I heard Jo Swinson on Sky News this morning. I reckon she’s trying to hide her Scottish accent.
You would be hard pushed to know she was born in Scotland, desperate to show how English she really is just like the anti Scottish English immigrants on here, Carlotta, TGOHF.
Uni in London, then worked in Yorkshire, plus her husband is English. Does things to accents, even the strongest.
Only if you want it to, I spent many years in England and other countries around the world and have not changed my accent one bit.
Why are we not surprised ?
Would you refuse to speak French if in France ? The principle is exactly the same.
I would try to speak French but it would not be with a French accent unless a miracle happened. Changing your accent is for losers, insecure people who have to meld into the surroundings and crawlers who will do anything to try and be something...
I have to disagree with you there, malcolm.
While I don't think there's any obligation to modify your accent for a given audience, some might consider it simple politeness, and a determination not to do so, bloodyminded.
Code switching is completely natural for some, and impossible for others, and I don't think it reflects any particular moral value either way.
Nigel, perfectly acceptable for us to agree to disagree and meet in the middle
On topic, let's get real. The people who want to question the special relationship have been supercharged because of who the US elected as their President. You feel really queasy that Trump is the person we have to be bessy mates with. When Obama was in office - not so much.
If it were Hilary, you'd be fawning over the first Madam President....
This is partly true, but rightly so. Trump is unashamedly and openly transactional in his foreign affairs, he does not believe in alliances but using US power for negotiating (threatening, bullying) with the rest of the world, including friends. The rational response of the UK should be to either wait him out, or build up (not dismantle!) alternative alliances with other friendly countries to be able to withstand the pressure.
Obama had a very different policy wanting to build up alliances particularly in Asia to counterbalance China. The rational response of the UK would be to remind Obama of the benefits from the existing alliance with UK and Europe.
Next Scottish FIrst Minister - to succeed Nicola Sturgeon, either as FM, or Head of Government in independent state
Ruth Davidson 5/1 Richard Leonard 6/1 Derek Mackay 10/1 Keith Brown 12/1 Kate Forbes 12/1 Humza Yousaf 12/1 Mhairi Black 16/1 Angus Robertson 16/1 Shona Robison 16/1 John Swinney 16/1 Stewart Hosie 20/1 Michael Matheson 20/1 Shirley-Anne Somerville 20/1 many other names listed, both SNP and others, at longer prices
(Coral; Ladbrokes)
Some of the names on here are just daft at such short prices, not least prime turkey Ruthie.
This is going to be between Mackay and A.N.Other. Who Mr or Mrs Other might be is a bit of a mystery. Leonard is not even going to be SLab leader at the next Scottish GE, and I’d be surprised if Ruthie is still around either. The most tempting Unionist prices are:
Anas Sarwar (SLab) at 100/1 Neil Findlay (SLab) at 100/1 Willie Rennie (SLD) at 100/1
All of those have got to be worth a speculative price of a pint, surely?
I’d stick a tenner on Mackay if I thought Sturgeon was on the brink of retirement. However, she isn’t.
Why are Ruth’s odds any different to the Tories getting a majority at Holyrood (saving weight of money / risk management etc)?
Its the same approach with the EU, nobody fights the UK corner and we instead of kidding ourselves about a "special relationship" we kid ourselves about "influence". We just need some mean nasty bastards who put our own voters first and who frankly will earn more respect for the UK.
Yes, but one doesn't have to be nasty, just clear and firm. What's really exasperated the EU over the last 3 years is not that we're nice or nasty, but that we really can't decide what we want. One can be nice as pie and yet utterly infuriating.
"What would you like to drink, sir?" "I'm so glad you asked. Either tea or coffee, or perhaps just water." "Certainly sir. Which would you prefer?" "I'm not sure, so sorry to be a nuisance. Tea, perhaps." "Tea, coming up." "No, wait, maybe coffee." ,,,
There's a US special relationship for Brexit, which is the main point of interest right now. Brexit at its core is an ideological project to move the UK away from European social democracy and international multilateralism into an irredentist US-led Conservative sphere. There is a lot of US money going into this project, which is also backed by those close to Trump. The US FTA is important to this project for its symbolism and because the incompatibility of US rules with EU ones makes it harder for a future government to switch back to an EU sphere.
It isn't a vision that much shared outside Johnson's coterie. Voters like their social protections, lifestyles and jobs too much.
It's the americans now ?
I thought it was the Russians driving Brexit.
The people driving Brexit are those around Johnson and Farage who have strong links with the people around Trump. If money talks, it's in significant part US money talking.
Im losing track of which conspiracy theory is now current. Give it a month and the green lizards will be taking over.
It's easy to be flippant I doubt anyone believes that there is any sinister hand pulling the strings on Brexit. Nobody really believes that Putin or Trump are "driving" Brexit. It's a straw man argument.
It would be equally naive not to recognise that both Putin and Trump are both actively backing Brexit for their own political purposes. There is nothing that says that Trump and Putin can't both want the same outcome for Brexit albeit for different reasons.
I can quite happily recognise that Trump and Putin have their own interests in Brexit, But so do Merkel and Macron and Tusk. At the end of the day I dont care which country thinks what, this is an issue for us to sort out ourselves.
Is anyone alleging that Merkel or Macron got involved in Brexit in the way Russia did?
I heard Jo Swinson on Sky News this morning. I reckon she’s trying to hide her Scottish accent.
You would be hard pushed to know she was born in Scotland, desperate to show how English she really is just like the anti Scottish English immigrants on here, Carlotta, TGOHF.
Uni in London, then worked in Yorkshire, plus her husband is English. Does things to accents, even the strongest.
There is a term used by linguists for this phenomenon, where adults are easily swayed by accents and linguistic patterns they are exposed to (children all do this, but quite rare among adults). Nearly all of the sufferers are women apparently.
Certainly in my experience, I know several women with extremely strange/contorted accents. I was a university with a woman who usually spoke broad Glaswegian, but in certain situations (eg. when talking to her dad) switched to broad Lancashire. It was weird, and impressive, to see.
I’m sure Swinson is aware of her weird accent, but I’m afraid she is probably totally incapable of doing anything about it. The unfortunate thing is that many listeners will suspect she is trying to pretend to be someone she isn’t.
Next Scottish FIrst Minister - to succeed Nicola Sturgeon, either as FM, or Head of Government in independent state
Ruth Davidson 5/1 Richard Leonard 6/1 Derek Mackay 10/1 Keith Brown 12/1 Kate Forbes 12/1 Humza Yousaf 12/1 Mhairi Black 16/1 Angus Robertson 16/1 Shona Robison 16/1 John Swinney 16/1 Stewart Hosie 20/1 Michael Matheson 20/1 Shirley-Anne Somerville 20/1 many other names listed, both SNP and others, at longer prices
(Coral; Ladbrokes)
Some of the names on here are just daft at such short prices, not least prime turkey Ruthie.
This is going to be between Mackay and A.N.Other. Who Mr or Mrs Other might be is a bit of a mystery. Leonard is not even going to be SLab leader at the next Scottish GE, and I’d be surprised if Ruthie is still around either. The most tempting Unionist prices are:
Anas Sarwar (SLab) at 100/1 Neil Findlay (SLab) at 100/1 Willie Rennie (SLD) at 100/1
All of those have got to be worth a speculative price of a pint, surely?
I’d stick a tenner on Mackay if I thought Sturgeon was on the brink of retirement. However, she isn’t.
So Derek Mackay is now heir apparent? No chance of Angus Robertson coming back into front line politics?
1. Yes 2. Probably (campaign chief Yes2?)
Unlike Con and Lab heirs apparent, SNP ones usually manage it.
It was only muppets on here who couldn't see Boris was May's nailed-on heir apparent.....
There's a US special relationship for Brexit, which is the main point of interest right now. Brexit at its core is an ideological project to move the UK away from European social democracy and international multilateralism into an irredentist US-led Conservative sphere. There is a lot of US money going into this project, which is also backed by those close to Trump. The US FTA is important to this project for its symbolism and because the incompatibility of US rules with EU ones makes it harder for a future government to switch back to an EU sphere.
It isn't a vision that much shared outside Johnson's coterie. Voters like their social protections, lifestyles and jobs too much.
It's the americans now ?
I thought it was the Russians driving Brexit.
The people driving Brexit are those around Johnson and Farage who have strong links with the people around Trump. If money talks, it's in significant part US money talking.
Im losing track of which conspiracy theory is now current. Give it a month and the green lizards will be taking over.
It's easy to be flippant I doubt anyone believes that there is any sinister hand pulling the strings on Brexit. Nobody really believes that Putin or Trump are "driving" Brexit. It's a straw man argument.
It would be equally naive not to recognise that both Putin and Trump are both actively backing Brexit for their own political purposes. There is nothing that says that Trump and Putin can't both want the same outcome for Brexit albeit for different reasons.
I can quite happily recognise that Trump and Putin have their own interests in Brexit, But so do Merkel and Macron and Tusk. At the end of the day I dont care which country thinks what, this is an issue for us to sort out ourselves.
Is anyone alleging that Merkel or Macron got involved in Brexit in the way Russia did?
I must have missed the bit where Merkel launched a bot farm in Heidelberg dedicated to pro-Remain memes.
Alanbrooke’s problem - and why he should be ignored by any sober poster - is that he genuinely sees no difference between Merkel/Macron and Putin.
The government and HS2 knew that the new high speed railway was over budget and was probably behind schedule years ago, documents seen by the BBC show.
Crucially, the documents were written in 2016, before MPs had signed-off the first phase of the project.
It is evidence that both the public and Parliament were not given the full picture about the true cost.
There's a US special relationship for Brexit, which is the main point of interest right now. Brexit at its core is an ideological project to move the UK away from European social democracy and international multilateralism into an irredentist US-led Conservative sphere. There is a lot of US money going into this project, which is also backed by those close to Trump. The US FTA is important to this project for its symbolism and because the incompatibility of US rules with EU ones makes it harder for a future government to switch back to an EU sphere.
