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  • Options
    OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 32,036
    Foxy said:
    Aren’t there cautionary words somewhere about being careful what you wish for, looking before you leap?

    Or something like that!
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    AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 23,760

    I am still not sure how you could implement a hard brexit in Scotland without sending the army in. In effect England would need to invade Scotland. I cannot see the SNP complying with orders to put up borders

    The Scots have an escape path from the hard right English nationalist right that will be controlling my country for the foreseeable future. I envy them greatly.

    then move to Scotland
  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,916
    rcs1000 said:
    Unskilled workers is a silly term - people in plenty of such jobs still need training for a variety of tasks. So it doesn't strike me as an inherently dumb statement.
  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,332

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Ishmael_Z said:

    For the first time since 10pm on 8th June 2017, I beginning to think that Theresa May might stay the course as PM and party leader until the next general election in 2021 or 2022.

    If she gets booed at her own conference she might be gone tomorrow!
    She'll get a good response, I expect.
    I'm sure she will.
    The response will be no doubt almost "Iain Duncan Smith mere weeks before he was summarily defenestrated" levels of ovation.
    I love the word defenestrate. Conjures images of pips being cut off shoulders as you have to stand there.
    Not if you know,what it means, it doesn't.
    It's not always fatal.
    https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/defenestration-of-prague-window
    Defenestration is a good word. I’ve been doing a “word of the week” segment with my registration form and that will be a good one to add to the list. I’ve also been to Prague and went on a side tip to see the window.
    And I thought my puns were bad. 'Side tip,' indeed!
    It would have been even better as a trip of course...
    At a push, I suppose...
    I do use the occasional bad pun for teaching, but unless you need to know the difference between Fleming’s Left Hand Rule and his Right Hand Rule they are not much use.

    On topic: if Boris gets to be leader of the Coservative party and almost anybody but Corbyn leads Labour, then I will not be voting Tory at the next election for the first time in my life.
    This is of course the great advantage of being an historian. The number of bad puns is almost limitless.

    It can backfire though. I remember the time I had to teach about the Lewinsky affair in a girl's school - the chapter in the textbook was headlined 'the President after Bush.' That was an - interesting - day...

    Have a good morning.
  • Options
    OchEyeOchEye Posts: 1,469

    OchEye said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    FPT on Galileo... If you adopt the position, pour la vue de nez, that Williamson is misinformed or ignorant about everything except fireplaces you won't go far wrong.

    The Falklands and Ascension Galileo facilities are "Sensor Stations". They download telemetry and relay it to the control centres. They provide NO uplink or control or localised position information. If Galileo lost access to these facilities it means there would be an area over the South Atlantic where data would not be available. As Galileo satellites have an orbital period of 14 hours and 'repeat cycle' of 10 days the black spot would only be a relatively small percentage of each satellite's cycle.

    In reality, if Galileo where to be kicked out of the FI and ASI then they would probably build new Sensor Stations on the coast of Chile or Argentina (who would love to fuck us over on this matter) and Cape Verde.

    Finally, while the satellite payloads are manufactured the UK they are not made by the UK government owned and directed Royal British Satellite Factory they are made by Airbus Space and Defense. So while the British government could certainly do a Putin/Mugabe style expropriation of the facility it could not stop Airbus using the intellectual property to make them elsewhere.

    In conclusion, Willamson is, as usual, talking absolute shit fuelled by crass stupidity.

    This theme of Galileo does reappear quite frequently in a squall of ill informed speculation. Maybe I'll write a header on it...

    The lack of knowledge about modern technology in Parliament is actually rather sweet. Personally I read the comments on The Register website after the latest Government technology announcements, and have to stop myself laughing at the replies by actual experts. Having a PPE or a degree in Law or the Classics can't make a civil servant or cabinet minister an expert in something which is moving forward so fast.. Or the EU, manufacturing, house building, finance, banking and hedge funds, agriculture and fishing,....
    There is a recent book called Bluffocracy which blames the PPE degree in particular for producing politicians, civil servants and journalists adept at quickly mastering briefs well enough for debate (or last minute essays at Oxford) but with no understanding.
    https://www.bitebackpublishing.com/books/bluffocracy
    Very tempted to buy, but, I'm afraid it would just confirm my total cynicism of the political, economic and media systems of the UK.There has to be hope, however futile....
  • Options
    AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 23,760
    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Ishmael_Z said:

    For the first time since 10pm on 8th June 2017, I beginning to think that Theresa May might stay the course as PM and party leader until the next general election in 2021 or 2022.

    If she gets booed at her own conference she might be gone tomorrow!
    She'll get a good response, I expect.
    I'm sure she will.
    The response will be no doubt almost "Iain Duncan Smith mere weeks before he was summarily defenestrated" levels of ovation.
    I love the word defenestrate. Conjures images of pips being cut off shoulders as you have to stand there.
    Not if you know,what it means, it doesn't.
    It's not always fatal.
    https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/defenestration-of-prague-window
    Defenestration is a good word. I’ve been doing a “word of the week” segment with my registration form and that will be a good one to add to the list. I’ve also been to Prague and went on a side tip to see the window.
    And I thought my puns were bad. 'Side tip,' indeed!
    It would have been even better as a trip of course...
    At a push, I suppose...
    I do use the occasional bad pun for teaching, but unless you need to know the difference between Fleming’s Left Hand Rule and his Right Hand Rule they are not much use.

    On topic: if Boris gets to be leader of the Coservative party and almost anybody but Corbyn leads Labour, then I will not be voting Tory at the next election for the first time in my life.
    This is of course the great advantage of being an historian. The number of bad puns is almost limitless.

    It can backfire though. I remember the time I had to teach about the Lewinsky affair in a girl's school - the chapter in the textbook was headlined 'the President after Bush.' That was an - interesting - day...

    Have a good morning.
    LOL excellent, give the man a cigar !
  • Options
    The conference speech, and then the next summit. How to solve a problem like Salzburg?

    Seems to be a lot of EU bashing this week, particularly from Leadership contenders. Farage even boasted Hunt was quoting from the Farage Playbook! Not sure that’s the answer.

    If we are honestly looking for answers, Anyone else thinking the problem isn’t all the EU, its us as well? Just looking again at the appalling and disgusting behaviour of the EU at Salzburg summit, what did EU leaders actually say about Chequers that Farage, Davis, Cable, Clegg, Boris et el had not already said? Put me right where I am wrong, but to me if anything the damn foreigners were even politer in their rejection, unless you genuinely believe joke about cherry on cake is more offensive than comparisons with suicide vests?

    I recall in build up to 2012 Olympics, lots of hysterical bashing from British media that we are not ready, its disorganised, etc etc that mood swivelled as soon as it began with the magic opening ceremony. However Mitt Romney visiting Britain in the run up merely quoted what British press were screaming, and had a hail of abuse for that. We can knock ourselves, but damn foreigners cant join in! or even say a few honest truths to us. Or reject our offers on unacceptable, underhanded and insulting basis that : its honestly further than they can go?

    If everyone from Cable to Boris can say what they said about Chequers and treat May the brutal way they treated her in the build up to the summit, and we react the way we did only to the EU, shocked, mugged, its Britain that needs to see the Doctor, lie down the couch and get our head examined. As a nation we are in denial about what we are becoming: something so full of itself its can’t see its faults, we are lacking the required HUMILITY to be treated the right way by others.

    Enough of the EU bashing now, we are becoming perpetually drunk on that shit. Get this moment in our history right is important. With all the spin going on lets not lose sight of the bottom line, the bottom line to learn from the Salzburg summit. The problem with the Salzburg summit was not entirely the EU. The problem with the Salzburg summit was simply Chequers itself, and the bloody useless chief negotiator wedded to it. We need to sober up, dump chequers, dump the red lines which created it, and get some kind of tidy job protecting closure with the EU.
  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,916

    Anyone think the conference is going well for the tories? It seems like a car crash in slow motion.

    It all seems rather dull, nothing has seemingly approached car crash levrls.
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    JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 39,057
    rpjs said:

    Only good for polar orbits though, although I have a feeling GPS/Galileo/GLONASS satellites are in very highly-inclined orbits anyway. In any case, I expect the biggest obstacle to building a British Galileo (Newton?) system will be establishing the ground station network. Perhaps Pitcairn Island will prove useful at last.

    There are also plans for a horizontal-launch facility from Cornwall, near Newquay, potentially along with other sites in North Wales and near Glasgow. I think Virgin Galactic are involved with at least one. AIUI the planes can carry only small payloads into orbit, but by flying over the sea they can get a wide range of orbits unavailable from land.

    So I guess the question is how big GPS satellites are compared to VG's capability. According to Wiki each GPS satellite weighs about 2t at launch and 1t once on orbit (presumably the difference being propellant), whilst Gallileo sats weight about 700kg. It looks as though VG's LauncherOne will not be able to loft anywhere near that weight.

    It's all moot, though: the Russians, SpaceX or eventually BO would launch them - and I doubt the Russian or American governments would object. It'd be expensive, though.
  • Options
    DavidLDavidL Posts: 51,356

    Culture war fans might enjoy some of the batshit insane millennial PC tosh that three people managed to get published:
    https://twitter.com/Yascha_Mounk/status/1047334806600777728

    Excellent. It demonstrates yet again how well our University fees are being spent.
  • Options
    NigelbNigelb Posts: 62,762
    rpjs said:

    Jonathan said:

    rpjs said:

    Jonathan said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    FPT on Galileo... If you adopt the position, pour la vue de nez, that Williamson is misinformed or ignorant about everything except fireplaces you won't go far wrong.



    In reality, if Galileo where to be kicked out of the FI and ASI then they would probably build new Sensor Stations on the coast of Chile or Argentina (who would love to fuck us over on this matter) and Cape Verde.

    Finally, while the satellite payloads are manufactured the UK they are not made by the UK government owned and directed Royal British Satellite Factory they are made by Airbus Space and Defense. So while the British government could certainly do a Putin/Mugabe style expropriation of the facility it could not stop Airbus using the intellectual property to make them elsewhere.

    In conclusion, Willamson is, as usual, talking absolute shit fuelled by crass stupidity.

