Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. Sign in or register to get started.

Options

politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Farage’s ratings tumble could impact on who runs the LEAVE

1246

Comments

  • Options
    SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 20,651

    Ooh err

    Ross Hawkins
    Emily Thornberry and Sadiq Khan head towards Corbyn's office

    Thornberry - just what we need to connect with traditional working class Labour voters in the north who are flirting with UKIP.
  • Options
    MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 50,125

    Scott_P said:

    @cathynewman: It's suggested @MichaelDugher is the only sacking. #nightoftheshortknives

    So how do you pronounce Dugher? Is it Dooga, Dooer, or Duffer?
    Doooogerr
    Is that a contraction of Do-Gooder?
  • Options
    watford30watford30 Posts: 3,474

    Ooh err

    Ross Hawkins
    Emily Thornberry and Sadiq Khan head towards Corbyn's office

    That is one of the most unlikely threesomes in history.

    And why would Khan be involved? Unless he is about to get sacked as Mayoral candidate...
    Maybe Ken's being allowed another go?
  • Options
    TGOHF said:

    TGOHF said:

    MikeK said:

    MikeK said:

    Good morning all.

    I hate to say it, but I will: it looks like SA are coming back at UK and may even overtake them by close of play today. That shows how unsound the early declaration by Cook was.

    Rubbish. SA may be playing well, England badly or the pitch doing nothing (or any permutation of those) but a declaration at 600+ is in no way early
    It's a matter of psychology. If Cook had declared at teatime - just 20± minutes ahead - England would have been refreshed, bowled better as the days heat was beginning to wane, and probably got a couple of early wickets.

    England have dropped too many catches. That is the problem. As is the lack of a decent spinner. If we could find one of those we'd be on the way to having a very good team.

    In an ideal world we would also have a rip snorting fast bowler and / or a left armer. But their aint many of the former about these days.
    In Tests, Moeen Ali has a better strike rate than Graeme Swann (56.9 v 60.1), and we consider Swann our finest spinner in the last 40 years.
    You are wrong my dear old thing - Moeen's test strike rate is 61.18.

    Moeen has 1 5 fer in 21 tests

    Swanny had 17 (!) in 60 tests.

    Like comparing a Lada with a BMW.

    According to ESPN

    Ali 56.9 http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/8917.html

    Swann 60.1 http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/20431.html

    Doesn't include the current test

    PS Moeen Ali is a batsman who bowls a bit, whereas Swanny was an out and out spinner
    http://www.espncricinfo.com/south-africa-v-england-2015-16/content/player/8917.html

    Has live stats at the bottom.

    If Moeen is a batsman why does he average just 26 ?
    Because he's a middle order batsman, who keeps on getting shunted up and down the order.

    He's been an opener and number 8.

    His innings (with Broady) as Edgbaston won us that test.
  • Options
    Plato_SaysPlato_Says Posts: 11,822
    ReporterBoy suggests he may get Transport!

    Ooh err

    Ross Hawkins
    Emily Thornberry and Sadiq Khan head towards Corbyn's office

    That is one of the most unlikely threesomes in history.

    And why would Khan be involved? Unless he is about to get sacked as Mayoral candidate...
  • Options
    ThreeQuidderThreeQuidder Posts: 6,133

    http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jan/04/indian-english-phrases-indianisms-english-americanisms-vocabulary?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

    Following on from last nights discussion of accents and dialect, this is an interesting article on Indian Idioms. I have had many letters asking me to "do the needful".

    English is an evolving languge, and an increasingly international one.

    I hate the use of "kindly" when what is meant is "please".

    And the other one that's creeping into business communication, on a customer/supplier basis, is "please may you...". No. I can or I can't. This is, I know, a hyper-correction from people who've had it drilled into them at school to ask "may I go to the toilet?" but still.
    Surely it should be "will you", can means able to.
    I'm in a service industry - if I can, I will. And if I can't, I'll tell you what I can do.

  • Options
    PaulyPauly Posts: 897
    If the Labour party was an old fashioned arcade game at this point the game over screen would be showing and Corbyn would have to put some more quarters in.
  • Options
    watford30watford30 Posts: 3,474
    edited January 2016

    Ooh err

    Ross Hawkins
    Emily Thornberry and Sadiq Khan head towards Corbyn's office

    Thornberry - just what we need to connect with traditional working class Labour voters in the north who are flirting with UKIP.
    Lady Nugee will soon have those Labour voters rushing back to the party. Except that it will be the wrong one.
  • Options
    FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 76,285
    edited January 2016

    TGOHF said:

    TGOHF said:

    MikeK said:

    MikeK said:

    Good morning all.

    I hate to say it, but I will: it looks like SA are coming back at UK and may even overtake them by close of play today. That shows how unsound the early declaration by Cook was.

    Rubbish. SA may be playing well, England badly or the pitch doing nothing (or any permutation of those) but a declaration at 600+ is in no way early
    It's a matter of psychology. If Cook had declared at teatime - just 20± minutes ahead - England would have been refreshed, bowled better as the days heat was beginning to wane, and probably got a couple of early wickets.

    England have dropped too many catches. That is the problem. As is the lack of a decent spinner. If we could find one of those we'd be on the way to having a very good team.

