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This explains so much – politicalbetting.com

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  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,499
    edited 5:19PM
    New idea for how to store energy.

    "How a sand battery could transform clean energy"

    https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20221102-how-a-sand-battery-could-transform-clean-energy

    "A very Finnish thing’: Big sand battery to store wind and solar energy using crushed soapstone"

    https://www.euronews.com/green/2024/03/10/sand-batteries-could-be-key-breakthrough-in-storing-solar-and-wind-energy-year-round
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,404
    Nigelb said:

    If UK bill payers are about to be forced to fund this infrastructure spending (which seems likely), then we shouldn't have to bail out the effectively bankrupt company's shareholders (largely overseas).
    We should own it.

    Thames Water supply ‘on knife-edge’ with £23bn repairs needed
    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/nov/17/thames-water-supply-knife-edge-23bn-repairs-needed

    Confiscatory nationalisation. Would put the fear of God into the other moneygrubbers, too.
  • PhilPhil Posts: 2,254

    algarkirk said:

    DavidL said:

    HYUFD said:

    Will Hutton makes a good argument for the changes to farming death duties in The Observer. I hadn't realised Thatcher had introduced it in 1984. So long as the wealthy prioritise and are incentivised to prioritise land ownership we will be a country in decline.

    Most farmers aren't wealthy but income poor even if asset rich
    Hutton's argument is that they can sell off part of the farm. It might even depress land values.
    They have loads of options. Gift slices of the farm to their inheritors every 7 years and they need pay nothing at all.
    The most obvious way to do this is by means of a partnership through which the capital can be transferred from one generation to the next over time whilst regulating the shares of profits (or losses) to reflect the work actually done on the farm.
    There is a group with no obvious options: very old farmers who have held on to ownership, correctly under the exisiting law, and who won't have 7 years to rectify and rearrange. They should receive special treatment.

    The slightly odd thing is that the government is sticking to the plan, suggesting that very few are affected because of exemptions, (that therefore it will raise little cash), but that the economy requires this change. This does its image little good at the very moment it holds rural seats for the first time in ages.
    Slightly odd? Or just very very stupid?
    A policy change does not have to raise ££ to be the right thing. Eliminating the IHT loophole for agricultural land will (ceteris paribus) make it cheaper, something actual farmers who want to farm should surely welcome?

    If farmers want to find people to blame, perhaps they ought to turn their attention to the wealthy individuals who bought up vast tracts of land in order to pass their wealth onto their heirs tax free?
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,404
    Andy_JS said:

    New idea for how to store energy.

    "How a sand battery could transform clean energy"

    https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20221102-how-a-sand-battery-could-transform-clean-energy

    "A very Finnish thing’: Big sand battery to store wind and solar energy using crushed soapstone"

    https://www.euronews.com/green/2024/03/10/sand-batteries-could-be-key-breakthrough-in-storing-solar-and-wind-energy-year-round

    Southport Council could make a fortune!
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,073
    oooh that was a yellow. Lucky Wales
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,499
    "Paedophile who sexually assaulted stepdaughter allowed to stay in UK under ECHR rules
    Kicking sex offender from Democratic Republic of Congo out of Scotland would affect his ‘family life’, tribunal says"

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/17/paedophile-echr-asylum-seeker-deported-glasgow-scotland/
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,353
    ...

    Leon said:

    When did they rename it the Principality Stadium? Annoying change

    I don't like change

    About 10 years ago....and of course we no longer have Twickers, its the Allianz...
    It will forever be Billy Williams's cabbage patch to some of us.

    See, even back in 1909 farmers were selling their land for redevelopment...
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,075

    Nigelb said:

    If UK bill payers are about to be forced to fund this infrastructure spending (which seems likely), then we shouldn't have to bail out the effectively bankrupt company's shareholders (largely overseas).
    We should own it.

    Thames Water supply ‘on knife-edge’ with £23bn repairs needed
    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/nov/17/thames-water-supply-knife-edge-23bn-repairs-needed

    Confiscatory nationalisation. Would put the fear of God into the other moneygrubbers, too.
    It wouldn’t necessarily be confiscatory, or indeed, a nationalisation.

    If Thames Water (meaning the structure of companies owning it as well) goes bust, then the shareholders and bond holders take a bath.

    The important thing is to make sure suppliers are paid - the government could guarantee loans for that specific purpose, with a nice interest rate. Without the debt mountain, Thames Water is a profitable business, and could easily pay back such loans.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,073
    Andy_JS said:

    "Paedophile who sexually assaulted stepdaughter allowed to stay in UK under ECHR rules
    Kicking sex offender from Democratic Republic of Congo out of Scotland would affect his ‘family life’, tribunal says"

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/17/paedophile-echr-asylum-seeker-deported-glasgow-scotland/

    And still people say we must stay in the ECHR. I despair
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,075
    Andy_JS said:

    New idea for how to store energy.

    "How a sand battery could transform clean energy"

    https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20221102-how-a-sand-battery-could-transform-clean-energy

    "A very Finnish thing’: Big sand battery to store wind and solar energy using crushed soapstone"

    https://www.euronews.com/green/2024/03/10/sand-batteries-could-be-key-breakthrough-in-storing-solar-and-wind-energy-year-round

    It’s actually a very old idea. The big problem is the intensity of the heat (hot water) you get back from the giant storage heater. Good for a district heating solution, but not hot enough to power a system to turn it back into lecture efficiently. Probably.
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 28,356
    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    Clearly I am not going to say anything specific, but TwiX today is full of extraordinary rumours. So much so, I have non-political friends whatsapping me and saying "is this true? What do you know???"

    They think that as I am mildly connected I have some further details. I do not. Wish I did!

    I do - it's all nonsense.
    I'd be surprised if you know more than me, and I only know 5% of what is a known unknown, what about the unknown unknown and how does this fit in with the Anglesey Situation, and the involvement of the Argentine?
    Gabriella Sabatini?
  • eekeek Posts: 28,302
    edited 5:33PM
    Andy_JS said:

    "Paedophile who sexually assaulted stepdaughter allowed to stay in UK under ECHR rules
    Kicking sex offender from Democratic Republic of Congo out of Scotland would affect his ‘family life’, tribunal says"

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/17/paedophile-echr-asylum-seeker-deported-glasgow-scotland/

    You seem to have missed the full article because the Home Office appealed and it seems the Judge missed half the facts - so let's post the last two paragraphs....

    The Home Secretary won an appeal against the ruling, in part because the interests of the stepdaughter had not been considered in an independent social work report that was crucial to allowing the original appeal.

    It was also found that the potential risk MD might pose to his own children had not been taken into account. A new hearing is expected to take place this month.

  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,073
    Jeez Wales being crushed by 14 men
  • eekeek Posts: 28,302
    Phil said:

    algarkirk said:

    DavidL said:

    HYUFD said:

    Will Hutton makes a good argument for the changes to farming death duties in The Observer. I hadn't realised Thatcher had introduced it in 1984. So long as the wealthy prioritise and are incentivised to prioritise land ownership we will be a country in decline.

    Most farmers aren't wealthy but income poor even if asset rich
    Hutton's argument is that they can sell off part of the farm. It might even depress land values.
    They have loads of options. Gift slices of the farm to their inheritors every 7 years and they need pay nothing at all.
    The most obvious way to do this is by means of a partnership through which the capital can be transferred from one generation to the next over time whilst regulating the shares of profits (or losses) to reflect the work actually done on the farm.
    There is a group with no obvious options: very old farmers who have held on to ownership, correctly under the exisiting law, and who won't have 7 years to rectify and rearrange. They should receive special treatment.

    The slightly odd thing is that the government is sticking to the plan, suggesting that very few are affected because of exemptions, (that therefore it will raise little cash), but that the economy requires this change. This does its image little good at the very moment it holds rural seats for the first time in ages.
    Slightly odd? Or just very very stupid?
    A policy change does not have to raise ££ to be the right thing. Eliminating the IHT loophole for agricultural land will (ceteris paribus) make it cheaper, something actual farmers who want to farm should surely welcome?

    If farmers want to find people to blame, perhaps they ought to turn their attention to the wealthy individuals who bought up vast tracts of land in order to pass their wealth onto their heirs tax free?
    IR35 is the result of companies trying to avoid paying workers via PAYE - I've been subject to the badly thought through consequences of it for most of the past 24 years...
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,737
    eek said:

    HYUFD said:

    Will Hutton makes a good argument for the changes to farming death duties in The Observer. I hadn't realised Thatcher had introduced it in 1984. So long as the wealthy prioritise and are incentivised to prioritise land ownership we will be a country in decline.