    This theme of Galileo does reappear quite frequently in a squall of ill informed speculation. Maybe I'll write a header on it...

    My takeaway from that is that the UK is a significant contributor to Galileo and if it were no longer part of the programme it would cause significant inconvenience to the EU.

    Meanwhile, we have the technology, resources and expertise to do it ourselves as well.
    How will we get satellites into space? Will Boris fart them up there from our new outer hebredies space port.
    Other launch facilities are available, in the US and Russia/Kazakhstan. I shouldn’t be too surprised if the Chinese and Indians get into the commercial launch game before to long, if they haven’t already.
    Going cap in hand to Trump or Putin doesn’t feel like taking back (ground) control.
    I thought we were building a space port in Scotland?
    Only good for polar orbits though, although I have a feeling GPS/Galileo/GLONASS satellites are in very highly-inclined orbits anyway. In any case, I expect the biggest obstacle to building a British Galileo (Newton?) system will be establishing the ground station network. Perhaps Pitcairn Island will prove useful at last.
    Ascension Island is almost perfectly situated for a launch facility.
    Of course it would be a massive waste of money, and just getting stuff there would cost a mint...but it's technically feasible.
  • Options
    PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,963
    Jonathan said:

    rpjs said:

    Jonathan said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    FPT on Galileo... If you adopt the position, pour la vue de nez, that Williamson is misinformed or ignorant about everything except fireplaces you won't go far wrong.

    The Falklands and Ascension Galileo facilities are "Sensor Stations". They download telemetry and relay it to the control centres. They provide NO uplink or control or localised position information. If Galileo lost access to these facilities it means there would be an area over the South Atlantic where data would not be available. As Galileo satellites have an orbital period of 14 hours and 'repeat cycle' of 10 days the black spot would only be a relatively small percentage of each satellite's cycle.

    In reality, if Galileo where to be kicked out of the FI and ASI then they would probably build new Sensor Stations on the coast of Chile or Argentina (who would love to fuck us over on this matter) and Cape Verde.

    Finally, while the satellite payloads are manufactured the UK they are not made by the UK government owned and directed Royal British Satellite Factory they are made by Airbus Space and Defense. So while the British government could certainly do a Putin/Mugabe style expropriation of the facility it could not stop Airbus using the intellectual property to make them elsewhere.

    In conclusion, Willamson is, as usual, talking absolute shit fuelled by crass stupidity.

    This theme of Galileo does reappear quite frequently in a squall of ill informed speculation. Maybe I'll write a header on it...

    My takeaway from that is that the UK is a significant contributor to Galileo and if it were no longer part of the programme it would cause significant inconvenience to the EU.

    Meanwhile, we have the technology, resources and expertise to do it ourselves as well.
    How will we get satellites into space? Will Boris fart them up there from our new outer hebredies space port.
    Other launch facilities are available, in the US and Russia/Kazakhstan. I shouldn’t be too surprised if the Chinese and Indians get into the commercial launch game before to long, if they haven’t already.
    Going cap in hand to Trump or Putin doesn’t feel like taking back (ground) control.
    You simply pay Elon $62 million.

    https://www.spacex.com/about/capabilities
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    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 117,097

    I am still not sure how you could implement a hard brexit in Scotland without sending the army in. In effect England would need to invade Scotland. I cannot see the SNP complying with orders to put up borders

    The Scots have an escape path from the hard right English nationalist right that will be controlling my country for the foreseeable future. I envy them greatly.

    Wales also voted Leave, it was not just England
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    SeanT said:

    Boris is closer to being PM, right now, than at any point in his career. But how does he seize the crown?

    By waiting. Wait for a few more weeks for May's Chequers offer to completely unravel in the face of EU political intransigence. Then let the letters go in. And then wait a bit longer in the hope that another challenger throws their hat in the ring to challenge May first, before he does so himself.
    You really do not know our system. I have explained it to you

    If TM lost a vnoc she would stand down and a full leadership contest would take place with at least 6 -8 candidates, one of course would be Boris. Televised hustings would take place and then a vote is taken by all conservative mps to put two of the candidates to the members. At present Boris has annoyed so many of his fellow colleagues it is doubtful he would get in the final two. However, if he did it is more than likely he would win

    The whole process would take 2 - 3 months and I would expect TM to be a caretaker pending the appointment of her successor.

    I hope that you accept that as a membership I do know the process
    You are right but if someone had enough letters there is nothing to stop them ‘standing’ against May in the VONC. They can say that they are challenging her at that stage. So in theory Boris (or someone else) can get a group of letters, announce he is standing against May and trigger the vote. It would change the dynamic. I don’t expect it to happen like that but it could.
    Just read this post and no it does not work that way and does question whether you are a member of our party as you would not have made that suggestion
  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,916
    Well at least they get asked about of support, unlike Cable.
  • Options
    RecidivistRecidivist Posts: 4,679

    I am still not sure how you could implement a hard brexit in Scotland without sending the army in. In effect England would need to invade Scotland. I cannot see the SNP complying with orders to put up borders

    The Scots have an escape path from the hard right English nationalist right that will be controlling my country for the foreseeable future. I envy them greatly.

    then move to Scotland
    While you can. Suppose we actually end FOM, the EU reciprocates and Scotland joins the EU. You won't be able to move to Scotland without fulfilling whatever the criteria are.
  • Options
    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 117,097

    I am still not sure how you could implement a hard brexit in Scotland without sending the army in. In effect England would need to invade Scotland. I cannot see the SNP complying with orders to put up borders

    Polling has shown even Scots would support a Canada deal but a big majority of Scots are opposed to WTO terms No Deal Brexit but then polls also show a majority of English voters polled also oppose WTO terms No Deal Brexit even if by a smaller margin than Scots.

    The differences between the majority of Scottish and English voters as a whole on Brexit are not as big as they appear
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    AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 23,760

    I am still not sure how you could implement a hard brexit in Scotland without sending the army in. In effect England would need to invade Scotland. I cannot see the SNP complying with orders to put up borders

    The Scots have an escape path from the hard right English nationalist right that will be controlling my country for the foreseeable future. I envy them greatly.

    then move to Scotland
    While you can. Suppose we actually end FOM, the EU reciprocates and Scotland joins the EU. You won't be able to move to Scotland without fulfilling whatever the criteria are.
    thats why you should move now

    buy turnips
  • Options
    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 117,097
    rcs1000 said:

    HYUFD said:

    Scott_P said:
    I doubt the Euro, tell 20% unemployment Greece and 16% unemployment Spain how that works
    Spain's employment rate is much higher now than when it joined the Euro.
    Spanish unemployment was 16% in 1999 compared to 17.1% in 2017.

    https://www.indexmundi.com/g/g.aspx?c=sp&v=74

    Greek and Italian unemployment is significantly higher than when they joined the Euro
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    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,737

    rpjs said:

    Only good for polar orbits though, although I have a feeling GPS/Galileo/GLONASS satellites are in very highly-inclined orbits anyway. In any case, I expect the biggest obstacle to building a British Galileo (Newton?) system will be establishing the ground station network. Perhaps Pitcairn Island will prove useful at last.

    There are also plans for a horizontal-launch facility from Cornwall, near Newquay, potentially along with other sites in North Wales and near Glasgow. I think Virgin Galactic are involved with at least one. AIUI the planes can carry only small payloads into orbit, but by flying over the sea they can get a wide range of orbits unavailable from land.

    So I guess the question is how big GPS satellites are compared to VG's capability. According to Wiki each GPS satellite weighs about 2t at launch and 1t once on orbit (presumably the difference being propellant), whilst Gallileo sats weight about 700kg. It looks as though VG's LauncherOne will not be able to loft anywhere near that weight.

    It's all moot, though: the Russians, SpaceX or eventually BO would launch them - and I doubt the Russian or American governments would object. It'd be expensive, though.
    Perhaps I am alone in asking why we want a separate satellite system of our own?

    Surely it just increases the cost and inconvenience. Why not just use other countries systems?

    It all sounds a bit Blue Streak to me.
  • Options
    HYUFD said:

    I am still not sure how you could implement a hard brexit in Scotland without sending the army in. In effect England would need to invade Scotland. I cannot see the SNP complying with orders to put up borders

    The Scots have an escape path from the hard right English nationalist right that will be controlling my country for the foreseeable future. I envy them greatly.

    Wales also voted Leave, it was not just England

    Yep, Wales did its job and has now been entirely forgotten.

  • Options
    OchEyeOchEye Posts: 1,469
    kle4 said:

    rcs1000 said:
    Unskilled workers is a silly term - people in plenty of such jobs still need training for a variety of tasks. So it doesn't strike me as an inherently dumb statement.
    Watched a news programme the other week, a TV journalist had been sent to a strawberry and other fruit farm to find out how easy it is to earn £500+ a week. It wasn't. Takes at least a couple of seasons to learn how to pick the best fruit, fast and without damage, at the best time of day before moving to a different tunnel or field to pick a different type or variety. Amazing the amount of fruit that a skilled picker can pack away. As for fish filleting or meat cutting and packing, the managers wouldn't let him near a knife or blade in case he hurt himself or someone else, accidentally.

    All in all, very repetitive, very hard, very skilled and mostly highly paid work that very few Brits are interested in doing. Much nicer being in a call centre even on minimum wage....
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    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 117,097
    edited October 2018

    I am still not sure how you could implement a hard brexit in Scotland without sending the army in. In effect England would need to invade Scotland. I cannot see the SNP complying with orders to put up borders

    The Scots have an escape path from the hard right English nationalist right that will be controlling my country for the foreseeable future. I envy them greatly.

    then move to Scotland
    While you can. Suppose we actually end FOM, the EU reciprocates and Scotland joins the EU. You won't be able to move to Scotland without fulfilling whatever the criteria are.
    In that case there would also likely be tariffs on Scottish goods coming to England and Wales and visa versa
  • Options

    I am still not sure how you could implement a hard brexit in Scotland without sending the army in. In effect England would need to invade Scotland. I cannot see the SNP complying with orders to put up borders

    The Scots have an escape path from the hard right English nationalist right that will be controlling my country for the foreseeable future. I envy them greatly.

    then move to Scotland

    I am English and England is my home. But moving away should things get really bad is always an option for someone with a bit of cash (or an Irish passport)

  • Options
    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 117,097

    HYUFD said:

    I am still not sure how you could implement a hard brexit in Scotland without sending the army in. In effect England would need to invade Scotland. I cannot see the SNP complying with orders to put up borders

    The Scots have an escape path from the hard right English nationalist right that will be controlling my country for the foreseeable future. I envy them greatly.

