Robert Jenrick must be feeling quietly confident that he'll be Tory leader within a year or two. Badenoch needs to improve fairly quickly.
No he won't, he lost the members vote to Kemi clearly and lost the Tory MPs vote too.
I remain of the view she stays leader until the next GE but if Tory MPs do do an IDS and remove her I suspect it would be Mel Stride or Chris Philp who are the Michael Howard figures who replace her (Howard was IDS' Shadow Chancellor remember, Jenrick is too much of a David Davis rebel now)
Your buffoonish hero hollowed out the Conservative Party to such an extent that its options are dire to say the least.
Given my day job, I can confidently say that 99% of all cash transactions are something to do with dodging taxes, drugs, and/or wider criminality.
Bollox. Where do most cash transactions take place - in supermarkets. It's people, often older, who don't trust electronic money or others who have limited financial skills and can budget better with physical money.
Or limited IT skills full stop.
I was once stopped in the street by a young person who wanted me to get her some money from the ATM machine with her card, using the pass code she'd written on a scrap of paper. She was pretty obviously from the local residential community for people who would have limited skills in such areas.
Confession time: one of my daughters had to show me, only a few years ago, how to use an ATM machine, after our local bank branch closed.
What’s happened to me. I used to do drugs and be bad
Now I have become the sort of person that buys artisanal handwoven throws
It’s from Kachin. $105
I was going to say how rubbish it is, but it's actually not a bad effort for the 8-year-old who probably made it.
Being soaked in the tears of the 8 year old slave who made it counters any Woke entirely.
It wasn’t a slave. Kachin Burma has a long noble tradition of hand woven cotton
“Kachin textiles are not merely aesthetic but play an essential role in social and ceremonial life. Traditionally, they are worn during weddings, festivals (Manau celebrations), and rites of passage. Men wear intricately woven longyis (sarongs), while women wear htameins (skirts) paired with elaborately embroidered jackets and headdresses. Warriors and leaders historically wore finely woven garments as symbols of status
Kachin textiles are renowned and highly prized by collectors for their bold geometric patterns, intricate embroidery, and bright contrasting colors. Common motifs include:
Zigzags & diamonds: Representing mountains and rivers, key features of Kachin landscapes.
Animal symbols: Elephants, deer, birds, and mythical creatures, often linked to animist beliefs.
Tribal patterns: Each Kachin sub-group (such as the Jinghpaw, Rawang, or Lisu) has distinct designs that indicate regional or clan identity.”
$105! Bargain. I utterly adore it
Is that your hotel room. I would be seriously concerned if you made your bed up every day like that in NW1.
HW1 is a bit suburban, n'est-ce pas?
I spent several years living in EC2.
EC2 is sweet
It’s my proud boast that I have lived in nearly all the “1s”
W1. SW1, EC1, N1, WC1, E1 and now NW1
Only one missing is SE1. But I’ll cope
A pedant notes: there are postcodes outside London too.
But that is quite remarkable. The average first number in my postcode is 13 1/8. If it's weighted by the length of time I've spent there it's 16.7. And that's someone who's lived somewhere fairly urban all his life (though my 1 "1" was DL1, so my least metropolitan address).
You must have a remarkably low average postcode score.
Actually this is true
The only other places I have lived in the UK are Hereford - HR4 - and Truro - TR1 - TR1!!
So, that’s 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 4, 1
I think this just suggests you don't want to live in the countryside.
Trump set to sign order instructing federal agencies to "combat antisemitism," which may include deporting anti-Jewish activists.
Loves his "executive orders", doesn't he? I'm guessing his next one will reduce grocery prices and then straight after that, barely a pause, he'll sign one that makes Russia pull out of Ukraine.
You do understand that Executive Orders are quite powerful, don’t you? That’s why Biden did so many of them, now being reversed by Trump, one after the other
He strikes me as a nutter who should be nowhere near government. However, the entire Democrat agenda against him - I am watching CNN - is based on “respecting science”. This is from the party that has spent years perverting and lying about science to disguise their culpability in Wuhan and also to protect extremely dodgy scientists from proper scrutiny
This is why it is really really bad to lie about important things, because it comes back to bite you. Cf Biden and pardons
“Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Sooner or later that debt is paid“
He is also of course the late Bobby Kennedy's son and the late President John F Kennedy's nephew. If it wasn't for his pro Trump and anti Vax views he would still be Democrat royalty
The Kennedy (royal) family had already gone off him because of his drug use before he became pro-Trump
It is still the case that since GE 2024 the Tories are flat, almost no change, Reform are way up and Labour are way down. I think it it obvious to the meanest intellect that Labour are massively and directly, not by sidewinds, threatened by Reform.
