Ryanair Chase 2.50. Uxizandre each way. Winner of this race in 2015 and 2nd here in 2014 over a similar trip he should be there or thereabouts.
Stayers Hurdle 3.30. Snow Falcoln each way. Said to be going well when falling behind the favourite for this race Unowhatimeanharry last November. Has the beating of Shaneshill on the form book last time out. Shaneshill is a great Cheltenham yardstick having come 2nd in each of the last 3 festivals.
Un De Sceaux for me in the Ryanair, I've followed you in on Snow Falcon though :>.
I have gone with Uxizandre. Hopefully a good race. I have refrained from tips this week as not been following the racing enough to have a handle. Though I had a good lucky one yesterday when Flying Tiger flew in to win.
Edited extra bit: McLaren's also signed Hakkinen as an ambassador. Interesting, as they already have Button. But, it seems, Button is a Honda chap... [so sayeth Twitter, so take with a pinch of salt].
IF the Ferrari solution does confer a significant advantage (& It's too early to say either way), then it will be very difficult for the other teams to copy this year, as it would require re-engineering the entire car.
Another comment I don't understand."May wants to be liked and doesn't do unpopularity"
"We don't do panic", "He doesn't do resignation", "She doesn't do unpopularity" - file under lazy unthinking journalistic pillock-phrases. Theresa May has a managed image. Hold the front page.
It is beginning to look like they "don't do government". How lucky for them that Corbyn "Doesn't do oppostion"
Re: the Dutch elections. Much of the mainstream news along with several European leaders are breathing a sigh of relief that the 'populist' failed to win whilst ignoring that fact that the losers yet again are the mainstream parties. The problem with this is the overwhelming message seems to be that everything is fine and we continue as before. I'm unconvinced that this is right for the Europe of today. There really is a dangerous level of complacency here when an extremist party comes a very respectable 2nd and everyone thinks 'panic over'!
Rutte took a perfectly sensible line regarding the Erdogan situation and has been justly rewarded (VVD outperformed polling) by the electorate.
By losing 8 seats. You have to be a LD with that kind of logic.
I am, I'd almost certainly vote for Rutte in the Dutch elections too. Though I accept most of the party would go for D66 - who gained seven seats.
"Traditionally, the main ingredient is stolen sheep. I have been told that kleftiko is Greek for "stolen""
When I was out there the Cypriots translated Kleftiko as "meat made by thieves", whether the making referred to the cooking method or how the meat was acquired I never asked. Traditionally the method of cooking involved digging a hole slightly larger than the clay put in which the meat had been marinating overnight. Fill the hole with wood and leave it to burn through so that the base of the hole is covered with the hot embers. Seal the pot's lid with bread dough, place in the hole, and cover with earth of turf. Leave for about 12-15 hours. Delicious.
On a side note, it is interesting how the roots of some words card across into other languages in surprising ways. The greek for "steal" is "klévo" and a thief is "kléftis". When I was in the army a lot of expressions from from Hindi and Urdu were still in use (some still are as far as I can make out) and a thief was known as a "Klifty-Wallah".
Dutch election: @rcs1000 was right to post a couple of days ago that a relatively poor showing for the PVV would have the effect of lengthening the odds on Marine Le Pen - now about to 4.5-4.6. I don't think this is particularly rational, except inasmuch as the odds both on the PVV and on Le Pen were too short, with punters reaching unwarranted conclusions from the 2016 Brexit and Trump results. Each contest is different. (Thanks BTW to Alastair Meeks and others on drawing our attention to the mismatch between the odds and the opinion polls in the Dutch election).
On the NIC debacle, Simon Jenkins has it right, I think, though he perhaps over-states it:
May’s handling of this affair looks dire. Whether or not her chancellor had broken the letter of the manifesto – and he clearly broke the spirit – such breaches are hardly uncommon. May fought the election on the same manifesto. She was briefed and knew what was in Hammond’s budget. Had she wanted to apply a political caveat to it, she had the opportunity to do so.
More seriously, once such an announcement is made, collective responsibility would normally apply both to the policy and to the attendant political risk. The prime minister owes it absolutely to a colleague in trouble, whether with backbenchers or with the press, to back them up. This backing is not just for their benefit, but to reassure other ministers facing similar opposition to tough decisions in future. Last week’s partial climbdown was bad enough, but should have been the last word
On the Conservative election spending issue, it does seem odd that the Electoral Commission has acted whilst police investigations are still ongoing and the CPS are still considering the matter. The Electoral Commission report does seem to contain some comfort for the MPs and local agents, in that it dumps pretty heavily on central office, and in particular on Simon Day (former treasurer).
