rings hollow atm.
Agreed that nobody cares about lockdown or what happened years ago. The Tory line of attack on Labour will be twofold:
* Here are immigrants being thrown into vans for deportation. Labour and Starmer want to stop this. They want to deprive you of what you want the most. You gonna kick yourself in the teeth, or you gonna vote Conservative? Don't blame us if you vote Labour and Labour wins and Starmer lets 'em all stay 'ere - and invites more of 'em in, 'ole boatloads of 'em.
* Starmer is a slovenly old git.
But Sunak can't deliver any kind of message to voters - he's completely hopeless. I still think he may be dumped before the election.
Fairly silly debate this afternoon, reflecting its origin: the very real silliness of our minister for common sense and her bloke-down-the-pub approach to policy.
It's a ministerial speech, chances of anything happening in the next six months seem pretty low.
And if Conservatives are finding more pleasure in giving speeches than in running things, that's probably for the best given their prospects.
Should not be making political statements in the workplace, not acceptable.
Ban all poppies in the office come November - that's a political statement.
I suggest that there is nothing whatever about wearing a poppy in November that is political in any sense at all; to wear one, or not, is open to every individual without any ideological test or commitment required or indicated.
Stuff like this clearly shows what the Tories would do if they could get away with it, though.
I don't disagree that a pride flag is political, but why is it so? - because LGBTQ+ people had to fight for their rights. Would the suffragette colours similarly be banned for being "political"? Poppies in November? No - because they are the right kind of political. If someone has a photo on their desk showing their cis het family with their kid/s, is that considered "political"? Most people would just say "no, that's normal" - despite the fact that marriage and childrearing are things that are political and politicised (if it was a picture of a same sex couple with a child, or a trans couple with a child, I'm sure many people would argue that would be inappropriate in the workplace). The aim here is clearly define what is normal and what isn't. This says to me, clearly, that McVey views LGBTQ+ people and support for them as not normal.
If you regard LGBTQ+ people as beloning to a separate category then are you not implicitly treating them as outside the norm?
There was a tent-city style of protest in the Univ of Barcelona today where our grand-daughter is studying maths. But all was calm and almost civilized despite the placement of some tents on the precious square metres of lawn. Thus I came to understand how efficient the demo was. Because the calmness was due to the fact that the protesters, having made their mark by pitching their tents, were not actually occupying them. Instead they were to be found in the local cafés and tapas bars pursuing their ideals in altogether more agreeable surroundings.
Questions need to be asked about the influence of Big Tent.
Obviously, that's why the government's going to ban them.
(Or has that been dropped now that Suella's gone?)
Fairly silly debate this afternoon, reflecting its origin: the very real silliness of our minister for common sense and her bloke-down-the-pub approach to policy.
People claiming to be the voice of "common sense" are invariably obsessed nutcases.
What they are actually is the voice of the received wisdom of a couple of generations ago. Maybe Esther will give an airing to smacking children next.
Stuff like this clearly shows what the Tories would do if they could get away with it, though.
I don't disagree that a pride flag is political, but why is it so? - because LGBTQ+ people had to fight for their rights. Would the suffragette colours similarly be banned for being "political"? Poppies in November? No - because they are the right kind of political. If someone has a photo on their desk showing their cis het family with their kid/s, is that considered "political"? Most people would just say "no, that's normal" - despite the fact that marriage and childrearing are things that are political and politicised (if it was a picture of a same sex couple with a child, or a trans couple with a child, I'm sure many people would argue that would be inappropriate in the workplace). The aim here is clearly define what is normal and what isn't. This says to me, clearly, that McVey views LGBTQ+ people and support for them as not normal.
If you regard LGBTQ+ people as beloning to a separate category then are you not implicitly treating them as outside the norm?
Belfast high court judge suspends most of the Illegal Migration Act from coming into force in NI as it breaches the Windsor Framework and therefore the GFA .
The wheels are coming off already from the Rwanda plan .
Those bloody foreign courts again!
Oh...
The ERG and assorted nutjobs will of course jump on the full ruling where it mentions the ECHR . Of course the pathetic spineless gimp Sunak just threatens to remove the UK from the ECHR in the full knowledge that that would be a major breach of the GFA . And open a Pandora’s box of further problems .
I did think the gloating from Sunak etc about asylum seekers heading to NI and the Republic to avoid Rwanda was premature. I mean, are you really arguing for a United Ireland?
Rishi needs to major on Curry-Gate. Say: 'We've already had one lockdown breaker in Number Ten in the form of Boris and look where that got us. Do we really want to inflict another one on ourselves with this Starmer guy?' The beauty here is that it distances Rishi from the era of Boris's misrule whilst also portraying Sir Keir as Boris's heir. But does Rishi have the chutzpah to go for it?
Nah, 1) that was well in the past, 2) it highlights Johnson and reminds people that Sunak probably stabbed him in the back and 3) Sunak himself probably broke the rules too and if that time comes back in the spotlight he'll have to deal with the findings of the Covid Enquiry which suggest Eat out to Help out killed people and treasury didn't care as long as people spent money.
Voters want to forget lockdown ever happened, not be reminded of it. Being the person to remind them of it, even to make a point in his favour, will make people dislike Sunak even more. I think his only real point of attack is the points he is currently making - that SKS doesn't believe in anything and has no real plans for government - but he fails at this because his government is a group of tired idiots with no plans and he is also clearly just a power hungry bastard too. If the messenger was different and he was better at giving the message, I think the Tories could paint SKS as an empty suit. But it rings hollow atm.
BIB - I did't think the Covid inquiry had reported yet? EOTHO has been linked to an increase in cases in papers and the implication is more cases = more deaths. However at the same time we were importing many more new cases from the continent as we had resumed travel. Like so much of the pandemic it was a trade off. You could keep printing magic money to keep business going while shut for ever, but economically there will be a reckoning. As there is, in fact, now.
But you are right. Go out, eat in a restaurant, go to the cinema, go to a play, or the football. Normal life returned and most people don't want to think about those times again.
Mistakes were made all round. Sadly the Inquiry in traditional British style has been portrayed in the meida far too often as a trial of those in power, rather than a genuine attempt to learn. I hope the report, when it emerges, is more of the latter than the former.
Mrs P. has just thrown out a whole collection of masks she made during the early lock-down days "We'll not be needing these again, thank Christ".
Too early! Twitter is awash with the next bird flu pandemic!
But, yes, I whole heartedly agree. And yet - I am heading to the Discworld convention in August and they are still (as far as I know) planning on asking everyone to mask. Madness.
I mean, masking showed not only a reduction in covid but a lot of other illnesses, including flu. It's not a huge burden to wear a mask, especially at a gathering of lots of people from lots of different areas who are likely using public transport / airplanes etc to get to and from things. I think it's a sign of the times that something not that cumbersome that clearly helps society at large has become such a to do. I don't think everyone needs to wear one all the time - but it makes sense for public transport, the tube, big gatherings, etc.
I disagree. Masks are for clinical settings and clearly work. They should never be for joyous social gatherings. I found wearing one horrific. As humans we rely on seeing each others faces. Masks destroyed that. They had a purpose, but should only ever be needed in extreme cases.
Absolutely agree.
Suggesting that covering your mouth and nose with a face rag (which is what most of them were after one wearing) is 'not that cumbersome' is bonkers.
"If you can’t trust the Conservatives with your email address, why should you trust them with anything else?"
Me on today's CCHQ data breach - which, with Rishi Sunak delivering a big speech on keeping us safe, could not have come at a more ironic moment
Oh dear. Data protection 101 failure, how do their systems even allow such an email to ever be sent? A badly misconfigured CRM system, or some unsupervised intern trusted to to these things manually?
Slam dunk ICO fine incoming, not what you want six months before the election.
Rishi needs to major on Curry-Gate. Say: 'We've already had one lockdown breaker in Number Ten in the form of Boris and look where that got us. Do we really want to inflict another one on ourselves with this Starmer guy?' The beauty here is that it distances Rishi from the era of Boris's misrule whilst also portraying Sir Keir as Boris's heir. But does Rishi have the chutzpah to go for it?
Nah, 1) that was well in the past, 2) it highlights Johnson and reminds people that Sunak probably stabbed him in the back and 3) Sunak himself probably broke the rules too and if that time comes back in the spotlight he'll have to deal with the findings of the Covid Enquiry which suggest Eat out to Help out killed people and treasury didn't care as long as people spent money.
Voters want to forget lockdown ever happened, not be reminded of it. Being the person to remind them of it, even to make a point in his favour, will make people dislike Sunak even more. I think his only real point of attack is the points he is currently making - that SKS doesn't believe in anything and has no real plans for government - but he fails at this because his government is a group of tired idiots with no plans and he is also clearly just a power hungry bastard too. If the messenger was different and he was better at giving the message, I think the Tories could paint SKS as an empty suit. But it rings hollow atm.
Agreed that nobody cares about lockdown or what happened years ago. The Tory line of attack on Labour will be twofold:
* Here are immigrants being thrown into vans for deportation. Labour and Starmer want to stop this. They want to deprive you of what you want the most. You gonna kick yourself in the teeth, or you gonna vote Conservative?
* Starmer is a slovenly old git.
But Sunak can't deliver any kind of message to voters - he's completely hopeless. I still think he may be dumped before the election.
Starmer's psychology would, though, be fascinating to analyse.
I imagine he's feeling similar to a tennis player within a couple of points of winning Wimbledon for the first time, or a debutant batsman on 99 not out in the Lord's Ashes test, or a team going into a Champion's League home leg with a 2 goal advantage. Far more terrified of it all going wrong than he would be if Labour hadn't been out of power for so long. In danger of freezing and making unforced errors. But fortunately up against an opposition that keeps making its own.
Stuff like this clearly shows what the Tories would do if they could get away with it, though.
I don't disagree that a pride flag is political, but why is it so? - because LGBTQ+ people had to fight for their rights. Would the suffragette colours similarly be banned for being "political"? Poppies in November? No - because they are the right kind of political. If someone has a photo on their desk showing their cis het family with their kid/s, is that considered "political"? Most people would just say "no, that's normal" - despite the fact that marriage and childrearing are things that are political and politicised (if it was a picture of a same sex couple with a child, or a trans couple with a child, I'm sure many people would argue that would be inappropriate in the workplace). The aim here is clearly define what is normal and what isn't. This says to me, clearly, that McVey views LGBTQ+ people and support for them as not normal.
If you regard LGBTQ+ people as beloning to a separate category then are you not implicitly treating them as outside the norm?
Where do you stand on the category of "Ginger"?
It's a hereditary characteristic.
Where do you stand on the category of "British"?
It's irrelevant to the question of normativity. You're derailing my debate with @148grss
Rishi needs to major on Curry-Gate. Say: 'We've already had one lockdown breaker in Number Ten in the form of Boris and look where that got us. Do we really want to inflict another one on ourselves with this Starmer guy?' The beauty here is that it distances Rishi from the era of Boris's misrule whilst also portraying Sir Keir as Boris's heir. But does Rishi have the chutzpah to go for it?
Nah, 1) that was well in the past, 2) it highlights Johnson and reminds people that Sunak probably stabbed him in the back and 3) Sunak himself probably broke the rules too and if that time comes back in the spotlight he'll have to deal with the findings of the Covid Enquiry which suggest Eat out to Help out killed people and treasury didn't care as long as people spent money.
Voters want to forget lockdown ever happened, not be reminded of it. Being the person to remind them of it, even to make a point in his favour, will make people dislike Sunak even more. I think his only real point of attack is the points he is currently making - that SKS doesn't believe in anything and has no real plans for government - but he fails at this because his government is a group of tired idiots with no plans and he is also clearly just a power hungry bastard too. If the messenger was different and he was better at giving the message, I think the Tories could paint SKS as an empty suit. But it rings hollow atm.
BIB - I did't think the Covid inquiry had reported yet? EOTHO has been linked to an increase in cases in papers and the implication is more cases = more deaths. However at the same time we were importing many more new cases from the continent as we had resumed travel. Like so much of the pandemic it was a trade off. You could keep printing magic money to keep business going while shut for ever, but economically there will be a reckoning. As there is, in fact, now.
But you are right. Go out, eat in a restaurant, go to the cinema, go to a play, or the football. Normal life returned and most people don't want to think about those times again.
Mistakes were made all round. Sadly the Inquiry in traditional British style has been portrayed in the meida far too often as a trial of those in power, rather than a genuine attempt to learn. I hope the report, when it emerges, is more of the latter than the former.
