WTF Is Eddie Izzard doing on the Better Together campaign. Does he not realise how badly his Yes2AV campaign turned out ?!
You feel this was entirely, or mainly, or even significantly because of Izzard? Yes2AV had other problems...
It did !
An excess of luvvies was one of them. Admittedly Better Together has a wider range of supporters than the North London c'leb set. But Mr Izzard is English. He can't even vote in this one !
(b) A direct rail link potentially connecting the following cities to the continental rail network: Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow, Edinburgh.
Answer:
Everyone in London and SE: (a) Everyone else: (b)
Andy, for crying out loud. It's about a 10 minute walk, with luggage. I've done it plenty of times. A few people being slightly inconvenienced vs. £700m and 10 years of disruption to local residents.
Nolo contendere as antifrank would say.
able bodied banker with good knowledge of London in doesn't mind a walk shock.
I know my way around Copenhagen airport rather better.
This weekend I realised how sad my life was - was stuck at O'Hare and end up discussing the layout of Copenhagen airport with a random stranger in the queue...
It's still not worth £700m. If you're that worried about it get a cab.
Personally Charles I doubt I'll ever use it, I generally try to avoid London . But if you're elderly, disabled or a visitor coming in from abroad, maybe London should try to make itself user friendly.
It is pretty user friendly. But even so, it's not the justification for that kind of spend on a marginal benefit.
London's meant to be the national showcase. You'll only start worrying when visiting investors complain about the hassle and then you'll spend twice the amount to put it right. It's the same with all big engineering projects. We penny pinch, then when we realise we've cocked it up, it costs us a fortune to rectify the penny pinching.
Indeed. Someone cited the M5 earlier - was only dual at first because we were told it didn't need three lanes.
Of course, later on we did so they had to pull giant chunks of it apart and start again at eye watering cost.
Whatever happened to the old civil engineer's mantra of getting the job right first time?
closer to home why not try the M25 three lanes when built. That went well.
The M25 as first built was a botch - it is actually a mix of two separate planned "ringways", the M16 (on the line of the current M25 between South Mimms and Thurrock) and, er, the M25 (between Watford and Dartford going anti-clockwise). There were actually two more ringways planned further in - roughly where the A406 is and where the A102 is.
I think I was the person who mentioned the M5 earlier.
My dad always goes on about how stupid they were not to build the bridges wide enough to accommodate three lanes at the start. Even though it was build as two lanes originally, if the bridges had been wider it wouldn't have cost so much to build an extra lane at a later date.
Exactly the same problem is now developing with the A14.
Sure. You're entitled to your opinion. I'm just pointing out that the entire world disagrees with you, which is why contemporary London is so ludicrously successful.
Talking of the trendy bits of inner-northern London, do you know the Seven Dials Club in Covent Garden (near Leicester Square tube)? I ask only because the other day I discovered it has got a handsome young barman who looks like Alex Pettyfer.
Sure. You're entitled to your opinion. I'm just pointing out that the entire world disagrees with you, which is why contemporary London is so ludicrously successful.
Talking of the trendy bits of inner-northern London, do you know the Seven Dials Club in Covent Garden (near Leicester Square tube)? I ask only because the other day I discovered it has got a handsome young barman who looks like Alex Pettyfer.
"'Change rules' to help Boris be Tory leader: London mayor's father says his son must be allowed to stand even if he isn't an MP
Stanley Johnson says party must ensuer 'proper candidates are there' Mr Johnson says he has no plans to stand for 2015 election 'How reasonable would it be to exclude the mayor of a major city?’ he said"
Wikipedia says that Clarissa Dickson-Wright was "disbarred [as a barrister] for practising without chambers". What does that mean? Why would "not having chambers" be a reason for not being a barrister?
