All far too late imho. A deal has to be done by this time next week, the Irish Times guy says. Otherwise just not the time for european capitals to digest, translate and pass legislation etc. So the hard yards have to be done and dusted this week. No more pratting around.
I posted Tony Connelly's thread last night. Definitely worth a read as this week starts:
Interesting thread on Twitter. A stack of Fishing Industry leaders writing to the government telling them that the restrictions they are imposing will have a "seriously detrimental effect on fish exports" and could be the "final straw" for large numbers of them.
This isn't what the EU are imposing. This is what the UK government is imposing. So we're going to no deal for a fishing industry which will then be utterly fucked by the things we impose on the fishing industry according to the fishing industry.
I know Philip will be along shortly to explain to these Fishing Industry managers how they have got it wrong.The sad reality is that this was so obvious. You can't expel the EU from our waters and maintain full unfettered access to EU markets for the fish thats in our waters that EU consumers want to eat and UK consumers do not.
Bill Maher, on why the Democrats need to get over themselves, why 10m more people voted Trump than in 2016, why they lost seats in the House - and why Twitter isn’t America.
Very good. Thanks for posting. If I had a vote I`d struggle to vote Dem at the moment - unless it was to unseat a giant orange turd like Trump. That pretty much sums up the 2020 election.
Maher has been saying the same thing about ‘cancel culture’ and freedom of speech for years now, he’s a staunch Democrat but sees them talking to themselves and appealing to a small but vocal minority on Twitter.
Comedians in general have been good on this stuff, see also Dave Chapelle. They were among the first people to realise the power of Trump, as they toured the small towns of the country and saw a very different world to that in NY and CA.
The analysis of what just happened says that people voted for not-Trump, but didn’t vote positively for Democrats elsewhere.
Maher appears to be doing his own little bit of cancelling when he ridicules the term Latinx. While it's true that its use in Hispanic communities is relatively rare, it's a term of self-identification for some. https://www.history.com/news/hispanic-latino-latinx-chicano-background
I take the view that you call people what they want to be called. No doubt the Democrats will come round to that in time. It's a principle that seems quite antipathetic to Trump's version of Republicanism.
It wasn’t Maher that said don’t use the term, it was the congressman.
What Maher is getting at is the identity politics, and lazy assumptions that all people who look the same think the same.
If 10% of South Americans in the USA like the use of a particular term, 20% are ambivalent about it, but 70% hate it and find it offensive or patronising, then it’s probably not a good idea to keep using it in public - even if everyone you know is in the 10% group.
I think this is a very good point by Mike and a great tip with SMarkets.
I'm on Ossoff at 2/1 with Betfair Sportsbook.
Speaking of Betfair, they are still not settling up on Biden 300-329 ECVs. I think this is really poor and I have complained. What with this and the kind of shenanigans that Mike highlights I am not impressed with them right now.
Saying the same thing every morning won’t make Betfair settle early. Remember they’re a broker not a bookmaker, it’s not their money they’ll be paying out. It’ll be settled when the results are final.
When they do finally pay out, put everything of Lewis Hamilton for the Sports Personality award, he’s 1.85 on Betfair at the moment, but who else has any significant sporting achievements this year?
All this talk of wokery....can anyone in good conscience be happy making money out of an aggressive tax avoider who earns $54 million a year?
That’s the silliest of silly ideas, that has been abandoned once before as unworkable and hugely unpopular.
Any scheme would need to be clearly revenue neutral, and require existing taxes on motoring to be scrapped rather than built on - and no massive spyware or tracking databases.
Maybe, after the pandemic effects susbside, a Conservative chancellor might start taking a very hard look at what the government is spending, rather than simply how to raise more money in taxes.
That’s the point, though, isn’t it: when we move to electric cars a significant slice of existing tax on motoring is effectively being scrapped.
If they find ingenious new ways to tax electric cars, however, a significant slice of the incentive to switch disappears.
Indeed. Heavy electric cars also wear out roads much faster than conventionally-powered cars do.
Any scheme that simply adds more costs to the motorist (ie doesn’t scrap VED or make petrol noticeably cheaper at the same time) will be nearly as popular as the Poll Tax in Scotland.
It will be interesting to see how Labour react to this proposal though. For all their love of environmentalism, the very last people to buy EVs are those who currently run an old banger that’s essential for them to get to a low-paid job
Do they? I thought electric cars were lighter overall due to the lack of an ICE? But I could easily be wrong as I know very little about it. It is one thing I had been wondering about.
The other thing we should all be aware of is that a significant chunk of our road network is now upwards of 60 years old, is carrying far more traffic at far greater weight than it was designed for and the concrete is crumbling. There’s going to have to be a huge renewal programme for things like bridges over the next 20 years and it ain’t gonna be cheap.
An EV is currently around 25% heavier than an equivalent petrol car. The batteries are the heavy bit, from memory a Tesla has about 700kg of them. They are getting slowly better in energy density, but manufacturers are using those advances to pack more into the space for extra range, rather than reducing the weight of the car.
Yes, there’s a lot of road renewal required, and while huge sections of the M1 and M6 have been done in recent years there’s an awful lot more that will need doing soon.
Isn't the formula, if I recall correctly, a function of both weight and the area over which the weight is distributed?
If contact patches are 25% bigger on average, that would even it out, no?
(Of course, contact patches on vehicles like the i3 and the Prius are probably smaller.)
I recall the Transport Research Laboratory saying that road damage is proportional to the 4th power of axle load, i.e. largely independent of contact area. This means that an axle load of 25% more will cause 2.44 times as much damage, but on the other hand trucks with axle loads of say 10 tonnes cause 10 000 times as much damage as a car with a 1 tonne axle load. It would be true to say that heavy vehicles cause most of the damage.
I think this is a very good point by Mike and a great tip with SMarkets.
I'm on Ossoff at 2/1 with Betfair Sportsbook.
Speaking of Betfair, they are still not settling up on Biden 300-329 ECVs. I think this is really poor and I have complained. What with this and the kind of shenanigans that Mike highlights I am not impressed with them right now.
Saying the same thing every morning won’t make Betfair settle early. Remember they’re a broker not a bookmaker, it’s not their money they’ll be paying out. It’ll be settled when the results are final.
When they do finally pay out, put everything of Lewis Hamilton for the Sports Personality award, he’s 1.85 on Betfair at the moment, but who else has any significant sporting achievements this year?
Ronnie O'Sullivan won the world snooker title (again). Tyson Fury but he's not fought since his heavyweight title win in February so memories may have faded.
Two I've previously suggested are worth looking at are Marcus Rashford and Hollie Doyle.
Rashford is 3.65 to win but 2.32 to be in the top three, which is unusually generous. The question with Rashford is whether he is nominated. There are not many other footballers to choose from, though I leave to you to judge if HMG will lean on the BBC. I think the opposition to Rashford came from Gove and Cummings, so this may be less of a fear now the latter has departed.
The BBC will want some women on the shortlist and I think Hollie Doyle (she is a jockey) has the best claim here. She has just ridden more than 100 winners for the second season running and blah blah blah -- I'm not trying to convince a jury to vote for her. Racing is an ITV sport, though, if that still matters. She is 48 on Betfair and 40/1 with Hills.
Good call on O’Sullivan, a BBC sport too. Yes, I’d forgotten about Fury, February was indeed an awful long time ago!!
I can’t see a Rashford nomination making it past Tim Davie: it would be making the whole event political the week before Christmas, and give huge ammunition to those opposed to the BBC. I can see them giving him the Gary Linekar Woke award or something similar, or have him collect something on behalf of all sportsmen protesting racism this year.
That is an important point about Rashford and politics but I think is less of a factor than you suggest. First, because Dominic Cummings has left, and I think it was he who objected to feeding the wee'uns; it is reminiscent of his and Gove's rejection of Jamie Oliver back when they ran Education. Second, surely a special award would seem more politically controversial than one on which the public votes.
But I do think that uncertainty is why Rashford's top three price is so generous. Rashford is 2.32 to place: both Fury and O'Sullivan are odds-on to place despite being several times Rashford's win price.
The special award would allow them to take time to mention sportspeople using their profile for good etc, without taking away from the main award which is supposed to be for sporting achievement.
