Graham Thorpe, the former England cricketer, died from multiple injuries after being hit by a train and was identified by his fingerprints, an inquest into his death has heard.
I've been to a fair few suicides, and I've not found any of them anything but grim . We had a spate of chemical suicides around the 2010s for some reason, and they did at least make provision for the aftermath, warnings signs on doors, taped off areas, detailed instructions about the chemicals they'd used. As I say, though, it was always grim.
That sounds utterly horrific.
Doing the postmortems is no joke, either, with some of those suicides. They may be neater than a train smash but can be really dangerous especially when the toxin is converted to something more volatile - the obvious example is solid cyanide converted by stomach acids to hydrogen cyanide gas.
I remember watching the drama documentary on the death of Litvinenko, thinking of how horrible it must have been for all the healthcare workers involved. They started off not knowing what happened, then quickly realised he was poisoned and likely to be highly infectious with an unknown substance. So it was full HazMat suits for everyone in the hospital.
The Novichok attack in Salisbury would have been the same, scary as hell for everyone else involved.
At least Mr Firestopper’s suicides were kind enough to leave a note, which would at least minimise further casualties among responders.
Not made a list of methods or anything, but along with jumping off a tall building, jumping in front of a train/bus would not be the way I'd go.
When I die I want it to be like Chrysippus of Soli who died laughing at his own joke.
Actually I want to die on my hundredth birthday and I want my wife to be so upset that she cancels her 21st birthday party as a mark of respect.
I want to die some time in my early 90s; still physically and mentally relatively sound. I will have had a large family lunch with children and grandchildren and maybe the odd great grandchild, after which I will drift off to sleep in a comfortable chair in a room on my own while listening to TMS cover the final stages of a test match drifting towards an amiable draw in a dead rubber which England have already won, with the background noise of my family elsewhere in the house talking and laughing.
There is not, AFAICS, a good way to be discovered dead, but the best I have come up with is that I will be discovered by a stout-hearted and tactful son-in-law who has wandered in to see how the test is progressing, who will find a way to break it to the girls (who will be - what - in their 50s by then) and to the rest of the family. Any sadness they feel will be offset by the knowledge that I lived a full life and died happy and content and surrounded by those I loved.
There's not much I can do to control this, of course, except the 'lived a full life' bit.
I can’t speak for everyone but my experience of depression is that the patient doesn’t want to die so much as doesn’t want to live. If it were possible to erase the pain of existence without the need for the inconvenience of dying then they’d take it. Choosing a “good” or “bad” death doesn’t factor. Commiserations to the family and deepest sympathy to the poor driver.
Oh yes, absolutely, and having experienced that a couple of times I completely understand. I'd just branched out somewhat with the conversation following TSE's lead.
On which subject, if anyone does find themselves wanting to 'erase the pain of existence' - from personal experience, please speak to a doctor: this can be addressed with antidepressants. It is much, much preferable to either of the alternatives.
No criticism of your post intended, Cookie. I was just throwing my ha’penny’s worth in. No need to explain yourself - it was a good post! 👍
Obviously, I didn't watch the Trump/"Musky Baby" thing because I'm not a r***ded, degenerate fucc boi but I don't see what the play is for EM other than he actually believes all the stupid shit he spouts.
A large part of his business, to my undoubtedly flawed understanding, depends on the largesse and benevolent regulatory environment of the Federal government. Which being the case, you would think EM would be better served staying out of the fray and tonguing the mud chute of whomever wins. By nailing his alt-right colours to DJT's increasingly crooked mast he is risking the enmity of Kamala.
Not made a list of methods or anything, but along with jumping off a tall building, jumping in front of a train/bus would not be the way I'd go.
When I die I want it to be like Chrysippus of Soli who died laughing at his own joke.
Actually I want to die on my hundredth birthday and I want my wife to be so upset that she cancels her 21st birthday party as a mark of respect.
I want to die some time in my early 90s; still physically and mentally relatively sound. I will have had a large family lunch with children and grandchildren and maybe the odd great grandchild, after which I will drift off to sleep in a comfortable chair in a room on my own while listening to TMS cover the final stages of a test match drifting towards an amiable draw in a dead rubber which England have already won, with the background noise of my family elsewhere in the house talking and laughing.
There is not, AFAICS, a good way to be discovered dead, but the best I have come up with is that I will be discovered by a stout-hearted and tactful son-in-law who has wandered in to see how the test is progressing, who will find a way to break it to the girls (who will be - what - in their 50s by then) and to the rest of the family. Any sadness they feel will be offset by the knowledge that I lived a full life and died happy and content and surrounded by those I loved.
There's not much I can do to control this, of course, except the 'lived a full life' bit.
I rather like that scenario; hope you can manage it. It's no fun being physically challenged, so that one can one can no longer manage basic tasks, tasks that one learned to do for oneself at three or so. At least I can walk about now, albeit with a 'walking aid', such as a Zimmer frame. And I can get both to, and into, the pub on my electric scooter. Otherwise I'm rather with Kenny Rogers 'The best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep'.
I want to die peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather, not screaming in terror like his passengers.
With all the talk about investigating Farage/Robinson and Russian links can we also please take a look at who is funding Stop The War?
Trots who live in million pound plus house in North London. Call them the Vanessa Redgrave tendency.
PJ O’Rourke named them The MasterCard Marxists
People whom, if society was indeed perfectly equal in outcomes, would be very much the losers.
But of course they think that they would be the leaders, the Politbureau of the socialist Utopia, and therefore exempt from the equality of outcome that might apply to everyone else.
A chap I used to drink with did reenactment stuff (Sealed Knot).
He commented that there was a certain kind of person who assumed that they would have high rank in that context. That they felt entitled to such rank. And that they were always poisonous.
There is an annual WW2 event near me, and I am amazed by just how many more German actors there are than allies
It's hard to think what will happen to the GOP IF Trump fails again in November. I suppose it's HOW he fails which will matter - a 5-10 point loss to Harris and loss of Congress would seem to be game over.
Trump would be in a position (of sorts) to "anoint" a successor just as Thatcher gave her blessing to John Major in 1990 but that doesn't mean the anointed/blessed one has to follow the diktats of their predecessor.
Trump could put himself forward again in 2028 as a sprightly 82-year-old (Biden tried that one) but the GOP tend not to give two-time losers much room to lose again. Assuming Harris serves a full term, the 2028 GOP Primary could be a good time to lay in the popcorn - it would be the most open field since 2016 when there were originally 17 entries.
With all the talk about investigating Farage/Robinson and Russian links can we also please take a look at who is funding Stop The War?
Trots who live in million pound plus house in North London. Call them the Vanessa Redgrave tendency.
PJ O’Rourke named them The MasterCard Marxists
People whom, if society was indeed perfectly equal in outcomes, would be very much the losers.
But of course they think that they would be the leaders, the Politbureau of the socialist Utopia, and therefore exempt from the equality of outcome that might apply to everyone else.
A chap I used to drink with did reenactment stuff (Sealed Knot).
He commented that there was a certain kind of person who assumed that they would have high rank in that context. That they felt entitled to such rank. And that they were always poisonous.
There is an annual WW2 event near me, and I am amazed by just how many more German actors there are than allies
They have better uniforms.
So do The Empire but I would still rather be a rebel...
Obviously, I didn't watch the Trump/"Musky Baby" thing because I'm not a r***ded, degenerate fucc boi but I don't see what the play is for EM other than he actually believes all the stupid shit he spouts.
A large part of his business, to my undoubtedly flawed understanding, depends on the largesse and benevolent regulatory environment of the Federal government. Which being the case, you would think EM would be better served staying out of the fray and tonguing the mud chute of whomever wins. By nailing his alt-right colours to DJT's increasingly crooked mast he is risking the enmity of Kamala.
The new generation of tech billionaires believe politicians should, and will kowtow to them, so that's not a calculation that will bother him.
With all the talk about investigating Farage/Robinson and Russian links can we also please take a look at who is funding Stop The War?
Trots who live in million pound plus house in North London. Call them the Vanessa Redgrave tendency.
PJ O’Rourke named them The MasterCard Marxists
People whom, if society was indeed perfectly equal in outcomes, would be very much the losers.
But of course they think that they would be the leaders, the Politbureau of the socialist Utopia, and therefore exempt from the equality of outcome that might apply to everyone else.
A chap I used to drink with did reenactment stuff (Sealed Knot).
He commented that there was a certain kind of person who assumed that they would have high rank in that context. That they felt entitled to such rank. And that they were always poisonous.
There is an annual WW2 event near me, and I am amazed by just how many more German actors there are than allies
Does that mean they might win this time?
Every year in Largs, there is re-enactment of the Battle of Largs when the Scots repelled a Viking invasion. The trouble is, the 'Vikings' do this all year round but the local 'Scots' only do it once a year, so the 'Scots' get their asses kicked.
Not made a list of methods or anything, but along with jumping off a tall building, jumping in front of a train/bus would not be the way I'd go.
When I die I want it to be like Chrysippus of Soli who died laughing at his own joke.
Actually I want to die on my hundredth birthday and I want my wife to be so upset that she cancels her 21st birthday party as a mark of respect.
I want to die some time in my early 90s; still physically and mentally relatively sound. I will have had a large family lunch with children and grandchildren and maybe the odd great grandchild, after which I will drift off to sleep in a comfortable chair in a room on my own while listening to TMS cover the final stages of a test match drifting towards an amiable draw in a dead rubber which England have already won, with the background noise of my family elsewhere in the house talking and laughing.
There is not, AFAICS, a good way to be discovered dead, but the best I have come up with is that I will be discovered by a stout-hearted and tactful son-in-law who has wandered in to see how the test is progressing, who will find a way to break it to the girls (who will be - what - in their 50s by then) and to the rest of the family. Any sadness they feel will be offset by the knowledge that I lived a full life and died happy and content and surrounded by those I loved.
There's not much I can do to control this, of course, except the 'lived a full life' bit.
I can’t speak for everyone but my experience of depression is that the patient doesn’t want to die so much as doesn’t want to live. If it were possible to erase the pain of existence without the need for the inconvenience of dying then they’d take it. Choosing a “good” or “bad” death doesn’t factor. Commiserations to the family and deepest sympathy to the poor driver.
It is ridiculous we don’t have better medications for severe depression. In fact I am sure we do
A combination of hefty doses of tramadol and Xanax, plus maybe moderate amounts of cocaine, would wipe out almost any blues
You’d be absolutely zonked, there is a risk of addiction - but you probably wouldn’t want to kill yourself. So it’s better
With all the talk about investigating Farage/Robinson and Russian links can we also please take a look at who is funding Stop The War?
Trots who live in million pound plus house in North London. Call them the Vanessa Redgrave tendency.
PJ O’Rourke named them The MasterCard Marxists
People whom, if society was indeed perfectly equal in outcomes, would be very much the losers.
But of course they think that they would be the leaders, the Politbureau of the socialist Utopia, and therefore exempt from the equality of outcome that might apply to everyone else.
A chap I used to drink with did reenactment stuff (Sealed Knot).
He commented that there was a certain kind of person who assumed that they would have high rank in that context. That they felt entitled to such rank. And that they were always poisonous.
There is an annual WW2 event near me, and I am amazed by just how many more German actors there are than allies
They have better uniforms.
The Americans had better uniforms, from the comfort point of view. But the Germans really score on the militaristic cool. The Soviets basically wore outdoor peasant gear - the gymnastiorka blouse - and the Brits just wore proletarian overalls with added wound pockets (tailored for the ruperts).
As for the guns, a MP40 wins it every day over the industrial sten or PPSh, and a Thompson is basically just a gangster gun.
No competition for the food - the Americans every day. Not sure I would like the German diet of black bread, Lieberkaese and sausage stew.
Trump could put himself forward again in 2028 as a sprightly 82-year-old (Biden tried that one) but the GOP tend not to give two-time losers much room to lose again.
If F. Scott Fitzgerald's aphorism is proven and DJT does lose to Kamala then two things will happen. First, he will claim he won and was undone by calumny of all manner. Second, he will run again in 2028.
Wankers hopecasting that he will be dead, bankrupt or in jail by then will be as wrong as they have been on those subjects since 2020.
The Democrats have never won 4 in a row and the Republicans have only done it once - Grant x 2, Rutherford, Hayes.
If Kamala wins a second term then it's a repeat of the Biden 2016 dynamic for Walz in 2032.
The Dems won 1932, 1936, 1940, 1944, and 1948.
So that’s I suppose five in a row.
What if Kamala had to step up before January due to illness or God forbid death of Biden? Does that count as one of her terms?
No, it only counts if she stepped up less than halfway into Biden's term.
Had Gerald Ford been re-elected in 1978 that would have been the only term he could win.