Mrs P. has just thrown out a whole collection of masks she made during the early lock-down days "We'll not be needing these again, thank Christ".
Too early! Twitter is awash with the next bird flu pandemic!
But, yes, I whole heartedly agree. And yet - I am heading to the Discworld convention in August and they are still (as far as I know) planning on asking everyone to mask. Madness.
I mean, masking showed not only a reduction in covid but a lot of other illnesses, including flu. It's not a huge burden to wear a mask, especially at a gathering of lots of people from lots of different areas who are likely using public transport / airplanes etc to get to and from things. I think it's a sign of the times that something not that cumbersome that clearly helps society at large has become such a to do. I don't think everyone needs to wear one all the time - but it makes sense for public transport, the tube, big gatherings, etc.
I disagree. Masks are for clinical settings and clearly work. They should never be for joyous social gatherings. I found wearing one horrific. As humans we rely on seeing each others faces. Masks destroyed that. They had a purpose, but should only ever be needed in extreme cases.
Absolutely agree.
Suggesting that covering your mouth and nose with a face rag (which is what most of them were after one wearing) is 'not that cumbersome' is bonkers.
They are apparantly 100% effective in not transmitting things you aren't suffering from though, so to that extent, a miracle
Should not be making political statements in the workplace, not acceptable.
Ban all poppies in the office come November - that's a political statement.
What is political about a poppy, it is purely a rememberance of all people killed in a war, no pretending or trying to get one over anyone else , purely remembrance.
Should not be making political statements in the workplace, not acceptable.
Ban all poppies in the office come November - that's a political statement.
I suggest that there is nothing whatever about wearing a poppy in November that is political in any sense at all; to wear one, or not, is open to every individual without any ideological test or commitment required or indicated.
Agree with that in theory. In practice, however, it is the right-wing media that politicised poppy-wearing by condemning those it doesn't approve of for not wearing a poppy during TV interviews or whatever.
Stuff like this clearly shows what the Tories would do if they could get away with it, though.
I don't disagree that a pride flag is political, but why is it so? - because LGBTQ+ people had to fight for their rights. Would the suffragette colours similarly be banned for being "political"? Poppies in November? No - because they are the right kind of political. If someone has a photo on their desk showing their cis het family with their kid/s, is that considered "political"? Most people would just say "no, that's normal" - despite the fact that marriage and childrearing are things that are political and politicised (if it was a picture of a same sex couple with a child, or a trans couple with a child, I'm sure many people would argue that would be inappropriate in the workplace). The aim here is clearly define what is normal and what isn't. This says to me, clearly, that McVey views LGBTQ+ people and support for them as not normal.
If you regard LGBTQ+ people as beloning to a separate category then are you not implicitly treating them as outside the norm?
Where do you stand on the category of "Ginger"?
It's a hereditary characteristic.
Really? Go and visit a hairdresser and you will find it isn't.
At this point, with this many violations, repeated and after so many warnings, zero chance of an overturn on appeal.
Yes, but I think this makes it clear how unfair the law is. Anyone else doing this would have been locked up with a bailiff dragging him away and bail set at an astronomical price. Because he's rich and powerful - they haven't. The law shouldn't bend to accommodate him - and that it does is already a loss for the impartiality of the justice system.
There wouldn't be any bail, it would be a criminal sentence for contempt
I meant bail for the trial overall, not just the contempt of court.
You think he should be locked up for an accusation of false accounting without trial that in all likelihood as a first (convicted) offence wont carry any prison time?
If he were being treated like anyone else before a NY court - he would be. He is a clear flight risk, considering his wealth and ability to travel not only between the states but to other countries. He is actively doing witness tampering, and has form for doing witness tampering in the past. And he holds the court in contempt.
Even if he should have had bail at the start of the trial - it should have been revoked for any number of his activities inside and outside of the court since.
You do realize, that Donald Trump WANTS to get his sorry, retched ass thown in jail BEFORE the Election?
Personally do NOT want judge(s) to gratify his quest for martyrdom, at least NOT at this juncture.
I think you're wrong on this. I think Trump is doing what he always does - push the limits of what people will let him get away with until norms are broken and he wins. I'm not saying that he wouldn't use jail as an opportunity for martyrdom. But I don't think he wants to be in jail - if he did he could do more flagrant nonsense.
LOL. The last couple of days on here have been stuffed full of wishcasting drivel, yet again. The site is becoming unbearable, like Laura K on acid.
Let us all hope that this latest blunder from CCHQ will check the stream of nonsense that we are subjected to daily on here.
I don't understand what I said here that is wishcasting? I'm not saying he is going to be put in jail, but I'm saying that if you want people to believe in equality under the law they have to see people being treated equally under the law. And Trump has had a pretty easy time of ignoring the court and flouting his law breaking - in this case and in other areas. That he has been able to do that is bad, and gives him an air of specialness that he doesn't deserve.
Whether to send him to Jail or the White House - this is the choice America faces.
Belfast high court judge suspends most of the Illegal Migration Act from coming into force in NI as it breaches the Windsor Framework and therefore the GFA .
The wheels are coming off already from the Rwanda plan .
Those bloody foreign courts again!
Oh...
The ERG and assorted nutjobs will of course jump on the full ruling where it mentions the ECHR . Of course the pathetic spineless gimp Sunak just threatens to remove the UK from the ECHR in the full knowledge that that would be a major breach of the GFA . And open a Pandora’s box of further problems .
I did think the gloating from Sunak etc about asylum seekers heading to NI and the Republic to avoid Rwanda was premature. I mean, are you really arguing for a United Ireland?
So if you arrive on a boat into the UK then make your way across to Northern Ireland, you're safe? I assume that's the upshot of this judgment.
Stuff like this clearly shows what the Tories would do if they could get away with it, though.
I don't disagree that a pride flag is political, but why is it so? - because LGBTQ+ people had to fight for their rights. Would the suffragette colours similarly be banned for being "political"? Poppies in November? No - because they are the right kind of political. If someone has a photo on their desk showing their cis het family with their kid/s, is that considered "political"? Most people would just say "no, that's normal" - despite the fact that marriage and childrearing are things that are political and politicised (if it was a picture of a same sex couple with a child, or a trans couple with a child, I'm sure many people would argue that would be inappropriate in the workplace). The aim here is clearly define what is normal and what isn't. This says to me, clearly, that McVey views LGBTQ+ people and support for them as not normal.
If you regard LGBTQ+ people as beloning to a separate category then are you not implicitly treating them as outside the norm?
Where do you stand on the category of "Ginger"?
It's a hereditary characteristic.
Really? Go and visit a hairdresser and you will find it isn't.
Really? I suspect I will find people having their roots done.
At this point, with this many violations, repeated and after so many warnings, zero chance of an overturn on appeal.
Yes, but I think this makes it clear how unfair the law is. Anyone else doing this would have been locked up with a bailiff dragging him away and bail set at an astronomical price. Because he's rich and powerful - they haven't. The law shouldn't bend to accommodate him - and that it does is already a loss for the impartiality of the justice system.
There wouldn't be any bail, it would be a criminal sentence for contempt
I meant bail for the trial overall, not just the contempt of court.
You think he should be locked up for an accusation of false accounting without trial that in all likelihood as a first (convicted) offence wont carry any prison time?
If he were being treated like anyone else before a NY court - he would be. He is a clear flight risk, considering his wealth and ability to travel not only between the states but to other countries. He is actively doing witness tampering, and has form for doing witness tampering in the past. And he holds the court in contempt.
Even if he should have had bail at the start of the trial - it should have been revoked for any number of his activities inside and outside of the court since.
You do realize, that Donald Trump WANTS to get his sorry, retched ass thown in jail BEFORE the Election?
Personally do NOT want judge(s) to gratify his quest for martyrdom, at least NOT at this juncture.
I think you're wrong on this. I think Trump is doing what he always does - push the limits of what people will let him get away with until norms are broken and he wins. I'm not saying that he wouldn't use jail as an opportunity for martyrdom. But I don't think he wants to be in jail - if he did he could do more flagrant nonsense.
LOL. The last couple of days on here have been stuffed full of wishcasting drivel, yet again. The site is becoming unbearable, like Laura K on acid.
Let us all hope that this latest blunder from CCHQ will check the stream of nonsense that we are subjected to daily on here.
I don't understand what I said here that is wishcasting? I'm not saying he is going to be put in jail, but I'm saying that if you want people to believe in equality under the law they have to see people being treated equally under the law. And Trump has had a pretty easy time of ignoring the court and flouting his law breaking - in this case and in other areas. That he has been able to do that is bad, and gives him an air of specialness that he doesn't deserve.
Whether to send him to Jail or the White House - this is the choice America faces.
The former is the choice of his jurors - and the various judges who'll get their chance to intervene too. Only the latter is the choice of the US (though it's likely to determine whether or not his jurors get to deliver a verdict and the criminal justice system to jail him).
Stuff like this clearly shows what the Tories would do if they could get away with it, though.
I don't disagree that a pride flag is political, but why is it so? - because LGBTQ+ people had to fight for their rights. Would the suffragette colours similarly be banned for being "political"? Poppies in November? No - because they are the right kind of political. If someone has a photo on their desk showing their cis het family with their kid/s, is that considered "political"? Most people would just say "no, that's normal" - despite the fact that marriage and childrearing are things that are political and politicised (if it was a picture of a same sex couple with a child, or a trans couple with a child, I'm sure many people would argue that would be inappropriate in the workplace). The aim here is clearly define what is normal and what isn't. This says to me, clearly, that McVey views LGBTQ+ people and support for them as not normal.
If you regard LGBTQ+ people as beloning to a separate category then are you not implicitly treating them as outside the norm?
Where do you stand on the category of "Ginger"?
It's a hereditary characteristic.
Really? Go and visit a hairdresser and you will find it isn't.
Belfast high court judge suspends most of the Illegal Migration Act from coming into force in NI as it breaches the Windsor Framework and therefore the GFA .
The wheels are coming off already from the Rwanda plan .
Those bloody foreign courts again!
Oh...
The ERG and assorted nutjobs will of course jump on the full ruling where it mentions the ECHR . Of course the pathetic spineless gimp Sunak just threatens to remove the UK from the ECHR in the full knowledge that that would be a major breach of the GFA . And open a Pandora’s box of further problems .
I did think the gloating from Sunak etc about asylum seekers heading to NI and the Republic to avoid Rwanda was premature. I mean, are you really arguing for a United Ireland?
So if you arrive on a boat into the UK then make your way across to Northern Ireland, you're safe? I assume that's the upshot of this judgment.
I expect that at least one Rwanda-bound asylum seeker will try to use it as the basis for a legal challenge.
Rishi may not be able to get many flights off before the election after all.
Johnny McEntee, senior advisor to Project 2025 & Trump’s Director of the Office of Personnel Management, says he likes to distribute fake money to homeless people so that they will be arrested when they spend it.
Rishi needs to major on Curry-Gate. Say: 'We've already had one lockdown breaker in Number Ten in the form of Boris and look where that got us. Do we really want to inflict another one on ourselves with this Starmer guy?' The beauty here is that it distances Rishi from the era of Boris's misrule whilst also portraying Sir Keir as Boris's heir. But does Rishi have the chutzpah to go for it?
Nah, 1) that was well in the past, 2) it highlights Johnson and reminds people that Sunak probably stabbed him in the back and 3) Sunak himself probably broke the rules too and if that time comes back in the spotlight he'll have to deal with the findings of the Covid Enquiry which suggest Eat out to Help out killed people and treasury didn't care as long as people spent money.
Voters want to forget lockdown ever happened, not be reminded of it. Being the person to remind them of it, even to make a point in his favour, will make people dislike Sunak even more. I think his only real point of attack is the points he is currently making - that SKS doesn't believe in anything and has no real plans for government - but he fails at this because his government is a group of tired idiots with no plans and he is also clearly just a power hungry bastard too. If the messenger was different and he was better at giving the message, I think the Tories could paint SKS as an empty suit. But it rings hollow atm.
BIB - I did't think the Covid inquiry had reported yet? EOTHO has been linked to an increase in cases in papers and the implication is more cases = more deaths. However at the same time we were importing many more new cases from the continent as we had resumed travel. Like so much of the pandemic it was a trade off. You could keep printing magic money to keep business going while shut for ever, but economically there will be a reckoning. As there is, in fact, now.
But you are right. Go out, eat in a restaurant, go to the cinema, go to a play, or the football. Normal life returned and most people don't want to think about those times again.