I think it also follows that describing Reform as Right, Centre Right, Extreme Right, Radical Right is just wrong. Where it belongs is a matter for debate but it is far from being any sort of Right wing.
Robert Jenrick must be feeling quietly confident that he'll be Tory leader within a year or two. Badenoch needs to improve fairly quickly.
No he won't, he lost the members vote to Kemi clearly and lost the Tory MPs vote too.
I remain of the view she stays leader until the next GE but if Tory MPs do do an IDS and remove her I suspect it would be Mel Stride or Chris Philp who are the Michael Howard figures who replace her (Howard was IDS' Shadow Chancellor remember, Jenrick is too much of a David Davis rebel now)
Your buffoonish hero hollowed out the Conservative Party to such an extent that its options are dire to say the least.
He beat Corbyn and got Brexit done which was what he was elected to do.
Stride and Philp are both intelligent and competent anyway
It is still the case that since GE 2024 the Tories are flat, almost no change, Reform are way up and Labour are way down. I think it it obvious to the meanest intellect that Labour are massively and directly, not by sidewinds, threatened by Reform.
I think it also follows that describing Reform as Right, Centre Right, Extreme Right, Radical Right is just wrong. Where it belongs is a matter for debate but it is far from being any sort of Right wing.
Populist right with hints of racism and intolerance is probably fair. Not sure what the correct label would be there?
Trump set to sign order instructing federal agencies to "combat antisemitism," which may include deporting anti-Jewish activists.
Loves his "executive orders", doesn't he? I'm guessing his next one will reduce grocery prices and then straight after that, barely a pause, he'll sign one that makes Russia pull out of Ukraine.
You do understand that Executive Orders are quite powerful, don’t you? That’s why Biden did so many of them, now being reversed by Trump, one after the other
Very powerful things being signed by this very powerful man. Hence why I'm waiting with bated breath for the ones on inflation and Ukraine. Cmon Donald, keep that pen going.
Robert Jenrick must be feeling quietly confident that he'll be Tory leader within a year or two. Badenoch needs to improve fairly quickly.
No he won't, he lost the members vote to Kemi clearly and lost the Tory MPs vote too.
I remain of the view she stays leader until the next GE but if Tory MPs do do an IDS and remove her I suspect it would be Mel Stride or Chris Philp who are the Michael Howard figures who replace her (Howard was IDS' Shadow Chancellor remember, Jenrick is too much of a David Davis rebel now)
Your buffoonish hero hollowed out the Conservative Party to such an extent that its options are dire to say the least.
He beat Corbyn and got Brexit done which was what he was elected to do.
Stride and Philp are both intelligent and competent anyway
Philp doesn't come across as well researched and across his brief. Very much like another Badenoch.
Robert Jenrick must be feeling quietly confident that he'll be Tory leader within a year or two. Badenoch needs to improve fairly quickly.
No he won't, he lost the members vote to Kemi clearly and lost the Tory MPs vote too.
I remain of the view she stays leader until the next GE but if Tory MPs do do an IDS and remove her I suspect it would be Mel Stride or Chris Philp who are the Michael Howard figures who replace her (Howard was IDS' Shadow Chancellor remember, Jenrick is too much of a David Davis rebel now)
Your buffoonish hero hollowed out the Conservative Party to such an extent that its options are dire to say the least.
He beat Corbyn and got Brexit done which was what he was elected to do.
Stride and Philp are both intelligent and competent anyway
If I resist the temptation to take the piss out of your "speak your weight" slogan for the gullible and overlook the distinct possibility of Corbyn defeating himself in that election, and therefore take your statement at face value, my question remains to be "at what cost?"
Trump set to sign order instructing federal agencies to "combat antisemitism," which may include deporting anti-Jewish activists.
