My eldest is interested in geology, so we're off to visit Arthur's Seat.
Hire some Voi bikes to get a look at Samson's ribs from Duddingston Low Road. Then spook them out with the coffins at the National Museum.
Have a look at scottishgeology.com. Edit: and possibly look into Dynamic Earth when leaving (or may be check the shop for leaflets in passing when going to the park). You'll know where it is. Opposite Holyrood Parliament to the south. Next the big green rocky thing.
IN particular, this and the linky therein to the Edinburgh's Volcano leaflet
My eldest is interested in geology, so we're off to visit Arthur's Seat.
Hire some Voi bikes to get a look at Samson's ribs from Duddingston Low Road. Then spook them out with the coffins at the National Museum.
PS Oh yes, and the view from the roof garden of the Museum is quite something too - superb crag and tail scenery. You may need to ask the nice staff how to find it. Geology gallery in basement of the modern wing, more fossils in the old wing.
Maybe buy her a present of a fossil at Mr Wood's Fossils in Coogaitheid (downhill from the National Museum to Grassmarket/Cowgate). Edit: been some time since I last looked, so don't promise - just walk past ... maybe en route to the secondhand bookshops around the Pubic Triangle*.
Edit* so known because of the establishments (definitely not bookshops) set up to cater for elements of the financial etc. businessfolk from the business quarter a little further on, other side of Lothian Road.
The BBC do not have reporters in Gaza, does not stop them headlining news from there when things kick off.
The silence on Iran is deafening in comparison.
There have been multiple stories about the situation on Iran on the BBC news website, so I am confused... what "silence"?
For most of the last few days the story has been buried very low down on it as far as I have seen, certainly I knew about things due to posts here well, well before it was prominent on the BBC.
PB is a wonderful site and I often hear about a news story here first. I don't think that proves anything. Iran stories have been on the front page of the BBC news website all today. At best, you're saying the BBC was a bit slow to cover events, but your claim that "The silence on Iran is deafening in comparison" looks like hyperbole. It's rather like the claim earlier that Amnesty aren't standing with Iranian protestors.
Today, yes.
The BBC has been embarrassed into reporting the story more prominently today.
PBers were reporting this days ago.
News often breaks here first yes, and the BBC reporting an hour after PB is quite common. Days later is not.
There's no evidence that the BBC have been "embarrassed" into reporting this story. They've taken some time to check facts (and presumably staffing is lower over the bank holiday).
That's bulshit. Staff can be called in if there's a story brewing. That said the BBC can't even report football scores as quickly as flashscore and their ilk.
My eldest is interested in geology, so we're off to visit Arthur's Seat.
Haven't been recently but Our Dynamic Earth should be in their line. This year is the three hundredth anniversary of James Hutton's birth. If you are swinging by Jedburgh on the way, you could see his "unconformity", supporting his theory of the evolution of the earth's crust, although it's a bit underwhelming these days thanks to erosion.
The BBC do not have reporters in Gaza, does not stop them headlining news from there when things kick off.
The silence on Iran is deafening in comparison.
Translation: this is just another gateway into saying there's too much talk about Gaza atrocities for 'Israel, right or wrong, are right' merchants.
Not remotely.
This story is far more serious than many of the trivialities they've had on their "news" website in recent days, even setting aside any New Years related stuff which is quite understandable.
The contrast with Gaza is just enlightening about priorities.
You're not exactly an unbiased point of view on Gaza, and you've been caught red-handed exaggerating here.
Did I ever claim to be unbiased? We are all biased.
No idea what you're referring to about exaggerating, holding different opinions and principles isn't an exaggeration.
Back to my experience in the deepest recesses of the Process State (apparently).
We were running a lot of projects of various shapes, sizes and costs and employed a number of qualified Project Managers (PMs) whose role was surprisingly to manage the projects.
As far as I could see, they spent less time managing the projects and more time managing the administration including a horrendously over-complicated tracker which was set up by the Senior PM and allowed him to report to the Head of Service who in turn could report to the Cabinet member on project progress, over or under spend and contractor performance.
Now, all this monitoring (especially the financial side) was, I'm sure, justified (we were talking about "public money") but I was always wondering where the trust had gone and why the tracking spreadsheet had evolved the way it had and why everyone believed it as though it were Holy Writ.
I encounter a lot of this these days. Not entirely sure if it's come about due to years of "OMG! Government overspend!!!" headlines or if it's just 'the way of things'. But the days of "Can you do that?" / "Yep. Ok, it's done" / "Thanks!" seem long gone.