Mistakes were made all round. Sadly the Inquiry in traditional British style has been portrayed in the meida far too often as a trial of those in power, rather than a genuine attempt to learn. I hope the report, when it emerges, is more of the latter than the former.
Mrs P. has just thrown out a whole collection of masks she made during the early lock-down days "We'll not be needing these again, thank Christ".
Too early! Twitter is awash with the next bird flu pandemic!
But, yes, I whole heartedly agree. And yet - I am heading to the Discworld convention in August and they are still (as far as I know) planning on asking everyone to mask. Madness.
I mean, masking showed not only a reduction in covid but a lot of other illnesses, including flu. It's not a huge burden to wear a mask, especially at a gathering of lots of people from lots of different areas who are likely using public transport / airplanes etc to get to and from things. I think it's a sign of the times that something not that cumbersome that clearly helps society at large has become such a to do. I don't think everyone needs to wear one all the time - but it makes sense for public transport, the tube, big gatherings, etc.
I disagree. Masks are for clinical settings and clearly work. They should never be for joyous social gatherings. I found wearing one horrific. As humans we rely on seeing each others faces. Masks destroyed that. They had a purpose, but should only ever be needed in extreme cases.
Absolutely agree.
Suggesting that covering your mouth and nose with a face rag (which is what most of them were after one wearing) is 'not that cumbersome' is bonkers.
I have used the same scarf to:
1. Cover my face during Covid 2. Cover my head when visiting a Gurdwara
Rishi needs to major on Curry-Gate. Say: 'We've already had one lockdown breaker in Number Ten in the form of Boris and look where that got us. Do we really want to inflict another one on ourselves with this Starmer guy?' The beauty here is that it distances Rishi from the era of Boris's misrule whilst also portraying Sir Keir as Boris's heir. But does Rishi have the chutzpah to go for it?
Nah, 1) that was well in the past, 2) it highlights Johnson and reminds people that Sunak probably stabbed him in the back and 3) Sunak himself probably broke the rules too and if that time comes back in the spotlight he'll have to deal with the findings of the Covid Enquiry which suggest Eat out to Help out killed people and treasury didn't care as long as people spent money.
Voters want to forget lockdown ever happened, not be reminded of it. Being the person to remind them of it, even to make a point in his favour, will make people dislike Sunak even more. I think his only real point of attack is the points he is currently making - that SKS doesn't believe in anything and has no real plans for government - but he fails at this because his government is a group of tired idiots with no plans and he is also clearly just a power hungry bastard too. If the messenger was different and he was better at giving the message, I think the Tories could paint SKS as an empty suit. But it rings hollow atm.
BIB - I did't think the Covid inquiry had reported yet? EOTHO has been linked to an increase in cases in papers and the implication is more cases = more deaths. However at the same time we were importing many more new cases from the continent as we had resumed travel. Like so much of the pandemic it was a trade off. You could keep printing magic money to keep business going while shut for ever, but economically there will be a reckoning. As there is, in fact, now.
But you are right. Go out, eat in a restaurant, go to the cinema, go to a play, or the football. Normal life returned and most people don't want to think about those times again.
Mistakes were made all round. Sadly the Inquiry in traditional British style has been portrayed in the meida far too often as a trial of those in power, rather than a genuine attempt to learn. I hope the report, when it emerges, is more of the latter than the former.
Mrs P. has just thrown out a whole collection of masks she made during the early lock-down days "We'll not be needing these again, thank Christ".
Too early! Twitter is awash with the next bird flu pandemic!
But, yes, I whole heartedly agree. And yet - I am heading to the Discworld convention in August and they are still (as far as I know) planning on asking everyone to mask. Madness.
That is absurd. Beyond madness, psychopathic. Plus 2x LFT tests (and where the fuck do you get those from these days).
Any large supermarket. Very useful for differentiating Covid from a more innocuous RTI before you pass it on to your co-workers. I've just had a family member off work for a week; it would have been highly inconvenient just now had I got it too.
It's not paranoia, just common sense. I presume you're a man of leisure ?
You were always a sad type when it came to that sort of thing. Why I was in Aldi only the other day (sadly the Chateau Let Trois Manoirs is sold out since it featured in the Times Weekend section) and no one was wearing a mask. No one. No one wears a mask at all anywhere let me rephrase. 0.01% of people wear masks and good luck to them.
As Discworld points out, "Masks are to protect other people, not the wearer, and this is a courtesy to your fellow members."
So 99.99% of people are not displaying this courtesy and the ones that are are, epidemiologically speaking, fucking idiots.
Johnny McEntee, senior advisor to Project 2025 & Trump’s Director of the Office of Personnel Management, says he likes to distribute fake money to homeless people so that they will be arrested when they spend it.
Rishi needs to major on Curry-Gate. Say: 'We've already had one lockdown breaker in Number Ten in the form of Boris and look where that got us. Do we really want to inflict another one on ourselves with this Starmer guy?' The beauty here is that it distances Rishi from the era of Boris's misrule whilst also portraying Sir Keir as Boris's heir. But does Rishi have the chutzpah to go for it?
Nah, 1) that was well in the past, 2) it highlights Johnson and reminds people that Sunak probably stabbed him in the back and 3) Sunak himself probably broke the rules too and if that time comes back in the spotlight he'll have to deal with the findings of the Covid Enquiry which suggest Eat out to Help out killed people and treasury didn't care as long as people spent money.
Voters want to forget lockdown ever happened, not be reminded of it. Being the person to remind them of it, even to make a point in his favour, will make people dislike Sunak even more. I think his only real point of attack is the points he is currently making - that SKS doesn't believe in anything and has no real plans for government - but he fails at this because his government is a group of tired idiots with no plans and he is also clearly just a power hungry bastard too. If the messenger was different and he was better at giving the message, I think the Tories could paint SKS as an empty suit. But it rings hollow atm.
BIB - I did't think the Covid inquiry had reported yet? EOTHO has been linked to an increase in cases in papers and the implication is more cases = more deaths. However at the same time we were importing many more new cases from the continent as we had resumed travel. Like so much of the pandemic it was a trade off. You could keep printing magic money to keep business going while shut for ever, but economically there will be a reckoning. As there is, in fact, now.
But you are right. Go out, eat in a restaurant, go to the cinema, go to a play, or the football. Normal life returned and most people don't want to think about those times again.
Mistakes were made all round. Sadly the Inquiry in traditional British style has been portrayed in the meida far too often as a trial of those in power, rather than a genuine attempt to learn. I hope the report, when it emerges, is more of the latter than the former.
Mrs P. has just thrown out a whole collection of masks she made during the early lock-down days "We'll not be needing these again, thank Christ".
Too early! Twitter is awash with the next bird flu pandemic!
But, yes, I whole heartedly agree. And yet - I am heading to the Discworld convention in August and they are still (as far as I know) planning on asking everyone to mask. Madness.
That is absurd. Beyond madness, psychopathic. Plus 2x LFT tests (and where the fuck do you get those from these days).
Any large supermarket. Very useful for differentiating Covid from a more innocuous RTI before you pass it on to your co-workers. I've just had a family member off work for a week; it would have been highly inconvenient just now had I got it too.
It's not paranoia, just common sense. I presume you're a man of leisure ?
You were always a sad type when it came to that sort of thing. Why I was in Aldi only the other day (sadly the Chateau Let Trois Manoirs is sold out since it featured in the Times Weekend section) and no one was wearing a mask. No one. No one wears a mask at all anywhere let me rephrase. 0.01% of people wear masks and good luck to them.
As Discworld points out, "Masks are to protect other people, not the wearer, and this is a courtesy to your fellow members."
So 99.99% of people are not displaying this courtesy and the ones that are are, epidemiologically speaking, fucking idiots.
Belfast high court judge suspends most of the Illegal Migration Act from coming into force in NI as it breaches the Windsor Framework and therefore the GFA .
The wheels are coming off already from the Rwanda plan .
Those bloody foreign courts again!
Oh...
The ERG and assorted nutjobs will of course jump on the full ruling where it mentions the ECHR . Of course the pathetic spineless gimp Sunak just threatens to remove the UK from the ECHR in the full knowledge that that would be a major breach of the GFA . And open a Pandora’s box of further problems .
I did think the gloating from Sunak etc about asylum seekers heading to NI and the Republic to avoid Rwanda was premature. I mean, are you really arguing for a United Ireland?
So if you arrive on a boat into the UK then make your way across to Northern Ireland, you're safe? I assume that's the upshot of this judgment.
I think so. Essentially there has to be a border somewhere to control the flow. If not the land border, which has GFA protections, then the Irish Sea border. United Ireland QED
Stuff like this clearly shows what the Tories would do if they could get away with it, though.
I don't disagree that a pride flag is political, but why is it so? - because LGBTQ+ people had to fight for their rights. Would the suffragette colours similarly be banned for being "political"? Poppies in November? No - because they are the right kind of political. If someone has a photo on their desk showing their cis het family with their kid/s, is that considered "political"? Most people would just say "no, that's normal" - despite the fact that marriage and childrearing are things that are political and politicised (if it was a picture of a same sex couple with a child, or a trans couple with a child, I'm sure many people would argue that would be inappropriate in the workplace). The aim here is clearly define what is normal and what isn't. This says to me, clearly, that McVey views LGBTQ+ people and support for them as not normal.
If you regard LGBTQ+ people as beloning to a separate category then are you not implicitly treating them as outside the norm?
Where do you stand on the category of "Ginger"?
It's a hereditary characteristic.
Where do you stand on the category of "British"?
It's irrelevant to the question of normativity. You're derailing my debate with @148grss
Possibly, but I was addressing your original point, which was "If you regard LGBTQ+ people as belon[g]ing to a separate category then are you not implicitly treating them as outside the norm?". By putting forward categories which may or may not be nominal I hoped to demonstrate that the act of categorisation is not, in and of itself, a separation from the norm.
My next question would have been about "Scottish" by the way, which would have woken winged Malc from his restless sleep under Arthur's Seat, lit by eldritch glows from the fires set from his breath. So probably best not, thinking about it.
At this point, with this many violations, repeated and after so many warnings, zero chance of an overturn on appeal.
Yes, but I think this makes it clear how unfair the law is. Anyone else doing this would have been locked up with a bailiff dragging him away and bail set at an astronomical price. Because he's rich and powerful - they haven't. The law shouldn't bend to accommodate him - and that it does is already a loss for the impartiality of the justice system.
There wouldn't be any bail, it would be a criminal sentence for contempt
I meant bail for the trial overall, not just the contempt of court.
You think he should be locked up for an accusation of false accounting without trial that in all likelihood as a first (convicted) offence wont carry any prison time?
If he were being treated like anyone else before a NY court - he would be. He is a clear flight risk, considering his wealth and ability to travel not only between the states but to other countries. He is actively doing witness tampering, and has form for doing witness tampering in the past. And he holds the court in contempt.
Even if he should have had bail at the start of the trial - it should have been revoked for any number of his activities inside and outside of the court since.
You do realize, that Donald Trump WANTS to get his sorry, retched ass thown in jail BEFORE the Election?
Personally do NOT want judge(s) to gratify his quest for martyrdom, at least NOT at this juncture.
I think you're wrong on this. I think Trump is doing what he always does - push the limits of what people will let him get away with until norms are broken and he wins. I'm not saying that he wouldn't use jail as an opportunity for martyrdom. But I don't think he wants to be in jail - if he did he could do more flagrant nonsense.
LOL. The last couple of days on here have been stuffed full of wishcasting drivel, yet again. The site is becoming unbearable, like Laura K on acid.
Let us all hope that this latest blunder from CCHQ will check the stream of nonsense that we are subjected to daily on here.
I don't understand what I said here that is wishcasting? I'm not saying he is going to be put in jail, but I'm saying that if you want people to believe in equality under the law they have to see people being treated equally under the law. And Trump has had a pretty easy time of ignoring the court and flouting his law breaking - in this case and in other areas. That he has been able to do that is bad, and gives him an air of specialness that he doesn't deserve.
Whether to send him to Jail or the White House - this is the choice America faces.
The former is the choice of his jurors - and the various judges who'll get their chance to intervene too. Only the latter is the choice of the US (though it's likely to determine whether or not his jurors get to deliver a verdict and the criminal justice system to jail him).
Yes, I more meant "America" in the big general sense. The sort of country it is (and will be for the foreseeable future) is at stake here in this question of what happens with Donald Trump. Jail him, elect him President, or some fudge of an outcome that means neither of those things happen - which I think I'd take tbh.