He'd have done well to be re-elected in 1978. It would've taken the appearance of some very late postal ballots.
LOL, typo, 1976 of course.
But still he's an example where he would have been limited to winning one presidential election only. Quite literally in his case since he was never elected even as Veep, if he'd beaten Carter he'd have then been term-limited to that being his only election since he became POTUS less than 2 years into Nixon's final term.
Even if Biden were to drop dead today we're already past the halfway mark so it won't count as a term for Harris.
The Democrats have never won 4 in a row and the Republicans have only done it once - Grant x 2, Rutherford, Hayes.
If Kamala wins a second term then it's a repeat of the Biden 2016 dynamic for Walz in 2032.
The Dems won 1932, 1936, 1940, 1944, and 1948.
So that’s I suppose five in a row.
What if Kamala had to step up before January due to illness or God forbid death of Biden? Does that count as one of her terms?
No, it only counts if she stepped up less than halfway into Biden's term.
Had Gerald Ford been re-elected in 1978 that would have been the only term he could win.
He'd have done well to be re-elected in 1978. It would've taken the appearance of some very late postal ballots.
LOL, typo, 1976 of course.
But still he's an example where he would have been limited to winning one presidential election only. Quite literally in his case since he was never elected even as Veep, if he'd beaten Carter he'd have then been term-limited to that being his only election since he became POTUS less than 2 years into Nixon's final term.
Even if Biden were to drop dead today we're already past the halfway mark so it won't count as a term for Harris.
Ford was elected Veep. 92 to 3 by the Senate and by 387 to 35 by the House.
With all the talk about investigating Farage/Robinson and Russian links can we also please take a look at who is funding Stop The War?
Trots who live in million pound plus house in North London. Call them the Vanessa Redgrave tendency.
PJ O’Rourke named them The MasterCard Marxists
People whom, if society was indeed perfectly equal in outcomes, would be very much the losers.
But of course they think that they would be the leaders, the Politbureau of the socialist Utopia, and therefore exempt from the equality of outcome that might apply to everyone else.
A chap I used to drink with did reenactment stuff (Sealed Knot).
He commented that there was a certain kind of person who assumed that they would have high rank in that context. That they felt entitled to such rank. And that they were always poisonous.
There is an annual WW2 event near me, and I am amazed by just how many more German actors there are than allies
They have better uniforms.
The Americans had better uniforms, from the comfort point of view. But the Germans really score on the militaristic cool. The Soviets basically wore outdoor peasant gear - the gymnastiorka blouse - and the Brits just wore proletarian overalls with added wound pockets (tailored for the ruperts).
As for the guns, a MP40 wins it every day over the industrial sten or PPSh, and a Thompson is basically just a gangster gun.
No competition for the food - the Americans every day. Not sure I would like the German diet of black bread, Lieberkaese and sausage stew.
It says something about humans that German troops were keen on ditching their MP40s for PPSh. And Russian troops the reverse.
The Democrats have never won 4 in a row and the Republicans have only done it once - Grant x 2, Rutherford, Hayes.
If Kamala wins a second term then it's a repeat of the Biden 2016 dynamic for Walz in 2032.
The Dems won 1932, 1936, 1940, 1944, and 1948.
So that’s I suppose five in a row.
What if Kamala had to step up before January due to illness or God forbid death of Biden? Does that count as one of her terms?
No, it only counts if she stepped up less than halfway into Biden's term.
Had Gerald Ford been re-elected in 1978 that would have been the only term he could win.
He'd have done well to be re-elected in 1978. It would've taken the appearance of some very late postal ballots.
LOL, typo, 1976 of course.
But still he's an example where he would have been limited to winning one presidential election only. Quite literally in his case since he was never elected even as Veep, if he'd beaten Carter he'd have then been term-limited to that being his only election since he became POTUS less than 2 years into Nixon's final term.
Even if Biden were to drop dead today we're already past the halfway mark so it won't count as a term for Harris.
Indeed. It should've been Spiro Agnew, of course, had he not made the mistake of being even more crooked than his boss.
With all the talk about investigating Farage/Robinson and Russian links can we also please take a look at who is funding Stop The War?
Trots who live in million pound plus house in North London. Call them the Vanessa Redgrave tendency.
PJ O’Rourke named them The MasterCard Marxists
People whom, if society was indeed perfectly equal in outcomes, would be very much the losers.
But of course they think that they would be the leaders, the Politbureau of the socialist Utopia, and therefore exempt from the equality of outcome that might apply to everyone else.
A chap I used to drink with did reenactment stuff (Sealed Knot).
He commented that there was a certain kind of person who assumed that they would have high rank in that context. That they felt entitled to such rank. And that they were always poisonous.
There is an annual WW2 event near me, and I am amazed by just how many more German actors there are than allies
They have better uniforms.
The Americans had better uniforms, from the comfort point of view. But the Germans really score on the militaristic cool. The Soviets basically wore outdoor peasant gear - the gymnastiorka blouse - and the Brits just wore proletarian overalls with added wound pockets (tailored for the ruperts).
As for the guns, a MP40 wins it every day over the industrial sten or PPSh, and a Thompson is basically just a gangster gun.
No competition for the food - the Americans every day. Not sure I would like the German diet of black bread, Lieberkaese and sausage stew.
I can see that getting to do weekend militaristic cool without the shit food - or indeed the fascism and industrial-scale genocide - would have its attractions.
With all the talk about investigating Farage/Robinson and Russian links can we also please take a look at who is funding Stop The War?
Trots who live in million pound plus house in North London. Call them the Vanessa Redgrave tendency.
PJ O’Rourke named them The MasterCard Marxists
People whom, if society was indeed perfectly equal in outcomes, would be very much the losers.
But of course they think that they would be the leaders, the Politbureau of the socialist Utopia, and therefore exempt from the equality of outcome that might apply to everyone else.
A chap I used to drink with did reenactment stuff (Sealed Knot).
He commented that there was a certain kind of person who assumed that they would have high rank in that context. That they felt entitled to such rank. And that they were always poisonous.
There is an annual WW2 event near me, and I am amazed by just how many more German actors there are than allies
They have better uniforms.
On reflection, it may not be that, alone.
A few years ago a friend and I went to Dover for an open day for the Western Heights and Drop Redoubt with its triple helical staircase down a giant shaft (really good btw in amidst the sad ruins left by MoD of what was a huge military complex). Train stopped at Folkestone, and behind us in the bus queuie, as one does find, was a chap from one of the line regiments of the French Army c. 1790-1800 in blue greatcoat, with musket and all. Had a good chat and a march uphill with him to the Heights. He peeled off to the campsite complete with authentic tents and vivandieres and so on for the weekend - it was pissing down btw.
We asked him how people decided to be a Redcoat or on the other side and he did allow it was partly political ... the right wingers liked to go all King George, and ...
This rather also brings back thoughts of Anthony Price's novel set in a Civil Wars of Britain and Ireland reenactment society - but a lot more politicised that, say, the Sealed Knot. I certainly don't think our friend and his opposition were at that kind of level, though!
The Tories can take 6 out of 10 not caring who the next leader is. If the remaining 40% are sufficiently enthused to vote for whoever it is, they'd still win the next election.
With all the talk about investigating Farage/Robinson and Russian links can we also please take a look at who is funding Stop The War?
Trots who live in million pound plus house in North London. Call them the Vanessa Redgrave tendency.
PJ O’Rourke named them The MasterCard Marxists
People whom, if society was indeed perfectly equal in outcomes, would be very much the losers.
But of course they think that they would be the leaders, the Politbureau of the socialist Utopia, and therefore exempt from the equality of outcome that might apply to everyone else.
A chap I used to drink with did reenactment stuff (Sealed Knot).
He commented that there was a certain kind of person who assumed that they would have high rank in that context. That they felt entitled to such rank. And that they were always poisonous.
There is an annual WW2 event near me, and I am amazed by just how many more German actors there are than allies
They have better uniforms.
The Americans had better uniforms, from the comfort point of view. But the Germans really score on the militaristic cool. The Soviets basically wore outdoor peasant gear - the gymnastiorka blouse - and the Brits just wore proletarian overalls with added wound pockets (tailored for the ruperts).
As for the guns, a MP40 wins it every day over the industrial sten or PPSh, and a Thompson is basically just a gangster gun.
No competition for the food - the Americans every day. Not sure I would like the German diet of black bread, Lieberkaese and sausage stew.
It says something about humans that German troops were keen on ditching their MP40s for PPSh. And Russian troops the reverse.
The eternal squaddy. But both had their pros and cons; the Papasha had a lot to be said for it, as a practical but easily made weapon. Crudely made except for the barrel which was chromed for highest life, where it mattered.
With all the talk about investigating Farage/Robinson and Russian links can we also please take a look at who is funding Stop The War?
Trots who live in million pound plus house in North London. Call them the Vanessa Redgrave tendency.
PJ O’Rourke named them The MasterCard Marxists
People whom, if society was indeed perfectly equal in outcomes, would be very much the losers.
But of course they think that they would be the leaders, the Politbureau of the socialist Utopia, and therefore exempt from the equality of outcome that might apply to everyone else.
A chap I used to drink with did reenactment stuff (Sealed Knot).
He commented that there was a certain kind of person who assumed that they would have high rank in that context. That they felt entitled to such rank. And that they were always poisonous.
There is an annual WW2 event near me, and I am amazed by just how many more German actors there are than allies
They have better uniforms.
The Americans had better uniforms, from the comfort point of view. But the Germans really score on the militaristic cool. The Soviets basically wore outdoor peasant gear - the gymnastiorka blouse - and the Brits just wore proletarian overalls with added wound pockets (tailored for the ruperts).
As for the guns, a MP40 wins it every day over the industrial sten or PPSh, and a Thompson is basically just a gangster gun.
No competition for the food - the Americans every day. Not sure I would like the German diet of black bread, Lieberkaese and sausage stew.
Outside USAAF flying jackets, vintage German uniforms defintely win on the valuable stakes, the more Schutzstaffel the better. On an even darker note, KZ related items are as desirable - quick check of the internet, $15k for a pair of striped pyjamas.
With all the talk about investigating Farage/Robinson and Russian links can we also please take a look at who is funding Stop The War?
Trots who live in million pound plus house in North London. Call them the Vanessa Redgrave tendency.
PJ O’Rourke named them The MasterCard Marxists
People whom, if society was indeed perfectly equal in outcomes, would be very much the losers.
But of course they think that they would be the leaders, the Politbureau of the socialist Utopia, and therefore exempt from the equality of outcome that might apply to everyone else.
A chap I used to drink with did reenactment stuff (Sealed Knot).
He commented that there was a certain kind of person who assumed that they would have high rank in that context. That they felt entitled to such rank. And that they were always poisonous.
There is an annual WW2 event near me, and I am amazed by just how many more German actors there are than allies
They have better uniforms.
The Americans had better uniforms, from the comfort point of view. But the Germans really score on the militaristic cool. The Soviets basically wore outdoor peasant gear - the gymnastiorka blouse - and the Brits just wore proletarian overalls with added wound pockets (tailored for the ruperts).
Tailored in the figurative and literal loosest manner. Maybe old mate Topping can comment on army issue but in the Navy the MoD issued rig (which we had to pay for in those days) was useful only for ripping up for washing the car. If you didn't want to look like a sack of manure with a hat on top, a trip to Dege & Skinner was mandated. One staggered out of the establishment infernally indebted but as smart and stylish as an SS Standartenfuhrer.
Listen to a clip, any clip, of the Musk/Trump interview and the one thing that stands out, that no-one here has mentioned, is Trump is slurring his words and has a pronounced lisp.
Has Leon heard anything from his MAGA sources? Trump suddenly sounds old and vulnerable, and that might be a positive spin.
With all the talk about investigating Farage/Robinson and Russian links can we also please take a look at who is funding Stop The War?
Trots who live in million pound plus house in North London. Call them the Vanessa Redgrave tendency.
PJ O’Rourke named them The MasterCard Marxists
People whom, if society was indeed perfectly equal in outcomes, would be very much the losers.
But of course they think that they would be the leaders, the Politbureau of the socialist Utopia, and therefore exempt from the equality of outcome that might apply to everyone else.
A chap I used to drink with did reenactment stuff (Sealed Knot).
He commented that there was a certain kind of person who assumed that they would have high rank in that context. That they felt entitled to such rank. And that they were always poisonous.
There is an annual WW2 event near me, and I am amazed by just how many more German actors there are than allies
They have better uniforms.
So do The Empire but I would still rather be a rebel...
The rebels might have had better recruitment if they hadn't done a sponsorship deal with Man at C&A....
The Tories can take 6 out of 10 not caring who the next leader is. If the remaining 40% are sufficiently enthused to vote for whoever it is, they'd still win the next election.