    Most farmers aren't wealthy but income poor even if asset rich
    Hutton's argument is that they can sell off part of the farm. It might even depress land values.
    They have loads of options. Gift slices of the farm to their inheritors every 7 years and they need pay nothing at all.
    They need to pay an annual market rent on the gifted property otherwise it is a gift with reservation which doesn’t work for IHT
    Set up a trust...
    There are changes occurring there as well - so probably not the best advice.
    Do we know yet (small print in the Budget) or are they coming down the line, please?
  • felixfelix Posts: 15,164

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    Clearly I am not going to say anything specific, but TwiX today is full of extraordinary rumours. So much so, I have non-political friends whatsapping me and saying "is this true? What do you know???"

    They think that as I am mildly connected I have some further details. I do not. Wish I did!

    I do - it's all nonsense.
    I'd be surprised if you know more than me, and I only know 5% of what is a known unknown, what about the unknown unknown and how does this fit in with the Anglesey Situation, and the involvement of the Argentine?
    Gabriella Sabatini?
    The net draws in...
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,073
    eek said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Paedophile who sexually assaulted stepdaughter allowed to stay in UK under ECHR rules
    Kicking sex offender from Democratic Republic of Congo out of Scotland would affect his ‘family life’, tribunal says"

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/17/paedophile-echr-asylum-seeker-deported-glasgow-scotland/

    You seem to have missed the full article because the Home Office appealed and it seems the Judge missed half the facts

    The Home Secretary won an appeal against the ruling, in part because the interests of the stepdaughter had not been considered in an independent social work report that was crucial to allowing the original appeal.

    It was also found that the potential risk MD might pose to his own children had not been taken into account. A new hearing is expected to take place this month.

    Once a foreigner is convicted of a crime as evil as this - murder, rape, terrorism, child abuse - lawyers should be removed from the equation. At that point, when the villain has done his time, the RAF should take over, fly the villain into the airspace of his country of origin, strap him into a parachute - then push him out of the helicopter, saying "good luck"

    Job done
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,737

    Nigelb said:

    If UK bill payers are about to be forced to fund this infrastructure spending (which seems likely), then we shouldn't have to bail out the effectively bankrupt company's shareholders (largely overseas).
    We should own it.

    Thames Water supply ‘on knife-edge’ with £23bn repairs needed
    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/nov/17/thames-water-supply-knife-edge-23bn-repairs-needed

    Confiscatory nationalisation. Would put the fear of God into the other moneygrubbers, too.
    It wouldn’t necessarily be confiscatory, or indeed, a nationalisation.

    If Thames Water (meaning the structure of companies owning it as well) goes bust, then the shareholders and bond holders take a bath.

    The important thing is to make sure suppliers are paid - the government could guarantee loans for that specific purpose, with a nice interest rate. Without the debt mountain, Thames Water is a profitable business, and could easily pay back such loans.
    But don't the same old shareholders and bondholders stay in place, unless they are expropriated? Like with Northern Rock.
  • eekeek Posts: 28,302

    ...

    Leon said:

    When did they rename it the Principality Stadium? Annoying change

    I don't like change

    About 10 years ago....and of course we no longer have Twickers, its the Allianz...
    It will forever be Billy Williams's cabbage patch to some of us.

    See, even back in 1909 farmers were selling their land for redevelopment...
    It turns out that a large part of Darlington was owned by Mrs Eek's family back in the 1850s. In fact one of the bridges on the ECML was built so the farmer could access his farm.

    The weird bit is that we moved here in 1998 and only discovered this when her uncle tracked the family tree during Covid..
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,353
    ...
    Leon said:

    eek said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Paedophile who sexually assaulted stepdaughter allowed to stay in UK under ECHR rules
    Kicking sex offender from Democratic Republic of Congo out of Scotland would affect his ‘family life’, tribunal says"

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/17/paedophile-echr-asylum-seeker-deported-glasgow-scotland/

    You seem to have missed the full article because the Home Office appealed and it seems the Judge missed half the facts

    The Home Secretary won an appeal against the ruling, in part because the interests of the stepdaughter had not been considered in an independent social work report that was crucial to allowing the original appeal.

    It was also found that the potential risk MD might pose to his own children had not been taken into account. A new hearing is expected to take place this month.

    Once a foreigner is convicted of a crime as evil as this - murder, rape, terrorism, child abuse - lawyers should be removed from the equation. At that point, when the villain has done his time, the RAF should take over, fly the villain into the airspace of his country of origin, strap him into a parachute - then push him out of the helicopter, saying "good luck"

    Job done
    Is the parachute absolutely necessary?
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,073

    ...

    Leon said:

    eek said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Paedophile who sexually assaulted stepdaughter allowed to stay in UK under ECHR rules
    Kicking sex offender from Democratic Republic of Congo out of Scotland would affect his ‘family life’, tribunal says"

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/17/paedophile-echr-asylum-seeker-deported-glasgow-scotland/

    You seem to have missed the full article because the Home Office appealed and it seems the Judge missed half the facts

    The Home Secretary won an appeal against the ruling, in part because the interests of the stepdaughter had not been considered in an independent social work report that was crucial to allowing the original appeal.

    It was also found that the potential risk MD might pose to his own children had not been taken into account. A new hearing is expected to take place this month.

    Once a foreigner is convicted of a crime as evil as this - murder, rape, terrorism, child abuse - lawyers should be removed from the equation. At that point, when the villain has done his time, the RAF should take over, fly the villain into the airspace of his country of origin, strap him into a parachute - then push him out of the helicopter, saying "good luck"

    Job done
    Is the parachute absolutely necessary?
    You may well ask that question; I have no desire to be banned
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 70,941

    Andy_JS said:

    New idea for how to store energy.

    "How a sand battery could transform clean energy"

    https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20221102-how-a-sand-battery-could-transform-clean-energy

    "A very Finnish thing’: Big sand battery to store wind and solar energy using crushed soapstone"

    https://www.euronews.com/green/2024/03/10/sand-batteries-could-be-key-breakthrough-in-storing-solar-and-wind-energy-year-round

    It’s actually a very old idea. The big problem is the intensity of the heat (hot water) you get back from the giant storage heater. Good for a district heating solution, but not hot enough to power a system to turn it back into lecture efficiently. Probably.
    Heating, though, is quite a big part of our winter energy demand.
    And this is a pretty cheap system to set up, and maintain.

    600degC is also quite a bit hotter than your usual storage heater.

    I wonder if you combined it with a liquid air storage system, you could efficiently generate electricity ?
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,353
    Leon said:

    ...

    Leon said:

    eek said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Paedophile who sexually assaulted stepdaughter allowed to stay in UK under ECHR rules
    Kicking sex offender from Democratic Republic of Congo out of Scotland would affect his ‘family life’, tribunal says"

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/17/paedophile-echr-asylum-seeker-deported-glasgow-scotland/

    You seem to have missed the full article because the Home Office appealed and it seems the Judge missed half the facts

    The Home Secretary won an appeal against the ruling, in part because the interests of the stepdaughter had not been considered in an independent social work report that was crucial to allowing the original appeal.

    It was also found that the potential risk MD might pose to his own children had not been taken into account. A new hearing is expected to take place this month.

    Once a foreigner is convicted of a crime as evil as this - murder, rape, terrorism, child abuse - lawyers should be removed from the equation. At that point, when the villain has done his time, the RAF should take over, fly the villain into the airspace of his country of origin, strap him into a parachute - then push him out of the helicopter, saying "good luck"

    Job done
    Is the parachute absolutely necessary?
    You may well ask that question; I have no desire to be banned
    Oh go on.
  • AlsoLeiAlsoLei Posts: 1,450
    Leon said:

    When did they rename it the Principality Stadium? Annoying change

    I don't like change

    Speaking of the Principality, when is Baldy Billy getting his investiture? Is he busy learning Welsh?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,340

    Nigelb said:

    If UK bill payers are about to be forced to fund this infrastructure spending (which seems likely), then we shouldn't have to bail out the effectively bankrupt company's shareholders (largely overseas).
    We should own it.