Rishi needs to major on Curry-Gate. Say: 'We've already had one lockdown breaker in Number Ten in the form of Boris and look where that got us. Do we really want to inflict another one on ourselves with this Starmer guy?' The beauty here is that it distances Rishi from the era of Boris's misrule whilst also portraying Sir Keir as Boris's heir. But does Rishi have the chutzpah to go for it?
Nah, 1) that was well in the past, 2) it highlights Johnson and reminds people that Sunak probably stabbed him in the back and 3) Sunak himself probably broke the rules too and if that time comes back in the spotlight he'll have to deal with the findings of the Covid Enquiry which suggest Eat out to Help out killed people and treasury didn't care as long as people spent money.
Voters want to forget lockdown ever happened, not be reminded of it. Being the person to remind them of it, even to make a point in his favour, will make people dislike Sunak even more. I think his only real point of attack is the points he is currently making - that SKS doesn't believe in anything and has no real plans for government - but he fails at this because his government is a group of tired idiots with no plans and he is also clearly just a power hungry bastard too. If the messenger was different and he was better at giving the message, I think the Tories could paint SKS as an empty suit. But it rings hollow atm.
BIB - I did't think the Covid inquiry had reported yet? EOTHO has been linked to an increase in cases in papers and the implication is more cases = more deaths. However at the same time we were importing many more new cases from the continent as we had resumed travel. Like so much of the pandemic it was a trade off. You could keep printing magic money to keep business going while shut for ever, but economically there will be a reckoning. As there is, in fact, now.
But you are right. Go out, eat in a restaurant, go to the cinema, go to a play, or the football. Normal life returned and most people don't want to think about those times again.
Mistakes were made all round. Sadly the Inquiry in traditional British style has been portrayed in the meida far too often as a trial of those in power, rather than a genuine attempt to learn. I hope the report, when it emerges, is more of the latter than the former.
Mrs P. has just thrown out a whole collection of masks she made during the early lock-down days "We'll not be needing these again, thank Christ".
Too early! Twitter is awash with the next bird flu pandemic!
But, yes, I whole heartedly agree. And yet - I am heading to the Discworld convention in August and they are still (as far as I know) planning on asking everyone to mask. Madness.
That is absurd. Beyond madness, psychopathic. Plus 2x LFT tests (and where the fuck do you get those from these days).
Any large supermarket. Very useful for differentiating Covid from a more innocuous RTI before you pass it on to your co-workers. I've just had a family member off work for a week; it would have been highly inconvenient just now had I got it too.
It's not paranoia, just common sense. I presume you're a man of leisure ?
You were always a sad type when it came to that sort of thing. Why I was in Aldi only the other day (sadly the Chateau Let Trois Manoirs is sold out since it featured in the Times Weekend section) and no one was wearing a mask. No one. No one wears a mask at all anywhere let me rephrase. 0.01% of people wear masks and good luck to them.
As Discworld points out, "Masks are to protect other people, not the wearer, and this is a courtesy to your fellow members."
So 99.99% of people are not displaying this courtesy and the ones that are are, epidemiologically speaking, fucking idiots.
And you the sarcy, slightly slow on the uptake one. Apparently.
Rishi needs to major on Curry-Gate. Say: 'We've already had one lockdown breaker in Number Ten in the form of Boris and look where that got us. Do we really want to inflict another one on ourselves with this Starmer guy?' The beauty here is that it distances Rishi from the era of Boris's misrule whilst also portraying Sir Keir as Boris's heir. But does Rishi have the chutzpah to go for it?
Nah, 1) that was well in the past, 2) it highlights Johnson and reminds people that Sunak probably stabbed him in the back and 3) Sunak himself probably broke the rules too and if that time comes back in the spotlight he'll have to deal with the findings of the Covid Enquiry which suggest Eat out to Help out killed people and treasury didn't care as long as people spent money.
Voters want to forget lockdown ever happened, not be reminded of it. Being the person to remind them of it, even to make a point in his favour, will make people dislike Sunak even more. I think his only real point of attack is the points he is currently making - that SKS doesn't believe in anything and has no real plans for government - but he fails at this because his government is a group of tired idiots with no plans and he is also clearly just a power hungry bastard too. If the messenger was different and he was better at giving the message, I think the Tories could paint SKS as an empty suit. But it rings hollow atm.
BIB - I did't think the Covid inquiry had reported yet? EOTHO has been linked to an increase in cases in papers and the implication is more cases = more deaths. However at the same time we were importing many more new cases from the continent as we had resumed travel. Like so much of the pandemic it was a trade off. You could keep printing magic money to keep business going while shut for ever, but economically there will be a reckoning. As there is, in fact, now.
But you are right. Go out, eat in a restaurant, go to the cinema, go to a play, or the football. Normal life returned and most people don't want to think about those times again.
Mistakes were made all round. Sadly the Inquiry in traditional British style has been portrayed in the meida far too often as a trial of those in power, rather than a genuine attempt to learn. I hope the report, when it emerges, is more of the latter than the former.
Mrs P. has just thrown out a whole collection of masks she made during the early lock-down days "We'll not be needing these again, thank Christ".
Too early! Twitter is awash with the next bird flu pandemic!
But, yes, I whole heartedly agree. And yet - I am heading to the Discworld convention in August and they are still (as far as I know) planning on asking everyone to mask. Madness.
That is absurd. Beyond madness, psychopathic. Plus 2x LFT tests (and where the fuck do you get those from these days).
Any large supermarket. Very useful for differentiating Covid from a more innocuous RTI before you pass it on to your co-workers. I've just had a family member off work for a week; it would have been highly inconvenient just now had I got it too.
It's not paranoia, just common sense. I presume you're a man of leisure ?
You were always a sad type when it came to that sort of thing. Why I was in Aldi only the other day (sadly the Chateau Let Trois Manoirs is sold out since it featured in the Times Weekend section) and no one was wearing a mask. No one. No one wears a mask at all anywhere let me rephrase. 0.01% of people wear masks and good luck to them.
As Discworld points out, "Masks are to protect other people, not the wearer, and this is a courtesy to your fellow members."
So 99.99% of people are not displaying this courtesy and the ones that are are, epidemiologically speaking, fucking idiots.
Having checked the FAQs it seems the covid policy has not been updated since May 2023. I think someone ought to be looking at it...
There is ZERO point in rules that no-one has any intention of following.
Stuff like this clearly shows what the Tories would do if they could get away with it, though.
I don't disagree that a pride flag is political, but why is it so? - because LGBTQ+ people had to fight for their rights. Would the suffragette colours similarly be banned for being "political"? Poppies in November? No - because they are the right kind of political. If someone has a photo on their desk showing their cis het family with their kid/s, is that considered "political"? Most people would just say "no, that's normal" - despite the fact that marriage and childrearing are things that are political and politicised (if it was a picture of a same sex couple with a child, or a trans couple with a child, I'm sure many people would argue that would be inappropriate in the workplace). The aim here is clearly define what is normal and what isn't. This says to me, clearly, that McVey views LGBTQ+ people and support for them as not normal.
If you regard LGBTQ+ people as beloning to a separate category then are you not implicitly treating them as outside the norm?
Women are a separate category to men - does that imply they are outside the norm?
It is perfectly easy to say that people have different characteristics and yet it is normal (in a normative as well as statistical sense) for people to have a rare characteristic. It is normal to be ginger, even if it is rare.
No, women are distinct from men, not distinct from the norm. There's a difference.
LGBTQ+ people are distinct from cis het people, not distinct from the norm. There we go.
LGB people are distinct from TQ+ people - no forced teaming.
LGB - who you are attracted to. TQ+ - who you think you are.
Rishi needs to major on Curry-Gate. Say: 'We've already had one lockdown breaker in Number Ten in the form of Boris and look where that got us. Do we really want to inflict another one on ourselves with this Starmer guy?' The beauty here is that it distances Rishi from the era of Boris's misrule whilst also portraying Sir Keir as Boris's heir. But does Rishi have the chutzpah to go for it?
Nah, 1) that was well in the past, 2) it highlights Johnson and reminds people that Sunak probably stabbed him in the back and 3) Sunak himself probably broke the rules too and if that time comes back in the spotlight he'll have to deal with the findings of the Covid Enquiry which suggest Eat out to Help out killed people and treasury didn't care as long as people spent money.
Voters want to forget lockdown ever happened, not be reminded of it. Being the person to remind them of it, even to make a point in his favour, will make people dislike Sunak even more. I think his only real point of attack is the points he is currently making - that SKS doesn't believe in anything and has no real plans for government - but he fails at this because his government is a group of tired idiots with no plans and he is also clearly just a power hungry bastard too. If the messenger was different and he was better at giving the message, I think the Tories could paint SKS as an empty suit. But it rings hollow atm.
BIB - I did't think the Covid inquiry had reported yet? EOTHO has been linked to an increase in cases in papers and the implication is more cases = more deaths. However at the same time we were importing many more new cases from the continent as we had resumed travel. Like so much of the pandemic it was a trade off. You could keep printing magic money to keep business going while shut for ever, but economically there will be a reckoning. As there is, in fact, now.
But you are right. Go out, eat in a restaurant, go to the cinema, go to a play, or the football. Normal life returned and most people don't want to think about those times again.
Mistakes were made all round. Sadly the Inquiry in traditional British style has been portrayed in the meida far too often as a trial of those in power, rather than a genuine attempt to learn. I hope the report, when it emerges, is more of the latter than the former.
Mrs P. has just thrown out a whole collection of masks she made during the early lock-down days "We'll not be needing these again, thank Christ".
Too early! Twitter is awash with the next bird flu pandemic!
But, yes, I whole heartedly agree. And yet - I am heading to the Discworld convention in August and they are still (as far as I know) planning on asking everyone to mask. Madness.
That is absurd. Beyond madness, psychopathic. Plus 2x LFT tests (and where the fuck do you get those from these days).
This is what our anti-Covid measures have bequeathed us.
Weirdly the advice is the same as for 2022 and I partly wonder if no-one has bothered to update. I suspect it will not happen, as the vast majority of people do not even own a mask now.
Yes good point I saw that the url included 2022 in it. I would be amazed if the entire attendee list at Discworld turned up in masks having LFT-ed themselves in the morning and again half way through the day.
Crisis over phew yes it must be for 2022 dear god make it be for 2022. Which was bad back then but it was 2022.
Good to see the priority problems the country faces being addressed. You can't go anywhere these days without bumping into someone whose life has been utterly ruined by a coloured lanyard.
It’s bonkers.
Where I work they handed them out. Some people wear them, some don’t. Some, like me, put one in my drawer as a replacement for my current one when it breaks.
The country is going to crap and the govt says it will focus on the peoples priorities. This is irrelevant?
Rishi needs to major on Curry-Gate. Say: 'We've already had one lockdown breaker in Number Ten in the form of Boris and look where that got us. Do we really want to inflict another one on ourselves with this Starmer guy?' The beauty here is that it distances Rishi from the era of Boris's misrule whilst also portraying Sir Keir as Boris's heir. But does Rishi have the chutzpah to go for it?
Nah, 1) that was well in the past, 2) it highlights Johnson and reminds people that Sunak probably stabbed him in the back and 3) Sunak himself probably broke the rules too and if that time comes back in the spotlight he'll have to deal with the findings of the Covid Enquiry which suggest Eat out to Help out killed people and treasury didn't care as long as people spent money.
Voters want to forget lockdown ever happened, not be reminded of it. Being the person to remind them of it, even to make a point in his favour, will make people dislike Sunak even more. I think his only real point of attack is the points he is currently making - that SKS doesn't believe in anything and has no real plans for government - but he fails at this because his government is a group of tired idiots with no plans and he is also clearly just a power hungry bastard too. If the messenger was different and he was better at giving the message, I think the Tories could paint SKS as an empty suit. But it rings hollow atm.
BIB - I did't think the Covid inquiry had reported yet? EOTHO has been linked to an increase in cases in papers and the implication is more cases = more deaths. However at the same time we were importing many more new cases from the continent as we had resumed travel. Like so much of the pandemic it was a trade off. You could keep printing magic money to keep business going while shut for ever, but economically there will be a reckoning. As there is, in fact, now.
But you are right. Go out, eat in a restaurant, go to the cinema, go to a play, or the football. Normal life returned and most people don't want to think about those times again.
Mistakes were made all round. Sadly the Inquiry in traditional British style has been portrayed in the meida far too often as a trial of those in power, rather than a genuine attempt to learn. I hope the report, when it emerges, is more of the latter than the former.
Mrs P. has just thrown out a whole collection of masks she made during the early lock-down days "We'll not be needing these again, thank Christ".