    In an ideal world we would also have a rip snorting fast bowler and / or a left armer. But their aint many of the former about these days.
    In Tests, Moeen Ali has a better strike rate than Graeme Swann (56.9 v 60.1), and we consider Swann our finest spinner in the last 40 years.
    You are wrong my dear old thing - Moeen's test strike rate is 61.18.

    Moeen has 1 5 fer in 21 tests

    Swanny had 17 (!) in 60 tests.

    Like comparing a Lada with a BMW.

    According to ESPN

    Ali 56.9 http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/8917.html

    Swann 60.1 http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/20431.html

    Doesn't include the current test

    PS Moeen Ali is a batsman who bowls a bit, whereas Swanny was an out and out spinner
    http://www.espncricinfo.com/south-africa-v-england-2015-16/content/player/8917.html

    Has live stats at the bottom.

    If Moeen is a batsman why does he average just 26 ?
    Because he's a middle order batsman, who keeps on getting shunted up and down the order.

    He's been an opener and number 8.

    His innings (with Broady) as Edgbaston won us that test.
    His batting concerns me more than his bowling. Often looks good, then sloppy shot to get out for 20.
  • Options
    david_herdsondavid_herdson Posts: 17,419



    The starting point on the radical left on foreign policy has always been a scepticism about the splendours of the Western alliance and a willingness to give a sympathetic hearing to Third World people with a grievance - it goes right back to people like Nehru and Nkrumah and the elusive and ultimately unsuccessful search for a credible global third way. It doesn't mean they necessarily agree with them, and Corbyn has said repeatedly that he disagrees with Hamas and Hezbollah. (In some cases it extended to sympathy for Soviet communism, which isn't one of the things that Corbyn has ever nourished.)

    You've consistently seen this as entirely beyond the pale and it seems to be the touchstone for you, much more than say the anti-austerity policies. I don't (and I see the Western alliance historically as necessary in e.g. Korea but not a consistent force for good), and see your preoccupation with this aspect as a bit obsessive, though I do see that it produces a history with contacts that are awkward if you suddenly become party leader. Perhaps that, more than naivete, is the area where we differ?

    If you can produce a few Corbyn speeches that focus on the disagreements he has with terrorist sympathisers it would be helpful. I'd also like to see his repudiations of Stop the War's rhetoric around ISIS being like the International Brigades, as well as its calls for Iraqis to kill British soldiers. Ditto for Ken, John and Dianne, and the other members of the hard left Jezza has chosen to surround himself with since he became leader. In calling you naïve, Nick, I hope you understand I am giving you the benefit of the doubt.

    Entirely unjustified sanctimony, given that other party's leaders are and have been heavily involved with repressive regimes and exporters of terror, and have given de facto material assistance to terrorists in the Middle East. Jezza's terrorists are just not 'our' terrorists. It's more of a novelty than a disgrace.
    1. Corbyn became aligned with his terrorist acquaintances out of choice, not perceived necessity.
    2. Where Britain has been involved with dodgy regimes and/or individuals, it's usually been to advance the British interest. Corbyn's involvement has consistently been to undermine the British interest or values.

    If you can't see the difference then it's because you're not looking but believe me: the general public can.
  • Options
    Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453
    Has Corbyn's punishment beating really turned into the comfy chair?
  • Options
    WandererWanderer Posts: 3,838

    Ooh err

    Ross Hawkins
    Emily Thornberry and Sadiq Khan head towards Corbyn's office

    That is one of the most unlikely threesomes in history.

    And why would Khan be involved? Unless he is about to get sacked as Mayoral candidate...
    She's going to be shadow minister for London???
  • Options
    SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,914

    Ooh err

    Ross Hawkins
    Emily Thornberry and Sadiq Khan head towards Corbyn's office

    That is one of the most unlikely threesomes in history.

    And why would Khan be involved? Unless he is about to get sacked as Mayoral candidate...
    Surely Khan (and Watson) can't be sacked - he was elected candidate by the membership. Is JC running out of people to give a ministry to the point that he's going to have Khan shadow a department, at the same time as running for MoL?
  • Options
    CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,216

    A quote from the late Denis Healey in 1959 that is particularly relevant today. https://t.co/jtsl1dLJIJ

    Indeed. The only issue I have with it is that I don't think the Corbynites are morally righteous. Morally and intellectually dishonest would be more accurate.

    The effect is the same. Those who look to their party for an effective voice in Parliament are abandoned. It is disgraceful self-absorption.

  • Options
    TGOHFTGOHF Posts: 21,633

    TGOHF said:

    TGOHF said:

    MikeK said:

    MikeK said:

    Good morning all.

    I hate to say it, but I will: it looks like SA are coming back at UK and may even overtake them by close of play today. That shows how unsound the early declaration by Cook was.

    Rubbish. SA may be playing well, England badly or the pitch doing nothing (or any permutation of those) but a declaration at 600+ is in no way early
    It's a matter of psychology. If Cook had declared at teatime - just 20± minutes ahead - England would have been refreshed, bowled better as the days heat was beginning to wane, and probably got a couple of early wickets.

    England have dropped too many catches. That is the problem. As is the lack of a decent spinner. If we could find one of those we'd be on the way to having a very good team.