It isn't a vision that much shared outside Johnson's coterie. Voters like their social protections, lifestyles and jobs too much.
It's the americans now ?
I thought it was the Russians driving Brexit.
The people driving Brexit are those around Johnson and Farage who have strong links with the people around Trump. If money talks, it's in significant part US money talking.
Im losing track of which conspiracy theory is now current. Give it a month and the green lizards will be taking over.
It's easy to be flippant I doubt anyone believes that there is any sinister hand pulling the strings on Brexit. Nobody really believes that Putin or Trump are "driving" Brexit. It's a straw man argument.
It would be equally naive not to recognise that both Putin and Trump are both actively backing Brexit for their own political purposes. There is nothing that says that Trump and Putin can't both want the same outcome for Brexit albeit for different reasons.
I can quite happily recognise that Trump and Putin have their own interests in Brexit, But so do Merkel and Macron and Tusk. At the end of the day I dont care which country thinks what, this is an issue for us to sort out ourselves.
We English voted for sovereignty. Unionist Brexiteers like you were turkeys voting for Christmas.
Is this the kind of trade deal we are likely to see proposed by Trump ?
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201908260020.html Lighthizer said the deal, which covered agriculture, industrial tariffs and digital trade, would open up Japanese markets to U.S. goods and lead to a substantial reduction in tariffs on such items as beef.
Japan imports about $14 billion worth of U.S. agricultural products, and the agreement will open up markets to over $7 billion of such products, Lighthizer said, adding that beef, pork, wheat, dairy products, wine, and ethanol would benefit.
Trump said Japan has agreed to buy excess U.S. corn that is burdening farmers as a result of the tariff dispute between Washington and Beijing.
There was little information on what Japan gained from the deal...
The one take away from Trump's career of welching, bilking and grifting is that his definition of a great deal is one where the other guy feels he didn't get a great deal (at the time or later). It doesn't bode well for our pork pie and and shower tray manufacturers trying to break America.
Next Scottish FIrst Minister - to succeed Nicola Sturgeon, either as FM, or Head of Government in independent state
Ruth Davidson 5/1 Richard Leonard 6/1 Derek Mackay 10/1 Keith Brown 12/1 Kate Forbes 12/1 Humza Yousaf 12/1 Mhairi Black 16/1 Angus Robertson 16/1 Shona Robison 16/1 John Swinney 16/1 Stewart Hosie 20/1 Michael Matheson 20/1 Shirley-Anne Somerville 20/1 many other names listed, both SNP and others, at longer prices
(Coral; Ladbrokes)
Some of the names on here are just daft at such short prices, not least prime turkey Ruthie.
This is going to be between Mackay and A.N.Other. Who Mr or Mrs Other might be is a bit of a mystery. Leonard is not even going to be SLab leader at the next Scottish GE, and I’d be surprised if Ruthie is still around either. The most tempting Unionist prices are:
Anas Sarwar (SLab) at 100/1 Neil Findlay (SLab) at 100/1 Willie Rennie (SLD) at 100/1
All of those have got to be worth a speculative price of a pint, surely?
I’d stick a tenner on Mackay if I thought Sturgeon was on the brink of retirement. However, she isn’t.
I thought Findlay had announced he is leaving politics, and both Sarwar and Rennie are so bad it should be at least 10000-1. Surprised Mike Russel is not there but if Sturgeon does not have Indyref2 this parliament then I suspect either Mackay or Robertson would be my choices. Robertson or Russel would be best but Mackay is beginning to sound pretty good and may indeed be the future.
Thanks Malcolm, I had missed the Findlay retirement announcement:
Yes, Sarwar and Rennie are both dire, but if they manage to cobble together a Con-Lab-LD-Grn coalition, who else could be FM? A Tory is out of the question. Labour have nobody capable of stringing a sentence together, which leaves Angry Wullie. Unlikely I know, but Unionist beggars can’t be choosers.
Mike Russell is priced at 33/1.
If it’s not Mackay then it is probably somebody not even listed on Shadsy’s long list.
Given it cannot be Salmond I would want it to be Robertson.
All Ms Cyclefree is pointing out is that nations don't have friends, they have interests.
“But isn’t it about time that we stopped deluding ourselves about our importance?”
Aren’t we awful - let’s hate ourselves into a United States of Europe... Boring.
We are more likely to succeed at whatever we do if we are realistic about ourselves.
We have not been realistic - and it has led us to delusions about the EU and our place in it and is now leading us to delusions about our place outside it.
Those who don’t want us to be a vassal of the EU seem quite unbothered about the prospect of us being a vassal of the US.
Yes, that about sums up the situation. It would be funny if it wasn’t so tragic.
Is this the kind of trade deal we are likely to see proposed by Trump ?
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201908260020.html Lighthizer said the deal, which covered agriculture, industrial tariffs and digital trade, would open up Japanese markets to U.S. goods and lead to a substantial reduction in tariffs on such items as beef.
Japan imports about $14 billion worth of U.S. agricultural products, and the agreement will open up markets to over $7 billion of such products, Lighthizer said, adding that beef, pork, wheat, dairy products, wine, and ethanol would benefit.
Trump said Japan has agreed to buy excess U.S. corn that is burdening farmers as a result of the tariff dispute between Washington and Beijing.
There was little information on what Japan gained from the deal...
The one take away from Trump's career of welching, bilking and grifting is that his definition of a great deal is one where the other guy feels he didn't get a great deal (at the time or later). It doesn't bode well for our pork pie and and shower tray manufacturers trying to break America.
Yep - The one thing that is very obvious about Trump is that he doesn't understand how win, win works...
Typical of Corbyn to talk about a bankers Brexit when what he actually means is a hedge funds Brexit. I guess it's too much to epxect the man who wants to be our PM to understand the difference.
Next Scottish FIrst Minister - to succeed Nicola Sturgeon, either as FM, or Head of Government in independent state
Ruth Davidson 5/1 Richard Leonard 6/1 Derek Mackay 10/1 Keith Brown 12/1 Kate Forbes 12/1 Humza Yousaf 12/1 Mhairi Black 16/1 Angus Robertson 16/1 Shona Robison 16/1 John Swinney 16/1 Stewart Hosie 20/1 Michael Matheson 20/1 Shirley-Anne Somerville 20/1 many other names listed, both SNP and others, at longer prices
(Coral; Ladbrokes)
Some of the names on here are just daft at such short prices, not least prime turkey Ruthie.
This is going to be between Mackay and A.N.Other. Who Mr or Mrs Other might be is a bit of a mystery. Leonard is not even going to be SLab leader at the next Scottish GE, and I’d be surprised if Ruthie is still around either. The most tempting Unionist prices are:
Anas Sarwar (SLab) at 100/1 Neil Findlay (SLab) at 100/1 Willie Rennie (SLD) at 100/1
All of those have got to be worth a speculative price of a pint, surely?
I’d stick a tenner on Mackay if I thought Sturgeon was on the brink of retirement. However, she isn’t.
So Derek Mackay is now heir apparent? No chance of Angus Robertson coming back into front line politics?
1. Yes 2. Probably (campaign chief Yes2?)
Unlike Con and Lab heirs apparent, SNP ones usually manage it.
It was only muppets on here who couldn't see Boris was May's nailed-on heir apparent.....
Another of May's failings; she didn't have any associates who might have been able to pick up baton. Not that it worked that well with Blair and Brown!
There is no sense in Brexit other than respecting the referendum result
I wish we were not in this position and were it easy I would accept revoke
But we are where we are and we do need to leave
no-deal does not "respect" anything. I am not sure that a small majority on a referendum based on immoral emotionally bankrupt arguments, which was influenced by a hostile foreign power and led and manipulated by liars and racists should be respected anyone than if 52% voted in favour of eating their first born.
Among many other points, the following come to mind:
1) The claims of the Leave campaign, from Turkish accession to "easiest deal ever" were mostly totally untrue. 2) Specifically the idea that we would leave the SM or the CU was denied by Leave, many of whose members dismissed the idea on the grounds of the drastic economic impact. 3) The Leave side has been convicted of misuse of funds 4) There is a further ongoing investigation into the permissibility of donations of millions of Pounds made to the Leave side 5) There is considerable suspicion that impermissible donations came from Russian (and American) sources. 6) The Brexit process has smashed our international reputation 7) The Brexit process has already seen the GBP fall nearly 20% 8) Forecasts for a post Brexit economy vary from the scary to the catastrophic.
So we are where we are: a high court ruling has been made that were the referendum binding, it should be set aside by the courts, but because it is only advisory, the House of Commons is the only place that this disaster can be stopped.
In five years time we could be begging to become a wholly owned of Trumpistan, or trying to resume our equal partnership with the EU under significantly different terms. neither is exactly "Take back control!"
In fact the best way to do that is to understand why Farage and Assange have been so close, bearing in mind that Assange has been named by the Ecuadorian government as a Russian agent.
You'd have to be pretty thick not to understand that when we spoke to the US it was helpful to have the close ear of and some influence over the EU and when we spoke to the EU it was helpful to have the close ear of and perhaps some influence over the US.
Now sadly about to be no more.
nostalgia - that rather went out the door with Iraq and then Obama.
Well for better or for worse Dave did get Obama to give him a hand with EUref.
I think that was what decided me to definitively vote Leave.
I'm sure you weren't alone. The EU ref was an occasion for people to ignore rational thinking and vote based upon gut instincts and whim. A playground vote.
How is that different from a normal vote?
Normal vote: assess issues from competing candidates, choose candidate whose policies most closely aligns with your own views. Playground vote: don't like the colour of the shirt of one candidate, vote for other candidate.
Is the "I don't like Labour but my great grandfather would would rise from his grave if I thought about my vote and changed" a Normal or a Playground vote? I suspect that many votes are what you would call "Playground".
Norman Lamb to stand down for the Lib Dems. I get the impression that he's got fed up with Brexit dominating everything and his passions of mental health and social care not getting a look in.