So we’ve got a flat race between three horses and a car, that the car will win if it’s allowed to compete.
I’m betting on Hamilton for now, or rather topping up small bets from earlier in the year, then waiting for the nominations.
Spoty is a fascinating betting heat this year. Tyson Fury or snooker Ronnie would have a great chance if it were not for the exploits of Lewis Hamilton and Marcus Rashford. It must be one of those 2 and my tip is Rashford. Why? Because he has become a part of the national narrative in 2020. It's like having Captain Tom on the shortlist. Lewis is a true F1 great and I can see why he is the odds on fav at 1.85. But if the vote goes that way it will look like the nation prioritizes driving a fast car over feeding hungry children. I can't see that happening in the year of Covid. The 3.85 on Rashford is excellent value imo. I might even do it.
That’s rather worrying, given that we first started talking about this weird virus in China early in January. It was out there for six months before we realised.
This story ran on the NYT six months ago. Think this through though. Ask yourself the obvious question.
Interesting thread on Twitter. A stack of Fishing Industry leaders writing to the government telling them that the restrictions they are imposing will have a "seriously detrimental effect on fish exports" and could be the "final straw" for large numbers of them.
This isn't what the EU are imposing. This is what the UK government is imposing. So we're going to no deal for a fishing industry which will then be utterly fucked by the things we impose on the fishing industry according to the fishing industry.
I know Philip will be along shortly to explain to these Fishing Industry managers how they have got it wrong.The sad reality is that this was so obvious. You can't expel the EU from our waters and maintain full unfettered access to EU markets for the fish thats in our waters that EU consumers want to eat and UK consumers do not.
True.
Too much emphasis on being able to catch the fish and too little on being able to sell it.
That’s rather worrying, given that we first started talking about this weird virus in China early in January. It was out there for six months before we realised.
There is good evidence that it was about in China in 2019’s later months, and some evidence it was present in Italy before Christmas 2019, but the rapidity of spread once it becomes established tends to cast doubt on some of these claims. Most likely the odd case linked to travel from China in late 2019 will be true, such as the singer (name eludes me) who died of pneumonia in 2019, had been to China, and whose partner is convinced it was Covid.
Bill Maher, on why the Democrats need to get over themselves, why 10m more people voted Trump than in 2016, why they lost seats in the House - and why Twitter isn’t America.
I can't see where Trump's coup is coming from. The military clearly indicated it wasn't going to back him with Milley's speech, Fox news, even Tucker Carlson are heading back to count all the votes and so forth, the Georgia recount has shown up nothing, legislatures have indicated they will follow the err... law. Challenges in Arizona in particular look to have pretty much petered out completely. Nevada is completely democrat so the chance of any nonsense there is zero. Law firms are ditching him left and right, he's 1-20 in court and the victories in PA are very minor/ don't change anything. His Millionmagamarch definitely din't have a million people there - it definitely wasn't the 1937 Reichserntedankfest. Just what are people backing now ?
Bill Maher, on why the Democrats need to get over themselves, why 10m more people voted Trump than in 2016, why they lost seats in the House - and why Twitter isn’t America.
Indeed. To listen to Joe Biden you'd almost imagine he'd been elected president.
Biden, and his old boss, do seem to be concerned with talking only to their base, demonising others, and trying to understand why people voted Trump. So he is not one of those who doesn't get that despite his victory there are still problems for the Democrats around their pitch.
I can't see where Trump's coup is coming from. The military clearly indicated it wasn't going to back him with Milley's speech, Fox news, even Tucker Carlson are heading back to count all the votes and so forth, the Georgia recount has shown up nothing, legislatures have indicated they will follow the err... law. Challenges in Arizona in particular look to have pretty much petered out completely. Nevada is completely democrat so the chance of any nonsense there is zero. Law firms are ditching him left and right, he's 1-20 in court and the victories in PA are very minor/ don't change anything. His Millionmagamarch definitely din't have a million people there - it definitely wasn't the 1937 Reichserntedankfest. Just what are people backing now ?
He is going to become President of the Confederacy. He is going batshit at Georgia because it is the only Confederate state that didn't back him. So in January he leaves the White House and sets up in Florida. Speaking to and on behalf of the 73m shitkickers who voted for him. With a Cabinet. Making frequent attacks on the US government. Inciting the insurrection against the 77m traitors who voted for the liars and cheats.
I noticed earlier the discussion of what is a game and what is a sport. This falls in the same category of a discussion on religion or politics; we are never going to agree.
Intrinsically we all really know and are arguing at the fringes, but more importantly we argue on how you define it.
I liked the definition of a sport is defined as one in which you can die. I have never heard that one before and generally it fits, but, but, but you still get into the fringes eg being hit in the head by a snooker ball or croquet ball while trying a hard hit, whereas you are not going to die when hit by a table tennis ball (although you might have a heart attack, but then you might while throwing a dart [particularly if you are 22 stone and on your eighth pint]).
So now you have to define what constitutes death by sport.
Just to make it more complicated, horse riding which is a hobby when not racing has a high death toll. How about mountaineering? Again doesn't feel like a sport. Gliding? These fit the deadly criteria. However to be a sport I think you need to be competing.
I think this is a very good point by Mike and a great tip with SMarkets.
I'm on Ossoff at 2/1 with Betfair Sportsbook.
Speaking of Betfair, they are still not settling up on Biden 300-329 ECVs. I think this is really poor and I have complained. What with this and the kind of shenanigans that Mike highlights I am not impressed with them right now.
Saying the same thing every morning won’t make Betfair settle early. Remember they’re a broker not a bookmaker, it’s not their money they’ll be paying out. It’ll be settled when the results are final.
When they do finally pay out, put everything of Lewis Hamilton for the Sports Personality award, he’s 1.85 on Betfair at the moment, but who else has any significant sporting achievements this year?
First, I wouldn't bet a penny on Lewis Hamilton. This is one occasion when I will let my heart dictate. He has the personality of a slug and to me he's an unpleasant character. Besides, I find F1 motor racing the most boring activity in which the human race partakes. I write that as someone who has endured standing at Stowe Corner.
Re. the markets, that's a non argument. 'It's settled when the results are final' are weasel-words, and you know it. Trump will go on whingeing until 2024 or the day he dies, whichever is the later. Perhaps Betfair will continue to use that as a shield to shirk their responsibilities. The result is now sorted beyond reasonable doubt.
And, incidentally, I'm referring to their Sportsbook market so it is their actions as bookmaker not broker to which I refer.
That’s rather worrying, given that we first started talking about this weird virus in China early in January. It was out there for six months before we realised.
When my wife was in hospital January and they had no clue what kind of pneumonia she had, the consultant said they had had a lot of odd pneumonia's recently.
I noticed earlier the discussion of what is a game and what is a sport. This falls in the same category of a discussion on religion or politics; we are never going to agree.
Intrinsically we all really know and are arguing at the fringes, but more importantly we argue on how you define it.
I liked the definition of a sport is defined as one in which you can die. I have never heard that one before and generally it fits, but, but, but you still get into the fringes eg being hit in the head by a snooker ball or croquet ball while trying a hard hit, whereas you are not going to die when hit by a table tennis ball (although you might have a heart attack, but then you might while throwing a dart [particularly if you are 22 stone and on your eighth pint]).
So now you have to define what constitutes death by sport.
Just to make it more complicated, horse riding which is a hobby when not racing has a high death toll. How about mountaineering? Again doesn't feel like a sport. Gliding? These fit the deadly criteria. However to be a sport I think you need to be competing.
Surely it's just a sliding scale from needing to be athletic to not. Athletics et al are sports in their purest forms, whilst board games are games in their purest form.
In between it's a continuum. Golf is a tricky one. Very much more of a game than something like tennis, but it's moved towards the sport end of the spectrum in recent decades.
I think this is a very good point by Mike and a great tip with SMarkets.
I'm on Ossoff at 2/1 with Betfair Sportsbook.
Speaking of Betfair, they are still not settling up on Biden 300-329 ECVs. I think this is really poor and I have complained. What with this and the kind of shenanigans that Mike highlights I am not impressed with them right now.
Saying the same thing every morning won’t make Betfair settle early. Remember they’re a broker not a bookmaker, it’s not their money they’ll be paying out. It’ll be settled when the results are final.
