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Go West! – politicalbetting.com

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  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 29,249
    Battlebus said:

    Keir Starmer visiting Auschwitz appears to have triggered a lot of interesting people...

    e.g. : "What sort of fuckin ghouls turn up for photoshoots at Auschwitz ?? Creepy creepy bastards"

    Having visited Bergen-Belsen near Hannover some time ago, I would urge people to visit and learn. There were a wider collection of victims transported there than contemporary history suggests. An example of what happens with untrammelled power.
    I am not sure I can agree there. Wasn't the Nazis' power being severely 'tramelled' by the time the final solution was decided upon?
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 43,258

    kinabalu said:

    Battlebus said:

    Keir Starmer visiting Auschwitz appears to have triggered a lot of interesting people...

    e.g. : "What sort of fuckin ghouls turn up for photoshoots at Auschwitz ?? Creepy creepy bastards"

    Having visited Bergen-Belsen near Hannover some time ago, I would urge people to visit and learn. There were a wider collection of victims transported there than contemporary history suggests. An example of what happens with untrammelled power.
    It's something I intend to do, visit one of the death camps. I feel it's an obligation if that doesn't sound too precious.
    Have you visited the kindertransport memorial at Liverpool Street station in London?
    No. I'll look that up. I'm due in that area soon.
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 29,249

    MattW said:

    Trump team is questioning civil servants at National Security Council about commitment to his agenda

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Incoming senior Trump administration officials have begun questioning career civil servants who work on the White House National Security Council about who they voted for in the 2024 election, their political contributions and whether they have made social media posts that could be considered incriminating by President-elect Donald Trump’s team, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter.

    At least some of these nonpolitical employees have begun packing up their belongings since being asked about their loyalty to Trump — after they had earlier been given indications that they would be asked to stay on at the NSC in the new administration, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters.

    https://apnews.com/article/trump-biden-nsc-loyalty-waltz-21913da0464f472cb9fef314fed488e5

    That's Modi or Erdogan playbook - apply a personal loyalty test to the professional civil service, replacing best advice with what the boss wants to hear.

    See also Liz Truss, anyone advised by #ClassicDom, and even back to New Labour, hence SpAds. We have had three decades of rule by politicians who thought Yes Minister was a documentary.
    When actually it was worse.

    The US is very fortunate that is has a more political appointees and less permanent civil servants, but evidently Trump feels the balance still isn't right, and he has a mandate to do something about it.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 43,830

    Sean_F said:

    kinabalu said:

    Battlebus said:

    Keir Starmer visiting Auschwitz appears to have triggered a lot of interesting people...

    e.g. : "What sort of fuckin ghouls turn up for photoshoots at Auschwitz ?? Creepy creepy bastards"

    Having visited Bergen-Belsen near Hannover some time ago, I would urge people to visit and learn. There were a wider collection of victims transported there than contemporary history suggests. An example of what happens with untrammelled power.
    It's something I intend to do, visit one of the death camps. I feel it's an obligation if that doesn't sound too precious.
    I once heard the UUP leader, James Molyneaux, describe his experience as one of the first into Belsen. He said it gave him nightmares for years.
    I've never visited a camp, and have no real desire to. I can all too easily believe what went on at them.

    However: a little over a decade ago, I went to a talk by Eric 'Winkle' Brown at Cambridge University. He was an elderly man, and the talk was meant to be about aeronautics. Instead, about half of it was about his time in Germany, and when he helped liberate Bergen-Belsen. The talk has stuck with us ever since. I'd never listened IRL to someone who had been to the camps, and it was sombre, thought-provoking and chilling.
    Hmm! His new biog (i.e. not his personal memoir of his career) has just come out in paperback and arrived - so I will be interested to see what the biographer says.

    One worry I have with the tourist site camps is their reuse after the war, in some cases. The worry is that it is like visiting the underground HQ at Dover Castle - it did not survive the intervening years exactly as it is seen today. Sure, it is real, but what about the details?

    And, in any case, reading the memoirs and histories, and seeing the Holocaust Museum in Washington, is perhaps enough for me. In a way it is perhaps more unnerving to recently read a report of the excavation of one camp by modern archaeologists - it had supposedly been demolished and bulldozed in the war and yet there were remains of the cremation ovens, one with the last load of bones and ash still spilled out below the door, like some abandoned iron works. .
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 43,958
    "Two senior Iranian judges have been shot dead in an apparent assassination in the country's supreme court."

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy4mvllgd1mo
  • eristdooferistdoof Posts: 5,067
    The MP allocation in the Bundestag has changed for 2025. In the last few elections the number of top up seats has been rapidly increasing. The idea was that 299 MPs were elected by the first vote and another 299 MPs were allocated to parties to make up the proportion of second votes. To get the proportion right more "Top up" MPs were needed, which was not really a problem until the last 20 years.

    To sort that problem a changes has been made so that there can no longer be Top Up MPs. Now a party that gets more directly elected candidates but has too low a proportion of second votes, will not be be able allocate all of their directl elected candidates.

    The most likely to be affected by this will be some CSU candidates because all their candidates are in Bavaria but will get nationally about 6 or 7% of second votes. Note that the CSU party will claim that they lose out, but they won't because under both systems they get their 5 or 6% second vote share. It is some CSU candidates rather than the party as a whole who will lose out.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 43,958

    Battlebus said:

    Keir Starmer visiting Auschwitz appears to have triggered a lot of interesting people...

    e.g. : "What sort of fuckin ghouls turn up for photoshoots at Auschwitz ?? Creepy creepy bastards"

    Having visited Bergen-Belsen near Hannover some time ago, I would urge people to visit and learn. There were a wider collection of victims transported there than contemporary history suggests. An example of what happens with untrammelled power.
    I am not sure I can agree there. Wasn't the Nazis' power being severely 'tramelled' by the time the final solution was decided upon?
    A rather poor point, even if it was correct, as they had untrammelled power over the territories and peoples they controlled.

    But it isn't correct. The Wansee Conference was in January 1942, when they were probably at the peak of their power - albeit the seeds of their ruin had been sown.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wannsee_Conference
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 11,980
    AnneJGP said:

    Carnyx said:

    Bit of light relief for a Saturday if you haven't seen it - an unassuming little meteor impact filmed live.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/17/meteorite-strike-video-canada

    That's quite an impact ...
    You can see how the dinosaurs went extinct.
  • logical_songlogical_song Posts: 9,944

    MattW said:

    Trump team is questioning civil servants at National Security Council about commitment to his agenda

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Incoming senior Trump administration officials have begun questioning career civil servants who work on the White House National Security Council about who they voted for in the 2024 election, their political contributions and whether they have made social media posts that could be considered incriminating by President-elect Donald Trump’s team, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter.

    At least some of these nonpolitical employees have begun packing up their belongings since being asked about their loyalty to Trump — after they had earlier been given indications that they would be asked to stay on at the NSC in the new administration, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters.

    https://apnews.com/article/trump-biden-nsc-loyalty-waltz-21913da0464f472cb9fef314fed488e5

    That's Modi or Erdogan playbook - apply a personal loyalty test to the professional civil service, replacing best advice with what the boss wants to hear.

    See also Liz Truss, anyone advised by #ClassicDom, and even back to New Labour, hence SpAds. We have had three decades of rule by politicians who thought Yes Minister was a documentary.
    When actually it was worse.

    The US is very fortunate that is has a more political appointees and less permanent civil servants, but evidently Trump feels the balance still isn't right, and he has a mandate to do something about it.
    Trump's 1.3% mandate was to bring down the price of eggs and 'gas' not put in place political appointees who know nothing about the job in hand but will do whatever Trump tells them.
  • BattlebusBattlebus Posts: 125

    Battlebus said:

    Keir Starmer visiting Auschwitz appears to have triggered a lot of interesting people...

    e.g. : "What sort of fuckin ghouls turn up for photoshoots at Auschwitz ?? Creepy creepy bastards"

    Having visited Bergen-Belsen near Hannover some time ago, I would urge people to visit and learn. There were a wider collection of victims transported there than contemporary history suggests. An example of what happens with untrammelled power.
    I am not sure I can agree there. Wasn't the Nazis' power being severely 'tramelled' by the time the final solution was decided upon?
    I didn't refer to the 'final solution' deliberately. There were others taken to the camp who were targeted by the Nazis. Their choices were not limited to one group.
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 11,980
    edited January 18

    Battlebus said:

    Keir Starmer visiting Auschwitz appears to have triggered a lot of interesting people...

    e.g. : "What sort of fuckin ghouls turn up for photoshoots at Auschwitz ?? Creepy creepy bastards"

    Having visited Bergen-Belsen near Hannover some time ago, I would urge people to visit and learn. There were a wider collection of victims transported there than contemporary history suggests. An example of what happens with untrammelled power.
    I am not sure I can agree there. Wasn't the Nazis' power being severely 'tramelled' by the time the final solution was decided upon?
    The Final Solution was devised in 1941, when the Nazis were at the height of their successes, although its roots go back further (arguably to 1939 or even earlier).
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 43,958
    Andy_JS said:

    Interesting finding.

    "Several years ago, Nick Epley, a psychologist at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, asked commuter-train passengers to make a prediction: How would they feel if asked to spend the ride talking with a stranger? Most participants predicted that quiet solitude would make for a better commute than having a long chat with someone they didn’t know. Then Epley’s team created an experiment in which some people were asked to keep to themselves, while others were instructed to talk with a stranger (“The longer the conversation, the better,” participants were told). Afterward, people filled out a questionnaire. How did they feel? Despite the broad assumption that the best commute is a silent one, the people instructed to talk with strangers actually reported feeling significantly more positive than those who’d kept to themselves. “A fundamental paradox at the core of human life is that we are highly social and made better in every way by being around people,” Epley said. “And yet over and over, we have opportunities to connect that we don’t take, or even actively reject, and it is a terrible mistake.”"

    https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/02/american-loneliness-personality-politics/681091/

    I love chatting to random people. For example, people in the queue at the supermarket. Staff at a shop. Loads of them can be really interesting.

    The thing is, I'm shy, and I perhaps overcompensate...
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 17,669

    MattW said:

    Trump team is questioning civil servants at National Security Council about commitment to his agenda

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Incoming senior Trump administration officials have begun questioning career civil servants who work on the White House National Security Council about who they voted for in the 2024 election, their political contributions and whether they have made social media posts that could be considered incriminating by President-elect Donald Trump’s team, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter.

    At least some of these nonpolitical employees have begun packing up their belongings since being asked about their loyalty to Trump — after they had earlier been given indications that they would be asked to stay on at the NSC in the new administration, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters.

    https://apnews.com/article/trump-biden-nsc-loyalty-waltz-21913da0464f472cb9fef314fed488e5

    That's Modi or Erdogan playbook - apply a personal loyalty test to the professional civil service, replacing best advice with what the boss wants to hear.

    See also Liz Truss, anyone advised by #ClassicDom, and even back to New Labour, hence SpAds. We have had three decades of rule by politicians who thought Yes Minister was a documentary.
    When actually it was worse.

    The US is very fortunate that is has a more political appointees and less permanent civil servants, but evidently Trump feels the balance still isn't right, and he has a mandate to do something about it.
    Trump's 1.3% mandate was to bring down the price of eggs and 'gas' not put in place political appointees who know nothing about the job in hand but will do whatever Trump tells them.
    Unfortunately, that isn't how election winners anywhere see the matter, and the only real check that matters is the next election.
  • FeersumEnjineeyaFeersumEnjineeya Posts: 4,556
    edited January 18

    MattW said:

    Trump team is questioning civil servants at National Security Council about commitment to his agenda

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Incoming senior Trump administration officials have begun questioning career civil servants who work on the White House National Security Council about who they voted for in the 2024 election, their political contributions and whether they have made social media posts that could be considered incriminating by President-elect Donald Trump’s team, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter.

    At least some of these nonpolitical employees have begun packing up their belongings since being asked about their loyalty to Trump — after they had earlier been given indications that they would be asked to stay on at the NSC in the new administration, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters.

    https://apnews.com/article/trump-biden-nsc-loyalty-waltz-21913da0464f472cb9fef314fed488e5

    That's Modi or Erdogan playbook - apply a personal loyalty test to the professional civil service, replacing best advice with what the boss wants to hear.

    See also Liz Truss, anyone advised by #ClassicDom, and even back to New Labour, hence SpAds. We have had three decades of rule by politicians who thought Yes Minister was a documentary.
    When actually it was worse.