I've had quite a few occasions in the past year or so where filling out the tracking spreadsheet (or, god help me, an Office365 'tracker') took longer than the actual task itself.
My eldest is interested in geology, so we're off to visit Arthur's Seat.
If you really want to treat them - go over to the Isle of Arran. It's geology geeks 'stepmom heaven'. (Quite decent hotel in Blackwaterfoot - often full of... Geology students on field trips)
I'm reading Advance Britannia at the moment, and was warmed to read that Winston Churchill ostentatiously urinated in the great German Rhine during Operation Plunder.
The BBC do not have reporters in Gaza, does not stop them headlining news from there when things kick off.
The silence on Iran is deafening in comparison.
There have been multiple stories about the situation on Iran on the BBC news website, so I am confused... what "silence"?
For most of the last few days the story has been buried very low down on it as far as I have seen, certainly I knew about things due to posts here well, well before it was prominent on the BBC.
PB is a wonderful site and I often hear about a news story here first. I don't think that proves anything. Iran stories have been on the front page of the BBC news website all today. At best, you're saying the BBC was a bit slow to cover events, but your claim that "The silence on Iran is deafening in comparison" looks like hyperbole. It's rather like the claim earlier that Amnesty aren't standing with Iranian protestors.
Today, yes.
The BBC has been embarrassed into reporting the story more prominently today.
PBers were reporting this days ago.
News often breaks here first yes, and the BBC reporting an hour after PB is quite common. Days later is not.
There's no evidence that the BBC have been "embarrassed" into reporting this story. They've taken some time to check facts (and presumably staffing is lower over the bank holiday).
There's also no evidence theyve been checking facts.
"Archaeology is the search for FACT, not truth. If it's truth you're interested in, Dr. Tyree's philosophy class is right down the hall." - Indiana Jones.
My eldest is interested in geology, so we're off to visit Arthur's Seat.
If you really want to treat them - go over to the Isle of Arran. It's geology geeks 'stepmom heaven'. (Quite decent hotel in Blackwaterfoot - often full of... Geology students on field trips)
Thank you (and to everybody else) for the suggestions.
It's the sort of pattern that some people stick on their wheelie bins to make them blend in against a wall.
I'm also getting an echo in the back of my head somewhere from a 70s children's TV programme. I'm thinking the general style of Crystal Tipps & Alistair *.
Well, it's 9:30pm my time and I have had a productive day. I have reconciled three validation questions between two power/sample-size calculator packages and listened to a nice lecture from a science lady about how to debunk a fraudulent paper. And not once did I shit myself or do down a national broadcaster because GBNews told me to. I am now off to Morrisons for a meal deal. Have fun, kids.
I'm a bit confused about Iran. Even Al Jazeera doesn't really have much detail. 7 dead and 44 arrested. That doesn't sound like an imminent regime change. Are the complaints that it is bigger than that and therefore should be reported? Or that that in itself should be given more prominence? Or is someone in possession of more significant information which is being silenced? Or what?
It's extremely hard to make sense of such reports as there are. There are clearly widespread protests, but how much more can you glean from stuff like this ?
It would be a very good thing for the wonderful people of Iran to be rid of the Mullahs and perhaps see the restoration of the Shah, so that they can have greater religious freedom and democracy.
However, these breathless stories about the ferment on the streets of Tehran happen fairly often. Since well before the Arab Spring.
The f*****' advert music as you climb aboard a Boeing 777 is annoying, but less so than the patronising "Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls". It's like Hi-di-hi at 7,000 feet.
Check in early otherwise the f****** try to stiff you for cash to sit in a row with your family. My tip is don't let the bastards win this little battle, stand your ground.
Other than that it's fine, but it's not Emirates Business Class...
My eldest is interested in geology, so we're off to visit Arthur's Seat.
If you really want to treat them - go over to the Isle of Arran. It's geology geeks 'stepmom heaven'. (Quite decent hotel in Blackwaterfoot - often full of... Geology students on field trips)
One place that is good for geology is the coast of Anglesey, where the are amazing successions.
Plus you get a coastal path and royalists such as yourself can go and look where Prince William used to live.
The f*****' advert music as you climb aboard a Boeing 777 is annoying, but less so than the patronising "Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls". It's like Hi-di-hi at 7,000 feet.
Check in early otherwise the f****** try to stiff you for cash to sit in a row with your family. My tip is don't let the bastards win this little battle, stand your ground.