That is assuming the leader lasts until the next election which on current form seems a tad optimistic.
If it's so brutal for the Conservatives, where's the VI polling to show it?? This is growing increasingly ludicrous. What will they ask next - what breakfast condiment do all the party leaders have the most in common with? Which plant most reminds you of Angela Rayner? Clearly they are doing polling, so show us the VI outcome or piss off with their stupid worthless 'insights'.
The Democrats have never won 4 in a row and the Republicans have only done it once - Grant x 2, Rutherford, Hayes.
If Kamala wins a second term then it's a repeat of the Biden 2016 dynamic for Walz in 2032.
The Dems won 1932, 1936, 1940, 1944, and 1948.
So that’s I suppose five in a row.
What if Kamala had to step up before January due to illness or God forbid death of Biden? Does that count as one of her terms?
No, it only counts if she stepped up less than halfway into Biden's term.
Had Gerald Ford been re-elected in 1978 that would have been the only term he could win.
He'd have done well to be re-elected in 1978. It would've taken the appearance of some very late postal ballots.
LOL, typo, 1976 of course.
But still he's an example where he would have been limited to winning one presidential election only. Quite literally in his case since he was never elected even as Veep, if he'd beaten Carter he'd have then been term-limited to that being his only election since he became POTUS less than 2 years into Nixon's final term.
Even if Biden were to drop dead today we're already past the halfway mark so it won't count as a term for Harris.
Ford was elected Veep. 92 to 3 by the Senate and by 387 to 35 by the House.
Bit of a stretch to call approval of an appointment by the President by Congress being "elected". By that token, US Secretaries of State, many judges, and even ambassadors are "elected".
With all the talk about investigating Farage/Robinson and Russian links can we also please take a look at who is funding Stop The War?
Trots who live in million pound plus house in North London. Call them the Vanessa Redgrave tendency.
PJ O’Rourke named them The MasterCard Marxists
People whom, if society was indeed perfectly equal in outcomes, would be very much the losers.
But of course they think that they would be the leaders, the Politbureau of the socialist Utopia, and therefore exempt from the equality of outcome that might apply to everyone else.
A chap I used to drink with did reenactment stuff (Sealed Knot).
He commented that there was a certain kind of person who assumed that they would have high rank in that context. That they felt entitled to such rank. And that they were always poisonous.
There is an annual WW2 event near me, and I am amazed by just how many more German actors there are than allies
They have better uniforms.
The Americans had better uniforms, from the comfort point of view. But the Germans really score on the militaristic cool. The Soviets basically wore outdoor peasant gear - the gymnastiorka blouse - and the Brits just wore proletarian overalls with added wound pockets (tailored for the ruperts).
Tailored in the figurative and literal loosest manner. Maybe old mate Topping can comment on army issue but in the Navy the MoD issued rig (which we had to pay for in those days) was useful only for ripping up for washing the car. If you didn't want to look like a sack of manure with a hat on top, a trip to Dege & Skinner was mandated. One staggered out of the establishment infernally indebted but as smart and stylish as an SS Standartenfuhrer.
I must say that from all accounts the "traditional" (actually about as traditional as the average Arnoldian "Public School" and of the same vintage) square rig sailor uniform with round hat, bell bottoms etc. was an extraordinary combination of impracticality and complexity complete with the black ribbon to mourn Nelson. Only a complete sadist would enforce that on people living in the cramped conditions onboard. I suppose the idea was that they were kept too busy maintaining it to molest each other, etc.
I always thought my dad was lucky to bypass that by going the artificer apprentice route straight to PO with something more humanoid in the way of a fore and aft uniform. I ended up wearing his jacket at university, with the buttons cut off and replaced with plain ones ...
With all the talk about investigating Farage/Robinson and Russian links can we also please take a look at who is funding Stop The War?
Trots who live in million pound plus house in North London. Call them the Vanessa Redgrave tendency.
PJ O’Rourke named them The MasterCard Marxists
People whom, if society was indeed perfectly equal in outcomes, would be very much the losers.
But of course they think that they would be the leaders, the Politbureau of the socialist Utopia, and therefore exempt from the equality of outcome that might apply to everyone else.
A chap I used to drink with did reenactment stuff (Sealed Knot).
He commented that there was a certain kind of person who assumed that they would have high rank in that context. That they felt entitled to such rank. And that they were always poisonous.
There is an annual WW2 event near me, and I am amazed by just how many more German actors there are than allies
They have better uniforms.
The Americans had better uniforms, from the comfort point of view. But the Germans really score on the militaristic cool. The Soviets basically wore outdoor peasant gear - the gymnastiorka blouse - and the Brits just wore proletarian overalls with added wound pockets (tailored for the ruperts).
Tailored in the figurative and literal loosest manner. Maybe old mate Topping can comment on army issue but in the Navy the MoD issued rig (which we had to pay for in those days) was useful only for ripping up for washing the car. If you didn't want to look like a sack of manure with a hat on top, a trip to Dege & Skinner was mandated. One staggered out of the establishment infernally indebted but as smart and stylish as an SS Standartenfuhrer.
Was worse in the WRNS. In 1940 they didn't have enough uniforms to go round, so (understandably under the circumstances) the production of RN uniforms was prioritised and WRNS told to manage with whatever they could find.
This led to angry exchanges in the Commons, with Irene Ward getting a bit tongue twisted:
'Is my right honourable friend saying WRNS' skirts must be held up until all sailors have been satisfied?'
With all the talk about investigating Farage/Robinson and Russian links can we also please take a look at who is funding Stop The War?
Trots who live in million pound plus house in North London. Call them the Vanessa Redgrave tendency.
PJ O’Rourke named them The MasterCard Marxists
People whom, if society was indeed perfectly equal in outcomes, would be very much the losers.
But of course they think that they would be the leaders, the Politbureau of the socialist Utopia, and therefore exempt from the equality of outcome that might apply to everyone else.
A chap I used to drink with did reenactment stuff (Sealed Knot).
He commented that there was a certain kind of person who assumed that they would have high rank in that context. That they felt entitled to such rank. And that they were always poisonous.
There is an annual WW2 event near me, and I am amazed by just how many more German actors there are than allies
They have better uniforms.
The Americans had better uniforms, from the comfort point of view. But the Germans really score on the militaristic cool. The Soviets basically wore outdoor peasant gear - the gymnastiorka blouse - and the Brits just wore proletarian overalls with added wound pockets (tailored for the ruperts).
As for the guns, a MP40 wins it every day over the industrial sten or PPSh, and a Thompson is basically just a gangster gun.
No competition for the food - the Americans every day. Not sure I would like the German diet of black bread, Lieberkaese and sausage stew.
Outside USAAF flying jackets, vintage German uniforms defintely win on the valuable stakes, the more Schutzstaffel the better. On an even darker note, KZ related items are as desirable - quick check of the internet, $15k for a pair of striped pyjamas.
Oh shit, now that is going far too far.
I'm sure there are lots of fakes. Serve them right.
Has Leon heard anything from his MAGA sources? Trump suddenly sounds old and vulnerable, and that might be a positive spin.
If The Leonster has come across that photo of Katie Price on his regular patrol of Twitter's mottled underbelly then clear your agendas, lads, because that'll be all we hear about for days.
Graham Thorpe, the former England cricketer, died from multiple injuries after being hit by a train and was identified by his fingerprints, an inquest into his death has heard.
I've been to a fair few suicides, and I've not found any of them anything but grim . We had a spate of chemical suicides around the 2010s for some reason, and they did at least make provision for the aftermath, warnings signs on doors, taped off areas, detailed instructions about the chemicals they'd used. As I say, though, it was always grim.
That sounds utterly horrific.
Doing the postmortems is no joke, either, with some of those suicides. They may be neater than a train smash but can be really dangerous especially when the toxin is converted to something more volatile - the obvious example is solid cyanide converted by stomach acids to hydrogen cyanide gas.
We had a chemistry student who used phosgene to end it and that caused havoc in the student flats and the hospital that was storing his body. I had to stand by in full gas tight suit while the Coroner did his work in a disused part of the hospital in case he needed a hand! Overall we were there on and off for two weeks while they decided what to do with the corpse. Fascinating what the phosgene did, but macabre!
The Democrats have never won 4 in a row and the Republicans have only done it once - Grant x 2, Rutherford, Hayes.
If Kamala wins a second term then it's a repeat of the Biden 2016 dynamic for Walz in 2032.
The Dems won 1932, 1936, 1940, 1944, and 1948.
So that’s I suppose five in a row.
What if Kamala had to step up before January due to illness or God forbid death of Biden? Does that count as one of her terms?
No, it only counts if she stepped up less than halfway into Biden's term.
Had Gerald Ford been re-elected in 1978 that would have been the only term he could win.
He'd have done well to be re-elected in 1978. It would've taken the appearance of some very late postal ballots.
LOL, typo, 1976 of course.
But still he's an example where he would have been limited to winning one presidential election only. Quite literally in his case since he was never elected even as Veep, if he'd beaten Carter he'd have then been term-limited to that being his only election since he became POTUS less than 2 years into Nixon's final term.
Even if Biden were to drop dead today we're already past the halfway mark so it won't count as a term for Harris.
Ford was elected Veep. 92 to 3 by the Senate and by 387 to 35 by the House.
Bit of a stretch to call approval of an appointment by the President by Congress being "elected". By that token, US Secretaries of State, many judges, and even ambassadors are "elected".
With all the talk about investigating Farage/Robinson and Russian links can we also please take a look at who is funding Stop The War?
Trots who live in million pound plus house in North London. Call them the Vanessa Redgrave tendency.
PJ O’Rourke named them The MasterCard Marxists
People whom, if society was indeed perfectly equal in outcomes, would be very much the losers.
But of course they think that they would be the leaders, the Politbureau of the socialist Utopia, and therefore exempt from the equality of outcome that might apply to everyone else.
A chap I used to drink with did reenactment stuff (Sealed Knot).
He commented that there was a certain kind of person who assumed that they would have high rank in that context. That they felt entitled to such rank. And that they were always poisonous.
There is an annual WW2 event near me, and I am amazed by just how many more German actors there are than allies
They have better uniforms.
The Americans had better uniforms, from the comfort point of view. But the Germans really score on the militaristic cool. The Soviets basically wore outdoor peasant gear - the gymnastiorka blouse - and the Brits just wore proletarian overalls with added wound pockets (tailored for the ruperts).
Tailored in the figurative and literal loosest manner. Maybe old mate Topping can comment on army issue but in the Navy the MoD issued rig (which we had to pay for in those days) was useful only for ripping up for washing the car. If you didn't want to look like a sack of manure with a hat on top, a trip to Dege & Skinner was mandated. One staggered out of the establishment infernally indebted but as smart and stylish as an SS Standartenfuhrer.
The vast pile of U.K. battledress seized at Dunkirk was issued to the U Boat crews, IIRC.
Listen to a clip, any clip, of the Musk/Trump interview and the one thing that stands out, that no-one here has mentioned, is Trump is slurring his words and has a pronounced lisp.
Has Leon heard anything from his MAGA sources? Trump suddenly sounds old and vulnerable, and that might be a positive spin.
Should we be expecting a wave of posts from the usual suspects who are concerned by, and expert in, the dementia status of US politicians?
Graham Thorpe, the former England cricketer, died from multiple injuries after being hit by a train and was identified by his fingerprints, an inquest into his death has heard.
I've been to a fair few suicides, and I've not found any of them anything but grim . We had a spate of chemical suicides around the 2010s for some reason, and they did at least make provision for the aftermath, warnings signs on doors, taped off areas, detailed instructions about the chemicals they'd used. As I say, though, it was always grim.
That sounds utterly horrific.
Doing the postmortems is no joke, either, with some of those suicides. They may be neater than a train smash but can be really dangerous especially when the toxin is converted to something more volatile - the obvious example is solid cyanide converted by stomach acids to hydrogen cyanide gas.
We had a chemistry student who used phosgene to end it and that caused havoc in the student flats and the hospital that was storing his body. I had to stand by in full gas tight suit while the Coroner did his work in a disused part of the hospital in case he needed a hand! Overall we were there on and off for two weeks while they decided what to do with the corpse. Fascinating what the phosgene did, but macabre!
With all the talk about investigating Farage/Robinson and Russian links can we also please take a look at who is funding Stop The War?
Trots who live in million pound plus house in North London. Call them the Vanessa Redgrave tendency.
PJ O’Rourke named them The MasterCard Marxists
People whom, if society was indeed perfectly equal in outcomes, would be very much the losers.
But of course they think that they would be the leaders, the Politbureau of the socialist Utopia, and therefore exempt from the equality of outcome that might apply to everyone else.
A chap I used to drink with did reenactment stuff (Sealed Knot).