    The US is very fortunate that is has a more political appointees and less permanent civil servants, but evidently Trump feels the balance still isn't right, and he has a mandate to do something about it.
    Trump's 1.3% mandate was to bring down the price of eggs and 'gas' not put in place political appointees who know nothing about the job in hand but will do whatever Trump tells them.
    My cryptocurrency-trading son is currently in a state of high excitement/agitation about the overnight release of Trump Coin. Apparently he woke up to find that his various crypto holdings had dropped about 30% as traders switched investments to Trump Coin. I presume its release has made a packet for Trump and his close associates; my lad reckoned it would be illegal in most countries. Anyway, he has now swallowed his principles and is now also providing liquidity for Trump Coin.
  • Battlebus said:

    Battlebus said:

    Keir Starmer visiting Auschwitz appears to have triggered a lot of interesting people...

    e.g. : "What sort of fuckin ghouls turn up for photoshoots at Auschwitz ?? Creepy creepy bastards"

    Having visited Bergen-Belsen near Hannover some time ago, I would urge people to visit and learn. There were a wider collection of victims transported there than contemporary history suggests. An example of what happens with untrammelled power.
    I am not sure I can agree there. Wasn't the Nazis' power being severely 'tramelled' by the time the final solution was decided upon?
    I didn't refer to the 'final solution' deliberately. There were others taken to the camp who were targeted by the Nazis. Their choices were not limited to one group.
    My German mother-in-law's disabled cousin was among those murdered by the Nazis.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 52,403
    edited January 18

    Battlebus said:

    Keir Starmer visiting Auschwitz appears to have triggered a lot of interesting people...

    e.g. : "What sort of fuckin ghouls turn up for photoshoots at Auschwitz ?? Creepy creepy bastards"

    Having visited Bergen-Belsen near Hannover some time ago, I would urge people to visit and learn. There were a wider collection of victims transported there than contemporary history suggests. An example of what happens with untrammelled power.
    I am not sure I can agree there. Wasn't the Nazis' power being severely 'tramelled' by the time the final solution was decided upon?
    A rather poor point, even if it was correct, as they had untrammelled power over the territories and peoples they controlled.

    But it isn't correct. The Wansee Conference was in January 1942, when they were probably at the peak of their power - albeit the seeds of their ruin had been sown.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wannsee_Conference
    The German failure to capture Moscow was in December 1941, and also the same month Hitler declared war on the USA. Arguably sealing the Nazis' fate.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 28,854
    Baroness Nicholson tells Spectator TV she is against trans and woke and...
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFc-uJYp74E

    But one interesting suggestion she made is that the sharp rise in mental health issues among the young may be due to ending music and singing in primary schools.

  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 53,263

    https://x.com/steven_swinford/status/1880613950858936765

    Nigel Farage tops a new YouGov poll of who voters think would be the best prime minister

    Nigel Farage - 20
    Keir Starmer - 19
    Kemi Badenoch - 9
    Ed Davey - 8
    Don't know - 44

    Not sure I'm familiar with this Mr (or Ms?) Don't Know.
    Get familiar. That's your next Prime Minister that is...
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 52,403
    Andy_JS said:

    Interesting finding.

    "Several years ago, Nick Epley, a psychologist at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, asked commuter-train passengers to make a prediction: How would they feel if asked to spend the ride talking with a stranger? Most participants predicted that quiet solitude would make for a better commute than having a long chat with someone they didn’t know. Then Epley’s team created an experiment in which some people were asked to keep to themselves, while others were instructed to talk with a stranger (“The longer the conversation, the better,” participants were told). Afterward, people filled out a questionnaire. How did they feel? Despite the broad assumption that the best commute is a silent one, the people instructed to talk with strangers actually reported feeling significantly more positive than those who’d kept to themselves. “A fundamental paradox at the core of human life is that we are highly social and made better in every way by being around people,” Epley said. “And yet over and over, we have opportunities to connect that we don’t take, or even actively reject, and it is a terrible mistake.”"

    https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/02/american-loneliness-personality-politics/681091/

    Nah, quiet solitude on trains for me :)
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 43,958

    Battlebus said:

    Keir Starmer visiting Auschwitz appears to have triggered a lot of interesting people...

    e.g. : "What sort of fuckin ghouls turn up for photoshoots at Auschwitz ?? Creepy creepy bastards"

    Having visited Bergen-Belsen near Hannover some time ago, I would urge people to visit and learn. There were a wider collection of victims transported there than contemporary history suggests. An example of what happens with untrammelled power.
    I am not sure I can agree there. Wasn't the Nazis' power being severely 'tramelled' by the time the final solution was decided upon?
    A rather poor point, even if it was correct, as they had untrammelled power over the territories and peoples they controlled.

    But it isn't correct. The Wansee Conference was in January 1942, when they were probably at the peak of their power - albeit the seeds of their ruin had been sown.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wannsee_Conference
    The German failure to capture Moscow was in December 1941, and also the same month Hitler declared war on the USA. Arguably sealing the Nazis' fate.
    Yes, but they did not know that. Indeed, AIUI Hitler was jubilant when Pearl Harbour occurred, as he knew the USA would be dragged into the war, using resources in the Pacific instead of Europe.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 43,258

    MattW said:

    Trump team is questioning civil servants at National Security Council about commitment to his agenda

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Incoming senior Trump administration officials have begun questioning career civil servants who work on the White House National Security Council about who they voted for in the 2024 election, their political contributions and whether they have made social media posts that could be considered incriminating by President-elect Donald Trump’s team, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter.

    At least some of these nonpolitical employees have begun packing up their belongings since being asked about their loyalty to Trump — after they had earlier been given indications that they would be asked to stay on at the NSC in the new administration, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters.

    https://apnews.com/article/trump-biden-nsc-loyalty-waltz-21913da0464f472cb9fef314fed488e5

    That's Modi or Erdogan playbook - apply a personal loyalty test to the professional civil service, replacing best advice with what the boss wants to hear.

    See also Liz Truss, anyone advised by #ClassicDom, and even back to New Labour, hence SpAds. We have had three decades of rule by politicians who thought Yes Minister was a documentary.
    When actually it was worse.

    The US is very fortunate that is has a more political appointees and less permanent civil servants, but evidently Trump feels the balance still isn't right, and he has a mandate to do something about it.
    Trump's 1.3% mandate was to bring down the price of eggs and 'gas' not put in place political appointees who know nothing about the job in hand but will do whatever Trump tells them.
    My cryptocurrency-trading son is currently in a state of high excitement/agitation about the overnight release of Trump Coin. Apparently he woke up to find that his various crypto holdings had dropped about 30% as traders switched investments to Trump Coin. I presume its release has made a packet for Trump and his close associates; my lad reckoned it would be illegal in most countries. Anyway, he has now swallowed his principles and is now also providing liquidity for Trump Coin.
    I wonder how much $$$$ Trump will plunder from the Presidency.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 28,854

    Battlebus said:

    Keir Starmer visiting Auschwitz appears to have triggered a lot of interesting people...

    e.g. : "What sort of fuckin ghouls turn up for photoshoots at Auschwitz ?? Creepy creepy bastards"

    Having visited Bergen-Belsen near Hannover some time ago, I would urge people to visit and learn. There were a wider collection of victims transported there than contemporary history suggests. An example of what happens with untrammelled power.
    I am not sure I can agree there. Wasn't the Nazis' power being severely 'tramelled' by the time the final solution was decided upon?
    The Final Solution was devised in 1941, when the Nazis were at the height of their successes, although its roots go back further (arguably to 1939 or even earlier).
    Ricky Gervais on Nietsche, Hitler, and the Final Solution:-
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDUIdrT9eRA
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,830
    Andy_JS said:

    Interesting finding.

    "Several years ago, Nick Epley, a psychologist at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, asked commuter-train passengers to make a prediction: How would they feel if asked to spend the ride talking with a stranger? Most participants predicted that quiet solitude would make for a better commute than having a long chat with someone they didn’t know. Then Epley’s team created an experiment in which some people were asked to keep to themselves, while others were instructed to talk with a stranger (“The longer the conversation, the better,” participants were told). Afterward, people filled out a questionnaire. How did they feel? Despite the broad assumption that the best commute is a silent one, the people instructed to talk with strangers actually reported feeling significantly more positive than those who’d kept to themselves. “A fundamental paradox at the core of human life is that we are highly social and made better in every way by being around people,” Epley said. “And yet over and over, we have opportunities to connect that we don’t take, or even actively reject, and it is a terrible mistake.”"

    https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/02/american-loneliness-personality-politics/681091/

    Not a surprising finding. I've enjoyed experiences I had anxiety about, yet despite that still struggle to defeat the anxiety in similar future situations.
  • Jim_MillerJim_Miller Posts: 3,089
    You may want to hide such research from your Guardian-reading friends, but you can learn a lot from the different industrial strategies American states have pursued. For example: About a million vehicles are assembled in Kentucky each year, so I think it likely that the small state is doing something right. Perhaps you should try to find out why.

    Or take a look at the more varied successes in South Carolina: https://www.sccommerce.com/industries/advanced-manufacturing-industry

  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 33,184

    Battlebus said:

    Keir Starmer visiting Auschwitz appears to have triggered a lot of interesting people...

    e.g. : "What sort of fuckin ghouls turn up for photoshoots at Auschwitz ?? Creepy creepy bastards"

    Having visited Bergen-Belsen near Hannover some time ago, I would urge people to visit and learn. There were a wider collection of victims transported there than contemporary history suggests. An example of what happens with untrammelled power.
    I am not sure I can agree there. Wasn't the Nazis' power being severely 'tramelled' by the time the final solution was decided upon?
    A rather poor point, even if it was correct, as they had untrammelled power over the territories and peoples they controlled.

    But it isn't correct. The Wansee Conference was in January 1942, when they were probably at the peak of their power - albeit the seeds of their ruin had been sown.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wannsee_Conference
    The German failure to capture Moscow was in December 1941, and also the same month Hitler declared war on the USA. Arguably sealing the Nazis' fate.
    Is it likely that Germany would have succeeded in Russia if it hadn't been for Italy's failure in Romania?
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,830
    kinabalu said:

    MattW said:

    Trump team is questioning civil servants at National Security Council about commitment to his agenda

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Incoming senior Trump administration officials have begun questioning career civil servants who work on the White House National Security Council about who they voted for in the 2024 election, their political contributions and whether they have made social media posts that could be considered incriminating by President-elect Donald Trump’s team, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter.

    At least some of these nonpolitical employees have begun packing up their belongings since being asked about their loyalty to Trump — after they had earlier been given indications that they would be asked to stay on at the NSC in the new administration, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters.

    https://apnews.com/article/trump-biden-nsc-loyalty-waltz-21913da0464f472cb9fef314fed488e5

    That's Modi or Erdogan playbook - apply a personal loyalty test to the professional civil service, replacing best advice with what the boss wants to hear.

    See also Liz Truss, anyone advised by #ClassicDom, and even back to New Labour, hence SpAds. We have had three decades of rule by politicians who thought Yes Minister was a documentary.
    When actually it was worse.

    The US is very fortunate that is has a more political appointees and less permanent civil servants, but evidently Trump feels the balance still isn't right, and he has a mandate to do something about it.
    Trump's 1.3% mandate was to bring down the price of eggs and 'gas' not put in place political appointees who know nothing about the job in hand but will do whatever Trump tells them.
    My cryptocurrency-trading son is currently in a state of high excitement/agitation about the overnight release of Trump Coin. Apparently he woke up to find that his various crypto holdings had dropped about 30% as traders switched investments to Trump Coin. I presume its release has made a packet for Trump and his close associates; my lad reckoned it would be illegal in most countries. Anyway, he has now swallowed his principles and is now also providing liquidity for Trump Coin.
    I wonder how much $$$$ Trump will plunder from the Presidency.
    The continuation of his political career and certainty he will never face prison has already propped up and expanded his wealth enormously, so I'm sure plenty of opportunities will arise. His son in law raked in some great money from the Saudis last time.

    One thing the New York fraud case demonstrated was that even if you accept his argument none of it was fraud, his core property businss is a complete basket case.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,830

    MattW said:

    Trump team is questioning civil servants at National Security Council about commitment to his agenda

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Incoming senior Trump administration officials have begun questioning career civil servants who work on the White House National Security Council about who they voted for in the 2024 election, their political contributions and whether they have made social media posts that could be considered incriminating by President-elect Donald Trump’s team, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter.

    At least some of these nonpolitical employees have begun packing up their belongings since being asked about their loyalty to Trump — after they had earlier been given indications that they would be asked to stay on at the NSC in the new administration, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters.

    https://apnews.com/article/trump-biden-nsc-loyalty-waltz-21913da0464f472cb9fef314fed488e5

    That's Modi or Erdogan playbook - apply a personal loyalty test to the professional civil service, replacing best advice with what the boss wants to hear.

    See also Liz Truss, anyone advised by #ClassicDom, and even back to New Labour, hence SpAds. We have had three decades of rule by politicians who thought Yes Minister was a documentary.
    When actually it was worse.

    The US is very fortunate that is has a more political appointees and less permanent civil servants, but evidently Trump feels the balance still isn't right, and he has a mandate to do something about it.
    Trump's 1.3% mandate was to bring down the price of eggs and 'gas' not put in place political appointees who know nothing about the job in hand but will do whatever Trump tells them.
    In fairness I think he has been pretty clear that is exactly what he would always have done, and his opponents shouted that as loudly as possible as well, so even for some famously hard to reach voters there's really no excuse for not knowing he acts that way.
  • Pagan2Pagan2 Posts: 10,166

    Andy_JS said:

    Interesting finding.