Other than that it's fine, but it's not Emirates Business Class...
The f*****' advert music as you climb aboard a Boeing 777 is annoying, but less so than the patronising "Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls". It's like Hi-di-hi at 7,000 feet.
Check in early otherwise the f****** try to stiff you for cash to sit in a row with your family. My tip is don't let the bastards win this little battle, stand your ground.
Other than that it's fine, but it's not Emirates Business Class...
There is a 15 year old boy in my house wearing a t-shirt with the slogan "I golden showers". Obviously he's doing it largely to shock the grown-ups. Impressed to report that it's worked.
On Mr Starmer, I see that he is now forecast to reach his "energy bills down by £150" by April (based on "typical household" numbers), earlier than the promised "by the end of the term".
But I also note that our media has been reporting "bills UP" (sometimes "slightly" up), when it is plus 0.1% in cash terms and minus about 2.5% after inflation.
Following up on I think @rkrkrk , I'm still saying we cannot tell much until 2 years of the term are passed, until when it's all sound and fury, signifying not a lot except opposition parties (including Labour's internal opposition parties) with no policies and having nothing except sound and fury, and Mr Starmer having his "talking through a megaphone with a flat battery the wrong way round" communications operation.
There is a 15 year old boy in my house wearing a t-shirt with the slogan "I golden showers". Obviously he's doing it largely to shock the grown-ups. Impressed to report that it's worked.
I'm a bit confused about Iran. Even Al Jazeera doesn't really have much detail. 7 dead and 44 arrested. That doesn't sound like an imminent regime change. Are the complaints that it is bigger than that and therefore should be reported? Or that that in itself should be given more prominence? Or is someone in possession of more significant information which is being silenced? Or what?
It's extremely hard to make sense of such reports as there are. There are clearly widespread protests, but how much more can you glean from stuff like this ?
It would be a very good thing for the wonderful people of Iran to be rid of the Mullahs and perhaps see the restoration of the Shah, so that they can have greater religious freedom and democracy.
However, these breathless stories about the ferment on the streets of Tehran happen fairly often. Since well before the Arab Spring.
The regime in Iran is in a tight spot, an organised and determined opposition could bring it down. But from what I can see the opposition is actually quite fragmented and some of those fragments hate the others more than the mullahs.
The f*****' advert music as you climb aboard a Boeing 777 is annoying, but less so than the patronising "Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls". It's like Hi-di-hi at 7,000 feet.
Check in early otherwise the f****** try to stiff you for cash to sit in a row with your family. My tip is don't let the bastards win this little battle, stand your ground.
Other than that it's fine, but it's not Emirates Business Class...
Do they not fly above 7,000'? Is it cheaper for them somehow if they don't go above the clouds?
I'm a bit confused about Iran. Even Al Jazeera doesn't really have much detail. 7 dead and 44 arrested. That doesn't sound like an imminent regime change. Are the complaints that it is bigger than that and therefore should be reported? Or that that in itself should be given more prominence? Or is someone in possession of more significant information which is being silenced? Or what?
It's extremely hard to make sense of such reports as there are. There are clearly widespread protests, but how much more can you glean from stuff like this ?
It would be a very good thing for the wonderful people of Iran to be rid of the Mullahs and perhaps see the restoration of the Shah, so that they can have greater religious freedom and democracy.
However, these breathless stories about the ferment on the streets of Tehran happen fairly often. Since well before the Arab Spring.
Agreed. Still, it's not a small series of events, even if it leads nowhere.
BBC haters are worried by the very high viewing figures for, and all the chatter about, the latest iteration of Traitors on live TV, so they're lashing out. "Nobody watches live TV, particularly the awful BBC, these days. Abolish the licence fee".
There is a 15 year old boy in my house wearing a t-shirt with the slogan "I golden showers". Obviously he's doing it largely to shock the grown-ups. Impressed to report that it's worked.
Just talk about Una Stubbs and the Glass topped Coffee Table...
TSE should know the source and full content of that story...
My eldest is interested in geology, so we're off to visit Arthur's Seat.
Hire some Voi bikes to get a look at Samson's ribs from Duddingston Low Road. Then spook them out with the coffins at the National Museum.
PS Oh yes, and the view from the roof garden of the Museum is quite something too - superb crag and tail scenery. You may need to ask the nice staff how to find it. Geology gallery in basement of the modern wing, more fossils in the old wing.