I'm sure the Cons will pile into North Norfolk but It seems to me the Lib Dems are properly bedded in there and I'd expect the right LD candidate to hold comfortably.
Ouch! Unnecessary drain on LD resources. Last thing they need is experienced, coherent MPs getting disillusioned right now.
If the LDs are to gain a significant number of Con Seats, they cannot be fighting fires in their own backyard. (cf East Dunbartonshire)
A terrific header, this, from Ms C. It's what I go to school for.
My own feelings about the Anglo American relationship are at present so cluttered by their choice of President that I find it difficult to comment sensibly on the matter.
Let's just say I'm not keen on any relationship at all until he's gone. At least not in public.
You'd have to be pretty thick not to understand that when we spoke to the US it was helpful to have the close ear of and some influence over the EU and when we spoke to the EU it was helpful to have the close ear of and perhaps some influence over the US.
Now sadly about to be no more.
nostalgia - that rather went out the door with Iraq and then Obama.
Well for better or for worse Dave did get Obama to give him a hand with EUref.
I think that was what decided me to definitively vote Leave.
I'm sure you weren't alone. The EU ref was an occasion for people to ignore rational thinking and vote based upon gut instincts and whim. A playground vote.
How is that different from a normal vote?
Normal vote: assess issues from competing candidates, choose candidate whose policies most closely aligns with your own views. Playground vote: don't like the colour of the shirt of one candidate, vote for other candidate.
Is the "I don't like Labour but my great grandfather would would rise from his grave if I thought about my vote and changed" a Normal or a Playground vote? I suspect that many votes are what you would call "Playground".
Perhaps the wisdom of crowds should be called the noise-cancelling of the kindergarten.
Next Scottish FIrst Minister - to succeed Nicola Sturgeon, either as FM, or Head of Government in independent state
Ruth Davidson 5/1 Richard Leonard 6/1 Derek Mackay 10/1 Keith Brown 12/1 Kate Forbes 12/1 Humza Yousaf 12/1 Mhairi Black 16/1 Angus Robertson 16/1 Shona Robison 16/1 John Swinney 16/1 Stewart Hosie 20/1 Michael Matheson 20/1 Shirley-Anne Somerville 20/1 many other names listed, both SNP and others, at longer prices
(Coral; Ladbrokes)
Some of the names on here are just daft at such short prices, not least prime turkey Ruthie.
This is going to be between Mackay and A.N.Other. Who Mr or Mrs Other might be is a bit of a mystery. Leonard is not even going to be SLab leader at the next Scottish GE, and I’d be surprised if Ruthie is still around either. The most tempting Unionist prices are:
Anas Sarwar (SLab) at 100/1 Neil Findlay (SLab) at 100/1 Willie Rennie (SLD) at 100/1
All of those have got to be worth a speculative price of a pint, surely?
I’d stick a tenner on Mackay if I thought Sturgeon was on the brink of retirement. However, she isn’t.
Why are Ruth’s odds any different to the Tories getting a majority at Holyrood (saving weight of money / risk management etc)?
AFAIAA there is no Maj/Min/Coalition/C&S market up yet for the next Holyrood GE.
There is a Most Seats market:
SNP 1/5 Con 7/1 Lab 8/1 LD 50/1 Grn 200/1
There is a significant risk that Ruth will either:
- get disillusioned and retire - get the sack
Then add in that SLab and SLD wouldn’t touch her party with a shitty stick. ... so you’d have to be nuts to stake anything on her at such a silly short price as 5/1. Shadsy is taking the piss.
I heard Jo Swinson on Sky News this morning. I reckon she’s trying to hide her Scottish accent.
You would be hard pushed to know she was born in Scotland, desperate to show how English she really is just like the anti Scottish English immigrants on here, Carlotta, TGOHF.
Uni in London, then worked in Yorkshire, plus her husband is English. Does things to accents, even the strongest.
There is a term used by linguists for this phenomenon, where adults are easily swayed by accents and linguistic patterns they are exposed to (children all do this, but quite rare among adults). Nearly all of the sufferers are women apparently.
Certainly in my experience, I know several women with extremely strange/contorted accents. I was a university with a woman who usually spoke broad Glaswegian, but in certain situations (eg. when talking to her dad) switched to broad Lancashire. It was weird, and impressive, to see.
I’m sure Swinson is aware of her weird accent, but I’m afraid she is probably totally incapable of doing anything about it. The unfortunate thing is that many listeners will suspect she is trying to pretend to be someone she isn’t.
I believe the term is code switching (though this also refers to the ability to switch across languages in the course of conversation). Is it "rare" ? Not really in my experience.
And one might regard it as an ability, rather than something one "suffers" from. Similarly, "strange/contorted" is a value judgment which perhaps says as much about you as those you refer to.
Just bought a coffee with a ton of change and when I slapped down the coins - there were 11 of them - on the counter every single one fell tails up. All 11.
Utterly spooked - and not in a pleasant way.
If it were heads, that's one thing, that could be reassuring, but all tails cannot be good.
You'd have to be pretty thick not to understand that when we spoke to the US it was helpful to have the close ear of and some influence over the EU and when we spoke to the EU it was helpful to have the close ear of and perhaps some influence over the US.
Now sadly about to be no more.
nostalgia - that rather went out the door with Iraq and then Obama.
Well for better or for worse Dave did get Obama to give him a hand with EUref.
I think that was what decided me to definitively vote Leave.
I'm sure you weren't alone. The EU ref was an occasion for people to ignore rational thinking and vote based upon gut instincts and whim. A playground vote.
How is that different from a normal vote?
Normal vote: assess issues from competing candidates, choose candidate whose policies most closely aligns with your own views. Playground vote: don't like the colour of the shirt of one candidate, vote for other candidate.
Is the "I don't like Labour but my great grandfather would would rise from his grave if I thought about my vote and changed" a Normal or a Playground vote? I suspect that many votes are what you would call "Playground".
Next Scottish FIrst Minister - to succeed Nicola Sturgeon, either as FM, or Head of Government in independent state
Ruth Davidson 5/1 Richard Leonard 6/1 Derek Mackay 10/1 Keith Brown 12/1 Kate Forbes 12/1 Humza Yousaf 12/1 Mhairi Black 16/1 Angus Robertson 16/1 Shona Robison 16/1 John Swinney 16/1 Stewart Hosie 20/1 Michael Matheson 20/1 Shirley-Anne Somerville 20/1 many other names listed, both SNP and others, at longer prices
(Coral; Ladbrokes)
Some of the names on here are just daft at such short prices, not least prime turkey Ruthie.
This is going to be between Mackay and A.N.Other. Who Mr or Mrs Other might be is a bit of a mystery. Leonard is not even going to be SLab leader at the next Scottish GE, and I’d be surprised if Ruthie is still around either. The most tempting Unionist prices are:
Anas Sarwar (SLab) at 100/1 Neil Findlay (SLab) at 100/1 Willie Rennie (SLD) at 100/1
All of those have got to be worth a speculative price of a pint, surely?
I’d stick a tenner on Mackay if I thought Sturgeon was on the brink of retirement. However, she isn’t.
Why are Ruth’s odds any different to the Tories getting a majority at Holyrood (saving weight of money / risk management etc)?
AFAIAA there is no Maj/Min/Coalition/C&S market up yet for the next Holyrood GE.
There is a Most Seats market:
SNP 1/5 Con 7/1 Lab 8/1 LD 50/1 Grn 200/1
There is a significant risk that Ruth will either:
- get disillusioned and retire - get the sack
Then add in that SLab and SLD wouldn’t touch her party with a shitty stick. ... so you’d have to be nuts to stake anything on her at such a silly short price as 5/1. Shadsy is taking the piss.
So at a minimum it would be 7/1 (discounting the chance that she gets thrown overboard) as I can't see her being the FM in a parliament where someone else has most seats (presumably that outcome would be an SNP led coalition).
There's a US special relationship for Brexit, which is the main point of interest right now. Brexit at its core is an ideological project to move the UK away from European social democracy and international multilateralism into an irredentist US-led Conservative sphere. There is a lot of US money going into this project, which is also backed by those close to Trump. The US FTA is important to this project for its symbolism and because the incompatibility of US rules with EU ones makes it harder for a future government to switch back to an EU sphere.
It isn't a vision that much shared outside Johnson's coterie. Voters like their social protections, lifestyles and jobs too much.
It's the americans now ?
I thought it was the Russians driving Brexit.
The people driving Brexit are those around Johnson and Farage who have strong links with the people around Trump. If money talks, it's in significant part US money talking.
Im losing track of which conspiracy theory is now current. Give it a month and the green lizards will be taking over.
It's easy to be flippant I doubt anyone believes that there is any sinister hand pulling the strings on Brexit. Nobody really believes that Putin or Trump are "driving" Brexit. It's a straw man argument.
It would be equally naive not to recognise that both Putin and Trump are both actively backing Brexit for their own political purposes. There is nothing that says that Trump and Putin can't both want the same outcome for Brexit albeit for different reasons.
I can quite happily recognise that Trump and Putin have their own interests in Brexit, But so do Merkel and Macron and Tusk. At the end of the day I dont care which country thinks what, this is an issue for us to sort out ourselves.
Is anyone alleging that Merkel or Macron got involved in Brexit in the way Russia did?
I heard Jo Swinson on Sky News this morning. I reckon she’s trying to hide her Scottish accent.
You would be hard pushed to know she was born in Scotland, desperate to show how English she really is just like the anti Scottish English immigrants on here, Carlotta, TGOHF.
Uni in London, then worked in Yorkshire, plus her husband is English. Does things to accents, even the strongest.
There is a term used by linguists for this phenomenon, where adults are easily swayed by accents and linguistic patterns they are exposed to (children all do this, but quite rare among adults). Nearly all of the sufferers are women apparently.
Certainly in my experience, I know several women with extremely strange/contorted accents. I was a university with a woman who usually spoke broad Glaswegian, but in certain situations (eg. when talking to her dad) switched to broad Lancashire. It was weird, and impressive, to see.