    "Several years ago, Nick Epley, a psychologist at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, asked commuter-train passengers to make a prediction: How would they feel if asked to spend the ride talking with a stranger? Most participants predicted that quiet solitude would make for a better commute than having a long chat with someone they didn’t know. Then Epley’s team created an experiment in which some people were asked to keep to themselves, while others were instructed to talk with a stranger (“The longer the conversation, the better,” participants were told). Afterward, people filled out a questionnaire. How did they feel? Despite the broad assumption that the best commute is a silent one, the people instructed to talk with strangers actually reported feeling significantly more positive than those who’d kept to themselves. “A fundamental paradox at the core of human life is that we are highly social and made better in every way by being around people,” Epley said. “And yet over and over, we have opportunities to connect that we don’t take, or even actively reject, and it is a terrible mistake.”"

    https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/02/american-loneliness-personality-politics/681091/

    Nah, quiet solitude on trains for me :)
    As long as they make punching people who insist on talking to you as self defense legal I don't mind.
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,490
    Carnyx said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Interesting finding.

    "Several years ago, Nick Epley, a psychologist at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, asked commuter-train passengers to make a prediction: How would they feel if asked to spend the ride talking with a stranger? Most participants predicted that quiet solitude would make for a better commute than having a long chat with someone they didn’t know. Then Epley’s team created an experiment in which some people were asked to keep to themselves, while others were instructed to talk with a stranger (“The longer the conversation, the better,” participants were told). Afterward, people filled out a questionnaire. How did they feel? Despite the broad assumption that the best commute is a silent one, the people instructed to talk with strangers actually reported feeling significantly more positive than those who’d kept to themselves. “A fundamental paradox at the core of human life is that we are highly social and made better in every way by being around people,” Epley said. “And yet over and over, we have opportunities to connect that we don’t take, or even actively reject, and it is a terrible mistake.”"

    https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/02/american-loneliness-personality-politics/681091/

    JUst been reading a very similar recommendation for a few minutes a day, by an actual psychology prof, in the Graun (last for today I promise):

    'I sit for a while on a favourite bench in my local green space. Not only does it get me outside and give me a break from my to-do list – on a good day I get to meet and dole out cuddles to several dogs, too, and have an equal number of friendly, low-stakes chats with their humans. I’m an introvert, but I love this daily dose of talking to strangers in which I often learn something, have a laugh, feel a sense of shared humanity – and then walk away.'

    https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/jan/18/whats-on-your-dopamine-menu-15-ideas-for-a-positivity-boost
    Outside Kirkstall Abbey there is a Natter Bench - installed after Covid especially for people wanting a bit of human contact.

    https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/people/leeds-natter-bench-installed-in-horsforths-hall-park-to-tackle-loneliness-3110054.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,762
    AnneJGP said:

    Carnyx said:

    Bit of light relief for a Saturday if you haven't seen it - an unassuming little meteor impact filmed live.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/17/meteorite-strike-video-canada

    That's quite an impact ...
    I was hoping for Armageddon. What I got was pfft.
  • Pagan2Pagan2 Posts: 10,166
    Cyclefree said:

    Carnyx said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Interesting finding.

    "Several years ago, Nick Epley, a psychologist at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, asked commuter-train passengers to make a prediction: How would they feel if asked to spend the ride talking with a stranger? Most participants predicted that quiet solitude would make for a better commute than having a long chat with someone they didn’t know. Then Epley’s team created an experiment in which some people were asked to keep to themselves, while others were instructed to talk with a stranger (“The longer the conversation, the better,” participants were told). Afterward, people filled out a questionnaire. How did they feel? Despite the broad assumption that the best commute is a silent one, the people instructed to talk with strangers actually reported feeling significantly more positive than those who’d kept to themselves. “A fundamental paradox at the core of human life is that we are highly social and made better in every way by being around people,” Epley said. “And yet over and over, we have opportunities to connect that we don’t take, or even actively reject, and it is a terrible mistake.”"

    https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/02/american-loneliness-personality-politics/681091/

    JUst been reading a very similar recommendation for a few minutes a day, by an actual psychology prof, in the Graun (last for today I promise):

    'I sit for a while on a favourite bench in my local green space. Not only does it get me outside and give me a break from my to-do list – on a good day I get to meet and dole out cuddles to several dogs, too, and have an equal number of friendly, low-stakes chats with their humans. I’m an introvert, but I love this daily dose of talking to strangers in which I often learn something, have a laugh, feel a sense of shared humanity – and then walk away.'

    https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/jan/18/whats-on-your-dopamine-menu-15-ideas-for-a-positivity-boost
    Outside Kirkstall Abbey there is a Natter Bench - installed after Covid especially for people wanting a bit of human contact.

    https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/people/leeds-natter-bench-installed-in-horsforths-hall-park-to-tackle-loneliness-3110054.
    See that I don't mind...if I sit on the bench I have indicated I want to talk to a stranger. Sadly however I find doing something like reading a book is the accepted cue that you really want to hear their views on banal topics you have no interest in
  • AnneJGPAnneJGP Posts: 3,146

    Baroness Nicholson tells Spectator TV she is against trans and woke and...
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFc-uJYp74E

    But one interesting suggestion she made is that the sharp rise in mental health issues among the young may be due to ending music and singing in primary schools.

    It really concerns me just how many of the now middle aged adults (40s, say) known to me are simply not able to cope with the pressures of daily life. This isn't to criticise them; it's purely an observation of those in my circles and I've no idea of the cause. Manifestly there are multitudes of people of the same age who are coping, but when the adults can't cope, what chance do their children have? One family known to me has 2 children withdrawn from school into so-called home schooling, where the mother & her boyfriend spend all day upstairs and middle child teaches herself & younger sibling as best she can. It seems likely that mother has some sort of emotional/psychological difficulties herself since she will not tolerate any 'interference' from children's father or anyone else.

    To think that this is probably replicated up & down the country is staggering.
  • Pagan2Pagan2 Posts: 10,166
    AnneJGP said:

    Baroness Nicholson tells Spectator TV she is against trans and woke and...
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFc-uJYp74E

    But one interesting suggestion she made is that the sharp rise in mental health issues among the young may be due to ending music and singing in primary schools.

    It really concerns me just how many of the now middle aged adults (40s, say) known to me are simply not able to cope with the pressures of daily life. This isn't to criticise them; it's purely an observation of those in my circles and I've no idea of the cause. Manifestly there are multitudes of people of the same age who are coping, but when the adults can't cope, what chance do their children have? One family known to me has 2 children withdrawn from school into so-called home schooling, where the mother & her boyfriend spend all day upstairs and middle child teaches herself & younger sibling as best she can. It seems likely that mother has some sort of emotional/psychological difficulties herself since she will not tolerate any 'interference' from children's father or anyone else.

    To think that this is probably replicated up & down the country is staggering.
    How is that not reported and acted upon as child abuse?
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 43,258
    Pagan2 said:

    Cyclefree said:

    Carnyx said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Interesting finding.

    "Several years ago, Nick Epley, a psychologist at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, asked commuter-train passengers to make a prediction: How would they feel if asked to spend the ride talking with a stranger? Most participants predicted that quiet solitude would make for a better commute than having a long chat with someone they didn’t know. Then Epley’s team created an experiment in which some people were asked to keep to themselves, while others were instructed to talk with a stranger (“The longer the conversation, the better,” participants were told). Afterward, people filled out a questionnaire. How did they feel? Despite the broad assumption that the best commute is a silent one, the people instructed to talk with strangers actually reported feeling significantly more positive than those who’d kept to themselves. “A fundamental paradox at the core of human life is that we are highly social and made better in every way by being around people,” Epley said. “And yet over and over, we have opportunities to connect that we don’t take, or even actively reject, and it is a terrible mistake.”"

    https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/02/american-loneliness-personality-politics/681091/

    JUst been reading a very similar recommendation for a few minutes a day, by an actual psychology prof, in the Graun (last for today I promise):

    'I sit for a while on a favourite bench in my local green space. Not only does it get me outside and give me a break from my to-do list – on a good day I get to meet and dole out cuddles to several dogs, too, and have an equal number of friendly, low-stakes chats with their humans. I’m an introvert, but I love this daily dose of talking to strangers in which I often learn something, have a laugh, feel a sense of shared humanity – and then walk away.'

    https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/jan/18/whats-on-your-dopamine-menu-15-ideas-for-a-positivity-boost
    Outside Kirkstall Abbey there is a Natter Bench - installed after Covid especially for people wanting a bit of human contact.

    https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/people/leeds-natter-bench-installed-in-horsforths-hall-park-to-tackle-loneliness-3110054.
    See that I don't mind...if I sit on the bench I have indicated I want to talk to a stranger. Sadly however I find doing something like reading a book is the accepted cue that you really want to hear their views on banal topics you have no interest in
    Body position is the key. If you don't want to be spoken to you should curl up in a ball with your head between your thighs.
  • AnneJGPAnneJGP Posts: 3,146
    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Baroness Nicholson tells Spectator TV she is against trans and woke and...
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFc-uJYp74E

    But one interesting suggestion she made is that the sharp rise in mental health issues among the young may be due to ending music and singing in primary schools.

    It really concerns me just how many of the now middle aged adults (40s, say) known to me are simply not able to cope with the pressures of daily life. This isn't to criticise them; it's purely an observation of those in my circles and I've no idea of the cause. Manifestly there are multitudes of people of the same age who are coping, but when the adults can't cope, what chance do their children have? One family known to me has 2 children withdrawn from school into so-called home schooling, where the mother & her boyfriend spend all day upstairs and middle child teaches herself & younger sibling as best she can. It seems likely that mother has some sort of emotional/psychological difficulties herself since she will not tolerate any 'interference' from children's father or anyone else.

    To think that this is probably replicated up & down the country is staggering.
    How is that not reported and acted upon as child abuse?
    Social services don't seem to be interested.
  • Pagan2Pagan2 Posts: 10,166
    kinabalu said:

    Pagan2 said:

    Cyclefree said:

    Carnyx said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Interesting finding.

    "Several years ago, Nick Epley, a psychologist at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, asked commuter-train passengers to make a prediction: How would they feel if asked to spend the ride talking with a stranger? Most participants predicted that quiet solitude would make for a better commute than having a long chat with someone they didn’t know. Then Epley’s team created an experiment in which some people were asked to keep to themselves, while others were instructed to talk with a stranger (“The longer the conversation, the better,” participants were told). Afterward, people filled out a questionnaire. How did they feel? Despite the broad assumption that the best commute is a silent one, the people instructed to talk with strangers actually reported feeling significantly more positive than those who’d kept to themselves. “A fundamental paradox at the core of human life is that we are highly social and made better in every way by being around people,” Epley said. “And yet over and over, we have opportunities to connect that we don’t take, or even actively reject, and it is a terrible mistake.”"

    https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/02/american-loneliness-personality-politics/681091/

    JUst been reading a very similar recommendation for a few minutes a day, by an actual psychology prof, in the Graun (last for today I promise):

    'I sit for a while on a favourite bench in my local green space. Not only does it get me outside and give me a break from my to-do list – on a good day I get to meet and dole out cuddles to several dogs, too, and have an equal number of friendly, low-stakes chats with their humans. I’m an introvert, but I love this daily dose of talking to strangers in which I often learn something, have a laugh, feel a sense of shared humanity – and then walk away.'

    https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/jan/18/whats-on-your-dopamine-menu-15-ideas-for-a-positivity-boost
    Outside Kirkstall Abbey there is a Natter Bench - installed after Covid especially for people wanting a bit of human contact.

    https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/people/leeds-natter-bench-installed-in-horsforths-hall-park-to-tackle-loneliness-3110054.
    See that I don't mind...if I sit on the bench I have indicated I want to talk to a stranger. Sadly however I find doing something like reading a book is the accepted cue that you really want to hear their views on banal topics you have no interest in
    Body position is the key. If you don't want to be spoken to you should curl up in a ball with your head between your thighs.
    Why should I? How about you just don't assume you have anything to say that I want to listen to in the first place. Or failing that take a subtle hint such as "I am reading please don't talk to me" instead of me having to goto the "Speak to me again and I will rip out your tongue and shove it in your arse" route
  • Pagan2Pagan2 Posts: 10,166
    AnneJGP said:

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Baroness Nicholson tells Spectator TV she is against trans and woke and...
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFc-uJYp74E

    But one interesting suggestion she made is that the sharp rise in mental health issues among the young may be due to ending music and singing in primary schools.

    It really concerns me just how many of the now middle aged adults (40s, say) known to me are simply not able to cope with the pressures of daily life. This isn't to criticise them; it's purely an observation of those in my circles and I've no idea of the cause. Manifestly there are multitudes of people of the same age who are coping, but when the adults can't cope, what chance do their children have? One family known to me has 2 children withdrawn from school into so-called home schooling, where the mother & her boyfriend spend all day upstairs and middle child teaches herself & younger sibling as best she can. It seems likely that mother has some sort of emotional/psychological difficulties herself since she will not tolerate any 'interference' from children's father or anyone else.

    To think that this is probably replicated up & down the country is staggering.
    How is that not reported and acted upon as child abuse?
    Social services don't seem to be interested.
    Well as we keep seeing they are barely interested even if a child is being regularly beaten and bones broken so I guess we shouldn't be surprised
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 28,854
    edited January 18
    Andy_JS said:

    Battlebus said:

    Keir Starmer visiting Auschwitz appears to have triggered a lot of interesting people...

    e.g. : "What sort of fuckin ghouls turn up for photoshoots at Auschwitz ?? Creepy creepy bastards"

    Having visited Bergen-Belsen near Hannover some time ago, I would urge people to visit and learn. There were a wider collection of victims transported there than contemporary history suggests. An example of what happens with untrammelled power.
    I am not sure I can agree there. Wasn't the Nazis' power being severely 'tramelled' by the time the final solution was decided upon?
    A rather poor point, even if it was correct, as they had untrammelled power over the territories and peoples they controlled.