He commented that there was a certain kind of person who assumed that they would have high rank in that context. That they felt entitled to such rank. And that they were always poisonous.
There is an annual WW2 event near me, and I am amazed by just how many more German actors there are than allies
They have better uniforms.
The Americans had better uniforms, from the comfort point of view. But the Germans really score on the militaristic cool. The Soviets basically wore outdoor peasant gear - the gymnastiorka blouse - and the Brits just wore proletarian overalls with added wound pockets (tailored for the ruperts).
Tailored in the figurative and literal loosest manner. Maybe old mate Topping can comment on army issue but in the Navy the MoD issued rig (which we had to pay for in those days) was useful only for ripping up for washing the car. If you didn't want to look like a sack of manure with a hat on top, a trip to Dege & Skinner was mandated. One staggered out of the establishment infernally indebted but as smart and stylish as an SS Standartenfuhrer.
The vast pile of U.K. battledress seized at Dunkirk was issued to the U Boat crews, IIRC.
Where it proved rather popular.
No wonder. They could keep their nice uniforms for runs ashore.
If it's so brutal for the Conservatives, where's the VI polling to show it?? This is growing increasingly ludicrous. What will they ask next - what breakfast condiment do all the party leaders have the most in common with? Which plant most reminds you of Angela Rayner? Clearly they are doing polling, so show us the VI outcome or piss off with their stupid worthless 'insights'.
Quite rightly, all the polling organisations are reviewing their methodology, sampling and weighting following the GE. We're beginning to see some evidence the pollsters weren't entirely wrong but they underestimated the Labour abstentions which pulled down the Labour VI.
We also have the small matter of August which is a month often associated with a paucity of polling. I know some will be "hoping" recent events will have had a dramatic impact on polling - I suspect it will be rather like the 2000 fuel crisis.
With all the talk about investigating Farage/Robinson and Russian links can we also please take a look at who is funding Stop The War?
Trots who live in million pound plus house in North London. Call them the Vanessa Redgrave tendency.
PJ O’Rourke named them The MasterCard Marxists
People whom, if society was indeed perfectly equal in outcomes, would be very much the losers.
But of course they think that they would be the leaders, the Politbureau of the socialist Utopia, and therefore exempt from the equality of outcome that might apply to everyone else.
A chap I used to drink with did reenactment stuff (Sealed Knot).
He commented that there was a certain kind of person who assumed that they would have high rank in that context. That they felt entitled to such rank. And that they were always poisonous.
There is an annual WW2 event near me, and I am amazed by just how many more German actors there are than allies
They have better uniforms.
The Americans had better uniforms, from the comfort point of view. But the Germans really score on the militaristic cool. The Soviets basically wore outdoor peasant gear - the gymnastiorka blouse - and the Brits just wore proletarian overalls with added wound pockets (tailored for the ruperts).
Tailored in the figurative and literal loosest manner. Maybe old mate Topping can comment on army issue but in the Navy the MoD issued rig (which we had to pay for in those days) was useful only for ripping up for washing the car. If you didn't want to look like a sack of manure with a hat on top, a trip to Dege & Skinner was mandated. One staggered out of the establishment infernally indebted but as smart and stylish as an SS Standartenfuhrer.
Was worse in the WRNS. In 1940 they didn't have enough uniforms to go round, so (understandably under the circumstances) the production of RN uniforms was prioritised and WRNS told to manage with whatever they could find.
This led to angry exchanges in the Commons, with Irene Ward getting a bit tongue twisted:
'Is my right honourable friend saying WRNS' skirts must be held up until all sailors have been satisfied?'
I'll give you a like if you can honour the memory of Jowett with a Hansard linky!
The Russians appear to be unable to defend the region at all, with reports of 1,000 sq km now captured, and 100,000 civilians evacuated. Presumably the latter have their phones confiscated and get sent on a long coach trip to Siberia, to stop them talking to anyone about what’s actually happening in Kursk Oblast.
The key to this is that last summer's attempt to launch a counter offensive by Ukraine got completely bogged down in minefields and fixed positions that proved extremely difficult to get through without excessive casualties. This counter offensive, in contrast, is going through relatively unprotected land and can use their western armour and Bradleys to maximum effect.
It's fairly astonishing that Russia did not anticipate this. Utter incompetence.
The Democrats have never won 4 in a row and the Republicans have only done it once - Grant x 2, Rutherford, Hayes.
If Kamala wins a second term then it's a repeat of the Biden 2016 dynamic for Walz in 2032.
The Dems won 1932, 1936, 1940, 1944, and 1948.
So that’s I suppose five in a row.
What if Kamala had to step up before January due to illness or God forbid death of Biden? Does that count as one of her terms?
No, it only counts if she stepped up less than halfway into Biden's term.
Had Gerald Ford been re-elected in 1978 that would have been the only term he could win.
He'd have done well to be re-elected in 1978. It would've taken the appearance of some very late postal ballots.
LOL, typo, 1976 of course.
But still he's an example where he would have been limited to winning one presidential election only. Quite literally in his case since he was never elected even as Veep, if he'd beaten Carter he'd have then been term-limited to that being his only election since he became POTUS less than 2 years into Nixon's final term.
Even if Biden were to drop dead today we're already past the halfway mark so it won't count as a term for Harris.
Ford was elected Veep. 92 to 3 by the Senate and by 387 to 35 by the House.
Bit of a stretch to call approval of an appointment by the President by Congress being "elected". By that token, US Secretaries of State, many judges, and even ambassadors are "elected".
I thought the 25th mentioned the word elected?
No.
Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.
The Democrats have never won 4 in a row and the Republicans have only done it once - Grant x 2, Rutherford, Hayes.
If Kamala wins a second term then it's a repeat of the Biden 2016 dynamic for Walz in 2032.
The Dems won 1932, 1936, 1940, 1944, and 1948.
So that’s I suppose five in a row.
What if Kamala had to step up before January due to illness or God forbid death of Biden? Does that count as one of her terms?
No, it only counts if she stepped up less than halfway into Biden's term.
Had Gerald Ford been re-elected in 1978 that would have been the only term he could win.
He'd have done well to be re-elected in 1978. It would've taken the appearance of some very late postal ballots.
LOL, typo, 1976 of course.
But still he's an example where he would have been limited to winning one presidential election only. Quite literally in his case since he was never elected even as Veep, if he'd beaten Carter he'd have then been term-limited to that being his only election since he became POTUS less than 2 years into Nixon's final term.
Even if Biden were to drop dead today we're already past the halfway mark so it won't count as a term for Harris.
Ford was elected Veep. 92 to 3 by the Senate and by 387 to 35 by the House.
Bit of a stretch to call approval of an appointment by the President by Congress being "elected". By that token, US Secretaries of State, many judges, and even ambassadors are "elected".
I thought the 25th mentioned the word elected?
It doesn't. It says, "Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress."
That's no different from cabinet members, judges and ambassadors. In the absence of a choice between candidates, it can't really be called an election (indeed, the Constitution does use the word "elected" in its proper sense, but not in the 25th amendment).
Graham Thorpe, the former England cricketer, died from multiple injuries after being hit by a train and was identified by his fingerprints, an inquest into his death has heard.
I've been to a fair few suicides, and I've not found any of them anything but grim . We had a spate of chemical suicides around the 2010s for some reason, and they did at least make provision for the aftermath, warnings signs on doors, taped off areas, detailed instructions about the chemicals they'd used. As I say, though, it was always grim.
That sounds utterly horrific.
Doing the postmortems is no joke, either, with some of those suicides. They may be neater than a train smash but can be really dangerous especially when the toxin is converted to something more volatile - the obvious example is solid cyanide converted by stomach acids to hydrogen cyanide gas.
We had a chemistry student who used phosgene to end it and that caused havoc in the student flats and the hospital that was storing his body. I had to stand by in full gas tight suit while the Coroner did his work in a disused part of the hospital in case he needed a hand! Overall we were there on and off for two weeks while they decided what to do with the corpse. Fascinating what the phosgene did, but macabre!
A *chemist* used phosgene?
WTAFF!?
I think that is confirmation even if you didn't have it before that people committing Suicide may not be thinking straight..
The Democrats have never won 4 in a row and the Republicans have only done it once - Grant x 2, Rutherford, Hayes.
If Kamala wins a second term then it's a repeat of the Biden 2016 dynamic for Walz in 2032.
The Dems won 1932, 1936, 1940, 1944, and 1948.
So that’s I suppose five in a row.
What if Kamala had to step up before January due to illness or God forbid death of Biden? Does that count as one of her terms?
No, it only counts if she stepped up less than halfway into Biden's term.
Had Gerald Ford been re-elected in 1978 that would have been the only term he could win.
He'd have done well to be re-elected in 1978. It would've taken the appearance of some very late postal ballots.
LOL, typo, 1976 of course.
But still he's an example where he would have been limited to winning one presidential election only. Quite literally in his case since he was never elected even as Veep, if he'd beaten Carter he'd have then been term-limited to that being his only election since he became POTUS less than 2 years into Nixon's final term.
Even if Biden were to drop dead today we're already past the halfway mark so it won't count as a term for Harris.
Ford was elected Veep. 92 to 3 by the Senate and by 387 to 35 by the House.
Bit of a stretch to call approval of an appointment by the President by Congress being "elected". By that token, US Secretaries of State, many judges, and even ambassadors are "elected".
I thought the 25th mentioned the word elected?
It doesn't. It says, "Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress."
That's no different from cabinet members, judges and ambassadors. In the absence of a choice between candidates, it can't really be called an election (indeed, the Constitution does use the word "elected" in its proper sense, but not in the 25th amendment).
Contrast with the 22nd amendment, which does use the term. BiB highlighting the relevant section for Ford.
Section 1—No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.
With all the talk about investigating Farage/Robinson and Russian links can we also please take a look at who is funding Stop The War?
Trots who live in million pound plus house in North London. Call them the Vanessa Redgrave tendency.
PJ O’Rourke named them The MasterCard Marxists
People whom, if society was indeed perfectly equal in outcomes, would be very much the losers.
But of course they think that they would be the leaders, the Politbureau of the socialist Utopia, and therefore exempt from the equality of outcome that might apply to everyone else.
A chap I used to drink with did reenactment stuff (Sealed Knot).
He commented that there was a certain kind of person who assumed that they would have high rank in that context. That they felt entitled to such rank. And that they were always poisonous.
There is an annual WW2 event near me, and I am amazed by just how many more German actors there are than allies
They have better uniforms.
The Americans had better uniforms, from the comfort point of view. But the Germans really score on the militaristic cool. The Soviets basically wore outdoor peasant gear - the gymnastiorka blouse - and the Brits just wore proletarian overalls with added wound pockets (tailored for the ruperts).
Tailored in the figurative and literal loosest manner. Maybe old mate Topping can comment on army issue but in the Navy the MoD issued rig (which we had to pay for in those days) was useful only for ripping up for washing the car. If you didn't want to look like a sack of manure with a hat on top, a trip to Dege & Skinner was mandated. One staggered out of the establishment infernally indebted but as smart and stylish as an SS Standartenfuhrer.
Was worse in the WRNS. In 1940 they didn't have enough uniforms to go round, so (understandably under the circumstances) the production of RN uniforms was prioritised and WRNS told to manage with whatever they could find.
This led to angry exchanges in the Commons, with Irene Ward getting a bit tongue twisted:
'Is my right honourable friend saying WRNS' skirts must be held up until all sailors have been satisfied?'
I'll give you a like if you can honour the memory of Jowett with a Hansard linky!
Alas, I can't. I got it from Parris and Mason's Mission Accomplished (page 31) but I can't find a reference in Hansard.
Graham Thorpe, the former England cricketer, died from multiple injuries after being hit by a train and was identified by his fingerprints, an inquest into his death has heard.
I've been to a fair few suicides, and I've not found any of them anything but grim . We had a spate of chemical suicides around the 2010s for some reason, and they did at least make provision for the aftermath, warnings signs on doors, taped off areas, detailed instructions about the chemicals they'd used. As I say, though, it was always grim.
That sounds utterly horrific.
Doing the postmortems is no joke, either, with some of those suicides. They may be neater than a train smash but can be really dangerous especially when the toxin is converted to something more volatile - the obvious example is solid cyanide converted by stomach acids to hydrogen cyanide gas.
We had a chemistry student who used phosgene to end it and that caused havoc in the student flats and the hospital that was storing his body. I had to stand by in full gas tight suit while the Coroner did his work in a disused part of the hospital in case he needed a hand! Overall we were there on and off for two weeks while they decided what to do with the corpse. Fascinating what the phosgene did, but macabre!
A *chemist* used phosgene?
WTAFF!?