Loves his "executive orders", doesn't he? I'm guessing his next one will reduce grocery prices and then straight after that, barely a pause, he'll sign one that makes Russia pull out of Ukraine.
You do understand that Executive Orders are quite powerful, don’t you? That’s why Biden did so many of them, now being reversed by Trump, one after the other
Very powerful things being signed by this very powerful man. Hence why I'm waiting with bated breath for the ones on inflation and Ukraine. Cmon Donald, keep that pen going.
You need to step back and let it go. Otherwise the next four years of Trump will be absolute mental torment for you. That’s serious advice. Care less
Trump set to sign order instructing federal agencies to "combat antisemitism," which may include deporting anti-Jewish activists.
Loves his "executive orders", doesn't he? I'm guessing his next one will reduce grocery prices and then straight after that, barely a pause, he'll sign one that makes Russia pull out of Ukraine.
You do understand that Executive Orders are quite powerful, don’t you? That’s why Biden did so many of them, now being reversed by Trump, one after the other
Very powerful things being signed by this very powerful man. Hence why I'm waiting with bated breath for the ones on inflation and Ukraine. Cmon Donald, keep that pen going.
You need to step back and let it go. Otherwise the next four years of Trump will be absolute mental torment for you. That’s serious advice. Care less
Ok. But I'll probably still take the piss out of him and those gormless enough to be impressed from time to time. I don't think I can help that.
How many years have we been talking about a third runway at Heathrow or expansion at Gatwick? 20 years? 30 years? And still not even close to any spades in the ground.
The second runway at Gatwick was a hot topic of conversation around those parts back in the 1980s.
They were arguing about a 'third London airport' in the 1960s ...
Just build Boris Island. Seriously.
I had an idea of how to do it quicker - and make the site selection easier.
Instead of dredging an island - which limits it to a number of very shallow areas - use concrete gravity structures. Think Statfyord B.
Bit like table, with a flat top, legs and at the bottom a cellular structure for buoyancy. Since this is for shallow water, the legs will be a lot shorter than the oil platforms.
Build them in a dry dock - each one, 500 meters by 200, say. Float them out, sail them to their destination, sink in place.
I don't think I've ever seen that proposed before for such a massive area. For roads, yes. My initial thought would be problems with settlement and stability; but that's the case with dredging as well.
The flat bottom provides a surprisingly low pressure per m2 and “bridges” minor variations in the sea bottom well. Statfyord B was well over a million tons when ballasted down. It’s not moved (much) or leaned. They will never be able to get rid of it - IIRC decommissioning will be removing the topsides and leaving the legs.
Obviously you select a site that has a naturally flat bottom.
The advantage is that you don’t need to disturb the existing sea floor, much.
The artificial island style of airport building takes years to finish settling.
I was thinking more like a immersed tube tunnel, AKA Conwy or Medway. With the tunnel so tall that it broaches the surface...
But I was thinking more about this as I was swimming this lunchtime. A Thames Island approach is really the way to go; even with a third runway, Heathrow will reach a capacity crunch. Build a new airport on a site without Nimbys (unless seals can phone into Radio 5...) and build it with five or six runways (the new Istanbul airport will eventually have nine).
I know a Thames Island airport got rejected in the report ten years ago; but there has been zero movement on their preferred option since. I reckon it'll never happen as it is just too politically sensitive to London MPs.
My main worry will be whether it will work operationally; things like bird strikes and how far out planes coming into land will have to stack?
So was that it, few quid for a mine in Cornwall, some new houses in Oxfordshire and a massive lengthy court battle ahead for rehash of rehash of a rehash of another runway at Heathrow.
I wish this government - heck, any government - would start taking a JFDI attitude to infrastructure.
"We, as a nation, have decided that LHR runway 3 / EWR / Thames Crossing / whatever is a nationally critical project. Enough enquiries have been done, and enough talk; we want bids in by the end of next month, CPOs by the end of the month after, and construction to have started in six months. Make it so."
It would have people howling, but it would get things done. Sadly, it'd almost certainly also be illegal...
Imagine how it feels when living in a country with a massive JFDI attitude to infrastructure.
You make a proposal, pass the legislation, and get spades in the ground shortly afterwards. Anyone in the way gets paid off to the extent that they won’t complain.