Maybe buy her a present of a fossil at Mr Wood's Fossils in Coogaitheid (downhill from the National Museum to Grassmarket/Cowgate). Edit: been some time since I last looked, so don't promise - just walk past ... maybe en route to the secondhand bookshops around the Pubic Triangle*.
Edit* so known because of the establishments (definitely not bookshops) set up to cater for elements of the financial etc. businessfolk from the business quarter a little further on, other side of Lothian Road.
As you'll be around that area for Arthur's Seat, pop into Dynamic Earth for the young geology fans. They have an iceberg (less impressive than it sounds). Quite a fun time killer.
I have not visited myself, but Holyrood is also obviously home to the Scottish Parliament, scene of some of the Scottish Government's greatest triumphs, so you may wish to force the kids to endure a tour.
If you have any more puff in you, you get great views and insta photos for a very short walk up some steps on Calton Hill near the centre of town. It is Edinburgh's Acropolis.
The kids need to try their first haggis, which you can get everywhere but I'd recommend The Dome, a brasserie in a former Bank which is the sort of place I imagine you'd feel at home.
I don't know the city well any more - the redeveloped area around the golden turd hotel is apparently beautiful despite its scatalogical main attraction.
There is a 15 year old boy in my house wearing a t-shirt with the slogan "I golden showers". Obviously he's doing it largely to shock the grown-ups. Impressed to report that it's worked.
In my house? What kind of school are you at?
He is a friend of my 15-year old daughter. His presence is explicable, it's his dress sense I find surprising.
I'm a bit confused about Iran. Even Al Jazeera doesn't really have much detail. 7 dead and 44 arrested. That doesn't sound like an imminent regime change. Are the complaints that it is bigger than that and therefore should be reported? Or that that in itself should be given more prominence? Or is someone in possession of more significant information which is being silenced? Or what?
It's extremely hard to make sense of such reports as there are. There are clearly widespread protests, but how much more can you glean from stuff like this ?
It would be a very good thing for the wonderful people of Iran to be rid of the Mullahs and perhaps see the restoration of the Shah, so that they can have greater religious freedom and democracy.
However, these breathless stories about the ferment on the streets of Tehran happen fairly often. Since well before the Arab Spring.
It would be great to see the fall of the Mullahs, but I wouldn't romantacize the Shah. He ran a pretty brutal dictatorship, backed by a nasty internal police that cracked down on anything that looked like dissent. The Iranian Revolution happened as much because people hated the Shah's rule as they wanted an Islamic state.
There is a 15 year old boy in my house wearing a t-shirt with the slogan "I golden showers". Obviously he's doing it largely to shock the grown-ups. Impressed to report that it's worked.
In my house? What kind of school are you at?
He is a friend of my 15-year old daughter. His presence is explicable, it's his dress sense I find surprising.
There is a 15 year old boy in my house wearing a t-shirt with the slogan "I golden showers". Obviously he's doing it largely to shock the grown-ups. Impressed to report that it's worked.
In my house? What kind of school are you at?
He is a friend of my 15-year old daughter. His presence is explicable, it's his dress sense I find surprising.
I'm a bit confused about Iran. Even Al Jazeera doesn't really have much detail. 7 dead and 44 arrested. That doesn't sound like an imminent regime change. Are the complaints that it is bigger than that and therefore should be reported? Or that that in itself should be given more prominence? Or is someone in possession of more significant information which is being silenced? Or what?
It's extremely hard to make sense of such reports as there are. There are clearly widespread protests, but how much more can you glean from stuff like this ?
It would be a very good thing for the wonderful people of Iran to be rid of the Mullahs and perhaps see the restoration of the Shah, so that they can have greater religious freedom and democracy.
However, these breathless stories about the ferment on the streets of Tehran happen fairly often. Since well before the Arab Spring.
It would be great to see the fall of the Mullahs, but I wouldn't romantacize the Shah. He ran a pretty brutal dictatorship, backed by a nasty internal police that cracked down on anything that looked like dissent. The Iranian Revolution happened as much because people hated the Shah's rule as they wanted an Islamic state.
My eldest is interested in geology, so we're off to visit Arthur's Seat.
Hire some Voi bikes to get a look at Samson's ribs from Duddingston Low Road. Then spook them out with the coffins at the National Museum.
PS Oh yes, and the view from the roof garden of the Museum is quite something too - superb crag and tail scenery. You may need to ask the nice staff how to find it. Geology gallery in basement of the modern wing, more fossils in the old wing.