    In an ideal world we would also have a rip snorting fast bowler and / or a left armer. But their aint many of the former about these days.
    In Tests, Moeen Ali has a better strike rate than Graeme Swann (56.9 v 60.1), and we consider Swann our finest spinner in the last 40 years.
    You are wrong my dear old thing - Moeen's test strike rate is 61.18.

    Moeen has 1 5 fer in 21 tests

    Swanny had 17 (!) in 60 tests.

    Like comparing a Lada with a BMW.

    According to ESPN

    Ali 56.9 http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/8917.html

    Swann 60.1 http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/20431.html

    Doesn't include the current test

    PS Moeen Ali is a batsman who bowls a bit, whereas Swanny was an out and out spinner
    http://www.espncricinfo.com/south-africa-v-england-2015-16/content/player/8917.html

    Has live stats at the bottom.

    If Moeen is a batsman why does he average just 26 ?
    Because he's a middle order batsman, who keeps on getting shunted up and down the order.

    He's been an opener and number 8.

    His innings (with Broady) as Edgbaston won us that test.
    He's in possession of the place in the team for now but he's not in the same galaxy as Swann.
  • Options
    chestnutchestnut Posts: 7,341

    Depressingly comic and accurate

    chestnut said:

    So, Dugher, the right honourable member for Oop North, has been usurped by Barry Gardiner, another member of the London North Party.

    Gardiner - Brent
    Corbyn - Islington
    Abbott - Hackney
    McDonnell - Hayes

    Must be space for Thornberry (Islington) and Osamor (Edmonton).

    Policy to focus on railways (London Tube prices) and Housing (London rent prices) and appeasing all those terrorists in the middle east ( that's NE London Walthamstow and SE London Lewisham in their video enterprises out in Syria).

    I vaguely recall that half the Labour Party's entire membership was based in London under Ed.

    That number has probably rocketed under Comrade Corbyn.
  • Options
    Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453
    @SophyRidgeSky: Understand the 1245 Shadow Cabinet meeting has now been cancelled.... #reshuffle
  • Options
    Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453
    @JasonGroves1: Starting to look like @MichaelDugher has more support in the shadow cabinet than @jeremycorbyn. Awkward
  • Options
    Plato_SaysPlato_Says Posts: 11,822
    It's her personal charm - that unique blend of sounding like she's scraping the audience off the bottom of her shoe and patronising overtalking
    watford30 said:

    Ooh err

    Ross Hawkins
    Emily Thornberry and Sadiq Khan head towards Corbyn's office

    Thornberry - just what we need to connect with traditional working class Labour voters in the north who are flirting with UKIP.
    Lady Nugee will soon have those Labour voters rushing back to the party. Except that it will be the wrong one.
  • Options
    Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453
    This was retweeted by a Labour MP...

    @davidschneider: "Doctors to strike"
    - "Talk about the reshuffle"
    "Rail fares up 25% since 2010"
    - "Reshuffle!"
    "The Saudis..."
    - "TALK ABOUT THE RESHUFFLE!"
  • Options
    PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,935
    Auntie !
  • Options
    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,989
    Mr. K, Crassus got booty - in the mouth.

    The Parthians destroyed the famously rich man's* army, captured him, and killed him by pouring molten gold down his throat.

    *Crassus was, according to some, the wealthiest man who ever lived. He was also the third member of the unofficial triumvirate, the other members being Caesar and Pompey.
  • Options
    Plato_SaysPlato_Says Posts: 11,822
    CJ's farting one more like.
    Scott_P said:

    Has Corbyn's punishment beating really turned into the comfy chair?

  • Options
    flightpath01flightpath01 Posts: 4,903
    glw said:

    and they are irrelevant and and and and and...

    That's the bit that gets me, I expect people on the left to moan about testing, but I've heard apparently well-meaning people on the radio say that knowing the times table is not that important a skill.

    Which bit of the times tables did you like best Ii always found 7 times 7 deeply satisfying for some reason whereas 8 x 8 was deeply boring.
    The tables are important I think but alongside them I think 'numbers' full stop (and their relationships) ought to be studied as well, just as things of wonder and beauty.
    There is a poor chap I believe who experiences numbers as smells (and I am not talking about Alex Salmond for whom I believe 45 stinks.
  • Options
    oxfordsimonoxfordsimon Posts: 5,831

    It's her personal charm - that unique blend of sounding like she's scraping the audience off the bottom of her shoe and patronising overtalking

    watford30 said:

    Ooh err

    Ross Hawkins
    Emily Thornberry and Sadiq Khan head towards Corbyn's office

    Thornberry - just what we need to connect with traditional working class Labour voters in the north who are flirting with UKIP.
    Lady Nugee will soon have those Labour voters rushing back to the party. Except that it will be the wrong one.
    How is her property empire doing these days, I wonder...?
  • Options
    WandererWanderer Posts: 3,838
    TGOHF said:

    TGOHF said:

    TGOHF said:

    MikeK said:

    MikeK said:

    Good morning all.

    I hate to say it, but I will: it looks like SA are coming back at UK and may even overtake them by close of play today. That shows how unsound the early declaration by Cook was.

    Rubbish. SA may be playing well, England badly or the pitch doing nothing (or any permutation of those) but a declaration at 600+ is in no way early
    It's a matter of psychology. If Cook had declared at teatime - just 20± minutes ahead - England would have been refreshed, bowled better as the days heat was beginning to wane, and probably got a couple of early wickets.

