Pro EU labour are going to have fun selling their message in places like Sunderland.
Very true and in places such as Wales. Labour have forgotten who their voters are.
I think Labour have to write the EU off as an issue, and go with the Brexit flow.
Then they lose their membership, London and some of the larger cities. Their electoral base is now like chalk and cheese. One despises the other. Quite how they've arrived at this position, Lord only knows. Time for the posh word of the day: Labour are in zugzwang.
Mind you if May keeps us in the single market, it may be asked how long the likes of Bill Cash, IDS, Kenneth Clarke and Soubry can stay in the same party too
Increasingly I think the single market / Norway option is a non-starter politically. We're out and it's hard brexit.
Messrs Meeks and Smithson, above the line, were reassuring us REMAIN was waltzing it, until about a week before the vote. Indeed they wrote endless threaders LAUGHING at the LEAVE campaign.
The pompous advice given to the Leave campaign wasn't a high point... All the while Remain were systematically destroying their own case.
The terrific complacency from REMAIN certainly contributed to their downfall. Yes, I'm looking at you, Richard "it'll be 70/30" Nabavi.
I don't believe they gamed the possibility that immigration would dominate, that Boris and Gove would join LEAVE, and so on.
It was a victory of the incompetent over the dire. At times, the Leave campaign was awful. But, the Remain campaign managed to be worse.
The Remain campaign was poor, but I don't know what else they could have done. The product they were selling was undesirable. Roger will tell you that there's only so much turd polishing decent advertising can do and the EU is an absolutely massive, stinking turd.
It was obvious in hindsight that having Cameron leading the Remain campaign was a very stupid thing to do.
In retrospect Alan Johnson would have been better (although he led the official campaign he did not lead the unofficial campaign), working class background, Labour but Blairite enough not to turn off Tories. However I doubt it would have changed the result
It's remarkable how often the nonentity Johnson is talked up on here
I gather a Tory MP was all over the air waves saying that Theresa May might not be able to get repealing of Grammar schools through the commons. Majority of only 17 blah blah....
I wish the press would report more sensibly.
4 Sinn Feiners don't vote.
11 DUP, UUP and UKIP all dead keen on Grammar Schools.
So majority actually 43.
And thats before any Labour MPs who support grammar schools are taken into account like Mrs Hoey.
The 17 already allows for SF.
"Headline" majority on election night was 12. Add 4 for SF = 16.
Currently 17 officially (ie per Parliament website) as Jo Cox seat vacant - when Lab wins by-election it'll go back to 16.
Looking at individual polls is foolish, US elections are best predicted by poll averages, both nationally and statewide, and RCP, 538 and pollster all give between a seven and eight point lead. What is with this 'the polls are level' malarkey (to paraphrase Joe Biden)?
The debates have not even begun yet and of course the poll average in EUref was not right
Why are you trying to convince people despite current evidence and each bit of evidence that we are consistently getting? Trying to make any comparison with Brexit is also pointless.
Trump, like Brexit, is in tune with the spirit of the times. He's the insurgent. It doesn't follow that he's bound to win, but he has a fair chance.
Indeed, saying Hillary has it in the bag in August is ridiculous, just over 3 months before EU ref Remain had a 15% lead
American elections are more predictable than referendums, simply because they happen every 4 years on the roughly same issues and sometimes the same people.
But this is like Nixon's legal team trying to convince Nixon to resign before the inevitable.
We know Trump is finished, we know he may even end up in jail. The only thing left for him is to give up the mantle to his daughter, to retain some influence, pride and freedom.
If only Nixon had listened to his lawyers in Oct. 1973 when they first asked him to resign he would have avoided the extra pain and humiliation that followed.
Pro EU labour are going to have fun selling their message in places like Sunderland.
Very true and in places such as Wales. Labour have forgotten who their voters are.
I think Labour have to write the EU off as an issue, and go with the Brexit flow.
Then they lose their membership, London and some of the larger cities. Their electoral base is now like chalk and cheese. One despises the other. Quite how they've arrived at this position, Lord only knows. Time for the posh word of the day: Labour are in zugzwang.
Mind you if May keeps us in the single market, it may be asked how long the likes of Bill Cash, IDS, Kenneth Clarke and Soubry can stay in the same party too
Increasingly I think the single market / Norway option is a non-starter politically. We're out and it's hard brexit.
Boris is surprisingly popular with the WWC. The most unexpected people I meet are fans of the Bozza.
And the BBC docu just confirmed it - those little old northern ladies loved him.
I'm not sure WHY he is liked, but he is.
I think it's simply because he doesn't exude fatalism. So many managerial politicians project a sense that this is as good as it gets and if you don't like it, you need re-educating.
There are three bbc clips/progs I'm interested in:
* How did the Remain campaign lose? h ttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0410nz1 * Vote Leave on how Leave won: h ttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36857307 * Kuessenberg: h ttp://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b07nsx8g/brexit-the-battle-for-britain
The BBC being what they are, they won't be at that links indefinitely. How do I preserve them long-term? I can't archive them via archive.is, so ideas? Does somebody do transcripts?
Messrs Meeks and Smithson, above the line, were reassuring us REMAIN was waltzing it, until about a week before the vote. Indeed they wrote endless threaders LAUGHING at the LEAVE campaign.
The pompous advice given to the Leave campaign wasn't a high point... All the while Remain were systematically destroying their own case.
The terrific complacency from REMAIN certainly contributed to their downfall. Yes, I'm looking at you, Richard "it'll be 70/30" Nabavi.
I don't believe they gamed the possibility that immigration would dominate, that Boris and Gove would join LEAVE, and so on.
It was a victory of the incompetent over the dire. At times, the Leave campaign was awful. But, the Remain campaign managed to be worse.
The Remain campaign was poor, but I don't know what else they could have done. The product they were selling was undesirable. Roger will tell you that there's only so much turd polishing decent advertising can do and the EU is an absolutely massive, stinking turd.
It was obvious in hindsight that having Cameron leading the Remain campaign was a very stupid thing to do.
In retrospect Alan Johnson would have been better (although he led the official campaign he did not lead the unofficial campaign), working class background, Labour but Blairite enough not to turn off Tories. However I doubt it would have changed the result
It's remarkable how often the nonentity Johnson is talked up on here
He would have had more appeal to the Labour voters Remain needed than Cameron
Boris is surprisingly popular with the WWC. The most unexpected people I meet are fans of the Bozza.
And the BBC docu just confirmed it - those little old northern ladies loved him.
I'm not sure WHY he is liked, but he is.
I think it's simply because he doesn't exude fatalism. So many managerial politicians project a sense that this is as good as it gets and if you don't like it, you need re-educating.
Simpler than that; it's because he's funny.
If that's it, then Hillary has problems. Trump is the best stand-up comedian in politics by a mile.
Messrs Meeks and Smithson, above the line, were reassuring us REMAIN was waltzing it, until about a week before the vote. Indeed they wrote endless threaders LAUGHING at the LEAVE campaign.
The pompous advice given to the Leave campaign wasn't a high point... All the while Remain were systematically destroying their own case.
The terrific complacency from REMAIN certainly contributed to their downfall. Yes, I'm looking at you, Richard "it'll be 70/30" Nabavi.
I don't believe they gamed the possibility that immigration would dominate, that Boris and Gove would join LEAVE, and so on.
It was a victory of the incompetent over the dire. At times, the Leave campaign was awful. But, the Remain campaign managed to be worse.
The Remain campaign was poor, but I don't know what else they could have done. The product they were selling was undesirable. Roger will tell you that there's only so much turd polishing decent advertising can do and the EU is an absolutely massive, stinking turd.
It was obvious in hindsight that having Cameron leading the Remain campaign was a very stupid thing to do.