A friend's school history recalls the following macabre chain of bulletins from 100 years ago:-
Mrs Headmaster dies in childbirth
Infant Headmaster dies
Headmaster coaches 6th former for Oxbridge entrance exam, then lets himself into the chemistry lab and takes prussic acid.
The Russians appear to be unable to defend the region at all, with reports of 1,000 sq km now captured, and 100,000 civilians evacuated. Presumably the latter have their phones confiscated and get sent on a long coach trip to Siberia, to stop them talking to anyone about what’s actually happening in Kursk Oblast.
The key to this is that last summer's attempt to launch a counter offensive by Ukraine got completely bogged down in minefields and fixed positions that proved extremely difficult to get through without excessive casualties. This counter offensive, in contrast, is going through relatively unprotected land and can use their western armour and Bradleys to maximum effect.
It's fairly astonishing that Russia did not anticipate this. Utter incompetence.
It's a huge front, and Russian military leadership is not selected for competence - which might present a threat to Putin. Why do you think obvious donkeys like Gerasimov stay in post for so long ?
And it's not as though Ukraine hasn't made big defensive (as well as offensive) blunders on occasion, too.
The Electoral College is one of those things (like many in the US constitution) that sort of works but when it breaks it really breaks.
It really isn’t great at dealing with close results (like any majoritarian system). And given the polarisation of US politics the parties have now fine-tuned how to play it to make the whole election hinge on tiny margins.
I get the idea that it requires votes to be geographically spread. There is some logic to it. But let’s be honest, if you were starting from scratch today there’s no way such a system would be proposed.
It’s entirely possible we could go the entire 21st century with the Republicans winning the popular vote once but winning the Presidency for most of the 21st century.
At some point we could see the Dems winning the popular vote by 10 million and still losing, I suspect that’s when it will really break.
Afaik, it's the only elected presidency in the world where under the system (ignoring whether the election itself is actually free & fair) you can win the election but lose the popular vote.
It may or may not be coincidence, but since Sir Royale Starmer, my heroic PM who is ALSO my brave MP, got rightly elected to office, mainly thanks to my vote, Camden Town has been transformed
For several years it has been getting grottier and grottier, the homeless getting more persistent, the litter worse, the grunge more intense, tent villages spriging up, ugh. Quite dystopian
Suddenly in the last six weeks (basically since I went to France) it has all changed. The tents have gone, the litter is cleared, the graffiti is being cleaned, the homeless are being hosed into the gutter. It's still a bit scruffy, it's Camden, and it gets 30 trillion visitors every weekend, who drop their crap everywhere. Nonetheless, the change is remarkable
Is this because Labour have brilliantly cleaned up the country in a month? I doubt it. But could it be a kind of "prime minister" effect? He can't have his OWN constituency looking like Downtown Dar Es Salaam, and presumably if you get a call from Number 10 in Camden Town Council you pay attention, as against the usual locals moarning
Anyway, well done Sir Kir. What a dude. Glad I voted for you
The Electoral College is one of those things (like many in the US constitution) that sort of works but when it breaks it really breaks.
It really isn’t great at dealing with close results (like any majoritarian system). And given the polarisation of US politics the parties have now fine-tuned how to play it to make the whole election hinge on tiny margins.
I get the idea that it requires votes to be geographically spread. There is some logic to it. But let’s be honest, if you were starting from scratch today there’s no way such a system would be proposed.
It’s entirely possible we could go the entire 21st century with the Republicans winning the popular vote once but winning the Presidency for most of the 21st century.
At some point we could see the Dems winning the popular vote by 10 million and still losing, I suspect that’s when it will really break.
Afaik, it's the only elected presidency in the world where under the system (ignoring whether the election itself is actually free & fair) you can win the election but lose the popular vote.
In France you can lose the popular vote in the first round but still win the election, albeit by winning the popular vote in the second round.
It may or may not be coincidence, but since Sir Royale Starmer, my heroic PM who is ALSO my brave MP, got rightly elected to office, mainly thanks to my vote, Camden Town has been transformed
For several years it has been getting grottier and grottier, the homeless getting more persistent, the litter worse, the grunge more intense, tent villages spriging up, ugh. Quite dystopian
Suddenly in the last six weeks (basically since I went to France) it has all changed. The tents have gone, the litter is cleared, the graffiti is being cleaned, the homeless are being hosed into the gutter. It's still a bit scruffy, it's Camden, and it gets 30 trillion visitors every weekend, who drop their crap everywhere. Nonetheless, the change is remarkable
Is this because Labour have brilliantly cleaned up the country in a month? I doubt it. But could it be a kind of "prime minister" effect? He can't have his OWN constituency looking like Downtown Dar Es Salaam, and presumably if you get a call from Number 10 in Camden Town Council you pay attention, as against the usual locals moarning
Anyway, well done Sir Kir. What a dude. Glad I voted for you
Walk up Tottenham Court Road tonight at 11pm. Count the tents and report back tomorrow.
Has Leon heard anything from his MAGA sources? Trump suddenly sounds old and vulnerable, and that might be a positive spin.
If The Leonster has come across that photo of Katie Price on his regular patrol of Twitter's mottled underbelly then clear your agendas, lads, because that'll be all we hear about for days.
And it's not as though Ukraine hasn't made big defensive (as well as offensive) blunders on occasion, too.
Ukraine have definitely managed the messaging of the conflict far better than Russia, as might be expected from a ruling junta that, until quite recently, was a TV production company.
I'd say it's a miserable low scoring draw on the military front. Russia's overwhelming advantage in men and materiel being balanced by Ukraine's access to western SIGINT, etc. and the fact they don't (yet) have to worry about how to pay for anything.
It may or may not be coincidence, but since Sir Royale Starmer, my heroic PM who is ALSO my brave MP, got rightly elected to office, mainly thanks to my vote, Camden Town has been transformed
For several years it has been getting grottier and grottier, the homeless getting more persistent, the litter worse, the grunge more intense, tent villages spriging up, ugh. Quite dystopian
Suddenly in the last six weeks (basically since I went to France) it has all changed. The tents have gone, the litter is cleared, the graffiti is being cleaned, the homeless are being hosed into the gutter. It's still a bit scruffy, it's Camden, and it gets 30 trillion visitors every weekend, who drop their crap everywhere. Nonetheless, the change is remarkable
Is this because Labour have brilliantly cleaned up the country in a month? I doubt it. But could it be a kind of "prime minister" effect? He can't have his OWN constituency looking like Downtown Dar Es Salaam, and presumably if you get a call from Number 10 in Camden Town Council you pay attention, as against the usual locals moarning
Anyway, well done Sir Kir. What a dude. Glad I voted for you
Walk up Tottenham Court Road tonight at 11pm. Count the tents and report back tomorrow.
Is it bad? It is also shite in Kentish Town, I noticed - not tents, just grot
So maybe this is a strictly Camden Town thing. Nonetheless what I report is true
One theory I have is that Sir Kir can't afford to have his very OWN constituency looking hideously run down. It screams Daily Mail article - "How the PM's own constituency looks like the Fall of Rome with extra Fentanyl" - so he has to get it sorted. But of course I might be entirely wrong and it is coincidence. Quite odd timing, tho
It may or may not be coincidence, but since Sir Royale Starmer, my heroic PM who is ALSO my brave MP, got rightly elected to office, mainly thanks to my vote, Camden Town has been transformed
For several years it has been getting grottier and grottier, the homeless getting more persistent, the litter worse, the grunge more intense, tent villages spriging up, ugh. Quite dystopian
Suddenly in the last six weeks (basically since I went to France) it has all changed. The tents have gone, the litter is cleared, the graffiti is being cleaned, the homeless are being hosed into the gutter. It's still a bit scruffy, it's Camden, and it gets 30 trillion visitors every weekend, who drop their crap everywhere. Nonetheless, the change is remarkable
Is this because Labour have brilliantly cleaned up the country in a month? I doubt it. But could it be a kind of "prime minister" effect? He can't have his OWN constituency looking like Downtown Dar Es Salaam, and presumably if you get a call from Number 10 in Camden Town Council you pay attention, as against the usual locals moarning
Anyway, well done Sir Kir. What a dude. Glad I voted for you
Camden Council is the most corrupt organisation this side of Sicily. Perhaps Skeir got on the dog to them and suggested that as his gang is even bigger and tougher than theirs they'd better start doing something to justify the protection money (aka Council Tax) that the locals offer them monthly....or else.
The Russians appear to be unable to defend the region at all, with reports of 1,000 sq km now captured, and 100,000 civilians evacuated. Presumably the latter have their phones confiscated and get sent on a long coach trip to Siberia, to stop them talking to anyone about what’s actually happening in Kursk Oblast.
The key to this is that last summer's attempt to launch a counter offensive by Ukraine got completely bogged down in minefields and fixed positions that proved extremely difficult to get through without excessive casualties. This counter offensive, in contrast, is going through relatively unprotected land and can use their western armour and Bradleys to maximum effect.
It's fairly astonishing that Russia did not anticipate this. Utter incompetence.
Assuming that the Ukranians would only try to regain their own land seems a bit of a misstep, for sure.
@trussliz I am appalled by the attacks on free speech in Britain and Europe.
We can't be truly free without free speech.
Good for @elonmusk and @X for standing up to these bullies.
Farage says Keir Starmer is the biggest threat to free speech we've seen in our history.
The real threat is from people who say things like that imo.
Elon Musk is becoming a massive problem for western governments. The problem is this: He is not being subtle. He is saying 'it is a war and you have to choose a side', and his message goes down well with a lot of people. It works against trying to achieve any kind of cohesion and inclusion.
However, in a deeper sense it could be interpreted as a delayed reaction/realisation to changes bought forward by governments of both left and right whilst in power over the last 30 years, ie legislation about equalities, hate speech, harrassment etc which do act as a significant limit on free political expression, particularly by 'majority' groups.
I have said a few times that the example of Finland is one that we would do well to look at, the 'far right' are part of the political culture, and have been for the last 20 years, but they are integrated and not excluded from it, however reluctantly.
If it's so brutal for the Conservatives, where's the VI polling to show it?? This is growing increasingly ludicrous. What will they ask next - what breakfast condiment do all the party leaders have the most in common with? Which plant most reminds you of Angela Rayner? Clearly they are doing polling, so show us the VI outcome or piss off with their stupid worthless 'insights'.
Quite rightly, all the polling organisations are reviewing their methodology, sampling and weighting following the GE. We're beginning to see some evidence the pollsters weren't entirely wrong but they underestimated the Labour abstentions which pulled down the Labour VI.
We also have the small matter of August which is a month often associated with a paucity of polling. I know some will be "hoping" recent events will have had a dramatic impact on polling - I suspect it will be rather like the 2000 fuel crisis.
The question is rather whether the Government is 'hoping' that any polling impact is of short duration and that no polls come out that record the impact, and/or whether they have actually taken steps to make this the case - asking pollsters to hold off for 'national security reasons' or some similar pretext - these questions should now be being asked by all but the terminally incurious.
Has Leon heard anything from his MAGA sources? Trump suddenly sounds old and vulnerable, and that might be a positive spin.
If The Leonster has come across that photo of Katie Price on his regular patrol of Twitter's mottled underbelly then clear your agendas, lads, because that'll be all we hear about for days.
If it's so brutal for the Conservatives, where's the VI polling to show it?? This is growing increasingly ludicrous. What will they ask next - what breakfast condiment do all the party leaders have the most in common with? Which plant most reminds you of Angela Rayner? Clearly they are doing polling, so show us the VI outcome or piss off with their stupid worthless 'insights'.
Quite rightly, all the polling organisations are reviewing their methodology, sampling and weighting following the GE. We're beginning to see some evidence the pollsters weren't entirely wrong but they underestimated the Labour abstentions which pulled down the Labour VI.
We also have the small matter of August which is a month often associated with a paucity of polling. I know some will be "hoping" recent events will have had a dramatic impact on polling - I suspect it will be rather like the 2000 fuel crisis.
The question is rather whether the Government is 'hoping' that any polling impact is of short duration and that no polls come out that record the impact, and/or whether they have actually taken steps to make this the case - asking pollsters to hold off for 'national security reasons' or some similar pretext - these questions should now be being asked by all but the terminally incurious.
Perhaps Liz Truss should have suspended opinon polling during the mini-budget aftermath on the grounds of national stability - hooray, no crisis!
A belief in "two-tier" policing is clearly widespread in the UK. Only 34% of Brits say police "treat people equally regardless of race". 48% think police biased, favouring whites or ethnic minorities
And it's not as though Ukraine hasn't made big defensive (as well as offensive) blunders on occasion, too.
Ukraine have definitely managed the messaging of the conflict far better than Russia, as might be expected from a ruling junta that, until quite recently, was a TV production company.