    England have dropped too many catches. That is the problem. As is the lack of a decent spinner. If we could find one of those we'd be on the way to having a very good team.

    In an ideal world we would also have a rip snorting fast bowler and / or a left armer. But their aint many of the former about these days.
    In Tests, Moeen Ali has a better strike rate than Graeme Swann (56.9 v 60.1), and we consider Swann our finest spinner in the last 40 years.
    You are wrong my dear old thing - Moeen's test strike rate is 61.18.

    Moeen has 1 5 fer in 21 tests

    Swanny had 17 (!) in 60 tests.

    Like comparing a Lada with a BMW.

    According to ESPN

    Ali 56.9 http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/8917.html

    Swann 60.1 http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/20431.html

    Doesn't include the current test

    PS Moeen Ali is a batsman who bowls a bit, whereas Swanny was an out and out spinner
    http://www.espncricinfo.com/south-africa-v-england-2015-16/content/player/8917.html

    Has live stats at the bottom.

    If Moeen is a batsman why does he average just 26 ?
    Because he's a middle order batsman, who keeps on getting shunted up and down the order.

    He's been an opener and number 8.

    His innings (with Broady) as Edgbaston won us that test.
    He's in possession of the place in the team for now but he's not in the same galaxy as Swann.
    Have to agree. Moeen is a very entertaining player but Swann was a match-winner.
  • Options
    taffystaffys Posts: 9,753
    On topic, I read quite a good 'stay in or else' piece in City am this morning from....er.....Denis McShane.
  • Options
    CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,777
    Ouch!

    @GrahamJonesMP: With the sacking of Dugher, traditional working class Labour is dying.

    Complete with that photo by Lady Nugee......
  • Options
    ThreeQuidderThreeQuidder Posts: 6,133
    Follow-on avoided. A draw now unless somebody totally collapses.
  • Options

    Mr. K, Crassus got booty - in the mouth.

    The Parthians destroyed the famously rich man's* army, captured him, and killed him by pouring molten gold down his throat.

    *Crassus was, according to some, the wealthiest man who ever lived. He was also the third member of the unofficial triumvirate, the other members being Caesar and Pompey.

    Crassus or Croesus?

    (and I thought conventional wisdom had the wealthiest human being ever to be Kublai Khan)
  • Options
    WandererWanderer Posts: 3,838

    glw said:

    and they are irrelevant and and and and and...

    That's the bit that gets me, I expect people on the left to moan about testing, but I've heard apparently well-meaning people on the radio say that knowing the times table is not that important a skill.

    Which bit of the times tables did you like best Ii always found 7 times 7 deeply satisfying for some reason whereas 8 x 8 was deeply boring.
    The tables are important I think but alongside them I think 'numbers' full stop (and their relationships) ought to be studied as well, just as things of wonder and beauty.
    There is a poor chap I believe who experiences numbers as smells (and I am not talking about Alex Salmond for whom I believe 45 stinks.
    I like 16 x 15. Pleasingly round number.
  • Options
    SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,914
    edited January 2016
    Wanderer said:

    glw said:

    and they are irrelevant and and and and and...

    That's the bit that gets me, I expect people on the left to moan about testing, but I've heard apparently well-meaning people on the radio say that knowing the times table is not that important a skill.

    Which bit of the times tables did you like best Ii always found 7 times 7 deeply satisfying for some reason whereas 8 x 8 was deeply boring.
    The tables are important I think but alongside them I think 'numbers' full stop (and their relationships) ought to be studied as well, just as things of wonder and beauty.
    There is a poor chap I believe who experiences numbers as smells (and I am not talking about Alex Salmond for whom I believe 45 stinks.
    I like 16 x 15. Pleasingly round number.
    27 x 37 is a good one too. Very unexpected.
  • Options

    Follow-on avoided. A draw now unless somebody totally collapses.

    Adelaide 2006 is forever seared onto my mind.
  • Options
    Plato_SaysPlato_Says Posts: 11,822
    Andrew Sparrow
    'What you’ve got to remember about Stop the War is they think the wrong people won the cold war' - Dugher - https://t.co/KUMKCPjr8J
  • Options
    WandererWanderer Posts: 3,838
    Scott_P said:
    I wonder why he told him over the phone.
  • Options
    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,989
    Mr. Patrick, Croesus was King of Lydia, who made war on the Persian Empire, and lost (though Cyrus, the Great King of the Persians, kept him as an adviser and the two reportedly became good friends).

    It's difficult to be sure just how rich people were, particularly when they lived over two thousand years ago, so there's a substantial margin of error. What we can be sure of is that Crassus was loaded.
  • Options
    WandererWanderer Posts: 3,838
    Sandpit said:

    Wanderer said:

    glw said:

    and they are irrelevant and and and and and...

    That's the bit that gets me, I expect people on the left to moan about testing, but I've heard apparently well-meaning people on the radio say that knowing the times table is not that important a skill.