Just popped into PB as still full of the flu, and just up for a dose of lemsip! I am known for being a nervous traveller, hate flying, hate boats/ferries, and really hate speed on the roads too. But I always remember a particularly hair raising experience on a German autobahn many years ago when I was newly married. I had nipped over to Germany for a wee holiday to visit and support a friend whose husband was deployed to the middle east during the first Iraq war. I had hired a taxi to take me to Hanover airport, and I remember getting a bit worried when the taxi driver in a Mercedes was doing about 90 mph on the autobahn, but then at the side of the road the German traffic cops were wildly gesticulating and moving their arms forward, so my driver said, 'they think we are going too slowly, and they want us to go faster'? And he did, hitting the ton when everyone around you is doing the same is quite something!
The autobahns are still unlimited speeds aren't they? If not I did a lot of lawbreaking on my most recent trip. I thought you could drive as fast as you like except in areas with a signposted, designated speed.
Yes and no. The limit IIRC is 110 kph (70 mph) in most places (in the parts of West Germany that I drove on anyway) with just a few unlimited stretches left (this goes back at least 20 years). But there should be signs indicating it, so perhaps you were really on unlimited bits.
Like you I was given a racing car experience birthday present - various kinds of Ferrari and up to 170 or so. Exhilarating on the straight, but hard to get used to the different braking on the curves in a short session. Another boy's toy that it's fun to persuade someone to give you is a tank-driving outing - the site near Nottingham gives you a variety of tank experiences including firing soft missiles at another tank. They finish up with a weird off-road crawl in an APC through deep sliding mud.
On topic, sorry Mike, but I can't get excited on this story about Gove, and this is despite the fact it hits all the right buttons for Labour and Libdem supporters here on the site. At the end of the day, we have Ed Miliband continuing to battle Ed Balls, and Clegg still battling to contain VInce Cable as his biggest threat. That neither of these leaders are in a position to be seen to reprimand their most troublesome long term critics, far less tackle attacks or sack them speaks volumes about their own positions when it comes to their rivals.
Just popped into PB as still full of the flu, and just up for a dose of lemsip! I am known for being a nervous traveller, hate flying, hate boats/ferries, and really hate speed on the roads too. But I always remember a particularly hair raising experience on a German autobahn many years ago when I was newly married. I had nipped over to Germany for a wee holiday to visit and support a friend whose husband was deployed to the middle east during the first Iraq war. I had hired a taxi to take me to Hanover airport, and I remember getting a bit worried when the taxi driver in a Mercedes was doing about 90 mph on the autobahn, but then at the side of the road the German traffic cops were wildly gesticulating and moving their arms forward, so my driver said, 'they think we are going too slowly, and they want us to go faster'? And he did, hitting the ton when everyone around you is doing the same is quite something!
The autobahns are still unlimited speeds aren't they? If not I did a lot of lawbreaking on my most recent trip. I thought you could drive as fast as you like except in areas with a signposted, designated speed.
Yes and no. The limit IIRC is 110 kph (70 mph) in most places (in the parts of West Germany that I drove on anyway) with just a few unlimited stretches left (this goes back at least 20 years). But there should be signs indicating it, so perhaps you were really on unlimited bits.
Like you I was given a racing car experience birthday present - various kinds of Ferrari and up to 170 or so. Exhilarating on the straight, but hard to get used to the different braking on the curves in a short session. Another boy's toy that it's fun to persuade someone to give you is a tank-driving outing - the site near Nottingham gives you a variety of tank experiences including firing soft missiles at another tank. They finish up with a weird off-road crawl in an APC through deep sliding mud.
Get well soon, Fitalass. Remember, you and me are on the same side on the referendum.
90 mph ? That's a wee stroll on the autobahn. I have been in a golf doing close to 240 kph. If the car had wings, it would have flown. Worse, my driver insisted on tail-gateing the car ahead.
Rumours are circulating in Asian press that investigators have found practice landing software for three airports in India, one in the Maldives and one on Diego Garicia on the MH370's Captain's flight simulator.
Even if this news is true and confirmed in an official announcement this morning, it is hard not to feel for the families of the passengers and crews.
BoJo has written a good article on MH370 for the Telegraph explaining why the missing aeroplane has captured the world's attention. It concludes:
As the story of MH370 is followed around the world – in minute detail – we are seeing how the internet and 24-hour news are turning the 200 nations of the earth into a single global public, in a way we have never seen before.