I’m sure Swinson is aware of her weird accent, but I’m afraid she is probably totally incapable of doing anything about it. The unfortunate thing is that many listeners will suspect she is trying to pretend to be someone she isn’t.
I believe the term is code switching (though this also refers to the ability to switch across languages in the course of conversation). Is it "rare" ? Not really in my experience.
And one might regard it as an ability, rather than something one "suffers" from. Similarly, "strange/contorted" is a value judgment which perhaps says as much about you as those you refer to.
I am myself a “code switcher”. I am bilingual English/Swedish and I am very sorry to report that my speech often degenerates to a horrid mix we refer to as svengelska. Our whole family does it, as do the families of other English-speakers married to Swedes. In fact, sometimes it feels like the whole bloody country is doing it, such are the massive inroads English is making into the Swedish language with every passing week.
It is most definitely an affliction from which I suffer. I would far prefer to keep the languages apart, but it is bloody difficult when you are switching between the two at least 50 times a day.
Then add in my fondness for Scots words and expressions.
But what doesn’t change is my actual accent. I recently met up with an old friend from Edinburgh I haven’t seen in two decades. I was absolutely delighted when she said my accent hadn’t changed a bit from when I was a bairn. I consider that a compliment, because the pressure on Scots to “flatten” their accents furth of the country can be intense.
Mr. Dickson, that's a common thing. Germans sometimes speak Denglisch, and the Chinese Chinglish (although it's worth noting lots of people in both speak very good English indeed).
Normal vote: assess issues from competing candidates, choose candidate whose policies most closely aligns with your own views. Playground vote: don't like the colour of the shirt of one candidate, vote for other candidate.
Well I'm definitely a normal then. I really put the time in. Before voting Labour I always read the manifestos of each party - read them properly I mean - and I check out the bio of all the candidates.
Next Scottish FIrst Minister - to succeed Nicola Sturgeon, either as FM, or Head of Government in independent state
Ruth Davidson 5/1 Richard Leonard 6/1 Derek Mackay 10/1 Keith Brown 12/1 Kate Forbes 12/1 Humza Yousaf 12/1 Mhairi Black 16/1 Angus Robertson 16/1 Shona Robison 16/1 John Swinney 16/1 Stewart Hosie 20/1 Michael Matheson 20/1 Shirley-Anne Somerville 20/1 many other names listed, both SNP and others, at longer prices
(Coral; Ladbrokes)
Some of the names on here are just daft at such short prices, not least prime turkey Ruthie.
This is going to be between Mackay and A.N.Other. Who Mr or Mrs Other might be is a bit of a mystery. Leonard is not even going to be SLab leader at the next Scottish GE, and I’d be surprised if Ruthie is still around either. The most tempting Unionist prices are:
Anas Sarwar (SLab) at 100/1 Neil Findlay (SLab) at 100/1 Willie Rennie (SLD) at 100/1
All of those have got to be worth a speculative price of a pint, surely?
I’d stick a tenner on Mackay if I thought Sturgeon was on the brink of retirement. However, she isn’t.
Why are Ruth’s odds any different to the Tories getting a majority at Holyrood (saving weight of money / risk management etc)?
AFAIAA there is no Maj/Min/Coalition/C&S market up yet for the next Holyrood GE.
There is a Most Seats market:
SNP 1/5 Con 7/1 Lab 8/1 LD 50/1 Grn 200/1
There is a significant risk that Ruth will either:
- get disillusioned and retire - get the sack
Then add in that SLab and SLD wouldn’t touch her party with a shitty stick. ... so you’d have to be nuts to stake anything on her at such a silly short price as 5/1. Shadsy is taking the piss.
So at a minimum it would be 7/1 (discounting the chance that she gets thrown overboard) as I can't see her being the FM in a parliament where someone else has most seats (presumably that outcome would be an SNP led coalition).
I assume it is Shadsy's Christmas Fund
Shadsy is so good at pricing up that I consider nearly all his markets to be his Christmas Fund. Luckily, Scotland is not his forté.
Eg:
Next UK GE - Aberdeen South (Con Maj 4,752; Ross Thomson MP)
Typical of Corbyn to talk about a bankers Brexit when what he actually means is a hedge funds Brexit. I guess it's too much to epxect the man who wants to be our PM to understand the difference.
They are all evil in his book. Credit Unions are the only allowed providers.
The BBC is planning to launch a digital voice assistant next year, the corporation has announced. It will not be a hardware device in its own right but is being designed to work on all smart speakers, TVs and mobiles.
Why...there are already umpteen solutions to this problem (none of which are all that great, and there isn't a cat in hells chance that the BBC will do better).
They would be better spending their IT resources on making sure iPlayer doesn't suck. Cos it still does.
The BBC is planning to launch a digital voice assistant next year, the corporation has announced. It will not be a hardware device in its own right but is being designed to work on all smart speakers, TVs and mobiles.
Actually tuning your tv in is the best use of voice activation I know especially in a world of multiple remotes etc it would be a godsend for older people who get confused and end up only watching one channel.
I heard Jo Swinson on Sky News this morning. I reckon she’s trying to hide her Scottish accent.
You would be hard pushed to know she was born in Scotland, desperate to show how English she really is just like the anti Scottish English immigrants on here, Carlotta, TGOHF.
Uni in London, then worked in Yorkshire, plus her husband is English. Does things to accents, even the strongest.
Certainly in my experience, I know several women with extremely strange/contorted accents. I was a university with a woman who usually spoke broad Glaswegian, but in certain situations (eg. when talking to her dad) switched to broad Lancashire. It was weird, and impressive, to see.
I’m sure Swinson is aware of her weird accent, but I’m afraid she is probably totally incapable of doing anything about it. The unfortunate thing is that many listeners will suspect she is trying to pretend to be someone she isn’t.
I believe the term is code switching (though this also refers to the ability to switch across languages in the course of conversation). Is it "rare" ? Not really in my experience.
And one might regard it as an ability, rather than something one "suffers" from. Similarly, "strange/contorted" is a value judgment which perhaps says as much about you as those you refer to.
I am myself a “code switcher”. I am bilingual English/Swedish and I am very sorry to report that my speech often degenerates to a horrid mix we refer to as svengelska. Our whole family does it, as do the families of other English-speakers married to Swedes. In fact, sometimes it feels like the whole bloody country is doing it, such are the massive inroads English is making into the Swedish language with every passing week.
It is most definitely an affliction from which I suffer. I would far prefer to keep the languages apart, but it is bloody difficult when you are switching between the two at least 50 times a day.
Then add in my fondness for Scots words and expressions.
But what doesn’t change is my actual accent. I recently met up with an old friend from Edinburgh I haven’t seen in two decades. I was absolutely delighted when she said my accent hadn’t changed a bit from when I was a bairn. I consider that a compliment, because the pressure on Scots to “flatten” their accents furth of the country can be intense.
Each to their own, I guess - and I sympathise with the desire not to be pressured into conforming. Language is so complicated, strange and wonderful a thing, I just try to enjoy it.
Just bought a coffee with a ton of change and when I slapped down the coins - there were 11 of them - on the counter every single one fell tails up. All 11.
Utterly spooked - and not in a pleasant way.
If it were heads, that's one thing, that could be reassuring, but all tails cannot be good.
Norman Lamb to stand down for the Lib Dems. I get the impression that he's got fed up with Brexit dominating everything and his passions of mental health and social care not getting a look in.
I'm sure the Cons will pile into North Norfolk but It seems to me the Lib Dems are properly bedded in there and I'd expect the right LD candidate to hold comfortably.
That's a shame. When you say "the right LD candidate", do you mean one that isn't necessarily opposed to Brexit?
Let's just say that if Chuka is parachuted in shouting "Bollocks to Brexit" from an open-top bus on the coast road, I think the LDs would be in trouble.
On the other hand, if there's a pool of 30 potential candidates here: http://www2.north-norfolk.gov.uk/election/web/ then surely there is a plausible successor among them? I wouldn't rule out Sarah Butikofer for example.
There's a US special relationship for Brexit, which is the main point of interest right now. Brexit at its core is an ideological project to move the UK away from European social democracy and international multilateralism into an irredentist US-led Conservative sphere. There is a lot of US money going into this project, which is also backed by those close to Trump. The US FTA is important to this project for its symbolism and because the incompatibility of US rules with EU ones makes it harder for a future government to switch back to an EU sphere.
It isn't a vision that much shared outside Johnson's coterie. Voters like their social protections, lifestyles and jobs too much.
It's the americans now ?
I thought it was the Russians driving Brexit.
The people driving Brexit are those around Johnson and Farage who have strong links with the people around Trump. If money talks, it's in significant part US money talking.
Im losing track of which conspiracy theory is now current. Give it a month and the green lizards will be taking over.
It's easy to be flippant I doubt anyone believes that there is any sinister hand pulling the strings on Brexit. Nobody really believes that Putin or Trump are "driving" Brexit. It's a straw man argument.
It would be equally naive not to recognise that both Putin and Trump are both actively backing Brexit for their own political purposes. There is nothing that says that Trump and Putin can't both want the same outcome for Brexit albeit for different reasons.
I can quite happily recognise that Trump and Putin have their own interests in Brexit, But so do Merkel and Macron and Tusk. At the end of the day I dont care which country thinks what, this is an issue for us to sort out ourselves.
Is anyone alleging that Merkel or Macron got involved in Brexit in the way Russia did?
I must have missed the bit where Merkel launched a bot farm in Heidelberg dedicated to pro-Remain memes.
Alanbrooke’s problem - and why he should be ignored by any sober poster - is that he genuinely sees no difference between Merkel/Macron and Putin.
His world is a dark place.
There are rational Brexiteers and there are irrational EUSSR type Brexiteers
Is this the kind of trade deal we are likely to see proposed by Trump ?
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201908260020.html Lighthizer said the deal, which covered agriculture, industrial tariffs and digital trade, would open up Japanese markets to U.S. goods and lead to a substantial reduction in tariffs on such items as beef.