    Thames Water supply ‘on knife-edge’ with £23bn repairs needed
    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/nov/17/thames-water-supply-knife-edge-23bn-repairs-needed

    Confiscatory nationalisation. Would put the fear of God into the other moneygrubbers, too.
    We could just recapitalise them a la RBS.

    They have the money, the nation gets the equity. The shareholders get buggered.

    Of course the government would mismanage the process, but they would mismanage any process involving owning a national asset, so that's not a serious objection.

    The bigger objection is that it was the previous shareholders - Macquarie - who took the money and ran. It's now pension funds in the U.K. and Canada would take the hit.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 81,824
    edited 5:50PM
    England vs Ireland in the footy is about as exciting as that Mike Tyson "fight".
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,340
    edited 5:50PM

    ...

    Leon said:

    eek said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Paedophile who sexually assaulted stepdaughter allowed to stay in UK under ECHR rules
    Kicking sex offender from Democratic Republic of Congo out of Scotland would affect his ‘family life’, tribunal says"

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/17/paedophile-echr-asylum-seeker-deported-glasgow-scotland/

    You seem to have missed the full article because the Home Office appealed and it seems the Judge missed half the facts

    The Home Secretary won an appeal against the ruling, in part because the interests of the stepdaughter had not been considered in an independent social work report that was crucial to allowing the original appeal.

    It was also found that the potential risk MD might pose to his own children had not been taken into account. A new hearing is expected to take place this month.

    Once a foreigner is convicted of a crime as evil as this - murder, rape, terrorism, child abuse - lawyers should be removed from the equation. At that point, when the villain has done his time, the RAF should take over, fly the villain into the airspace of his country of origin, strap him into a parachute - then push him out of the helicopter, saying "good luck"

    Job done
    Is the parachute absolutely necessary?
    We could compromise - give them the economy version that opens on impact?
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,073

    England vs Ireland in the footy is about as exciting as that Mike Tyson "fight".

    Apparently GSTK was booed at the beginning? Is it the Paddies getting lairy?
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 81,824
    edited 5:53PM
    Leon said:

    England vs Ireland in the footy is about as exciting as that Mike Tyson "fight".

    Apparently GSTK was booed at the beginning? Is it the Paddies getting lairy?
    I assume the plod will be chasing these people down and charging them with a non-crime hate incident.....no?
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,075
    eek said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Paedophile who sexually assaulted stepdaughter allowed to stay in UK under ECHR rules
    Kicking sex offender from Democratic Republic of Congo out of Scotland would affect his ‘family life’, tribunal says"

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/17/paedophile-echr-asylum-seeker-deported-glasgow-scotland/

    You seem to have missed the full article because the Home Office appealed and it seems the Judge missed half the facts - so let's post the last two paragraphs....

    The Home Secretary won an appeal against the ruling, in part because the interests of the stepdaughter had not been considered in an independent social work report that was crucial to allowing the original appeal.

    It was also found that the potential risk MD might pose to his own children had not been taken into account. A new hearing is expected to take place this month.

    Process State -

    A lengthy, involved, intricate process was undertaken, by trained experts, to assess the future disposition of a convicted pedophile. It was decided to return the criminal to his family.

    The danger that the criminal posed to the victim and other children in the family was left out. Of the lengthy, complex and detailed assessment.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,073

    eek said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Paedophile who sexually assaulted stepdaughter allowed to stay in UK under ECHR rules
    Kicking sex offender from Democratic Republic of Congo out of Scotland would affect his ‘family life’, tribunal says"

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/17/paedophile-echr-asylum-seeker-deported-glasgow-scotland/

    You seem to have missed the full article because the Home Office appealed and it seems the Judge missed half the facts - so let's post the last two paragraphs....

    The Home Secretary won an appeal against the ruling, in part because the interests of the stepdaughter had not been considered in an independent social work report that was crucial to allowing the original appeal.

    It was also found that the potential risk MD might pose to his own children had not been taken into account. A new hearing is expected to take place this month.

    Process State -

    A lengthy, involved, intricate process was undertaken, by trained experts, to assess the future disposition of a convicted pedophile. It was decided to return the criminal to his family.

    The danger that the criminal posed to the victim and other children in the family was left out. Of the lengthy, complex and detailed assessment.
    Indeed. It defies belief
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,075
    Nigelb said:

    Andy_JS said:

    New idea for how to store energy.

    "How a sand battery could transform clean energy"

    https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20221102-how-a-sand-battery-could-transform-clean-energy

    "A very Finnish thing’: Big sand battery to store wind and solar energy using crushed soapstone"

    https://www.euronews.com/green/2024/03/10/sand-batteries-could-be-key-breakthrough-in-storing-solar-and-wind-energy-year-round

    It’s actually a very old idea. The big problem is the intensity of the heat (hot water) you get back from the giant storage heater. Good for a district heating solution, but not hot enough to power a system to turn it back into lecture efficiently. Probably.
    Heating, though, is quite a big part of our winter energy demand.
    And this is a pretty cheap system to set up, and maintain.

    600degC is also quite a bit hotter than your usual storage heater.

    I wonder if you combined it with a liquid air storage system, you could efficiently generate electricity ?
    Ideas have been tried like this in the past. Thermal cycling tends to result in non trivial maintenance requirements. It may work - the devil is in the operational details.

    Liquid air is a terrible way to store energy.
  • eekeek Posts: 28,302

    eek said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Paedophile who sexually assaulted stepdaughter allowed to stay in UK under ECHR rules
    Kicking sex offender from Democratic Republic of Congo out of Scotland would affect his ‘family life’, tribunal says"

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/17/paedophile-echr-asylum-seeker-deported-glasgow-scotland/

    You seem to have missed the full article because the Home Office appealed and it seems the Judge missed half the facts - so let's post the last two paragraphs....

    The Home Secretary won an appeal against the ruling, in part because the interests of the stepdaughter had not been considered in an independent social work report that was crucial to allowing the original appeal.

    It was also found that the potential risk MD might pose to his own children had not been taken into account. A new hearing is expected to take place this month.

    Process State -

    A lengthy, involved, intricate process was undertaken, by trained experts, to assess the future disposition of a convicted pedophile. It was decided to return the criminal to his family.

    The danger that the criminal posed to the victim and other children in the family was left out. Of the lengthy, complex and detailed assessment.
    I'm just going for grade A incompetency somewhere within the court case...
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,073
    Christ, an absolute hammering for Wales

    Australia are genuinely good

    Wales are genuinely bad
  • https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/16/stroke-middle-aged-50s-warning-nhs/

    The only growth we can realistically expect in the uk is ill health now it seems..🧐🥴
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,075
    Leon said:

    eek said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Paedophile who sexually assaulted stepdaughter allowed to stay in UK under ECHR rules
    Kicking sex offender from Democratic Republic of Congo out of Scotland would affect his ‘family life’, tribunal says"

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/17/paedophile-echr-asylum-seeker-deported-glasgow-scotland/

    You seem to have missed the full article because the Home Office appealed and it seems the Judge missed half the facts - so let's post the last two paragraphs....

    The Home Secretary won an appeal against the ruling, in part because the interests of the stepdaughter had not been considered in an independent social work report that was crucial to allowing the original appeal.

    It was also found that the potential risk MD might pose to his own children had not been taken into account. A new hearing is expected to take place this month.

    Process State -

    A lengthy, involved, intricate process was undertaken, by trained experts, to assess the future disposition of a convicted pedophile. It was decided to return the criminal to his family.

    The danger that the criminal posed to the victim and other children in the family was left out. Of the lengthy, complex and detailed assessment.
    Indeed. It defies belief
    Almost inconceivable.


  • Alphabet_SoupAlphabet_Soup Posts: 3,230
    eek said:

    ...

    Leon said:

    When did they rename it the Principality Stadium? Annoying change

    I don't like change

    About 10 years ago....and of course we no longer have Twickers, its the Allianz...
    It will forever be Billy Williams's cabbage patch to some of us.

    See, even back in 1909 farmers were selling their land for redevelopment...
    It turns out that a large part of Darlington was owned by Mrs Eek's family back in the 1850s. In fact one of the bridges on the ECML was built so the farmer could access his farm.

    The weird bit is that we moved here in 1998 and only discovered this when her uncle tracked the family tree during Covid..
    On canals, and probably railways too, such structures are called 'accommodation bridges', not because they are comfortable places to live but because their purpose is to 'accommodate' a landowner who might have pasture one one side and a milking parlour on the other.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,075
    ydoethur said:

    ...