Maybe the Chilean miners rescue came close in the capture of the world's attention. Let's hope both stories share a happy ending. The cruelty of a false raising of hopes is unbearable.
Pilots on PPRuNe are commenting that Microsoft's Last version of Flight Simulator had over 24,000 airports including International air force bases... nothing to rave on home about..
I guess the story doing the rounds of the Asian papers is only of significance if the investigator's analysis of the pilots Flight Simulator shows that he practiced landing at the stated airports.
Whatever the answer, I expect this development in the story to lead the news this morning.
(b) A direct rail link potentially connecting the following cities to the continental rail network: Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow, Edinburgh.
Answer:
Everyone in London and SE: (a) Everyone else: (b)
Andy, for crying out loud. It's about a 10 minute walk, with luggage. I've done it plenty of times. A few people being slightly inconvenienced vs. £700m and 10 years of disruption to local residents.
Nolo contendere as antifrank would say.
able bodied banker with good knowledge of London in doesn't mind a walk shock.
I know my way around Copenhagen airport rather better.
This weekend I realised how sad my life was - was stuck at O'Hare and end up discussing the layout of Copenhagen airport with a random stranger in the queue...
It's still not worth £700m. If you're that worried about it get a cab.
Personally Charles I doubt I'll ever use it, I generally try to avoid London . But if you're elderly, disabled or a visitor coming in from abroad, maybe London should try to make itself user friendly.
It is pretty user friendly. But even so, it's not the justification for that kind of spend on a marginal benefit.
We tend to walk when we have our baby and buggy with us.
The BBC is big on settled will and suspicious of radicalism, no matter where that radicalism springs from. Which is why eurosceptics, libertarians, Scottish nationalists and Trotskyites each have cause to criticise the corporation and complain it is biased against them. It is.
Government is not to blame. Instead, what we have here is a complete failure of business management that will cost us hugely over the longer term - not just in Europe, but globally.
And it's a similar picture with international patent filings. Not one UK company in the top 50, just one UK university in the top 50 for academic institutions:
On flight 370 we'd know if they'd landed on a public airport in civilisation. We wouldn't know if they'd landed on Diego Garcia or in one of the -stans. Too much about this story seems like deliberate confusion but strip it all back and two option stand - it crashed, it landed. We now know it was deliberately diverted from its intended flight plan, so there will have been a plan to land somewhere. So who wanted the plane, where did they stash it and what will they do next? What really fascinates is the rage in the media that the story hasn't confirmed to their 24 hour rolling news schedule.
On Tory Wars 2014, Cameron's school wouldn't matter if not for Cameron's policies. Going to a posh school and appointing your posh friends isn't an issue unless your policies are perceived to benefit other poah people to the detriment of everyone else. Its the policies that are the political issue for Cameron, his school is just a symptom.
Pilots on PPRuNe are commenting that Microsoft's Last version of Flight Simulator had over 24,000 airports including International air force bases... nothing to rave on home about..
I guess the story doing the rounds of the Asian papers is only of significance if the investigator's analysis of the pilots Flight Simulator shows that he practiced landing at the stated airports.
Whatever the answer, I expect this development in the story to lead the news this morning.
As I said yesterday, most parties involved will want the blame to eventually be on a lone, rogue pilot who did something utterly unforeseeable. People have blamed pilots in the past with much better evidence of technical failure, and the truth's only come out after further fatal crashes.
That's all I see here: a desperation for the blame to land on the pilots. We have exceptionally little information on what occurred on this flight, and the organisations involved are feeling the heat.
It's compounded by the fact that - the search aside - the investigators have nothing else to concentrate on. They have no data on what happened on board, and so they are concentrating on investigating what they can - the passengers and especially the pilots. They will be looking for signs of illness, depression, criminal intent and blackmail. When that gets reported, it reflects badly on the pilots.
My view is still on a cockpit fire, as someone much more knowledgeable said in an article linked to last night. There has been one other nasty 777 cockpit fire, the procedures could explain why comms and other items disappeared, the erratic direction and altitude changes, and the other things we *think* went on.