It’s way cheaper to pay people off at 150% or 200% as a first offer, than have the whole project dragged through courts for years.
And the human rights situation for all the workers...?
Robert Jenrick must be feeling quietly confident that he'll be Tory leader within a year or two. Badenoch needs to improve fairly quickly.
No he won't, he lost the members vote to Kemi clearly and lost the Tory MPs vote too.
I remain of the view she stays leader until the next GE but if Tory MPs do do an IDS and remove her I suspect it would be Mel Stride or Chris Philp who are the Michael Howard figures who replace her (Howard was IDS' Shadow Chancellor remember, Jenrick is too much of a David Davis rebel now)
Your buffoonish hero hollowed out the Conservative Party to such an extent that its options are dire to say the least.
He beat Corbyn and got Brexit done which was what he was elected to do.
Stride and Philp are both intelligent and competent anyway
If I resist the temptation to take the piss out of your "speak your weight" slogan for the gullible and overlook the distinct possibility of Corbyn defeating himself in that election, and therefore take your statement at face value, my question remains to be "at what cost?"
"Got Brexit done". Now that's not one for the CV with the benefit of hindsight.
Trump set to sign order instructing federal agencies to "combat antisemitism," which may include deporting anti-Jewish activists.
Loves his "executive orders", doesn't he? I'm guessing his next one will reduce grocery prices and then straight after that, barely a pause, he'll sign one that makes Russia pull out of Ukraine.
You do understand that Executive Orders are quite powerful, don’t you? That’s why Biden did so many of them, now being reversed by Trump, one after the other
Very powerful things being signed by this very powerful man. Hence why I'm waiting with bated breath for the ones on inflation and Ukraine. Cmon Donald, keep that pen going.
You need to step back and let it go. Otherwise the next four years of Trump will be absolute mental torment for you. That’s serious advice. Care less
Ok. But I'll probably still take the piss out of him and those gormless enough to be impressed from time to time. I don't think I can help that.
Good. There’s a tinge of true bitterness in your commentary which doesn’t strike me as healthy. We may be sparring partners on here but I don’t like to see you in apparently real mental pain
Insult me instead of railing at Trump. I don’t mind and it all gets filed under “wholesome banter”
He strikes me as a nutter who should be nowhere near government. However, the entire Democrat agenda against him - I am watching CNN - is based on “respecting science”. This is from the party that has spent years perverting and lying about science to disguise their culpability in Wuhan and also to protect extremely dodgy scientists from proper scrutiny
This is why it is really really bad to lie about important things, because it comes back to bite you. Cf Biden and pardons
“Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Sooner or later that debt is paid“
He is also of course the late Bobby Kennedy's son and the late President John F Kennedy's nephew. If it wasn't for his pro Trump and anti Vax views he would still be Democrat royalty
His female relative who is attacking him seems as nasty and weird as him
What a strange, doomed family. I blame it all (genuinely) on the evil Anglophobe quasi-Nazi IRA-loving patriarch
You mean JFK's daughter Caroline (I think most of the Kennedys have criticised RFK Jr)? In what way is she as nasty and weird as him?
Given my day job, I can confidently say that 99% of all cash transactions are something to do with dodging taxes, drugs, and/or wider criminality.
Bollox. Where do most cash transactions take place - in supermarkets. It's people, often older, who don't trust electronic money or others who have limited financial skills and can budget better with physical money.
Or limited IT skills full stop.
I was once stopped in the street by a young person who wanted me to get her some money from the ATM machine with her card, using the pass code she'd written on a scrap of paper. She was pretty obviously from the local residential community for people who would have limited skills in such areas.
Confession time: one of my daughters had to show me, only a few years ago, how to use an ATM machine, after our local bank branch closed.
What's to confess?
You avoided using unnecessary tech only occasionally and checked up on how to do it when you had to. Absolutely right.
At the moment I'm trying to work out how to use a new mobile phone securely - ie make sure it's updating, but not downloading anything I don't want, like stupid games.