When they do finally pay out, put everything of Lewis Hamilton for the Sports Personality award, he’s 1.85 on Betfair at the moment, but who else has any significant sporting achievements this year?
Ronnie O'Sullivan won the world snooker title (again). Tyson Fury but he's not fought since his heavyweight title win in February so memories may have faded.
Two I've previously suggested are worth looking at are Marcus Rashford and Hollie Doyle.
Rashford is 3.65 to win but 2.32 to be in the top three, which is unusually generous. The question with Rashford is whether he is nominated. There are not many other footballers to choose from, though I leave to you to judge if HMG will lean on the BBC. I think the opposition to Rashford came from Gove and Cummings, so this may be less of a fear now the latter has departed.
The BBC will want some women on the shortlist and I think Hollie Doyle (she is a jockey) has the best claim here. She has just ridden more than 100 winners for the second season running and blah blah blah -- I'm not trying to convince a jury to vote for her. Racing is an ITV sport, though, if that still matters. She is 48 on Betfair and 40/1 with Hills.
Good call on O’Sullivan, a BBC sport too. Yes, I’d forgotten about Fury, February was indeed an awful long time ago!!
I can’t see a Rashford nomination making it past Tim Davie: it would be making the whole event political the week before Christmas, and give huge ammunition to those opposed to the BBC. I can see them giving him the Gary Linekar Woke award or something similar, or have him collect something on behalf of all sportsmen protesting racism this year.
That is an important point about Rashford and politics but I think is less of a factor than you suggest. First, because Dominic Cummings has left, and I think it was he who objected to feeding the wee'uns; it is reminiscent of his and Gove's rejection of Jamie Oliver back when they ran Education. Second, surely a special award would seem more politically controversial than one on which the public votes.
But I do think that uncertainty is why Rashford's top three price is so generous. Rashford is 2.32 to place: both Fury and O'Sullivan are odds-on to place despite being several times Rashford's win price.
The special award would allow them to take time to mention sportspeople using their profile for good etc, without taking away from the main award which is supposed to be for sporting achievement.
So we’ve got a flat race between three horses and a car, that the car will win if it’s allowed to compete.
I’m betting on Hamilton for now, or rather topping up small bets from earlier in the year, then waiting for the nominations.
Spoty is a fascinating betting heat this year. Tyson Fury or snooker Ronnie would have a great chance if it were not for the exploits of Lewis Hamilton and Marcus Rashford. It must be one of those 2 and my tip is Rashford. Why? Because he has become a part of the national narrative in 2020. It's like having Captain Tom on the shortlist. Lewis is a true F1 great and I can see why he is the odds on fav at 1.85. But if the vote goes that way it will look like the nation prioritizes driving a fast car over feeding hungry children. I can't see that happening in the year of Covid. The 3.85 on Rashford is excellent value imo. I might even do it.
Good argument - you have convinced me. I am on at 3.75 (you presumably having taken the 3.85).
We are not given much to go on in judging criteria and sure, achievement is in there, but we should not overlook the clue in the title "personality" and while this would otherwise argue for The Gypsy King, we are in a different era and I'm with you.
I noticed earlier the discussion of what is a game and what is a sport. This falls in the same category of a discussion on religion or politics; we are never going to agree.
Intrinsically we all really know and are arguing at the fringes, but more importantly we argue on how you define it.
I liked the definition of a sport is defined as one in which you can die. I have never heard that one before and generally it fits, but, but, but you still get into the fringes eg being hit in the head by a snooker ball or croquet ball while trying a hard hit, whereas you are not going to die when hit by a table tennis ball (although you might have a heart attack, but then you might while throwing a dart [particularly if you are 22 stone and on your eighth pint]).
So now you have to define what constitutes death by sport.
Just to make it more complicated, horse riding which is a hobby when not racing has a high death toll. How about mountaineering? Again doesn't feel like a sport. Gliding? These fit the deadly criteria. However to be a sport I think you need to be competing.
Insomnia is a bit of a bore.... Been tired for days and still can’t bloody sleep.
Join the club
So sorry to hear that. Worth discussing with a GP if you haven't already. For what it's worth, because of my multiple jobs I've been taking a sleeping pill for 20 years - supposedly a one-month thing but successive GPs have all agreed that as it works and in my case hasn't decreased in efficacy I can carry on. I usually work till I go to bed so my brain is still buzzing, and then fall asleep instantly. Definitely take GP advice, obviously.
I noticed earlier the discussion of what is a game and what is a sport. This falls in the same category of a discussion on religion or politics; we are never going to agree.
Intrinsically we all really know and are arguing at the fringes, but more importantly we argue on how you define it.
I liked the definition of a sport is defined as one in which you can die. I have never heard that one before and generally it fits, but, but, but you still get into the fringes eg being hit in the head by a snooker ball or croquet ball while trying a hard hit, whereas you are not going to die when hit by a table tennis ball (although you might have a heart attack, but then you might while throwing a dart [particularly if you are 22 stone and on your eighth pint]).
So now you have to define what constitutes death by sport.
Just to make it more complicated, horse riding which is a hobby when not racing has a high death toll. How about mountaineering? Again doesn't feel like a sport. Gliding? These fit the deadly criteria. However to be a sport I think you need to be competing.
Surely it's just a sliding scale from needing to be athletic to not. Athletics et al are sports in their purest forms, whilst board games are games in their purest form.
In between it's a continuum. Golf is a tricky one. Very much more of a game than something like tennis, but it's moved towards the sport end of the spectrum in recent decades.
Shooting. Why on earth is that at the Olympics? But not squash.
I noticed earlier the discussion of what is a game and what is a sport. This falls in the same category of a discussion on religion or politics; we are never going to agree.
Intrinsically we all really know and are arguing at the fringes, but more importantly we argue on how you define it.
I liked the definition of a sport is defined as one in which you can die. I have never heard that one before and generally it fits, but, but, but you still get into the fringes eg being hit in the head by a snooker ball or croquet ball while trying a hard hit, whereas you are not going to die when hit by a table tennis ball (although you might have a heart attack, but then you might while throwing a dart [particularly if you are 22 stone and on your eighth pint]).
So now you have to define what constitutes death by sport.
Just to make it more complicated, horse riding which is a hobby when not racing has a high death toll. How about mountaineering? Again doesn't feel like a sport. Gliding? These fit the deadly criteria. However to be a sport I think you need to be competing.
Surely it's just a sliding scale from needing to be athletic to not. Athletics et al are sports in their purest forms, whilst board games are games in their purest form.
In between it's a continuum. Golf is a tricky one. Very much more of a game than something like tennis, but it's moved towards the sport end of the spectrum in recent decades.
Shooting. Why on earth is that at the Olympics? But not squash.
I think it's really weird that squash isn't in it. I actually think it's fine for things like shooting to be in it as it's probably the pinnacle of the sport (game?). It's tennis, golf and football that really ought to be nowhere near the Olympics.
So all the fish that this whole business is about, if you believe the Tories, will end up not being caught by anyone at all?
Its a shocker. Someone on Twitter is pointing out that one of the signatories of the "we're fucked" letter was, back in 2016, openly mocking the "project fear" realities that he is now signing a letter against.
I don't blame the fishermen - the CFP didn't work for them. What perhaps they weren't considering was that having been freed from the CFP the government would also actively free them from their export market.
I can't see where Trump's coup is coming from. The military clearly indicated it wasn't going to back him with Milley's speech, Fox news, even Tucker Carlson are heading back to count all the votes and so forth, the Georgia recount has shown up nothing, legislatures have indicated they will follow the err... law. Challenges in Arizona in particular look to have pretty much petered out completely. Nevada is completely democrat so the chance of any nonsense there is zero. Law firms are ditching him left and right, he's 1-20 in court and the victories in PA are very minor/ don't change anything. His Millionmagamarch definitely din't have a million people there - it definitely wasn't the 1937 Reichserntedankfest. Just what are people backing now ?
He is going to become President of the Confederacy. He is going batshit at Georgia because it is the only Confederate state that didn't back him. So in January he leaves the White House and sets up in Florida. Speaking to and on behalf of the 73m shitkickers who voted for him. With a Cabinet. Making frequent attacks on the US government. Inciting the insurrection against the 77m traitors who voted for the liars and cheats.