    Which bit of the times tables did you like best Ii always found 7 times 7 deeply satisfying for some reason whereas 8 x 8 was deeply boring.
    The tables are important I think but alongside them I think 'numbers' full stop (and their relationships) ought to be studied as well, just as things of wonder and beauty.
    There is a poor chap I believe who experiences numbers as smells (and I am not talking about Alex Salmond for whom I believe 45 stinks.
    I like 16 x 15. Pleasingly round number.
    27 x 37 is a good one too. Very unexpected.
    So it is!
  • Options
    CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,777
    As Andrew Sparrow points out - Dugher took the Labour Conference slogan of 'Straight Talking' at face value:

    http://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/live/2016/jan/05/hilary-benn-expected-to-keep-his-job-as-corbyn-finishes-shadow-cabinet-reshuffle-politics-live#block-568ba1dbe4b00a4fab73ac12

    I’m not sure how revenge reshuffles sits with the new politics
  • Options
    Amla out.
  • Options
    PaulyPauly Posts: 897
    This has reshuffle has gone on so long I'll have finished the entirety of "The Thick of It" before it finishes. Remarkably inefficient for a PM candidate.
  • Options
    TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 41,360

    glw said:

    and they are irrelevant and and and and and...

    That's the bit that gets me, I expect people on the left to moan about testing, but I've heard apparently well-meaning people on the radio say that knowing the times table is not that important a skill.

    Which bit of the times tables did you like best Ii always found 7 times 7 deeply satisfying for some reason whereas 8 x 8 was deeply boring.
    The tables are important I think but alongside them I think 'numbers' full stop (and their relationships) ought to be studied as well, just as things of wonder and beauty.
    There is a poor chap I believe who experiences numbers as smells (and I am not talking about Alex Salmond for whom I believe 45 stinks.
    In an early interview I was asked by my interviewer what 7% of 7 was...
  • Options
    Aggers - "I wonder how James Taylor feels getting a first-ball duck in this match? His parents came out to watch this Test too."
  • Options
    glwglw Posts: 9,549

    Which bit of the times tables did you like best Ii always found 7 times 7 deeply satisfying for some reason whereas 8 x 8 was deeply boring.

    I have no favourites. I'm simply perplexed by the notion that knowing them isn't that useful, but when I went to school we were tested every Friday morning, and almost the entire class would get 100% right. It was seen as a basic piece of knowledge that you had to have.
  • Options
    SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,914
    Williamz said:

    Amla out.

    Too little too late now though. They might as well shake hands and go to the pub. I'm not bitter at all at losing a pile on this match. Not at all.
  • Options
    SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 20,651
    TOPPING said:

    glw said:

    and they are irrelevant and and and and and...

    That's the bit that gets me, I expect people on the left to moan about testing, but I've heard apparently well-meaning people on the radio say that knowing the times table is not that important a skill.

    Which bit of the times tables did you like best Ii always found 7 times 7 deeply satisfying for some reason whereas 8 x 8 was deeply boring.
    The tables are important I think but alongside them I think 'numbers' full stop (and their relationships) ought to be studied as well, just as things of wonder and beauty.
    There is a poor chap I believe who experiences numbers as smells (and I am not talking about Alex Salmond for whom I believe 45 stinks.
    In an early interview I was asked by my interviewer what 7% of 7 was...
    As an engineer I would say near enough a half.
  • Options
    Another one goes.
  • Options
    du plessis now out
  • Options

    Aggers - "I wonder how James Taylor feels getting a first-ball duck in this match? His parents came out to watch this Test too."

    I am sure his parents are enjoying the lovely SA weather.
  • Options
    WandererWanderer Posts: 3,838
    TOPPING said:

    glw said:

    and they are irrelevant and and and and and...

    That's the bit that gets me, I expect people on the left to moan about testing, but I've heard apparently well-meaning people on the radio say that knowing the times table is not that important a skill.

    Which bit of the times tables did you like best Ii always found 7 times 7 deeply satisfying for some reason whereas 8 x 8 was deeply boring.
    The tables are important I think but alongside them I think 'numbers' full stop (and their relationships) ought to be studied as well, just as things of wonder and beauty.
    There is a poor chap I believe who experiences numbers as smells (and I am not talking about Alex Salmond for whom I believe 45 stinks.
    In an early interview I was asked by my interviewer what 7% of 7 was...
    That's a real easy-when-you're-in-an-armchair-hard-in-an-interview question.
  • Options
    Plato_SaysPlato_Says Posts: 11,822
    All my class knew up to 12x by the time we left primary school. Well, maybe Gary didn't - he had an IQ of about 70 and jam jar specs, but a sweetie.

    9x is my favourite.
    glw said:

    Which bit of the times tables did you like best Ii always found 7 times 7 deeply satisfying for some reason whereas 8 x 8 was deeply boring.

    I have no favourites. I'm simply perplexed by the notion that knowing them isn't that useful, but when I went to school we were tested every Friday morning, and almost the entire class would get 100% right. It was seen as a basic piece of knowledge that you had to have.
  • Options
    SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,914
    edited January 2016
    TOPPING said:

    glw said:

    and they are irrelevant and and and and and...

    That's the bit that gets me, I expect people on the left to moan about testing, but I've heard apparently well-meaning people on the radio say that knowing the times table is not that important a skill.