Japan imports about $14 billion worth of U.S. agricultural products, and the agreement will open up markets to over $7 billion of such products, Lighthizer said, adding that beef, pork, wheat, dairy products, wine, and ethanol would benefit.
Trump said Japan has agreed to buy excess U.S. corn that is burdening farmers as a result of the tariff dispute between Washington and Beijing.
There was little information on what Japan gained from the deal...
The one take away from Trump's career of welching, bilking and grifting is that his definition of a great deal is one where the other guy feels he didn't get a great deal (at the time or later). It doesn't bode well for our pork pie and and shower tray manufacturers trying to break America.
Yep - The one thing that is very obvious about Trump is that he doesn't understand how win, win works...
Yes, he is an old fashioned win-lose operator. It suits his egotistical bullying mindset, so common among would-be autocrats.
I’m surprised the UK and France retain their seats on the security council. Suspect it won’t be there for long, and France’s will eventually be forfeit to the EU, if the council still exists.
Once you are a permanent UN Security Council member you cannot be removed unless voluntarily.
India, Japan, Brazil and the EU may be added in time as permanent members too (though Pakistan and Mexico might have something to say about an Indian and Brazilian permanent seat) but we will keep ours regardless.
There's a US special relationship for Brexit, which is the main point of interest right now. Brexit at its core is an ideological project to move the UK away from European social democracy and international multilateralism into an irredentist US-led Conservative sphere. There is a lot of US money going into this project, which is also backed by those close to Trump. The US FTA is important to this project for its symbolism and because the incompatibility of US rules with EU ones makes it harder for a future government to switch back to an EU sphere.
It isn't a vision that much shared outside Johnson's coterie. Voters like their social protections, lifestyles and jobs too much.
It's the americans now ?
I thought it was the Russians driving Brexit.
The people driving Brexit are those around Johnson and Farage who have strong links with the people around Trump. If money talks, it's in significant part US money talking.
Im losing track of which conspiracy theory is now current. Give it a month and the green lizards will be taking over.
It's easy to be flippant I doubt anyone believes that there is any sinister hand pulling the strings on Brexit. Nobody really believes that Putin or Trump are "driving" Brexit. It's a straw man argument.
It would be equally naive not to recognise that both Putin and Trump are both actively backing Brexit for their own political purposes. There is nothing that says that Trump and Putin can't both want the same outcome for Brexit albeit for different reasons.
I can quite happily recognise that Trump and Putin have their own interests in Brexit, But so do Merkel and Macron and Tusk. At the end of the day I dont care which country thinks what, this is an issue for us to sort out ourselves.
Is anyone alleging that Merkel or Macron got involved in Brexit in the way Russia did?
A terrific header, this, from Ms C. It's what I go to school for.
My own feelings about the Anglo American relationship are at present so cluttered by their choice of President that I find it difficult to comment sensibly on the matter.
Let's just say I'm not keen on any relationship at all until he's gone. At least not in public.
I suspect though you would have been very keen on the special relationship when Obama was US President rather than Trump but rather less keen on the Entente Cordiale when Sarkozy was French President rather than Macron, which just goes to show it is who is in power that is just as important to any relationship abroad as the relationship with the country itself
There's a US special relationship for Brexit, which is the main point of interest right now. Brexit at its core is an ideological project to move the UK away from European social democracy and international multilateralism into an irredentist US-led Conservative sphere. There is a lot of US money going into this project, which is also backed by those close to Trump. The US FTA is important to this project for its symbolism and because the incompatibility of US rules with EU ones makes it harder for a future government to switch back to an EU sphere.
It isn't a vision that much shared outside Johnson's coterie. Voters like their social protections, lifestyles and jobs too much.
It's the americans now ?
I thought it was the Russians driving Brexit.
The people driving Brexit are those around Johnson and Farage who have strong links with the people around Trump. If money talks, it's in significant part US money talking.
Im losing track of which conspiracy theory is now current. Give it a month and the green lizards will be taking over.
It's easy to be flippant I doubt anyone believes that there is any sinister hand pulling the strings on Brexit. Nobody really believes that Putin or Trump are "driving" Brexit. It's a straw man argument.
It would be equally naive not to recognise that both Putin and Trump are both actively backing Brexit for their own political purposes. There is nothing that says that Trump and Putin can't both want the same outcome for Brexit albeit for different reasons.
I can quite happily recognise that Trump and Putin have their own interests in Brexit, But so do Merkel and Macron and Tusk. At the end of the day I dont care which country thinks what, this is an issue for us to sort out ourselves.
Is anyone alleging that Merkel or Macron got involved in Brexit in the way Russia did?
Mr Dickson, another hundred years and regional English, Scottish and Welsh accents will no longer exist. There will be an international English that will be a mixture of how the nations of the world influence it. You only have to look at how the "London" accent has changed in my lifetime. People under 25 speak very differently to those over 60, innit! Accents are simply a hindrance to understanding, and therefore will evolve to a common denominator. It will be a further setback for all forms of small minded nationalism. It is therefore a positive development.
Mr. Divvie, swearing placeholders have changed over the years. It still seems weird to read (maybe in The Dark Is Rising? and certainly in a WWI book I read) 'blankety-blank'.
I tend to swear lightly in my writing and generally just use terms like "He cursed vehemently".
I heard Jo Swinson on Sky News this morning. I reckon she’s trying to hide her Scottish accent.
You would be hard pushed to know she was born in Scotland, desperate to show how English she really is just like the anti Scottish English immigrants on here, Carlotta, TGOHF.
Uni in London, then worked in Yorkshire, plus her husband is English. Does things to accents, even the strongest.
There is a term used by linguists for this phenomenon, where adults are easily swayed by accents and linguistic patterns they are exposed to (children all do this, but quite rare among adults). Nearly all of the sufferers are women apparently.
Its called "Code Shifting" and its something we ALL do - usually unconsciously - I doubt you'd speak to your bank manager in the same way you'd speak to your mates down the pub - or vice versa.
Norman Lamb to stand down for the Lib Dems. I get the impression that he's got fed up with Brexit dominating everything and his passions of mental health and social care not getting a look in.
I'm sure the Cons will pile into North Norfolk but It seems to me the Lib Dems are properly bedded in there and I'd expect the right LD candidate to hold comfortably.
That's a shame. When you say "the right LD candidate", do you mean one that isn't necessarily opposed to Brexit?
Let's just say that if Chuka is parachuted in shouting "Bollocks to Brexit" from an open-top bus on the coast road, I think the LDs would be in trouble.
On the other hand, if there's a pool of 30 potential candidates here: http://www2.north-norfolk.gov.uk/election/web/ then surely there is a plausible successor among them? I wouldn't rule out Sarah Butikofer for example.
I would not be surprised to see the Tories take North Norfolk from the LDs given the loss of Lamb's big personal vote in a strong pro Brexit area, while Chuka holds Streatham as a LD in heavily Remain Lambeth
A terrific header, this, from Ms C. It's what I go to school for.
My own feelings about the Anglo American relationship are at present so cluttered by their choice of President that I find it difficult to comment sensibly on the matter.
Let's just say I'm not keen on any relationship at all until he's gone. At least not in public.
I suspect though you would have been very keen on the special relationship when Obama was US President rather than Trump but rather less keen on the Entente Cordiale when Sarkozy was French President rather than Macron, which just goes to show it is who is in power that is just as important to any relationship abroad as the relationship with the country itself
There are plenty of folk who don't like the special relationship (such as it is), regardless of who's in charge, as a matter of principle.
Obama, Sarkozy and and Macron all have their flaws, but none of them is the excrement-in-human-form moral vacuum that is Trump. That's the difference.
A terrific header, this, from Ms C. It's what I go to school for.
My own feelings about the Anglo American relationship are at present so cluttered by their choice of President that I find it difficult to comment sensibly on the matter.
Let's just say I'm not keen on any relationship at all until he's gone. At least not in public.
I suspect though you would have been very keen on the special relationship when Obama was US President rather than Trump but rather less keen on the Entente Cordiale when Sarkozy was French President rather than Macron, which just goes to show it is who is in power that is just as important to any relationship abroad as the relationship with the country itself
There are plenty of folk who don't like the special relationship (such as it is), regardless of who's in charge, as a matter of principle.
Obama, Sarkozy and and Macron all have their flaws, but none of them is the excrement-in-human-form moral vacuum that is Trump. That's the difference.
So really all you are saying is you don't want a Special Relationship with the US Republican party rather than the US itself (and of course the Democrats now control the House of Representatives again anyway)
Mr. Divvie, swearing placeholders have changed over the years. It still seems weird to read (maybe in The Dark Is Rising? and certainly in a WWI book I read) 'blankety-blank'.
I tend to swear lightly in my writing and generally just use terms like "He cursed vehemently".
In Norman Mailer's first novel, The Naked and the Dead (still worth reading I think), the publisher forced Mailer to replace 'fuck' with 'fug', which given it centred on a US combat unit in the Pacific theatre, meant a lot of fugging. It was the worst of all worlds, inauthentic & prim yet leaving not the slightest doubt as to the word it was pretending not to be.
I heard Jo Swinson on Sky News this morning. I reckon she’s trying to hide her Scottish accent.
You would be hard pushed to know she was born in Scotland, desperate to show how English she really is just like the anti Scottish English immigrants on here, Carlotta, TGOHF.
Uni in London, then worked in Yorkshire, plus her husband is English. Does things to accents, even the strongest.
There is a term used by linguists for this phenomenon, where adults are easily swayed by accents and linguistic patterns they are exposed to (children all do this, but quite rare among adults). Nearly all of the sufferers are women apparently.
Its called "Code Shifting" and its something we ALL do - usually unconsciously - I doubt you'd speak to your bank manager in the same way you'd speak to your mates down the pub - or vice versa.
I don't think I've ever spoken to a "bank manager" actually - do they even still exist ?
I heard Jo Swinson on Sky News this morning. I reckon she’s trying to hide her Scottish accent.
You would be hard pushed to know she was born in Scotland, desperate to show how English she really is just like the anti Scottish English immigrants on here, Carlotta, TGOHF.