    But it isn't correct. The Wansee Conference was in January 1942, when they were probably at the peak of their power - albeit the seeds of their ruin had been sown.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wannsee_Conference
    The German failure to capture Moscow was in December 1941, and also the same month Hitler declared war on the USA. Arguably sealing the Nazis' fate.
    Is it likely that Germany would have succeeded in Russia if it hadn't been for Italy's failure in Romania?
    It doesn't really matter. Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk... the Soviet Union was such a big place that the Red Army would have fallen back and then regrouped. Again. Eventually they'd have won as German supply lines became ever more extended, and the Kriegsmarine failed to block allied supply convoys, and General Winter came to Stalin's aid.

    Nazi Germany's fate was sealed in the summer of 1940, when it lost the Battle of Britain, the true turning point of the war.
  • AnneJGPAnneJGP Posts: 3,146
    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Baroness Nicholson tells Spectator TV she is against trans and woke and...
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFc-uJYp74E

    But one interesting suggestion she made is that the sharp rise in mental health issues among the young may be due to ending music and singing in primary schools.

    It really concerns me just how many of the now middle aged adults (40s, say) known to me are simply not able to cope with the pressures of daily life. This isn't to criticise them; it's purely an observation of those in my circles and I've no idea of the cause. Manifestly there are multitudes of people of the same age who are coping, but when the adults can't cope, what chance do their children have? One family known to me has 2 children withdrawn from school into so-called home schooling, where the mother & her boyfriend spend all day upstairs and middle child teaches herself & younger sibling as best she can. It seems likely that mother has some sort of emotional/psychological difficulties herself since she will not tolerate any 'interference' from children's father or anyone else.

    To think that this is probably replicated up & down the country is staggering.
    How is that not reported and acted upon as child abuse?
    Social services don't seem to be interested.
    Well as we keep seeing they are barely interested even if a child is being regularly beaten and bones broken so I guess we shouldn't be surprised
    There again I presume the social services personnel are all overworked. With the best will in the world people can only handle so much.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 124,689
    edited January 18
    25,000 take part in a 'People's March' against Trump before his inaugration as next President of the USA on Monday, MAGA crowd also gathering over the other side

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c5y7x2dv558t
  • Pagan2Pagan2 Posts: 10,166
    AnneJGP said:

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Baroness Nicholson tells Spectator TV she is against trans and woke and...
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFc-uJYp74E

    But one interesting suggestion she made is that the sharp rise in mental health issues among the young may be due to ending music and singing in primary schools.

    It really concerns me just how many of the now middle aged adults (40s, say) known to me are simply not able to cope with the pressures of daily life. This isn't to criticise them; it's purely an observation of those in my circles and I've no idea of the cause. Manifestly there are multitudes of people of the same age who are coping, but when the adults can't cope, what chance do their children have? One family known to me has 2 children withdrawn from school into so-called home schooling, where the mother & her boyfriend spend all day upstairs and middle child teaches herself & younger sibling as best she can. It seems likely that mother has some sort of emotional/psychological difficulties herself since she will not tolerate any 'interference' from children's father or anyone else.

    To think that this is probably replicated up & down the country is staggering.
    How is that not reported and acted upon as child abuse?
    Social services don't seem to be interested.
    Well as we keep seeing they are barely interested even if a child is being regularly beaten and bones broken so I guess we shouldn't be surprised
    There again I presume the social services personnel are all overworked. With the best will in the world people can only handle so much.
    A lot of my stepfathers family were social workers, I wouldn't have trusted any of them to safeguard a bar of soap let alone a child they were the most ineffectual hand wavy adults I have ever met always trying to see good in the evil arseholes they dealt with and making excuses for them and reasons not to rescue the kids.

    You would hear shit from them such as its not their fault they beat their kids as they were beaten themselves as children....while maybe true that attitude doesn't help the kid being beaten now
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 63,544
    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Baroness Nicholson tells Spectator TV she is against trans and woke and...
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFc-uJYp74E

    But one interesting suggestion she made is that the sharp rise in mental health issues among the young may be due to ending music and singing in primary schools.

    It really concerns me just how many of the now middle aged adults (40s, say) known to me are simply not able to cope with the pressures of daily life. This isn't to criticise them; it's purely an observation of those in my circles and I've no idea of the cause. Manifestly there are multitudes of people of the same age who are coping, but when the adults can't cope, what chance do their children have? One family known to me has 2 children withdrawn from school into so-called home schooling, where the mother & her boyfriend spend all day upstairs and middle child teaches herself & younger sibling as best she can. It seems likely that mother has some sort of emotional/psychological difficulties herself since she will not tolerate any 'interference' from children's father or anyone else.

    To think that this is probably replicated up & down the country is staggering.
    How is that not reported and acted upon as child abuse?
    Social services don't seem to be interested.
    Well as we keep seeing they are barely interested even if a child is being regularly beaten and bones broken so I guess we shouldn't be surprised
    There again I presume the social services personnel are all overworked. With the best will in the world people can only handle so much.
    A lot of my stepfathers family were social workers, I wouldn't have trusted any of them to safeguard a bar of soap let alone a child they were the most ineffectual hand wavy adults I have ever met always trying to see good in the evil arseholes they dealt with and making excuses for them and reasons not to rescue the kids.

    You would hear shit from them such as its not their fault they beat their kids as they were beaten themselves as children....while maybe true that attitude doesn't help the kid being beaten now
    I believe the government is acting on "home schooling"?

  • Pagan2Pagan2 Posts: 10,166

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Baroness Nicholson tells Spectator TV she is against trans and woke and...
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFc-uJYp74E

    But one interesting suggestion she made is that the sharp rise in mental health issues among the young may be due to ending music and singing in primary schools.

    It really concerns me just how many of the now middle aged adults (40s, say) known to me are simply not able to cope with the pressures of daily life. This isn't to criticise them; it's purely an observation of those in my circles and I've no idea of the cause. Manifestly there are multitudes of people of the same age who are coping, but when the adults can't cope, what chance do their children have? One family known to me has 2 children withdrawn from school into so-called home schooling, where the mother & her boyfriend spend all day upstairs and middle child teaches herself & younger sibling as best she can. It seems likely that mother has some sort of emotional/psychological difficulties herself since she will not tolerate any 'interference' from children's father or anyone else.

    To think that this is probably replicated up & down the country is staggering.
    How is that not reported and acted upon as child abuse?
    Social services don't seem to be interested.
    Well as we keep seeing they are barely interested even if a child is being regularly beaten and bones broken so I guess we shouldn't be surprised
    There again I presume the social services personnel are all overworked. With the best will in the world people can only handle so much.
    A lot of my stepfathers family were social workers, I wouldn't have trusted any of them to safeguard a bar of soap let alone a child they were the most ineffectual hand wavy adults I have ever met always trying to see good in the evil arseholes they dealt with and making excuses for them and reasons not to rescue the kids.

    You would hear shit from them such as its not their fault they beat their kids as they were beaten themselves as children....while maybe true that attitude doesn't help the kid being beaten now
    I believe the government is acting on "home schooling"?

    Home schooling is a valid option, however I don't think children on social services radar should have the home schooling option. Too often its a way to take them off the radar for protection
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 28,854
    AnneJGP said:

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Baroness Nicholson tells Spectator TV she is against trans and woke and...
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFc-uJYp74E

    But one interesting suggestion she made is that the sharp rise in mental health issues among the young may be due to ending music and singing in primary schools.

    It really concerns me just how many of the now middle aged adults (40s, say) known to me are simply not able to cope with the pressures of daily life. This isn't to criticise them; it's purely an observation of those in my circles and I've no idea of the cause. Manifestly there are multitudes of people of the same age who are coping, but when the adults can't cope, what chance do their children have? One family known to me has 2 children withdrawn from school into so-called home schooling, where the mother & her boyfriend spend all day upstairs and middle child teaches herself & younger sibling as best she can. It seems likely that mother has some sort of emotional/psychological difficulties herself since she will not tolerate any 'interference' from children's father or anyone else.

    To think that this is probably replicated up & down the country is staggering.
    How is that not reported and acted upon as child abuse?
    Social services don't seem to be interested.
    Well as we keep seeing they are barely interested even if a child is being regularly beaten and bones broken so I guess we shouldn't be surprised
    There again I presume the social services personnel are all overworked. With the best will in the world people can only handle so much.
    And, whisper it, there is usually no clear path forward. Mum's neglectful. Ah, but dad's an alcoholic, adoption is a big step and in any case, only really works for cute babies and toddlers, and as for taking the children into care, well, google grooming gangs. And the child who is being beaten black and blue, or raped, she doesn't want the family broken up, she just wants the abuse to stop and keep the 90 per cent of the time when they are just a normal family.
  • Pagan2Pagan2 Posts: 10,166

    AnneJGP said:

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Baroness Nicholson tells Spectator TV she is against trans and woke and...
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFc-uJYp74E

    But one interesting suggestion she made is that the sharp rise in mental health issues among the young may be due to ending music and singing in primary schools.

    It really concerns me just how many of the now middle aged adults (40s, say) known to me are simply not able to cope with the pressures of daily life. This isn't to criticise them; it's purely an observation of those in my circles and I've no idea of the cause. Manifestly there are multitudes of people of the same age who are coping, but when the adults can't cope, what chance do their children have? One family known to me has 2 children withdrawn from school into so-called home schooling, where the mother & her boyfriend spend all day upstairs and middle child teaches herself & younger sibling as best she can. It seems likely that mother has some sort of emotional/psychological difficulties herself since she will not tolerate any 'interference' from children's father or anyone else.

    To think that this is probably replicated up & down the country is staggering.
    How is that not reported and acted upon as child abuse?
    Social services don't seem to be interested.
    Well as we keep seeing they are barely interested even if a child is being regularly beaten and bones broken so I guess we shouldn't be surprised
    There again I presume the social services personnel are all overworked. With the best will in the world people can only handle so much.
    And, whisper it, there is usually no clear path forward. Mum's neglectful. Ah, but dad's an alcoholic, adoption is a big step and in any case, only really works for cute babies and toddlers, and as for taking the children into care, well, google grooming gangs. And the child who is being beaten black and blue, or raped, she doesn't want the family broken up, she just wants the abuse to stop and keep the 90 per cent of the time when they are just a normal family.
    Sorry your argument is do nothing? Are you one of my stepfathers relatives?
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 28,854
    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Baroness Nicholson tells Spectator TV she is against trans and woke and...
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFc-uJYp74E

    But one interesting suggestion she made is that the sharp rise in mental health issues among the young may be due to ending music and singing in primary schools.

    It really concerns me just how many of the now middle aged adults (40s, say) known to me are simply not able to cope with the pressures of daily life. This isn't to criticise them; it's purely an observation of those in my circles and I've no idea of the cause. Manifestly there are multitudes of people of the same age who are coping, but when the adults can't cope, what chance do their children have? One family known to me has 2 children withdrawn from school into so-called home schooling, where the mother & her boyfriend spend all day upstairs and middle child teaches herself & younger sibling as best she can. It seems likely that mother has some sort of emotional/psychological difficulties herself since she will not tolerate any 'interference' from children's father or anyone else.

    To think that this is probably replicated up & down the country is staggering.
    How is that not reported and acted upon as child abuse?
    Social services don't seem to be interested.
    Well as we keep seeing they are barely interested even if a child is being regularly beaten and bones broken so I guess we shouldn't be surprised
    There again I presume the social services personnel are all overworked. With the best will in the world people can only handle so much.
    A lot of my stepfathers family were social workers, I wouldn't have trusted any of them to safeguard a bar of soap let alone a child they were the most ineffectual hand wavy adults I have ever met always trying to see good in the evil arseholes they dealt with and making excuses for them and reasons not to rescue the kids.

    You would hear shit from them such as its not their fault they beat their kids as they were beaten themselves as children....while maybe true that attitude doesn't help the kid being beaten now
    Beating children was official government policy within living memory.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 52,106

    Battlebus said:

    Keir Starmer visiting Auschwitz appears to have triggered a lot of interesting people...

    e.g. : "What sort of fuckin ghouls turn up for photoshoots at Auschwitz ?? Creepy creepy bastards"

    Having visited Bergen-Belsen near Hannover some time ago, I would urge people to visit and learn. There were a wider collection of victims transported there than contemporary history suggests. An example of what happens with untrammelled power.
    I am not sure I can agree there. Wasn't the Nazis' power being severely 'tramelled' by the time the final solution was decided upon?
    A rather poor point, even if it was correct, as they had untrammelled power over the territories and peoples they controlled.