The BBC is big on settled will and suspicious of radicalism, no matter where that radicalism springs from. Which is why eurosceptics, libertarians, Scottish nationalists and Trotskyites each have cause to criticise the corporation and complain it is biased against them. It is.
On flight 370 we'd know if they'd landed on a public airport in civilisation. We wouldn't know if they'd landed on Diego Garcia or in one of the -stans. Too much about this story seems like deliberate confusion but strip it all back and two option stand - it crashed, it landed. We now know it was deliberately diverted from its intended flight plan, so there will have been a plan to land somewhere. So who wanted the plane, where did they stash it and what will they do next? What really fascinates is the rage in the media that the story hasn't confirmed to their 24 hour rolling news schedule.
1) We don't know it was 'deliberately diverted', or at least in the way that makes it sound as if it was a deliberate criminal act. When planes get into technical trouble, they often divert. They rarely fly on in the same direction *unless* that's the nearest available airport.
2) Even if it was deliberately diverted, it;'s a jump to say they planned to land it somewhere. The few other cases of this have either been crashes (aka 9/11), suicides, or hijackings.
3) Again, it's rather a leap to say that someone wanted the plane.
I wouldn't bet against technical failure causing cascading problems. The pilots become incapacitated due to smoke or hypoxia, and the plane flies on under autopilot until the fuel runs out.
Totally off topic, but has anyone had any dealings with, or any knowledge, the “Bank of London & the Middle East”. I’m a Charity Trustee and our Treasurer has come up with BLME as a place to park some funds. However several of us have never heard of the organisation and wonder if it’s really a good idea.
“Eddie Izzard has entered Scotland's referendum debate with a plea to stay in the United Kingdom.”
Oh dear, wannabe politician Eddie Izzard’s track record of always being on the losing side does not bode well for the ‘NO’ campaign – After Izzard’s disastrous YES2AV, YES3EURO & YES2Ken campaigns, will he finally get the ‘YES’ vote he doesn’t actually want..?
If money available for tax cuts, which would you prefer: Increase personal allowance: 66 Increase 40% threshold: 13
Even in the area with greatest support for increasing the 40% threshold increase (London) support is still 2:1 in favour of the personal allowance.
Perfect, something new irrelevant for Tory back benchers to bang on about.
Carlotta, normally I'd reply but I'm still too depressed by Eddie Izzard. Can't somebody tell the man to STFU, take himself to a nunnery and not leave until 19th September ?
If money available for tax cuts, which would you prefer: Increase personal allowance: 66 Increase 40% threshold: 13
Even in the area with greatest support for increasing the 40% threshold increase (London) support is still 2:1 in favour of the personal allowance.
Perfect, something new irrelevant for Tory back benchers to bang on about.
Carlotta, normally I'd reply but I'm still too depressed by Eddie Izzard. Can't somebody tell the man to STFU, take himself to a nunnery and not leave until 19th September ?
Better still make that not leave ever.
I'm consoling myself that there was a lot more wrong with the Yes2AV campaign than the presence of one self absorbed leftie luvvie....
The new and improved "old man methane" projection will be accompanied by a lavish illustration of the intense 'scientific' methodology employed for all to draw their own conclusions from.
If money available for tax cuts, which would you prefer: Increase personal allowance: 66 Increase 40% threshold: 13
Even in the area with greatest support for increasing the 40% threshold increase (London) support is still 2:1 in favour of the personal allowance.
Perfect, something new irrelevant for Tory back benchers to bang on about.
Carlotta, normally I'd reply but I'm still too depressed by Eddie Izzard. Can't somebody tell the man to STFU, take himself to a nunnery and not leave until 19th September ?
Better still make that not leave ever.
I'm consoling myself that there was a lot more wrong with the Yes2AV campaign than the presence of one self absorbed leftie luvvie....
I suppose so. On the other hand BOO have probably just revealed their secret weapon.
Totally off topic, but has anyone had any dealings with, or any knowledge, the “Bank of London & the Middle East”. I’m a Charity Trustee and our Treasurer has come up with BLME as a place to park some funds. However several of us have never heard of the organisation and wonder if it’s really a good idea.