Uni in London, then worked in Yorkshire, plus her husband is English. Does things to accents, even the strongest.
There is a term used by linguists for this phenomenon, where adults are easily swayed by accents and linguistic patterns they are exposed to (children all do this, but quite rare among adults). Nearly all of the sufferers are women apparently.
Its called "Code Shifting" and its something we ALL do - usually unconsciously - I doubt you'd speak to your bank manager in the same way you'd speak to your mates down the pub - or vice versa.
Furthermore, people who are unable to do this in general strugle with life. If you can't change your manner when working with clients/customers or dealing with officialdom, then the odds shift against you.
I heard Jo Swinson on Sky News this morning. I reckon she’s trying to hide her Scottish accent.
You would be hard pushed to know she was born in Scotland, desperate to show how English she really is just like the anti Scottish English immigrants on here, Carlotta, TGOHF.
Uni in London, then worked in Yorkshire, plus her husband is English. Does things to accents, even the strongest.
There is a term used by linguists for this phenomenon, where adults are easily swayed by accents and linguistic patterns they are exposed to (children all do this, but quite rare among adults). Nearly all of the sufferers are women apparently.
Its called "Code Shifting" and its something we ALL do - usually unconsciously - I doubt you'd speak to your bank manager in the same way you'd speak to your mates down the pub - or vice versa.
I don't think I've ever spoken to a "bank manager" actually - do they even still exist ?
Sort of, but it's basically a sales role. I view them on the same level of used car salesmen
Labour overall majority is currently at 18 on Betfair. It may be odds against but it's not a 17/1 shot and I've just taken some of that.
I don't think it's possible for Labour to win a majority now they've lost Scotland.
The SNP surge is one reason why we are in the mess we are in.
Blair won majorities in England from 1997 to 2005 but the LDs are now closer to New Labour than Corbyn Labour is so agreed
The LDs between 2007 and April 2010 were as close to Bair's New Labour as Brown's government was. All that changed with Cameron's speech on Friday 7th May.
Mr. Divvie, in Farscape (not aimed solely at adults) they came up with sci-fi swearwords like frell. Bizarrely, when it was shown on Pick a year or two ago, they actually cut it to avoid the not-swearwords.
Mr. Dickson, that's a common thing. Germans sometimes speak Denglisch, and the Chinese Chinglish (although it's worth noting lots of people in both speak very good English indeed).
English also has it's form of Denglish. But English-Denglish is not German-Denglish. The English usage of words like Angst and Wanderlust are often subtly different from their german meaning. There was even a German article complaining that Franz Ferdinand (the band) had misused the word Angst, when it fitted perfectly well with the English usage.
I know that in the 80's the NME had a column called "Angst", which was the first time I saw this word. Does anyone know if that was the source for using this word, or does it go back further?
“My method shows me who’s going to do what in a future event. What [other pollsters] do is say, ‘Well, who did it in the past?’ That’s fine, unless there’s change. And change is accelerating,” Selzer said.
“I have to think [other pollsters are] looking back. As I say, I like to poll forward,” she added. “My way is keeping my dirty fingers off the data.”...
She shares my dislike of the rearview mirror as a navigational tool.
Mr. Divvie, in Farscape (not aimed solely at adults) they came up with sci-fi swearwords like frell. Bizarrely, when it was shown on Pick a year or two ago, they actually cut it to avoid the not-swearwords.
Quite liked Farscape when it first came out, afaicr it was on the 6-7pm slot so it was quite a good, mindless way to wind down after work. Plus the female lead was hot in a fierce kinda way.
Plenty of lazy analysis from the usual suspects about LD prospects. There is no such thing as a safe LD seat and you'd better believe every LD activist knows that. I worked in Tom Brake's seat and we fought it hard at elections and between elections and once the new LD candidate is chosen that person's name will be prominent on every communication from the LD constituency party.
I'm sad Norman is standing down - at another time he would have been an ideal party leader but in the aftermath of the 2015 disaster we needed an energetic activist to get us off the floor. Tim Farron did that for all his leadership ended badly and for the renaissance of the party has had almost nothing to do with our leader and plenty with those of the other parties. His contribution to the debate on mental health in particular was outstanding and has, I'm pleased to say, been acknowledged across the political spectrum.
There's a US special relationship for Brexit, which is the main point of interest right now. Brexit at its core is an ideological project to move the UK away from European social democracy and international multilateralism into an irredentist US-led Conservative sphere. There is a lot of US money going into this project, which is also backed by those close to Trump. The US FTA is important to this project for its symbolism and because the incompatibility of US rules with EU ones makes it harder for a future government to switch back to an EU sphere.
It isn't a vision that much shared outside Johnson's coterie. Voters like their social protections, lifestyles and jobs too much.
It's the americans now ?
I thought it was the Russians driving Brexit.
The people driving Brexit are those around Johnson and Farage who have strong links with the people around Trump. If money talks, it's in significant part US money talking.
Im losing track of which conspiracy theory is now current. Give it a month and the green lizards will be taking over.
It's easy to be flippant I doubt anyone believes that there is any sinister hand pulling the strings on Brexit. Nobody really believes that Putin or Trump are "driving" Brexit. It's a straw man argument.
It would be equally naive not to recognise that both Putin and Trump are both actively backing Brexit for their own political purposes. There is nothing that says that Trump and Putin can't both want the same outcome for Brexit albeit for different reasons.
I can quite happily recognise that Trump and Putin have their own interests in Brexit, But so do Merkel and Macron and Tusk. At the end of the day I dont care which country thinks what, this is an issue for us to sort out ourselves.
Is anyone alleging that Merkel or Macron got involved in Brexit in the way Russia did?
I must have missed the bit where Merkel launched a bot farm in Heidelberg dedicated to pro-Remain memes.
Alanbrooke’s problem - and why he should be ignored by any sober poster - is that he genuinely sees no difference between Merkel/Macron and Putin.
Mr. Divvie, Aerin Sun[sp], played by Claudia Black.
I only saw the first two episodes during the re-run a couple of years ago, and she's pretty fantastic. I like how the crew is genuinely misfits who annoy each other too.
As an aside, she and Ben Browder [who played Crichton] were reunited in the last two Stargate SG-1 seasons, although I found that a bit weird.
The Ruth Davidson Party is now also the Leave The EU Party it would appear.
In Shetland it makes sense - more than 40% voted Leave and there is still something of a fishing industry left who are desperate to get out of the CFP. Important that the voters have a choice and Brydon is the only candidate to give them the chance to vote for someone in favour of Leave.
The LDs between 2007 and April 2010 were as close to Bair's New Labour as Brown's government was. All that changed with Cameron's speech on Friday 7th May.
Completely and massively incorrect in almost every aspect.
The Orange Booker LDs captured the leadership with Clegg and counted among their number the likes of Laws, Alexander and Jeremy Browne. That strand of more classical liberal thinking supplanted the more social liberal line which had dominated through Steel, Ashdown and Kennedy.
At the same time, Cameron moved to a more centrist position leaving behind the absurdity of the Hague/IDS/Howard years. He returned to a traditional "One Nation" liberal conservatism one of whose adherents at the time was a certain B Johnson.
The two lines converged on the question of the public finances primarily but also in rolling back some of the statism of the Brown years in particular. The Coalition as we know it was only possibly because of the convergence of the Orange Bookers and the liberal conservatives. Cameron created the Coalition on the day after the election but that was also down to his warm personal relationship with Clegg.
The Ruth Davidson Party is now also the Leave The EU Party it would appear.
In Shetland it makes sense - more than 40% voted Leave and there is still something of a fishing industry left who are desperate to get out of the CFP. Important that the voters have a choice and Brydon is the only candidate to give them the chance to vote for someone in favour of Leave.
Are the SCons going to run a Brexit position on a constituency by constituency basis? I'd imagine that'd fall apart at a GE (Westminster or Holyrood)?
Sort of, but it's basically a sales role. I view them on the same level of used car salesmen
Yet was once Captain Mainwaring. Is this progress?
Speaking of which, I never did get back to people with the detail on how Dads Army voted in the referendum. It was as below -
Mainwaring - leave with a Deal - prudence Wilson - remain - an open borders man (excluding nazis) Pike - non vote - got the day wrong Fraser - non vote - dislikes UK and EU in equal measure Walker - leave No Deal - black market opportunities Godfrey - remain - worried about care staff for sister Dolly Jones - leave No Deal - the EU don't like it up em Hodges - leave No Deal - bit of a closet racist Vicar - leave with a Deal - scared to give offence Verger - leave with a Deal - follows the Vicar in all things
The Ruth Davidson Party is now also the Leave The EU Party it would appear.
In Shetland it makes sense - more than 40% voted Leave and there is still something of a fishing industry left who are desperate to get out of the CFP. Important that the voters have a choice and Brydon is the only candidate to give them the chance to vote for someone in favour of Leave.
Tories will soon sell the fishing out yet again, mugs if they vote Tory thinking they are ever going to give a shit about Scotland never mind Shetland.
The Ruth Davidson Party is now also the Leave The EU Party it would appear.
In Shetland it makes sense - more than 40% voted Leave and there is still something of a fishing industry left who are desperate to get out of the CFP. Important that the voters have a choice and Brydon is the only candidate to give them the chance to vote for someone in favour of Leave.
Are the SCons going to run a Brexit position on a constituency by constituency basis? I'd imagine that'd fall apart at a GE (Westminster or Holyrood)?
Will Ross Thomson insist on being Boris Johnson’s Candidate instead of Ruth Davidson’s?
Next Scottish FIrst Minister - to succeed Nicola Sturgeon, either as FM, or Head of Government in independent state
Ruth Davidson 5/1 Richard Leonard 6/1 Derek Mackay 10/1 Keith Brown 12/1 Kate Forbes 12/1 Humza Yousaf 12/1 Mhairi Black 16/1 Angus Robertson 16/1 Shona Robison 16/1 John Swinney 16/1 Stewart Hosie 20/1 Michael Matheson 20/1 Shirley-Anne Somerville 20/1 many other names listed, both SNP and others, at longer prices
(Coral; Ladbrokes)
Some of the names on here are just daft at such short prices, not least prime turkey Ruthie.