I'd say it's a miserable low scoring draw on the military front. Russia's overwhelming advantage in men and materiel being balanced by Ukraine's access to western SIGINT, etc. and the fact they don't (yet) have to worry about how to pay for anything.
There's also the fact that Ukrainians are fighting off an invasion, which (historically) has been quite a big advantage.
It's the old psychological loss aversion write large: losing is really bad for Ukrainians, while winning is not that exciting (and might actually be quite shit) for the Russians.
@trussliz I am appalled by the attacks on free speech in Britain and Europe.
We can't be truly free without free speech.
Good for @elonmusk and @X for standing up to these bullies.
Farage says Keir Starmer is the biggest threat to free speech we've seen in our history.
The real threat is from people who say things like that imo.
Elon Musk is becoming a massive problem for western governments. The problem is this: He is not being subtle. He is saying 'it is a war and you have to choose a side', and his message goes down well with a lot of people. It works against trying to achieve any kind of cohesion and inclusion.
However, in a deeper sense it could be interpreted as a delayed reaction/realisation to changes bought forward by governments of both left and right whilst in power over the last 30 years, ie legislation about equalities, hate speech, harrassment etc which do act as a significant limit on free political expression, particularly by 'majority' groups.
I have said a few times that the example of Finland is one that we would do well to look at, the 'far right' are part of the political culture, and have been for the last 20 years, but they are integrated and not excluded from it, however reluctantly.
I don't think you need a grand theory of "delayed reaction/realisation to changes bought forward by governments of both left and right" to explain Musk's behaviour. He's acting like a 15-year old edgelord; he's been sucked in by a process of social media radicalisation. The problem is a system that gives so much power to deluded tech bros.
It's a spillover of electing Trump President. Once you've given up on any basic levels of expected common sense, this is what you get.
It may or may not be coincidence, but since Sir Royale Starmer, my heroic PM who is ALSO my brave MP, got rightly elected to office, mainly thanks to my vote, Camden Town has been transformed
For several years it has been getting grottier and grottier, the homeless getting more persistent, the litter worse, the grunge more intense, tent villages spriging up, ugh. Quite dystopian
Suddenly in the last six weeks (basically since I went to France) it has all changed. The tents have gone, the litter is cleared, the graffiti is being cleaned, the homeless are being hosed into the gutter. It's still a bit scruffy, it's Camden, and it gets 30 trillion visitors every weekend, who drop their crap everywhere. Nonetheless, the change is remarkable
Is this because Labour have brilliantly cleaned up the country in a month? I doubt it. But could it be a kind of "prime minister" effect? He can't have his OWN constituency looking like Downtown Dar Es Salaam, and presumably if you get a call from Number 10 in Camden Town Council you pay attention, as against the usual locals moarning
Anyway, well done Sir Kir. What a dude. Glad I voted for you
Walk up Tottenham Court Road tonight at 11pm. Count the tents and report back tomorrow.
Is it bad? It is also shite in Kentish Town, I noticed - not tents, just grot
So maybe this is a strictly Camden Town thing. Nonetheless what I report is true
One theory I have is that Sir Kir can't afford to have his very OWN constituency looking hideously run down. It screams Daily Mail article - "How the PM's own constituency looks like the Fall of Rome with extra Fentanyl" - so he has to get it sorted. But of course I might be entirely wrong and it is coincidence. Quite odd timing, tho
Yes, I should have counted but 15-20. Gavin Newsom doesn't seem to care about his patch.
If it's so brutal for the Conservatives, where's the VI polling to show it?? This is growing increasingly ludicrous. What will they ask next - what breakfast condiment do all the party leaders have the most in common with? Which plant most reminds you of Angela Rayner? Clearly they are doing polling, so show us the VI outcome or piss off with their stupid worthless 'insights'.
Quite rightly, all the polling organisations are reviewing their methodology, sampling and weighting following the GE. We're beginning to see some evidence the pollsters weren't entirely wrong but they underestimated the Labour abstentions which pulled down the Labour VI.
We also have the small matter of August which is a month often associated with a paucity of polling. I know some will be "hoping" recent events will have had a dramatic impact on polling - I suspect it will be rather like the 2000 fuel crisis.
The question is rather whether the Government is 'hoping' that any polling impact is of short duration and that no polls come out that record the impact, and/or whether they have actually taken steps to make this the case - asking pollsters to hold off for 'national security reasons' or some similar pretext - these questions should now be being asked by all but the terminally incurious.
Oh God, we don't need more conspiracy theory nonsense from you. Grow up.
A belief in "two-tier" policing is clearly widespread in the UK. Only 34% of Brits say police "treat people equally regardless of race". 48% think police biased, favouring whites or ethnic minorities
The polling shows that most people think the police are, to coin a phrase, institutionally racist. I didn't think that's what the right-wingers meant by "two-tier" policing.
It may or may not be coincidence, but since Sir Royale Starmer, my heroic PM who is ALSO my brave MP, got rightly elected to office, mainly thanks to my vote, Camden Town has been transformed
For several years it has been getting grottier and grottier, the homeless getting more persistent, the litter worse, the grunge more intense, tent villages spriging up, ugh. Quite dystopian
Suddenly in the last six weeks (basically since I went to France) it has all changed. The tents have gone, the litter is cleared, the graffiti is being cleaned, the homeless are being hosed into the gutter. It's still a bit scruffy, it's Camden, and it gets 30 trillion visitors every weekend, who drop their crap everywhere. Nonetheless, the change is remarkable
Is this because Labour have brilliantly cleaned up the country in a month? I doubt it. But could it be a kind of "prime minister" effect? He can't have his OWN constituency looking like Downtown Dar Es Salaam, and presumably if you get a call from Number 10 in Camden Town Council you pay attention, as against the usual locals moarning
Anyway, well done Sir Kir. What a dude. Glad I voted for you
Walk up Tottenham Court Road tonight at 11pm. Count the tents and report back tomorrow.
Is it bad? It is also shite in Kentish Town, I noticed - not tents, just grot
So maybe this is a strictly Camden Town thing. Nonetheless what I report is true
One theory I have is that Sir Kir can't afford to have his very OWN constituency looking hideously run down. It screams Daily Mail article - "How the PM's own constituency looks like the Fall of Rome with extra Fentanyl" - so he has to get it sorted. But of course I might be entirely wrong and it is coincidence. Quite odd timing, tho
It's a Labour seat - of course it's hideously run down.
The really baffling thing is that people can look at the absolute state of a Labour constituency and think 'I really want my neighbourhood to be more like that!'
Could possibly be psychological, but I'm convinced Canterbury is much less nice than it was even just a decade ago...
@trussliz I am appalled by the attacks on free speech in Britain and Europe.
We can't be truly free without free speech.
Good for @elonmusk and @X for standing up to these bullies.
Farage says Keir Starmer is the biggest threat to free speech we've seen in our history.
The real threat is from people who say things like that imo.
Elon Musk is becoming a massive problem for western governments. The problem is this: He is not being subtle. He is saying 'it is a war and you have to choose a side', and his message goes down well with a lot of people. It works against trying to achieve any kind of cohesion and inclusion.
However, in a deeper sense it could be interpreted as a delayed reaction/realisation to changes bought forward by governments of both left and right whilst in power over the last 30 years, ie legislation about equalities, hate speech, harrassment etc which do act as a significant limit on free political expression, particularly by 'majority' groups.
I have said a few times that the example of Finland is one that we would do well to look at, the 'far right' are part of the political culture, and have been for the last 20 years, but they are integrated and not excluded from it, however reluctantly.
I don't think you need a grand theory of "delayed reaction/realisation to changes bought forward by governments of both left and right" to explain Musk's behaviour. He's acting like a 15-year old edgelord; he's been sucked in by a process of social media radicalisation. The problem is a system that gives so much power to deluded tech bros.
It's a spillover of electing Trump President. Once you've given up on any basic levels of expected common sense, this is what you get.
People on both sides are radicalised (whether you attribute it to social media or some other root cause). The framing of "we are the sensible centrists and they are the loony fringe" is a large part of the problem.
A belief in "two-tier" policing is clearly widespread in the UK. Only 34% of Brits say police "treat people equally regardless of race". 48% think police biased, favouring whites or ethnic minorities
Well I believe police favor whites. Many white now believe they favor ethnic minorities. So they will say "see no one like us, this is proof we are even handed".
Many here might like to look on the USA and feel we are much better off and progressive here without the dastardly Republicans. Lets just say that prior to the overturning of Roe vs Wade, anyone presenting our abortion laws as a template for the USA would have been denounced as Right Wing lunatic, and with much of the rest of Europe far less liberal than ours. Up to 24 weeks, and even then to be lawful has to be signed by two doctors who make a good faith determination that terminated the foetus will be better for the woman's mental or physical health rather than carrying it to term.
This is deepest Mississippi level of intrusion on what the American left would call a woman's right to choose.
The Russians appear to be unable to defend the region at all, with reports of 1,000 sq km now captured, and 100,000 civilians evacuated. Presumably the latter have their phones confiscated and get sent on a long coach trip to Siberia, to stop them talking to anyone about what’s actually happening in Kursk Oblast.
The key to this is that last summer's attempt to launch a counter offensive by Ukraine got completely bogged down in minefields and fixed positions that proved extremely difficult to get through without excessive casualties. This counter offensive, in contrast, is going through relatively unprotected land and can use their western armour and Bradleys to maximum effect.
It's fairly astonishing that Russia did not anticipate this. Utter incompetence.
The reports from the Ukranian side is that there were no more than local police units on the Russian side of the border, and that for a while they’d seen no attempt to actually secure the border on the part of the Russians. Even now, a week later, they’re relying on drones to defend their own territory because they still can’t get sufficient numbers of boots on the ground.
Many here might like to look on the USA and feel we are much better off and progressive here without the dastardly Republicans. Lets just say that prior to the overturning of Roe vs Wade, anyone presenting our abortion laws as a template for the USA would have been denounced as Right Wing lunatic, and with much of the rest of Europe far less liberal than ours. Up to 24 weeks, and even then to be lawful has to be signed by two doctors who make a good faith determination that terminated the foetus will be better for the woman's mental or physical health rather than carrying it to term.
This is deepest Mississippi level of intrusion on what the American left would call a woman's right to choose.
So why is almost every single ballot measure (the exceptions being Montana two years ago and one of the two in Nebraska) about removing restrictions until 'fetal (sic) viability?'
Which would be pretty close to the British standard...
Is it just possible that you're being a little hyperbolic?
A belief in "two-tier" policing is clearly widespread in the UK. Only 34% of Brits say police "treat people equally regardless of race". 48% think police biased, favouring whites or ethnic minorities
Well I believe police favor whites. Many white now believe they favor ethnic minorities. So they will say "see no one like us, this is proof we are even handed".
With all the talk about investigating Farage/Robinson and Russian links can we also please take a look at who is funding Stop The War?
Trots who live in million pound plus house in North London. Call them the Vanessa Redgrave tendency.
PJ O’Rourke named them The MasterCard Marxists
People whom, if society was indeed perfectly equal in outcomes, would be very much the losers.
But of course they think that they would be the leaders, the Politbureau of the socialist Utopia, and therefore exempt from the equality of outcome that might apply to everyone else.
A chap I used to drink with did reenactment stuff (Sealed Knot).
He commented that there was a certain kind of person who assumed that they would have high rank in that context. That they felt entitled to such rank. And that they were always poisonous.
There is an annual WW2 event near me, and I am amazed by just how many more German actors there are than allies
They have better uniforms.
The Americans had better uniforms, from the comfort point of view. But the Germans really score on the militaristic cool. The Soviets basically wore outdoor peasant gear - the gymnastiorka blouse - and the Brits just wore proletarian overalls with added wound pockets (tailored for the ruperts).
Tailored in the figurative and literal loosest manner. Maybe old mate Topping can comment on army issue but in the Navy the MoD issued rig (which we had to pay for in those days) was useful only for ripping up for washing the car. If you didn't want to look like a sack of manure with a hat on top, a trip to Dege & Skinner was mandated. One staggered out of the establishment infernally indebted but as smart and stylish as an SS Standartenfuhrer.
Was worse in the WRNS. In 1940 they didn't have enough uniforms to go round, so (understandably under the circumstances) the production of RN uniforms was prioritised and WRNS told to manage with whatever they could find.
This led to angry exchanges in the Commons, with Irene Ward getting a bit tongue twisted:
'Is my right honourable friend saying WRNS' skirts must be held up until all sailors have been satisfied?'
I'll give you a like if you can honour the memory of Jowett with a Hansard linky!
I also think we need a Hansard link on that one, or a good reason why it cannot be found.
If it's so brutal for the Conservatives, where's the VI polling to show it?? This is growing increasingly ludicrous. What will they ask next - what breakfast condiment do all the party leaders have the most in common with? Which plant most reminds you of Angela Rayner? Clearly they are doing polling, so show us the VI outcome or piss off with their stupid worthless 'insights'.