    Wales also voted Leave, it was not just England

    Yep, Wales did its job and has now been entirely forgotten.

    Interestingly Wales had a higher Leave vote than the South East of England
  • Options
    RecidivistRecidivist Posts: 4,679
    HYUFD said:

    I am still not sure how you could implement a hard brexit in Scotland without sending the army in. In effect England would need to invade Scotland. I cannot see the SNP complying with orders to put up borders

    The Scots have an escape path from the hard right English nationalist right that will be controlling my country for the foreseeable future. I envy them greatly.

    then move to Scotland
    While you can. Suppose we actually end FOM, the EU reciprocates and Scotland joins the EU. You won't be able to move to Scotland without fulfilling whatever the criteria are.
    In that case there would also likely be tariffs on Scottish goods coming to England and Wales and visa versa
    No doubt. Let's hope however bad Brexit is, it doesn't get that bad.
  • Options
    OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 32,036
    Foxy said:

    rpjs said:

    Only good for polar orbits though, although I have a feeling GPS/Galileo/GLONASS satellites are in very highly-inclined orbits anyway. In any case, I expect the biggest obstacle to building a British Galileo (Newton?) system will be establishing the ground station network. Perhaps Pitcairn Island will prove useful at last.

    There are also plans for a horizontal-launch facility from Cornwall, near Newquay, potentially along with other sites in North Wales and near Glasgow. I think Virgin Galactic are involved with at least one. AIUI the planes can carry only small payloads into orbit, but by flying over the sea they can get a wide range of orbits unavailable from land.

    So I guess the question is how big GPS satellites are compared to VG's capability. According to Wiki each GPS satellite weighs about 2t at launch and 1t once on orbit (presumably the difference being propellant), whilst Gallileo sats weight about 700kg. It looks as though VG's LauncherOne will not be able to loft anywhere near that weight.

    It's all moot, though: the Russians, SpaceX or eventually BO would launch them - and I doubt the Russian or American governments would object. It'd be expensive, though.
    Perhaps I am alone in asking why we want a separate satellite system of our own?

    Surely it just increases the cost and inconvenience. Why not just use other countries systems?

    It all sounds a bit Blue Streak to me.
    Ah, but we don’t want those furriners getting involved.

    It’s odd that this Govt. is so opposed to Sinn Fein when the translation is ‘ourselves alone'
  • Options
    rpjsrpjs Posts: 3,787
    edited October 2018
    O/T but the news that the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance is going to investigate the New York Times’ report alleging massive tax fraud by the Trump family is huge.

    Even if SCOTUS strikes down the dual sovereignty doctrine (that allows prosecution for the same
    offence at state and federal level) as counter to the constitutional ban on double jeopardy, fiddling federal and state taxes are two separate crimes as in the US federal and state income taxes are legied, returned and collected independently. Even if the IRS prosecutes any allegations of federal tax evasion and Trump pardons himself and his family for them, double jeopardy would not apply to any state charges even without the dual sovereignty doctrine.

    Of course it is probable that Trump as Presdent cannot be arrested by state authorities while in office, but it does hold open the bizarre possibility of NYS officers armed with an extradition request waiting patiently at the inaugaration of his successor to take Trump into custody.

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/oct/02/trump-helped-parents-hide-money-on-tax-returns-new-york-times
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    CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,785

    I am still not sure how you could implement a hard brexit in Scotland without sending the army in. In effect England would need to invade Scotland. I cannot see the SNP complying with orders to put up borders

    The Scots have an escape path from the hard right English nationalist right that will be controlling my country for the foreseeable future. I envy them greatly.

    then move to Scotland
    While you can. Suppose we actually end FOM, the EU reciprocates and Scotland joins the EU. You won't be able to move to Scotland without fulfilling whatever the criteria are.
    If Scotland chooses to leave the CTA that’s their right - but as that would cut both ways it may be unwise.
  • Options

    OK, so I invaded Scotland again (second time within the last month!).

    Yesterday did the Shotts line from Edinburgh to Glasgow, and today added the Gourock, Largs, and Ardrossan branches and the Troon to Kilmarnock line. Slumming it in Glasgow tonight before switching to Edinburgh tomorrow :)

    The Shotts line will be electrified in its entirety from next year. Does that mean you have to do it again?
    As far as I could see, the catenary is already in place, but I may want to do it again today simply because it was just on the stroke of sunset as I passed the Bellshill area westbound on Monday evening, and a little difficult to see all the different junctions between there and Uddingston :)
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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,997
    Mr. L, alarming yet hilarious that a feminist rewriting of Mein Kampf got through.
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    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 117,097
    edited October 2018

    I am still not sure how you could implement a hard brexit in Scotland without sending the army in. In effect England would need to invade Scotland. I cannot see the SNP complying with orders to put up borders

    The Scots have an escape path from the hard right English nationalist right that will be controlling my country for the foreseeable future. I envy them greatly.

    then move to Scotland

    I am English and England is my home. But moving away should things get really bad is always an option for someone with a bit of cash (or an Irish passport)

    What with diehard Remainers moving to the EU if it looks like No Deal Brexit and Tories moving to the Cayman Islands, Florida, Singapore etc if Corbyn becomes PM will Sunil and Justin124 be the only PBers left in the country in a few years?
  • Options
    AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 23,760

    I am still not sure how you could implement a hard brexit in Scotland without sending the army in. In effect England would need to invade Scotland. I cannot see the SNP complying with orders to put up borders

    The Scots have an escape path from the hard right English nationalist right that will be controlling my country for the foreseeable future. I envy them greatly.

    then move to Scotland

    I am English and England is my home. But moving away should things get really bad is always an option for someone with a bit of cash (or an Irish passport)

    Why are you staying in England, increasingly you dont like any of your neighbours, you could have a nice home in Cumbernauld and your own tartan.
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    DavidL said:

    The theme of this conference was supposed to be opportunity. A pretty vacuous word at best but what has any minister said that is relevant to it?

    Where are the announcements of the extension of homework clubs, pupil premiums and incentivisation of teachers to go to "difficult" schools, what has been said (other than by Boris) about the difficulties with housing, with the unfairness of student grants, with funding social care, etc etc? Where is this opportunity that they speak of?

    I confess I have not been glued to the Conference, it is entirely possible that I have missed something but the 2 announcements I have picked up on are (a) waiters get to keep their tips and (b) EU citizens in the future will be treated the same as applicants from the rest of the world. (b) is obviously subject to the terms of deal with the EU so it doesn't exactly leave a program for government does it?

    One of May's most serious failings as a leader (definitely top 3) is that she thinks the job of government is to keep buggering on through difficult circumstances without wasting too much time wondering where they are going and why. No doubt she will unveil a vision of a shining city on a hill at 10am today...

    Sky saying it is 11.30
  • Options
    JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 39,057
    Foxy said:


    Perhaps I am alone in asking why we want a separate satellite system of our own?

    Surely it just increases the cost and inconvenience. Why not just use other countries systems?

    It all sounds a bit Blue Streak to me.

    I have some sympathy with that. Rockets are sexy, and that's where people (wrongly) concentrate. Yet the UK has a massive space industry - over £10 billion - without a native launch capability.

    It's like people concentrate on the trucks rather than the goods carried within them. The trucks are necessary, but what they carry is far more important.

    Having said that, the cubesat (very small satellites) revolution and improved technology is making the cost of entry into satellite launch much cheaper. As cubesast capabilities increase, it may be worthwhile for companies like Virgin Galactic or Orbex to provide a 'native' UK capability.

    Although there are dozens of microsatellite launchers under development, and there will probably only be a handful of winners.
  • Options
    DavidLDavidL Posts: 51,356

    DavidL said:

    The theme of this conference was supposed to be opportunity. A pretty vacuous word at best but what has any minister said that is relevant to it?

    Where are the announcements of the extension of homework clubs, pupil premiums and incentivisation of teachers to go to "difficult" schools, what has been said (other than by Boris) about the difficulties with housing, with the unfairness of student grants, with funding social care, etc etc? Where is this opportunity that they speak of?

    I confess I have not been glued to the Conference, it is entirely possible that I have missed something but the 2 announcements I have picked up on are (a) waiters get to keep their tips and (b) EU citizens in the future will be treated the same as applicants from the rest of the world. (b) is obviously subject to the terms of deal with the EU so it doesn't exactly leave a program for government does it?

    One of May's most serious failings as a leader (definitely top 3) is that she thinks the job of government is to keep buggering on through difficult circumstances without wasting too much time wondering where they are going and why. No doubt she will unveil a vision of a shining city on a hill at 10am today...

    Sky saying it is 11.30
    Well that gives her another 90 minutes to come up with something.
  • Options
    DavidLDavidL Posts: 51,356

    Mr. L, alarming yet hilarious that a feminist rewriting of Mein Kampf got through.

    You'd think that turnitin really should have picked that up. Alarming indeed.
  • Options
    AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 23,760
    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    The theme of this conference was supposed to be opportunity. A pretty vacuous word at best but what has any minister said that is relevant to it?

    Where are the announcements of the extension of homework clubs, pupil premiums and incentivisation of teachers to go to "difficult" schools, what has been said (other than by Boris) about the difficulties with housing, with the unfairness of student grants, with funding social care, etc etc? Where is this opportunity that they speak of?

    I confess I have not been glued to the Conference, it is entirely possible that I have missed something but the 2 announcements I have picked up on are (a) waiters get to keep their tips and (b) EU citizens in the future will be treated the same as applicants from the rest of the world. (b) is obviously subject to the terms of deal with the EU so it doesn't exactly leave a program for government does it?

    One of May's most serious failings as a leader (definitely top 3) is that she thinks the job of government is to keep buggering on through difficult circumstances without wasting too much time wondering where they are going and why. No doubt she will unveil a vision of a shining city on a hill at 10am today...