Too early! Twitter is awash with the next bird flu pandemic!
But, yes, I whole heartedly agree. And yet - I am heading to the Discworld convention in August and they are still (as far as I know) planning on asking everyone to mask. Madness.
That is absurd. Beyond madness, psychopathic. Plus 2x LFT tests (and where the fuck do you get those from these days).
Any large supermarket. Very useful for differentiating Covid from a more innocuous RTI before you pass it on to your co-workers. I've just had a family member off work for a week; it would have been highly inconvenient just now had I got it too.
It's not paranoia, just common sense. I presume you're a man of leisure ?
You were always a sad type when it came to that sort of thing. Why I was in Aldi only the other day (sadly the Chateau Let Trois Manoirs is sold out since it featured in the Times Weekend section) and no one was wearing a mask. No one. No one wears a mask at all anywhere let me rephrase. 0.01% of people wear masks and good luck to them.
As Discworld points out, "Masks are to protect other people, not the wearer, and this is a courtesy to your fellow members."
So 99.99% of people are not displaying this courtesy and the ones that are are, epidemiologically speaking, fucking idiots.
And you the sarcy, slightly slow on the uptake one. Apparently.
It's all the same. When was the last time you took a test.
Should not be making political statements in the workplace, not acceptable.
Ban all poppies in the office come November - that's a political statement.
What is political about a poppy, it is purely a rememberance of all people killed in a war, no pretending or trying to get one over anyone else , purely remembrance.
I always buy one and wear it for exactly that. It is not political. It is an act of remembrance for the fallen.
Stuff like this clearly shows what the Tories would do if they could get away with it, though.
I don't disagree that a pride flag is political, but why is it so? - because LGBTQ+ people had to fight for their rights. Would the suffragette colours similarly be banned for being "political"? Poppies in November? No - because they are the right kind of political. If someone has a photo on their desk showing their cis het family with their kid/s, is that considered "political"? Most people would just say "no, that's normal" - despite the fact that marriage and childrearing are things that are political and politicised (if it was a picture of a same sex couple with a child, or a trans couple with a child, I'm sure many people would argue that would be inappropriate in the workplace). The aim here is clearly define what is normal and what isn't. This says to me, clearly, that McVey views LGBTQ+ people and support for them as not normal.
If you regard LGBTQ+ people as beloning to a separate category then are you not implicitly treating them as outside the norm?
Women are a separate category to men - does that imply they are outside the norm?
It is perfectly easy to say that people have different characteristics and yet it is normal (in a normative as well as statistical sense) for people to have a rare characteristic. It is normal to be ginger, even if it is rare.
No, women are distinct from men, not distinct from the norm. There's a difference.
LGBTQ+ people are distinct from cis het people, not distinct from the norm. There we go.
LGB people are distinct from TQ+ people - no forced teaming.
LGB - who you are attracted to. TQ+ - who you think you are.
Should not be making political statements in the workplace, not acceptable.
Ban all poppies in the office come November - that's a political statement.
What is political about a poppy, it is purely a rememberance of all people killed in a war, no pretending or trying to get one over anyone else , purely remembrance.
I always buy one and wear it for exactly that. It is not political. It is an act of remembrance for the fallen.
Obviously not a Green Party member.
"White poppies represent remembrance for all victims of war of all nationalities, a commitment to peace and a rejection of militarism."
Should not be making political statements in the workplace, not acceptable.
Ban all poppies in the office come November - that's a political statement.
I suggest that there is nothing whatever about wearing a poppy in November that is political in any sense at all; to wear one, or not, is open to every individual without any ideological test or commitment required or indicated.
Agree with that in theory. In practice, however, it is the right-wing media that politicised poppy-wearing by condemning those it doesn't approve of for not wearing a poppy during TV interviews or whatever.
Of course it is an ordinary fact about a free society that nothing is immune from comment, however foolish. If the community as a whole allows such comments to divert it from having an apolitical or prepolitical common ground it would be ceasing to be a free society. Trumpianism might stand as a warning of what happens.
Johnny McEntee, senior advisor to Project 2025 & Trump’s Director of the Office of Personnel Management, says he likes to distribute fake money to homeless people so that they will be arrested when they spend it.
George Floyd was detained (and then murdered) for trying to pass a fake bill, of course.
Mean, devious, petty. That's the inner guiding spirit of MAGA right there. America will be telling us who and what they are when they decide whether Donald Trump belongs in Jail or back in the Oval Office.
Good to see the priority problems the country faces being addressed. You can't go anywhere these days without bumping into someone whose life has been utterly ruined by a coloured lanyard.
It’s bonkers.
Where I work they handed them out. Some people wear them, some don’t. Some, like me, put one in my drawer as a replacement for my current one when it breaks.
The country is going to crap and the govt says it will focus on the peoples priorities. This is irrelevant?
Esther McVey is a person.
I'm sure there are people who are really unhappy about rainbow lanyards. Genuinely, sincerely so. Doesn't mean their unhappiness should drive government policy.
(Especially when the Venn diagram of people who would support McVey on this and those who would otherwise point and laugh at snowflakes is probably pretty large.)
What are the chances of Trump being convicted of a felony in the next few months?
This trial is the only one likely to happen pre election
It's also the one with by far the least serious allegations: he faked business records to cover something up. Sure, he might be found guilty, but it's not something that is likely to carry jail time.
Indeed, one might ask how likely it would be for a "normal person" to be prosecuted for this?
By contrast, the Georgia trial is much more serious, but it was badly fumbled by the DA, and then the Supreme Court has been supremely unhelpful. Similarly, the Florida documents case - which is really about obstruction of justice - is also rather more damning.
With that said... I do wonder if it is better than this is the trial we're getting. The Georgia trial would allow the constant repetition of the "stolen election" narrative. And Judge Cannon doesn't seem that interested in... well, anything Mr Trump might of done.
I think it is highly likely Mr Trump will be found guilty. I think it is extremely unlikely he will be given jail time. But perhaps community service (or the US equivalent) will be imposed. That might be entertaining, at least.
Should not be making political statements in the workplace, not acceptable.
Ban all poppies in the office come November - that's a political statement.
What is political about a poppy, it is purely a rememberance of all people killed in a war, no pretending or trying to get one over anyone else , purely remembrance.
I always buy one and wear it for exactly that. It is not political. It is an act of remembrance for the fallen.
Obviously not a Green Party member.
"White poppies represent remembrance for all victims of war of all nationalities, a commitment to peace and a rejection of militarism."
In a free society everyone can have a go at politicising whatever they like. The NF, the BNP and others have had a go at politicising the Union Flag and the Flag of St George. So what? That doesn't make it true, and it doesn't politicise the rest of us for wearing or not wearing a poppy.
Rishi needs to major on Curry-Gate. Say: 'We've already had one lockdown breaker in Number Ten in the form of Boris and look where that got us. Do we really want to inflict another one on ourselves with this Starmer guy?' The beauty here is that it distances Rishi from the era of Boris's misrule whilst also portraying Sir Keir as Boris's heir. But does Rishi have the chutzpah to go for it?
Nah, 1) that was well in the past, 2) it highlights Johnson and reminds people that Sunak probably stabbed him in the back and 3) Sunak himself probably broke the rules too and if that time comes back in the spotlight he'll have to deal with the findings of the Covid Enquiry which suggest Eat out to Help out killed people and treasury didn't care as long as people spent money.
Voters want to forget lockdown ever happened, not be reminded of it. Being the person to remind them of it, even to make a point in his favour, will make people dislike Sunak even more. I think his only real point of attack is the points he is currently making - that SKS doesn't believe in anything and has no real plans for government - but he fails at this because his government is a group of tired idiots with no plans and he is also clearly just a power hungry bastard too. If the messenger was different and he was better at giving the message, I think the Tories could paint SKS as an empty suit. But it rings hollow atm.
BIB - I did't think the Covid inquiry had reported yet? EOTHO has been linked to an increase in cases in papers and the implication is more cases = more deaths. However at the same time we were importing many more new cases from the continent as we had resumed travel. Like so much of the pandemic it was a trade off. You could keep printing magic money to keep business going while shut for ever, but economically there will be a reckoning. As there is, in fact, now.
But you are right. Go out, eat in a restaurant, go to the cinema, go to a play, or the football. Normal life returned and most people don't want to think about those times again.
Mistakes were made all round. Sadly the Inquiry in traditional British style has been portrayed in the meida far too often as a trial of those in power, rather than a genuine attempt to learn. I hope the report, when it emerges, is more of the latter than the former.
Mrs P. has just thrown out a whole collection of masks she made during the early lock-down days "We'll not be needing these again, thank Christ".
Too early! Twitter is awash with the next bird flu pandemic!
But, yes, I whole heartedly agree. And yet - I am heading to the Discworld convention in August and they are still (as far as I know) planning on asking everyone to mask. Madness.
That is absurd. Beyond madness, psychopathic. Plus 2x LFT tests (and where the fuck do you get those from these days).
Any large supermarket. Very useful for differentiating Covid from a more innocuous RTI before you pass it on to your co-workers. I've just had a family member off work for a week; it would have been highly inconvenient just now had I got it too.
It's not paranoia, just common sense. I presume you're a man of leisure ?
You were always a sad type when it came to that sort of thing. Why I was in Aldi only the other day (sadly the Chateau Let Trois Manoirs is sold out since it featured in the Times Weekend section) and no one was wearing a mask. No one. No one wears a mask at all anywhere let me rephrase. 0.01% of people wear masks and good luck to them.
As Discworld points out, "Masks are to protect other people, not the wearer, and this is a courtesy to your fellow members."
So 99.99% of people are not displaying this courtesy and the ones that are are, epidemiologically speaking, fucking idiots.
Er, he's not talking about masks but tests.
Do you really think I'm going to waste my time reading what exactly he writes. Dear god help me.
Johnny McEntee, senior advisor to Project 2025 & Trump’s Director of the Office of Personnel Management, says he likes to distribute fake money to homeless people so that they will be arrested when they spend it.
What are the chances of Trump being convicted of a felony in the next few months?
This trial is the only one likely to happen pre election
It's also the one with by far the least serious allegations: he faked business records to cover something up. Sure, he might be found guilty, but it's not something that is likely to carry jail time.
Indeed, one might ask how likely it would be for a "normal person" to be prosecuted for this?
By contrast, the Georgia trial is much more serious, but it was badly fumbled by the DA, and then the Supreme Court has been supremely unhelpful. Similarly, the Florida documents case - which is really about obstruction of justice - is also rather more damning.
With that said... I do wonder if it is better than this is the trial we're getting. The Georgia trial would allow the constant repetition of the "stolen election" narrative. And Judge Cannon doesn't seem that interested in... well, anything Mr Trump might of done.
I think it is highly likely Mr Trump will be found guilty. I think it is extremely unlikely he will be given jail time. But perhaps community service (or the US equivalent) will be imposed. That might be entertaining, at least.
Today, we visited our old haunts in Modena, and I took him to the vet. So nothing particularly photogenic. Yesterday, on a sweaty hot Sunday, we went down to the banks of one of Europe’s great rivers, and got covered in the falling blossom you can see on the ground all around.
Rishi needs to major on Curry-Gate. Say: 'We've already had one lockdown breaker in Number Ten in the form of Boris and look where that got us. Do we really want to inflict another one on ourselves with this Starmer guy?' The beauty here is that it distances Rishi from the era of Boris's misrule whilst also portraying Sir Keir as Boris's heir. But does Rishi have the chutzpah to go for it?
Nah, 1) that was well in the past, 2) it highlights Johnson and reminds people that Sunak probably stabbed him in the back and 3) Sunak himself probably broke the rules too and if that time comes back in the spotlight he'll have to deal with the findings of the Covid Enquiry which suggest Eat out to Help out killed people and treasury didn't care as long as people spent money.
Voters want to forget lockdown ever happened, not be reminded of it. Being the person to remind them of it, even to make a point in his favour, will make people dislike Sunak even more. I think his only real point of attack is the points he is currently making - that SKS doesn't believe in anything and has no real plans for government - but he fails at this because his government is a group of tired idiots with no plans and he is also clearly just a power hungry bastard too. If the messenger was different and he was better at giving the message, I think the Tories could paint SKS as an empty suit. But it rings hollow atm.
BIB - I did't think the Covid inquiry had reported yet? EOTHO has been linked to an increase in cases in papers and the implication is more cases = more deaths. However at the same time we were importing many more new cases from the continent as we had resumed travel. Like so much of the pandemic it was a trade off. You could keep printing magic money to keep business going while shut for ever, but economically there will be a reckoning. As there is, in fact, now.