    Which bit of the times tables did you like best Ii always found 7 times 7 deeply satisfying for some reason whereas 8 x 8 was deeply boring.
    The tables are important I think but alongside them I think 'numbers' full stop (and their relationships) ought to be studied as well, just as things of wonder and beauty.
    There is a poor chap I believe who experiences numbers as smells (and I am not talking about Alex Salmond for whom I believe 45 stinks.
    In an early interview I was asked by my interviewer what 7% of 7 was...
    0.49 - but it takes a second to get the question straight in your head and the decimal point in the right place.

    Edit: @SandyRentool has a much better answer!
  • Options
    FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 76,285
    edited January 2016
    Wanderer said:

    TOPPING said:

    glw said:

    and they are irrelevant and and and and and...

    That's the bit that gets me, I expect people on the left to moan about testing, but I've heard apparently well-meaning people on the radio say that knowing the times table is not that important a skill.

    Which bit of the times tables did you like best Ii always found 7 times 7 deeply satisfying for some reason whereas 8 x 8 was deeply boring.
    The tables are important I think but alongside them I think 'numbers' full stop (and their relationships) ought to be studied as well, just as things of wonder and beauty.
    There is a poor chap I believe who experiences numbers as smells (and I am not talking about Alex Salmond for whom I believe 45 stinks.
    In an early interview I was asked by my interviewer what 7% of 7 was...
    That's a real easy-when-you're-in-an-armchair-hard-in-an-interview question.
    It sounds also like one of those questions that your brain immediately screams a certain answer, which is obviously wrong when you think about it, but too late you have blurted it out.
  • Options

    16 weeks. I'm expecting the least notice possible once David Cameron is ready.

    One reason why David Cameron may well want to go early is that the Leave camps are squabbling for precedence and this is likely to continue for some time. Going later will give them more time to sort themselves out.

    On the other hand, giving them more time would give them more time to squabble and split, although to be fair they've made excellent use of the time available so far to do just that.

    The referendum will be in September, I think.
  • Options
    WandererWanderer Posts: 3,838

    Another one goes.

    If the positions were reversed I'd be a little worried now.
  • Options
    Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453
    @PickardJE: Latest intell is that today's shadow cabinet meeting has been "cancelled" not just postponed.
  • Options
    On topic

    If the referendum is Cameron v Farage, with Cameron preaching economic stability/security of remaining in the EU vs Farage banging on about immigration, there will be only one outcome.
  • Options
    PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,935
    Sandpit said:

    Williamz said:

    Amla out.

    Too little too late now though. They might as well shake hands and go to the pub. I'm not bitter at all at losing a pile on this match. Not at all.
    Did you back England too - £20 done for me.
  • Options
    AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    One of my two formative memories of primary school was the mortification (aged about 8 or 9) of giving 29 as an answer to 3 x 9 in a test, meaning that I only got 9 out of 10.
  • Options
    Plato_SaysPlato_Says Posts: 11,822
    Lolz

    SKY
    Sky Sources: Shadow cabinet meeting at 12.45pm has been postponed
  • Options
    Do we have confirmation that Cameron is going to allow Cabinet ministers, as opposed to ministers of state, to campaign either way?
  • Options
    oxfordsimonoxfordsimon Posts: 5,831
    Scott_P said:

    @PickardJE: Latest intell is that today's shadow cabinet meeting has been "cancelled" not just postponed.

    Well there is little point in having a meeting when there is no functioning Shadow Cabinet in any meaningful sense. There is no collective responsibility, there is no leadership. The Shadow Cabinet has ceased to be. It is an ex-Shadow Cabinet.
  • Options
    CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,777
    Well, there's a shock:

    https://www.politicshome.com/party-politics/articles/dot-commons-diary/what-difference-day-makes

    Ken accuses the media of spreading a story he had spread himself....
  • Options
    blackburn63blackburn63 Posts: 4,492

    On topic

    If the referendum is Cameron v Farage, with Cameron preaching economic stability/security of remaining in the EU vs Farage banging on about immigration, there will be only one outcome.

    Its not that though is it

  • Options
    Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453
    @rosschawkins: Shadow Cabinet postponed

    @rosschawkins: Shadow cabinet cancelled
  • Options

    On topic

    If the referendum is Cameron v Farage, with Cameron preaching economic stability/security of remaining in the EU vs Farage banging on about immigration, there will be only one outcome.

    Its not that though is it

    Cameron will stick with what has worked in the past and Farage is a one trick pony
  • Options
    SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,914
    edited January 2016
    Pulpstar said:

    Sandpit said:

    Williamz said:

    Amla out.

    Too little too late now though. They might as well shake hands and go to the pub. I'm not bitter at all at losing a pile on this match. Not at all.
    Did you back England too - £20 done for me.
    Backed England and laid the draw - £60* each at the end of day 1. :-(
    Didn't pay enough attention, by the time I realised the draw was inevitable it was 1/10 and shortening, and I was out of cash. Hey ho, tomorrow is another day, back to work to earn £120 the hard way!

    * I've being making cricket bets at £60 recently, in honour of Australia's score in the first innings of the fourth Ashes test last year. :)
  • Options
    CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,777

    Another one goes.

    Cricket?

    Or Northern Working Class Labour Shad Cab members.....(I know there aren't many....)
  • Options
    HurstLlamaHurstLlama Posts: 9,098

    glw said:

    and they are irrelevant and and and and and...