    Sky saying it is 11.30
    Well that gives her another 90 minutes to come up with something.
    Im hoping she has a tap dance routine
  • Options
    OchEyeOchEye Posts: 1,469
    Foxy said:

    rpjs said:

    Only good for polar orbits though, although I have a feeling GPS/Galileo/GLONASS satellites are in very highly-inclined orbits anyway. In any case, I expect the biggest obstacle to building a British Galileo (Newton?) system will be establishing the ground station network. Perhaps Pitcairn Island will prove useful at last.

    There are also plans for a horizontal-launch facility from Cornwall, near Newquay, potentially along with other sites in North Wales and near Glasgow. I think Virgin Galactic are involved with at least one. AIUI the planes can carry only small payloads into orbit, but by flying over the sea they can get a wide range of orbits unavailable from land.

    So I guess the question is how big GPS satellites are compared to VG's capability. According to Wiki each GPS satellite weighs about 2t at launch and 1t once on orbit (presumably the difference being propellant), whilst Gallileo sats weight about 700kg. It looks as though VG's LauncherOne will not be able to loft anywhere near that weight.

    It's all moot, though: the Russians, SpaceX or eventually BO would launch them - and I doubt the Russian or American governments would object. It'd be expensive, though.
    Perhaps I am alone in asking why we want a separate satellite system of our own?

    Surely it just increases the cost and inconvenience. Why not just use other countries systems?

    It all sounds a bit Blue Streak to me.
    The UK has an inflated view of our military and its requirements. If we have nuclear subs for example, then we can't use another countries navigation systems to bomb the hell out of them, just ain't done, old boy, apart from which they might not approve and turn the systems, off.
  • Options
    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 117,097
    Michael Gove says No Deal Brexit would be 'suboptimal' and 'did not expect the head of steam' behind the 'People's Vote' campaign

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-45725615
  • Options
    Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 13,019

    DavidL said:

    The theme of this conference was supposed to be opportunity. A pretty vacuous word at best but what has any minister said that is relevant to it?

    Where are the announcements of the extension of homework clubs, pupil premiums and incentivisation of teachers to go to "difficult" schools, what has been said (other than by Boris) about the difficulties with housing, with the unfairness of student grants, with funding social care, etc etc? Where is this opportunity that they speak of?

    I confess I have not been glued to the Conference, it is entirely possible that I have missed something but the 2 announcements I have picked up on are (a) waiters get to keep their tips and (b) EU citizens in the future will be treated the same as applicants from the rest of the world. (b) is obviously subject to the terms of deal with the EU so it doesn't exactly leave a program for government does it?

    One of May's most serious failings as a leader (definitely top 3) is that she thinks the job of government is to keep buggering on through difficult circumstances without wasting too much time wondering where they are going and why. No doubt she will unveil a vision of a shining city on a hill at 10am today...

    Sky saying it is 11.30
    Try to hang on until 11:32 before declaring it a game changing triumph.
  • Options
    rpjsrpjs Posts: 3,787

    I am still not sure how you could implement a hard brexit in Scotland without sending the army in. In effect England would need to invade Scotland. I cannot see the SNP complying with orders to put up borders

    The Scots have an escape path from the hard right English nationalist right that will be controlling my country for the foreseeable future. I envy them greatly.

    then move to Scotland
    While you can. Suppose we actually end FOM, the EU reciprocates and Scotland joins the EU. You won't be able to move to Scotland without fulfilling whatever the criteria are.
    Even in the event of the hardest possible no-deal car crash Brexit there will still be FOM between the UK and Ireland by virtue of the Ireland Act and reciprocal legislation in Ireland. There’s nothing to stop indy Scotland and rump England-and-Wales (Scottish independence would swiftly be followed by Irish reunification) from setting up something similar. There’s also FOM independent of EU/EEA rules between the Nordic Passport Union states, although practically the fact that all are also EEA and Schengen members supercedes it.
  • Options
    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,997
    Mr. L, is that some sort of automatic detection software to prevent the old copy-and-paste trick?
  • Options
    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 117,097
    edited October 2018

    HYUFD said:

    I am still not sure how you could implement a hard brexit in Scotland without sending the army in. In effect England would need to invade Scotland. I cannot see the SNP complying with orders to put up borders

    The Scots have an escape path from the hard right English nationalist right that will be controlling my country for the foreseeable future. I envy them greatly.

    then move to Scotland
    While you can. Suppose we actually end FOM, the EU reciprocates and Scotland joins the EU. You won't be able to move to Scotland without fulfilling whatever the criteria are.
    In that case there would also likely be tariffs on Scottish goods coming to England and Wales and visa versa
    No doubt. Let's hope however bad Brexit is, it doesn't get that bad.
    PM Boris of England and Wales and Alex Salmond the first PM of an independent Scotland (assuming he is cleared of the current allegations) could get interesting!
  • Options
    DavidLDavidL Posts: 51,356
    OchEye said:

    kle4 said:

    rcs1000 said:
    Unskilled workers is a silly term - people in plenty of such jobs still need training for a variety of tasks. So it doesn't strike me as an inherently dumb statement.
    Watched a news programme the other week, a TV journalist had been sent to a strawberry and other fruit farm to find out how easy it is to earn £500+ a week. It wasn't. Takes at least a couple of seasons to learn how to pick the best fruit, fast and without damage, at the best time of day before moving to a different tunnel or field to pick a different type or variety. Amazing the amount of fruit that a skilled picker can pack away. As for fish filleting or meat cutting and packing, the managers wouldn't let him near a knife or blade in case he hurt himself or someone else, accidentally.

    All in all, very repetitive, very hard, very skilled and mostly highly paid work that very few Brits are interested in doing. Much nicer being in a call centre even on minimum wage....
    In my experience picking fruit in the rain is good for the soul and the bank balance (as the fruit is heavier) but not in the top 100 of fun things to do.
  • Options
    TheJezziahTheJezziah Posts: 3,840
    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    The theme of this conference was supposed to be opportunity. A pretty vacuous word at best but what has any minister said that is relevant to it?

    Where are the announcements of the extension of homework clubs, pupil premiums and incentivisation of teachers to go to "difficult" schools, what has been said (other than by Boris) about the difficulties with housing, with the unfairness of student grants, with funding social care, etc etc? Where is this opportunity that they speak of?

    I confess I have not been glued to the Conference, it is entirely possible that I have missed something but the 2 announcements I have picked up on are (a) waiters get to keep their tips and (b) EU citizens in the future will be treated the same as applicants from the rest of the world. (b) is obviously subject to the terms of deal with the EU so it doesn't exactly leave a program for government does it?

    One of May's most serious failings as a leader (definitely top 3) is that she thinks the job of government is to keep buggering on through difficult circumstances without wasting too much time wondering where they are going and why. No doubt she will unveil a vision of a shining city on a hill at 10am today...

    Sky saying it is 11.30
    Well that gives her another 90 minutes to come up with something.
    Brexit, standing up for Britain, Corbyn, Jewish people, security, terrorism and crime.

    Maybe the odd recycled Labour idea just to add a little something extra.
  • Options
    rpjsrpjs Posts: 3,787
    OchEye said:

    Foxy said:

    rpjs said:

    Only good for polar orbits though, although I have a feeling GPS/Galileo/GLONASS satellites are in very highly-inclined orbits anyway. In any case, I expect the biggest obstacle to building a British Galileo (Newton?) system will be establishing the ground station network. Perhaps Pitcairn Island will prove useful at last.

    There are also plans for a horizontal-launch facility from Cornwall, near Newquay, potentially along with other sites in North Wales and near Glasgow. I think Virgin Galactic are involved with at least one. AIUI the planes can carry only small payloads into orbit, but by flying over the sea they can get a wide range of orbits unavailable from land.

    So I guess the question is how big GPS satellites are compared to VG's capability. According to Wiki each GPS satellite weighs about 2t at launch and 1t once on orbit (presumably the difference being propellant), whilst Gallileo sats weight about 700kg. It looks as though VG's LauncherOne will not be able to loft anywhere near that weight.

    It's all moot, though: the Russians, SpaceX or eventually BO would launch them - and I doubt the Russian or American governments would object. It'd be expensive, though.
    Perhaps I am alone in asking why we want a separate satellite system of our own?

    Surely it just increases the cost and inconvenience. Why not just use other countries systems?

    It all sounds a bit Blue Streak to me.
    The UK has an inflated view of our military and its requirements. If we have nuclear subs for example, then we can't use another countries navigation systems to bomb the hell out of them, just ain't done, old boy, apart from which they might not approve and turn the systems, off.
    Although don’t we have to use American systems to send our subs launch orders anyway?
  • Options
    mattmatt Posts: 3,789

    ydoethur said:

    Anyone think the conference is going well for the tories? It seems like a car crash in slow motion.

    This is why I said we shouldn't pay much attention to polls putting them ahead after Labour's epochal shambles.

    Mind you, I don't think it's been quite as bad as that so far. Hunt has been maladroit and Boris Boris, but at least nobody has been threatening violence or the overthrow of the government by force.

    That said, when the best I can come up with is that they're not as bad as a bunch of murderous racists, homophobes and cretins, things are pretty bad.

    They pretty much are a bunch of murderous racists, homophobes and cretins, too. The Tories provide succour to anti-Semites and stand shoulder to shoulder with oppressive, murderous regimes, just as the labour party does. It's just that they choose different bigots and xenophobes to hang out with. Our country's reputation and its long-term standing are being destroyed by both the left and right.

    As I understand it, you rejoined the Labour Party. Your witch finder morality compass is perfectly tuned to other people.
  • Options
    Dura_Ace said:

    DavidL said:

    The theme of this conference was supposed to be opportunity. A pretty vacuous word at best but what has any minister said that is relevant to it?

    Where are the announcements of the extension of homework clubs, pupil premiums and incentivisation of teachers to go to "difficult" schools, what has been said (other than by Boris) about the difficulties with housing, with the unfairness of student grants, with funding social care, etc etc? Where is this opportunity that they speak of?

    I confess I have not been glued to the Conference, it is entirely possible that I have missed something but the 2 announcements I have picked up on are (a) waiters get to keep their tips and (b) EU citizens in the future will be treated the same as applicants from the rest of the world. (b) is obviously subject to the terms of deal with the EU so it doesn't exactly leave a program for government does it?