And under multiple indictments for fraud and quite probably worse. Honestly I think he will be yesterday´s man within a few days of his doubtless graceless and charmless departure.
The country and the world will heave a sigh of relief and move on... And Melania will take him to the cleaners.
Trump will concede before the electoral votes are cast IMO. Assuming his court cases get nowhere.
Depends what is meant by "concede".
I expect he'll signal he's booked the removal van. But will he congratulate his successor as is traditional, and pick a tie for the Biden inauguration? More doubtful. I think he'll go to the grave proclaiming he won and was cheated by the usual Enemies of the People, as his fragile ego can't survive simply being a Loser.
I noticed earlier the discussion of what is a game and what is a sport. This falls in the same category of a discussion on religion or politics; we are never going to agree.
Intrinsically we all really know and are arguing at the fringes, but more importantly we argue on how you define it.
I liked the definition of a sport is defined as one in which you can die. I have never heard that one before and generally it fits, but, but, but you still get into the fringes eg being hit in the head by a snooker ball or croquet ball while trying a hard hit, whereas you are not going to die when hit by a table tennis ball (although you might have a heart attack, but then you might while throwing a dart [particularly if you are 22 stone and on your eighth pint]).
So now you have to define what constitutes death by sport.
Just to make it more complicated, horse riding which is a hobby when not racing has a high death toll. How about mountaineering? Again doesn't feel like a sport. Gliding? These fit the deadly criteria. However to be a sport I think you need to be competing.
Surely it's just a sliding scale from needing to be athletic to not. Athletics et al are sports in their purest forms, whilst board games are games in their purest form.
In between it's a continuum. Golf is a tricky one. Very much more of a game than something like tennis, but it's moved towards the sport end of the spectrum in recent decades.
You need to be athletic to be part of a colla castellera, or to perform in certain circus roles. And they can even be done competitively. But I wouldn't call them sports.
That’s rather worrying, given that we first started talking about this weird virus in China early in January. It was out there for six months before we realised.
When my wife was in hospital January and they had no clue what kind of pneumonia she had, the consultant said they had had a lot of odd pneumonia's recently.
where was that Malc? Certainly a bit of a spate in Aberdeen last winter.
I noticed earlier the discussion of what is a game and what is a sport. This falls in the same category of a discussion on religion or politics; we are never going to agree.
Intrinsically we all really know and are arguing at the fringes, but more importantly we argue on how you define it.
I liked the definition of a sport is defined as one in which you can die. I have never heard that one before and generally it fits, but, but, but you still get into the fringes eg being hit in the head by a snooker ball or croquet ball while trying a hard hit, whereas you are not going to die when hit by a table tennis ball (although you might have a heart attack, but then you might while throwing a dart [particularly if you are 22 stone and on your eighth pint]).
So now you have to define what constitutes death by sport.
Just to make it more complicated, horse riding which is a hobby when not racing has a high death toll. How about mountaineering? Again doesn't feel like a sport. Gliding? These fit the deadly criteria. However to be a sport I think you need to be competing.
Surely it's just a sliding scale from needing to be athletic to not. Athletics et al are sports in their purest forms, whilst board games are games in their purest form.
In between it's a continuum. Golf is a tricky one. Very much more of a game than something like tennis, but it's moved towards the sport end of the spectrum in recent decades.
You need to be athletic to be part of a colla castellera, or to perform in certain circus roles. And they can even be done competitively. But I wouldn't call them sports.
Ballroom dancing ≠ not a sport. Figure skating = a sport.
The problem is that if it had been around that long and reproduced with anything like the suggested R number of 2.4, there should have been tens of billions of cases by February this year. So if this is right, something extremely strange has happened.
I can't see where Trump's coup is coming from. The military clearly indicated it wasn't going to back him with Milley's speech, Fox news, even Tucker Carlson are heading back to count all the votes and so forth, the Georgia recount has shown up nothing, legislatures have indicated they will follow the err... law. Challenges in Arizona in particular look to have pretty much petered out completely. Nevada is completely democrat so the chance of any nonsense there is zero. Law firms are ditching him left and right, he's 1-20 in court and the victories in PA are very minor/ don't change anything. His Millionmagamarch definitely din't have a million people there - it definitely wasn't the 1937 Reichserntedankfest. Just what are people backing now ?
He is going to become President of the Confederacy. He is going batshit at Georgia because it is the only Confederate state that didn't back him. So in January he leaves the White House and sets up in Florida. Speaking to and on behalf of the 73m shitkickers who voted for him. With a Cabinet. Making frequent attacks on the US government. Inciting the insurrection against the 77m traitors who voted for the liars and cheats.
And under multiple indictments for fraud and quite probably worse. Honestly I think he will be yesterday´s man within a few days of his doubtless graceless and charmless departure.
The country and the world will heave a sigh of relief and move on... And Melania will take him to the cleaners.
There is of course no Confederacy for him to be President of! However, his supporters are mad enough to consider that any indictments are themselves fraudulent...
The problem is that if it had been around that long and reproduced with anything like the suggested R number of 2.4, there should have been tens of billions of cases by February this year. So if this is right, something extremely strange has happened.
Different strain perhaps, one far less contagious?
I think this is a very good point by Mike and a great tip with SMarkets.
I'm on Ossoff at 2/1 with Betfair Sportsbook.
Speaking of Betfair, they are still not settling up on Biden 300-329 ECVs. I think this is really poor and I have complained. What with this and the kind of shenanigans that Mike highlights I am not impressed with them right now.
Saying the same thing every morning won’t make Betfair settle early. Remember they’re a broker not a bookmaker, it’s not their money they’ll be paying out. It’ll be settled when the results are final.
When they do finally pay out, put everything of Lewis Hamilton for the Sports Personality award, he’s 1.85 on Betfair at the moment, but who else has any significant sporting achievements this year?
Ronnie O'Sullivan won the world snooker title (again). Tyson Fury but he's not fought since his heavyweight title win in February so memories may have faded.
Two I've previously suggested are worth looking at are Marcus Rashford and Hollie Doyle.
Rashford is 3.65 to win but 2.32 to be in the top three, which is unusually generous. The question with Rashford is whether he is nominated. There are not many other footballers to choose from, though I leave to you to judge if HMG will lean on the BBC. I think the opposition to Rashford came from Gove and Cummings, so this may be less of a fear now the latter has departed.
The BBC will want some women on the shortlist and I think Hollie Doyle (she is a jockey) has the best claim here. She has just ridden more than 100 winners for the second season running and blah blah blah -- I'm not trying to convince a jury to vote for her. Racing is an ITV sport, though, if that still matters. She is 48 on Betfair and 40/1 with Hills.
Good call on O’Sullivan, a BBC sport too. Yes, I’d forgotten about Fury, February was indeed an awful long time ago!!
I can’t see a Rashford nomination making it past Tim Davie: it would be making the whole event political the week before Christmas, and give huge ammunition to those opposed to the BBC. I can see them giving him the Gary Linekar Woke award or something similar, or have him collect something on behalf of all sportsmen protesting racism this year.
That is an important point about Rashford and politics but I think is less of a factor than you suggest. First, because Dominic Cummings has left, and I think it was he who objected to feeding the wee'uns; it is reminiscent of his and Gove's rejection of Jamie Oliver back when they ran Education. Second, surely a special award would seem more politically controversial than one on which the public votes.
But I do think that uncertainty is why Rashford's top three price is so generous. Rashford is 2.32 to place: both Fury and O'Sullivan are odds-on to place despite being several times Rashford's win price.
The special award would allow them to take time to mention sportspeople using their profile for good etc, without taking away from the main award which is supposed to be for sporting achievement.
So we’ve got a flat race between three horses and a car, that the car will win if it’s allowed to compete.
I’m betting on Hamilton for now, or rather topping up small bets from earlier in the year, then waiting for the nominations.
Spoty is a fascinating betting heat this year. Tyson Fury or snooker Ronnie would have a great chance if it were not for the exploits of Lewis Hamilton and Marcus Rashford. It must be one of those 2 and my tip is Rashford. Why? Because he has become a part of the national narrative in 2020. It's like having Captain Tom on the shortlist. Lewis is a true F1 great and I can see why he is the odds on fav at 1.85. But if the vote goes that way it will look like the nation prioritizes driving a fast car over feeding hungry children. I can't see that happening in the year of Covid. The 3.85 on Rashford is excellent value imo. I might even do it.