    Leon said:

    eek said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Paedophile who sexually assaulted stepdaughter allowed to stay in UK under ECHR rules
    Kicking sex offender from Democratic Republic of Congo out of Scotland would affect his ‘family life’, tribunal says"

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/17/paedophile-echr-asylum-seeker-deported-glasgow-scotland/

    You seem to have missed the full article because the Home Office appealed and it seems the Judge missed half the facts

    The Home Secretary won an appeal against the ruling, in part because the interests of the stepdaughter had not been considered in an independent social work report that was crucial to allowing the original appeal.

    It was also found that the potential risk MD might pose to his own children had not been taken into account. A new hearing is expected to take place this month.

    Once a foreigner is convicted of a crime as evil as this - murder, rape, terrorism, child abuse - lawyers should be removed from the equation. At that point, when the villain has done his time, the RAF should take over, fly the villain into the airspace of his country of origin, strap him into a parachute - then push him out of the helicopter, saying "good luck"

    Job done
    Is the parachute absolutely necessary?
    We could compromise - give them the economy version that opens on impact?
    What about the system for devolving cargo to hazardous areas? A C130 (or similar) skims the ground - nearly touching down. A drag chute (small parachute) pull a pallet out of the open rear cargo door.

    If it all goes right, the cargo is intact.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,075
    ydoethur said:

    Nigelb said:

    If UK bill payers are about to be forced to fund this infrastructure spending (which seems likely), then we shouldn't have to bail out the effectively bankrupt company's shareholders (largely overseas).
    We should own it.

    Thames Water supply ‘on knife-edge’ with £23bn repairs needed
    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/nov/17/thames-water-supply-knife-edge-23bn-repairs-needed

    Confiscatory nationalisation. Would put the fear of God into the other moneygrubbers, too.
    We could just recapitalise them a la RBS.

    They have the money, the nation gets the equity. The shareholders get buggered.

    Of course the government would mismanage the process, but they would mismanage any process involving owning a national asset, so that's not a serious objection.

    The bigger objection is that it was the previous shareholders - Macquarie - who took the money and ran. It's now pension funds in the U.K. and Canada would take the hit.
    It would still be a useful lesson, if people were less eager to buy financialised companies, in future.

  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,073
    Wow. Wales crushed
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,340

    ydoethur said:

    Nigelb said:

    If UK bill payers are about to be forced to fund this infrastructure spending (which seems likely), then we shouldn't have to bail out the effectively bankrupt company's shareholders (largely overseas).
    We should own it.

    Thames Water supply ‘on knife-edge’ with £23bn repairs needed
    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/nov/17/thames-water-supply-knife-edge-23bn-repairs-needed

    Confiscatory nationalisation. Would put the fear of God into the other moneygrubbers, too.
    We could just recapitalise them a la RBS.

    They have the money, the nation gets the equity. The shareholders get buggered.

    Of course the government would mismanage the process, but they would mismanage any process involving owning a national asset, so that's not a serious objection.

    The bigger objection is that it was the previous shareholders - Macquarie - who took the money and ran. It's now pension funds in the U.K. and Canada would take the hit.
    It would still be a useful lesson, if people were less eager to buy financialised companies, in future.

    Or if some pension fund managers got the sack, but that wouldn't happen either.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,353
    Leon said:

    Christ, an absolute hammering for Wales

    Australia are genuinely good

    Wales are genuinely bad

    Don't panic. Four converted tries in two minutes will see us over the line.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,485

    eek said:

    ...

    Leon said:

    When did they rename it the Principality Stadium? Annoying change

    I don't like change

    About 10 years ago....and of course we no longer have Twickers, its the Allianz...
    It will forever be Billy Williams's cabbage patch to some of us.

    See, even back in 1909 farmers were selling their land for redevelopment...
    It turns out that a large part of Darlington was owned by Mrs Eek's family back in the 1850s. In fact one of the bridges on the ECML was built so the farmer could access his farm.

    The weird bit is that we moved here in 1998 and only discovered this when her uncle tracked the family tree during Covid..
    On canals, and probably railways too, such structures are called 'accommodation bridges', not because they are comfortable places to live but because their purpose is to 'accommodate' a landowner who might have pasture one one side and a milking parlour on the other.
    I quite like low bridges called 'cattle creeps'. A couple I know would have trouble letting a cow through, height-wise.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,340

    Leon said:

    Christ, an absolute hammering for Wales

    Australia are genuinely good

    Wales are genuinely bad

    Don't panic. Four converted tries in two minutes will see us over the line.
    Or eight flying pigs.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,073

    Leon said:

    Christ, an absolute hammering for Wales

    Australia are genuinely good

    Wales are genuinely bad

    Don't panic. Four converted tries in two minutes will see us over the line.
    That was more like Australia versus Armenia
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,075
    eek said:

    eek said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Paedophile who sexually assaulted stepdaughter allowed to stay in UK under ECHR rules
    Kicking sex offender from Democratic Republic of Congo out of Scotland would affect his ‘family life’, tribunal says"

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/17/paedophile-echr-asylum-seeker-deported-glasgow-scotland/

    You seem to have missed the full article because the Home Office appealed and it seems the Judge missed half the facts - so let's post the last two paragraphs....

    The Home Secretary won an appeal against the ruling, in part because the interests of the stepdaughter had not been considered in an independent social work report that was crucial to allowing the original appeal.

    It was also found that the potential risk MD might pose to his own children had not been taken into account. A new hearing is expected to take place this month.

    Process State -

    A lengthy, involved, intricate process was undertaken, by trained experts, to assess the future disposition of a convicted pedophile. It was decided to return the criminal to his family.

    The danger that the criminal posed to the victim and other children in the family was left out. Of the lengthy, complex and detailed assessment.
    I'm just going for grade A incompetency somewhere within the court case...
    It does have a left-the-bolts-off-the-door-plug kind of feel to it.

    But, also, we have been told that these processes are how we get accurate, sensible results.

    See the snears at Gwen Showell for suggesting that a multi-thousand page document that doesn’t get read by anyone should be replaced by 5 pages with the actual information on it.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 41,925

    Leon said:

    England vs Ireland in the footy is about as exciting as that Mike Tyson "fight".

    Apparently GSTK was booed at the beginning? Is it the Paddies getting lairy?
    I assume the plod will be chasing these people down and charging them with a non-crime hate incident.....no?
    Astounding that the opposition supporters boo the home team’s anthem, don’t think it’s ever happened before.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,737
    edited 6:12PM

    eek said:

    ...

    Leon said:

    When did they rename it the Principality Stadium? Annoying change

    I don't like change

    About 10 years ago....and of course we no longer have Twickers, its the Allianz...
    It will forever be Billy Williams's cabbage patch to some of us.

    See, even back in 1909 farmers were selling their land for redevelopment...
    It turns out that a large part of Darlington was owned by Mrs Eek's family back in the 1850s. In fact one of the bridges on the ECML was built so the farmer could access his farm.

    The weird bit is that we moved here in 1998 and only discovered this when her uncle tracked the family tree during Covid..
    On canals, and probably railways too, such structures are called 'accommodation bridges', not because they are comfortable places to live but because their purpose is to 'accommodate' a landowner who might have pasture one one side and a milking parlour on the other.
    I quite like low bridges called 'cattle creeps'. A couple I know would have trouble letting a cow through, height-wise.
    I looked that up and came across this one at Wolverton, under a canal - hate to think what @MattW would think of a path being led through it.


    But the 'accommodation crossings' - private level crossings, effectively, for the farmer - were also possible on railways for the obvious reason why they often aren't on a canal. Now regarded as a major safety issue, or perhaps cost issue, I believe.
    ydoethur said:

    Carnyx said:

    eek said:

    ...

    Leon said:

    When did they rename it the Principality Stadium? Annoying change

    I don't like change

    About 10 years ago....and of course we no longer have Twickers, its the Allianz...
    It will forever be Billy Williams's cabbage patch to some of us.

    See, even back in 1909 farmers were selling their land for redevelopment...
    It turns out that a large part of Darlington was owned by Mrs Eek's family back in the 1850s. In fact one of the bridges on the ECML was built so the farmer could access his farm.