    One of May's most serious failings as a leader (definitely top 3) is that she thinks the job of government is to keep buggering on through difficult circumstances without wasting too much time wondering where they are going and why. No doubt she will unveil a vision of a shining city on a hill at 10am today...

    Sky saying it is 11.30
    Try to hang on until 11:32 before declaring it a game changing triumph.
    I will tell it as I see it. If you read my posts you would see many that critise her
  • Options
    OchEyeOchEye Posts: 1,469
    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    The theme of this conference was supposed to be opportunity. A pretty vacuous word at best but what has any minister said that is relevant to it?

    Where are the announcements of the extension of homework clubs, pupil premiums and incentivisation of teachers to go to "difficult" schools, what has been said (other than by Boris) about the difficulties with housing, with the unfairness of student grants, with funding social care, etc etc? Where is this opportunity that they speak of?

    I confess I have not been glued to the Conference, it is entirely possible that I have missed something but the 2 announcements I have picked up on are (a) waiters get to keep their tips and (b) EU citizens in the future will be treated the same as applicants from the rest of the world. (b) is obviously subject to the terms of deal with the EU so it doesn't exactly leave a program for government does it?

    One of May's most serious failings as a leader (definitely top 3) is that she thinks the job of government is to keep buggering on through difficult circumstances without wasting too much time wondering where they are going and why. No doubt she will unveil a vision of a shining city on a hill at 10am today...

    Sky saying it is 11.30
    Well that gives her another 90 minutes to come up with something.
    And up to 30 minutes after the pubs open to get some Dutch courage inside the delegates before they are required to undergo a Chequers indoctrination. Should be fun watching from afar. . .
  • Options
    Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 13,019
    rpjs said:



    Although don’t we have to use American systems to send our subs launch orders anyway?

    No. The boomers use ELF/VLF for comms and Trident uses INS/stellar cartography for guidance.
  • Options
    TheJezziahTheJezziah Posts: 3,840

    Mr. L, is that some sort of automatic detection software to prevent the old copy-and-paste trick?

    Anti cheat software, supposed to review other texts and give a score of much it is copied.

    Not sure exactly how the system works but I could see why Mein Kampf would not be an obvious text to cheat using...
  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,916
    OchEye said:

    kle4 said:

    rcs1000 said:
    Unskilled workers is a silly term - people in plenty of such jobs still need training for a variety of tasks. So it doesn't strike me as an inherently dumb statement.
    Watched a news programme the other week, a TV journalist had been sent to a strawberry and other fruit farm to find out how easy it is to earn £500+ a week. It wasn't. Takes at least a couple of seasons to learn how to pick the best fruit, fast and without damage, at the best time of day before moving to a different tunnel or field to pick a different type or variety. Amazing the amount of fruit that a skilled picker can pack away. As for fish filleting or meat cutting and packing, the managers wouldn't let him near a knife or blade in case he hurt himself or someone else, accidentally.

    All in all, very repetitive, very hard, very skilled and mostly highly paid work that very few Brits are interested in doing. Much nicer being in a call centre even on minimum wage....
    Makes sense to me. And makes someone shocked that unskilled workers still need training of some kind look like they are sneering, as far as I can see it.
  • Options
    DavidLDavidL Posts: 51,356
    Foxy said:

    rpjs said:

    Only good for polar orbits though, although I have a feeling GPS/Galileo/GLONASS satellites are in very highly-inclined orbits anyway. In any case, I expect the biggest obstacle to building a British Galileo (Newton?) system will be establishing the ground station network. Perhaps Pitcairn Island will prove useful at last.

    There are also plans for a horizontal-launch facility from Cornwall, near Newquay, potentially along with other sites in North Wales and near Glasgow. I think Virgin Galactic are involved with at least one. AIUI the planes can carry only small payloads into orbit, but by flying over the sea they can get a wide range of orbits unavailable from land.

    So I guess the question is how big GPS satellites are compared to VG's capability. According to Wiki each GPS satellite weighs about 2t at launch and 1t once on orbit (presumably the difference being propellant), whilst Gallileo sats weight about 700kg. It looks as though VG's LauncherOne will not be able to loft anywhere near that weight.

    It's all moot, though: the Russians, SpaceX or eventually BO would launch them - and I doubt the Russian or American governments would object. It'd be expensive, though.
    Perhaps I am alone in asking why we want a separate satellite system of our own?

    Surely it just increases the cost and inconvenience. Why not just use other countries systems?

    It all sounds a bit Blue Streak to me.
    Is it not because the Europeans are saying they are going to exclude us from the encrypted, higher spec, parts of Galileo?
  • Options
    DavidLDavidL Posts: 51,356

    Mr. L, is that some sort of automatic detection software to prevent the old copy-and-paste trick?

    Yes and every exam paper and document in University and college is supposed to be put through it.
  • Options
    rpjsrpjs Posts: 3,787
    Dura_Ace said:

    rpjs said:



    Although don’t we have to use American systems to send our subs launch orders anyway?

    No. The boomers use ELF/VLF for comms and Trident uses INS/stellar cartography for guidance.
    I thought it was the ELF/VLF bit we can’t do ourselves without American help?
  • Options
    FF43FF43 Posts: 15,763

    Anyone think the conference is going well for the tories? It seems like a car crash in slow motion.

    Brexit is the car crash. The conference is merely a sideshow. We haven't had Theresa May''s speech though.

    I don't think ground stations are a big issue for geostationary positioning. You need four or five secure locations to control the satellites from. The rest are beacons essentially and you dot them all over the place. Galileo has 30 satellites for full coverage. I guess you can manage with fewer. I believe you can also get a much cheaper piggy back system with three satellites that sharpens the accuracy of other positioning. The UK could develop a system like that to cover the area around the British isles.
  • Options
    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,997
    Mr. Jezziah/Mr. L, cheers.
  • Options
    TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 40,235
    edited October 2018
    Crazy young (well, not so young) people and their crazy fashions.

    https://twitter.com/bellacaledonia/status/1047374148249554945

    Not quite the J. Crew catalogue, is it?
  • Options
    OchEyeOchEye Posts: 1,469
    DavidL said:

    OchEye said:

    kle4 said:

    rcs1000 said:
    Unskilled workers is a silly term - people in plenty of such jobs still need training for a variety of tasks. So it doesn't strike me as an inherently dumb statement.
    Watched a news programme the other week, a TV journalist had been sent to a strawberry and other fruit farm to find out how easy it is to earn £500+ a week. It wasn't. Takes at least a couple of seasons to learn how to pick the best fruit, fast and without damage, at the best time of day before moving to a different tunnel or field to pick a different type or variety. Amazing the amount of fruit that a skilled picker can pack away. As for fish filleting or meat cutting and packing, the managers wouldn't let him near a knife or blade in case he hurt himself or someone else, accidentally.

    All in all, very repetitive, very hard, very skilled and mostly highly paid work that very few Brits are interested in doing. Much nicer being in a call centre even on minimum wage....
    In my experience picking fruit in the rain is good for the soul and the bank balance (as the fruit is heavier) but not in the top 100 of fun things to do.
    Having heard the rumours some years ago of how fruit pickers added weight to the buckets of fruit, put me off jam for many years, hint, rain was not involved (unless in a golden Trumpian sense). Probable reason for packing straight into cartons these days....
  • Options
    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,737
    rpjs said:

    OchEye said:

    Foxy said:

    rpjs said:

    Only good for polar orbits though, although I have a feeling GPS/Galileo/GLONASS satellites are in very highly-inclined orbits anyway. In any case, I expect the biggest obstacle to building a British Galileo (Newton?) system will be establishing the ground station network. Perhaps Pitcairn Island will prove useful at last.

    There are also plans for a horizontal-launch facility from Cornwall, near Newquay, potentially along with other sites in North Wales and near Glasgow. I think Virgin Galactic are involved with at least one. AIUI the planes can carry only small payloads into orbit, but by flying over the sea they can get a wide range of orbits unavailable from land.

    So I guess the question is how big GPS satellites are compared to VG's capability. According to Wiki each GPS satellite weighs about 2t at launch and 1t once on orbit (presumably the difference being propellant), whilst Gallileo sats weight about 700kg. It looks as though VG's LauncherOne will not be able to loft anywhere near that weight.

    It's all moot, though: the Russians, SpaceX or eventually BO would launch them - and I doubt the Russian or American governments would object. It'd be expensive, though.
    Perhaps I am alone in asking why we want a separate satellite system of our own?

    Surely it just increases the cost and inconvenience. Why not just use other countries systems?

    It all sounds a bit Blue Streak to me.
    The UK has an inflated view of our military and its requirements. If we have nuclear subs for example, then we can't use another countries navigation systems to bomb the hell out of them, just ain't done, old boy, apart from which they might not approve and turn the systems, off.
    Although don’t we have to use American systems to send our subs launch orders anyway?
    Double the savings by scrapping Trident too.
  • Options

    SeanT said:

    Boris is closer to being PM, right now, than at any point in his career. But how does he seize the crown?

    By waiting. Wait for a few more weeks for May's Chequers offer to completely unravel in the face of EU political intransigence. Then let the letters go in. And then wait a bit longer in the hope that another challenger throws their hat in the ring to challenge May first, before he does so himself.
    You really do not know our system. I have explained it to you

    If TM lost a vnoc she would stand down and a full leadership contest would take place with at least 6 -8 candidates, one of course would be Boris. Televised hustings would take place and then a vote is taken by all conservative mps to put two of the candidates to the members. At present Boris has annoyed so many of his fellow colleagues it is doubtful he would get in the final two. However, if he did it is more than likely he would win

    The whole process would take 2 - 3 months and I would expect TM to be a caretaker pending the appointment of her successor.

    I hope that you accept that as a membership I do know the process
    You are right but if someone had enough letters there is nothing to stop them ‘standing’ against May in the VONC. They can say that they are challenging her at that stage. So in theory Boris (or someone else) can get a group of letters, announce he is standing against May and trigger the vote. It would change the dynamic. I don’t expect it to happen like that but it could.
    Just read this post and no it does not work that way and does question whether you are a member of our party as you would not have made that suggestion
    No he is right just not being clear.