He strikes me as a nutter who should be nowhere near government. However, the entire Democrat agenda against him - I am watching CNN - is based on “respecting science”. This is from the party that has spent years perverting and lying about science to disguise their culpability in Wuhan and also to protect extremely dodgy scientists from proper scrutiny
This is why it is really really bad to lie about important things, because it comes back to bite you. Cf Biden and pardons
“Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Sooner or later that debt is paid“
Probably the most controversial of all Trump’s nominees, with a lot of campaigning both for and against him.
He strikes me as a nutter who should be nowhere near government. However, the entire Democrat agenda against him - I am watching CNN - is based on “respecting science”. This is from the party that has spent years perverting and lying about science to disguise their culpability in Wuhan and also to protect extremely dodgy scientists from proper scrutiny
This is why it is really really bad to lie about important things, because it comes back to bite you. Cf Biden and pardons
“Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Sooner or later that debt is paid“
From New Scientist, the 4 January 2025 issue:
The lab leak hypothesis is actually an umbrella term for multiple, often mutually exclusive, claims, says Edward Holmes at the University of Sydney in Australia. These include an infection during fieldwork, a lab accident and the deliberate release of a bioweapon and are superficially appealing, he says, but the evidence is circumstantial at best.
Among other things, WIV is located more than 30 kilometres from Huanan market and had no connection to any of the earliest cases. WCDC is a few hundred metres from the market, but, until November 2019, it was in a different part of the city, and its virus-related work was focused on collecting and sequencing samples from wild animals, not on culturing or genetically manipulating viruses.
There are many reasons to discount a lab leak, says Holmes, and many more pointing to a natural origin. “SARS-CoV-2-like viruses have natural transmission cycles in a region spanning Yunnan province [in China] and southwards into South-East Asia and were most likely imported into Wuhan via the wildlife trade,” he says. “All the scientific evidence points to this. There is no scientific evidence for any other hypothesis.”
“The lab leak theory remains completely unsupported and, worse, incoherent and inconsistent, frequently requiring complex conspiracies to be a viable hypothesis,” says David Robertson at the University of Glasgow, UK. “Indeed, it seems clear that there’s a political agenda behind much of the proponents of the lab leak theory.”
We probably won’t ever know for sure. “I honestly can’t see any other new evidence coming to light,” says Holmes. “Research on this matter in China is at a standstill as the official narrative is that the virus is not from China. Besides, it is now far too late to find any intermediate animal species that still has the virus or antibodies to it.”
Does it even matter at this point? Yes, says Robertson. “The lab leak theory has become part of a wider, anti-science disinformation landscape. This is all very unfortunate, as preparedness to virus threats requires strong international cooperation and evidence-based response.”
It is still the case that since GE 2024 the Tories are flat, almost no change, Reform are way up and Labour are way down. I think it it obvious to the meanest intellect that Labour are massively and directly, not by sidewinds, threatened by Reform.
I think it also follows that describing Reform as Right, Centre Right, Extreme Right, Radical Right is just wrong. Where it belongs is a matter for debate but it is far from being any sort of Right wing.
That seems like an overly simplistic analysis. We have some data on the transfers. Some Labour voters have moved to Reform, but a higher proportion of Conservative voters have. The big switch is Labour -> don't know.
That said, yes, of course, Labour are threatened by Reform UK, as are the Conservatives. As even are the LibDems in some ways.
I don't see how any of this means that Reform are not right-wing. Reform UK are clearly of a similar form to MAGA Republicans, Rassemblement National, Fratelli d'Italia etc. The defining policy of Reform UK, often the only policy people are aware of, is their opposition to immigration, generally seen as a right-wing concern. Just because a former Labour voter switches to Reform UK doesn't suddenly make Reform UK not right-wing (or Labour right-wing).
Given my day job, I can confidently say that 99% of all cash transactions are something to do with dodging taxes, drugs, and/or wider criminality.
If you use cash you are on the side of the criminals and tax dodgers as well as making the lives harder for legitimate businesses.
Every week I go to the cash point and take out a fixed amount of cash. It helps me budget during the week. I also get the slip that tells me how much money I have and enter that in a spreadsheet. I have been doing that for more decades than I like to think.
Just go the whole hog and fucking move into Beamish.
I think the cashpoints in the 1820s still used CRTs, and only worked if the rubber band was wound up.
Nah, they were getting really excited about the new steam engines with mechanical processing. Mr Babbage and all that.