Maybe buy her a present of a fossil at Mr Wood's Fossils in Coogaitheid (downhill from the National Museum to Grassmarket/Cowgate). Edit: been some time since I last looked, so don't promise - just walk past ... maybe en route to the secondhand bookshops around the Pubic Triangle*.
Edit* so known because of the establishments (definitely not bookshops) set up to cater for elements of the financial etc. businessfolk from the business quarter a little further on, other side of Lothian Road.
As you'll be around that area for Arthur's Seat, pop into Dynamic Earth for the young geology fans. They have an iceberg (less impressive than it sounds). Quite a fun time killer.
I have not visited myself, but Holyrood is also obviously home to the Scottish Parliament, scene of some of the Scottish Government's greatest triumphs, so you may wish to force the kids to endure a tour.
If you have any more puff in you, you get great views and insta photos for a very short walk up some steps on Calton Hill near the centre of town. It is Edinburgh's Acropolis.
The kids need to try their first haggis, which you can get everywhere but I'd recommend The Dome, a brasserie in a former Bank which is the sort of place I imagine you'd feel at home.
I don't know the city well any more - the redeveloped area around the golden turd hotel is apparently beautiful despite its scatalogical main attraction.
Princes Street Gardens is the best place to photograph the Castle, and don't forget to be around for the 1 o'clock gun to give them a shock.
The parliament interior is really lovely. Helps that you can't see the outside once you're in...
I'd add that the Botanic Garden is great and the adjacent Inverleith Park has stunning views of the turd skyline, and then you can wander into Stockbridge for a TSE-worthy lunch and up to the Water of Leith to Dean Village - the most instagrammable bit of the city. That's my usual tour when we have friends visiting from abroad. National Museum is by far the best attraction IMO though - try to find the Lewis Chessmen in the warren-like extension. Take care though - a few students have been caught in flagrante in that part of the museum.
There is a 15 year old boy in my house wearing a t-shirt with the slogan "I golden showers". Obviously he's doing it largely to shock the grown-ups. Impressed to report that it's worked.
In my house? What kind of school are you at?
He is a friend of my 15-year old daughter. His presence is explicable, it's his dress sense I find surprising.
I'm a bit confused about Iran. Even Al Jazeera doesn't really have much detail. 7 dead and 44 arrested. That doesn't sound like an imminent regime change. Are the complaints that it is bigger than that and therefore should be reported? Or that that in itself should be given more prominence? Or is someone in possession of more significant information which is being silenced? Or what?
It's quite hard to get reliable numbers, but if those are accurate it's significant in that major priests have happened in more than 70 cities, and so the regime is not trying to disperse priests in most areas, despite there being attacks on police stations and the like.
I think the most significant factor about the protests is that they are calling for the return of the Shah. Not fresh elections, not reform, but a complete end to the regime.
"calling for the return of the Shah" I don't think this will have popular support in Iran, outside of wealthy expats the shah is widely despised.
There is a 15 year old boy in my house wearing a t-shirt with the slogan "I golden showers". Obviously he's doing it largely to shock the grown-ups. Impressed to report that it's worked.
In my house? What kind of school are you at?
He is a friend of my 15-year old daughter. His presence is explicable, it's his dress sense I find surprising.
Worry when your daughter wears one...
Indeed. Incongruously, they (and four others) are engaged in the wholly innocent pasttime of playing Articulate. I'm genuinely quite impressed with the level of self-confidence which goes out dressed like that, even somewhere where there are no strangers (apart from your friend's parents, who don't count).
The f*****' advert music as you climb aboard a Boeing 777 is annoying, but less so than the patronising "Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls". It's like Hi-di-hi at 7,000 feet.
Check in early otherwise the f****** try to stiff you for cash to sit in a row with your family. My tip is don't let the bastards win this little battle, stand your ground.
Other than that it's fine, but it's not Emirates Business Class...
Do they take cash so you don't have to sit with the family?
We don't have to vote Labour again either so we avoid most of that being repeated
First point is two thirds of those who voted did NOT vote Labour (such as thee and me I suspect) but the FPTP system delivered a huge landslide which raises an obvious question or two.
As for the Ovenden critique, what I'm struck by is not how much has changed under Starmer but how little. Not much of what he has said started on July 5th 2024 and indeed much of it was present under previous Conservative administrations.
One of the reasons I've never supported Labour is they are an authoritarian party - you only have to remember how Straw and Blunkett were as Home Secretaries and see how Mahmood fits comfortably into that role. The days of Roy Jenkins are long past but he oversaw the introduction of the Prevention of Terrorism Act in 1974 (albeit as a temporary measure).