Good argument - you have convinced me. I am on at 3.75 (you presumably having taken the 3.85).
We are not given much to go on in judging criteria and sure, achievement is in there, but we should not overlook the clue in the title "personality" and while this would otherwise argue for The Gypsy King, we are in a different era and I'm with you.
Wahay. I do hope it comes off now then. Fun tenner only for both of us presumably. No shock if it's Lewis, obvs, but Rashford fits the 2020 vibe.
I can't see where Trump's coup is coming from. The military clearly indicated it wasn't going to back him with Milley's speech, Fox news, even Tucker Carlson are heading back to count all the votes and so forth, the Georgia recount has shown up nothing, legislatures have indicated they will follow the err... law. Challenges in Arizona in particular look to have pretty much petered out completely. Nevada is completely democrat so the chance of any nonsense there is zero. Law firms are ditching him left and right, he's 1-20 in court and the victories in PA are very minor/ don't change anything. His Millionmagamarch definitely din't have a million people there - it definitely wasn't the 1937 Reichserntedankfest. Just what are people backing now ?
He is going to become President of the Confederacy. He is going batshit at Georgia because it is the only Confederate state that didn't back him. So in January he leaves the White House and sets up in Florida. Speaking to and on behalf of the 73m shitkickers who voted for him. With a Cabinet. Making frequent attacks on the US government. Inciting the insurrection against the 77m traitors who voted for the liars and cheats.
And under multiple indictments for fraud and quite probably worse. Honestly I think he will be yesterday´s man within a few days of his doubtless graceless and charmless departure.
The country and the world will heave a sigh of relief and move on... And Melania will take him to the cleaners.
I'd like to believe that but think, in reality, he will wield considerable influence through his power to endorse or condemn, and will be a factor in 2024 (whether or not he stands). The legal cases will, if anything, feed his profile and help him with the myth-building of People's Champion being persecuted by Evil Elites.
I noticed earlier the discussion of what is a game and what is a sport. This falls in the same category of a discussion on religion or politics; we are never going to agree.
Intrinsically we all really know and are arguing at the fringes, but more importantly we argue on how you define it.
I liked the definition of a sport is defined as one in which you can die. I have never heard that one before and generally it fits, but, but, but you still get into the fringes eg being hit in the head by a snooker ball or croquet ball while trying a hard hit, whereas you are not going to die when hit by a table tennis ball (although you might have a heart attack, but then you might while throwing a dart [particularly if you are 22 stone and on your eighth pint]).
So now you have to define what constitutes death by sport.
Just to make it more complicated, horse riding which is a hobby when not racing has a high death toll. How about mountaineering? Again doesn't feel like a sport. Gliding? These fit the deadly criteria. However to be a sport I think you need to be competing.
Surely it's just a sliding scale from needing to be athletic to not. Athletics et al are sports in their purest forms, whilst board games are games in their purest form.
In between it's a continuum. Golf is a tricky one. Very much more of a game than something like tennis, but it's moved towards the sport end of the spectrum in recent decades.
You need to be athletic to be part of a colla castellera, or to perform in certain circus roles. And they can even be done competitively. But I wouldn't call them sports.
Ballroom dancing ≠ not a sport. Figure skating = a sport.
How does that work?
It doesn't work, not in my eyes. Same with that ribbon-and-ball shite, and synchronised swimming. Which is not to say I don't appreciate dancing; my partner dances professionally. It's just not a sport.
I noticed earlier the discussion of what is a game and what is a sport. This falls in the same category of a discussion on religion or politics; we are never going to agree.
Intrinsically we all really know and are arguing at the fringes, but more importantly we argue on how you define it.
I liked the definition of a sport is defined as one in which you can die. I have never heard that one before and generally it fits, but, but, but you still get into the fringes eg being hit in the head by a snooker ball or croquet ball while trying a hard hit, whereas you are not going to die when hit by a table tennis ball (although you might have a heart attack, but then you might while throwing a dart [particularly if you are 22 stone and on your eighth pint]).
So now you have to define what constitutes death by sport.
Just to make it more complicated, horse riding which is a hobby when not racing has a high death toll. How about mountaineering? Again doesn't feel like a sport. Gliding? These fit the deadly criteria. However to be a sport I think you need to be competing.
Surely it's just a sliding scale from needing to be athletic to not. Athletics et al are sports in their purest forms, whilst board games are games in their purest form.
In between it's a continuum. Golf is a tricky one. Very much more of a game than something like tennis, but it's moved towards the sport end of the spectrum in recent decades.
You need to be athletic to be part of a colla castellera, or to perform in certain circus roles. And they can even be done competitively. But I wouldn't call them sports.
Ballroom dancing ≠ not a sport. Figure skating = a sport.
How does that work?
A remnant of the amateur /pro split. In tennis Rod Laver missed many Wimbledons before pros were allowed in?
There is of course no Confederacy for him to be President of!
Maybe a good time to give it another try. The red states are better armed than the blue ones, and if they wanted to go their own way I can't see the rest of the US being bothered this time...
I can't see where Trump's coup is coming from. The military clearly indicated it wasn't going to back him with Milley's speech, Fox news, even Tucker Carlson are heading back to count all the votes and so forth, the Georgia recount has shown up nothing, legislatures have indicated they will follow the err... law. Challenges in Arizona in particular look to have pretty much petered out completely. Nevada is completely democrat so the chance of any nonsense there is zero. Law firms are ditching him left and right, he's 1-20 in court and the victories in PA are very minor/ don't change anything. His Millionmagamarch definitely din't have a million people there - it definitely wasn't the 1937 Reichserntedankfest. Just what are people backing now ?
He is going to become President of the Confederacy. He is going batshit at Georgia because it is the only Confederate state that didn't back him. So in January he leaves the White House and sets up in Florida. Speaking to and on behalf of the 73m shitkickers who voted for him. With a Cabinet. Making frequent attacks on the US government. Inciting the insurrection against the 77m traitors who voted for the liars and cheats.
Virginia too, of course - not just a Confederate state but home to its capital, although these days a fairly safe Democratic state thanks to the DC suburbs in the North plus the whole letting black people vote thing. Ironically West Virginia, which broke away to join the Union, very much in the other camp. Trump's real power centre is Appalachia rather than the Confederacy, I would argue.
I will chuckle when Rashford isn't nominated for SPOTY.
Yes. Got to be innit to winnit. There's no "write in" option on the voting.
I did suggest that that could be the BBC's get out option if they didn't want to be seen to make a call on this. Revert to the old write-in model, and let the people decide.
But if they were going to do that, they'd have said so by now.
I noticed earlier the discussion of what is a game and what is a sport. This falls in the same category of a discussion on religion or politics; we are never going to agree.
Intrinsically we all really know and are arguing at the fringes, but more importantly we argue on how you define it.
I liked the definition of a sport is defined as one in which you can die. I have never heard that one before and generally it fits, but, but, but you still get into the fringes eg being hit in the head by a snooker ball or croquet ball while trying a hard hit, whereas you are not going to die when hit by a table tennis ball (although you might have a heart attack, but then you might while throwing a dart [particularly if you are 22 stone and on your eighth pint]).
So now you have to define what constitutes death by sport.
Just to make it more complicated, horse riding which is a hobby when not racing has a high death toll. How about mountaineering? Again doesn't feel like a sport. Gliding? These fit the deadly criteria. However to be a sport I think you need to be competing.
Surely it's just a sliding scale from needing to be athletic to not. Athletics et al are sports in their purest forms, whilst board games are games in their purest form.
In between it's a continuum. Golf is a tricky one. Very much more of a game than something like tennis, but it's moved towards the sport end of the spectrum in recent decades.
You need to be athletic to be part of a colla castellera, or to perform in certain circus roles. And they can even be done competitively. But I wouldn't call them sports.
Ballroom dancing ≠ not a sport. Figure skating = a sport.
How does that work?
Neither is. Altius, citius, fortius, not panels of sodding judges.
Slightly reminiscent of those internet wrangles (with which all PBers would never sully themselves of course) where the protagonists are desperate to have the last word, and are an absolute ball ache for everyone else.