    But it isn't correct. The Wansee Conference was in January 1942, when they were probably at the peak of their power - albeit the seeds of their ruin had been sown.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wannsee_Conference
    The German failure to capture Moscow was in December 1941, and also the same month Hitler declared war on the USA. Arguably sealing the Nazis' fate.
    Yes, but they did not know that. Indeed, AIUI Hitler was jubilant when Pearl Harbour occurred, as he knew the USA would be dragged into the war, using resources in the Pacific instead of Europe.
    Actually, some did. One of bomb plotters against Hitler (later) was giving staff college lectures (in 1941) on how fucked up the logistics for Russia were - the implication was the war was unwinnable.
  • Jim_MillerJim_Miller Posts: 3,089
    FDR was clever enough, after the Pearl Harbor attack, to wait for Hitler to declare war on the US, though some of his advisors wanted him to go ahead and declare war first. It helped unite the US, and silence the isolationists, who were powerful, politically.
  • Pagan2Pagan2 Posts: 10,166
    edited January 18

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Baroness Nicholson tells Spectator TV she is against trans and woke and...
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFc-uJYp74E

    But one interesting suggestion she made is that the sharp rise in mental health issues among the young may be due to ending music and singing in primary schools.

    It really concerns me just how many of the now middle aged adults (40s, say) known to me are simply not able to cope with the pressures of daily life. This isn't to criticise them; it's purely an observation of those in my circles and I've no idea of the cause. Manifestly there are multitudes of people of the same age who are coping, but when the adults can't cope, what chance do their children have? One family known to me has 2 children withdrawn from school into so-called home schooling, where the mother & her boyfriend spend all day upstairs and middle child teaches herself & younger sibling as best she can. It seems likely that mother has some sort of emotional/psychological difficulties herself since she will not tolerate any 'interference' from children's father or anyone else.

    To think that this is probably replicated up & down the country is staggering.
    How is that not reported and acted upon as child abuse?
    Social services don't seem to be interested.
    Well as we keep seeing they are barely interested even if a child is being regularly beaten and bones broken so I guess we shouldn't be surprised
    There again I presume the social services personnel are all overworked. With the best will in the world people can only handle so much.
    A lot of my stepfathers family were social workers, I wouldn't have trusted any of them to safeguard a bar of soap let alone a child they were the most ineffectual hand wavy adults I have ever met always trying to see good in the evil arseholes they dealt with and making excuses for them and reasons not to rescue the kids.

    You would hear shit from them such as its not their fault they beat their kids as they were beaten themselves as children....while maybe true that attitude doesn't help the kid being beaten now
    Beating children was official government policy within living memory.
    But isn't now nor has it been since 1998 in enlightened parts of the uk, naturally scotland and northern ireland took a while to catch up (1986 for state schools)
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 28,854
    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Baroness Nicholson tells Spectator TV she is against trans and woke and...
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFc-uJYp74E

    But one interesting suggestion she made is that the sharp rise in mental health issues among the young may be due to ending music and singing in primary schools.

    It really concerns me just how many of the now middle aged adults (40s, say) known to me are simply not able to cope with the pressures of daily life. This isn't to criticise them; it's purely an observation of those in my circles and I've no idea of the cause. Manifestly there are multitudes of people of the same age who are coping, but when the adults can't cope, what chance do their children have? One family known to me has 2 children withdrawn from school into so-called home schooling, where the mother & her boyfriend spend all day upstairs and middle child teaches herself & younger sibling as best she can. It seems likely that mother has some sort of emotional/psychological difficulties herself since she will not tolerate any 'interference' from children's father or anyone else.

    To think that this is probably replicated up & down the country is staggering.
    How is that not reported and acted upon as child abuse?
    Social services don't seem to be interested.
    Well as we keep seeing they are barely interested even if a child is being regularly beaten and bones broken so I guess we shouldn't be surprised
    There again I presume the social services personnel are all overworked. With the best will in the world people can only handle so much.
    And, whisper it, there is usually no clear path forward. Mum's neglectful. Ah, but dad's an alcoholic, adoption is a big step and in any case, only really works for cute babies and toddlers, and as for taking the children into care, well, google grooming gangs. And the child who is being beaten black and blue, or raped, she doesn't want the family broken up, she just wants the abuse to stop and keep the 90 per cent of the time when they are just a normal family.
    Sorry your argument is do nothing? Are you one of my stepfathers relatives?
    No but in previous lives worked with local authority and NSPCC social workers. Things are not clear cut. Often there is no ideal solution, just different bad ones.
  • solarflaresolarflare Posts: 3,788
    Complete apropos of nothing. There are some bits of the BBC sport website that seem to now force you to login to read them. You can either sign in, register, or a link says "maybe later - show me more from sport", which takes you back to the main sport page, but still doesn't let you read certain things.

    Football, cricket and golf articles seem fine, but F1, tennis and rugby seem to require you to be signed in. It's a bit bizarre.

    Is this a genuine thing now?
  • Pagan2Pagan2 Posts: 10,166
    edited January 18

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Baroness Nicholson tells Spectator TV she is against trans and woke and...
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFc-uJYp74E

    But one interesting suggestion she made is that the sharp rise in mental health issues among the young may be due to ending music and singing in primary schools.

    It really concerns me just how many of the now middle aged adults (40s, say) known to me are simply not able to cope with the pressures of daily life. This isn't to criticise them; it's purely an observation of those in my circles and I've no idea of the cause. Manifestly there are multitudes of people of the same age who are coping, but when the adults can't cope, what chance do their children have? One family known to me has 2 children withdrawn from school into so-called home schooling, where the mother & her boyfriend spend all day upstairs and middle child teaches herself & younger sibling as best she can. It seems likely that mother has some sort of emotional/psychological difficulties herself since she will not tolerate any 'interference' from children's father or anyone else.

    To think that this is probably replicated up & down the country is staggering.
    How is that not reported and acted upon as child abuse?
    Social services don't seem to be interested.
    Well as we keep seeing they are barely interested even if a child is being regularly beaten and bones broken so I guess we shouldn't be surprised
    There again I presume the social services personnel are all overworked. With the best will in the world people can only handle so much.
    And, whisper it, there is usually no clear path forward. Mum's neglectful. Ah, but dad's an alcoholic, adoption is a big step and in any case, only really works for cute babies and toddlers, and as for taking the children into care, well, google grooming gangs. And the child who is being beaten black and blue, or raped, she doesn't want the family broken up, she just wants the abuse to stop and keep the 90 per cent of the time when they are just a normal family.
    Sorry your argument is do nothing? Are you one of my stepfathers relatives?
    No but in previous lives worked with local authority and NSPCC social workers. Things are not clear cut. Often there is no ideal solution, just different bad ones.
    How about we change care so that grooming gangs can't operate...give care homes the ability to physically prevent kids in care leaving in a taxi for a start just like a parent would

    Oh and another thing debar the nspcc from having anything to do with children
  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 5,153

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Baroness Nicholson tells Spectator TV she is against trans and woke and...
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFc-uJYp74E

    But one interesting suggestion she made is that the sharp rise in mental health issues among the young may be due to ending music and singing in primary schools.

    It really concerns me just how many of the now middle aged adults (40s, say) known to me are simply not able to cope with the pressures of daily life. This isn't to criticise them; it's purely an observation of those in my circles and I've no idea of the cause. Manifestly there are multitudes of people of the same age who are coping, but when the adults can't cope, what chance do their children have? One family known to me has 2 children withdrawn from school into so-called home schooling, where the mother & her boyfriend spend all day upstairs and middle child teaches herself & younger sibling as best she can. It seems likely that mother has some sort of emotional/psychological difficulties herself since she will not tolerate any 'interference' from children's father or anyone else.

    To think that this is probably replicated up & down the country is staggering.
    How is that not reported and acted upon as child abuse?
    Social services don't seem to be interested.
    Well as we keep seeing they are barely interested even if a child is being regularly beaten and bones broken so I guess we shouldn't be surprised
    There again I presume the social services personnel are all overworked. With the best will in the world people can only handle so much.
    A lot of my stepfathers family were social workers, I wouldn't have trusted any of them to safeguard a bar of soap let alone a child they were the most ineffectual hand wavy adults I have ever met always trying to see good in the evil arseholes they dealt with and making excuses for them and reasons not to rescue the kids.

    You would hear shit from them such as its not their fault they beat their kids as they were beaten themselves as children....while maybe true that attitude doesn't help the kid being beaten now
    Beating children was official government policy within living memory.
    A Mr. John Dick of Lochgelly waves hello.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 52,106
    AnneJGP said:

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Baroness Nicholson tells Spectator TV she is against trans and woke and...
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFc-uJYp74E

    But one interesting suggestion she made is that the sharp rise in mental health issues among the young may be due to ending music and singing in primary schools.

    It really concerns me just how many of the now middle aged adults (40s, say) known to me are simply not able to cope with the pressures of daily life. This isn't to criticise them; it's purely an observation of those in my circles and I've no idea of the cause. Manifestly there are multitudes of people of the same age who are coping, but when the adults can't cope, what chance do their children have? One family known to me has 2 children withdrawn from school into so-called home schooling, where the mother & her boyfriend spend all day upstairs and middle child teaches herself & younger sibling as best she can. It seems likely that mother has some sort of emotional/psychological difficulties herself since she will not tolerate any 'interference' from children's father or anyone else.

    To think that this is probably replicated up & down the country is staggering.
    How is that not reported and acted upon as child abuse?
    Social services don't seem to be interested.
    Well as we keep seeing they are barely interested even if a child is being regularly beaten and bones broken so I guess we shouldn't be surprised
    There again I presume the social services personnel are all overworked. With the best will in the world people can only handle so much.
    https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/JCO/Documents/FJC/Publications/Baby+P.pdf

    “...it is estimated that social workers spend between 12% and 20% of their time working directly with children and families, the remainder being spend on administrative tasks”
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 28,854
    Pagan2 said:

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Baroness Nicholson tells Spectator TV she is against trans and woke and...
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFc-uJYp74E

    But one interesting suggestion she made is that the sharp rise in mental health issues among the young may be due to ending music and singing in primary schools.

    It really concerns me just how many of the now middle aged adults (40s, say) known to me are simply not able to cope with the pressures of daily life. This isn't to criticise them; it's purely an observation of those in my circles and I've no idea of the cause. Manifestly there are multitudes of people of the same age who are coping, but when the adults can't cope, what chance do their children have? One family known to me has 2 children withdrawn from school into so-called home schooling, where the mother & her boyfriend spend all day upstairs and middle child teaches herself & younger sibling as best she can. It seems likely that mother has some sort of emotional/psychological difficulties herself since she will not tolerate any 'interference' from children's father or anyone else.

    To think that this is probably replicated up & down the country is staggering.
    How is that not reported and acted upon as child abuse?
    Social services don't seem to be interested.
    Well as we keep seeing they are barely interested even if a child is being regularly beaten and bones broken so I guess we shouldn't be surprised
    There again I presume the social services personnel are all overworked. With the best will in the world people can only handle so much.
    And, whisper it, there is usually no clear path forward. Mum's neglectful. Ah, but dad's an alcoholic, adoption is a big step and in any case, only really works for cute babies and toddlers, and as for taking the children into care, well, google grooming gangs. And the child who is being beaten black and blue, or raped, she doesn't want the family broken up, she just wants the abuse to stop and keep the 90 per cent of the time when they are just a normal family.
    Sorry your argument is do nothing? Are you one of my stepfathers relatives?
    No but in previous lives worked with local authority and NSPCC social workers. Things are not clear cut. Often there is no ideal solution, just different bad ones.
    How about we change care so that grooming gangs can't operate...give care homes the ability to physically prevent kids in care leaving in a taxi for a start just like a parent would

    Oh and another thing debar the nspcc from having anything to do with children
    You want unrelated adults to manhandle teenage girls? Good luck with that.

    Anyway, some of the victims were from family homes. We have become too hung up on the P-word to analyse what was happening.

    If you are, say, a 14-year-old girl who wants lifts, new clothes, perhaps some trinkets, you ask mum and dad. Oh, unless there is no mum and dad and you are in care in which case you rely on your sugar daddy who does not need to be very rich at all to impress a skint 14-year-old.
  • Pagan2Pagan2 Posts: 10,166

    Pagan2 said:

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Baroness Nicholson tells Spectator TV she is against trans and woke and...
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFc-uJYp74E

    But one interesting suggestion she made is that the sharp rise in mental health issues among the young may be due to ending music and singing in primary schools.

    It really concerns me just how many of the now middle aged adults (40s, say) known to me are simply not able to cope with the pressures of daily life. This isn't to criticise them; it's purely an observation of those in my circles and I've no idea of the cause. Manifestly there are multitudes of people of the same age who are coping, but when the adults can't cope, what chance do their children have? One family known to me has 2 children withdrawn from school into so-called home schooling, where the mother & her boyfriend spend all day upstairs and middle child teaches herself & younger sibling as best she can. It seems likely that mother has some sort of emotional/psychological difficulties herself since she will not tolerate any 'interference' from children's father or anyone else.