But you are right. Go out, eat in a restaurant, go to the cinema, go to a play, or the football. Normal life returned and most people don't want to think about those times again.
Mistakes were made all round. Sadly the Inquiry in traditional British style has been portrayed in the meida far too often as a trial of those in power, rather than a genuine attempt to learn. I hope the report, when it emerges, is more of the latter than the former.
Mrs P. has just thrown out a whole collection of masks she made during the early lock-down days "We'll not be needing these again, thank Christ".
Too early! Twitter is awash with the next bird flu pandemic!
But, yes, I whole heartedly agree. And yet - I am heading to the Discworld convention in August and they are still (as far as I know) planning on asking everyone to mask. Madness.
That is absurd. Beyond madness, psychopathic. Plus 2x LFT tests (and where the fuck do you get those from these days).
Any large supermarket. Very useful for differentiating Covid from a more innocuous RTI before you pass it on to your co-workers. I've just had a family member off work for a week; it would have been highly inconvenient just now had I got it too.
It's not paranoia, just common sense. I presume you're a man of leisure ?
You were always a sad type when it came to that sort of thing. Why I was in Aldi only the other day (sadly the Chateau Let Trois Manoirs is sold out since it featured in the Times Weekend section) and no one was wearing a mask. No one. No one wears a mask at all anywhere let me rephrase. 0.01% of people wear masks and good luck to them.
As Discworld points out, "Masks are to protect other people, not the wearer, and this is a courtesy to your fellow members."
So 99.99% of people are not displaying this courtesy and the ones that are are, epidemiologically speaking, fucking idiots.
Er, he's not talking about masks but tests.
Do you really think I'm going to waste my time reading what exactly he writes. Dear god help me.
Instead of wasting your time getting aerated about what he didn't write?
Starmer leads Sunak by a fair margin on ALL 17 leadership characteristics polled, including:
Represents change (44% | 22%) Cares about people like me (40% | 21%) Can build a strong economy (39% | 29%) Can work well with foreign leaders (39% | 29%)
Should not be making political statements in the workplace, not acceptable.
Ban all poppies in the office come November - that's a political statement.
What is political about a poppy, it is purely a rememberance of all people killed in a war, no pretending or trying to get one over anyone else , purely remembrance.
I always buy one and wear it for exactly that. It is not political. It is an act of remembrance for the fallen.
Obviously not a Green Party member.
"White poppies represent remembrance for all victims of war of all nationalities, a commitment to peace and a rejection of militarism."
In a free society everyone can have a go at politicising whatever they like. The NF, the BNP and others have had a go at politicising the Union Flag and the Flag of St George. So what? That doesn't make it true, and it doesn't politicise the rest of us for wearing or not wearing a poppy.
The question of whether or not to go to war is arguably the most important political decision there is.
Rishi needs to major on Curry-Gate. Say: 'We've already had one lockdown breaker in Number Ten in the form of Boris and look where that got us. Do we really want to inflict another one on ourselves with this Starmer guy?' The beauty here is that it distances Rishi from the era of Boris's misrule whilst also portraying Sir Keir as Boris's heir. But does Rishi have the chutzpah to go for it?
Nah, 1) that was well in the past, 2) it highlights Johnson and reminds people that Sunak probably stabbed him in the back and 3) Sunak himself probably broke the rules too and if that time comes back in the spotlight he'll have to deal with the findings of the Covid Enquiry which suggest Eat out to Help out killed people and treasury didn't care as long as people spent money.
Voters want to forget lockdown ever happened, not be reminded of it. Being the person to remind them of it, even to make a point in his favour, will make people dislike Sunak even more. I think his only real point of attack is the points he is currently making - that SKS doesn't believe in anything and has no real plans for government - but he fails at this because his government is a group of tired idiots with no plans and he is also clearly just a power hungry bastard too. If the messenger was different and he was better at giving the message, I think the Tories could paint SKS as an empty suit. But it rings hollow atm.
BIB - I did't think the Covid inquiry had reported yet? EOTHO has been linked to an increase in cases in papers and the implication is more cases = more deaths. However at the same time we were importing many more new cases from the continent as we had resumed travel. Like so much of the pandemic it was a trade off. You could keep printing magic money to keep business going while shut for ever, but economically there will be a reckoning. As there is, in fact, now.
But you are right. Go out, eat in a restaurant, go to the cinema, go to a play, or the football. Normal life returned and most people don't want to think about those times again.
Mistakes were made all round. Sadly the Inquiry in traditional British style has been portrayed in the meida far too often as a trial of those in power, rather than a genuine attempt to learn. I hope the report, when it emerges, is more of the latter than the former.
Mrs P. has just thrown out a whole collection of masks she made during the early lock-down days "We'll not be needing these again, thank Christ".
Too early! Twitter is awash with the next bird flu pandemic!
But, yes, I whole heartedly agree. And yet - I am heading to the Discworld convention in August and they are still (as far as I know) planning on asking everyone to mask. Madness.
That is absurd. Beyond madness, psychopathic. Plus 2x LFT tests (and where the fuck do you get those from these days).
Any large supermarket. Very useful for differentiating Covid from a more innocuous RTI before you pass it on to your co-workers. I've just had a family member off work for a week; it would have been highly inconvenient just now had I got it too.
It's not paranoia, just common sense. I presume you're a man of leisure ?
You were always a sad type when it came to that sort of thing. Why I was in Aldi only the other day (sadly the Chateau Let Trois Manoirs is sold out since it featured in the Times Weekend section) and no one was wearing a mask. No one. No one wears a mask at all anywhere let me rephrase. 0.01% of people wear masks and good luck to them.
As Discworld points out, "Masks are to protect other people, not the wearer, and this is a courtesy to your fellow members."
So 99.99% of people are not displaying this courtesy and the ones that are are, epidemiologically speaking, fucking idiots.
Same problem with Rose's after someone sent me the Victoria Moore Telegraph recommendations. I didn't realize anyone read the Telegraph anymore let alone follow their wine suggestions.
Should not be making political statements in the workplace, not acceptable.
Ban all poppies in the office come November - that's a political statement.
I suggest that there is nothing whatever about wearing a poppy in November that is political in any sense at all; to wear one, or not, is open to every individual without any ideological test or commitment required or indicated.
Agree with that in theory. In practice, however, it is the right-wing media that politicised poppy-wearing by condemning those it doesn't approve of for not wearing a poppy during TV interviews or whatever.
I know you're going to find it for me now but has any "right-wing media" ever actually done that.
Belfast high court judge suspends most of the Illegal Migration Act from coming into force in NI as it breaches the Windsor Framework and therefore the GFA .
The wheels are coming off already from the Rwanda plan .
Those bloody foreign courts again!
Oh...
The ERG and assorted nutjobs will of course jump on the full ruling where it mentions the ECHR . Of course the pathetic spineless gimp Sunak just threatens to remove the UK from the ECHR in the full knowledge that that would be a major breach of the GFA . And open a Pandora’s box of further problems .
Was that the alleged Star Chamber of lawyers that the odious Mark Francois referred to with such glee ?
It’s likely to end up in the Supreme Court now regardless of any future Appeals Court Decision .
Sunak can say what he likes but you can’t have this type of legislation only in the UK excluding NI . The government can’t be that stupid ? Or can they . Asylum seekers can get to NI and stay there now . The only way to stop that is for full passport checks at all ports . The DUP will love that !
#Sunak Winning Bigly !!!
To be fair, you already need to show photographic ID at ports and airports. Ryanair will only accept a passport, Easyjet and Aer Lingus want a passport or EU/EEA national ID. I think it's only BA who will accept a driving licence.
The real issue would be breaking up the Common Travel Area and requiring passports at the Irish border.
Oh I didn’t realize . Thanks for clarifying that .
Stuff like this clearly shows what the Tories would do if they could get away with it, though.
I don't disagree that a pride flag is political, but why is it so? - because LGBTQ+ people had to fight for their rights. Would the suffragette colours similarly be banned for being "political"? Poppies in November? No - because they are the right kind of political. If someone has a photo on their desk showing their cis het family with their kid/s, is that considered "political"? Most people would just say "no, that's normal" - despite the fact that marriage and childrearing are things that are political and politicised (if it was a picture of a same sex couple with a child, or a trans couple with a child, I'm sure many people would argue that would be inappropriate in the workplace). The aim here is clearly define what is normal and what isn't. This says to me, clearly, that McVey views LGBTQ+ people and support for them as not normal.
If you regard LGBTQ+ people as beloning to a separate category then are you not implicitly treating them as outside the norm?
Where do you stand on the category of "Ginger"?
It's a hereditary characteristic.
Where do you stand on the category of "British"?
It's irrelevant to the question of normativity. You're derailing my debate with @148grss
Possibly, but I was addressing your original point, which was "If you regard LGBTQ+ people as belon[g]ing to a separate category then are you not implicitly treating them as outside the norm?". By putting forward categories which may or may not be nominal I hoped to demonstrate that the act of categorisation is not, in and of itself, a separation from the norm.
My next question would have been about "Scottish" by the way, which would have woken winged Malc from his restless sleep under Arthur's Seat, lit by eldritch glows from the fires set from his breath. So probably best not, thinking about it.
You’re arguing against a claim I didn’t make. I didn’t say that the act of categorisation itself implied a norm. I was talking specifically about LGBTQ+.
Should not be making political statements in the workplace, not acceptable.
Ban all poppies in the office come November - that's a political statement.
I suggest that there is nothing whatever about wearing a poppy in November that is political in any sense at all; to wear one, or not, is open to every individual without any ideological test or commitment required or indicated.
The poppy has always been political. To buy and wear the red poppy is to associate oneself with over a century of war remembrance, activity which has always been (and remains) “political”. The poppy commemorates people who died as a result of political decisions made by the British state. No society can remember its wars and mourn its dead without ascribing to the violence and victims a meaning. The symbols a society duly produces – including the red poppy and the Easter lily - carry an implicit “politics”. It’s unavoidable.
Rishi needs to major on Curry-Gate. Say: 'We've already had one lockdown breaker in Number Ten in the form of Boris and look where that got us. Do we really want to inflict another one on ourselves with this Starmer guy?' The beauty here is that it distances Rishi from the era of Boris's misrule whilst also portraying Sir Keir as Boris's heir. But does Rishi have the chutzpah to go for it?
Nah, 1) that was well in the past, 2) it highlights Johnson and reminds people that Sunak probably stabbed him in the back and 3) Sunak himself probably broke the rules too and if that time comes back in the spotlight he'll have to deal with the findings of the Covid Enquiry which suggest Eat out to Help out killed people and treasury didn't care as long as people spent money.
Voters want to forget lockdown ever happened, not be reminded of it. Being the person to remind them of it, even to make a point in his favour, will make people dislike Sunak even more. I think his only real point of attack is the points he is currently making - that SKS doesn't believe in anything and has no real plans for government - but he fails at this because his government is a group of tired idiots with no plans and he is also clearly just a power hungry bastard too. If the messenger was different and he was better at giving the message, I think the Tories could paint SKS as an empty suit. But it rings hollow atm.
BIB - I did't think the Covid inquiry had reported yet? EOTHO has been linked to an increase in cases in papers and the implication is more cases = more deaths. However at the same time we were importing many more new cases from the continent as we had resumed travel. Like so much of the pandemic it was a trade off. You could keep printing magic money to keep business going while shut for ever, but economically there will be a reckoning. As there is, in fact, now.
But you are right. Go out, eat in a restaurant, go to the cinema, go to a play, or the football. Normal life returned and most people don't want to think about those times again.
Mistakes were made all round. Sadly the Inquiry in traditional British style has been portrayed in the meida far too often as a trial of those in power, rather than a genuine attempt to learn. I hope the report, when it emerges, is more of the latter than the former.
Mrs P. has just thrown out a whole collection of masks she made during the early lock-down days "We'll not be needing these again, thank Christ".
Too early! Twitter is awash with the next bird flu pandemic!
But, yes, I whole heartedly agree. And yet - I am heading to the Discworld convention in August and they are still (as far as I know) planning on asking everyone to mask. Madness.
That is absurd. Beyond madness, psychopathic. Plus 2x LFT tests (and where the fuck do you get those from these days).
Any large supermarket. Very useful for differentiating Covid from a more innocuous RTI before you pass it on to your co-workers. I've just had a family member off work for a week; it would have been highly inconvenient just now had I got it too.