Any info gratefully received.
I've not heard of them, but usually the amount of extra interest you will earn isn't worth taking the risk. If the interest rate is particularly high that could indicate a problem with the firm. Check that the bank is covered by the FSCS though.
(FWIW, the management company for our block of flats splits between Metro (higher interest, but offset by Vernon Hill knowing what he's doing) and Barclays (convenient location)
In the absense of any methodology or explanation whatsoever from JackW for his numbers readers of PB will find the exculsive sneak peak behind his methodology for this and all forthcoming JackARSE projections very revealing indeed. Not to mention amusing.
Comments
An excess of luvvies was one of them. Admittedly Better Together has a wider range of supporters than the North London c'leb set. But Mr Izzard is English. He can't even vote in this one !
http://www.cbrd.co.uk/histories/ringways/
My dad always goes on about how stupid they were not to build the bridges wide enough to accommodate three lanes at the start. Even though it was build as two lanes originally, if the bridges had been wider it wouldn't have cost so much to build an extra lane at a later date.
Exactly the same problem is now developing with the A14.
"'Change rules' to help Boris be Tory leader: London mayor's father says his son must be allowed to stand even if he isn't an MP
Stanley Johnson says party must ensuer 'proper candidates are there'
Mr Johnson says he has no plans to stand for 2015 election
'How reasonable would it be to exclude the mayor of a major city?’ he said"
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2583107/Change-rules-help-Boris-Tory-leader-London-mayors-father-says-son-allowed-stand-isnt-MP.html
90 mph ? That's a wee stroll on the autobahn. I have been in a golf doing close to 240 kph. If the car had wings, it would have flown. Worse, my driver insisted on tail-gateing the car ahead.
When is a contract not a contract ? When the rich player breaks it and the employer, in this case the ECB, meekly accepts it.
Depression ? He himself says it was not that. So he was scared sh!t. Johnson, Steyn, Morkel...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/matt/
See article: http://bit.ly/1lJPt5H
Even if this news is true and confirmed in an official announcement this morning, it is hard not to feel for the families of the passengers and crews.
BoJo has written a good article on MH370 for the Telegraph explaining why the missing aeroplane has captured the world's attention. It concludes:
As the story of MH370 is followed around the world – in minute detail – we are seeing how the internet and 24-hour news are turning the 200 nations of the earth into a single global public, in a way we have never seen before.
Full article: http://bit.ly/1p5DiQH
Maybe the Chilean miners rescue came close in the capture of the world's attention. Let's hope both stories share a happy ending. The cruelty of a false raising of hopes is unbearable.
Pilots on PPRuNe are commenting that Microsoft's Last version of Flight Simulator had over 24,000 airports including International air force bases... nothing to rave on home about..
I guess the story doing the rounds of the Asian papers is only of significance if the investigator's analysis of the pilots Flight Simulator shows that he practiced landing at the stated airports.
Whatever the answer, I expect this development in the story to lead the news this morning.
http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/alex-massie/2014/03/yes-of-course-the-bbc-is-biased-against-you/
The BBC is big on settled will and suspicious of radicalism, no matter where that radicalism springs from. Which is why eurosceptics, libertarians, Scottish nationalists and Trotskyites each have cause to criticise the corporation and complain it is biased against them. It is.
But so, mind you, are the public.
http://documents.epo.org/projects/babylon/eponet.nsf/0/6718959917AE0B69C1257C92004EEFCD/$File/Fig_3_Applications_per_mio_inhabitants_en.jpg
Government is not to blame. Instead, what we have here is a complete failure of business management that will cost us hugely over the longer term - not just in Europe, but globally.
And it's a similar picture with international patent filings. Not one UK company in the top 50, just one UK university in the top 50 for academic institutions:
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pressroom/en/documents/pr_2014_755_a.pdf#annex1
On Tory Wars 2014, Cameron's school wouldn't matter if not for Cameron's policies. Going to a posh school and appointing your posh friends isn't an issue unless your policies are perceived to benefit other poah people to the detriment of everyone else. Its the policies that are the political issue for Cameron, his school is just a symptom.