    That's the bit that gets me, I expect people on the left to moan about testing, but I've heard apparently well-meaning people on the radio say that knowing the times table is not that important a skill.

    Which bit of the times tables did you like best Ii always found 7 times 7 deeply satisfying for some reason whereas 8 x 8 was deeply boring.
    The tables are important I think but alongside them I think 'numbers' full stop (and their relationships) ought to be studied as well, just as things of wonder and beauty.
    There is a poor chap I believe who experiences numbers as smells (and I am not talking about Alex Salmond for whom I believe 45 stinks.
    Numbers and their relationships are indeed things of wonder and beauty. I got introduced to number theory proper at uni and was instantly hooked. Even now I will, when feeling pissed off at the insanities of the world, get down the well thumbed books spend an afternoon with the elegance of Gauss, Euler, Hardy, Ramanujan and the rest of the gang.

    However, it is not really a useful subject for teaching at school level. That is to say there are more important topics in mathematics that every adult with a claim to being reasonably well educated need to know (basic statistics and probability theory for one). Having said that, in my brief teaching career if I had a double period I could not resist having a virtual break half way through in which I would slip in some little bit of interest from number theory.
  • Options
    Farage is a bit of curious fish, won't go to the police over a suspected assassination attempt nor over postal voting fraud, but he will go to police about Have I Got News For You

    http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/apr/30/nigel-farage-makes-police-complaint-over-have-i-got-news-for-you
  • Options
    MikeKMikeK Posts: 9,053
    Wanderer said:

    Another one goes.

    If the positions were reversed I'd be a little worried now.
    Wickets are falling. It all depends if the SA tail can wag.
  • Options
    Plato_SaysPlato_Says Posts: 11,822
    edited January 2016
    Even The Mirror is taking the piss now

    Mikey Smith
    Shadow cabinet reportedly cancelled. https://t.co/UIkwxshXbd
  • Options
    Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453
    @PolhomeEditor: Shadow minister on Michael Dugher sacking backlash: "I'm sure Seumas knows what he's doing."
  • Options
    CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,777

    Do we have confirmation that Cameron is going to allow Cabinet ministers, as opposed to ministers of state, to campaign either way?

    Paul Waugh: No.10 on PM's view of Cabinet freedom on Brexit: "*During* the renegotiation he's been clear that collective responsibility applies..[1/2]"

    No10: "His view once the renegotiation is complete hasn't changed..the Govt will hv a clear view once that renegotiation is complete." [2/2]


    Not sure I'm any the wiser.....
  • Options
    I thought i had heard of Michael Dugher, but having googled him I don't recognise his face so perhaps not.

    Can't see this making much difference to the man on the Clapham omnibus!
  • Options
    It seems JJ approach to dealing with the PLP is based upon David Brent's guide to management.
  • Options
    @elliotttimes: Latest speculation for shadow defence Nia Griffith: would be first unilateralist in that post for around 30 years.
  • Options
    AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    It would be a bit hard to hold a meeting when you don't know who's on the invitation list.
  • Options
    MTimTMTimT Posts: 7,034

    One of my two formative memories of primary school was the mortification (aged about 8 or 9) of giving 29 as an answer to 3 x 9 in a test, meaning that I only got 9 out of 10.

    One of my formative experiences in school was, around about age 8 or 9, getting reamed out in front of the whole class by my teacher for only getting 17/20 on a spelling test. It was one of the highest marks in the class, but she berated me for being lazy and not doing my homework. She was right that I had not studied, and right to judge me against my own capabilities, not those of the rest of the class.

    I did not thank her at the time, but I wish I had been able to at some point in time.

    Don't know why, but 9x7 was the only part of the times tables that ever gave me any problem.
  • Options
    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,989
    Mr. Eagles, so the Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Defence Secretary will both disagree with their own party's policy on nuclear weapons?

    Jeremy Corbyn is a clown.

    The UK deserves a credible choice between two parties, or more, at an election. Not this socialist jester.
  • Options
    SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 20,651

    Even The Mirror is taking the piss now

    Mikey Smith
    Shadow cabinet reportedly cancelled. https://t.co/UIkwxshXbd

    I think they might have gone out on strike in sympathy action for a sacked colleague.
  • Options
    The sackings will continue until morale improves.
  • Options
    Saffers collapsing like the French at the Maginot Line
  • Options
    blackburn63blackburn63 Posts: 4,492

    On topic

    If the referendum is Cameron v Farage, with Cameron preaching economic stability/security of remaining in the EU vs Farage banging on about immigration, there will be only one outcome.

    Its not that though is it

    Cameron will stick with what has worked in the past and Farage is a one trick pony
    Well lets hope that Cameron talks about the financial stability of the EU and the Leavers can talk about Greece and unaudited accounts.

    Remain really need to get their message clear, the tories have done a good job of stabilising the economy, to suggest that is in any way connected to the EU is laughable.

    Your man v ball approach won't work TSE, it will among your fellow sycophants but I can assure you the majority don't look at the PM as doe eyed as you.

  • Options
    flightpath01flightpath01 Posts: 4,903

    Mr. Eagles, so the Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Defence Secretary will both disagree with their own party's policy on nuclear weapons?