I noticed earlier the discussion of what is a game and what is a sport. This falls in the same category of a discussion on religion or politics; we are never going to agree.
Intrinsically we all really know and are arguing at the fringes, but more importantly we argue on how you define it.
I liked the definition of a sport is defined as one in which you can die. I have never heard that one before and generally it fits, but, but, but you still get into the fringes eg being hit in the head by a snooker ball or croquet ball while trying a hard hit, whereas you are not going to die when hit by a table tennis ball (although you might have a heart attack, but then you might while throwing a dart [particularly if you are 22 stone and on your eighth pint]).
So now you have to define what constitutes death by sport.
Just to make it more complicated, horse riding which is a hobby when not racing has a high death toll. How about mountaineering? Again doesn't feel like a sport. Gliding? These fit the deadly criteria. However to be a sport I think you need to be competing.
I noticed earlier the discussion of what is a game and what is a sport. This falls in the same category of a discussion on religion or politics; we are never going to agree.
Intrinsically we all really know and are arguing at the fringes, but more importantly we argue on how you define it.
I liked the definition of a sport is defined as one in which you can die. I have never heard that one before and generally it fits, but, but, but you still get into the fringes eg being hit in the head by a snooker ball or croquet ball while trying a hard hit, whereas you are not going to die when hit by a table tennis ball (although you might have a heart attack, but then you might while throwing a dart [particularly if you are 22 stone and on your eighth pint]).
So now you have to define what constitutes death by sport.
Just to make it more complicated, horse riding which is a hobby when not racing has a high death toll. How about mountaineering? Again doesn't feel like a sport. Gliding? These fit the deadly criteria. However to be a sport I think you need to be competing.
Surely it's just a sliding scale from needing to be athletic to not. Athletics et al are sports in their purest forms, whilst board games are games in their purest form.
In between it's a continuum. Golf is a tricky one. Very much more of a game than something like tennis, but it's moved towards the sport end of the spectrum in recent decades.
You need to be athletic to be part of a colla castellera, or to perform in certain circus roles. And they can even be done competitively. But I wouldn't call them sports.
Ballroom dancing ≠ not a sport. Figure skating = a sport.
How does that work?
Ballroom dancing doesn't need the Olympics, we have Strictly already which is far better and also on every year!
I noticed earlier the discussion of what is a game and what is a sport. This falls in the same category of a discussion on religion or politics; we are never going to agree.
Intrinsically we all really know and are arguing at the fringes, but more importantly we argue on how you define it.
I liked the definition of a sport is defined as one in which you can die. I have never heard that one before and generally it fits, but, but, but you still get into the fringes eg being hit in the head by a snooker ball or croquet ball while trying a hard hit, whereas you are not going to die when hit by a table tennis ball (although you might have a heart attack, but then you might while throwing a dart [particularly if you are 22 stone and on your eighth pint]).
So now you have to define what constitutes death by sport.
Just to make it more complicated, horse riding which is a hobby when not racing has a high death toll. How about mountaineering? Again doesn't feel like a sport. Gliding? These fit the deadly criteria. However to be a sport I think you need to be competing.
Surely it's just a sliding scale from needing to be athletic to not. Athletics et al are sports in their purest forms, whilst board games are games in their purest form.
In between it's a continuum. Golf is a tricky one. Very much more of a game than something like tennis, but it's moved towards the sport end of the spectrum in recent decades.
You need to be athletic to be part of a colla castellera, or to perform in certain circus roles. And they can even be done competitively. But I wouldn't call them sports.
Ballroom dancing ≠ not a sport. Figure skating = a sport.
How does that work?
Neither is. Altius, citius, fortius, not panels of sodding judges.
Any event that requires a judgement to decide the winner is not a sport. I can accept boxing decisions (just about) as they should be based on connecting punches, and sports like judo etc. I cannot countenance any of the perfomance art types, such as diving, synchronised swimming, rhythmic gymnastics etc. You should score more points/goals/runs etc than the opposition, complete the course faster, or through something further. Pretty clear.
On topic, it is utterly ludicrous that Betfair don't count King & Sanders as Democrats given both caucus with them and are fairly reliable votes. Sanders is actually probably in the top five most reliable Democrat votes in the Senate (he's well to the left but votes don't really come up where he can rebel as he's very few to join with). King has a more genuinely "working across the aisle" element, but I suspect Biden will find him more reliable than Joe Manchin, Kyrsten Sinema and possibly a few others.
The problem is that if it had been around that long and reproduced with anything like the suggested R number of 2.4, there should have been tens of billions of cases by February this year. So if this is right, something extremely strange has happened.
Different strain perhaps, one far less contagious?
I think its entirely possible for some early cases not to spread. Remember the number of people an infectious person infects seems to vary widely. Its not a given if you meet someone with covid that you will get ill. However the chances of a widespread early prevalence are pretty low.
While I utterly detest Farage and wouldn't ever vote for him, I can understand why people like him, which isn't the case with Johnson who is so obviously a fake.
Bill Maher, on why the Democrats need to get over themselves, why 10m more people voted Trump than in 2016, why they lost seats in the House - and why Twitter isn’t America.
As someone who comes from the Jeremy Clarkson wing of the LDs, so gets particularly annoyed by this sort of thing and who also has no personal knowledge of the root and branch of the Democrats, I would be interested to know how much is genuine twats on wokeness and how much is distorted by their opponents.
In the UK you definitely get the idiots promoting nonsense, but also a lot of perfectly sensible stuff that is distorted in its application by people not using common sense, by not evaluating what is intended (jobs worth types), or by opponents distorting a perfectly good aim by exaggerating or distorting it to make it look politically correct.
Slightly reminiscent of those internet wrangles (with which all PBers would never sully themselves of course) where the protagonists are desperate to have the last word, and are an absolute ball ache for everyone else.
Guilty as charged. Don't ever put me in government.
I see BJ is giving the 'fit as a butcher's dog' shite another run out. It's a mystery why people think the hackneyed cliché monger is some sort of talented wordsmith.
While I utterly detest Farage and wouldn't ever vote for him, I can understand why people like him, which isn't the case with Johnson who is so obviously a fake.
I can understand why people like both in different ways. Farage has an angry anti-Establishment appeal, while Johnson isn't boring.
Both are absolute charlatans IMO (Farage feathers his own nest very nicely and has no interest in taking responsibility for anything, while Johnson has ambition to be rather than to do). But I do get why they are liked by good numbers of people - it's annoying but not mystifying.
I see BJ is giving the 'fit as a butcher's dog' shite another run out. It's a mystery why people think the hackneyed cliché monger is some sort of talented wordsmith.
I was pondering this morning who might write his memoirs.
The problem is that if it had been around that long and reproduced with anything like the suggested R number of 2.4, there should have been tens of billions of cases by February this year. So if this is right, something extremely strange has happened.
Different strain perhaps, one far less contagious?
I think its entirely possible for some early cases not to spread. Remember the number of people an infectious person infects seems to vary widely. Its not a given if you meet someone with covid that you will get ill. However the chances of a widespread early prevalence are pretty low.
My son unknowingly worked with a positive case all day, then gave him a lift home, but never personally succumbed thankfully (the carrier tested positive the following day).
I will chuckle when Rashford isn't nominated for SPOTY.
Same, I'm a layer of Rashford, I mean the BBC didn't nominate Jermaine Defoe when he was an absolute angel when he helped out Bradley Lowerey and his family.
I used to dislike him a lot. But I reckon what it was was that it was back when he was having to suck up to George Osborne. Now he's made it in his own right, he comes across a lot better.
I noticed earlier the discussion of what is a game and what is a sport. This falls in the same category of a discussion on religion or politics; we are never going to agree.
Intrinsically we all really know and are arguing at the fringes, but more importantly we argue on how you define it.
I liked the definition of a sport is defined as one in which you can die. I have never heard that one before and generally it fits, but, but, but you still get into the fringes eg being hit in the head by a snooker ball or croquet ball while trying a hard hit, whereas you are not going to die when hit by a table tennis ball (although you might have a heart attack, but then you might while throwing a dart [particularly if you are 22 stone and on your eighth pint]).
So now you have to define what constitutes death by sport.