    Boris could announce on TV (or the Telegraph) before the VonC that he is standing and then urge his supporters to vote against her so he can run.

    The problem for Boris is that it would backfire. It would transform the dynamic but not in the way Archer hopes. The last thing Boris actually wants is the VonC to be a May v Boris run off proxy vote as he would lose. Boris clearly doesn't have the confidence of getting 33%+1 needed to guarantee being in the final 2 so why would he be confident of 50%+1 to get rid of May in a binary proxy vote?

    What would change the dynamic isn't Boris announcing he is running but a "moderate" Stop Boris candidate doing so while calling on May to go.
  • Options
    OchEyeOchEye Posts: 1,469
    DavidL said:

    Foxy said:

    rpjs said:

    Only good for polar orbits though, although I have a feeling GPS/Galileo/GLONASS satellites are in very highly-inclined orbits anyway. In any case, I expect the biggest obstacle to building a British Galileo (Newton?) system will be establishing the ground station network. Perhaps Pitcairn Island will prove useful at last.

    There are also plans for a horizontal-launch facility from Cornwall, near Newquay, potentially along with other sites in North Wales and near Glasgow. I think Virgin Galactic are involved with at least one. AIUI the planes can carry only small payloads into orbit, but by flying over the sea they can get a wide range of orbits unavailable from land.

    So I guess the question is how big GPS satellites are compared to VG's capability. According to Wiki each GPS satellite weighs about 2t at launch and 1t once on orbit (presumably the difference being propellant), whilst Gallileo sats weight about 700kg. It looks as though VG's LauncherOne will not be able to loft anywhere near that weight.

    It's all moot, though: the Russians, SpaceX or eventually BO would launch them - and I doubt the Russian or American governments would object. It'd be expensive, though.
    Perhaps I am alone in asking why we want a separate satellite system of our own?

    Surely it just increases the cost and inconvenience. Why not just use other countries systems?

    It all sounds a bit Blue Streak to me.
    Is it not because the Europeans are saying they are going to exclude us from the encrypted, higher spec, parts of Galileo?
    And with the UK's historical record in matters European, if we're not with the EU we will be seen as a potential enemy...
  • Options
    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,737
    FF43 said:

    Anyone think the conference is going well for the tories? It seems like a car crash in slow motion.

    Brexit is the car crash. The conference is merely a sideshow. We haven't had Theresa May''s speech though.

    I don't think ground stations are a big issue for geostationary positioning. You need four or five secure locations to control the satellites from. The rest are beacons essentially and you dot them all over the place. Galileo has 30 satellites for full coverage. I guess you can manage with fewer. I believe you can also get a much cheaper piggy back system with three satellites that sharpens the accuracy of other positioning. The UK could develop a system like that to cover the area around the British isles.
    Actually all of the conferences have had loads of unsold popcorn. These guys cannot even provide decent entertainment.
  • Options
    AnazinaAnazina Posts: 3,487
    edited October 2018
    Luckily for May, the Tory conference has been such an unmitigated disaster so far that her speech can only mark a distinct improvement. As someone posited the other day, her reading out the Maidenhead phone book backwards would be sufficiently better than what has gone before.

    Theresa May - it’s good to talk.
  • Options
    CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,785

    Crazy young (well, not so young) people and their crazy fashions.

    https://twitter.com/bellacaledonia/status/1047374148249554945

    Not quite the J. Crew catalogue, is it?

    Obviously impostors. Everyone knows Tories are seventy or older.....
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    archer101auarcher101au Posts: 1,612
    HYUFD said:

    Michael Gove says No Deal Brexit would be 'suboptimal' and 'did not expect the head of steam' behind the 'People's Vote' campaign

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-45725615

    God that man is shameless. Translation - “I don’t really care about the outcome of Brexit, all I really care about is trying to gain favour with the Remainers in the party so I can be the next leader. So I will support whatever rubbish May comes back with so Brexit will be out of the way and then I can take over. In the meantime I will tell some lies about improving Brexit later to keep the Leavers onside.”
  • Options
    AndyJSAndyJS Posts: 29,395
    edited October 2018
    O/T

    I've found the perfect video for Plato:

    www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3aW9kkfvWk
  • Options
    archer101auarcher101au Posts: 1,612

    <

    You are right but if someone had enough letters there is nothing to stop them ‘standing’ against May in the VONC. They can say that they are challenging her at that stage. So in theory Boris (or someone else) can get a group of letters, announce he is standing against May and trigger the vote. It would change the dynamic. I don’t expect it to happen like that but it could.

    Just read this post and no it does not work that way and does question whether you are a member of our party as you would not have made that suggestion
    No he is right just not being clear.

    Boris could announce on TV (or the Telegraph) before the VonC that he is standing and then urge his supporters to vote against her so he can run.

    The problem for Boris is that it would backfire. It would transform the dynamic but not in the way Archer hopes. The last thing Boris actually wants is the VonC to be a May v Boris run off proxy vote as he would lose. Boris clearly doesn't have the confidence of getting 33%+1 needed to guarantee being in the final 2 so why would he be confident of 50%+1 to get rid of May in a binary proxy vote?

    What would change the dynamic isn't Boris announcing he is running but a "moderate" Stop Boris candidate doing so while calling on May to go.
    I was not suggesting it would work, just that it was possible!

    BUT I agree it could work if it was not Boris. Let’s say, just hypothetically, that Raab resigns over May’s deal and he and the ERG decide she has to go and he is the guy to do it. Then he could just challenge May and get the letters in. It would create a sense of crisis and show that there is an alternative. MPs might vote for him knowing that they could enter the race later. What if the deal is a stinker and DD tries this trick, positioning himself as the only person who can step in and stop her? It all depends on the circumstance. Having an opponent is more ‘real’ than just a VONC.

    My feeling is that it won’t be Boris but he is not without a chance. I also think May will resign as soon as her deal is voted down so I don’t expect it to get that far. If the deal she is going for is anything like that being leaked the wheels will fall of May’s little parade very quickly. The public hated Chequers; they will loathe her for this.
  • Options
    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 117,097
    May has stopped reading newspapers in the morning 'to preserve her wellbeing'

    https://mobile.twitter.com/tnewtondunn/status/1047251687411515392
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    RecidivistRecidivist Posts: 4,679
    rpjs said:

    I am still not sure how you could implement a hard brexit in Scotland without sending the army in. In effect England would need to invade Scotland. I cannot see the SNP complying with orders to put up borders

    The Scots have an escape path from the hard right English nationalist right that will be controlling my country for the foreseeable future. I envy them greatly.

    then move to Scotland
    While you can. Suppose we actually end FOM, the EU reciprocates and Scotland joins the EU. You won't be able to move to Scotland without fulfilling whatever the criteria are.
    Even in the event of the hardest possible no-deal car crash Brexit there will still be FOM between the UK and Ireland by virtue of the Ireland Act and reciprocal legislation in Ireland. There’s nothing to stop indy Scotland and rump England-and-Wales (Scottish independence would swiftly be followed by Irish reunification) from setting up something similar. There’s also FOM independent of EU/EEA rules between the Nordic Passport Union states, although practically the fact that all are also EEA and Schengen members supercedes it.
    It isn't inevitable. But it is a possible outcome of the route which we are currently on. And whether or not it happens is out of our control. That's what being a small power very close to a much larger power means in practice.
  • Options
    rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 58,279
    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    The theme of this conference was supposed to be opportunity. A pretty vacuous word at best but what has any minister said that is relevant to it?

    Where are the announcements of the extension of homework clubs, pupil premiums and incentivisation of teachers to go to "difficult" schools, what has been said (other than by Boris) about the difficulties with housing, with the unfairness of student grants, with funding social care, etc etc? Where is this opportunity that they speak of?

    I confess I have not been glued to the Conference, it is entirely possible that I have missed something but the 2 announcements I have picked up on are (a) waiters get to keep their tips and (b) EU citizens in the future will be treated the same as applicants from the rest of the world. (b) is obviously subject to the terms of deal with the EU so it doesn't exactly leave a program for government does it?

    One of May's most serious failings as a leader (definitely top 3) is that she thinks the job of government is to keep buggering on through difficult circumstances without wasting too much time wondering where they are going and why. No doubt she will unveil a vision of a shining city on a hill at 10am today...

    Sky saying it is 11.30
    Well that gives her another 90 minutes to come up with something.
    https://twitter.com/DPJHodges/status/1047382766348853248
  • Options
    RoyalBlueRoyalBlue Posts: 3,223
    Jonathan said:

    OchEye said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    FPT on Galileo... If you adopt the position, pour la vue de nez, that Williamson is misinformed or ignorant about everything except fireplaces you won't go far wrong.

    The Falklands and Ascension Galileo facilities are "Sensor Stations". They download telemetry and relay it to the control centres. They provide NO uplink or control or localised position information. If Galileo lost access to these facilities it means there would be an area over the South Atlantic where data would not be available. As Galileo satellites have an orbital period of 14 hours and 'repeat cycle' of 10 days the black spot would only be a relatively small percentage of each satellite's cycle.

    In reality, if Galileo where to be kicked out of the FI and ASI then they would probably build new Sensor Stations on the coast of Chile or Argentina (who would love to fuck us over on this matter) and Cape Verde.

    Finally, while the satellite payloads are manufactured the UK they are not made by the UK government owned and directed Royal British Satellite Factory they are made by Airbus Space and Defense. So while the British government could certainly do a Putin/Mugabe style expropriation of the facility it could not stop Airbus using the intellectual property to make them elsewhere.

    In conclusion, Willamson is, as usual, talking absolute shit fuelled by crass stupidity.

    This theme of Galileo does reappear quite frequently in a squall of ill informed speculation. Maybe I'll write a header on it...