Yet there's an authoritarianism in the electorate as well which responds to such ideas as restricting citizenship to your place of birth so the politics works.
I'm struggling with the Process State as espoused by @Malmesbury and others. I worked in local Government for a number of years - what I saw was less process than consultation. Decisions needed a lot of consultation - everyone wanted to be involved including the local Councillors as well as heads of other Services etc. That process also involved the formulaic production of reports to Cabinet or other forums and too much time was taken up on these.
There was also the notion consultation offered protection for all sides. The more people involved, the argument went, the less likely something would be missed or forgotten or not considered. I kept bumping up against the Star Trek argument, as I always called it, pace Spock - "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one". You could argue that's not a bad way to run a country or a city but the "few" will use all means necessary to frustrate this so do you close down the avenues of those protests? Do you simply say something has to happen because it's needed?
Problem with Process State as a critique is that you actually want effective process. There's no point reinventing the wheel each time if the process in place efficiently delivers the outcomes you want.
The questions should be (1) What's your policy? This implies making decisions. (2) What's the best process to deliver that policy?
This issue is to do with the way that the third sector has pivoted from being service providers funded by donations to lobbying organisations funded by government.
On one level it makes sense from their perspective - eg Shelter (one of the first) can have a great impact by changing government policy than by saving an individual kid from the street - but it’s profoundly concerning
It's this kind of arrogance that will do for the liberal elite.
You're assuming that because GB News has mentioned something that must be why it has got salience? Have you considered that maybe people were criticising the BBC and THEN GB News (unsurprisingly as a rival broadcaster) picked up on it?
The only person I quoted was Simon Schama who so far as I know has never appeared on GB News. Ultimately that TV channel is just a useful scapegoat for a certain elite opinion that can no longer accept criticism. There are too many young people at BBC news who've had their minds polluted with postcolonial bullshit. The protests in Iran don't really register with them. It's not a conspiracy or pro Ayatollah mentality just a blind spot. The protests deserved greater prominence and a better national broadcaster would have done that.
One thing I would say is that western leaders have remarkably silent on the whole thing.
It’s not in the protestors interests to allow Iran to pain them as agents of the Great Satan (US) and his Imp (us)
On a further unrelated note, I had a trip out to Shutlingsloe today (the Cheshire Matterhorn). It's only 45 minutes away from me, yet I haven't been for five years - which is really a case of not full appreciating what's on your doorstep (and in this case hankering for the Lakes or the Dales instead, their distance giving them allure) because Shutlingsloe really is the perfect hill, especially in midwinter on a clear day.
A side effect of the Smith testimony that I'd forgotten about.
I don't think Trump's lawsuit against the BBC is going to unfold as he wishes. Indeed, I strongly suspect it won't ever happen, because Jack Smith's testimony provides a mountain of evidence showing that Trump incited the January 6th riot. https://x.com/nickreeves9876/status/2007125317497086020
Took my wife out to lunch today for her birthday with the family. Unfortunately, there was a moment my 3 year old son bolted off down the restaurant, whilst she was in the loo with my daughter, and I had to run after him to rescue him, but not before he'd climbed onto the bench on the table next to a couple eating. Never had this before but they were very rude about it, "Do you mind? We're trying to eat here." and then commented on my inability to keep my child under control. I must admit I was fuming for most of the rest of the meal, until my wife calmed me down.
Yes, they were triple-lockers. Charming.
Sorry to hear that happened CR, it goes back to what we were discussing about having families a few days ago when OnlyLivingBoy made the point that in the UK there's a sense that children should be seen and not heard. I do find that Mediterranean countries are much better for families and so much friendlier to kids than any Northern European countries.
There's just this pervasive attitude that parents should keep their kids under control 100% of the time and any failure to do so makes for bad parenting which is completely unacceptable.
We've had that same experience where our 3 year old went and sat next to some randoms because we were fussing over the baby she made a run for it but the couple were really nice and just entertained her for a few seconds while I went and grabbed her. It just depends on the people but I do find there's a lot of miserable people out there and that's something that's for them to deal with rather than for us to be upset about.
Just think about how sad their lives must be to scold a child or parents for something so minor? Absolutely zero joy at all.
There is a 15 year old boy in my house wearing a t-shirt with the slogan "I golden showers". Obviously he's doing it largely to shock the grown-ups. Impressed to report that it's worked.
Golden showers are a variety of rose. Someone with a sense of humour planted them in Regent's Park rose garden right outside the toilet block
Unit cost is currently £100m plus, so it's not the death of drone warfare. Even if they bring that down by an order of magnitude.