    The weird bit is that we moved here in 1998 and only discovered this when her uncle tracked the family tree during Covid..
    On canals, and probably railways too, such structures are called 'accommodation bridges', not because they are comfortable places to live but because their purpose is to 'accommodate' a landowner who might have pasture one one side and a milking parlour on the other.
    I quite like low bridges called 'cattle creeps'. A couple I know would have trouble letting a cow through, height-wise.
    I looked that up and came across this one at Wolverton, under a canal - hate to think what @MattW would think of a path being led through it.

    Snip

    But the 'accommodation crossings' - private level crossings, effectively, for the farmer - were also possible on railways for the obvious reason why they often aren't on a canal. Now regarded as a major safety issue, or perhaps cost issue, I believe.
    Was that the right link @Carnyx ?
    No; thank you.
  • eekeek Posts: 28,302

    eek said:

    ...

    Leon said:

    When did they rename it the Principality Stadium? Annoying change

    I don't like change

    About 10 years ago....and of course we no longer have Twickers, its the Allianz...
    It will forever be Billy Williams's cabbage patch to some of us.

    See, even back in 1909 farmers were selling their land for redevelopment...
    It turns out that a large part of Darlington was owned by Mrs Eek's family back in the 1850s. In fact one of the bridges on the ECML was built so the farmer could access his farm.

    The weird bit is that we moved here in 1998 and only discovered this when her uncle tracked the family tree during Covid..
    On canals, and probably railways too, such structures are called 'accommodation bridges', not because they are comfortable places to live but because their purpose is to 'accommodate' a landowner who might have pasture one one side and a milking parlour on the other.
    Shall we just say it's still in use and it's not wide enough for most modern cars. In fact we have friends who have damaged their car driving through it (from what I've heard a lost wing mirror is a daily occurrence)..
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,353
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Christ, an absolute hammering for Wales

    Australia are genuinely good

    Wales are genuinely bad

    Don't panic. Four converted tries in two minutes will see us over the line.
    That was more like Australia versus Armenia
    Have you got Shaun Edwards's phone number?
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,073
    Still, Wales can look forward with confidence, they've got South Africa next week
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,340
    Carnyx said:

    eek said:

    ...

    Leon said:

    When did they rename it the Principality Stadium? Annoying change

    I don't like change

    About 10 years ago....and of course we no longer have Twickers, its the Allianz...
    It will forever be Billy Williams's cabbage patch to some of us.

    See, even back in 1909 farmers were selling their land for redevelopment...
    It turns out that a large part of Darlington was owned by Mrs Eek's family back in the 1850s. In fact one of the bridges on the ECML was built so the farmer could access his farm.

    The weird bit is that we moved here in 1998 and only discovered this when her uncle tracked the family tree during Covid..
    On canals, and probably railways too, such structures are called 'accommodation bridges', not because they are comfortable places to live but because their purpose is to 'accommodate' a landowner who might have pasture one one side and a milking parlour on the other.
    I quite like low bridges called 'cattle creeps'. A couple I know would have trouble letting a cow through, height-wise.
    I looked that up and came across this one at Wolverton, under a canal - hate to think what @MattW would think of a path being led through it.

    Snip

    But the 'accommodation crossings' - private level crossings, effectively, for the farmer - were also possible on railways for the obvious reason why they often aren't on a canal. Now regarded as a major safety issue, or perhaps cost issue, I believe.
    Was that the right link @Carnyx ?
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,073

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Christ, an absolute hammering for Wales

    Australia are genuinely good

    Wales are genuinely bad

    Don't panic. Four converted tries in two minutes will see us over the line.
    That was more like Australia versus Armenia
    Have you got Shaun Edwards's phone number?
    The only consolation for you Taffs is that England are nearly as bad
  • TazTaz Posts: 14,329
    Leon said:

    Wow. Wales crushed

    Oh dear

    How sad

    Never mind
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,737
    edited 6:15PM
    ydoethur said:

    Carnyx said:

    eek said:

    ...

    Leon said:

    When did they rename it the Principality Stadium? Annoying change

    I don't like change

    About 10 years ago....and of course we no longer have Twickers, its the Allianz...
    It will forever be Billy Williams's cabbage patch to some of us.

    See, even back in 1909 farmers were selling their land for redevelopment...
    It turns out that a large part of Darlington was owned by Mrs Eek's family back in the 1850s. In fact one of the bridges on the ECML was built so the farmer could access his farm.

    The weird bit is that we moved here in 1998 and only discovered this when her uncle tracked the family tree during Covid..
    On canals, and probably railways too, such structures are called 'accommodation bridges', not because they are comfortable places to live but because their purpose is to 'accommodate' a landowner who might have pasture one one side and a milking parlour on the other.
    I quite like low bridges called 'cattle creeps'. A couple I know would have trouble letting a cow through, height-wise.
    I looked that up and came across this one at Wolverton, under a canal - hate to think what @MattW would think of a path being led through it.

    Snip

    But the 'accommodation crossings' - private level crossings, effectively, for the farmer - were also possible on railways for the obvious reason why they often aren't on a canal. Now regarded as a major safety issue, or perhaps cost issue, I believe.
    Was that the right link @Carnyx ?
    No; original site deleted, nothing sensitive but even so.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,353
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Christ, an absolute hammering for Wales

    Australia are genuinely good

    Wales are genuinely bad

    Don't panic. Four converted tries in two minutes will see us over the line.
    That was more like Australia versus Armenia
    Have you got Shaun Edwards's phone number?
    The only consolation for you Taffs is that England are nearly as bad
    England really aren't that bad. Gatland without Edwards is like Robin without Batman.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,737
    Carnyx said:

    eek said:

    ...

    Leon said:

    When did they rename it the Principality Stadium? Annoying change

    I don't like change

    About 10 years ago....and of course we no longer have Twickers, its the Allianz...
    It will forever be Billy Williams's cabbage patch to some of us.

    See, even back in 1909 farmers were selling their land for redevelopment...
    It turns out that a large part of Darlington was owned by Mrs Eek's family back in the 1850s. In fact one of the bridges on the ECML was built so the farmer could access his farm.

    The weird bit is that we moved here in 1998 and only discovered this when her uncle tracked the family tree during Covid..
    On canals, and probably railways too, such structures are called 'accommodation bridges', not because they are comfortable places to live but because their purpose is to 'accommodate' a landowner who might have pasture one one side and a milking parlour on the other.
    I quite like low bridges called 'cattle creeps'. A couple I know would have trouble letting a cow through, height-wise.
    I looked that up and came across this one at Wolverton, under a canal - hate to think what @MattW would think of a path being led through it.


    But the 'accommodation crossings' - private level crossings, effectively, for the farmer - were also possible on railways for the obvious reason why they often aren't on a canal. Now regarded as a major safety issue, or perhaps cost issue, I believe.
    ydoethur said:

    Carnyx said:

    eek said:

    ...

    Leon said:

    When did they rename it the Principality Stadium? Annoying change

    I don't like change

    About 10 years ago....and of course we no longer have Twickers, its the Allianz...
    It will forever be Billy Williams's cabbage patch to some of us.

    See, even back in 1909 farmers were selling their land for redevelopment...
    It turns out that a large part of Darlington was owned by Mrs Eek's family back in the 1850s. In fact one of the bridges on the ECML was built so the farmer could access his farm.

    The weird bit is that we moved here in 1998 and only discovered this when her uncle tracked the family tree during Covid..
    On canals, and probably railways too, such structures are called 'accommodation bridges', not because they are comfortable places to live but because their purpose is to 'accommodate' a landowner who might have pasture one one side and a milking parlour on the other.
    I quite like low bridges called 'cattle creeps'. A couple I know would have trouble letting a cow through, height-wise.
    I looked that up and came across this one at Wolverton, under a canal - hate to think what @MattW would think of a path being led through it.

    Snip

    But the 'accommodation crossings' - private level crossings, effectively, for the farmer - were also possible on railways for the obvious reason why they often aren't on a canal. Now regarded as a major safety issue, or perhaps cost issue, I believe.
    Was that the right link @Carnyx ?
    No; thank you.
    Correct linky: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtMpNXV-Koo
  • BlancheLivermoreBlancheLivermore Posts: 5,888
    Are there many countries that secretly make it illegal to say certain things about the PM?
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,353
    Taz said:

    Leon said:

    Wow. Wales crushed

    Oh dear

    How sad

    Never mind
    Windsor Davies would never have conceded that. Have you never seen Grand Slam?
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 27,776
    edited 6:20PM

    England vs Ireland in the footy is about as exciting as that Mike Tyson "fight".