    The lack of knowledge about modern technology in Parliament is actually rather sweet. Personally I read the comments on The Register website after the latest Government technology announcements, and have to stop myself laughing at the replies by actual experts. Having a PPE or a degree in Law or the Classics can't make a civil servant or cabinet minister an expert in something which is moving forward so fast.. Or the EU, manufacturing, house building, finance, banking and hedge funds, agriculture and fishing,....
    There is a recent book called Bluffocracy which blames the PPE degree in particular for producing politicians, civil servants and journalists adept at quickly mastering briefs well enough for debate (or last minute essays at Oxford) but with no understanding.
    https://www.bitebackpublishing.com/books/bluffocracy
    Are you a medium sized country let down by your leaders? Have you been misold PPE?
    I laughed out loud when I read this. Brilliant :smile:
  • Options
    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 117,097
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    Ishmael_ZIshmael_Z Posts: 8,981
    Foxy said:



    There are also plans for a horizontal-launch facility from Cornwall, near Newquay, potentially along with other sites in North Wales and near Glasgow. I think Virgin Galactic are involved with at least one. AIUI the planes can carry only small payloads into orbit, but by flying over the sea they can get a wide range of orbits unavailable from land.

    So I guess the question is how big GPS satellites are compared to VG's capability. According to Wiki each GPS satellite weighs about 2t at launch and 1t once on orbit (presumably the difference being propellant), whilst Gallileo sats weight about 700kg. It looks as though VG's LauncherOne will not be able to loft anywhere near that weight.

    It's all moot, though: the Russians, SpaceX or eventually BO would launch them - and I doubt the Russian or American governments would object. It'd be expensive, though.

    Is the weight difference not just because stuff weighs (as opposed to masses) less in orbit? I doubt they use a ton of propellant to get there in the first place (the rocket does that) and what propellant they do have, they hoard for positioning manoeuvres.

    Then again, I gave up science after a C in Physics O level.
  • Options
    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 117,097
    edited October 2018

    HYUFD said:

    Michael Gove says No Deal Brexit would be 'suboptimal' and 'did not expect the head of steam' behind the 'People's Vote' campaign

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-45725615

    God that man is shameless. Translation - “I don’t really care about the outcome of Brexit, all I really care about is trying to gain favour with the Remainers in the party so I can be the next leader. So I will support whatever rubbish May comes back with so Brexit will be out of the way and then I can take over. In the meantime I will tell some lies about improving Brexit later to keep the Leavers onside.”
    Gove is certainly now firmly in the pro Deal prop up May camp rather than the Boris camp
  • Options
    rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 58,279
    RoyalBlue said:

    Jonathan said:

    OchEye said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    FPT on Galileo... If you adopt the position, pour la vue de nez, that Williamson is misinformed or ignorant about everything except fireplaces you won't go far wrong.

    The Falklands and Ascension Galileo facilities are "Sensor Stations". They download telemetry and relay it to the control centres. They provide NO uplink or control or localised position information. If Galileo lost access to these facilities it means there would be an area over the South Atlantic where data would not be available. As Galileo satellites have an orbital period of 14 hours and 'repeat cycle' of 10 days the black spot would only be a relatively small percentage of each satellite's cycle.

    In reality, if Galileo where to be kicked out of the FI and ASI then they would probably build new Sensor Stations on the coast of Chile or Argentina (who would love to fuck us over on this matter) and Cape Verde.

    Finally, while the satellite payloads are manufactured the UK they are not made by the UK government owned and directed Royal British Satellite Factory they are made by Airbus Space and Defense. So while the British government could certainly do a Putin/Mugabe style expropriation of the facility it could not stop Airbus using the intellectual property to make them elsewhere.

    In conclusion, Willamson is, as usual, talking absolute shit fuelled by crass stupidity.

    This theme of Galileo does reappear quite frequently in a squall of ill informed speculation. Maybe I'll write a header on it...

    The lack of knowledge about modern technology in Parliament is actually rather sweet. Personally I read the comments on The Register website after the latest Government technology announcements, and have to stop myself laughing at the replies by actual experts. Having a PPE or a degree in Law or the Classics can't make a civil servant or cabinet minister an expert in something which is moving forward so fast.. Or the EU, manufacturing, house building, finance, banking and hedge funds, agriculture and fishing,....
    There is a recent book called Bluffocracy which blames the PPE degree in particular for producing politicians, civil servants and journalists adept at quickly mastering briefs well enough for debate (or last minute essays at Oxford) but with no understanding.
    https://www.bitebackpublishing.com/books/bluffocracy
    Are you a medium sized country let down by your leaders? Have you been misold PPE?
    I laughed out loud when I read this. Brilliant :smile:
    Yeh. Genuine :lol:

    Post of the year contender?
  • Options
    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Michael Gove says No Deal Brexit would be 'suboptimal' and 'did not expect the head of steam' behind the 'People's Vote' campaign

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-45725615

    God that man is shameless. Translation - “I don’t really care about the outcome of Brexit, all I really care about is trying to gain favour with the Remainers in the party so I can be the next leader. So I will support whatever rubbish May comes back with so Brexit will be out of the way and then I can take over. In the meantime I will tell some lies about improving Brexit later to keep the Leavers onside.”
    Gove is certainly now firmly in the pro Deal prop up May camp rather than the Boris camp
    I remember it was not so long ago that you assured us that Gove would back Boris in the next Tory leadership contest.

    Where did it all go wrong?
  • Options
    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 117,097

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Michael Gove says No Deal Brexit would be 'suboptimal' and 'did not expect the head of steam' behind the 'People's Vote' campaign

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-45725615

    God that man is shameless. Translation - “I don’t really care about the outcome of Brexit, all I really care about is trying to gain favour with the Remainers in the party so I can be the next leader. So I will support whatever rubbish May comes back with so Brexit will be out of the way and then I can take over. In the meantime I will tell some lies about improving Brexit later to keep the Leavers onside.”
    Gove is certainly now firmly in the pro Deal prop up May camp rather than the Boris camp
    I remember it was not so long ago that you assured us that Gove would back Boris in the next Tory leadership contest.

    Where did it all go wrong?
    Gove will back himself above all
  • Options
    rkrkrkrkrkrk Posts: 7,908
    HYUFD said:

    May has stopped reading newspapers in the morning 'to preserve her wellbeing'

    https://mobile.twitter.com/tnewtondunn/status/1047251687411515392

    This is excellent advice more should follow.
  • Options
    GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 20,865
    HYUFD said:

    May has stopped reading newspapers in the morning 'to preserve her wellbeing'

    https://mobile.twitter.com/tnewtondunn/status/1047251687411515392

    LOL! In her bunker and in denial.
  • Options
    GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 20,865
    HYUFD said:
    Danny Finkelstein,,, Who wanted to remain? :D
  • Options
    rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 58,279

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Michael Gove says No Deal Brexit would be 'suboptimal' and 'did not expect the head of steam' behind the 'People's Vote' campaign

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-45725615

    God that man is shameless. Translation - “I don’t really care about the outcome of Brexit, all I really care about is trying to gain favour with the Remainers in the party so I can be the next leader. So I will support whatever rubbish May comes back with so Brexit will be out of the way and then I can take over. In the meantime I will tell some lies about improving Brexit later to keep the Leavers onside.”
    Gove is certainly now firmly in the pro Deal prop up May camp rather than the Boris camp
    I remember it was not so long ago that you assured us that Gove would back Boris in the next Tory leadership contest.

    Where did it all go wrong?
    He had another chat with his wife?
  • Options
    DavidLDavidL Posts: 51,356

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    The theme of this conference was supposed to be opportunity. A pretty vacuous word at best but what has any minister said that is relevant to it?

    Where are the announcements of the extension of homework clubs, pupil premiums and incentivisation of teachers to go to "difficult" schools, what has been said (other than by Boris) about the difficulties with housing, with the unfairness of student grants, with funding social care, etc etc? Where is this opportunity that they speak of?

    I confess I have not been glued to the Conference, it is entirely possible that I have missed something but the 2 announcements I have picked up on are (a) waiters get to keep their tips and (b) EU citizens in the future will be treated the same as applicants from the rest of the world. (b) is obviously subject to the terms of deal with the EU so it doesn't exactly leave a program for government does it?

    One of May's most serious failings as a leader (definitely top 3) is that she thinks the job of government is to keep buggering on through difficult circumstances without wasting too much time wondering where they are going and why. No doubt she will unveil a vision of a shining city on a hill at 10am today...

    Sky saying it is 11.30
    Well that gives her another 90 minutes to come up with something.
    Im hoping she has a tap dance routine
    She definitely looks more like a strictly sort of girl to me.
  • Options
    OchEyeOchEye Posts: 1,469
    Oops, embarrassing : "DFE caught adding tuition fees to school funding claims"

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-45706603
  • Options
    JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 39,057
    Ishmael_Z said:

    Foxy said:



    There are also plans for a horizontal-launch facility from Cornwall, near Newquay, potentially along with other sites in North Wales and near Glasgow. I think Virgin Galactic are involved with at least one. AIUI the planes can carry only small payloads into orbit, but by flying over the sea they can get a wide range of orbits unavailable from land.

    So I guess the question is how big GPS satellites are compared to VG's capability. According to Wiki each GPS satellite weighs about 2t at launch and 1t once on orbit (presumably the difference being propellant), whilst Gallileo sats weight about 700kg. It looks as though VG's LauncherOne will not be able to loft anywhere near that weight.

    It's all moot, though: the Russians, SpaceX or eventually BO would launch them - and I doubt the Russian or American governments would object. It'd be expensive, though.

    Is the weight difference not just because stuff weighs (as opposed to masses) less in orbit? I doubt they use a ton of propellant to get there in the first place (the rocket does that) and what propellant they do have, they hoard for positioning manoeuvres.