    To think that this is probably replicated up & down the country is staggering.
    How is that not reported and acted upon as child abuse?
    Social services don't seem to be interested.
    Well as we keep seeing they are barely interested even if a child is being regularly beaten and bones broken so I guess we shouldn't be surprised
    There again I presume the social services personnel are all overworked. With the best will in the world people can only handle so much.
    And, whisper it, there is usually no clear path forward. Mum's neglectful. Ah, but dad's an alcoholic, adoption is a big step and in any case, only really works for cute babies and toddlers, and as for taking the children into care, well, google grooming gangs. And the child who is being beaten black and blue, or raped, she doesn't want the family broken up, she just wants the abuse to stop and keep the 90 per cent of the time when they are just a normal family.
    Sorry your argument is do nothing? Are you one of my stepfathers relatives?
    No but in previous lives worked with local authority and NSPCC social workers. Things are not clear cut. Often there is no ideal solution, just different bad ones.
    How about we change care so that grooming gangs can't operate...give care homes the ability to physically prevent kids in care leaving in a taxi for a start just like a parent would

    Oh and another thing debar the nspcc from having anything to do with children
    You want unrelated adults to manhandle teenage girls? Good luck with that.

    Anyway, some of the victims were from family homes. We have become too hung up on the P-word to analyse what was happening.

    If you are, say, a 14-year-old girl who wants lifts, new clothes, perhaps some trinkets, you ask mum and dad. Oh, unless there is no mum and dad and you are in care in which case you rely on your sugar daddy who does not need to be very rich at all to impress a skint 14-year-old.
    Yes I prefer unrelated adults to physically restrain a 14 year old girl from getting into a taxi. It is better (though not entirely safe) that an adult that is has at least been vetted do it than she is left to go with joe nobody who might be an honest taxi driver or might be a jimmy saville wannabe
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 28,854

    Complete apropos of nothing. There are some bits of the BBC sport website that seem to now force you to login to read them. You can either sign in, register, or a link says "maybe later - show me more from sport", which takes you back to the main sport page, but still doesn't let you read certain things.

    Football, cricket and golf articles seem fine, but F1, tennis and rugby seem to require you to be signed in. It's a bit bizarre.

    Is this a genuine thing now?

    I've just had a click around without being restricted. Maybe try and interest Morris_Dancer, our F1 correspondent. If forced to guess, perhaps it is connected with television rights for video clips on those pages, especially if you are (or appear to be for internet purposes) abroad.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 72,161
    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Baroness Nicholson tells Spectator TV she is against trans and woke and...
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFc-uJYp74E

    But one interesting suggestion she made is that the sharp rise in mental health issues among the young may be due to ending music and singing in primary schools.

    It really concerns me just how many of the now middle aged adults (40s, say) known to me are simply not able to cope with the pressures of daily life. This isn't to criticise them; it's purely an observation of those in my circles and I've no idea of the cause. Manifestly there are multitudes of people of the same age who are coping, but when the adults can't cope, what chance do their children have? One family known to me has 2 children withdrawn from school into so-called home schooling, where the mother & her boyfriend spend all day upstairs and middle child teaches herself & younger sibling as best she can. It seems likely that mother has some sort of emotional/psychological difficulties herself since she will not tolerate any 'interference' from children's father or anyone else.

    To think that this is probably replicated up & down the country is staggering.
    How is that not reported and acted upon as child abuse?
    Legally, that is neglect, not child abuse.

    It should however still be reported. The correct people to intervene are the local Safeguarding Board, who should have a hotline to contact.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 43,958

    Battlebus said:

    Keir Starmer visiting Auschwitz appears to have triggered a lot of interesting people...

    e.g. : "What sort of fuckin ghouls turn up for photoshoots at Auschwitz ?? Creepy creepy bastards"

    Having visited Bergen-Belsen near Hannover some time ago, I would urge people to visit and learn. There were a wider collection of victims transported there than contemporary history suggests. An example of what happens with untrammelled power.
    I am not sure I can agree there. Wasn't the Nazis' power being severely 'tramelled' by the time the final solution was decided upon?
    A rather poor point, even if it was correct, as they had untrammelled power over the territories and peoples they controlled.

    But it isn't correct. The Wansee Conference was in January 1942, when they were probably at the peak of their power - albeit the seeds of their ruin had been sown.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wannsee_Conference
    The German failure to capture Moscow was in December 1941, and also the same month Hitler declared war on the USA. Arguably sealing the Nazis' fate.
    Yes, but they did not know that. Indeed, AIUI Hitler was jubilant when Pearl Harbour occurred, as he knew the USA would be dragged into the war, using resources in the Pacific instead of Europe.
    Actually, some did. One of bomb plotters against Hitler (later) was giving staff college lectures (in 1941) on how fucked up the logistics for Russia were - the implication was the war was unwinnable.
    Well, yes. But as a whole, the German leadership and the people were fairly positive in January 1942. And you will always get people who think differently; either because they have better information and insight, or just because they like being different.

    In Russia at the moment, you will get people who think they will lose the war in Ukraine (though they will probably be silent...).
  • solarflaresolarflare Posts: 3,788
    edited January 18

    Complete apropos of nothing. There are some bits of the BBC sport website that seem to now force you to login to read them. You can either sign in, register, or a link says "maybe later - show me more from sport", which takes you back to the main sport page, but still doesn't let you read certain things.

    Football, cricket and golf articles seem fine, but F1, tennis and rugby seem to require you to be signed in. It's a bit bizarre.

    Is this a genuine thing now?

    I've just had a click around without being restricted. Maybe try and interest Morris_Dancer, our F1 correspondent. If forced to guess, perhaps it is connected with television rights for video clips on those pages, especially if you are (or appear to be for internet purposes) abroad.
    Interesting. It's weird, it just seems to pop up for some of the sports articles - but I don't think the articles have videos embedded in them.
  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 5,153
    Pagan2 said:

    Pagan2 said:

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Baroness Nicholson tells Spectator TV she is against trans and woke and...
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFc-uJYp74E

    But one interesting suggestion she made is that the sharp rise in mental health issues among the young may be due to ending music and singing in primary schools.

    It really concerns me just how many of the now middle aged adults (40s, say) known to me are simply not able to cope with the pressures of daily life. This isn't to criticise them; it's purely an observation of those in my circles and I've no idea of the cause. Manifestly there are multitudes of people of the same age who are coping, but when the adults can't cope, what chance do their children have? One family known to me has 2 children withdrawn from school into so-called home schooling, where the mother & her boyfriend spend all day upstairs and middle child teaches herself & younger sibling as best she can. It seems likely that mother has some sort of emotional/psychological difficulties herself since she will not tolerate any 'interference' from children's father or anyone else.

    To think that this is probably replicated up & down the country is staggering.
    How is that not reported and acted upon as child abuse?
    Social services don't seem to be interested.
    Well as we keep seeing they are barely interested even if a child is being regularly beaten and bones broken so I guess we shouldn't be surprised
    There again I presume the social services personnel are all overworked. With the best will in the world people can only handle so much.
    And, whisper it, there is usually no clear path forward. Mum's neglectful. Ah, but dad's an alcoholic, adoption is a big step and in any case, only really works for cute babies and toddlers, and as for taking the children into care, well, google grooming gangs. And the child who is being beaten black and blue, or raped, she doesn't want the family broken up, she just wants the abuse to stop and keep the 90 per cent of the time when they are just a normal family.
    Sorry your argument is do nothing? Are you one of my stepfathers relatives?
    No but in previous lives worked with local authority and NSPCC social workers. Things are not clear cut. Often there is no ideal solution, just different bad ones.
    How about we change care so that grooming gangs can't operate...give care homes the ability to physically prevent kids in care leaving in a taxi for a start just like a parent would

    Oh and another thing debar the nspcc from having anything to do with children
    You want unrelated adults to manhandle teenage girls? Good luck with that.

    Anyway, some of the victims were from family homes. We have become too hung up on the P-word to analyse what was happening.

    If you are, say, a 14-year-old girl who wants lifts, new clothes, perhaps some trinkets, you ask mum and dad. Oh, unless there is no mum and dad and you are in care in which case you rely on your sugar daddy who does not need to be very rich at all to impress a skint 14-year-old.
    Yes I prefer unrelated adults to physically restrain a 14 year old girl from getting into a taxi. It is better (though not entirely safe) that an adult that is has at least been vetted do it than she is left to go with joe nobody who might be an honest taxi driver or might be a jimmy saville wannabe
    Some taxi drivers have enhanced disclosure, specifically to take vulnerable young people to school or hospital. Most responsible taxi firms will not pick up unaccompanied young people unless a suitable driver is available. Uber drivers, probably not so much.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 63,544
    John Rentoul
    @JohnRentoul
    ·
    45m
    Trump considering rejecting Mandelson as Starmer’s nominee for ambassador to the US – scoop from
    @DavidPBMaddox
  • Pagan2Pagan2 Posts: 10,166

    Pagan2 said:

    Pagan2 said:

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Baroness Nicholson tells Spectator TV she is against trans and woke and...
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFc-uJYp74E

    But one interesting suggestion she made is that the sharp rise in mental health issues among the young may be due to ending music and singing in primary schools.

    It really concerns me just how many of the now middle aged adults (40s, say) known to me are simply not able to cope with the pressures of daily life. This isn't to criticise them; it's purely an observation of those in my circles and I've no idea of the cause. Manifestly there are multitudes of people of the same age who are coping, but when the adults can't cope, what chance do their children have? One family known to me has 2 children withdrawn from school into so-called home schooling, where the mother & her boyfriend spend all day upstairs and middle child teaches herself & younger sibling as best she can. It seems likely that mother has some sort of emotional/psychological difficulties herself since she will not tolerate any 'interference' from children's father or anyone else.

    To think that this is probably replicated up & down the country is staggering.
    How is that not reported and acted upon as child abuse?
    Social services don't seem to be interested.
    Well as we keep seeing they are barely interested even if a child is being regularly beaten and bones broken so I guess we shouldn't be surprised
    There again I presume the social services personnel are all overworked. With the best will in the world people can only handle so much.
    And, whisper it, there is usually no clear path forward. Mum's neglectful. Ah, but dad's an alcoholic, adoption is a big step and in any case, only really works for cute babies and toddlers, and as for taking the children into care, well, google grooming gangs. And the child who is being beaten black and blue, or raped, she doesn't want the family broken up, she just wants the abuse to stop and keep the 90 per cent of the time when they are just a normal family.
    Sorry your argument is do nothing? Are you one of my stepfathers relatives?
    No but in previous lives worked with local authority and NSPCC social workers. Things are not clear cut. Often there is no ideal solution, just different bad ones.
    How about we change care so that grooming gangs can't operate...give care homes the ability to physically prevent kids in care leaving in a taxi for a start just like a parent would

    Oh and another thing debar the nspcc from having anything to do with children
    You want unrelated adults to manhandle teenage girls? Good luck with that.

    Anyway, some of the victims were from family homes. We have become too hung up on the P-word to analyse what was happening.

    If you are, say, a 14-year-old girl who wants lifts, new clothes, perhaps some trinkets, you ask mum and dad. Oh, unless there is no mum and dad and you are in care in which case you rely on your sugar daddy who does not need to be very rich at all to impress a skint 14-year-old.
    Yes I prefer unrelated adults to physically restrain a 14 year old girl from getting into a taxi. It is better (though not entirely safe) that an adult that is has at least been vetted do it than she is left to go with joe nobody who might be an honest taxi driver or might be a jimmy saville wannabe
    Some taxi drivers have enhanced disclosure, specifically to take vulnerable young people to school or hospital. Most responsible taxi firms will not pick up unaccompanied young people unless a suitable driver is available. Uber drivers, probably not so much.
    But the home doesn't know if that particular driver does, nor do they know who she is being delivered too even if the driver themselves is legit. When a child is in care the care home are in a position of "in loco parentis" and should be allowed to do what is necessary to safeguard the child even against the childs wishes. When the child becomes legally an adult she can go put herself in danger if she likes
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 52,106

    Battlebus said:

    Keir Starmer visiting Auschwitz appears to have triggered a lot of interesting people...

    e.g. : "What sort of fuckin ghouls turn up for photoshoots at Auschwitz ?? Creepy creepy bastards"

    Having visited Bergen-Belsen near Hannover some time ago, I would urge people to visit and learn. There were a wider collection of victims transported there than contemporary history suggests. An example of what happens with untrammelled power.
    I am not sure I can agree there. Wasn't the Nazis' power being severely 'tramelled' by the time the final solution was decided upon?
    A rather poor point, even if it was correct, as they had untrammelled power over the territories and peoples they controlled.

    But it isn't correct. The Wansee Conference was in January 1942, when they were probably at the peak of their power - albeit the seeds of their ruin had been sown.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wannsee_Conference
    The German failure to capture Moscow was in December 1941, and also the same month Hitler declared war on the USA. Arguably sealing the Nazis' fate.
    Yes, but they did not know that. Indeed, AIUI Hitler was jubilant when Pearl Harbour occurred, as he knew the USA would be dragged into the war, using resources in the Pacific instead of Europe.
    Actually, some did. One of bomb plotters against Hitler (later) was giving staff college lectures (in 1941) on how fucked up the logistics for Russia were - the implication was the war was unwinnable.
    Well, yes. But as a whole, the German leadership and the people were fairly positive in January 1942. And you will always get people who think differently; either because they have better information and insight, or just because they like being different.

    In Russia at the moment, you will get people who think they will lose the war in Ukraine (though they will probably be silent...).
    The more you read on it, though, it was astonishing how early people were saying this, and how openly. Lecturing to hundreds at a time in the Staff College of the German Army, no less.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 52,106
    edited January 18

    Pagan2 said:

    Pagan2 said:

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Pagan2 said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Baroness Nicholson tells Spectator TV she is against trans and woke and...
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFc-uJYp74E

    But one interesting suggestion she made is that the sharp rise in mental health issues among the young may be due to ending music and singing in primary schools.