Cheap - if they protect your hydrocarbon infrastructure.
I think reduction by a seeming order of magnitude over time is about right - that will bring it down to the same range as a CIWS Phalanx. A huge % of that £100m per will be startup type costs.
There is a 15 year old boy in my house wearing a t-shirt with the slogan "I golden showers". Obviously he's doing it largely to shock the grown-ups. Impressed to report that it's worked.
I thought golden showers were what Saddam Hussein had installed in his palace bathrooms.
There is a 15 year old boy in my house wearing a t-shirt with the slogan "I golden showers". Obviously he's doing it largely to shock the grown-ups. Impressed to report that it's worked.
I thought golden showers were what Saddam Hussein had installed in his palace bathrooms.
There is a 15 year old boy in my house wearing a t-shirt with the slogan "I golden showers". Obviously he's doing it largely to shock the grown-ups. Impressed to report that it's worked.
I thought golden showers were what Saddam Hussein had installed in his palace bathrooms.
There is a 15 year old boy in my house wearing a t-shirt with the slogan "I golden showers". Obviously he's doing it largely to shock the grown-ups. Impressed to report that it's worked.
I thought golden showers were what Saddam Hussein had installed in his palace bathrooms.
Re Iran: what did for the Shah in the end was that he built the political system around himself but was then weakened by cancer. Khamenei is long rumoured to be ill as well. If the Islamic Republic isn't brought down, then Khamenei's death will be a major turning point for good or ill.
The key it seems to me is what the rank and file of the IRCG do - the people at the top have made a fortune due to corruption but I'm guessing those lower down less so.
I'm a bit confused about Iran. Even Al Jazeera doesn't really have much detail. 7 dead and 44 arrested. That doesn't sound like an imminent regime change. Are the complaints that it is bigger than that and therefore should be reported? Or that that in itself should be given more prominence? Or is someone in possession of more significant information which is being silenced? Or what?
It's extremely hard to make sense of such reports as there are. There are clearly widespread protests, but how much more can you glean from stuff like this ?
It would be a very good thing for the wonderful people of Iran to be rid of the Mullahs and perhaps see the restoration of the Shah, so that they can have greater religious freedom and democracy.
However, these breathless stories about the ferment on the streets of Tehran happen fairly often. Since well before the Arab Spring.
It feels like despotic regimes are hardier than they used to be.
Comments
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQVBPSmTYzk
https://x.com/omid9/status/2007148586388304278?s=61
Suggesting the regime is on the verge of collapse. Wishcasting or does he know something.
IN particular, this and the linky therein to the Edinburgh's Volcano leaflet
https://www.scottishgeologytrust.org/geology/51-best-places/holyrood-park-edinburgh/
I'm not sure if Hutton's Rock will be open by the time you go there, alas (been closed because of falling, well, rocks).
Maybe buy her a present of a fossil at Mr Wood's Fossils in Coogaitheid (downhill from the National Museum to Grassmarket/Cowgate). Edit: been some time since I last looked, so don't promise - just walk past ... maybe en route to the secondhand bookshops around the Pubic Triangle*.
Edit* so known because of the establishments (definitely not bookshops) set up to cater for elements of the financial etc. businessfolk from the business quarter a little further on, other side of Lothian Road.
No idea what you're referring to about exaggerating, holding different opinions and principles isn't an exaggeration.
I've had quite a few occasions in the past year or so where filling out the tracking spreadsheet (or, god help me, an Office365 'tracker') took longer than the actual task itself.
I'm reading Advance Britannia at the moment, and was warmed to read that Winston Churchill ostentatiously urinated in the great German Rhine during Operation Plunder.
It's like it's the only thing they really care about.
"He's been walking downhill for 30 years..."
It's the sort of pattern that some people stick on their wheelie bins to make them blend in against a wall.
I'm also getting an echo in the back of my head somewhere from a 70s children's TV programme. I'm thinking the general style of Crystal Tipps & Alistair *.
(Sorry).
*
Don't forget the BBC are owned by Robbie Gibb and the forces of Conservatism now.
Consider also TSE's Hamas-Bibi bombshell which is currently being buried by everyone.
Don't even think about it pal.
Why am I not surprised.
However, these breathless stories about the ferment on the streets of Tehran happen fairly often. Since well before the Arab Spring.
Check in early otherwise the f****** try to stiff you for cash to sit in a row with your family. My tip is don't let the bastards win this little battle, stand your ground.