    Jeremy Corbyn is a clown.

    The UK deserves a credible choice between two parties, or more, at an election. Not this socialist jester.

    All this shows is that the shadow cabinet is a front for the real anti nuclear anti west pro appeasement pacifist crypto communist labour party.
  • Options
    oxfordsimonoxfordsimon Posts: 5,831

    @elliotttimes: Latest speculation for shadow defence Nia Griffith: would be first unilateralist in that post for around 30 years.

    And someone with absolutely no background in defence matters. She might have been credible as a shadow schools minister - but she has nothing to offer on defence.
  • Options

    On topic, obviously they'd be best with someone with broader appeal than Farage. The hitch is that they also need an experienced politician who can work under pressure and obfuscate while making it sound like plain talking. Farage can be a bit hit-and-miss but he's talented and generally effective.

    Their best hope is an ambitious second-tier Tory, and they'll probably get one, but the problem is that because the said ambitious Tory will have got elected on a platform supporting Cameron's "renegotiation", they'll have to wait until the outcome of that has been finalized before they can declare themselves shocked and disappointed and announce that they'll be supporting Out. Cameron can keep this going pretty close to the referendum, which makes it a bit late to make the switch, especially if Farage is unwilling to be bumped.

    Not really. They can make it clear - as an increasing number of Tory MPs are doing - that Cameron has asked for no where near enough in his renegotiation and so even if he got everything he asked for he would still not have secured a satisfactory renegotiation.
  • Options
    Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453
    @lukeakehurst: I suspect Dugher will play a bigger role next time Labour is in government than Corbyn will.

    @sirtophamhat: @lukeakehurst Jeremy's 66. It's unlikely he'll live to see another Labour Government.
  • Options

    It would be a bit hard to hold a meeting when you don't know who's on the invitation list.

    Not knowing who is on the invitation list is mandatory at a swingers party. So I am told
  • Options
    david_herdsondavid_herdson Posts: 17,419
    Patrick said:

    Mr. K, Crassus got booty - in the mouth.

    The Parthians destroyed the famously rich man's* army, captured him, and killed him by pouring molten gold down his throat.

    *Crassus was, according to some, the wealthiest man who ever lived. He was also the third member of the unofficial triumvirate, the other members being Caesar and Pompey.

    Crassus or Croesus?

    (and I thought conventional wisdom had the wealthiest human being ever to be Kublai Khan)
    It's completely definitional who the richest person ever was. How do you compare across millenia, never mind centuries? Proportion of global GDP? Equivalent ounces of gold? Multiple of average income? How do absolute monarchs or dictators rank, who have access and control over to the resources of a great power without necessarily personally owning them?

    Time have a list here:

    http://time.com/money/3977798/the-10-richest-people-of-all-time/

    But take your pick,really.
  • Options
    SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,914

    Saffers collapsing like the French at the Maginot Line

    They're just trying to get my hopes up that we'll get them all out and have another smash around, leaving them with 350 to get starting with 3 or 4 overs in the dark tonight...
  • Options
    MTimT said:

    One of my two formative memories of primary school was the mortification (aged about 8 or 9) of giving 29 as an answer to 3 x 9 in a test, meaning that I only got 9 out of 10.

    One of my formative experiences in school was, around about age 8 or 9, getting reamed out in front of the whole class by my teacher for only getting 17/20 on a spelling test. It was one of the highest marks in the class, but she berated me for being lazy and not doing my homework. She was right that I had not studied, and right to judge me against my own capabilities, not those of the rest of the class.

    I did not thank her at the time, but I wish I had been able to at some point in time.

    Don't know why, but 9x7 was the only part of the times tables that ever gave me any problem.
    I still check 9times with my hands.

    Anyway, given that the students don't have these checks at uni level still worries me. Carry on Rosenberg, you're wrong. Spend a day in my shoes.
  • Options
    david_herdsondavid_herdson Posts: 17,419
    On numerical matters, 2016 is the first year since 2000 to be the product of only single-digit prime factors.
  • Options

    Mr. Eagles, so the Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Defence Secretary will both disagree with their own party's policy on nuclear weapons?

    Jeremy Corbyn is a clown.

    The UK deserves a credible choice between two parties, or more, at an election. Not this socialist jester.

    It's good. They have long standing principles, and they are giving the voters an option.
  • Options
    Plato_SaysPlato_Says Posts: 11,822
    edited January 2016
  • Options
    flightpath01flightpath01 Posts: 4,903

    Saffers collapsing like the French at the Maginot Line

    er... the French did not collapse at the Maginot Line they collapsed at Sedan, well everywhere other than the Maginot Line in fact.
  • Options
    MikeKMikeK Posts: 9,053
    Scott_P said:

    @lukeakehurst: I suspect Dugher will play a bigger role next time Labour is in government than Corbyn will.

    @sirtophamhat: @lukeakehurst Jeremy's 66. It's unlikely he'll live to see another Labour Government.

    You are saying that there won't be another Labour government for 20 years; if Labour even exist then. The average age for men to die is in the mid eighties now.
  • Options

    Saffers collapsing like the French at the Maginot Line

    er... the French did not collapse at the Maginot Line they collapsed at Sedan, well everywhere other than the Maginot Line in fact.
    Whoosh
This discussion has been closed.