Just to make it more complicated, horse riding which is a hobby when not racing has a high death toll. How about mountaineering? Again doesn't feel like a sport. Gliding? These fit the deadly criteria. However to be a sport I think you need to be competing.
Yep, been there, done that, when I had a girlfriend with a glider. But it is comparable to horse riding - 90+ percent is not competitive (other than against yourself).
On topic, it is utterly ludicrous that Betfair don't count King & Sanders as Democrats given both caucus with them and are fairly reliable votes. Sanders is actually probably in the top five most reliable Democrat votes in the Senate (he's well to the left but votes don't really come up where he can rebel as he's very few to join with). King has a more genuinely "working across the aisle" element, but I suspect Biden will find him more reliable than Joe Manchin, Kyrsten Sinema and possibly a few others.
It's a nice tax on people who don't read the rules carefully though... And it is clear at least unlike some of their other market rules.
I noticed earlier the discussion of what is a game and what is a sport. This falls in the same category of a discussion on religion or politics; we are never going to agree.
Intrinsically we all really know and are arguing at the fringes, but more importantly we argue on how you define it.
I liked the definition of a sport is defined as one in which you can die. I have never heard that one before and generally it fits, but, but, but you still get into the fringes eg being hit in the head by a snooker ball or croquet ball while trying a hard hit, whereas you are not going to die when hit by a table tennis ball (although you might have a heart attack, but then you might while throwing a dart [particularly if you are 22 stone and on your eighth pint]).
So now you have to define what constitutes death by sport.
Just to make it more complicated, horse riding which is a hobby when not racing has a high death toll. How about mountaineering? Again doesn't feel like a sport. Gliding? These fit the deadly criteria. However to be a sport I think you need to be competing.
Definitely a sport, fastest competitor around a fixed course is the winner. There’s national and international competitions in it, and many British world champions in recent years.
(As well as great fun for those of us who aren’t good enough to be competitive).
I noticed earlier the discussion of what is a game and what is a sport. This falls in the same category of a discussion on religion or politics; we are never going to agree.
Intrinsically we all really know and are arguing at the fringes, but more importantly we argue on how you define it.
I liked the definition of a sport is defined as one in which you can die. I have never heard that one before and generally it fits, but, but, but you still get into the fringes eg being hit in the head by a snooker ball or croquet ball while trying a hard hit, whereas you are not going to die when hit by a table tennis ball (although you might have a heart attack, but then you might while throwing a dart [particularly if you are 22 stone and on your eighth pint]).
So now you have to define what constitutes death by sport.
Just to make it more complicated, horse riding which is a hobby when not racing has a high death toll. How about mountaineering? Again doesn't feel like a sport. Gliding? These fit the deadly criteria. However to be a sport I think you need to be competing.
Surely it's just a sliding scale from needing to be athletic to not. Athletics et al are sports in their purest forms, whilst board games are games in their purest form.
In between it's a continuum. Golf is a tricky one. Very much more of a game than something like tennis, but it's moved towards the sport end of the spectrum in recent decades.
You need to be athletic to be part of a colla castellera, or to perform in certain circus roles. And they can even be done competitively. But I wouldn't call them sports.
Ballroom dancing ≠ not a sport. Figure skating = a sport.
How does that work?
Ballroom dancing doesn't need the Olympics, we have Strictly already which is far better and also on every year!
Good point.
Maybe we should have Strictly Come Pole-vaulting and similar?
Anybody who uses a space before an exclamation mark or a question mark deserves to be incarcerated for a lot longer than 2 weeks. I mean, we all knew the man was a monster, but even I didn't realise he was this bad.
Anybody who uses a space before an exclamation mark or a question mark deserves to be incarcerated for a lot longer than 2 weeks. I mean, we all knew the man was a monster, but even I didn't realise he was this bad.
Yes I agree. They need to be locked up with the nonces and the people who put two spaces after a full stop.
I noticed earlier the discussion of what is a game and what is a sport. This falls in the same category of a discussion on religion or politics; we are never going to agree.
Intrinsically we all really know and are arguing at the fringes, but more importantly we argue on how you define it.
I liked the definition of a sport is defined as one in which you can die. I have never heard that one before and generally it fits, but, but, but you still get into the fringes eg being hit in the head by a snooker ball or croquet ball while trying a hard hit, whereas you are not going to die when hit by a table tennis ball (although you might have a heart attack, but then you might while throwing a dart [particularly if you are 22 stone and on your eighth pint]).
So now you have to define what constitutes death by sport.
Just to make it more complicated, horse riding which is a hobby when not racing has a high death toll. How about mountaineering? Again doesn't feel like a sport. Gliding? These fit the deadly criteria. However to be a sport I think you need to be competing.
Surely it's just a sliding scale from needing to be athletic to not. Athletics et al are sports in their purest forms, whilst board games are games in their purest form.
In between it's a continuum. Golf is a tricky one. Very much more of a game than something like tennis, but it's moved towards the sport end of the spectrum in recent decades.
You need to be athletic to be part of a colla castellera, or to perform in certain circus roles. And they can even be done competitively. But I wouldn't call them sports.
Ballroom dancing ≠ not a sport. Figure skating = a sport.
How does that work?
Neither is. Altius, citius, fortius, not panels of sodding judges.
You will remember the quote - I can't find it via google.
Words to the effect that only foxhunting, something else and something else are sports, the rest are games.
My old boxing club had a motto of "you can't play boxing" so maybe boxing was one of them...
I noticed earlier the discussion of what is a game and what is a sport. This falls in the same category of a discussion on religion or politics; we are never going to agree.
Intrinsically we all really know and are arguing at the fringes, but more importantly we argue on how you define it.
I liked the definition of a sport is defined as one in which you can die. I have never heard that one before and generally it fits, but, but, but you still get into the fringes eg being hit in the head by a snooker ball or croquet ball while trying a hard hit, whereas you are not going to die when hit by a table tennis ball (although you might have a heart attack, but then you might while throwing a dart [particularly if you are 22 stone and on your eighth pint]).
So now you have to define what constitutes death by sport.
Just to make it more complicated, horse riding which is a hobby when not racing has a high death toll. How about mountaineering? Again doesn't feel like a sport. Gliding? These fit the deadly criteria. However to be a sport I think you need to be competing.
Yep, been there, done that, when I had a girlfriend with a glider. But it is comparable to horse riding - 90+ percent is not competitive (other than against yourself).
Fair point, but isn't the same true of running.
PS As and aside I think I noted a few years back that there do seem to be a disproportionate number of glider pilots or (as in my case) ex-glider pilots on PB for some reason.
I see BJ is giving the 'fit as a butcher's dog' shite another run out. It's a mystery why people think the hackneyed cliché monger is some sort of talented wordsmith.
I was pondering this morning who might write his memoirs.
If he does it himself they will be unreadable
If he does it himself he will miss the deadline, and die before they are finished.
Anybody who uses a space before an exclamation mark or a question mark deserves to be incarcerated for a lot longer than 2 weeks. I mean, we all knew the man was a monster, but even I didn't realise he was this bad.
He's always been a monster in my eyes for years when he persistently failed to use the Oxford Comma in his articles.
While I utterly detest Farage and wouldn't ever vote for him, I can understand why people like him, which isn't the case with Johnson who is so obviously a fake.
I can understand why people like both in different ways. Farage has an angry anti-Establishment appeal, while Johnson isn't boring.
Both are absolute charlatans IMO (Farage feathers his own nest very nicely and has no interest in taking responsibility for anything, while Johnson has ambition to be rather than to do). But I do get why they are liked by good numbers of people - it's annoying but not mystifying.
One of my sons worked close to him during the 90's. Did NOT like him.
Anybody who uses a space before an exclamation mark or a question mark deserves to be incarcerated for a lot longer than 2 weeks. I mean, we all knew the man was a monster, but even I didn't realise he was this bad.
He's always been a monster in my eyes for years when he persistently failed to use the Oxford Comma in his articles.
Nobody at my university uses the Oxford Comma. It's infuriating.
DiT Webinar: Out of Scope of the session: NI Protocol and "Anything subject to negotiations". They're taking the line that deal or no deal we are exiting the EEA and CU we will need the full spread of checks anyway. Which we won't if a deal removes them. In other words this is a No Deal briefing - should be fun!