The home secretary stunned delegates at the Police Federation conference in Bournemouth as she criticised officers for in some instances displaying a "contempt for the public" in their handling of sensitive cases.
The home secretary, Theresa May, defied the American authorities on Tuesday by halting the extradition of British computer hacker Gary McKinnon, a decision criticised by the US state department
Both moves cheered to the rooftops by the right wing press.
I suspect you're a member of the club 'Men who have underestimated May'......
The home secretary stunned delegates at the Police Federation conference in Bournemouth as she criticised officers for in some instances displaying a "contempt for the public" in their handling of sensitive cases.
The home secretary, Theresa May, defied the American authorities on Tuesday by halting the extradition of British computer hacker Gary McKinnon, a decision criticised by the US state department
Both moves cheered to the rooftops by the right wing press.
I suspect you're a member of the club 'Men who have underestimated May'......
Nah, I see her for what she is: a lightweight mediocrity in thrall to the right wing press.
Yet more good positive news on overseas investment. It's almost as if large non-EU companies see Britain as a successful nation in the future.
While trade barriers might under the conventional economic paradigm be seen as a bad thing generally, that paradigm owes much to the weight given to international competition in empowering consumers in globalised markets. In practice, in a country with an endemic balance of payments deficit, there is some merit in the introduction of selective tariffs between the market that is pretty well solely responsible for that balance of payments deficit while aiming to reach trade deals elsewhere. The point is: if Renaults, VWs, Skodas etc are going to become less competitively priced in the UK, maybe the opportunity opened up in UK markets for import substitution will at least match and maybe exceed the losses in exports. Car manufacturers based in the UK will become very competitive in UK car markets.
One other thought: Maybe May and Hammond were prepared to back away from the problem of growing losses of revenue from self employment because they were mindful that the gap might be plugged by the revenue that seems likely to come their way from tariffs on EU imports, something they'd prefer not to shout from the rooftops for now.
If carmakers based in the UK import parts from elsewhere in Europe they will also be paying tariffs. If they make most of their cars for the non-UK market, their costs will increase substantially - to the point where they may feel they are better off locating somewhere else. What we may well see in the car market is price increases across the board and jobs moving elsewhere.
We might, but as Toyota has followed other overseas-owned car makers in announcing very large investments in the UK, we might not. Indeed, I have been surprised by the number of large companies announcing big investments in the UK over the last nine months. It seems clear that a lot of the people with the money who actually make the decisions do not share your pessimism.
Ryanair Chase 2.50. Uxizandre each way. Winner of this race in 2015 and 2nd here in 2014 over a similar trip he should be there or thereabouts.
Stayers Hurdle 3.30. Snow Falcoln each way. Said to be going well when falling behind the favourite for this race Unowhatimeanharry last November. Has the beating of Shaneshill on the form book last time out. Shaneshill is a great Cheltenham yardstick having come 2nd in each of the last 3 festivals.
Un De Sceaux for me in the Ryanair, I've followed you in on Snow Falcon though :>.
Top Notch, Uxizandre and Nichols Canyon (unexposed at 3m - could do anything).
Not sure Yorkhill is value. He's a bit of a headcase and last year's Neptune form doesn't look quite as strong as it once did.
Spare a thought for those who had been furtively touching themselves over the prospect of electoral success for 'Muslim scum' Geert, and who would have been looking forward to working out their frustration with a morning of consensual Nat bashing. They'll now have to spend the day explaining why there isn't a £70k, record breaking elephant in the room.
It's a wee shame, so it is.
A heart of stone and all that ;-)
I feel the pain of those who were hoping to lecture the out of touch liberal elite about fascists winning the day in the Netherlands. Instead, the pesky old Dutch give the overwhelming majority of their votes to pro-EU parties. And now onto France.
I'm glad that fascists have not won the Dutch election. The fact that a party like Wilders' party can come second and that the winning party had to adopt some of Wilders' rhetoric, albeit toned down and less offensive, is not grounds for complacency, though.
Marine Le Pen is (I hope) unlikely to win. But all the signs are that she will get into the second round. Years ago it would have been inconceivable that a party like hers would do as well as that.