In retrospect Alan Johnson would have been better (although he led the official campaign he did not lead the unofficial campaign), working class background, Labour but Blairite enough not to turn off Tories. However I doubt it would have changed the result
It's remarkable how often the nonentity Johnson is talked up on here
He would have had more appeal to the Labour voters Remain needed than Cameron
Both sides led by a Johnson? Would have been like Blazing Saddles!
Pro EU labour are going to have fun selling their message in places like Sunderland.
Very true and in places such as Wales. Labour have forgotten who their voters are.
I think Labour have to write the EU off as an issue, and go with the Brexit flow.
Then they lose their membership, London and some of the larger cities. Their electoral base is now like chalk and cheese. One despises the other. Quite how they've arrived at this position, Lord only knows. Time for the posh word of the day: Labour are in zugzwang.
Mind you if May keeps us in the single market, it may be asked how long the likes of Bill Cash, IDS, Kenneth Clarke and Soubry can stay in the same party too
Increasingly I think the single market / Norway option is a non-starter politically. We're out and it's hard brexit.
The 52% want to have their cake and eat it. I'm surprised its such a low proportion. I can't see the EU moving on this issue. If they did, they might as well call it a day.
There might be _some_ wiggle room and trade offs but nothing significant.
Pro EU labour are going to have fun selling their message in places like Sunderland.
Very true and in places such as Wales. Labour have forgotten who their voters are.
I think Labour have to write the EU off as an issue, and go with the Brexit flow.
Then they lose their membership, London and some of the larger cities. Their electoral base is now like chalk and cheese. One despises the other. Quite how they've arrived at this position, Lord only knows. Time for the posh word of the day: Labour are in zugzwang.
Mind you if May keeps us in the single market, it may be asked how long the likes of Bill Cash, IDS, Kenneth Clarke and Soubry can stay in the same party too
Increasingly I think the single market / Norway option is a non-starter politically. We're out and it's hard brexit.
Messrs Meeks and Smithson, above the line, were reassuring us REMAIN was waltzing it, until about a week before the vote. Indeed they wrote endless threaders LAUGHING at the LEAVE campaign.
The pompous advice given to the Leave campaign wasn't a high point... All the while Remain were systematically destroying their own case.
The terrific complacency from REMAIN certainly contributed to their downfall. Yes, I'm looking at you, Richard "it'll be 70/30" Nabavi.
I don't believe they gamed the possibility that immigration would dominate, that Boris and Gove would join LEAVE, and so on.
It was a victory of the incompetent over the dire. At times, the Leave campaign was awful. But, the Remain campaign managed to be worse.
The Remain campaign was poor, but I don't know what else they could have done. The product they were selling was undesirable. Roger will tell you that there's only so much turd polishing decent advertising can do and the EU is an absolutely massive, stinking turd.
It was obvious in hindsight that having Cameron leading the Remain campaign was a very stupid thing to do.
In retrospect Alan Johnson would have been better (although he led the official campaign he did not lead the unofficial campaign), working class background, Labour but Blairite enough not to turn off Tories. However I doubt it would have changed the result
It's remarkable how often the nonentity Johnson is talked up on here
He would have had more appeal to the Labour voters Remain needed than Cameron
They aren't that stupid. You are making the same mistake REMAIN did.
Messrs Meeks and Smithson, above the line, were reassuring us REMAIN was waltzing it, until about a week before the vote. Indeed they wrote endless threaders LAUGHING at the LEAVE campaign.
The pompous advice given to the Leave campaign wasn't a high point... All the while Remain were systematically destroying their own case.
The terrific complacency from REMAIN certainly contributed to their downfall. Yes, I'm looking at you, Richard "it'll be 70/30" Nabavi.
I don't believe they gamed the possibility that immigration would dominate, that Boris and Gove would join LEAVE, and so on.
It was a victory of the incompetent over the dire. At times, the Leave campaign was awful. But, the Remain campaign managed to be worse.
The Remain campaign was poor, but I don't know what else they could have done. The product they were selling was undesirable. Roger will tell you that there's only so much turd polishing decent advertising can do and the EU is an absolutely massive, stinking turd.
It was obvious in hindsight that having Cameron leading the Remain campaign was a very stupid thing to do.
In retrospect Alan Johnson would have been better (although he led the official campaign he did not lead the unofficial campaign), working class background, Labour but Blairite enough not to turn off Tories. However I doubt it would have changed the result
It's remarkable how often the nonentity Johnson is talked up on here
He would have had more appeal to the Labour voters Remain needed than Cameron
I don't think Johnson had the intellectual ability required to lead a successful campaign. It was clear he was very much reliant on being fed soundbites.
Looking at individual polls is foolish, US elections are best predicted by poll averages, both nationally and statewide, and RCP, 538 and pollster all give between a seven and eight point lead. What is with this 'the polls are level' malarkey (to paraphrase Joe Biden)?
The debates have not even begun yet and of course the poll average in EUref was not right
Why are you trying to convince people despite current evidence and each bit of evidence that we are consistently getting? Trying to make any comparison with Brexit is also pointless.
Trump, like Brexit, is in tune with the spirit of the times. He's the insurgent. It doesn't follow that he's bound to win, but he has a fair chance.
Indeed, saying Hillary has it in the bag in August is ridiculous, just over 3 months before EU ref Remain had a 15% lead
American elections are more predictable than referendums, simply because they happen every 4 years on the roughly same issues and sometimes the same people.
But this is like Nixon's legal team trying to convince Nixon to resign before the inevitable.
We know Trump is finished, we know he may even end up in jail. The only thing left for him is to give up the mantle to his daughter, to retain some influence, pride and freedom.
If only Nixon had listened to his lawyers in Oct. 1973 when they first asked him to resign he would have avoided the extra pain and humiliation that followed.
Are they? After the GOP convention in 2008 McCain was ahead, after the Democratic convention in 2000 Gore was ahead, after the Democratic convention in 1980 Carter was ahead, Nixon led JFK at the end of the summer in 1960 too.
There is absolutely nothing certain about this election, you have gone from saying Hillary would win a landslide, back to the election was heading Trump's way, back to Hillary has it in the bag again. You also ignore the fact Trump's voters are exactly the voters who won it for BREXIT. As for Nixon, if anyone is Nixon it is Hillary. I think Hillary will scrape it in the end but anything could still happen
There are three bbc clips/progs I'm interested in:
* How did the Remain campaign lose? h ttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0410nz1 * Vote Leave on how Leave won: h ttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36857307 * Kuessenberg: h ttp://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b07nsx8g/brexit-the-battle-for-britain
The BBC being what they are, they won't be at that links indefinitely. How do I preserve them long-term? I can't archive them via archive.is, so ideas? Does somebody do transcripts?
Boris is surprisingly popular with the WWC. The most unexpected people I meet are fans of the Bozza.
And the BBC docu just confirmed it - those little old northern ladies loved him.
I'm not sure WHY he is liked, but he is.
I think it's simply because he doesn't exude fatalism. So many managerial politicians project a sense that this is as good as it gets and if you don't like it, you need re-educating.
Simpler than that; it's because he's funny.
If that's it, then Hillary has problems. Trump is the best stand-up comedian in politics by a mile.
OK, another subject - I have three daughters - 6, 4, and 1 - and am driving down to Cornwall on Saturday. Does anyone have any tips for car music acceptable to both indie-orientated adults and pre-pubescent girls? I have a playlist but it needs expanding.
At that age nothing works better than repetition, and singalong is good.
I brought Foxjr up on Northern Soul. Short songs that bear repetition with catchy hooks.
Was going to say Motown....
Yes, Northern Soul and Motown sound good - though I'm an expert on neither so need to do a bit of research to tease out any too-adult subject matter.
Basically, they like songs that are obviously sung with audible lyrics. And my music collection features things like the Pixies, the Fall and the Dead Kennedys. There is an overlap in the Venn Diagram, but it's not large.
Get an early Motown compilation. You should be fairly safe on 60s Motown lyrics - they had to get through some remarkably stringent controls to even get on air. Remember "My ding-a-ling' got banned in the early 70's.