    You were saying? England 3 – 0 Ireland.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,340
    Carnyx said:

    ydoethur said:

    Carnyx said:

    eek said:

    ...

    Leon said:

    When did they rename it the Principality Stadium? Annoying change

    I don't like change

    About 10 years ago....and of course we no longer have Twickers, its the Allianz...
    It will forever be Billy Williams's cabbage patch to some of us.

    See, even back in 1909 farmers were selling their land for redevelopment...
    It turns out that a large part of Darlington was owned by Mrs Eek's family back in the 1850s. In fact one of the bridges on the ECML was built so the farmer could access his farm.

    The weird bit is that we moved here in 1998 and only discovered this when her uncle tracked the family tree during Covid..
    On canals, and probably railways too, such structures are called 'accommodation bridges', not because they are comfortable places to live but because their purpose is to 'accommodate' a landowner who might have pasture one one side and a milking parlour on the other.
    I quite like low bridges called 'cattle creeps'. A couple I know would have trouble letting a cow through, height-wise.
    I looked that up and came across this one at Wolverton, under a canal - hate to think what @MattW would think of a path being led through it.

    Snip

    But the 'accommodation crossings' - private level crossings, effectively, for the farmer - were also possible on railways for the obvious reason why they often aren't on a canal. Now regarded as a major safety issue, or perhaps cost issue, I believe.
    Was that the right link @Carnyx ?
    No; original site deleted, nothing sensitive but even so.
    Shouldn’t worry too much in that case. We’ve all done it at some time.

    Think I’ve found the photo of the Wolverley creep and do see your point!
  • BlancheLivermoreBlancheLivermore Posts: 5,888
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Christ, an absolute hammering for Wales

    Australia are genuinely good

    Wales are genuinely bad

    Don't panic. Four converted tries in two minutes will see us over the line.
    That was more like Australia versus Armenia
    Have you got Shaun Edwards's phone number?
    The only consolation for you Taffs is that England are nearly as bad
    We gave Oz, NZ and SA really tough games

    Wales lost to Fiji
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,073

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Christ, an absolute hammering for Wales

    Australia are genuinely good

    Wales are genuinely bad

    Don't panic. Four converted tries in two minutes will see us over the line.
    That was more like Australia versus Armenia
    Have you got Shaun Edwards's phone number?
    The only consolation for you Taffs is that England are nearly as bad
    England really aren't that bad. Gatland without Edwards is like Robin without Batman.
    England are bad in a different way. They have plenty of talent but the coaching is so dire they play like a team at least five places below in the rankings. And they are terrible chokers, and have been for years

    Wales simply don't have the talent, right now - and I feel for them. Losing their one world class player - Rees Zammit - to NFL, was a horrible blow

    Wales need to copy what Ireland did many years ago, and change their game from the grassroots up

  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,075
    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Nigelb said:

    If UK bill payers are about to be forced to fund this infrastructure spending (which seems likely), then we shouldn't have to bail out the effectively bankrupt company's shareholders (largely overseas).
    We should own it.

    Thames Water supply ‘on knife-edge’ with £23bn repairs needed
    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/nov/17/thames-water-supply-knife-edge-23bn-repairs-needed

    Confiscatory nationalisation. Would put the fear of God into the other moneygrubbers, too.
    We could just recapitalise them a la RBS.

    They have the money, the nation gets the equity. The shareholders get buggered.

    Of course the government would mismanage the process, but they would mismanage any process involving owning a national asset, so that's not a serious objection.

    The bigger objection is that it was the previous shareholders - Macquarie - who took the money and ran. It's now pension funds in the U.K. and Canada would take the hit.
    It would still be a useful lesson, if people were less eager to buy financialised companies, in future.

    Or if some pension fund managers got the sack, but that wouldn't happen either.
    You need a better kind of auditor…


    https://youtu.be/AC9SF7TOyHQ?si=1IzAN3-XwGH5bMAT
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,073

    Are there many countries that secretly make it illegal to say certain things about the PM?

    France, and Madame Macron
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,353

    Are there many countries that secretly make it illegal to say certain things about the PM?

    Any country with libel laws make it illegal to say certain things about anyone if they are libellous, and if they aren't you can test the claim in court
  • PM says he has no plans or speak to Putin in wake of Scholz call as he urges allies to “double down on shoring up support for Ukraine” and says must to that for “as long as it takes”. Here’s the exchange

    https://x.com/BethRigby/status/1858204022135558242
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,073

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Christ, an absolute hammering for Wales

    Australia are genuinely good

    Wales are genuinely bad

    Don't panic. Four converted tries in two minutes will see us over the line.
    That was more like Australia versus Armenia
    Have you got Shaun Edwards's phone number?
    The only consolation for you Taffs is that England are nearly as bad
    We gave Oz, NZ and SA really tough games

    Wales lost to Fiji
    But we lost, and we keep losing. It gets very old. Borthwick is a well-meaning fool
  • BlancheLivermoreBlancheLivermore Posts: 5,888

    Are there many countries that secretly make it illegal to say certain things about the PM?

    Any country with libel laws make it illegal to say certain things about anyone if they are libellous, and if they aren't you can test the claim in court
    That's no secret
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,088
    Andy_JS said:

    "Paedophile who sexually assaulted stepdaughter allowed to stay in UK under ECHR rules
    Kicking sex offender from Democratic Republic of Congo out of Scotland would affect his ‘family life’, tribunal says"

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/17/paedophile-echr-asylum-seeker-deported-glasgow-scotland/

    Trump still has some slots.
  • BlancheLivermoreBlancheLivermore Posts: 5,888
    edited 6:27PM
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Christ, an absolute hammering for Wales

    Australia are genuinely good

    Wales are genuinely bad

    Don't panic. Four converted tries in two minutes will see us over the line.
    That was more like Australia versus Armenia
    Have you got Shaun Edwards's phone number?
    The only consolation for you Taffs is that England are nearly as bad
    We gave Oz, NZ and SA really tough games

    Wales lost to Fiji
    But we lost, and we keep losing. It gets very old. Borthwick is a well-meaning fool
    We want a better coach, but we have bags of talent

    We should have promoted Andy Farrell before he went to Ireland
  • TazTaz Posts: 14,329

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Christ, an absolute hammering for Wales

    Australia are genuinely good

    Wales are genuinely bad

    Don't panic. Four converted tries in two minutes will see us over the line.
    That was more like Australia versus Armenia
    Have you got Shaun Edwards's phone number?
    The only consolation for you Taffs is that England are nearly as bad
    We gave Oz, NZ and SA really tough games

    Wales lost to Fiji
    A gallant loser is still a loser.
  • hamiltonacehamiltonace Posts: 660
    eek said:

    Phil said:

    algarkirk said:

    DavidL said:

    HYUFD said:

    Will Hutton makes a good argument for the changes to farming death duties in The Observer. I hadn't realised Thatcher had introduced it in 1984. So long as the wealthy prioritise and are incentivised to prioritise land ownership we will be a country in decline.

    Most farmers aren't wealthy but income poor even if asset rich
    Hutton's argument is that they can sell off part of the farm. It might even depress land values.
    They have loads of options. Gift slices of the farm to their inheritors every 7 years and they need pay nothing at all.
    The most obvious way to do this is by means of a partnership through which the capital can be transferred from one generation to the next over time whilst regulating the shares of profits (or losses) to reflect the work actually done on the farm.
    There is a group with no obvious options: very old farmers who have held on to ownership, correctly under the exisiting law, and who won't have 7 years to rectify and rearrange. They should receive special treatment.

    The slightly odd thing is that the government is sticking to the plan, suggesting that very few are affected because of exemptions, (that therefore it will raise little cash), but that the economy requires this change. This does its image little good at the very moment it holds rural seats for the first time in ages.
    Slightly odd? Or just very very stupid?
    A policy change does not have to raise ££ to be the right thing. Eliminating the IHT loophole for agricultural land will (ceteris paribus) make it cheaper, something actual farmers who want to farm should surely welcome?

    If farmers want to find people to blame, perhaps they ought to turn their attention to the wealthy individuals who bought up vast tracts of land in order to pass their wealth onto their heirs tax free?
    IR35 is the result of companies trying to avoid paying workers via PAYE - I've been subject to the badly thought through consequences of it for most of the past 24 years...
    It is not just employers NI that a company saves. There are also pension contributions, holiday pay, sick pay and redundancy pay. I would rather pay someone £200 a day self employed than employ them at £35k pa. The only people worth employing these days are young graduates.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,277
    Leon said:

    ...