    Then again, I gave up science after a C in Physics O level.
    Note: pure guesswork (I daresay My Ace will be along to say this is waffle):

    There might be some differences in capability that account for the weight, More likely, it is manoeuvring fuel to get them from the orbit that the rocket delivers them, to their final orbit. US GPG satellites may rely on on-board thrusters to achieve their final orbit, whilst the Galileo ones may be delivered nearer their final orbit by the rocket (e.g. by using a third stage). Or the given weights might be wrong. ;)

    It is common for many satellites to get themselves from (say) a Geostationary Transfer Orbit to their final geostationary orbit using their on-board fuel and thrusters. Galileo is MEO rather than GEO (hence lower), but the effect will be the same. Also, if you launch multiple on the same rocket, but want them in slightly different orbits, they'll need to move to their required orbits from the launch one.
  • Options



    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Michael Gove says No Deal Brexit would be 'suboptimal' and 'did not expect the head of steam' behind the 'People's Vote' campaign

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-45725615

    God that man is shameless. Translation - “I don’t really care about the outcome of Brexit, all I really care about is trying to gain favour with the Remainers in the party so I can be the next leader. So I will support whatever rubbish May comes back with so Brexit will be out of the way and then I can take over. In the meantime I will tell some lies about improving Brexit later to keep the Leavers onside.”
    Gove is certainly now firmly in the pro Deal prop up May camp rather than the Boris camp
    I remember it was not so long ago that you assured us that Gove would back Boris in the next Tory leadership contest.

    Where did it all go wrong?
    He had another chat with his wife?
    He was never backing Johnson.

    I tried to tell HYUFD that.
  • Options
    DecrepitJohnLDecrepitJohnL Posts: 13,300
    edited October 2018
    HYUFD said:

    May has stopped reading newspapers in the morning 'to preserve her wellbeing'

    https://mobile.twitter.com/tnewtondunn/status/1047251687411515392

    So did Mrs Thatcher. Her former press secretary, Bernard Ingham, lamented that one reason for John Major's problems was that he insisted on reading the papers for himself, and not the carefully edited extracts prepared by the civil service.
  • Options
    AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    HYUFD said:

    May has stopped reading newspapers in the morning 'to preserve her wellbeing'

    https://mobile.twitter.com/tnewtondunn/status/1047251687411515392

    Same as everyone else in the country then. Only the old and the mad still read newspapers, and mostly those in the overlapping part of the Venn diagram.
  • Options

    HYUFD said:

    Michael Gove says No Deal Brexit would be 'suboptimal' and 'did not expect the head of steam' behind the 'People's Vote' campaign

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-45725615

    God that man is shameless. Translation - “I don’t really care about the outcome of Brexit, all I really care about is trying to gain favour with the Remainers in the party so I can be the next leader. So I will support whatever rubbish May comes back with so Brexit will be out of the way and then I can take over. In the meantime I will tell some lies about improving Brexit later to keep the Leavers onside.”

    Unlike you, Gove lives in the UK and would have to deal with the consequences of a No Deal Brexit.

  • Options
    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    The theme of this conference was supposed to be opportunity. A pretty vacuous word at best but what has any minister said that is relevant to it?

    Where are the announcements of the extension of homework clubs, pupil premiums and incentivisation of teachers to go to "difficult" schools, what has been said (other than by Boris) about the difficulties with housing, with the unfairness of student grants, with funding social care, etc etc? Where is this opportunity that they speak of?

    I confess I have not been glued to the Conference, it is entirely possible that I have missed something but the 2 announcements I have picked up on are (a) waiters get to keep their tips and (b) EU citizens in the future will be treated the same as applicants from the rest of the world. (b) is obviously subject to the terms of deal with the EU so it doesn't exactly leave a program for government does it?

    One of May's most serious failings as a leader (definitely top 3) is that she thinks the job of government is to keep buggering on through difficult circumstances without wasting too much time wondering where they are going and why. No doubt she will unveil a vision of a shining city on a hill at 10am today...

    Sky saying it is 11.30
    Well that gives her another 90 minutes to come up with something.
    Im hoping she has a tap dance routine
    She definitely looks more like a strictly sort of girl to me.

    I think the best May could manage would be an out of time hand jive.

  • Options
    rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 58,279
    edited October 2018

    HYUFD said:

    May has stopped reading newspapers in the morning 'to preserve her wellbeing'

    https://mobile.twitter.com/tnewtondunn/status/1047251687411515392

    Same as everyone else in the country then. Only the old and the mad still read newspapers, and mostly those in the overlapping part of the Venn diagram.
    Excuse me. I am not old and my psychiatrist assures me that madness is a spectrum illness.

    I try and buy and read the Guardian everyday, plus spend far too long on news websites.
  • Options
    Ishmael_ZIshmael_Z Posts: 8,981

    HYUFD said:

    Michael Gove says No Deal Brexit would be 'suboptimal' and 'did not expect the head of steam' behind the 'People's Vote' campaign

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-45725615

    God that man is shameless. Translation - “I don’t really care about the outcome of Brexit, all I really care about is trying to gain favour with the Remainers in the party so I can be the next leader. So I will support whatever rubbish May comes back with so Brexit will be out of the way and then I can take over. In the meantime I will tell some lies about improving Brexit later to keep the Leavers onside.”

    Unlike you, Gove lives in the UK and would have to deal with the consequences of a No Deal Brexit.

    I believe Mr Archer is a UK citizen, which I would have thought gave him the right to comment without this point being made against him every time. He is upfront in his username as to where he comes from. But perhaps you regard his posts as unwelcome immigrants which should be turned away at the UK's cyberboundaries and sent back where they came from?
  • Options
    SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,927
    OchEye said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    FPT on Galileo... If you adopt the position, pour la vue de nez, that Williamson is misinformed or ignorant about everything except fireplaces you won't go far wrong.

    The Falklands and Ascension Galileo facilities are "Sensor Stations". They download telemetry and relay it to the control centres. They provide NO uplink or control or localised position information. If Galileo lost access to these facilities it means there would be an area over the South Atlantic where data would not be available. As Galileo satellites have an orbital period of 14 hours and 'repeat cycle' of 10 days the black spot would only be a relatively small percentage of each satellite's cycle.

    In reality, if Galileo where to be kicked out of the FI and ASI then they would probably build new Sensor Stations on the coast of Chile or Argentina (who would love to fuck us over on this matter) and Cape Verde.

    Finally, while the satellite payloads are manufactured the UK they are not made by the UK government owned and directed Royal British Satellite Factory they are made by Airbus Space and Defense. So while the British government could certainly do a Putin/Mugabe style expropriation of the facility it could not stop Airbus using the intellectual property to make them elsewhere.

    In conclusion, Willamson is, as usual, talking absolute shit fuelled by crass stupidity.

    This theme of Galileo does reappear quite frequently in a squall of ill informed speculation. Maybe I'll write a header on it...

    The lack of knowledge about modern technology in Parliament is actually rather sweet. Personally I read the comments on The Register website after the latest Government technology announcements, and have to stop myself laughing at the replies by actual experts. Having a PPE or a degree in Law or the Classics can't make a civil servant or cabinet minister an expert in something which is moving forward so fast.. Or the EU, manufacturing, house building, finance, banking and hedge funds, agriculture and fishing,....
    :+1: The problem is mainly with the army of Sir Humphreys, who seem to acquire information about the modern world of technology at a glacial pace.
  • Options
    Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 13,019



    Note: pure guesswork (I daresay My Ace will be along to say this is waffle):

    Sounds about right to me. I am no expert on orbital mechanics.

    I don't think anyone is contesting that the UK could do its own satellite guidance system. The pertinent question is that is it a wise use of the money that would have to be borrowed to do it. We'd probably need one or more international partners to make it viable but it's hard to see who that could be. Israel would have been a good match and would bring a lot to the project but they have recently joined Galileo.
  • Options
    edmundintokyoedmundintokyo Posts: 17,151
    Ishmael_Z said:

    HYUFD said:

    Michael Gove says No Deal Brexit would be 'suboptimal' and 'did not expect the head of steam' behind the 'People's Vote' campaign

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-45725615

    God that man is shameless. Translation - “I don’t really care about the outcome of Brexit, all I really care about is trying to gain favour with the Remainers in the party so I can be the next leader. So I will support whatever rubbish May comes back with so Brexit will be out of the way and then I can take over. In the meantime I will tell some lies about improving Brexit later to keep the Leavers onside.”

    Unlike you, Gove lives in the UK and would have to deal with the consequences of a No Deal Brexit.

    I believe Mr Archer is a UK citizen, which I would have thought gave him the right to comment without this point being made against him every time. He is upfront in his username as to where he comes from. But perhaps you regard his posts as unwelcome immigrants which should be turned away at the UK's cyberboundaries and sent back where they came from?
    Agree.

    Also we do good threads here about US politics, and a lot of the more astute comments aren't from people who live in the US.
  • Options
    RoyalBlueRoyalBlue Posts: 3,223

    HYUFD said:

    Michael Gove says No Deal Brexit would be 'suboptimal' and 'did not expect the head of steam' behind the 'People's Vote' campaign

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-45725615

    God that man is shameless. Translation - “I don’t really care about the outcome of Brexit, all I really care about is trying to gain favour with the Remainers in the party so I can be the next leader. So I will support whatever rubbish May comes back with so Brexit will be out of the way and then I can take over. In the meantime I will tell some lies about improving Brexit later to keep the Leavers onside.”

    Unlike you, Gove lives in the UK and would have to deal with the consequences of a No Deal Brexit.

    Can you please stop these mind-numbingly tedious references to archer’s location? It is perfectly possible to be British, resident overseas and concerned for one’s country, unless you’re a knuckle-dragging nativist. I know you’re a member of the Labour Party under Corbyn’s leadership, but I wouldn’t call you that.

    Would you like it if posters here suggested your anti-Brexit stance was motivated solely by the pile of money you recently made, and concern that it might be devalued?
  • Options
    Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 60,345
    edited October 2018
    GIN1138 said:

    HYUFD said:
    Danny Finkelstein,,, Who wanted to remain? :D
    The way the party is at war with itself is deeply depressing.

    Boris represents the little englander mindset that tells Airbus to FO, together with not caring a jot for the union with some content to lose NI and Scotland. Not one person from this hard right of the party explain how they prevent an Irish hard border or protect our just in time car and aerospace industries.

    Then looking at the left of the party we have mps actively campaigning to put the country through another referendum including Soubry, Grieve, Lee, Wollaston, and Greening, going as far as threatening to cross the floor if they do not get their way. Additionally there are a group of female conservatives mps who have said they will resign from the party if Boris gets near power.

    Well I say a plague on both of your houses.

    Neither of you represent this member who just wants to achieve a sensible divorce from the EU and move onto domestic issues including the NHS, social care, housing and affordable renting, and recognisation of the struggles of the young generation.

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