There's some great singalong tracks too, after they've heard it for the fourth or fifth time....
OK, another subject - I have three daughters - 6, 4, and 1 - and am driving down to Cornwall on Saturday. Does anyone have any tips for car music acceptable to both indie-orientated adults and pre-pubescent girls? I have a playlist but it needs expanding.
At that age nothing works better than repetition, and singalong is good.
I brought Foxjr up on Northern Soul. Short songs that bear repetition with catchy hooks.
Was going to say Motown....
Yes, Northern Soul and Motown sound good - though I'm an expert on neither so need to do a bit of research to tease out any too-adult subject matter.
Basically, they like songs that are obviously sung with audible lyrics. And my music collection features things like the Pixies, the Fall and the Dead Kennedys. There is an overlap in the Venn Diagram, but it's not large.
Northern Soul is pretty safe. The songs are Sixties and Seventies so no swearing or too adult.
There are plenty of good complications. The Haynes guide is good:
I gather a Tory MP was all over the air waves saying that Theresa May might not be able to get repealing of Grammar schools through the commons. Majority of only 17 blah blah....
I wish the press would report more sensibly.
4 Sinn Feiners don't vote.
11 DUP, UUP and UKIP all dead keen on Grammar Schools.
So majority actually 43.
And thats before any Labour MPs who support grammar schools are taken into account like Mrs Hoey.
The 17 already allows for SF.
"Headline" majority on election night was 12. Add 4 for SF = 16.
Currently 17 officially (ie per Parliament website) as Jo Cox seat vacant - when Lab wins by-election it'll go back to 16.
Then 16 + 22 gives 38.
Grammar schools - an English only issue. SNP and Plaid abstain?
There are three bbc clips/progs I'm interested in:
* How did the Remain campaign lose? h ttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0410nz1 * Vote Leave on how Leave won: h ttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36857307 * Kuessenberg: h ttp://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b07nsx8g/brexit-the-battle-for-britain
The BBC being what they are, they won't be at that links indefinitely. How do I preserve them long-term? I can't archive them via archive.is, so ideas? Does somebody do transcripts?
The terrific complacency from REMAIN certainly contributed to their downfall. Yes, I'm looking at you, Richard "it'll be 70/30" Nabavi.
Citation needed.
Or maybe not. You are, after all, a novelist of sorts, so fairy tales are to be expected.
Do you deny that at one point you speculated the REMAIN victory could be so overwhelming it might reach 70/30?
Yes. My long-term prediction was something like 60:40, and when the (phone) polls were showing Remain at around 57% I speculated that the 60% to 65% band at (IIRC) 7/1 might be value. But as the referendum approached I thought it would be a close, with a narrow Remain win the most likely. My final bet before the day was to agree with Smithson Jnr on selling Remain at 54%, a bet I posted here several times.
So, yes, like almost everyone I got it wrong in the long term. But when the facts changed, I bet accordingly.
Pro EU labour are going to have fun selling their message in places like Sunderland.
Very true and in places such as Wales. Labour have forgotten who their voters are.
I think Labour have to write the EU off as an issue, and go with the Brexit flow.
Then they lose their membership, London and some of the larger cities. Their electoral base is now like chalk and cheese. One despises the other. Quite how they've arrived at this position, Lord only knows. Time for the posh word of the day: Labour are in zugzwang.
Mind you if May keeps us in the single market, it may be asked how long the likes of Bill Cash, IDS, Kenneth Clarke and Soubry can stay in the same party too
Increasingly I think the single market / Norway option is a non-starter politically. We're out and it's hard brexit.
The 52% want to have their cake and eat it. I'm surprised its such a low proportion. I can't see the EU moving on this issue. If they did, they might as well call it a day.
There might be _some_ wiggle room and trade offs but nothing significant.
Leave aside the fact that most polls these days are wrong, I doubt whether 52% of the electorate understand what the single market is, or what access versus belonging to it actually means.
I have a horrible feeling this Olympics is going to be weirdly disappointing for Team GB. Lots of near misses and also rans. Perhaps inevitable after the euphoria of London 2012.
Mind you at Day 3 of London 2012 I speculated, on pb, that we might get zero golds, IIRC.
Where in London 2012 we had lots of overachieving going on, so far we have missed out in events / matches where should easily win a medal.
I have a horrible feeling this Olympics is going to be weirdly disappointing for Team GB. Lots of near misses and also rans. Perhaps inevitable after the euphoria of London 2012.
Mind you at Day 3 of London 2012 I speculated, on pb, that we might get zero golds, IIRC.
Where in London 2012 we had lots of overachieving going on, so far we have missed out in events / matches where should easily win a medal.
'Exactly, you make my point perfectly. This is why the Out side are not only going to lose, but are going to be trounced.
This is so obvious, it beggars belief that those who seriously want us to leave the EU (rather than just moan about it) don't see what is going to hit them. It is staggering, absolutely staggering, that they haven't already started organising the campaign, and in such a way that they can attract moderate Conservatives, such as myself, who might be persuadable.
My long-term forecast used to be that the In side would win 60:40, but, given the way things are developing, 70:30 is more likely, I think.'
'Exactly, you make my point perfectly. This is why the Out side are not only going to lose, but are going to be trounced.
This is so obvious, it beggars belief that those who seriously want us to leave the EU (rather than just moan about it) don't see what is going to hit them. It is staggering, absolutely staggering, that they haven't already started organising the campaign, and in such a way that they can attract moderate Conservatives, such as myself, who might be persuadable.
My long-term forecast used to be that the In side would win 60:40, but, given the way things are developing, 70:30 is more likely, I think.'
The wrongness only 'trounced' by the smugness.
Could you post your forecast from the same period, just so we can compare your rightness and lack of smugness with mine?
OK, another subject - I have three daughters - 6, 4, and 1 - and am driving down to Cornwall on Saturday. Does anyone have any tips for car music acceptable to both indie-orientated adults and pre-pubescent girls? I have a playlist but it needs expanding.
At that age nothing works better than repetition, and singalong is good.
I brought Foxjr up on Northern Soul. Short songs that bear repetition with catchy hooks.
Was going to say Motown....
Yes, Northern Soul and Motown sound good - though I'm an expert on neither so need to do a bit of research to tease out any too-adult subject matter.
Basically, they like songs that are obviously sung with audible lyrics. And my music collection features things like the Pixies, the Fall and the Dead Kennedys. There is an overlap in the Venn Diagram, but it's not large.
Northern Soul is pretty safe. The songs are Sixties and Seventies so no swearing or too adult.
There are plenty of good complications. The Haynes guide is good:
I think we might be answering the wrong question. How does one get three young daughters to Cornwall with the minimum of fuss and unhappiness is perhaps the real issue. To which my answer would be fly to Newquay and pick up a hire car at the airport. Might be more expensive but cheap at twice the price when the option is being stuck in a traffic jam for five hours on a baking hot day with four women (three of them pre-pubescent).
Pro EU labour are going to have fun selling their message in places like Sunderland.
Very true and in places such as Wales. Labour have forgotten who their voters are.
I think Labour have to write the EU off as an issue, and go with the Brexit flow.
Then they lose their membership, London and some of the larger cities. Their electoral base is now like chalk and cheese. One despises the other. Quite how they've arrived at this position, Lord only knows. Time for the posh word of the day: Labour are in zugzwang.
Mind you if May keeps us in the single market, it may be asked how long the likes of Bill Cash, IDS, Kenneth Clarke and Soubry can stay in the same party too
Increasingly I think the single market / Norway option is a non-starter politically. We're out and it's hard brexit.
That option is not available: membership of the single market requires free movement.
The EU has never before dealt with a European economy the size of Britain's demanding special treatment. Iceland, Norway, even Switzerland, are comparative minnows.
The UK is the EU's largest trading partner, if I remember correctly. It is reasonable to expect the UK will get a better deal than others. But it won't be perfect. We will have to pay a price, too.