This is going to be between Mackay and A.N.Other. Who Mr or Mrs Other might be is a bit of a mystery. Leonard is not even going to be SLab leader at the next Scottish GE, and I’d be surprised if Ruthie is still around either. The most tempting Unionist prices are:
Anas Sarwar (SLab) at 100/1 Neil Findlay (SLab) at 100/1 Willie Rennie (SLD) at 100/1
All of those have got to be worth a speculative price of a pint, surely?
I’d stick a tenner on Mackay if I thought Sturgeon was on the brink of retirement. However, she isn’t.
Why are Ruth’s odds any different to the Tories getting a majority at Holyrood (saving weight of money / risk management etc)?
AFAIAA there is no Maj/Min/Coalition/C&S market up yet for the next Holyrood GE.
There is a Most Seats market:
SNP 1/5 Con 7/1 Lab 8/1 LD 50/1 Grn 200/1
There is a significant risk that Ruth will either:
- get disillusioned and retire - get the sack
Then add in that SLab and SLD wouldn’t touch her party with a shitty stick. ... so you’d have to be nuts to stake anything on her at such a silly short price as 5/1. Shadsy is taking the piss.
So at a minimum it would be 7/1 (discounting the chance that she gets thrown overboard) as I can't see her being the FM in a parliament where someone else has most seats (presumably that outcome would be an SNP led coalition).
I assume it is Shadsy's Christmas Fund
Shadsy is so good at pricing up that I consider nearly all his markets to be his Christmas Fund. Luckily, Scotland is not his forté.
Eg:
Next UK GE - Aberdeen South (Con Maj 4,752; Ross Thomson MP)
SNP 5/6 Con 5/6 LD 25/1 Lab 100/1
Tee hee.
Of all the SCon seats in NE Scotland this is the one most likely to be lost, as its very middle-class Remainy. However I think the Tory vote in the region will prove rather more resilient than some people might assume. Its small-town rural and the SNP is now a conspicuously leftish Central Belt party - things have moved on since Salmond ruled the roost (and lost his seat).
The Ruth Davidson Party is now also the Leave The EU Party it would appear.
In Shetland it makes sense - more than 40% voted Leave and there is still something of a fishing industry left who are desperate to get out of the CFP. Important that the voters have a choice and Brydon is the only candidate to give them the chance to vote for someone in favour of Leave.
Tories will soon sell the fishing out yet again, mugs if they vote Tory thinking they are ever going to give a shit about Scotland never mind Shetland.
Malc - with respect, do you really expect to see Ms Sturgeon banging on doors in Peterhead come election time.? SNP have sold the pass on that one.
Mr. Dickson, that's a common thing. Germans sometimes speak Denglisch, and the Chinese Chinglish (although it's worth noting lots of people in both speak very good English indeed).
English also has it's form of Denglish. But English-Denglish is not German-Denglish. The English usage of words like Angst and Wanderlust are often subtly different from their german meaning. There was even a German article complaining that Franz Ferdinand (the band) had misused the word Angst, when it fitted perfectly well with the English usage.
I know that in the 80's the NME had a column called "Angst", which was the first time I saw this word. Does anyone know if that was the source for using this word, or does it go back further?
Pretty sure angst came into English through translations of Freud. Edit: Checking wiktionary, that and Kirkegaard. Not sure when it passed from academia to common usage though. Maybe from the NME.
I am myself a “code switcher”. I am bilingual English/Swedish and I am very sorry to report that my speech often degenerates to a horrid mix we refer to as svengelska. Our whole family does it, as do the families of other English-speakers married to Swedes. In fact, sometimes it feels like the whole bloody country is doing it, such are the massive inroads English is making into the Swedish language with every passing week.
It is most definitely an affliction from which I suffer. I would far prefer to keep the languages apart, but it is bloody difficult when you are switching between the two at least 50 times a day.
Then add in my fondness for Scots words and expressions.
But what doesn’t change is my actual accent. I recently met up with an old friend from Edinburgh I haven’t seen in two decades. I was absolutely delighted when she said my accent hadn’t changed a bit from when I was a bairn. I consider that a compliment, because the pressure on Scots to “flatten” their accents furth of the country can be intense.
This is because swedish is another language. The native language accent hardly changes even if you are fluent in another language, but I'm willing to bet your Scotts accent when speaking Swedish has reduced over the years, as you get used to pronouncing the words the way the Swedes do.
After 3 years in Australia, English people cound hear that I lived in Australia, after 6 years in Germany, no one in England claims that I have picked up a German accent.
Sort of, but it's basically a sales role. I view them on the same level of used car salesmen
Yet was once Captain Mainwaring. Is this progress?
Speaking of which, I never did get back to people with the detail on how Dads Army voted in the referendum. It was as below -
Mainwaring - leave with a Deal - prudence Wilson - remain - an open borders man (excluding nazis) Pike - non vote - got the day wrong Fraser - non vote - dislikes UK and EU in equal measure Walker - leave No Deal - black market opportunities Godfrey - remain - worried about care staff for sister Dolly Jones - leave No Deal - the EU don't like it up em Hodges - leave No Deal - bit of a closet racist Vicar - leave with a Deal - scared to give offence Verger - leave with a Deal - follows the Vicar in all things
Result - LEAVE wins by 75/25.
And then a tie between Deal and No Deal.
We're out - but it's gridlock as to how.
Can see Wilson "Do you really think that is wise?"
Next Scottish FIrst Minister - to succeed Nicola Sturgeon, either as FM, or Head of Government in independent state
Ruth Davidson 5/1 Richard Leonard 6/1 Derek Mackay 10/1 Keith Brown 12/1 Kate Forbes 12/1 Humza Yousaf 12/1 Mhairi Black 16/1 Angus Robertson 16/1 Shona Robison 16/1 John Swinney 16/1 Stewart Hosie 20/1 Michael Matheson 20/1 Shirley-Anne Somerville 20/1 many other names listed, both SNP and others, at longer prices
(Coral; Ladbrokes)
Some of the names on here are just daft at such short prices, not least prime turkey Ruthie.
This is going to be between Mackay and A.N.Other. Who Mr or Mrs Other might be is a bit of a mystery. Leonard is not even going to be SLab leader at the next Scottish GE, and I’d be surprised if Ruthie is still around either. The most tempting Unionist prices are:
Anas Sarwar (SLab) at 100/1 Neil Findlay (SLab) at 100/1 Willie Rennie (SLD) at 100/1
All of those have got to be worth a speculative price of a pint, surely?
I’d stick a tenner on Mackay if I thought Sturgeon was on the brink of retirement. However, she isn’t.
Why are Ruth’s odds any different to the Tories getting a majority at Holyrood (saving weight of money / risk management etc)?
- get disillusioned and retire - get the sack
Then add in that SLab and SLD wouldn’t touch her party with a shitty stick. ... so you’d have to be nuts to stake anything on her at such a silly short price as 5/1. Shadsy is taking the piss.
So at a minimum it would be 7/1 (discounting the chance that she gets thrown overboard) as I can't see her being the FM in a parliament where someone else has most seats (presumably that outcome would be an SNP led coalition).
I assume it is Shadsy's Christmas Fund
Shadsy is so good at pricing up that I consider nearly all his markets to be his Christmas Fund. Luckily, Scotland is not his forté.
Eg:
Next UK GE - Aberdeen South (Con Maj 4,752; Ross Thomson MP)
SNP 5/6 Con 5/6 LD 25/1 Lab 100/1
Tee hee.
Of all the SCon seats in NE Scotland this is the one most likely to be lost, as its very middle-class Remainy. However I think the Tory vote in the region will prove rather more resilient than some people might assume. Its small-town rural and the SNP is now a conspicuously leftish Central Belt party - things have moved on since Salmond ruled the roost (and lost his seat).
Will they forgive touchy feely his transgressions though
Mr. Dickson, that's a common thing. Germans sometimes speak Denglisch, and the Chinese Chinglish (although it's worth noting lots of people in both speak very good English indeed).
English also has it's form of Denglish. But English-Denglish is not German-Denglish. The English usage of words like Angst and Wanderlust are often subtly different from their german meaning. There was even a German article complaining that Franz Ferdinand (the band) had misused the word Angst, when it fitted perfectly well with the English usage.
I know that in the 80's the NME had a column called "Angst", which was the first time I saw this word. Does anyone know if that was the source for using this word, or does it go back further?
Pretty sure angst came into English through translations of Freud. Edit: Checking wiktionary, that and Kirkegaard. Not sure when it passed from academia to common usage though. Maybe from the NME.
I don't know, but I am guessing that followers of Freud were using it in the German sense to mean "Fear" rather than the NME meaning.
Sort of, but it's basically a sales role. I view them on the same level of used car salesmen
Yet was once Captain Mainwaring. Is this progress?
Speaking of which, I never did get back to people with the detail on how Dads Army voted in the referendum. It was as below -
Mainwaring - leave with a Deal - prudence Wilson - remain - an open borders man (excluding nazis) Pike - non vote - got the day wrong Fraser - non vote - dislikes UK and EU in equal measure Walker - leave No Deal - black market opportunities Godfrey - remain - worried about care staff for sister Dolly Jones - leave No Deal - the EU don't like it up em Hodges - leave No Deal - bit of a closet racist Vicar - leave with a Deal - scared to give offence Verger - leave with a Deal - follows the Vicar in all things
Result - LEAVE wins by 75/25.
And then a tie between Deal and No Deal.
We're out - but it's gridlock as to how.
Instead, we've had Dad's Army running the negotiations, starring Private Francois of course.
Comments
Obama had a very different policy wanting to build up alliances particularly in Asia to counterbalance China. The rational response of the UK would be to remind Obama of the benefits from the existing alliance with UK and Europe.
"What would you like to drink, sir?"