That's all I see here: a desperation for the blame to land on the pilots. We have exceptionally little information on what occurred on this flight, and the organisations involved are feeling the heat.
It's compounded by the fact that - the search aside - the investigators have nothing else to concentrate on. They have no data on what happened on board, and so they are concentrating on investigating what they can - the passengers and especially the pilots. They will be looking for signs of illness, depression, criminal intent and blackmail. When that gets reported, it reflects badly on the pilots.
My view is still on a cockpit fire, as someone much more knowledgeable said in an article linked to last night. There has been one other nasty 777 cockpit fire, the procedures could explain why comms and other items disappeared, the erratic direction and altitude changes, and the other things we *think* went on.
Let's not smear the pilots with conjecture.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tomchiversscience/100263900/amazingly-the-left-say-the-bbc-is-biased-to-the-right-and-the-right-say-its-biased-to-the-left/
The grown-ups are finally having their say, it seems.
2 hours 2 minutes 2 seconds
2) Even if it was deliberately diverted, it;'s a jump to say they planned to land it somewhere. The few other cases of this have either been crashes (aka 9/11), suicides, or hijackings.
3) Again, it's rather a leap to say that someone wanted the plane.
I wouldn't bet against technical failure causing cascading problems. The pilots become incapacitated due to smoke or hypoxia, and the plane flies on under autopilot until the fuel runs out.
But Boeing will want another SilkAir case:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SilkAir_Flight_185
Osborne doing good job as CoE net (vs Dec 13): -6 (+14)
Who make better CoE (vs Jan 14)
Osborne: 35 (+3)
Balls: 22 (-1)
Divergence between "doing better vs year ago" for Country/Self
Better: 41/16
Same: 32/44
Worse: 22/37
http://cdn.yougov.com/cumulus_uploads/document/6weftuow4n/YG-Archive-Pol-Sun-results-170314.pdf
I’m a Charity Trustee and our Treasurer has come up with BLME as a place to park some funds. However several of us have never heard of the organisation and wonder if it’s really a good idea.
Any info gratefully received.
This should be fun, apparently paying more tax is good for productivity. Osborne is twinning himself with Hollande.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/georgeosborne/10704062/Pushing-people-into-40p-rate-makes-them-work-harder-HMRC-finds.html
Oh dear, wannabe politician Eddie Izzard’s track record of always being on the losing side does not bode well for the ‘NO’ campaign – After Izzard’s disastrous YES2AV, YES3EURO & YES2Ken campaigns, will he finally get the ‘YES’ vote he doesn’t actually want..?
http://news.sky.com/story/1227581/eddie-izzard-joins-scottish-referendum-debate
If money available for tax cuts, which would you prefer:
Increase personal allowance: 66
Increase 40% threshold: 13
Even in the area with greatest support for increasing the 40% threshold increase (London) support is still 2:1 in favour of the personal allowance.
Perfect, something new irrelevant for Tory back benchers to bang on about.
Better still make that not leave ever.
However ARSE is a traditional outfit who feels that the squalid dash for cash is completely foreign to the nature of the beast.
1 hour 8 minutes 30 seconds
The new and improved "old man methane" projection will be accompanied by a lavish illustration of the intense 'scientific' methodology employed for all to draw their own conclusions from.
(FWIW, the management company for our block of flats splits between Metro (higher interest, but offset by Vernon Hill knowing what he's doing) and Barclays (convenient location)
Chance of Yes: Zero
Chance of No: 100%
Chance of Salmond shouting foul - 200%
Chance of Yes: Faaaaaaaaaart.
Chance of No: Faaaaaaaaaart.
Chance of PB tories shouting foul - Parp!
"Has JackW's ARSE been rear ended by Mick_Pork ?"
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/benedictbrogan/100264079/scotlands-independence-referendum-could-be-a-dry-run-for-a-euro-inout-vote-in-2017/
In the absense of any methodology or explanation whatsoever from JackW for his numbers readers of PB will find the exculsive sneak peak behind his methodology for this and all forthcoming JackARSE projections very revealing indeed. Not to mention amusing.