Here is an interesting article about the six agreements which must be struck to achieve Brexit. It seems that on the near horizon will be an interim trade agreement to cover the situation following the expiry of Article 50 and prior to the ratification of a UK/EU FTA, perhaps taking years. This seems to me that we will have an initial choice between Two off the shelf schemes:EEA or WTO.
I have a horrible feeling this Olympics is going to be weirdly disappointing for Team GB. Lots of near misses and also rans. Perhaps inevitable after the euphoria of London 2012.
Mind you at Day 3 of London 2012 I speculated, on pb, that we might get zero golds, IIRC.
Where in London 2012 we had lots of overachieving going on, so far we have missed out in events / matches where should easily win a medal.
Yet we won a gold in the swimming, something we failed to do in London 2012 or indeed have failed to do since 1988
I don't sense that we're healing the wounds tonight ladies. I was completely wrong about EUref. I thought swingback would make it 55:45 Remain. The polls were all heading towards Remain post poor Jo Cox's untimely murder.
I have a horrible feeling this Olympics is going to be weirdly disappointing for Team GB. Lots of near misses and also rans. Perhaps inevitable after the euphoria of London 2012.
Mind you at Day 3 of London 2012 I speculated, on pb, that we might get zero golds, IIRC.
Where in London 2012 we had lots of overachieving going on, so far we have missed out in events / matches where should easily win a medal.
I don't think this will be an Atlanta style disaster. I reckon we'll do "OK".
Tenth or so in the medal table? Not bad. But certainly not London - where we totally overachieved, as you say.
I wonder if we will beat Italy, France and Australia. I very much doubt we will beat all three.
Oh no I don't think we will have a total disaster, we do have a lot of chances where GB athletes are streets ahead in their event...but things just not going out way so far.
I have a horrible feeling this Olympics is going to be weirdly disappointing for Team GB. Lots of near misses and also rans. Perhaps inevitable after the euphoria of London 2012.
Mind you at Day 3 of London 2012 I speculated, on pb, that we might get zero golds, IIRC.
Where in London 2012 we had lots of overachieving going on, so far we have missed out in events / matches where should easily win a medal.
Yet we won a gold in the swimming, something we failed to do in London 2012 or indeed have failed to do since 1988
Yes but peaty going into the games was a massive favourite.
But we have missed out in the rugby, the team PE, the cycling & the posho sword play. All of which we were expected to get something.
All that been said, The lottery funding & far more professional approach to the chosen sports mean we are still in much better state in terms of world sport.
Pro EU labour are going to have fun selling their message in places like Sunderland.
Very true and in places such as Wales. Labour have forgotten who their voters are.
I think Labour have to write the EU off as an issue, and go with the Brexit flow.
Then they lose their membership, London and some of the larger cities. Their electoral base is now like chalk and cheese. One despises the other. Quite how they've arrived at this position, Lord only knows. Time for the posh word of the day: Labour are in zugzwang.
Mind you if May keeps us in the single market, it may be asked how long the likes of Bill Cash, IDS, Kenneth Clarke and Soubry can stay in the same party too
Increasingly I think the single market / Norway option is a non-starter politically. We're out and it's hard brexit.
The 52% want to have their cake and eat it. I'm surprised its such a low proportion. I can't see the EU moving on this issue. If they did, they might as well call it a day.
There might be _some_ wiggle room and trade offs but nothing significant.
Exactly, there will be some wiggle room and trade offs
Pro EU labour are going to have fun selling their message in places like Sunderland.
Very true and in places such as Wales. Labour have forgotten who their voters are.
I think Labour have to write the EU off as an issue, and go with the Brexit flow.
Then they lose their membership, London and some of the larger cities. Their electoral base is now like chalk and cheese. One despises the other. Quite how they've arrived at this position, Lord only knows. Time for the posh word of the day: Labour are in zugzwang.
Mind you if May keeps us in the single market, it may be asked how long the likes of Bill Cash, IDS, Kenneth Clarke and Soubry can stay in the same party too
Increasingly I think the single market / Norway option is a non-starter politically. We're out and it's hard brexit.
Messrs Meeks and Smithson, above the line, were reassuring us REMAIN was waltzing it, until about a week before the vote. Indeed they wrote endless threaders LAUGHING at the LEAVE campaign.
The pompous advice given to the Leave campaign wasn't a high point... All the while Remain were systematically destroying their own case.
The terrific complacency from REMAIN certainly contributed to their downfall. Yes, I'm looking at you, Richard "it'll be 70/30" Nabavi.
I don't believe they gamed the possibility that immigration would dominate, that Boris and Gove would join LEAVE, and so on.
It was a victory of the incompetent over the dire. At times, the Leave campaign was awful. But, the Remain campaign managed to be worse.
The Remain campaign was poor, but I don't know what else they could have done. The product they were selling was undesirable. Roger will tell you that there's only so much turd polishing decent advertising can do and the EU is an absolutely massive, stinking turd.
It was obvious in hindsight that having Cameron leading the Remain campaign was a very stupid thing to do.
In retrospect Alan Johnson would have been better (although he led the official campaign he did not lead the unofficial campaign), working class background, Labour but Blairite enough not to turn off Tories. However I doubt it would have changed the result
It's remarkable how often the nonentity Johnson is talked up on here
He would have had more appeal to the Labour voters Remain needed than Cameron
I don't think Johnson had the intellectual ability required to lead a successful campaign. It was clear he was very much reliant on being fed soundbites.
Yes but he could have been the public face and left the behind the scenes work to others
Messrs Meeks and Smithson, above the line, were reassuring us REMAIN was waltzing it, until about a week before the vote. Indeed they wrote endless threaders LAUGHING at the LEAVE campaign.
The pompous advice given to the Leave campaign wasn't a high point... All the while Remain were systematically destroying their own case.
The terrific complacency from REMAIN certainly contributed to their downfall. Yes, I'm looking at you, Richard "it'll be 70/30" Nabavi.
I don't believe they gamed the possibility that immigration would dominate, that Boris and Gove would join LEAVE, and so on.
It was a victory of the incompetent over the dire. At times, the Leave campaign was awful. But, the Remain campaign managed to be worse.
The Remain campaign was poor, but I don't know what else they could have done. The product they were selling was undesirable. Roger will tell you that there's only so much turd polishing decent advertising can do and the EU is an absolutely massive, stinking turd.
It was obvious in hindsight that having Cameron leading the Remain campaign was a very stupid thing to do.
In retrospect Alan Johnson would have been better (although he led the official campaign he did not lead the unofficial campaign), working class background, Labour but Blairite enough not to turn off Tories. However I doubt it would have changed the result
It's remarkable how often the nonentity Johnson is talked up on here
He would have had more appeal to the Labour voters Remain needed than Cameron
They aren't that stupid. You are making the same mistake REMAIN did.
I doubt he would have changed the result but he might have saved a few more Labour votes for Remain
I have a horrible feeling this Olympics is going to be weirdly disappointing for Team GB. Lots of near misses and also rans. Perhaps inevitable after the euphoria of London 2012.
Mind you at Day 3 of London 2012 I speculated, on pb, that we might get zero golds, IIRC.
Where in London 2012 we had lots of overachieving going on, so far we have missed out in events / matches where should easily win a medal.
Just did a quick check, after day three in 2012 we had three medals, in 2008 we had two, today we have four, so we're already ahead of the game!
Here is an interesting article about the six agreements which must be struck to achieve Brexit. It seems that on the near horizon will be an interim trade agreement to cover the situation following the expiry of Article 50 and prior to the ratification of a UK/EU FTA, perhaps taking years. This seems to me that we will have an initial choice between Two off the shelf schemes:EEA or WTO.
OK, another subject - I have three daughters - 6, 4, and 1 - and am driving down to Cornwall on Saturday. Does anyone have any tips for car music acceptable to both indie-orientated adults and pre-pubescent girls? I have a playlist but it needs expanding.