60 years of all this peace and liberalism and diversity and European goodwill and ever closer union and yet we have - in Austria, in Greece, in Netherlands, in Germany, in France - parties which wouldn't have been given house room when I was growing up. The direction of travel is not good.
Apparently, in addition reported now the German finance ministry in Berlin intercepted a parcel bomb sent to Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble on Wednesday.
The notion a Prime Minister (or indeed an entire Cabinet) can be wholly ignorant of a Chancellor's Budget statement before he or she stands up in the Commons is absurd.
The Budget would require the political sign off of the Cabinet - the economics would be left to the Chancellor - that's their remit.
I'm inclined to the view May thought the NiC issue wouldn't get the traction it did but the way she threw Hammond under the proverbial bus was enlightening. Even more than Cameron, May wants to be liked and doesn't do unpopularity. The thought of people and especially those she sees as prospective Conservative voters (everyone except me and the mad cat lady who lives four doors down the street) not liking her is anathema.
The problem with that is you can't please (or fool) all the people all the time. There are occasions when the unpopular thing is actually the correct thing - being liked or having high poll ratings isn't the same as doing a good job.
Theresa and Phil drastically underestimated the vindictiveness and cunning of the Tory eurosceptic right - the likes of Redwood and Mogg couldn't give a fig about NI hikes, but they realized Phil wasn't a Brexit Ultra and leaped at the first opportunity to humiliate the man. Hammond is now a crumpled husk of a politician and will fall in step behind whatever plans they devise for the hardest of Brexits. Let that be a lesson.
Comments
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/tech-analysis-the-concepts-that-split-mercedes-ferrari-and-red-bull-882735/
IF the Ferrari solution does confer a significant advantage (& It's too early to say either way), then it will be very difficult for the other teams to copy this year, as it would require re-engineering the entire car.
Oxford comma helps drivers win dispute about overtime pay
An overtime case that will delight grammar nerds everywhere hinges on the absence of an Oxford comma
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/mar/16/oxford-comma-helps-drivers-win-dispute-about-overtime-pay?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
Granted this isn't the Roger Casement case, but still.
NEW THREAD
On the NIC debacle, Simon Jenkins has it right, I think, though he perhaps over-states it:
May’s handling of this affair looks dire. Whether or not her chancellor had broken the letter of the manifesto – and he clearly broke the spirit – such breaches are hardly uncommon. May fought the election on the same manifesto. She was briefed and knew what was in Hammond’s budget. Had she wanted to apply a political caveat to it, she had the opportunity to do so.
More seriously, once such an announcement is made, collective responsibility would normally apply both to the policy and to the attendant political risk. The prime minister owes it absolutely to a colleague in trouble, whether with backbenchers or with the press, to back them up. This backing is not just for their benefit, but to reassure other ministers facing similar opposition to tough decisions in future. Last week’s partial climbdown was bad enough, but should have been the last word
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/16/hammond-may-mistake-minister-backbenchers
On the Conservative election spending issue, it does seem odd that the Electoral Commission has acted whilst police investigations are still ongoing and the CPS are still considering the matter. The Electoral Commission report does seem to contain some comfort for the MPs and local agents, in that it dumps pretty heavily on central office, and in particular on Simon Day (former treasurer).
Useful to know that intra-season imitation seems out of bounds.
Not sure Yorkhill is value. He's a bit of a headcase and last year's Neptune form doesn't look quite as strong as it once did.
The presenters are so dorky, apart from the Mark Almond lookalike
BBC Archive
#OTD 1982: Nationwide visited the volunteer-run cable station, Greenwich Television. TV in the morning? Madness! https://t.co/u5R43phxup
I'm glad that fascists have not won the Dutch election. The fact that a party like Wilders' party can come second and that the winning party had to adopt some of Wilders' rhetoric, albeit toned down and less offensive, is not grounds for complacency, though.
Marine Le Pen is (I hope) unlikely to win. But all the signs are that she will get into the second round. Years ago it would have been inconceivable that a party like hers would do as well as that.
60 years of all this peace and liberalism and diversity and European goodwill and ever closer union and yet we have - in Austria, in Greece, in Netherlands, in Germany, in France - parties which wouldn't have been given house room when I was growing up. The direction of travel is not good.
Acc. to local media, 2 students have shot the prinicpal of the #Tocqueville High School in #Grasse #France https://t.co/HQe7ouuQ0p
http://www.breitbart.com/jerusalem/2017/03/16/sorry-artist-behind-beware-jews-sign-apologizes/