Quite rightly, all the polling organisations are reviewing their methodology, sampling and weighting following the GE. We're beginning to see some evidence the pollsters weren't entirely wrong but they underestimated the Labour abstentions which pulled down the Labour VI.
We also have the small matter of August which is a month often associated with a paucity of polling. I know some will be "hoping" recent events will have had a dramatic impact on polling - I suspect it will be rather like the 2000 fuel crisis.
The question is rather whether the Government is 'hoping' that any polling impact is of short duration and that no polls come out that record the impact, and/or whether they have actually taken steps to make this the case - asking pollsters to hold off for 'national security reasons' or some similar pretext - these questions should now be being asked by all but the terminally incurious.
The laser like journalism we had been experiencing for the last few years seems to have shown itself to be client journalism and nothing else.
Where are the serious questions about the people going to jail for saying things on facebook and twitter? Some of those things do warrant proceedings, but others seem to have resulted in a substantial moving of the line between free expression and the criminal law.
Some journalists on the left would be presenting Boris as some kind of Hitler incarnate, responsible for pressuring the judiciary to sentence someone for merely being present at a protest that turned violent, with no shown intention of doing anything other than being there. And this would be the greatest injustice of the century so far. But not only do we have tumble weed from some we have human rights lawyers, yes human rights lawyers egging on the government to bring in single line bills to parliament to outlaw social media platforms.
Has Leon heard anything from his MAGA sources? Trump suddenly sounds old and vulnerable, and that might be a positive spin.
If The Leonster has come across that photo of Katie Price on his regular patrol of Twitter's mottled underbelly then clear your agendas, lads, because that'll be all we hear about for days.
Do you have a link?
y'all need to rename the sandpit to the shitpit
If that’s who I think it is, we definitely don’t want that whale polluting our beach.
It may or may not be coincidence, but since Sir Royale Starmer, my heroic PM who is ALSO my brave MP, got rightly elected to office, mainly thanks to my vote, Camden Town has been transformed
For several years it has been getting grottier and grottier, the homeless getting more persistent, the litter worse, the grunge more intense, tent villages spriging up, ugh. Quite dystopian
Suddenly in the last six weeks (basically since I went to France) it has all changed. The tents have gone, the litter is cleared, the graffiti is being cleaned, the homeless are being hosed into the gutter. It's still a bit scruffy, it's Camden, and it gets 30 trillion visitors every weekend, who drop their crap everywhere. Nonetheless, the change is remarkable
Is this because Labour have brilliantly cleaned up the country in a month? I doubt it. But could it be a kind of "prime minister" effect? He can't have his OWN constituency looking like Downtown Dar Es Salaam, and presumably if you get a call from Number 10 in Camden Town Council you pay attention, as against the usual locals moarning
Anyway, well done Sir Kir. What a dude. Glad I voted for you
Walk up Tottenham Court Road tonight at 11pm. Count the tents and report back tomorrow.
Is it bad? It is also shite in Kentish Town, I noticed - not tents, just grot
So maybe this is a strictly Camden Town thing. Nonetheless what I report is true
One theory I have is that Sir Kir can't afford to have his very OWN constituency looking hideously run down. It screams Daily Mail article - "How the PM's own constituency looks like the Fall of Rome with extra Fentanyl" - so he has to get it sorted. But of course I might be entirely wrong and it is coincidence. Quite odd timing, tho
Yes, I should have counted but 15-20. Gavin Newsom doesn't seem to care about his patch.
With all the talk about investigating Farage/Robinson and Russian links can we also please take a look at who is funding Stop The War?
Trots who live in million pound plus house in North London. Call them the Vanessa Redgrave tendency.
PJ O’Rourke named them The MasterCard Marxists
People whom, if society was indeed perfectly equal in outcomes, would be very much the losers.
But of course they think that they would be the leaders, the Politbureau of the socialist Utopia, and therefore exempt from the equality of outcome that might apply to everyone else.
A chap I used to drink with did reenactment stuff (Sealed Knot).
He commented that there was a certain kind of person who assumed that they would have high rank in that context. That they felt entitled to such rank. And that they were always poisonous.
There is an annual WW2 event near me, and I am amazed by just how many more German actors there are than allies
They have better uniforms.
The Americans had better uniforms, from the comfort point of view. But the Germans really score on the militaristic cool. The Soviets basically wore outdoor peasant gear - the gymnastiorka blouse - and the Brits just wore proletarian overalls with added wound pockets (tailored for the ruperts).
Tailored in the figurative and literal loosest manner. Maybe old mate Topping can comment on army issue but in the Navy the MoD issued rig (which we had to pay for in those days) was useful only for ripping up for washing the car. If you didn't want to look like a sack of manure with a hat on top, a trip to Dege & Skinner was mandated. One staggered out of the establishment infernally indebted but as smart and stylish as an SS Standartenfuhrer.
Was worse in the WRNS. In 1940 they didn't have enough uniforms to go round, so (understandably under the circumstances) the production of RN uniforms was prioritised and WRNS told to manage with whatever they could find.
This led to angry exchanges in the Commons, with Irene Ward getting a bit tongue twisted:
'Is my right honourable friend saying WRNS' skirts must be held up until all sailors have been satisfied?'
I'll give you a like if you can honour the memory of Jowett with a Hansard linky!
Alas, I can't. I got it from Parris and Mason's Mission Accomplished (page 31) but I can't find a reference in Hansard.
It's likely to be because the wartime session about Navy supplies would be a secret session, which was step further than a closed session, and no Hansard was kept. Because the information would be useful to the enemy. In WW2 they were very thorough on control of information.
Has Leon heard anything from his MAGA sources? Trump suddenly sounds old and vulnerable, and that might be a positive spin.
If The Leonster has come across that photo of Katie Price on his regular patrol of Twitter's mottled underbelly then clear your agendas, lads, because that'll be all we hear about for days.
Do you have a link?
y'all need to rename the sandpit to the shitpit
If that’s who I think it is, we definitely don’t want that whale polluting our beach.
Many years ago (early 2000s) I had a friend who worked for the Foreign Office and he was on the Middle East desk and one of his jobs was to scour local news articles for info.
One thing he used to do was to google ‘Syria’, ‘Lebanon’ etc, but the first time he googled ‘Jordan’ it led to him having a discussion with HR.
It may or may not be coincidence, but since Sir Royale Starmer, my heroic PM who is ALSO my brave MP, got rightly elected to office, mainly thanks to my vote, Camden Town has been transformed
For several years it has been getting grottier and grottier, the homeless getting more persistent, the litter worse, the grunge more intense, tent villages spriging up, ugh. Quite dystopian
Suddenly in the last six weeks (basically since I went to France) it has all changed. The tents have gone, the litter is cleared, the graffiti is being cleaned, the homeless are being hosed into the gutter. It's still a bit scruffy, it's Camden, and it gets 30 trillion visitors every weekend, who drop their crap everywhere. Nonetheless, the change is remarkable
Is this because Labour have brilliantly cleaned up the country in a month? I doubt it. But could it be a kind of "prime minister" effect? He can't have his OWN constituency looking like Downtown Dar Es Salaam, and presumably if you get a call from Number 10 in Camden Town Council you pay attention, as against the usual locals moarning
Anyway, well done Sir Kir. What a dude. Glad I voted for you
Walk up Tottenham Court Road tonight at 11pm. Count the tents and report back tomorrow.
Is it bad? It is also shite in Kentish Town, I noticed - not tents, just grot
So maybe this is a strictly Camden Town thing. Nonetheless what I report is true
One theory I have is that Sir Kir can't afford to have his very OWN constituency looking hideously run down. It screams Daily Mail article - "How the PM's own constituency looks like the Fall of Rome with extra Fentanyl" - so he has to get it sorted. But of course I might be entirely wrong and it is coincidence. Quite odd timing, tho
It's a Labour seat - of course it's hideously run down.
The really baffling thing is that people can look at the absolute state of a Labour constituency and think 'I really want my neighbourhood to be more like that!'
Could possibly be psychological, but I'm convinced Canterbury is much less nice than it was even just a decade ago...
This is weird logic on so many levels.
Are you suggesting that if - for example - Richmond Yorkshire were to elect a Labour MP, then it would only be a matter of months before a bustling market sprung up by its canal? And that dense blocks of flats would be erected?
Many here might like to look on the USA and feel we are much better off and progressive here without the dastardly Republicans. Lets just say that prior to the overturning of Roe vs Wade, anyone presenting our abortion laws as a template for the USA would have been denounced as Right Wing lunatic, and with much of the rest of Europe far less liberal than ours. Up to 24 weeks, and even then to be lawful has to be signed by two doctors who make a good faith determination that terminated the foetus will be better for the woman's mental or physical health rather than carrying it to term.
This is deepest Mississippi level of intrusion on what the American left would call a woman's right to choose.
The UK abortion law was a compromise, carefully written to get it over the line in the 1967 vote. Instead of simply legalising abortion, it has all these caveats and restrictions, because the latter would get passed and the former wouldn't. However, many of those caveats and restrictions were largely for show. For example, the signature by two doctors very rarely impedes on woman's choice. The second doctor just has to countersign a form; they don't generally meet the woman concerned. Thus, in practice, abortion practice in the UK is more liberal than a simplistic reading of the law would suggest. We largely do follow a woman's right to choose, but just with a bunch of paperwork to satisfy Parliamentarians in the late sixties. That said, it would be better to have a less compromised abortion law, although I don't think this is seen as a legislative priority.
Has Leon heard anything from his MAGA sources? Trump suddenly sounds old and vulnerable, and that might be a positive spin.
If The Leonster has come across that photo of Katie Price on his regular patrol of Twitter's mottled underbelly then clear your agendas, lads, because that'll be all we hear about for days.
Do you have a link?
y'all need to rename the sandpit to the shitpit
If that’s who I think it is, we definitely don’t want that whale polluting our beach.
Many years ago (early 2000s) I had a friend who worked for the Foreign Office and he was on the Middle East desk and one of his jobs was to scour local news articles for info.
One thing he used to do was to google ‘Syria’, ‘Lebanon’ etc, but the first time he googled ‘Jordan’ it led to him having a discussion with HR.
Were they willing to pay for ALL the therapy he required?
If it's so brutal for the Conservatives, where's the VI polling to show it?? This is growing increasingly ludicrous. What will they ask next - what breakfast condiment do all the party leaders have the most in common with? Which plant most reminds you of Angela Rayner? Clearly they are doing polling, so show us the VI outcome or piss off with their stupid worthless 'insights'.
Quite rightly, all the polling organisations are reviewing their methodology, sampling and weighting following the GE. We're beginning to see some evidence the pollsters weren't entirely wrong but they underestimated the Labour abstentions which pulled down the Labour VI.
We also have the small matter of August which is a month often associated with a paucity of polling. I know some will be "hoping" recent events will have had a dramatic impact on polling - I suspect it will be rather like the 2000 fuel crisis.
The question is rather whether the Government is 'hoping' that any polling impact is of short duration and that no polls come out that record the impact, and/or whether they have actually taken steps to make this the case - asking pollsters to hold off for 'national security reasons' or some similar pretext - these questions should now be being asked by all but the terminally incurious.
The laser like journalism we had been experiencing for the last few years seems to have shown itself to be client journalism and nothing else.
Where are the serious questions about the people going to jail for saying things on facebook and twitter? Some of those things do warrant proceedings, but others seem to have resulted in a substantial moving of the line between free expression and the criminal law.
Some journalists on the left would be presenting Boris as some kind of Hitler incarnate, responsible for pressuring the judiciary to sentence someone for merely being present at a protest that turned violent, with no shown intention of doing anything other than being there. And this would be the greatest injustice of the century so far. But not only do we have tumble weed from some we have human rights lawyers, yes human rights lawyers egging on the government to bring in single line bills to parliament to outlaw social media platforms.
Well, you aren't actually posing serious questions. You are merely floating vaguely conspiratorial stuff.
Let's get specific: which particular Facebook / Twitter users and their posts are you referring to?