At that age nothing works better than repetition, and singalong is good.
I brought Foxjr up on Northern Soul. Short songs that bear repetition with catchy hooks.
Was going to say Motown....
Yes, Northern Soul and Motown sound good - though I'm an expert on neither so need to do a bit of research to tease out any too-adult subject matter.
Basically, they like songs that are obviously sung with audible lyrics. And my music collection features things like the Pixies, the Fall and the Dead Kennedys. There is an overlap in the Venn Diagram, but it's not large.
Northern Soul is pretty safe. The songs are Sixties and Seventies so no swearing or too adult.
There are plenty of good complications. The Haynes guide is good:
Thanks - have just downloaded the Wigan Casino album. A good idea, and in any case a chapter of musical history I really ought to know a lot more about. Can't lose for £3.99...
I have a horrible feeling this Olympics is going to be weirdly disappointing for Team GB. Lots of near misses and also rans. Perhaps inevitable after the euphoria of London 2012.
Mind you at Day 3 of London 2012 I speculated, on pb, that we might get zero golds, IIRC.
Where in London 2012 we had lots of overachieving going on, so far we have missed out in events / matches where should easily win a medal.
Just did a quick check, after day three in 2012 we had three medals, in 2008 we had two, today we have four, so we're already ahead of the game!
Not sure you can do a comparison like that . As I state down thread it is the misses in sports we where we have genuine top few in the world, who medalled in 2012 eg team PE & road race.
Is early days though. Have to say i still not really feeling them. Even for Beijing i rearranged my schedule in order to watch lots of events, this time I am not even watching much at all.
I have a horrible feeling this Olympics is going to be weirdly disappointing for Team GB. Lots of near misses and also rans. Perhaps inevitable after the euphoria of London 2012.
Mind you at Day 3 of London 2012 I speculated, on pb, that we might get zero golds, IIRC.
Where in London 2012 we had lots of overachieving going on, so far we have missed out in events / matches where should easily win a medal.
Yet we won a gold in the swimming, something we failed to do in London 2012 or indeed have failed to do since 1988
Yes but peaty going into the games was a massive favourite.
But we have missed out in the rugby, the team PE, the cycling & the posho sword play. All of which we were expected to get something.
All that been said, The lottery funding & far more professional approach to the chosen sports mean we are still in much better state in terms of world sport.
Maybe but massive favourites don't always win and Britain is doing far better in the swimming than it has for decades at an Olympic games and swimming is one of our biggest participation sports. Inevitably not every medal prospect will come off but as you say lottery funding has made a difference in increasing our chances
Pro EU labour are going to have fun selling their message in places like Sunderland.
Very true and in places such as Wales. Labour have forgotten who their voters are.
I think Labour have to write the EU off as an issue, and go with the Brexit flow.
Then they lose their membership, London and some of the larger cities. Their electoral base is now like chalk and cheese. One despises the other. Quite how they've arrived at this position, Lord only knows. Time for the posh word of the day: Labour are in zugzwang.
Mind you if May keeps us in the single market, it may be asked how long the likes of Bill Cash, IDS, Kenneth Clarke and Soubry can stay in the same party too
Increasingly I think the single market / Norway option is a non-starter politically. We're out and it's hard brexit.
That option is not available: membership of the single market requires free movement.
The EU has never before dealt with a European economy the size of Britain's demanding special treatment. Iceland, Norway, even Switzerland, are comparative minnows.
The UK is the EU's largest trading partner, if I remember correctly. It is reasonable to expect the UK will get a better deal than others. But it won't be perfect. We will have to pay a price, too.
Here is an interesting article about the six agreements which must be struck to achieve Brexit. It seems that on the near horizon will be an interim trade agreement to cover the situation following the expiry of Article 50 and prior to the ratification of a UK/EU FTA, perhaps taking years. This seems to me that we will have an initial choice between Two off the shelf schemes:EEA or WTO.
'Exactly, you make my point perfectly. This is why the Out side are not only going to lose, but are going to be trounced.
This is so obvious, it beggars belief that those who seriously want us to leave the EU (rather than just moan about it) don't see what is going to hit them. It is staggering, absolutely staggering, that they haven't already started organising the campaign, and in such a way that they can attract moderate Conservatives, such as myself, who might be persuadable.
My long-term forecast used to be that the In side would win 60:40, but, given the way things are developing, 70:30 is more likely, I think.'
The wrongness only 'trounced' by the smugness.
Was that the first example of an arch Remainer pretending to be open minded?
I have a horrible feeling this Olympics is going to be weirdly disappointing for Team GB. Lots of near misses and also rans. Perhaps inevitable after the euphoria of London 2012.
Mind you at Day 3 of London 2012 I speculated, on pb, that we might get zero golds, IIRC.
Where in London 2012 we had lots of overachieving going on, so far we have missed out in events / matches where should easily win a medal.
Just did a quick check, after day three in 2012 we had three medals, in 2008 we had two, today we have four, so we're already ahead of the game!
Difficult to believe that we will gain the same feelgood momentum we had in London tho - which was unique and incredible. And I speak as someone who went to watch Dressage in Greenwich, and cheered myself hoarse for gold - in fucking horse ballet!
I predict a respectable medal performance. No more, no less.
Lots of empty seats in lots of stadiums, in Rio, by the way. That never happened in London.
It did happen in first few.days in London but different reason. In London it was sponsored booked seats with the prawn sandwich brigade not turning up for the early heats of twiddly winks.
Rio they haven't sold well at all, even for blue ribbon events or even events popular in Brazil like beach perving.
Here is an interesting article about the six agreements which must be struck to achieve Brexit. It seems that on the near horizon will be an interim trade agreement to cover the situation following the expiry of Article 50 and prior to the ratification of a UK/EU FTA, perhaps taking years. This seems to me that we will have an initial choice between Two off the shelf schemes:EEA or WTO.
I just think we may be forced into a WTO option as a protracted period with the EEA option would mean that border contol would not be possible, payments into the EU budget would be required and the supremacy of EU law in respect of trade would have to be accepted. Politically very difficult.
I have a horrible feeling this Olympics is going to be weirdly disappointing for Team GB. Lots of near misses and also rans. Perhaps inevitable after the euphoria of London 2012.
Mind you at Day 3 of London 2012 I speculated, on pb, that we might get zero golds, IIRC.
Where in London 2012 we had lots of overachieving going on, so far we have missed out in events / matches where should easily win a medal.
Just did a quick check, after day three in 2012 we had three medals, in 2008 we had two, today we have four, so we're already ahead of the game!
Not sure you can do a comparison like that . As I state down thread it is the misses in sports we where we have genuine top few in the world, who medalled in 2012 eg team PE & road race.
Is early days though. Have to say i still not really feeling them.
Like last time with Cavendish. We're very similar to last time at the moment but it's sports like cycling and rowing that we need to do well in to keep up with 2012.
The rugby sevens ladies apart, I don;t think there's been a real disappointment so far.
The engine room of British gold is rowing/ track cycling/sailing. No finals decided there yet. If they come up with zip, then we can throw the towel in.
Here is an interesting article about the six agreements which must be struck to achieve Brexit. It seems that on the near horizon will be an interim trade agreement to cover the situation following the expiry of Article 50 and prior to the ratification of a UK/EU FTA, perhaps taking years. This seems to me that we will have an initial choice between Two off the shelf schemes:EEA or WTO.
I just think we may be forced into a WTO option as a protracted period with the EEA option would mean that border contol would not be possible, payments into the EU budget would be required and the supremacy of EU law in respect of trade would have to be accepted. Politically very difficult.
Quite possibly, so the question of our exact status within the WTO is very important.
I have a horrible feeling this Olympics is going to be weirdly disappointing for Team GB. Lots of near misses and also rans. Perhaps inevitable after the euphoria of London 2012.
Mind you at Day 3 of London 2012 I speculated, on pb, that we might get zero golds, IIRC.