"I'm so glad you asked. Either tea or coffee, or perhaps just water."
"Certainly sir. Which would you prefer?"
"I'm not sure, so sorry to be a nuisance. Tea, perhaps."
"Tea, coming up."
"No, wait, maybe coffee."
,,,
Certainly in my experience, I know several women with extremely strange/contorted accents. I was a university with a woman who usually spoke broad Glaswegian, but in certain situations (eg. when talking to her dad) switched to broad Lancashire. It was weird, and impressive, to see.
I’m sure Swinson is aware of her weird accent, but I’m afraid she is probably totally incapable of doing anything about it. The unfortunate thing is that many listeners will suspect she is trying to pretend to be someone she isn’t.
Alanbrooke’s problem - and why he should be ignored by any sober poster - is that he genuinely sees no difference between Merkel/Macron and Putin.
His world is a dark place.
There is no sense in Brexit other than respecting the referendum result
I wish we were not in this position and were it easy I would accept revoke
But we are where we are and we do need to leave
no-deal does not "respect" anything. I am not sure that a small majority on a referendum based on immoral emotionally bankrupt arguments, which was influenced by a hostile foreign power and led and manipulated by liars and racists should be respected anyone than if 52% voted in favour of eating their first born.
Among many other points, the following come to mind:
1) The claims of the Leave campaign, from Turkish accession to "easiest deal ever" were mostly totally untrue.
2) Specifically the idea that we would leave the SM or the CU was denied by Leave, many of whose members dismissed the idea on the grounds of the drastic economic impact.
3) The Leave side has been convicted of misuse of funds
4) There is a further ongoing investigation into the permissibility of donations of millions of Pounds made to the Leave side
5) There is considerable suspicion that impermissible donations came from Russian (and American) sources.
6) The Brexit process has smashed our international reputation
7) The Brexit process has already seen the GBP fall nearly 20%
8) Forecasts for a post Brexit economy vary from the scary to the catastrophic.
So we are where we are: a high court ruling has been made that were the referendum binding, it should be set aside by the courts, but because it is only advisory, the House of Commons is the only place that this disaster can be stopped.
In five years time we could be begging to become a wholly owned of Trumpistan, or trying to resume our equal partnership with the EU under significantly different terms. neither is exactly "Take back control!"
In fact the best way to do that is to understand why Farage and Assange have been so close, bearing in mind that Assange has been named by the Ecuadorian government as a Russian agent.
If the LDs are to gain a significant number of Con Seats, they cannot be fighting fires in their own backyard. (cf East Dunbartonshire)
My own feelings about the Anglo American relationship are at present so cluttered by their choice of President that I find it difficult to comment sensibly on the matter.
Let's just say I'm not keen on any relationship at all until he's gone. At least not in public.
There is a Most Seats market:
SNP 1/5
Con 7/1
Lab 8/1
LD 50/1
Grn 200/1
There is a significant risk that Ruth will either:
- get disillusioned and retire
- get the sack
Then add in that SLab and SLD wouldn’t touch her party with a shitty stick.
... so you’d have to be nuts to stake anything on her at such a silly short price as 5/1. Shadsy is taking the piss.
Is it "rare" ?
Not really in my experience.
And one might regard it as an ability, rather than something one "suffers" from.
Similarly, "strange/contorted" is a value judgment which perhaps says as much about you as those you refer to.
Just bought a coffee with a ton of change and when I slapped down the coins - there were 11 of them - on the counter every single one fell tails up. All 11.
Utterly spooked - and not in a pleasant way.
If it were heads, that's one thing, that could be reassuring, but all tails cannot be good.
Here’s a novel suggestion: why don’t English MPs run England, and Scottish MPs run Scotland? Then we can stop blaming each other.
You get the long dated election with no Corbyn dog running for you.
Follow the links for more detail
https://order-order.com/2019/08/27/chances-new-deal-increase-post-g7/
I assume it is Shadsy's Christmas Fund
I'd concluded that PB meant 'perpetual Brexshit'.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/francois-hollande-warns-of-consequences-if-britain-leaves-the-eu-a6910096.html
good cop bad cop
It is most definitely an affliction from which I suffer. I would far prefer to keep the languages apart, but it is bloody difficult when you are switching between the two at least 50 times a day.
Then add in my fondness for Scots words and expressions.
But what doesn’t change is my actual accent. I recently met up with an old friend from Edinburgh I haven’t seen in two decades. I was absolutely delighted when she said my accent hadn’t changed a bit from when I was a bairn. I consider that a compliment, because the pressure on Scots to “flatten” their accents furth of the country can be intense.
Eg:
Next UK GE - Aberdeen South (Con Maj 4,752; Ross Thomson MP)
SNP 5/6
Con 5/6
LD 25/1
Lab 100/1
Tee hee.
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-49481210
Why...there are already umpteen solutions to this problem (none of which are all that great, and there isn't a cat in hells chance that the BBC will do better).
They would be better spending their IT resources on making sure iPlayer doesn't suck. Cos it still does.
Language is so complicated, strange and wonderful a thing, I just try to enjoy it.
The whole of the rest of your life is going to be dominated by Brexshit. Shit is the new black.
https://twitter.com/andywigmore/status/1165613474246004736?s=20
Utterly disgusting and shameful.*
*that he thinks 'an' should be used before a consonant sound.
On the other hand, if there's a pool of 30 potential candidates here: http://www2.north-norfolk.gov.uk/election/web/ then surely there is a plausible successor among them? I wouldn't rule out Sarah Butikofer for example.
India, Japan, Brazil and the EU may be added in time as permanent members too (though Pakistan and Mexico might have something to say about an Indian and Brazilian permanent seat) but we will keep ours regardless.
And that compares with Putin's bot factories how exactly?
Also tails can be heads too. I have a couple of Churchill crowns, for example.
https://twitter.com/matt_gillow/status/1166246619597217793?s=20
I tend to swear lightly in my writing and generally just use terms like "He cursed vehemently".
Obama, Sarkozy and and Macron all have their flaws, but none of them is the excrement-in-human-form moral vacuum that is Trump. That's the difference.
A bridge would position itself to have influence diplomatically, economically, and militarily in the US and in Europe.
Boris laughing at Trump’s jokes is not the same thing.
Mr. Divvie, in Farscape (not aimed solely at adults) they came up with sci-fi swearwords like frell. Bizarrely, when it was shown on Pick a year or two ago, they actually cut it to avoid the not-swearwords.
https://twitter.com/LloydAMelville/status/1166280525142736896?s=20
The Ruth Davidson Party is now also the Leave The EU Party it would appear.
I know that in the 80's the NME had a column called "Angst", which was the first time I saw this word. Does anyone know if that was the source for using this word, or does it go back further?
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/458864-2020-caucuses-pose-biggest-challenge-yet-for-iowas-top-pollster
In an interview in her office, set in a small house in a commercial district of West Des Moines, Selzer said her methodology is different: She asks voters whether they will show up, and trusts their responses.
“My method shows me who’s going to do what in a future event. What [other pollsters] do is say, ‘Well, who did it in the past?’ That’s fine, unless there’s change. And change is accelerating,” Selzer said.
“I have to think [other pollsters are] looking back. As I say, I like to poll forward,” she added. “My way is keeping my dirty fingers off the data.”...
She shares my dislike of the rearview mirror as a navigational tool.
Plus the female lead was hot in a fierce kinda way.
Plenty of lazy analysis from the usual suspects about LD prospects. There is no such thing as a safe LD seat and you'd better believe every LD activist knows that. I worked in Tom Brake's seat and we fought it hard at elections and between elections and once the new LD candidate is chosen that person's name will be prominent on every communication from the LD constituency party.
I'm sad Norman is standing down - at another time he would have been an ideal party leader but in the aftermath of the 2015 disaster we needed an energetic activist to get us off the floor. Tim Farron did that for all his leadership ended badly and for the renaissance of the party has had almost nothing to do with our leader and plenty with those of the other parties. His contribution to the debate on mental health in particular was outstanding and has, I'm pleased to say, been acknowledged across the political spectrum.
I only saw the first two episodes during the re-run a couple of years ago, and she's pretty fantastic. I like how the crew is genuinely misfits who annoy each other too.
As an aside, she and Ben Browder [who played Crichton] were reunited in the last two Stargate SG-1 seasons, although I found that a bit weird.
The Orange Booker LDs captured the leadership with Clegg and counted among their number the likes of Laws, Alexander and Jeremy Browne. That strand of more classical liberal thinking supplanted the more social liberal line which had dominated through Steel, Ashdown and Kennedy.
At the same time, Cameron moved to a more centrist position leaving behind the absurdity of the Hague/IDS/Howard years. He returned to a traditional "One Nation" liberal conservatism one of whose adherents at the time was a certain B Johnson.
The two lines converged on the question of the public finances primarily but also in rolling back some of the statism of the Brown years in particular. The Coalition as we know it was only possibly because of the convergence of the Orange Bookers and the liberal conservatives. Cameron created the Coalition on the day after the election but that was also down to his warm personal relationship with Clegg.
Speaking of which, I never did get back to people with the detail on how Dads Army voted in the referendum. It was as below -
Mainwaring - leave with a Deal - prudence
Wilson - remain - an open borders man (excluding nazis)
Pike - non vote - got the day wrong
Fraser - non vote - dislikes UK and EU in equal measure
Walker - leave No Deal - black market opportunities
Godfrey - remain - worried about care staff for sister Dolly
Jones - leave No Deal - the EU don't like it up em
Hodges - leave No Deal - bit of a closet racist
Vicar - leave with a Deal - scared to give offence
Verger - leave with a Deal - follows the Vicar in all things
Result - LEAVE wins by 75/25.
And then a tie between Deal and No Deal.
We're out - but it's gridlock as to how.
Edit: Checking wiktionary, that and Kirkegaard.
Not sure when it passed from academia to common usage though. Maybe from the NME.
After 3 years in Australia, English people cound hear that I lived in Australia, after 6 years in Germany, no one in England claims that I have picked up a German accent.