    Leon said:

    eek said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Paedophile who sexually assaulted stepdaughter allowed to stay in UK under ECHR rules
    Kicking sex offender from Democratic Republic of Congo out of Scotland would affect his ‘family life’, tribunal says"

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/17/paedophile-echr-asylum-seeker-deported-glasgow-scotland/

    You seem to have missed the full article because the Home Office appealed and it seems the Judge missed half the facts

    The Home Secretary won an appeal against the ruling, in part because the interests of the stepdaughter had not been considered in an independent social work report that was crucial to allowing the original appeal.

    It was also found that the potential risk MD might pose to his own children had not been taken into account. A new hearing is expected to take place this month.

    Once a foreigner is convicted of a crime as evil as this - murder, rape, terrorism, child abuse - lawyers should be removed from the equation. At that point, when the villain has done his time, the RAF should take over, fly the villain into the airspace of his country of origin, strap him into a parachute - then push him out of the helicopter, saying "good luck"

    Job done
    Is the parachute absolutely necessary?
    You may well ask that question; I have no desire to be banned
    waste of a good parchute though
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,617

    Aaron Rupar
    @atrupar.com‬

    Make America Healthy Again lasted less than a Scaramucci

    https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3lb5y4mdqdk2m
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,075

    Are there many countries that secretly make it illegal to say certain things about the PM?

    Any country with libel laws make it illegal to say certain things about anyone if they are libellous, and if they aren't you can test the claim in court
    That's no secret
    But you aren’t allowed to say or publish The Thing. Making it a secret.

    It is often not understood that, in the US, you can be prosecuted for publishing things about people. The First Amendment protection requires that you do certain things first. It’s not an onerous test, but every now and then, an idiot does fuck up. Matt Drudge did, regarding a Whitehouse staffer, IIRC. Though in that case, the libelled individual declined to prosecute.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,516
    Huzzah.

    Breaking news: President Joe Biden has authorized Ukraine to use a powerful American long-range weapon for limited strikes inside Russia in response to North Korea’s deployment of thousands of troops to aid Moscow’s war effort, according to U.S. officials.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/11/17/ukraine-russia-north-korea-atacms/
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 51,504
    edited 6:33PM

    Huzzah.

    Breaking news: President Joe Biden has authorized Ukraine to use a powerful American long-range weapon for limited strikes inside Russia in response to North Korea’s deployment of thousands of troops to aid Moscow’s war effort, according to U.S. officials.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/11/17/ukraine-russia-north-korea-atacms/

    Wouldn’t have happened if Harris had won.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,088
    Leon said:

    eek said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Paedophile who sexually assaulted stepdaughter allowed to stay in UK under ECHR rules
    Kicking sex offender from Democratic Republic of Congo out of Scotland would affect his ‘family life’, tribunal says"

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/17/paedophile-echr-asylum-seeker-deported-glasgow-scotland/

    You seem to have missed the full article because the Home Office appealed and it seems the Judge missed half the facts

    The Home Secretary won an appeal against the ruling, in part because the interests of the stepdaughter had not been considered in an independent social work report that was crucial to allowing the original appeal.

    It was also found that the potential risk MD might pose to his own children had not been taken into account. A new hearing is expected to take place this month.

    Once a foreigner is convicted of a crime as evil as this - murder, rape, terrorism, child abuse - lawyers should be removed from the equation. At that point, when the villain has done his time, the RAF should take over, fly the villain into the airspace of his country of origin, strap him into a parachute - then push him out of the helicopter, saying "good luck"

    Job done
    Much better to be sexually abused by somebody born here.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,340
    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    eek said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Paedophile who sexually assaulted stepdaughter allowed to stay in UK under ECHR rules
    Kicking sex offender from Democratic Republic of Congo out of Scotland would affect his ‘family life’, tribunal says"

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/17/paedophile-echr-asylum-seeker-deported-glasgow-scotland/

    You seem to have missed the full article because the Home Office appealed and it seems the Judge missed half the facts

    The Home Secretary won an appeal against the ruling, in part because the interests of the stepdaughter had not been considered in an independent social work report that was crucial to allowing the original appeal.

    It was also found that the potential risk MD might pose to his own children had not been taken into account. A new hearing is expected to take place this month.

    Once a foreigner is convicted of a crime as evil as this - murder, rape, terrorism, child abuse - lawyers should be removed from the equation. At that point, when the villain has done his time, the RAF should take over, fly the villain into the airspace of his country of origin, strap him into a parachute - then push him out of the helicopter, saying "good luck"

    Job done
    Much better to be sexually abused by somebody born here.
    That would be making the punishment fit the crime, but I’m surprised to find you so punitive in matters of punishment.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,073

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Christ, an absolute hammering for Wales

    Australia are genuinely good

    Wales are genuinely bad

    Don't panic. Four converted tries in two minutes will see us over the line.
    That was more like Australia versus Armenia
    Have you got Shaun Edwards's phone number?
    The only consolation for you Taffs is that England are nearly as bad
    We gave Oz, NZ and SA really tough games

    Wales lost to Fiji
    But we lost, and we keep losing. It gets very old. Borthwick is a well-meaning fool
    We want a better coach, but we have bags of talent

    We should have promoted Andy Farrell before he went to Ireland
    Completely agree. Boot out Borthwick, give Farrell whatever it takes

    Borthwick just LOOKS like a loser. Speaks like it, acts like it, thinks like it

    He reminds me of Gareth Southgate (tho Southgate was a much cannier coach) something in him says "I never win", and you can see it. Yet he's obviously a nice guy, like Gareth S
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 53,760
    Leon said:

    England vs Ireland in the footy is about as exciting as that Mike Tyson "fight".

    Apparently GSTK was booed at the beginning? Is it the Paddies getting lairy?
    More a response to the boorish booing of the Irish anthem which came first.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,486
    Leon said:

    When did they rename it the Principality Stadium? Annoying change

    I don't like change

    Comes a point though at which the Millenium is a bit of a wanky name. Are you going to keep it, what, a thousand years? And then what?
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,499
    "Julie Burchill
    I listened to a solid week of Woman’s Hour…
    What a week of woe it was"

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/i-listened-to-a-solid-week-of-womans-hour/
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,499
    eek said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Paedophile who sexually assaulted stepdaughter allowed to stay in UK under ECHR rules
    Kicking sex offender from Democratic Republic of Congo out of Scotland would affect his ‘family life’, tribunal says"

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/17/paedophile-echr-asylum-seeker-deported-glasgow-scotland/

    You seem to have missed the full article because the Home Office appealed and it seems the Judge missed half the facts - so let's post the last two paragraphs....

    The Home Secretary won an appeal against the ruling, in part because the interests of the stepdaughter had not been considered in an independent social work report that was crucial to allowing the original appeal.

    It was also found that the potential risk MD might pose to his own children had not been taken into account. A new hearing is expected to take place this month.

    I was just posting the headline, not the full article. I know journalists/publications don't like it if you post too much.
  • BlancheLivermoreBlancheLivermore Posts: 5,888
    Taz said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Christ, an absolute hammering for Wales

    Australia are genuinely good

    Wales are genuinely bad

    Don't panic. Four converted tries in two minutes will see us over the line.
    That was more like Australia versus Armenia
    Have you got Shaun Edwards's phone number?
    The only consolation for you Taffs is that England are nearly as bad
    We gave Oz, NZ and SA really tough games

    Wales lost to Fiji
    A gallant loser is still a loser.
    I'd obviously prefer to win, but if we do lose I'd prefer a highly competitive, hugely entertaining and intense spectacle

    We've just had three of those, and we're not at all far behind the best teams in the world

    I'm optimistic
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 70,941

    Nigelb said:

    Andy_JS said:

    New idea for how to store energy.

    "How a sand battery could transform clean energy"

    https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20221102-how-a-sand-battery-could-transform-clean-energy

    "A very Finnish thing’: Big sand battery to store wind and solar energy using crushed soapstone"

    https://www.euronews.com/green/2024/03/10/sand-batteries-could-be-key-breakthrough-in-storing-solar-and-wind-energy-year-round

    It’s actually a very old idea. The big problem is the intensity of the heat (hot water) you get back from the giant storage heater. Good for a district heating solution, but not hot enough to power a system to turn it back into lecture efficiently. Probably.
    Heating, though, is quite a big part of our winter energy demand.
    And this is a pretty cheap system to set up, and maintain.