    It really concerns me just how many of the now middle aged adults (40s, say) known to me are simply not able to cope with the pressures of daily life. This isn't to criticise them; it's purely an observation of those in my circles and I've no idea of the cause. Manifestly there are multitudes of people of the same age who are coping, but when the adults can't cope, what chance do their children have? One family known to me has 2 children withdrawn from school into so-called home schooling, where the mother & her boyfriend spend all day upstairs and middle child teaches herself & younger sibling as best she can. It seems likely that mother has some sort of emotional/psychological difficulties herself since she will not tolerate any 'interference' from children's father or anyone else.

    To think that this is probably replicated up & down the country is staggering.
    How is that not reported and acted upon as child abuse?
    Social services don't seem to be interested.
    Well as we keep seeing they are barely interested even if a child is being regularly beaten and bones broken so I guess we shouldn't be surprised
    There again I presume the social services personnel are all overworked. With the best will in the world people can only handle so much.
    And, whisper it, there is usually no clear path forward. Mum's neglectful. Ah, but dad's an alcoholic, adoption is a big step and in any case, only really works for cute babies and toddlers, and as for taking the children into care, well, google grooming gangs. And the child who is being beaten black and blue, or raped, she doesn't want the family broken up, she just wants the abuse to stop and keep the 90 per cent of the time when they are just a normal family.
    Sorry your argument is do nothing? Are you one of my stepfathers relatives?
    No but in previous lives worked with local authority and NSPCC social workers. Things are not clear cut. Often there is no ideal solution, just different bad ones.
    How about we change care so that grooming gangs can't operate...give care homes the ability to physically prevent kids in care leaving in a taxi for a start just like a parent would

    Oh and another thing debar the nspcc from having anything to do with children
    You want unrelated adults to manhandle teenage girls? Good luck with that.

    Anyway, some of the victims were from family homes. We have become too hung up on the P-word to analyse what was happening.

    If you are, say, a 14-year-old girl who wants lifts, new clothes, perhaps some trinkets, you ask mum and dad. Oh, unless there is no mum and dad and you are in care in which case you rely on your sugar daddy who does not need to be very rich at all to impress a skint 14-year-old.
    Yes I prefer unrelated adults to physically restrain a 14 year old girl from getting into a taxi. It is better (though not entirely safe) that an adult that is has at least been vetted do it than she is left to go with joe nobody who might be an honest taxi driver or might be a jimmy saville wannabe
    Some taxi drivers have enhanced disclosure, specifically to take vulnerable young people to school or hospital. Most responsible taxi firms will not pick up unaccompanied young people unless a suitable driver is available. Uber drivers, probably not so much.
    A number of Black cab drivers* in London have been convicted for such offences. Vetting is better but not a cure…

    *No Albanians, IIRC
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 63,544
    It's January latest:



    Allison Pearson
    @AllisonPearson
    ·
    7h
    I don’t see how we can avoid a recession. In London last night, streets empty, walk in and get a table in popular restaurants
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 43,958

    Battlebus said:

    Keir Starmer visiting Auschwitz appears to have triggered a lot of interesting people...

    e.g. : "What sort of fuckin ghouls turn up for photoshoots at Auschwitz ?? Creepy creepy bastards"

    Having visited Bergen-Belsen near Hannover some time ago, I would urge people to visit and learn. There were a wider collection of victims transported there than contemporary history suggests. An example of what happens with untrammelled power.
    I am not sure I can agree there. Wasn't the Nazis' power being severely 'tramelled' by the time the final solution was decided upon?
    A rather poor point, even if it was correct, as they had untrammelled power over the territories and peoples they controlled.

    But it isn't correct. The Wansee Conference was in January 1942, when they were probably at the peak of their power - albeit the seeds of their ruin had been sown.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wannsee_Conference
    The German failure to capture Moscow was in December 1941, and also the same month Hitler declared war on the USA. Arguably sealing the Nazis' fate.
    Yes, but they did not know that. Indeed, AIUI Hitler was jubilant when Pearl Harbour occurred, as he knew the USA would be dragged into the war, using resources in the Pacific instead of Europe.
    Actually, some did. One of bomb plotters against Hitler (later) was giving staff college lectures (in 1941) on how fucked up the logistics for Russia were - the implication was the war was unwinnable.
    Well, yes. But as a whole, the German leadership and the people were fairly positive in January 1942. And you will always get people who think differently; either because they have better information and insight, or just because they like being different.

    In Russia at the moment, you will get people who think they will lose the war in Ukraine (though they will probably be silent...).
    The more you read on it, though, it was astonishing how early people were saying this, and how openly. Lecturing to hundreds at a time in the Staff College of the German Army, no less.
    You have to be slightly careful about such stories. After 1945, many German military higher-ups tried to (ahem) embellish stories about their careers in the war - sometimes encouraged by the allies, who wanted their experience in fighting the Russians. "We were not really Nazis, you know, and I was one of the decent ones" was common.

    The experience of German higher-ups interrogated at places like Latimer House actually during the war indicates something probably nearer the truth. Most were committed Nazis who could not contemplate losing the war, even after they themselves have been captured.

    The excellent book "The walls have ears" by Helen Fry highlights this quite well.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 53,263

    John Rentoul
    @JohnRentoul
    ·
    45m
    Trump considering rejecting Mandelson as Starmer’s nominee for ambassador to the US – scoop from
    @DavidPBMaddox

    Is it because he's a fighter?
  • CleitophonCleitophon Posts: 492

    It's January latest:



    Allison Pearson
    @AllisonPearson
    ·
    7h
    I don’t see how we can avoid a recession. In London last night, streets empty, walk in and get a table in popular restaurants

    It is funny you mention this. I live in NW London and my gym has been tumbleweeds and crickets through January. I have never seen anything like it. It is usually crawling with new year resolutions. This year it is even quieter than normal 🤷‍♂️
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 53,263

    It's January latest:



    Allison Pearson
    @AllisonPearson
    ·
    7h
    I don’t see how we can avoid a recession. In London last night, streets empty, walk in and get a table in popular restaurants

    Recession? She should see the number of Amazon deliveries the good lady wife gets...

    But she's right in one respect - it is a tough world out there for hospitality. Some good places going under.
  • xyzxyzxyzxyzxyzxyz Posts: 101

    UK set to introduce digital driving licences
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgkjjkjy4p8o

    Only the paranoid could see digital driving licences as a prototype ID card.

    Oh, hold on. They will be accessed on a new government smartphone app and could be accepted as a form of ID when buying alcohol, voting, or boarding domestic flights. ... considering integrating other services into the app, such as tax payments and benefits claims.

    United Nations digital id is being rolled out to whole world.

  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 63,544

    It's January latest:



    Allison Pearson
    @AllisonPearson
    ·
    7h
    I don’t see how we can avoid a recession. In London last night, streets empty, walk in and get a table in popular restaurants

    Recession? She should see the number of Amazon deliveries the good lady wife gets...

    But she's right in one respect - it is a tough world out there for hospitality. Some good places going under.
    NI and minimum wage increase for the youngsters has not helped I guess.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 63,544
    Musk back attacking Labour government.

    Shouldn't he be getting his best t-shirt ironed and ready for Monday's festival of clowns?
  • FossFoss Posts: 1,113

    It's January latest:



    Allison Pearson
    @AllisonPearson
    ·
    7h
    I don’t see how we can avoid a recession. In London last night, streets empty, walk in and get a table in popular restaurants

    Recession? She should see the number of Amazon deliveries the good lady wife gets...

    But she's right in one respect - it is a tough world out there for hospitality. Some good places going under.
    NI and minimum wage increase for the youngsters has not helped I guess.
    And the hipster puritanism of 'Dry January'.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 50,289
    edited January 18
    One weekend, it will be the straightforward delights of Skegness seafront; the next, the flashy private beach clubs of Dubai.

    Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform UK and its MP for Boston and Skegness, is splitting his time not just between his Lincolnshire ­constituency and the House of Commons, but is also spending time 3,500 miles away in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). “We are spreading our international reach,” he said.

    The Observer has established that some months ago his partner, the journalist Isabel Oakeshott, moved out to Dubai with her children.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 49,582

    It's January latest:



    Allison Pearson
    @AllisonPearson
    ·
    7h
    I don’t see how we can avoid a recession. In London last night, streets empty, walk in and get a table in popular restaurants

    Recession? She should see the number of Amazon deliveries the good lady wife gets...

    But she's right in one respect - it is a tough world out there for hospitality. Some good places going under.
    NI and minimum wage increase for the youngsters has not helped I guess.
    Minimum wage is April. Isn't NI too?
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 29,249
    edited January 18
    ...

    Battlebus said:

    Keir Starmer visiting Auschwitz appears to have triggered a lot of interesting people...

    e.g. : "What sort of fuckin ghouls turn up for photoshoots at Auschwitz ?? Creepy creepy bastards"

    Having visited Bergen-Belsen near Hannover some time ago, I would urge people to visit and learn. There were a wider collection of victims transported there than contemporary history suggests. An example of what happens with untrammelled power.
    I am not sure I can agree there. Wasn't the Nazis' power being severely 'tramelled' by the time the final solution was decided upon?
    A rather poor point, even if it was correct, as they had untrammelled power over the territories and peoples they controlled.

    But it isn't correct. The Wansee Conference was in January 1942, when they were probably at the peak of their power - albeit the seeds of their ruin had been sown.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wannsee_Conference
    The link you posted indicates that this was not really the case.

    Between the date the invitations to the conference went out (29 November) and the date of the cancelled first meeting (9 December), the situation changed. On 5 December 1941, the Red Army began a counter-offensive in front of Moscow ending the prospect of a rapid conquest of the Soviet Union. On 7 December 1941, the Japanese carried out an attack on Pearl Harbor, causing the U.S. to declare war on Japan the next day. Germany declared war on the U.S. on 11 December. Some invitees were involved in these preparations, so Heydrich postponed his meeting.[36] Somewhere around this time, Hitler resolved that the Jews of Europe were to be exterminated immediately, rather than after the war, which now had no end in sight.[37][b] At the Reich Chancellery meeting of 12 December 1941 he met with top party officials and made his intentions plain.[38] On 18 December, Hitler discussed the fate of the Jews with Himmler in the Wolfsschanze.[39] Following the meeting, Himmler made a note on his service calendar, which simply stated: "Jewish question/to be destroyed as partisans".[39]


    The whole thing is unimaginably horiffic and dark, but there is a definite historical argument that reversals in the war (rather than the 'untramelled power' of Germany) dictated the pace and the chosen mechanisms of the holocaust if not the broad intent.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 63,544
    Sam Coates Sky
    @SamCoatesSky

    Given Monday is the US inauguration, and all attention will be on ceremony, Whitehall will be aware Sunday/Monday good moments to drop difficult news.

    Perhaps - I’m sensing - something on Brexit and the results of some of the less convenient reviews. Keep an eye on the cabinet office, DfE, DESNEZ and NIO written statements.

    https://x.com/SamCoatesSky/status/1880595266127925608
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 29,249

    It's January latest:



    Allison Pearson
    @AllisonPearson
    ·
    7h
    I don’t see how we can avoid a recession. In London last night, streets empty, walk in and get a table in popular restaurants

    Recession? She should see the number of Amazon deliveries the good lady wife gets...

    But she's right in one respect - it is a tough world out there for hospitality. Some good places going under.
    I'm sure Jeff Bezos is delighted, but it doesn't help the economy here an awful lot.
  • xyzxyzxyzxyzxyzxyz Posts: 101
    xyzxyzxyz said:

    UK set to introduce digital driving licences
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgkjjkjy4p8o

    Only the paranoid could see digital driving licences as a prototype ID card.

    Oh, hold on. They will be accessed on a new government smartphone app and could be accepted as a form of ID when buying alcohol, voting, or boarding domestic flights. ... considering integrating other services into the app, such as tax payments and benefits claims.

    United Nations digital id is being rolled out to whole world.

    Required for everything apart from voting! UN may not be happy with that.

  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 49,582
    IanB2 said:

    One weekend, it will be the straightforward delights of Skegness seafront; the next, the flashy private beach clubs of Dubai.

    Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform UK and its MP for Boston and Skegness, is splitting his time not just between his Lincolnshire ­constituency and the House of Commons, but is also spending time 3,500 miles away in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). “We are spreading our international reach,” he said.

    The Observer has established that some months ago his partner, the journalist Isabel Oakeshott, moved out to Dubai with her children.

    Another couple of Brexiteers have exited. What a surprise...
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 29,249
    Foxy said:

    IanB2 said:

    One weekend, it will be the straightforward delights of Skegness seafront; the next, the flashy private beach clubs of Dubai.

    Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform UK and its MP for Boston and Skegness, is splitting his time not just between his Lincolnshire ­constituency and the House of Commons, but is also spending time 3,500 miles away in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). “We are spreading our international reach,” he said.

    The Observer has established that some months ago his partner, the journalist Isabel Oakeshott, moved out to Dubai with her children.