That was all TechBroHype. Government invested a fortune and got nothing. The mechanical computing market collapsed for decades.
Clement and then Whitworth made fortunes of delivering bit for machines that were never built. They used the money to build their own businesses at government expense.
The financial enquiry still hasn’t reported - the specific enquiry into the usefulness of the project showed it was a waste of time.
Given my day job, I can confidently say that 99% of all cash transactions are something to do with dodging taxes, drugs, and/or wider criminality.
If you use cash you are on the side of the criminals and tax dodgers as well as making the lives harder for legitimate businesses.
Every week I go to the cash point and take out a fixed amount of cash. It helps me budget during the week. I also get the slip that tells me how much money I have and enter that in a spreadsheet. I have been doing that for more decades than I like to think.
Just go the whole hog and fucking move into Beamish.
I think the cashpoints in the 1820s still used CRTs, and only worked if the rubber band was wound up.
Nah, they were getting really excited about the new steam engines with mechanical processing. Mr Babbage and all that.
That was all TechBroHype. Government invested a fortune and got nothing. The mechanical computing market collapsed for decades.
Clement and then Whitworth made fortunes of delivering bit for machines that were never built. They used the money to build their own businesses at government expense.
The financial enquiry still hasn’t reported - the specific enquiry into the usefulness of the project showed it was a waste of time.
Isn't that being more than a little unfair on Joey Whitworth?
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has floated a conspiracy theory that COVID “ethnically targeted” white and Black people and spared Ashkenazi Jewish and Chinese people. While this racist and antisemitic claim was, and is, easily debunked by global data on COVID cases and deaths, it was presented by Kennedy as a scientific theory and was widely circulated.
Given my day job, I can confidently say that 99% of all cash transactions are something to do with dodging taxes, drugs, and/or wider criminality.
If you use cash you are on the side of the criminals and tax dodgers as well as making the lives harder for legitimate businesses.
'I can confidently say that 99% of all cash transactions are something to do with dodging taxes, drugs, and/or wider criminality.
Wow. Any particular data to back up this 99% of all cash transactions are dodgy statistic? I will think on this next time I buy a pint, or do some top up shopping and consider what criminality I am supporting.
I have to withdraw cash for one thing and that’s to get my haircut. The barber is obviously tax dodging.
Given my day job, I can confidently say that 99% of all cash transactions are something to do with dodging taxes, drugs, and/or wider criminality.
If you use cash you are on the side of the criminals and tax dodgers as well as making the lives harder for legitimate businesses.
'I can confidently say that 99% of all cash transactions are something to do with dodging taxes, drugs, and/or wider criminality.
Wow. Any particular data to back up this 99% of all cash transactions are dodgy statistic? I will think on this next time I buy a pint, or do some top up shopping and consider what criminality I am supporting.
Well if you wanted to buy a pint in Southwold you are going thirsty. All pubs are Adnams and they won't take cash.
99% seems reasonable. We only pay cash for 2 things - my haircut and dog grooming. So easily hundreds of payments electronically for each cash payment. And you have to wonder why those two don't allow electronic payments.
Comments
I think it also follows that describing Reform as Right, Centre Right, Extreme Right, Radical Right is just wrong. Where it belongs is a matter for debate but it is far from being any sort of Right wing.
I suggest, in future, that a threesome on PB is officially termed a “Nick Palmer in Switzerland”, or a “Swissnick” for short
“Yes, we had a Swissnick, Fffffffffffion Hague was great fun”
Stride and Philp are both intelligent and competent anyway
What was the East Midlands airport thing about? I missed that.
https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/fcgi-bin/usercode.py?scotcontrol=N&CON=24&LAB=25&LIB=13&Reform=25&Green=7&UKIP=&TVCON=&TVLAB=&TVLIB=&TVReform=&TVGreen=&TVUKIP=&SCOTCON=&SCOTLAB=&SCOTLIB=&SCOTReform=&SCOTGreen=&SCOTUKIP=&SCOTNAT=&display=AllChanged&regorseat=(none)&boundary=2024
I’m going to start using it in real life, to the total bemusement of everyone I meet
“Yes, I have a reservation for seven nights, any chance of a Swissnick in my room?”