Where in London 2012 we had lots of overachieving going on, so far we have missed out in events / matches where should easily win a medal.
Just did a quick check, after day three in 2012 we had three medals, in 2008 we had two, today we have four, so we're already ahead of the game!
Not sure you can do a comparison like that . As I state down thread it is the misses in sports we where we have genuine top few in the world, who medalled in 2012 eg team PE & road race.
Is early days though. Have to say i still not really feeling them. Even for Beijing i rearranged my schedule in order to watch lots of events, this time I am not even watching much at all.
Surely the timing is a crucial factor. Everything exciting happens at about 2 or 3am. Or 4.
I just can't be arsed. And reheated repeats at 10am are boring, and a bit sad.
Nocturnal Rio is precisely the wrong timezone for UK viewers.
Unless you are a night owl, like me. Tokyo next time will be my nightmare, too many things happening as dawn breaks.
The rugby sevens ladies apart, I don;t think there's been a real disappointment so far.
The engine room of British gold is rowing/ track cycling/sailing. No finals decided there yet. If they come up with zip, then we can throw the towel in.
Keep the faith.
Oh definitely lots of good chances for team GB to get golds. Mr mobot & ginger flier in the sandpit are firm favourites rather than in London just hopefuls.
Well, since you flipped between all possible predictions, you were clearly cleverer than me.
And more honest
Normally it's only idiots from the left who accuse people they disagree with of dishonesty, but you are a refreshing reminder that that is not always the case.
Well, since you flipped between all possible predictions, you were clearly cleverer than me.
And more honest
Normally it's only idiots from the left who accuse people they disagree with of dishonesty, but you are a refreshing reminder that that is not always the case.
OK, another subject - I have three daughters - 6, 4, and 1 - and am driving down to Cornwall on Saturday. Does anyone have any tips for car music acceptable to both indie-orientated adults and pre-pubescent girls? I have a playlist but it needs expanding.
At that age nothing works better than repetition, and singalong is good.
I brought Foxjr up on Northern Soul. Short songs that bear repetition with catchy hooks.
Was going to say Motown....
Yes, Northern Soul and Motown sound good - though I'm an expert on neither so need to do a bit of research to tease out any too-adult subject matter.
Basically, they like songs that are obviously sung with audible lyrics. And my music collection features things like the Pixies, the Fall and the Dead Kennedys. There is an overlap in the Venn Diagram, but it's not large.
Northern Soul is pretty safe. The songs are Sixties and Seventies so no swearing or too adult.
There are plenty of good complications. The Haynes guide is good:
I think we might be answering the wrong question. How does one get three young daughters to Cornwall with the minimum of fuss and unhappiness is perhaps the real issue. To which my answer would be fly to Newquay and pick up a hire car at the airport. Might be more expensive but cheap at twice the price when the option is being stuck in a traffic jam for five hours on a baking hot day with four women (three of them pre-pubescent).
We'd thought of that, actually (or Exeter) - and also of staying overnight in Somerset or some such(didn't investigate Airbnb - that might have been an option). But timings were unhelpful and aeroplane travel would minimise the absolutely massive amount of stuff we need to take. We'd also thought of me and the big two driving down and picking up wife and baby at south-western airport - but again, timings were such that by the time we reconvened the A30 would be full. So, we'll set off from Manchester at 5. Breakfast at South Gloucester Services, where we will buy some pies for tea (always go to South Gloucester or Tebay services if you have the option, and buy pies). I am totally convinced it will be a fun family adventure.
Having said that, my mother-in-law, who is joining us, is flying to Newquay and getting a taxi, and is, to my mind, rather unseemly in her glee about her choice of transport.
The rugby sevens ladies apart, I don;t think there's been a real disappointment so far.
The engine room of British gold is rowing/ track cycling/sailing. No finals decided there yet. If they come up with zip, then we can throw the towel in.
Keep the faith.
Rugby we were seeded fourth and Canada third, so that worked out in the end. Australia are top seeds and are leading at the moment in the final.
I have no idea on women's hockey, but currently beating India 3-0 and will top the table after 2 games, having beaten Australia in the first game. I am going to guess Australia and India are supposed to be good at this lark.
I have no idea on women's hockey, but currently beating India 3-0 and will top the table after 2 games, having beaten Australia in the first game. I am going to guess Australia and India are supposed to be good at this lark.
Australia yes, but India's women haven't qualified for the Olympics for a long time.
I have no idea on women's hockey, but currently beating India 3-0 and will top the table after 2 games, having beaten Australia in the first game. I am going to guess Australia and India are supposed to be good at this lark.
India's blokes won gold at every Olympics between 1928 and 1956 - but that was a long time ago...
There is absolutely nothing certain about this election, you have gone from saying Hillary would win a landslide, back to the election was heading Trump's way, back to Hillary has it in the bag again. You also ignore the fact Trump's voters are exactly the voters who won it for BREXIT. As for Nixon, if anyone is Nixon it is Hillary. I think Hillary will scrape it in the end but anything could still happen
Hillary also has to survive the most intense part of the campaign without her literal fitness to serve being called into question. It's difficult to broach the topic without getting into conspiraloon territory but there is pretty convincing evidence that she has a full-time medic on her staff and is not in the best of health.
OK, another subject - I have three daughters - 6, 4, and 1 - and am driving down to Cornwall on Saturday. Does anyone have any tips for car music acceptable to both indie-orientated adults and pre-pubescent girls? I have a playlist but it needs expanding.
At that age nothing works better than repetition, and singalong is good.
I brought Foxjr up on Northern Soul. Short songs that bear repetition with catchy hooks.
Was going to say Motown....
Yes, Northern Soul and Motown sound good - though I'm an expert on neither so need to do a bit of research to tease out any too-adult subject matter.
Basically, they like songs that are obviously sung with audible lyrics. And my music collection features things like the Pixies, the Fall and the Dead Kennedys. There is an overlap in the Venn Diagram, but it's not large.
Northern Soul is pretty safe. The songs are Sixties and Seventies so no swearing or too adult.
There are plenty of good complications. The Haynes guide is good:
Thanks - have just downloaded the Wigan Casino album. A good idea, and in any case a chapter of musical history I really ought to know a lot more about. Can't lose for £3.99...
I hope you enjoy it. There are loads of Northern Soul compilations and some afficianados revel in the obscurity of their collection, but that is probably a bit hardcore for your audience.
It often takes a few plays to get into the tracks. Have a great trip.
The rugby sevens ladies apart, I don;t think there's been a real disappointment so far.
The engine room of British gold is rowing/ track cycling/sailing. No finals decided there yet. If they come up with zip, then we can throw the towel in.
Keep the faith.
Whether it is on boats, bikes or horses, we are good at the "sitting down" sports.
The rugby sevens ladies apart, I don;t think there's been a real disappointment so far.
The engine room of British gold is rowing/ track cycling/sailing. No finals decided there yet. If they come up with zip, then we can throw the towel in.
Keep the faith.
Whether it is on boats, bikes or horses, we are good at the "sitting down" sports.
Its smart thinking...why waste all your energy standing up without any mechanical assistance.
Fun fact...South Korean women have won gold in every single Olympic team archery event ever and I think 14 of 15 bow and arrow events they have entered.
There is absolutely nothing certain about this election, you have gone from saying Hillary would win a landslide, back to the election was heading Trump's way, back to Hillary has it in the bag again. You also ignore the fact Trump's voters are exactly the voters who won it for BREXIT. As for Nixon, if anyone is Nixon it is Hillary. I think Hillary will scrape it in the end but anything could still happen
Hillary also has to survive the most intense part of the campaign without her literal fitness to serve being called into question. It's difficult to broach the topic without getting into conspiraloon territory but there is pretty convincing evidence that she has a full-time medic on her staff and is not in the best of health.
Yes, plenty of rumours on that front too, it is the debates which will also be key and she needs to be in top form there
The rugby sevens ladies apart, I don;t think there's been a real disappointment so far.