Other than that it's fine, but it's not Emirates Business Class...
https://x.com/archivetvmus71/status/2007119694243955019?s=61
Plus you get a coastal path and royalists such as yourself can go and look where Prince William used to live.
Faiking ??
Obviously he's doing it largely to shock the grown-ups. Impressed to report that it's worked.
Though I suppose one of those will still technically be eldest.
But I also note that our media has been reporting "bills UP" (sometimes "slightly" up), when it is plus 0.1% in cash terms and minus about 2.5% after inflation.
Following up on I think @rkrkrk , I'm still saying we cannot tell much until 2 years of the term are passed, until when it's all sound and fury, signifying not a lot except opposition parties (including Labour's internal opposition parties) with no policies and having nothing except sound and fury, and Mr Starmer having his "talking through a megaphone with a flat battery the wrong way round" communications operation.
Have a good evening all.
Saudi would no doubt be puffing out their chests. Bad news for the Houthis in Yemen.
There could be a significant peace dividend.
I suspect not much will change.
Still, it's not a small series of events, even if it leads nowhere.
We have reports that the people of Lorestan have received firearms.
https://x.com/NiohBerg/status/2007187548263854216
https://x.com/ShayanX0/status/2007187717185253589
"Nobody watches live TV, particularly the awful BBC, these days. Abolish the licence fee".
https://x.com/NiohBerg/status/2007184981920231695
TSE should know the source and full content of that story...
https://dynamicearth.org.uk/
I have not visited myself, but Holyrood is also obviously home to the Scottish Parliament, scene of some of the Scottish Government's greatest triumphs, so you may wish to force the kids to endure a tour.
https://youtu.be/eVsD7mKHlDM?si=1-BOZDkfGoBjrCfs
If you have any more puff in you, you get great views and insta photos for a very short walk up some steps on Calton Hill near the centre of town. It is Edinburgh's Acropolis.
https://ewh.org.uk/calton-hill/
The kids need to try their first haggis, which you can get everywhere but I'd recommend The Dome, a brasserie in a former Bank which is the sort of place I imagine you'd feel at home.
https://www.thedomeedinburgh.com/
I don't know the city well any more - the redeveloped area around the golden turd hotel is apparently beautiful despite its scatalogical main attraction.
https://stjamesquarter.com/
Princes Street Gardens is the best place to photograph the Castle, and don't forget to be around for the 1 o'clock gun to give them a shock.
I'd add that the Botanic Garden is great and the adjacent Inverleith Park has stunning views of the
turdskyline, and then you can wander into Stockbridge for a TSE-worthy lunch and up to the Water of Leith to Dean Village - the most instagrammable bit of the city. That's my usual tour when we have friends visiting from abroad. National Museum is by far the best attraction IMO though - try to find the Lewis Chessmen in the warren-like extension. Take care though - a few students have been caught in flagrante in that part of the museum.Hurrah for us!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1ajx66gVis
Joe Marler used it frequently.
Incongruously, they (and four others) are engaged in the wholly innocent pasttime of playing Articulate.
I'm genuinely quite impressed with the level of self-confidence which goes out dressed like that, even somewhere where there are no strangers (apart from your friend's parents, who don't count).
Even if they bring that down by an order of magnitude.
On one level it makes sense from their perspective - eg Shelter (one of the first) can have a great impact by changing government policy than by saving an individual kid from the street - but it’s profoundly concerning
I don't think Trump's lawsuit against the BBC is going to unfold as he wishes. Indeed, I strongly suspect it won't ever happen, because Jack Smith's testimony provides a mountain of evidence showing that Trump incited the January 6th riot.
https://x.com/nickreeves9876/status/2007125317497086020
I doubt the case will ever reach court.
There's just this pervasive attitude that parents should keep their kids under control 100% of the time and any failure to do so makes for bad parenting which is completely unacceptable.
We've had that same experience where our 3 year old went and sat next to some randoms because we were fussing over the baby she made a run for it but the couple were really nice and just entertained her for a few seconds while I went and grabbed her. It just depends on the people but I do find there's a lot of miserable people out there and that's something that's for them to deal with rather than for us to be upset about.
Just think about how sad their lives must be to scold a child or parents for something so minor? Absolutely zero joy at all.
The key it seems to me is what the rank and file of the IRCG do - the people at the top have made a fortune due to corruption but I'm guessing those lower down less so.
Just watching the Night Manager series 1 for the first time. Really good.