It's not paranoia, just common sense. I presume you're a man of leisure ?
You were always a sad type when it came to that sort of thing. Why I was in Aldi only the other day (sadly the Chateau Let Trois Manoirs is sold out since it featured in the Times Weekend section) and no one was wearing a mask. No one. No one wears a mask at all anywhere let me rephrase. 0.01% of people wear masks and good luck to them.
As Discworld points out, "Masks are to protect other people, not the wearer, and this is a courtesy to your fellow members."
So 99.99% of people are not displaying this courtesy and the ones that are are, epidemiologically speaking, fucking idiots.
Same problem with Rose's after someone sent me the Victoria Moore Telegraph recommendations. I didn't realize anyone read the Telegraph anymore let alone follow their wine suggestions.
There's supposed to be a good Cru Bourgeois at Lidl also (Ch. Plagnac), but, reviewed in Decanter, it is nowhere to be seen on the shelves. I'm sure more people read Decanter than the DT.
Johnny McEntee, senior advisor to Project 2025 & Trump’s Director of the Office of Personnel Management, says he likes to distribute fake money to homeless people so that they will be arrested when they spend it.
Should not be making political statements in the workplace, not acceptable.
Ban all poppies in the office come November - that's a political statement.
When people attempt to legislate against you for simply existing, as happens to LGBTQ people, your very existence becomes political. Your body becomes political. What you do with it becomes political. A source of prurient interest to people who really have no business dictating what other people can and cannot do (see my points about bodily autonomy on Viewcode's excellent header a few weeks ago).
And as for why people in this thread are trying to drive a wedge between LGB and TQ+ is beyond me. All experience a shared history of persecution and even prosecution.
I saw an excellent post on Reddit the other day entitled "The Trans Agenda". The post simply said "Idk man I just wanna live my life without being murdered or driven to suicide. That's it. That's the agenda."
I know the kids like to say "touch grass" these days, but really what a lot of people on this and other forums need to do is get out and talk to actual trans people. I have MTF, FTM and non binary friends IRL. And that reddit post I mentioned above rings true. They just want to get on with their lives and not be the subject of discrimination, hate, or have their bodies or lives put under a microscope for public debate.
Rishi needs to major on Curry-Gate. Say: 'We've already had one lockdown breaker in Number Ten in the form of Boris and look where that got us. Do we really want to inflict another one on ourselves with this Starmer guy?' The beauty here is that it distances Rishi from the era of Boris's misrule whilst also portraying Sir Keir as Boris's heir. But does Rishi have the chutzpah to go for it?
Nah, 1) that was well in the past, 2) it highlights Johnson and reminds people that Sunak probably stabbed him in the back and 3) Sunak himself probably broke the rules too and if that time comes back in the spotlight he'll have to deal with the findings of the Covid Enquiry which suggest Eat out to Help out killed people and treasury didn't care as long as people spent money.
Voters want to forget lockdown ever happened, not be reminded of it. Being the person to remind them of it, even to make a point in his favour, will make people dislike Sunak even more. I think his only real point of attack is the points he is currently making - that SKS doesn't believe in anything and has no real plans for government - but he fails at this because his government is a group of tired idiots with no plans and he is also clearly just a power hungry bastard too. If the messenger was different and he was better at giving the message, I think the Tories could paint SKS as an empty suit. But it rings hollow atm.
BIB - I did't think the Covid inquiry had reported yet? EOTHO has been linked to an increase in cases in papers and the implication is more cases = more deaths. However at the same time we were importing many more new cases from the continent as we had resumed travel. Like so much of the pandemic it was a trade off. You could keep printing magic money to keep business going while shut for ever, but economically there will be a reckoning. As there is, in fact, now.
But you are right. Go out, eat in a restaurant, go to the cinema, go to a play, or the football. Normal life returned and most people don't want to think about those times again.
Mistakes were made all round. Sadly the Inquiry in traditional British style has been portrayed in the meida far too often as a trial of those in power, rather than a genuine attempt to learn. I hope the report, when it emerges, is more of the latter than the former.
Mrs P. has just thrown out a whole collection of masks she made during the early lock-down days "We'll not be needing these again, thank Christ".
Too early! Twitter is awash with the next bird flu pandemic!
But, yes, I whole heartedly agree. And yet - I am heading to the Discworld convention in August and they are still (as far as I know) planning on asking everyone to mask. Madness.
That is absurd. Beyond madness, psychopathic. Plus 2x LFT tests (and where the fuck do you get those from these days).
Any large supermarket. Very useful for differentiating Covid from a more innocuous RTI before you pass it on to your co-workers. I've just had a family member off work for a week; it would have been highly inconvenient just now had I got it too.
It's not paranoia, just common sense. I presume you're a man of leisure ?
You were always a sad type when it came to that sort of thing. Why I was in Aldi only the other day (sadly the Chateau Let Trois Manoirs is sold out since it featured in the Times Weekend section) and no one was wearing a mask. No one. No one wears a mask at all anywhere let me rephrase. 0.01% of people wear masks and good luck to them.
As Discworld points out, "Masks are to protect other people, not the wearer, and this is a courtesy to your fellow members."
So 99.99% of people are not displaying this courtesy and the ones that are are, epidemiologically speaking, fucking idiots.
Er, he's not talking about masks but tests.
Do you really think I'm going to waste my time reading what exactly he writes. Dear god help me.
Instead of wasting your time getting aerated about what he didn't write?
Should not be making political statements in the workplace, not acceptable.
Ban all poppies in the office come November - that's a political statement.
What is political about a poppy, it is purely a rememberance of all people killed in a war, no pretending or trying to get one over anyone else , purely remembrance.
I always buy one and wear it for exactly that. It is not political. It is an act of remembrance for the fallen.
Obviously not a Green Party member.
"White poppies represent remembrance for all victims of war of all nationalities, a commitment to peace and a rejection of militarism."
I was a member of the Labour Party in my younger years. But when I realised they weren’t really interested in my opinions, there weren’t lots of nice girls to meet and they just wanted me to go out and put leaflets through doors in the local hood I left.
Johnny McEntee, senior advisor to Project 2025 & Trump’s Director of the Office of Personnel Management, says he likes to distribute fake money to homeless people so that they will be arrested when they spend it.
Rishi needs to major on Curry-Gate. Say: 'We've already had one lockdown breaker in Number Ten in the form of Boris and look where that got us. Do we really want to inflict another one on ourselves with this Starmer guy?' The beauty here is that it distances Rishi from the era of Boris's misrule whilst also portraying Sir Keir as Boris's heir. But does Rishi have the chutzpah to go for it?
Nah, 1) that was well in the past, 2) it highlights Johnson and reminds people that Sunak probably stabbed him in the back and 3) Sunak himself probably broke the rules too and if that time comes back in the spotlight he'll have to deal with the findings of the Covid Enquiry which suggest Eat out to Help out killed people and treasury didn't care as long as people spent money.
Voters want to forget lockdown ever happened, not be reminded of it. Being the person to remind them of it, even to make a point in his favour, will make people dislike Sunak even more. I think his only real point of attack is the points he is currently making - that SKS doesn't believe in anything and has no real plans for government - but he fails at this because his government is a group of tired idiots with no plans and he is also clearly just a power hungry bastard too. If the messenger was different and he was better at giving the message, I think the Tories could paint SKS as an empty suit. But it rings hollow atm.
BIB - I did't think the Covid inquiry had reported yet? EOTHO has been linked to an increase in cases in papers and the implication is more cases = more deaths. However at the same time we were importing many more new cases from the continent as we had resumed travel. Like so much of the pandemic it was a trade off. You could keep printing magic money to keep business going while shut for ever, but economically there will be a reckoning. As there is, in fact, now.
But you are right. Go out, eat in a restaurant, go to the cinema, go to a play, or the football. Normal life returned and most people don't want to think about those times again.
Mistakes were made all round. Sadly the Inquiry in traditional British style has been portrayed in the meida far too often as a trial of those in power, rather than a genuine attempt to learn. I hope the report, when it emerges, is more of the latter than the former.
Mrs P. has just thrown out a whole collection of masks she made during the early lock-down days "We'll not be needing these again, thank Christ".
Too early! Twitter is awash with the next bird flu pandemic!
But, yes, I whole heartedly agree. And yet - I am heading to the Discworld convention in August and they are still (as far as I know) planning on asking everyone to mask. Madness.
That is absurd. Beyond madness, psychopathic. Plus 2x LFT tests (and where the fuck do you get those from these days).
Any large supermarket. Very useful for differentiating Covid from a more innocuous RTI before you pass it on to your co-workers. I've just had a family member off work for a week; it would have been highly inconvenient just now had I got it too.
It's not paranoia, just common sense. I presume you're a man of leisure ?
You were always a sad type when it came to that sort of thing. Why I was in Aldi only the other day (sadly the Chateau Let Trois Manoirs is sold out since it featured in the Times Weekend section) and no one was wearing a mask. No one. No one wears a mask at all anywhere let me rephrase. 0.01% of people wear masks and good luck to them.
As Discworld points out, "Masks are to protect other people, not the wearer, and this is a courtesy to your fellow members."
So 99.99% of people are not displaying this courtesy and the ones that are are, epidemiologically speaking, fucking idiots.
And you the sarcy, slightly slow on the uptake one. Apparently.
It's all the same. When was the last time you took a test.
I took one on Christmas morning last year. Felt a bit rough, was due to go see my parents, tested positive, cancelled the trip so as not to give them a potentially debilitating respiratory virus. They had to make do with just a card.
Today, we visited our old haunts in Modena, and I took him to the vet. So nothing particularly photogenic. Yesterday, on a sweaty hot Sunday, we went down to the banks of one of Europe’s great rivers, and got covered in the falling blossom you can see on the ground all around.
Should not be making political statements in the workplace, not acceptable.
Ban all poppies in the office come November - that's a political statement.
What is political about a poppy, it is purely a rememberance of all people killed in a war, no pretending or trying to get one over anyone else , purely remembrance.
I always buy one and wear it for exactly that. It is not political. It is an act of remembrance for the fallen.
Obviously not a Green Party member.
"White poppies represent remembrance for all victims of war of all nationalities, a commitment to peace and a rejection of militarism."
I was a member of the Labour Party in my younger years. But when I realised they weren’t really interested in my opinions, there weren’t lots of nice girls to meet and they just wanted me to go out and put leaflets through doors in the local hood I left.
Should not be making political statements in the workplace, not acceptable.
Ban all poppies in the office come November - that's a political statement.
What is political about a poppy, it is purely a rememberance of all people killed in a war, no pretending or trying to get one over anyone else , purely remembrance.
I always buy one and wear it for exactly that. It is not political. It is an act of remembrance for the fallen.
Obviously not a Green Party member.
"White poppies represent remembrance for all victims of war of all nationalities, a commitment to peace and a rejection of militarism."
I was a member of the Labour Party in my younger years. But when I realised they weren’t really interested in my opinions, there weren’t lots of nice girls to meet and they just wanted me to go out and put leaflets through doors in the local hood I left.
'Meeting girls' used to be one of the prime reasons for joining the Young Conservatives, back in my young days. Not that I ever tried. Didn't have to prostitute my principles!
Rishi needs to major on Curry-Gate. Say: 'We've already had one lockdown breaker in Number Ten in the form of Boris and look where that got us. Do we really want to inflict another one on ourselves with this Starmer guy?' The beauty here is that it distances Rishi from the era of Boris's misrule whilst also portraying Sir Keir as Boris's heir. But does Rishi have the chutzpah to go for it?
Nah, 1) that was well in the past, 2) it highlights Johnson and reminds people that Sunak probably stabbed him in the back and 3) Sunak himself probably broke the rules too and if that time comes back in the spotlight he'll have to deal with the findings of the Covid Enquiry which suggest Eat out to Help out killed people and treasury didn't care as long as people spent money.
Voters want to forget lockdown ever happened, not be reminded of it. Being the person to remind them of it, even to make a point in his favour, will make people dislike Sunak even more. I think his only real point of attack is the points he is currently making - that SKS doesn't believe in anything and has no real plans for government - but he fails at this because his government is a group of tired idiots with no plans and he is also clearly just a power hungry bastard too. If the messenger was different and he was better at giving the message, I think the Tories could paint SKS as an empty suit. But it rings hollow atm.
BIB - I did't think the Covid inquiry had reported yet? EOTHO has been linked to an increase in cases in papers and the implication is more cases = more deaths. However at the same time we were importing many more new cases from the continent as we had resumed travel. Like so much of the pandemic it was a trade off. You could keep printing magic money to keep business going while shut for ever, but economically there will be a reckoning. As there is, in fact, now.