The engine room of British gold is rowing/ track cycling/sailing. No finals decided there yet. If they come up with zip, then we can throw the towel in.
Keep the faith.
Whether it is on boats, bikes or horses, we are good at the "sitting down" sports.
OK, another subject - I have three daughters - 6, 4, and 1 - and am driving down to Cornwall on Saturday. Does anyone have any tips for car music acceptable to both indie-orientated adults and pre-pubescent girls? I have a playlist but it needs expanding.
At that age nothing works better than repetition, and singalong is good.
I brought Foxjr up on Northern Soul. Short songs that bear repetition with catchy hooks.
Was going to say Motown....
Yes, Northern Soul and Motown sound good - though I'm an expert on neither so need to do a bit of research to tease out any too-adult subject matter.
Basically, they like songs that are obviously sung with audible lyrics. And my music collection features things like the Pixies, the Fall and the Dead Kennedys. There is an overlap in the Venn Diagram, but it's not large.
Northern Soul is pretty safe. The songs are Sixties and Seventies so no swearing or too adult.
There are plenty of good complications. The Haynes guide is good:
Thanks - have just downloaded the Wigan Casino album. A good idea, and in any case a chapter of musical history I really ought to know a lot more about. Can't lose for £3.99...
I hope you enjoy it. There are loads of Northern Soul compilations and some afficianados revel in the obscurity of their collection, but that is probably a bit hardcore for your audience.
It often takes a few plays to get into the tracks. Have a great trip.
It's not Northern Soul as such, but I love the video to John Newman's 'Love Me Again'. Takes me back to Wigan days.
I used to go on hols from Hereford to my ancestral Cornwall as a kid. In those days this journey took a good 7 hours, easy. In crap cars which used to break down. Far fewer motorways.
It felt like the Odyssey. A real journey. My parents used to sing special songs befitting each county as we got nearer. Somerset, then Devon, then Cornwall.
It was horribly boring and yet memorable and fun at the same time.
So that's my advice. Make it an epic. Admit the huge grandeur of the voyage. Revel in it. You are headed for the remote and mystical corner of the UK, where they have piskies and witches. And King Arthur. It SHOULD take a long time.
Buy your first pasty, or Tribute Ale, or saffron bun, at Launceston, to celebrate your arrival...
Thanks Sean. All being well, we'll stop at Launceston for lunch - hopefully there be something appropriately Cornish.
I used to love the passing County signs. One of the saddest aspects of local government reorganisation is the present inconsistency of such things. I'd almost be willing to embrace ugly concepts like County of West Midlands if it would mean the return of such things. Though I never made it as far as Cornwall as a child. I consider myself fairly well-travelled in Great Britain, but have only actually ever been to Cornwall once, and that was 20 years ago. So very much looking forward to it.
On the subject of crap roads, I went to North West Wales last weekend. It took barely 2 hours. That was a journey that used to take forever, if you didn't set off in the night: the road used to go through the city walls of Conway, amongst other bits of road inappropriate for a trunnk road.
There is absolutely nothing certain about this election, you have gone from saying Hillary would win a landslide, back to the election was heading Trump's way, back to Hillary has it in the bag again. You also ignore the fact Trump's voters are exactly the voters who won it for BREXIT. As for Nixon, if anyone is Nixon it is Hillary. I think Hillary will scrape it in the end but anything could still happen
Hillary also has to survive the most intense part of the campaign without her literal fitness to serve being called into question. It's difficult to broach the topic without getting into conspiraloon territory but there is pretty convincing evidence that she has a full-time medic on her staff and is not in the best of health.
You seriously believe Drudge? Wow, I thought he'd been seen through pretty comprehensively by now. Then again, there are overwhelming pieces of evidence of Trump's senility and/or mental illness if you are setting the bar that low.
OK, another subject - I have three daughters - 6, 4, and 1 - and am driving down to Cornwall on Saturday. Does anyone have any tips for car music acceptable to both indie-orientated adults and pre-pubescent girls? I have a playlist but it needs expanding.
At that age nothing works better than repetition, and singalong is good.
I brought Foxjr up on Northern Soul. Short songs that bear repetition with catchy hooks.
Was going to say Motown....
Yes, Northern Soul and Motown sound good - though I'm an expert on neither so need to do a bit of research to tease out any too-adult subject matter.
Basically, they like songs that are obviously sung with audible lyrics. And my music collection features things like the Pixies, the Fall and the Dead Kennedys. There is an overlap in the Venn Diagram, but it's not large.
Northern Soul is pretty safe. The songs are Sixties and Seventies so no swearing or too adult.
There are plenty of good complications. The Haynes guide is good:
Thanks - have just downloaded the Wigan Casino album. A good idea, and in any case a chapter of musical history I really ought to know a lot more about. Can't lose for £3.99...
I hope you enjoy it. There are loads of Northern Soul compilations and some afficianados revel in the obscurity of their collection, but that is probably a bit hardcore for your audience.
It often takes a few plays to get into the tracks. Have a great trip.
Thanks.
I love the fact that my choice of advisors for child-friendly car music is a bunch of politics geeks.
OK, another subject - I have three daughters - 6, 4, and 1 - and am driving down to Cornwall on Saturday. Does anyone have any tips for car music acceptable to both indie-orientated adults and pre-pubescent girls? I have a playlist but it needs expanding.
At that age nothing works better than repetition, and singalong is good.
I brought Foxjr up on Northern Soul. Short songs that bear repetition with catchy hooks.
Was going to say Motown....
Yes, Northern Soul and Motown sound good - though I'm an expert on neither so need to do a bit of research to tease out any too-adult subject matter.
Basically, they like songs that are obviously sung with audible lyrics. And my music collection features things like the Pixies, the Fall and the Dead Kennedys. There is an overlap in the Venn Diagram, but it's not large.
Northern Soul is pretty safe. The songs are Sixties and Seventies so no swearing or too adult.
There are plenty of good complications. The Haynes guide is good:
Thanks - have just downloaded the Wigan Casino album. A good idea, and in any case a chapter of musical history I really ought to know a lot more about. Can't lose for £3.99...
I hope you enjoy it. There are loads of Northern Soul compilations and some afficianados revel in the obscurity of their collection, but that is probably a bit hardcore for your audience.
It often takes a few plays to get into the tracks. Have a great trip.
Thanks.
I love the fact that my choice of advisors for child-friendly car music is a bunch of politics geeks.
PB is a fountain of knowledge!
Paul Mason on Northern Soul for the culture show is one of the best:
I used to go on hols from Hereford to my ancestral Cornwall as a kid. In those days this journey took a good 7 hours, easy. In crap cars which used to break down. Far fewer motorways.
It felt like the Odyssey. A real journey. My parents used to sing special songs befitting each county as we got nearer. Somerset, then Devon, then Cornwall.
It was horribly boring and yet memorable and fun at the same time.
So that's my advice. Make it an epic. Admit the huge grandeur of the voyage. Revel in it. You are headed for the remote and mystical corner of the UK, where they have piskies and witches. And King Arthur. It SHOULD take a long time.
Buy your first pasty, or Tribute Ale, or saffron bun, at Launceston, to celebrate your arrival...
Thanks Sean. All being well, we'll stop at Launceston for lunch - hopefully there be something appropriately Cornish.
I used to love the passing County signs. One of the saddest aspects of local government reorganisation is the present inconsistency of such things. I'd almost be willing to embrace ugly concepts like County of West Midlands if it would mean the return of such things. Though I never made it as far as Cornwall as a child. I consider myself fairly well-travelled in Great Britain, but have only actually ever been to Cornwall once, and that was 20 years ago. So very much looking forward to it.
On the subject of crap roads, I went to North West Wales last weekend. It took barely 2 hours. That was a journey that used to take forever, if you didn't set off in the night: the road used to go through the city walls of Conway, amongst other bits of road inappropriate for a trunnk road.