LabCon 49 SPLORG 51
I quite liked the premise and good cast, but there was definitely something missing. Not as bollocks as SAS Rogue Heroes mind. A Huntley in Cockney.
That really is a well hung parliament.
But I was thinking more about this as I was swimming this lunchtime. A Thames Island approach is really the way to go; even with a third runway, Heathrow will reach a capacity crunch. Build a new airport on a site without Nimbys (unless seals can phone into Radio 5...) and build it with five or six runways (the new Istanbul airport will eventually have nine).
I know a Thames Island airport got rejected in the report ten years ago; but there has been zero movement on their preferred option since. I reckon it'll never happen as it is just too politically sensitive to London MPs.
My main worry will be whether it will work operationally; things like bird strikes and how far out planes coming into land will have to stack?
NEW THREAD
Insult me instead of railing at Trump. I don’t mind and it all gets filed under “wholesome banter”
You avoided using unnecessary tech only occasionally and checked up on how to do it when you had to. Absolutely right.
At the moment I'm trying to work out how to use a new mobile phone securely - ie make sure it's updating, but not downloading anything I don't want, like stupid games.
*fed up*
The lab leak hypothesis is actually an umbrella term for multiple, often mutually exclusive, claims, says Edward Holmes at the University of Sydney in Australia. These include an infection during fieldwork, a lab accident and the deliberate release of a bioweapon and are superficially appealing, he says, but the evidence is circumstantial at best.
Among other things, WIV is located more than 30 kilometres from Huanan market and had no connection to any of the earliest cases. WCDC is a few hundred metres from the market, but, until November 2019, it was in a different part of the city, and its virus-related work was focused on collecting and sequencing samples from wild animals, not on culturing or genetically manipulating viruses.
There are many reasons to discount a lab leak, says Holmes, and many more pointing to a natural origin. “SARS-CoV-2-like viruses have natural transmission cycles in a region spanning Yunnan province [in China] and southwards into South-East Asia and were most likely imported into Wuhan via the wildlife trade,” he says. “All the scientific evidence points to this. There is no scientific evidence for any other hypothesis.”
“The lab leak theory remains completely unsupported and, worse, incoherent and inconsistent, frequently requiring complex conspiracies to be a viable hypothesis,” says David Robertson at the University of Glasgow, UK. “Indeed, it seems clear that there’s a political agenda behind much of the proponents of the lab leak theory.”
We probably won’t ever know for sure. “I honestly can’t see any other new evidence coming to light,” says Holmes. “Research on this matter in China is at a standstill as the official narrative is that the virus is not from China. Besides, it is now far too late to find any intermediate animal species that still has the virus or antibodies to it.”
Does it even matter at this point? Yes, says Robertson. “The lab leak theory has become part of a wider, anti-science disinformation landscape. This is all very unfortunate, as preparedness to virus threats requires strong international cooperation and evidence-based response.”
That said, yes, of course, Labour are threatened by Reform UK, as are the Conservatives. As even are the LibDems in some ways.
I don't see how any of this means that Reform are not right-wing. Reform UK are clearly of a similar form to MAGA Republicans, Rassemblement National, Fratelli d'Italia etc. The defining policy of Reform UK, often the only policy people are aware of, is their opposition to immigration, generally seen as a right-wing concern. Just because a former Labour voter switches to Reform UK doesn't suddenly make Reform UK not right-wing (or Labour right-wing).
Up to December Halifax customers were not able to bank in Lloyd’s and viceversa but that’s recently been resolved
Clement and then Whitworth made fortunes of delivering bit for machines that were never built. They used the money to build their own businesses at government expense.
The financial enquiry still hasn’t reported - the specific enquiry into the usefulness of the project showed it was a waste of time.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has floated a conspiracy theory that COVID “ethnically targeted” white and Black people and spared Ashkenazi Jewish and Chinese people. While this racist and antisemitic claim was, and is, easily debunked by global data on COVID cases and deaths, it was presented by Kennedy as a scientific theory and was widely circulated.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-14335591/Why-fear-troubling-code-silence-Strictly-stars-Wynnes-vile-spit-roast-slur.html
99% seems reasonable. We only pay cash for 2 things - my haircut and dog grooming. So easily hundreds of payments electronically for each cash payment. And you have to wonder why those two don't allow electronic payments.