But you are right. Go out, eat in a restaurant, go to the cinema, go to a play, or the football. Normal life returned and most people don't want to think about those times again.
Mistakes were made all round. Sadly the Inquiry in traditional British style has been portrayed in the meida far too often as a trial of those in power, rather than a genuine attempt to learn. I hope the report, when it emerges, is more of the latter than the former.
Mrs P. has just thrown out a whole collection of masks she made during the early lock-down days "We'll not be needing these again, thank Christ".
Too early! Twitter is awash with the next bird flu pandemic!
But, yes, I whole heartedly agree. And yet - I am heading to the Discworld convention in August and they are still (as far as I know) planning on asking everyone to mask. Madness.
That is absurd. Beyond madness, psychopathic. Plus 2x LFT tests (and where the fuck do you get those from these days).
Any large supermarket. Very useful for differentiating Covid from a more innocuous RTI before you pass it on to your co-workers. I've just had a family member off work for a week; it would have been highly inconvenient just now had I got it too.
It's not paranoia, just common sense. I presume you're a man of leisure ?
You were always a sad type when it came to that sort of thing. Why I was in Aldi only the other day (sadly the Chateau Let Trois Manoirs is sold out since it featured in the Times Weekend section) and no one was wearing a mask. No one. No one wears a mask at all anywhere let me rephrase. 0.01% of people wear masks and good luck to them.
As Discworld points out, "Masks are to protect other people, not the wearer, and this is a courtesy to your fellow members."
So 99.99% of people are not displaying this courtesy and the ones that are are, epidemiologically speaking, fucking idiots.
And you the sarcy, slightly slow on the uptake one. Apparently.
It's all the same. When was the last time you took a test.
I took one on Christmas morning last year. Felt a bit rough, was due to go see my parents, tested positive, cancelled the trip so as not to give them a potentially debilitating respiratory virus. They had to make do with just a card.
So what did you do before tests when you were due to see your parents and you felt a bit ropey.
Today, we visited our old haunts in Modena, and I took him to the vet. So nothing particularly photogenic. Yesterday, on a sweaty hot Sunday, we went down to the banks of one of Europe’s great rivers, and got covered in the falling blossom you can see on the ground all around.
That looks like poplar* seeds, which are coverd with a dandilion like fluff. Berlin is covered with the stuff at the moment. If a week goes by with no rain this time of year, it looks as if snow has settled.
*It's not from the tall thin poplar trees popular in the UK, but from a different species which looks more like a typical deciduous tree.
Belfast high court judge suspends most of the Illegal Migration Act from coming into force in NI as it breaches the Windsor Framework and therefore the GFA .
The wheels are coming off already from the Rwanda plan .
Those bloody foreign courts again!
Oh...
The ERG and assorted nutjobs will of course jump on the full ruling where it mentions the ECHR . Of course the pathetic spineless gimp Sunak just threatens to remove the UK from the ECHR in the full knowledge that that would be a major breach of the GFA . And open a Pandora’s box of further problems .
Was that the alleged Star Chamber of lawyers that the odious Mark Francois referred to with such glee ?
It’s likely to end up in the Supreme Court now regardless of any future Appeals Court Decision .
Sunak can say what he likes but you can’t have this type of legislation only in the UK excluding NI . The government can’t be that stupid ? Or can they . Asylum seekers can get to NI and stay there now . The only way to stop that is for full passport checks at all ports . The DUP will love that !
#Sunak Winning Bigly !!!
To be fair, you already need to show photographic ID at ports and airports. Ryanair will only accept a passport, Easyjet and Aer Lingus want a passport or EU/EEA national ID. I think it's only BA who will accept a driving licence.
The real issue would be breaking up the Common Travel Area and requiring passports at the Irish border.
Oh I didn’t realize . Thanks for clarifying that .
You do NOT need to show any id to board any ferry sailing between UK and RoI.
Should not be making political statements in the workplace, not acceptable.
Ban all poppies in the office come November - that's a political statement.
I suggest that there is nothing whatever about wearing a poppy in November that is political in any sense at all; to wear one, or not, is open to every individual without any ideological test or commitment required or indicated.
The poppy has always been political. To buy and wear the red poppy is to associate oneself with over a century of war remembrance, activity which has always been (and remains) “political”. The poppy commemorates people who died as a result of political decisions made by the British state. No society can remember its wars and mourn its dead without ascribing to the violence and victims a meaning. The symbols a society duly produces – including the red poppy and the Easter lily - carry an implicit “politics”. It’s unavoidable.
Not wearing one can also be kind of a political statement. Not necessarily of anything specific but in general. Eg I don't wear one and it's a choice I make, it's not that I forget or cannot be bothered. Why? I'm not totally sure but it just feels right for me to be unadorned with poppy during the remembrance period, even though I find much if what's being remembered very consequential and moving.
Should not be making political statements in the workplace, not acceptable.
Ban all poppies in the office come November - that's a political statement.
What is political about a poppy, it is purely a rememberance of all people killed in a war, no pretending or trying to get one over anyone else , purely remembrance.
I always buy one and wear it for exactly that. It is not political. It is an act of remembrance for the fallen.
Obviously not a Green Party member.
"White poppies represent remembrance for all victims of war of all nationalities, a commitment to peace and a rejection of militarism."
I was a member of the Labour Party in my younger years. But when I realised they weren’t really interested in my opinions, there weren’t lots of nice girls to meet and they just wanted me to go out and put leaflets through doors in the local hood I left.
'Meeting girls' used to be one of the prime reasons for joining the Young Conservatives, back in my young days. Not that I ever tried. Didn't have to prostitute my principles!
Comments
* this may well be equally true of the Tory party as a whole
The real issue would be breaking up the Common Travel Area and requiring passports at the Irish border.
* Here are immigrants being thrown into vans for deportation. Labour and Starmer want to stop this. They want to deprive you of what you want the most. You gonna kick yourself in the teeth, or you gonna vote Conservative? Don't blame us if you vote Labour and Labour wins and Starmer lets 'em all stay 'ere - and invites more of 'em in, 'ole boatloads of 'em.
* Starmer is a slovenly old git.
But Sunak can't deliver any kind of message to voters - he's completely hopeless. I still think he may be dumped before the election.
And if Conservatives are finding more pleasure in giving speeches than in running things, that's probably for the best given their prospects.
(Or has that been dropped now that Suella's gone?)
Suggesting that covering your mouth and nose with a face rag (which is what most of them were after one wearing) is 'not that cumbersome' is bonkers.
Slam dunk ICO fine incoming, not what you want six months before the election.
I imagine he's feeling similar to a tennis player within a couple of points of winning Wimbledon for the first time, or a debutant batsman on 99 not out in the Lord's Ashes test, or a team going into a Champion's League home leg with a 2 goal advantage. Far more terrified of it all going wrong than he would be if Labour hadn't been out of power for so long. In danger of freezing and making unforced errors. But fortunately up against an opposition that keeps making its own.
In practice, however, it is the right-wing media that politicised poppy-wearing by condemning those it doesn't approve of for not wearing a poppy during TV interviews or whatever.
Only the latter is the choice of the US (though it's likely to determine whether or not his jurors get to deliver a verdict and the criminal justice system to jail him).
Rishi may not be able to get many flights off before the election after all.
It is said to have nice views. All PBers welcome, especially @kinabalu because I hear they have toe-tapping live music in the al fresco terrace bars
This is disgusting and illegal.
https://twitter.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1789837933664411928
George Floyd was detained (and then murdered) for trying to pass a fake bill, of course.
1. Cover my face during Covid
2. Cover my head when visiting a Gurdwara
Multi-functional square of fabric.
As Discworld points out, "Masks are to protect other people, not the wearer, and this is a courtesy to your fellow members."
So 99.99% of people are not displaying this courtesy and the ones that are are, epidemiologically speaking, fucking idiots.
Labour leads by 21%.
Westminster Voting Intention (12 May):
Labour 42% (-2)
Conservative 21% (–)
Reform UK 15% (–)
Liberal Democrat 12% (+3)
Green 6% (+1)
Scottish National Party 3% (–)
Other 1% (–)
Changes +/- 5 May
My next question would have been about "Scottish" by the way, which would have woken winged Malc from his restless sleep under Arthur's Seat, lit by eldritch glows from the fires set from his breath. So probably best not, thinking about it.
Apparently.
There is ZERO point in rules that no-one has any intention of following.
LGB - who you are attracted to.
TQ+ - who you think you are.
Crisis over phew yes it must be for 2022 dear god make it be for 2022. Which was bad back then but it was 2022.
Where I work they handed them out. Some people wear them, some don’t. Some, like me, put one in my drawer as a replacement for my current one when it breaks.
The country is going to crap and the govt says it will focus on the peoples priorities. This is irrelevant?
Labour leads by 21%.
Westminster Voting Intention (12 May):
Labour 42% (-2)
Conservative 21% (–)
Reform UK 15% (–)
Liberal Democrat 12% (+3)
Green 6% (+1)
Scottish National Party 3% (–)
Other 1% (–)
Changes +/- 5 May
"White poppies represent remembrance for all victims of war of all nationalities, a commitment to peace and a rejection of militarism."
I think that is a political position.
https://www.ppu.org.uk/news/green-party-co-leader-endorses-white-poppy-campaign
(Not sure if it is current, that said.)
I'm sure there are people who are really unhappy about rainbow lanyards. Genuinely, sincerely so. Doesn't mean their unhappiness should drive government policy.
(Especially when the Venn diagram of people who would support McVey on this and those who would otherwise point and laugh at snowflakes is probably pretty large.)
Indeed, one might ask how likely it would be for a "normal person" to be prosecuted for this?
By contrast, the Georgia trial is much more serious, but it was badly fumbled by the DA, and then the Supreme Court has been supremely unhelpful. Similarly, the Florida documents case - which is really about obstruction of justice - is also rather more damning.
With that said... I do wonder if it is better than this is the trial we're getting. The Georgia trial would allow the constant repetition of the "stolen election" narrative. And Judge Cannon doesn't seem that interested in... well, anything Mr Trump might of done.
I think it is highly likely Mr Trump will be found guilty. I think it is extremely unlikely he will be given jail time. But perhaps community service (or the US equivalent) will be imposed. That might be entertaining, at least.
Have you heard from the A.A.P. since your report was published?
They haven’t contacted us directly — no.
Have you heard from any other U.S. health bodies, like the Department of Health and Human Services, for example?
No.
Have you heard from any U.S. lawmakers?
No. Not at all.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/13/health/hilary-cass-transgender-youth-puberty-blockers.html?unlocked_article_code=1.rk0.mZO_.AsYKAsi6Bu7A&smid=url-share
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/13/smiles-waves-flashed-body-parts-video-portal-links-dublin-new-york
@RedfieldWilton
Starmer vs Sunak (12 May):
Starmer leads Sunak by a fair margin on ALL 17 leadership characteristics polled, including:
Represents change (44% | 22%)
Cares about people like me (40% | 21%)
Can build a strong economy (39% | 29%)
Can work well with foreign leaders (39% | 29%)
Only 43% of 2019 Conservative voters would now vote Conservative again.
Westminster VI, 2019 Conservatives (12 May):
Conservative 43% (-1)
Reform 23% (+1)
Labour 17% (-2)
Other 7% (+1)
Don't Know 10% (–)
Changes +/- 5 May
https://redfieldandwiltonstrategies.com/latest-gb-voting-intention-12-may-2024
https://x.com/RedfieldWilton/status/1790050719057277352
implicit “politics”. It’s unavoidable.
And as for why people in this thread are trying to drive a wedge between LGB and TQ+ is beyond me. All experience a shared history of persecution and even prosecution.
I saw an excellent post on Reddit the other day entitled "The Trans Agenda". The post simply said "Idk man I just wanna live my life without being murdered or driven to suicide. That's it. That's the agenda."
I know the kids like to say "touch grass" these days, but really what a lot of people on this and other forums need to do is get out and talk to actual trans people. I have MTF, FTM and non binary friends IRL. And that reddit post I mentioned above rings true. They just want to get on with their lives and not be the subject of discrimination, hate, or have their bodies or lives put under a microscope for public debate.
I do not understand why that is so hard to grasp.
But in any event it's typical of Trump and his sidekicks. Revolting people.
Not that I ever tried. Didn't have to prostitute my principles!
*It's not from the tall thin poplar trees popular in the UK, but from a different species which looks more like a typical deciduous tree.