A belief in "two-tier" policing is clearly widespread in the UK. Only 34% of Brits say police "treat people equally regardless of race". 48% think police biased, favouring whites or ethnic minorities
Starmer once called British justice system ‘two-tier’ In 2015, PM wrote that the courts worked well for wealthier people but failed those with lesser resources ... Writing in The Guardian in July 2015, the Prime Minister said Michael Gove, the justice secretary at the time, was correct to say that courts were failing some but providing a gold-standard service to the rich. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/08/12/starmer-once-decried-british-justice-as-two-tier/ (£££)
It may or may not be coincidence, but since Sir Royale Starmer, my heroic PM who is ALSO my brave MP, got rightly elected to office, mainly thanks to my vote, Camden Town has been transformed
For several years it has been getting grottier and grottier, the homeless getting more persistent, the litter worse, the grunge more intense, tent villages spriging up, ugh. Quite dystopian
Suddenly in the last six weeks (basically since I went to France) it has all changed. The tents have gone, the litter is cleared, the graffiti is being cleaned, the homeless are being hosed into the gutter. It's still a bit scruffy, it's Camden, and it gets 30 trillion visitors every weekend, who drop their crap everywhere. Nonetheless, the change is remarkable
Is this because Labour have brilliantly cleaned up the country in a month? I doubt it. But could it be a kind of "prime minister" effect? He can't have his OWN constituency looking like Downtown Dar Es Salaam, and presumably if you get a call from Number 10 in Camden Town Council you pay attention, as against the usual locals moarning
Anyway, well done Sir Kir. What a dude. Glad I voted for you
Walk up Tottenham Court Road tonight at 11pm. Count the tents and report back tomorrow.
Is it bad? It is also shite in Kentish Town, I noticed - not tents, just grot
So maybe this is a strictly Camden Town thing. Nonetheless what I report is true
One theory I have is that Sir Kir can't afford to have his very OWN constituency looking hideously run down. It screams Daily Mail article - "How the PM's own constituency looks like the Fall of Rome with extra Fentanyl" - so he has to get it sorted. But of course I might be entirely wrong and it is coincidence. Quite odd timing, tho
It's a Labour seat - of course it's hideously run down.
The really baffling thing is that people can look at the absolute state of a Labour constituency and think 'I really want my neighbourhood to be more like that!'
Could possibly be psychological, but I'm convinced Canterbury is much less nice than it was even just a decade ago...
This is weird logic on so many levels.
Are you suggesting that if - for example - Richmond Yorkshire were to elect a Labour MP, then it would only be a matter of months before a bustling market sprung up by its canal? And that dense blocks of flats would be erected?
I've spent many an hour in Richmond - I don't remember ever seeing a canal.
There is a castle, a re-opened station, some decent wine bars and a market place but no canal - too many hills really.
And it's not as though Ukraine hasn't made big defensive (as well as offensive) blunders on occasion, too.
Ukraine have definitely managed the messaging of the conflict far better than Russia, as might be expected from a ruling junta that, until quite recently, was a TV production company.
I'd say it's a miserable low scoring draw on the military front. Russia's overwhelming advantage in men and materiel being balanced by Ukraine's access to western SIGINT, etc. and the fact they don't (yet) have to worry about how to pay for anything.
Interesting terminology - “Junta” - for a government that was elected in an election where the opposition could have actually won.
Comments
Had Gerald Ford been re-elected in 1978 that would have been the only term he could win.
The Novichok attack in Salisbury would have been the same, scary as hell for everyone else involved.
At least Mr Firestopper’s suicides were kind enough to leave a note, which would at least minimise further casualties among responders.
A large part of his business, to my undoubtedly flawed understanding, depends on the largesse and benevolent regulatory environment of the Federal government. Which being the case, you would think EM would be better served staying out of the fray and tonguing the mud chute of whomever wins. By nailing his alt-right colours to DJT's increasingly crooked mast he is risking the enmity of Kamala.
It's hard to think what will happen to the GOP IF Trump fails again in November. I suppose it's HOW he fails which will matter - a 5-10 point loss to Harris and loss of Congress would seem to be game over.
Trump would be in a position (of sorts) to "anoint" a successor just as Thatcher gave her blessing to John Major in 1990 but that doesn't mean the anointed/blessed one has to follow the diktats of their predecessor.
Trump could put himself forward again in 2028 as a sprightly 82-year-old (Biden tried that one) but the GOP tend not to give two-time losers much room to lose again. Assuming Harris serves a full term, the 2028 GOP Primary could be a good time to lay in the popcorn - it would be the most open field since 2016 when there were originally 17 entries.
A combination of hefty doses of tramadol and Xanax, plus maybe moderate amounts of cocaine, would wipe out almost any blues
You’d be absolutely zonked, there is a risk of addiction - but you probably wouldn’t want to kill yourself. So it’s better
As for the guns, a MP40 wins it every day over the industrial sten or PPSh, and a Thompson is basically just a gangster gun.
No competition for the food - the Americans every day. Not sure I would like the German diet of black bread, Lieberkaese and sausage stew.
Wankers hopecasting that he will be dead, bankrupt or in jail by then will be as wrong as they have been on those subjects since 2020.
But still he's an example where he would have been limited to winning one presidential election only. Quite literally in his case since he was never elected even as Veep, if he'd beaten Carter he'd have then been term-limited to that being his only election since he became POTUS less than 2 years into Nixon's final term.
Even if Biden were to drop dead today we're already past the halfway mark so it won't count as a term for Harris.
1001 films you must see!
1001books you must read!
1001 (nine) binary numbers you must know!
Probably the most brutal polling for the Conservatives I’ve seen from us.
6 in 10 tell @IpsosUK they don’t care who the next Tory leader is
https://x.com/keiranpedley/status/1823318547600228396
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/asda-hit-by-fresh-sales-slowdown-after-chairman-attacks-embarrassing-performance/ar-AA1oIduI?ocid=msedgntp&pc=SMTS&cvid=39c4b2a90f4d4403a81bd2043811e0d8&ei=6
Still think I'd rather do steampunk though.
I am appalled by the attacks on free speech in Britain and Europe.
We can't be truly free without free speech.
Good for @elonmusk and @X for standing up to these bullies.
A few years ago a friend and I went to Dover for an open day for the Western Heights and Drop Redoubt with its triple helical staircase down a giant shaft (really good btw in amidst the sad ruins left by MoD of what was a huge military complex). Train stopped at Folkestone, and behind us in the bus queuie, as one does find, was a chap from one of the line regiments of the French Army c. 1790-1800 in blue greatcoat, with musket and all. Had a good chat and a march uphill with him to the Heights. He peeled off to the campsite complete with authentic tents and vivandieres and so on for the weekend - it was pissing down btw.
We asked him how people decided to be a Redcoat or on the other side and he did allow it was partly political ... the right wingers liked to go all King George, and ...
This rather also brings back thoughts of Anthony Price's novel set in a Civil Wars of Britain and Ireland reenactment society - but a lot more politicised that, say, the Sealed Knot. I certainly don't think our friend and his opposition were at that kind of level, though!
Our statement on... whatever that was
(Musk is a technical genius though...)
Listen to a clip, any clip, of the Musk/Trump interview and the one thing that stands out, that no-one here has mentioned, is Trump is slurring his words and has a pronounced lisp.
Has Leon heard anything from his MAGA sources? Trump suddenly sounds old and vulnerable, and that might be a positive spin.
I always thought my dad was lucky to bypass that by going the artificer apprentice route straight to PO with something more humanoid in the way of a fore and aft uniform. I ended up wearing his jacket at university, with the buttons cut off and replaced with plain ones ...
This led to angry exchanges in the Commons, with Irene Ward getting a bit tongue twisted:
'Is my right honourable friend saying WRNS' skirts must be held up until all sailors have been satisfied?'
The real threat is from people who say things like that imo.
I'm sure there are lots of fakes. Serve them right.
Where it proved rather popular.
Both involve a massive self-own.
WTAFF!?
We also have the small matter of August which is a month often associated with a paucity of polling. I know some will be "hoping" recent events will have had a dramatic impact on polling - I suspect it will be rather like the 2000 fuel crisis.
It's fairly astonishing that Russia did not anticipate this. Utter incompetence.
Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.
Nominated and confirmed, not elected.
That's no different from cabinet members, judges and ambassadors. In the absence of a choice between candidates, it can't really be called an election (indeed, the Constitution does use the word "elected" in its proper sense, but not in the 25th amendment).
Section 1—No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.
And it's not as though Ukraine hasn't made big defensive (as well as offensive) blunders on occasion, too.
It may or may not be coincidence, but since Sir Royale Starmer, my heroic PM who is ALSO my brave MP, got rightly elected to office, mainly thanks to my vote, Camden Town has been transformed
For several years it has been getting grottier and grottier, the homeless getting more persistent, the litter worse, the grunge more intense, tent villages spriging up, ugh. Quite dystopian
Suddenly in the last six weeks (basically since I went to France) it has all changed. The tents have gone, the litter is cleared, the graffiti is being cleaned, the homeless are being hosed into the gutter. It's still a bit scruffy, it's Camden, and it gets 30 trillion visitors every weekend, who drop their crap everywhere. Nonetheless, the change is remarkable
Is this because Labour have brilliantly cleaned up the country in a month? I doubt it. But could it be a kind of "prime minister" effect? He can't have his OWN constituency looking like Downtown Dar Es Salaam, and presumably if you get a call from Number 10 in Camden Town Council you pay attention, as against the usual locals moarning
Anyway, well done Sir Kir. What a dude. Glad I voted for you
I'd say it's a miserable low scoring draw on the military front. Russia's overwhelming advantage in men and materiel being balanced by Ukraine's access to western SIGINT, etc. and the fact they don't (yet) have to worry about how to pay for anything.
So maybe this is a strictly Camden Town thing. Nonetheless what I report is true
One theory I have is that Sir Kir can't afford to have his very OWN constituency looking hideously run down. It screams Daily Mail article - "How the PM's own constituency looks like the Fall of Rome with extra Fentanyl" - so he has to get it sorted. But of course I might be entirely wrong and it is coincidence. Quite odd timing, tho
However, in a deeper sense it could be interpreted as a delayed reaction/realisation to changes bought forward by governments of both left and right whilst in power over the last 30 years, ie legislation about equalities, hate speech, harrassment etc which do act as a significant limit on free political expression, particularly by 'majority' groups.
I have said a few times that the example of Finland is one that we would do well to look at, the 'far right' are part of the political culture, and have been for the last 20 years, but they are integrated and not excluded from it, however reluctantly.
@GoodwinMJ
A belief in "two-tier" policing is clearly widespread in the UK. Only 34% of Brits say police "treat people equally regardless of race". 48% think police biased, favouring whites or ethnic minorities
https://mattgoodwin.org/p/no-this-is-not-just-far-right-thuggery"
https://x.com/GoodwinMJ/status/1823338626916164033
It's the old psychological loss aversion write large: losing is really bad for Ukrainians, while winning is not that exciting (and might actually be quite shit) for the Russians.
It's a spillover of electing Trump President. Once you've given up on any basic levels of expected common sense, this is what you get.
The really baffling thing is that people can look at the absolute state of a Labour constituency and think 'I really want my neighbourhood to be more like that!'
Could possibly be psychological, but I'm convinced Canterbury is much less nice than it was even just a decade ago...
Lets just say that prior to the overturning of Roe vs Wade, anyone presenting our abortion laws as a template for the USA would have been denounced as Right Wing lunatic, and with much of the rest of Europe far less liberal than ours. Up to 24 weeks, and even then to be lawful has to be signed by two doctors who make a good faith determination that terminated the foetus will be better for the woman's mental or physical health rather than carrying it to term.
This is deepest Mississippi level of intrusion on what the American left would call a woman's right to choose.
Which would be pretty close to the British standard...
Is it just possible that you're being a little hyperbolic?
Where are the serious questions about the people going to jail for saying things on facebook and twitter? Some of those things do warrant proceedings, but others seem to have resulted in a substantial moving of the line between free expression and the criminal law.
Some journalists on the left would be presenting Boris as some kind of Hitler incarnate, responsible for pressuring the judiciary to sentence someone for merely being present at a protest that turned violent, with no shown intention of doing anything other than being there. And this would be the greatest injustice of the century so far. But not only do we have tumble weed from some we have human rights lawyers, yes human rights lawyers egging on the government to bring in single line bills to parliament to outlaw social media platforms.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/why-is-san-francisco-suddenly-clean-biden-xi-summit-spurs-city-to-action-192602849.html
One thing he used to do was to google ‘Syria’, ‘Lebanon’ etc, but the first time he googled ‘Jordan’ it led to him having a discussion with HR.
Are you suggesting that if - for example - Richmond Yorkshire were to elect a Labour MP, then it would only be a matter of months before a bustling market sprung up by its canal? And that dense blocks of flats would be erected?
Let's get specific: which particular Facebook / Twitter users and their posts are you referring to?
In 2015, PM wrote that the courts worked well for wealthier people but failed those with lesser resources
...
Writing in The Guardian in July 2015, the Prime Minister said Michael Gove, the justice secretary at the time, was correct to say that courts were failing some but providing a gold-standard service to the rich.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/08/12/starmer-once-decried-british-justice-as-two-tier/ (£££)
There is a castle, a re-opened station, some decent wine bars and a market place but no canal - too many hills really.