    Another couple of Brexiteers have exited. What a surprise...
    Along with everyone else who can afford to since Sir Vortex of Shit rode in to save the country (the country being Mauritius - should have checked the small print).
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 43,258

    John Rentoul
    @JohnRentoul
    ·
    45m
    Trump considering rejecting Mandelson as Starmer’s nominee for ambassador to the US – scoop from
    @DavidPBMaddox

    I suppose he wants Nick Faldo.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 43,258

    It's January latest:

    Allison Pearson
    @AllisonPearson
    ·
    7h
    I don’t see how we can avoid a recession. In London last night, streets empty, walk in and get a table in popular restaurants

    That's because people spotted her.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 49,582
    edited January 18

    Battlebus said:

    Keir Starmer visiting Auschwitz appears to have triggered a lot of interesting people...

    e.g. : "What sort of fuckin ghouls turn up for photoshoots at Auschwitz ?? Creepy creepy bastards"

    Having visited Bergen-Belsen near Hannover some time ago, I would urge people to visit and learn. There were a wider collection of victims transported there than contemporary history suggests. An example of what happens with untrammelled power.
    I am not sure I can agree there. Wasn't the Nazis' power being severely 'tramelled' by the time the final solution was decided upon?
    A rather poor point, even if it was correct, as they had untrammelled power over the territories and peoples they controlled.

    But it isn't correct. The Wansee Conference was in January 1942, when they were probably at the peak of their power - albeit the seeds of their ruin had been sown.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wannsee_Conference
    The German failure to capture Moscow was in December 1941, and also the same month Hitler declared war on the USA. Arguably sealing the Nazis' fate.
    Yes, but they did not know that. Indeed, AIUI Hitler was jubilant when Pearl Harbour occurred, as he knew the USA would be dragged into the war, using resources in the Pacific instead of Europe.
    Actually, some did. One of bomb plotters against Hitler (later) was giving staff college lectures (in 1941) on how fucked up the logistics for Russia were - the implication was the war was unwinnable.
    Well, yes. But as a whole, the German leadership and the people were fairly positive in January 1942. And you will always get people who think differently; either because they have better information and insight, or just because they like being different.

    In Russia at the moment, you will get people who think they will lose the war in Ukraine (though they will probably be silent...).
    Indeed, 1942 was peak expansion of the Third Reich, a year before the turning points of Stalingrad and El Flame in. Peak Japanese expansion too, with Japan rampaging across SE Asia.

    There had been plenty of massacres in 1939-41 too, but all a bit inefficient in German eyes, such as Babi Yar. The Wannsee Conference was about efficiency, not a change in policy.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,888
    Scott_xP said:

    Foxy said:

    IanB2 said:

    One weekend, it will be the straightforward delights of Skegness seafront; the next, the flashy private beach clubs of Dubai.

    Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform UK and its MP for Boston and Skegness, is splitting his time not just between his Lincolnshire ­constituency and the House of Commons, but is also spending time 3,500 miles away in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). “We are spreading our international reach,” he said.

    The Observer has established that some months ago his partner, the journalist Isabel Oakeshott, moved out to Dubai with her children.

    Another couple of Brexiteers have exited. What a surprise...
    @implausibleblog.bsky.social‬

    Isabel Oakeshott who spent years complaining of immigrants coming to the UK and not speaking English

    Has moved to Dubai, where she's an immigrant, and doesn't speak Arabic 🤷‍♂️
    To be fair, do we KNOW she isn’t learning it?
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 43,258
    Pagan2 said:

    kinabalu said:

    Pagan2 said:

    Cyclefree said:

    Carnyx said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Interesting finding.

    "Several years ago, Nick Epley, a psychologist at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, asked commuter-train passengers to make a prediction: How would they feel if asked to spend the ride talking with a stranger? Most participants predicted that quiet solitude would make for a better commute than having a long chat with someone they didn’t know. Then Epley’s team created an experiment in which some people were asked to keep to themselves, while others were instructed to talk with a stranger (“The longer the conversation, the better,” participants were told). Afterward, people filled out a questionnaire. How did they feel? Despite the broad assumption that the best commute is a silent one, the people instructed to talk with strangers actually reported feeling significantly more positive than those who’d kept to themselves. “A fundamental paradox at the core of human life is that we are highly social and made better in every way by being around people,” Epley said. “And yet over and over, we have opportunities to connect that we don’t take, or even actively reject, and it is a terrible mistake.”"

    https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/02/american-loneliness-personality-politics/681091/

    JUst been reading a very similar recommendation for a few minutes a day, by an actual psychology prof, in the Graun (last for today I promise):

    'I sit for a while on a favourite bench in my local green space. Not only does it get me outside and give me a break from my to-do list – on a good day I get to meet and dole out cuddles to several dogs, too, and have an equal number of friendly, low-stakes chats with their humans. I’m an introvert, but I love this daily dose of talking to strangers in which I often learn something, have a laugh, feel a sense of shared humanity – and then walk away.'

    https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/jan/18/whats-on-your-dopamine-menu-15-ideas-for-a-positivity-boost
    Outside Kirkstall Abbey there is a Natter Bench - installed after Covid especially for people wanting a bit of human contact.

    https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/people/leeds-natter-bench-installed-in-horsforths-hall-park-to-tackle-loneliness-3110054.
    See that I don't mind...if I sit on the bench I have indicated I want to talk to a stranger. Sadly however I find doing something like reading a book is the accepted cue that you really want to hear their views on banal topics you have no interest in
    Body position is the key. If you don't want to be spoken to you should curl up in a ball with your head between your thighs.
    Why should I? How about you just don't assume you have anything to say that I want to listen to in the first place. Or failing that take a subtle hint such as "I am reading please don't talk to me" instead of me having to goto the "Speak to me again and I will rip out your tongue and shove it in your arse" route
    Ok fair enough. If you've got a book going people should leave you be. I agree with that.

    But what about just an amiable "What's that you're reading? Is it good?"
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 43,958
    Foxy said:

    IanB2 said:

    One weekend, it will be the straightforward delights of Skegness seafront; the next, the flashy private beach clubs of Dubai.

    Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform UK and its MP for Boston and Skegness, is splitting his time not just between his Lincolnshire ­constituency and the House of Commons, but is also spending time 3,500 miles away in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). “We are spreading our international reach,” he said.

    The Observer has established that some months ago his partner, the journalist Isabel Oakeshott, moved out to Dubai with her children.

    Another couple of Brexiteers have exited. What a surprise...
    Plastic patriots.
  • Daveyboy1961Daveyboy1961 Posts: 4,019

    Foxy said:

    IanB2 said:

    One weekend, it will be the straightforward delights of Skegness seafront; the next, the flashy private beach clubs of Dubai.

    Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform UK and its MP for Boston and Skegness, is splitting his time not just between his Lincolnshire ­constituency and the House of Commons, but is also spending time 3,500 miles away in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). “We are spreading our international reach,” he said.

    The Observer has established that some months ago his partner, the journalist Isabel Oakeshott, moved out to Dubai with her children.

    Another couple of Brexiteers have exited. What a surprise...
    Along with everyone else who can afford to since Sir Vortex of Shit rode in to save the country (the country being Mauritius - should have checked the small print).
    I couldn't give two hours about millionaires leaving the country. They don't pay their fair share of tax anyway. They can eff off.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 52,106

    Battlebus said:

    Keir Starmer visiting Auschwitz appears to have triggered a lot of interesting people...

    e.g. : "What sort of fuckin ghouls turn up for photoshoots at Auschwitz ?? Creepy creepy bastards"

    Having visited Bergen-Belsen near Hannover some time ago, I would urge people to visit and learn. There were a wider collection of victims transported there than contemporary history suggests. An example of what happens with untrammelled power.
    I am not sure I can agree there. Wasn't the Nazis' power being severely 'tramelled' by the time the final solution was decided upon?
    A rather poor point, even if it was correct, as they had untrammelled power over the territories and peoples they controlled.

    But it isn't correct. The Wansee Conference was in January 1942, when they were probably at the peak of their power - albeit the seeds of their ruin had been sown.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wannsee_Conference
    The German failure to capture Moscow was in December 1941, and also the same month Hitler declared war on the USA. Arguably sealing the Nazis' fate.
    Yes, but they did not know that. Indeed, AIUI Hitler was jubilant when Pearl Harbour occurred, as he knew the USA would be dragged into the war, using resources in the Pacific instead of Europe.
    Actually, some did. One of bomb plotters against Hitler (later) was giving staff college lectures (in 1941) on how fucked up the logistics for Russia were - the implication was the war was unwinnable.
    Well, yes. But as a whole, the German leadership and the people were fairly positive in January 1942. And you will always get people who think differently; either because they have better information and insight, or just because they like being different.

    In Russia at the moment, you will get people who think they will lose the war in Ukraine (though they will probably be silent...).
    The more you read on it, though, it was astonishing how early people were saying this, and how openly. Lecturing to hundreds at a time in the Staff College of the German Army, no less.
    You have to be slightly careful about such stories. After 1945, many German military higher-ups tried to (ahem) embellish stories about their careers in the war - sometimes encouraged by the allies, who wanted their experience in fighting the Russians. "We were not really Nazis, you know, and I was one of the decent ones" was common.

    The experience of German higher-ups interrogated at places like Latimer House actually during the war indicates something probably nearer the truth. Most were committed Nazis who could not contemplate losing the war, even after they themselves have been captured.

    The excellent book "The walls have ears" by Helen Fry highlights this quite well.
    There were enough people attending the lectures. Which is why the SS and Gestapo thought that large chunks of the General Staff were anti-Nazi. Most of the people involved in such activities were murdered after the Staffenberg Plot - whether or not they were actually part of the plot. Being slightly anti-Nazi/not ra-ra for the war in the army command became a capital crime.
  • Daveyboy1961Daveyboy1961 Posts: 4,019

    Foxy said:

    IanB2 said:

    One weekend, it will be the straightforward delights of Skegness seafront; the next, the flashy private beach clubs of Dubai.

    Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform UK and its MP for Boston and Skegness, is splitting his time not just between his Lincolnshire ­constituency and the House of Commons, but is also spending time 3,500 miles away in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). “We are spreading our international reach,” he said.

    The Observer has established that some months ago his partner, the journalist Isabel Oakeshott, moved out to Dubai with her children.

    Another couple of Brexiteers have exited. What a surprise...
    Along with everyone else who can afford to since Sir Vortex of Shit rode in to save the country (the country being Mauritius - should have checked the small print).
    I couldn't give two hours about millionaires leaving the country. They don't pay their fair share of tax anyway. They can eff off.
    That should say two hoots.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 52,106

    ...

    Battlebus said:

    Keir Starmer visiting Auschwitz appears to have triggered a lot of interesting people...

    e.g. : "What sort of fuckin ghouls turn up for photoshoots at Auschwitz ?? Creepy creepy bastards"

    Having visited Bergen-Belsen near Hannover some time ago, I would urge people to visit and learn. There were a wider collection of victims transported there than contemporary history suggests. An example of what happens with untrammelled power.
    I am not sure I can agree there. Wasn't the Nazis' power being severely 'tramelled' by the time the final solution was decided upon?
    A rather poor point, even if it was correct, as they had untrammelled power over the territories and peoples they controlled.

    But it isn't correct. The Wansee Conference was in January 1942, when they were probably at the peak of their power - albeit the seeds of their ruin had been sown.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wannsee_Conference
    The link you posted indicates that this was not really the case.

    Between the date the invitations to the conference went out (29 November) and the date of the cancelled first meeting (9 December), the situation changed. On 5 December 1941, the Red Army began a counter-offensive in front of Moscow ending the prospect of a rapid conquest of the Soviet Union. On 7 December 1941, the Japanese carried out an attack on Pearl Harbor, causing the U.S. to declare war on Japan the next day. Germany declared war on the U.S. on 11 December. Some invitees were involved in these preparations, so Heydrich postponed his meeting.[36] Somewhere around this time, Hitler resolved that the Jews of Europe were to be exterminated immediately, rather than after the war, which now had no end in sight.[37][b] At the Reich Chancellery meeting of 12 December 1941 he met with top party officials and made his intentions plain.[38] On 18 December, Hitler discussed the fate of the Jews with Himmler in the Wolfsschanze.[39] Following the meeting, Himmler made a note on his service calendar, which simply stated: "Jewish question/to be destroyed as partisans".[39]


    The whole thing is unimaginably horiffic and dark, but there is a definite historical argument that reversals in the war (rather than the 'untramelled power' of Germany) dictated the pace and the chosen mechanisms of the holocaust if not the broad intent.
    Heydrich planned, recruited, trained and set in motion the Einsatzgruppen to murder “undesirables” from the invasion of Poland onwards.

    The epic slaughters in Russia produce problems of the men going insane and soldiers objecting to their behaviour. The Final Solution was about efficiency.

  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 28,854
    Foxy said:

    It's January latest:



    Allison Pearson
    @AllisonPearson
    ·
    7h
    I don’t see how we can avoid a recession. In London last night, streets empty, walk in and get a table in popular restaurants

    Recession? She should see the number of Amazon deliveries the good lady wife gets...

    But she's right in one respect - it is a tough world out there for hospitality. Some good places going under.
    NI and minimum wage increase for the youngsters has not helped I guess.
    Minimum wage is April. Isn't NI too?
    WFH is a big problem for hospitality as there are not enough office workers having lunch.
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