You really do feel the changes as you meander down to Cornwall, after Bristol.. Even today.
The last industry is left behind, and you descend to the Somerset Levels, and Glastonbury, then you meet the lushness of east Devon, then you're skirting Dartmoor, all brooding and saturnine, then the green Tamar valley - and suddenly: Cornwall. And all the placenames are Celtic and mad and different.
The weather forecast is rather good. You should have a great time. There is maybe nowhere nicer in the world than Cornwall in good weather.
Um, I did Salisbury to Westbury by rail for the first time today, if that counts.
Last time I was in Cornwall was 2001 (by car), mostly went for the Eden Project.
In 1989, we went on two separate road trips to Lands End (Easter) and John O'Groats (August). On that Cornwall trip we stopped off at Cheddar, then went to Polperro, Lamorna and Lizard (where we met a lighthouse keeper originally from Walthamstow, just a couple of miles from our Ilford patch), and stopped off at Plymouth on the return.
PARIS (AP) — A judge has handed a 16-year-old French girl preliminary terrorism charges for allegedly supporting the Islamic State group and trying to perpetrate an attack, prosecutors said Monday.
The girl was using a social media app to spread calls by IS to commit violent acts, the Paris prosecutor's office said.
The judge charged the teenager with taking part in a "criminal terrorist association" and "inciting to commit terrorist acts through an online communication medium." She has been placed in custody.
The investigators said the girl was "extremely radicalized" and was the administrator of a chat group dedicated to IS propaganda on the Telegram app, which has been used by suspected jihadis to communicate, deputy prosecutor Laure Vermeersch said.
Cameron assuring Clegg, YEARS before the refernedum, that of course REMAIN would win because the riff raff would bloody do well do what their told by their lords and masters just sums up the mans arrogance...
And finally, PB called it dead right that Friday Obama flew into town to threaten us in our own country...
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"Headline" majority on election night was 12. Add 4 for SF = 16.
Currently 17 officially (ie per Parliament website) as Jo Cox seat vacant - when Lab wins by-election it'll go back to 16.
Then 16 + 22 gives 38.
“This is a rubbish party — let’s leave”
“Actually, I’d like to remain”
Indeed... Perhaps the choice should have been 'go big' or 'go home'.
But this is like Nixon's legal team trying to convince Nixon to resign before the inevitable.
We know Trump is finished, we know he may even end up in jail.
The only thing left for him is to give up the mantle to his daughter, to retain some influence, pride and freedom.
If only Nixon had listened to his lawyers in Oct. 1973 when they first asked him to resign he would have avoided the extra pain and humiliation that followed.
http://www.comres.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/BBC-News_Tables_Brexit-Expectations_11072016.pdf (p17)
* How did the Remain campaign lose? h ttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0410nz1
* Vote Leave on how Leave won: h ttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36857307
* Kuessenberg: h ttp://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b07nsx8g/brexit-the-battle-for-britain
The BBC being what they are, they won't be at that links indefinitely. How do I preserve them long-term? I can't archive them via archive.is, so ideas? Does somebody do transcripts?
It is time to add a Copper medal so we can win something
There might be _some_ wiggle room and trade offs but nothing significant.
There is absolutely nothing certain about this election, you have gone from saying Hillary would win a landslide, back to the election was heading Trump's way, back to Hillary has it in the bag again. You also ignore the fact Trump's voters are exactly the voters who won it for BREXIT. As for Nixon, if anyone is Nixon it is Hillary. I think Hillary will scrape it in the end but anything could still happen
Or maybe not. You are, after all, a novelist of sorts, so fairy tales are to be expected.
There's some great singalong tracks too, after they've heard it for the fourth or fifth time....
There are plenty of good complications. The Haynes guide is good:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Haynes-Ultimate-Guide-Northern-Soul/dp/B006A2S680
This one is my favourite:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00EUWXJN4/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1470692870&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=wigan+casino&dpPl=1&dpID=61R5hez1fML&ref=plSrch
So, yes, like almost everyone I got it wrong in the long term. But when the facts changed, I bet accordingly.
'Exactly, you make my point perfectly. This is why the Out side are not only going to lose, but are going to be trounced.
This is so obvious, it beggars belief that those who seriously want us to leave the EU (rather than just moan about it) don't see what is going to hit them. It is staggering, absolutely staggering, that they haven't already started organising the campaign, and in such a way that they can attract moderate Conservatives, such as myself, who might be persuadable.
My long-term forecast used to be that the In side would win 60:40, but, given the way things are developing, 70:30 is more likely, I think.'
The wrongness only 'trounced' by the smugness.
http://www.cer.org.uk/in-the-press/six-brexit-deals-theresa-may-must-strike
But we have missed out in the rugby, the team PE, the cycling & the posho sword play. All of which we were expected to get something.
All that been said, The lottery funding & far more professional approach to the chosen sports mean we are still in much better state in terms of world sport.
https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/countries_e/united_kingdom_e.htm
Is early days though. Have to say i still not really feeling them. Even for Beijing i rearranged my schedule in order to watch lots of events, this time I am not even watching much at all.
Rio they haven't sold well at all, even for blue ribbon events or even events popular in Brazil like beach perving.
The engine room of British gold is rowing/ track cycling/sailing. No finals decided there yet. If they come up with zip, then we can throw the towel in.
Keep the faith.
Having said that, my mother-in-law, who is joining us, is flying to Newquay and getting a taxi, and is, to my mind, rather unseemly in her glee about her choice of transport.
http://www.ictsd.org/opinion/nothing-simple-about-uk-regaining-wto-status-post-brexit
It often takes a few plays to get into the tracks. Have a great trip.
Fun fact...South Korean women have won gold in every single Olympic team archery event ever and I think 14 of 15 bow and arrow events they have entered.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3730014/Grinning-Tony-Blair-spotted-holiday-Sicily-without-care-world-just-weeks-revealing-regrets-Iraq.html
I used to love the passing County signs. One of the saddest aspects of local government reorganisation is the present inconsistency of such things. I'd almost be willing to embrace ugly concepts like County of West Midlands if it would mean the return of such things. Though I never made it as far as Cornwall as a child. I consider myself fairly well-travelled in Great Britain, but have only actually ever been to Cornwall once, and that was 20 years ago. So very much looking forward to it.
On the subject of crap roads, I went to North West Wales last weekend. It took barely 2 hours. That was a journey that used to take forever, if you didn't set off in the night: the road used to go through the city walls of Conway, amongst other bits of road inappropriate for a trunnk road.
I love the fact that my choice of advisors for child-friendly car music is a bunch of politics geeks.
She is so vapid.
Paul Mason on Northern Soul for the culture show is one of the best:
https://youtu.be/JMtaEASd2LI
Last time I was in Cornwall was 2001 (by car), mostly went for the Eden Project.
In 1989, we went on two separate road trips to Lands End (Easter) and John O'Groats (August). On that Cornwall trip we stopped off at Cheddar, then went to Polperro, Lamorna and Lizard (where we met a lighthouse keeper originally from Walthamstow, just a couple of miles from our Ilford patch), and stopped off at Plymouth on the return.
The girl was using a social media app to spread calls by IS to commit violent acts, the Paris prosecutor's office said.
The judge charged the teenager with taking part in a "criminal terrorist association" and "inciting to commit terrorist acts through an online communication medium." She has been placed in custody.
The investigators said the girl was "extremely radicalized" and was the administrator of a chat group dedicated to IS propaganda on the Telegram app, which has been used by suspected jihadis to communicate, deputy prosecutor Laure Vermeersch said.
Very good. Anna Soubry still looks utterly broken!
Cameron assuring Clegg, YEARS before the refernedum, that of course REMAIN would win because the riff raff would bloody do well do what their told by their lords and masters just sums up the mans arrogance...
And finally, PB called it dead right that Friday Obama flew into town to threaten us in our own country...
You could almost say PB = Back Of The... Net!