    600degC is also quite a bit hotter than your usual storage heater.

    I wonder if you combined it with a liquid air storage system, you could efficiently generate electricity ?
    Ideas have been tried like this in the past. Thermal cycling tends to result in non trivial maintenance requirements. It may work - the devil is in the operational details.

    Liquid air is a terrible way to store energy.
    Cheap batteries for preference.

    The sand thing (which probably lends itself to distributed storage, and looks quite cheap per kWh of heating), could fill quite a large winter niche.

    Not sure about liquid air. It lends itself to a. Lot of other industrial stuff - and a lot of the process is mature tech - so I think it might also find a niche despite the inefficiencies. I agree it's not a great standalone solution.

    But go to a local pricing electricity market, and you'll find out what works best just by market forces. Whoever can best use the zero marginal cost intermittent surpluses from wind or solar will emerge quite quickly.
    (Assuming the planners can be prevented from holding everything up for half a decade.)
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,516
    I see some people have forgotten the lessons about Twitter and Lord McAlpine.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,088
    ydoethur said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    eek said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Paedophile who sexually assaulted stepdaughter allowed to stay in UK under ECHR rules
    Kicking sex offender from Democratic Republic of Congo out of Scotland would affect his ‘family life’, tribunal says"

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/17/paedophile-echr-asylum-seeker-deported-glasgow-scotland/

    You seem to have missed the full article because the Home Office appealed and it seems the Judge missed half the facts

    The Home Secretary won an appeal against the ruling, in part because the interests of the stepdaughter had not been considered in an independent social work report that was crucial to allowing the original appeal.

    It was also found that the potential risk MD might pose to his own children had not been taken into account. A new hearing is expected to take place this month.

    Once a foreigner is convicted of a crime as evil as this - murder, rape, terrorism, child abuse - lawyers should be removed from the equation. At that point, when the villain has done his time, the RAF should take over, fly the villain into the airspace of his country of origin, strap him into a parachute - then push him out of the helicopter, saying "good luck"

    Job done
    Much better to be sexually abused by somebody born here.
    That would be making the punishment fit the crime, but I’m surprised to find you so punitive in matters of punishment.
    Clever twist!
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,073

    Taz said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Christ, an absolute hammering for Wales

    Australia are genuinely good

    Wales are genuinely bad

    Don't panic. Four converted tries in two minutes will see us over the line.
    That was more like Australia versus Armenia
    Have you got Shaun Edwards's phone number?
    The only consolation for you Taffs is that England are nearly as bad
    We gave Oz, NZ and SA really tough games

    Wales lost to Fiji
    A gallant loser is still a loser.
    I'd obviously prefer to win, but if we do lose I'd prefer a highly competitive, hugely entertaining and intense spectacle

    We've just had three of those, and we're not at all far behind the best teams in the world

    I'm optimistic
    We need to make Henry Arundell eligible. JFDI

    Him and Marcus Smith would be the core of a world class team. If we also get a new coach
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,485
    edited 6:36PM
    We've discussed major new projects in the past, the costs, planning etc. I just thought I'd link to the latest consultation document for the new East-West Rail line between Bedford and Cambridge. If built, this would be a new-build 100MPH railway line.

    This is the second consultation, after one in 2021.

    Note the size of the document (this is *not* an official planning document), and the way various options for certain sections are presented, marked and ranked. It is about as far from just scribbling crayons on a map as it is possible to get.

    https://eastwestrail-production.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/public/2024-con-docs-/ea875894b1/Technical-Report-online-PDF.pdf

    This is one reason these projects cost such a lot of money. The problem is, it might just end up with an improved project at the end of it. But how many consultations are required? I think we had one for the broad route options, then when that was decided, one in 2021 for the route, and now this second one, with minor changes. Only after changes from this consultation are incorporated will planning consent be considered.

    (Edit: no cattle creeps or accommodation bridges, in the strict sense of the term.)
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,340
    kinabalu said:

    ydoethur said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    eek said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Paedophile who sexually assaulted stepdaughter allowed to stay in UK under ECHR rules
    Kicking sex offender from Democratic Republic of Congo out of Scotland would affect his ‘family life’, tribunal says"

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/17/paedophile-echr-asylum-seeker-deported-glasgow-scotland/

    You seem to have missed the full article because the Home Office appealed and it seems the Judge missed half the facts

    The Home Secretary won an appeal against the ruling, in part because the interests of the stepdaughter had not been considered in an independent social work report that was crucial to allowing the original appeal.

    It was also found that the potential risk MD might pose to his own children had not been taken into account. A new hearing is expected to take place this month.

    Once a foreigner is convicted of a crime as evil as this - murder, rape, terrorism, child abuse - lawyers should be removed from the equation. At that point, when the villain has done his time, the RAF should take over, fly the villain into the airspace of his country of origin, strap him into a parachute - then push him out of the helicopter, saying "good luck"

    Job done
    Much better to be sexually abused by somebody born here.
    That would be making the punishment fit the crime, but I’m surprised to find you so punitive in matters of punishment.
    Clever twist!
    Well, I was wondering who would carry it out. We no longer have a chief hangman but what about a chief well hung man?
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,737

    Leon said:

    When did they rename it the Principality Stadium? Annoying change

    I don't like change

    Comes a point though at which the Millenium is a bit of a wanky name. Are you going to keep it, what, a thousand years? And then what?
    Stadiwm Genedlaethol Cymru. Nice, unambiguous, no muddle with County Durham, Palatinate, etc.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,340
    Carnyx said:

    Leon said:

    When did they rename it the Principality Stadium? Annoying change

    I don't like change

    Comes a point though at which the Millenium is a bit of a wanky name. Are you going to keep it, what, a thousand years? And then what?
    Stadiwm Genedlaethol Cymru. Nice, unambiguous, no muddle with County Durham, Palatinate, etc.
    That used to be the official name before 1999 but nobody ever called it that.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 51,504

    I see some people have forgotten the lessons about Twitter and Lord McAlpine.

    Will they get sued?
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,516
    ydoethur said:

    Carnyx said:

    Leon said:

    When did they rename it the Principality Stadium? Annoying change

    I don't like change

    Comes a point though at which the Millenium is a bit of a wanky name. Are you going to keep it, what, a thousand years? And then what?
    Stadiwm Genedlaethol Cymru. Nice, unambiguous, no muddle with County Durham, Palatinate, etc.
    That used to be the official name before 1999 but nobody ever called it that.
    Call it the Prince of Wales stadium.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,075

    I see some people have forgotten the lessons about Twitter and Lord McAlpine.

    The last word on Twatter was spoken many years ago

    https://youtu.be/d3Mrfut-FSw?si=4Ed2w7iANuOBfThW
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,353
    ...
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Christ, an absolute hammering for Wales

    Australia are genuinely good

    Wales are genuinely bad

    Don't panic. Four converted tries in two minutes will see us over the line.
    That was more like Australia versus Armenia
    Have you got Shaun Edwards's phone number?
    The only consolation for you Taffs is that England are nearly as bad
    England really aren't that bad. Gatland without Edwards is like Robin without Batman.
    England are bad in a different way. They have plenty of talent but the coaching is so dire they play like a team at least five places below in the rankings. And they are terrible chokers, and have been for years

    Wales simply don't have the talent, right now - and I feel for them. Losing their one world class player - Rees Zammit - to NFL, was a horrible blow

    Wales need to copy what Ireland did many years ago, and change their game from the grassroots up

    The Regional game in Wales is in chaos.

    Schools rugby is in very good order. We have them televised on S4C. Cowbridge Comp for example has a sixth form rugby academy. The trouble starts when they leave for Loughborough or Hartpury College they are after a while eligible for England.

    State schools were once rugby only schools. For reasons of health and safety litigation football is more widely played in schools than it was.

    Population is not on our side either. England have a pot of 10 times the potential talent than Wales, yet they still look to Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Wales, Scotland and Ireland to broaden the selection scope.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,516

    I see some people have forgotten the lessons about Twitter and Lord McAlpine.

    Will they get sued?
    They should be, sadly for senior politicos if they sued every time somebody posted something defamatory about them every lawyer in the UK would be needed.
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