So, Border Control Posts are required 1/1/21. As all ports don't have capacity to build these, inland posts are being built. A full list of the sites, their opening dates and their capabilities is not yet available!
I noticed earlier the discussion of what is a game and what is a sport. This falls in the same category of a discussion on religion or politics; we are never going to agree.
Intrinsically we all really know and are arguing at the fringes, but more importantly we argue on how you define it.
I liked the definition of a sport is defined as one in which you can die. I have never heard that one before and generally it fits, but, but, but you still get into the fringes eg being hit in the head by a snooker ball or croquet ball while trying a hard hit, whereas you are not going to die when hit by a table tennis ball (although you might have a heart attack, but then you might while throwing a dart [particularly if you are 22 stone and on your eighth pint]).
So now you have to define what constitutes death by sport.
Just to make it more complicated, horse riding which is a hobby when not racing has a high death toll. How about mountaineering? Again doesn't feel like a sport. Gliding? These fit the deadly criteria. However to be a sport I think you need to be competing.
Yep, been there, done that, when I had a girlfriend with a glider. But it is comparable to horse riding - 90+ percent is not competitive (other than against yourself).
Fair point, but isn't the same true of running.
PS As and aside I think I noted a few years back that there do seem to be a disproportionate number of glider pilots or (as in my case) ex-glider pilots on PB for some reason.
Yep re running. Running in a race = sport. Running to keep fit = not sport.
I would not put myself in the category of glider pilot as she wasn't my girlfriend long enough.
Two stories:
a) Thought I had really mastered the winch takeoff when it became really easy only to have my instructor shout at me he was taking over and we were going to land in a field. Something had gone wrong with the winch and we were nowhere near 800 ft.
b) On my first tug launch where I took control I could not cope with the extra speed and consequential extra maneuverability. I attempted to overtake the tug from below, above and to either side. The pilot must have been having kittens wondering where I was.
Insomnia is a bit of a bore.... Been tired for days and still can’t bloody sleep.
Have you tried non-pharmacological techniques? Of course the concerns you have about your family are not helping. One trick I was taught some years ago was trying to remember 5 town's names for each letter of the alphabet.Even on a bad night I rarely get much past Grantham and Gloucester!
Anybody who uses a space before an exclamation mark or a question mark deserves to be incarcerated for a lot longer than 2 weeks. I mean, we all knew the man was a monster, but even I didn't realise he was this bad.
He's always been a monster in my eyes for years when he persistently failed to use the Oxford Comma in his articles.
At least he doesn't use the Brexit apostrophe. I still see lot's of people using that in many place's but Boris know's its not required.
DiT Webinar: "You will need at least 9 additional procedures" in supply chain processes from 1/1/21. Oh goody! Glad that we are cutting costs and red tape.
Comments
I posted Tony Connelly's thread last night. Definitely worth a read as this week starts:
https://twitter.com/tconnellyRTE/status/1328074278886060037
https://twitter.com/bbcmartynoates/status/1327958985614495744
This isn't what the EU are imposing. This is what the UK government is imposing. So we're going to no deal for a fishing industry which will then be utterly fucked by the things we impose on the fishing industry according to the fishing industry.
I know Philip will be along shortly to explain to these Fishing Industry managers how they have got it wrong.The sad reality is that this was so obvious. You can't expel the EU from our waters and maintain full unfettered access to EU markets for the fish thats in our waters that EU consumers want to eat and UK consumers do not.
What Maher is getting at is the identity politics, and lazy assumptions that all people who look the same think the same.
If 10% of South Americans in the USA like the use of a particular term, 20% are ambivalent about it, but 70% hate it and find it offensive or patronising, then it’s probably not a good idea to keep using it in public - even if everyone you know is in the 10% group.
Hope Johnson is okay soon, did we have any new polls over the weekend?
Too much emphasis on being able to catch the fish and too little on being able to sell it.
Law firms are ditching him left and right, he's 1-20 in court and the victories in PA are very minor/ don't change anything. His Millionmagamarch definitely din't have a million people there - it definitely wasn't the 1937 Reichserntedankfest.
Just what are people backing now ?
Intrinsically we all really know and are arguing at the fringes, but more importantly we argue on how you define it.
I liked the definition of a sport is defined as one in which you can die. I have never heard that one before and generally it fits, but, but, but you still get into the fringes eg being hit in the head by a snooker ball or croquet ball while trying a hard hit, whereas you are not going to die when hit by a table tennis ball (although you might have a heart attack, but then you might while throwing a dart [particularly if you are 22 stone and on your eighth pint]).
So now you have to define what constitutes death by sport.
Just to make it more complicated, horse riding which is a hobby when not racing has a high death toll. How about mountaineering? Again doesn't feel like a sport. Gliding? These fit the deadly criteria. However to be a sport I think you need to be competing.
In between it's a continuum. Golf is a tricky one. Very much more of a game than something like tennis, but it's moved towards the sport end of the spectrum in recent decades.
We are not given much to go on in judging criteria and sure, achievement is in there, but we should not overlook the clue in the title "personality" and while this would otherwise argue for The Gypsy King, we are in a different era and I'm with you.
I don't blame the fishermen - the CFP didn't work for them. What perhaps they weren't considering was that having been freed from the CFP the government would also actively free them from their export market.
https://twitter.com/utdjxk/status/1327986090070974469?s=21
The country and the world will heave a sigh of relief and move on... And Melania will take him to the cleaners.
I expect he'll signal he's booked the removal van. But will he congratulate his successor as is traditional, and pick a tie for the Biden inauguration? More doubtful. I think he'll go to the grave proclaiming he won and was cheated by the usual Enemies of the People, as his fragile ego can't survive simply being a Loser.
How does that work?
Which is not to say I don't appreciate dancing; my partner dances professionally. It's just not a sport.
allowed in?
https://twitter.com/nigel_farage/status/1328250559128883200?s=21
But if they were going to do that, they'd have said so by now.
https://www.wgc2020.fr
As someone who comes from the Jeremy Clarkson wing of the LDs, so gets particularly annoyed by this sort of thing and who also has no personal knowledge of the root and branch of the Democrats, I would be interested to know how much is genuine twats on wokeness and how much is distorted by their opponents.
In the UK you definitely get the idiots promoting nonsense, but also a lot of perfectly sensible stuff that is distorted in its application by people not using common sense, by not evaluating what is intended (jobs worth types), or by opponents distorting a perfectly good aim by exaggerating or distorting it to make it look politically correct.
Don't ever put me in government.
https://twitter.com/beardedgenius/status/1328262380711784448?s=21
Both are absolute charlatans IMO (Farage feathers his own nest very nicely and has no interest in taking responsibility for anything, while Johnson has ambition to be rather than to do). But I do get why they are liked by good numbers of people - it's annoying but not mystifying.
If he does it himself they will be unreadable
https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/15689063.bradley-lowerys-mother-responds-bbc-sports-personality-snub-jermain-defoe/
(As well as great fun for those of us who aren’t good enough to be competitive).
Maybe we should have Strictly Come Pole-vaulting and similar?
I mean, we all knew the man was a monster, but even I didn't realise he was this bad.
Words to the effect that only foxhunting, something else and something else are sports, the rest are games.
My old boxing club had a motto of "you can't play boxing" so maybe boxing was one of them...
PS As and aside I think I noted a few years back that there do seem to be a disproportionate number of glider pilots or (as in my case) ex-glider pilots on PB for some reason.
Most dangerous show on TV, till they cancelled it
Just getting another plague of scam/phishing calls on our landline. Bloody irritating!
So, Border Control Posts are required 1/1/21. As all ports don't have capacity to build these, inland posts are being built. A full list of the sites, their opening dates and their capabilities is not yet available!
https://www.cprcallblocker.com/
Who’d have thought that amateur ski jumping from the big hill would result in a bunch of injuries?
I would not put myself in the category of glider pilot as she wasn't my girlfriend long enough.
Two stories:
a) Thought I had really mastered the winch takeoff when it became really easy only to have my instructor shout at me he was taking over and we were going to land in a field. Something had gone wrong with the winch and we were nowhere near 800 ft.
b) On my first tug launch where I took control I could not cope with the extra speed and consequential extra maneuverability. I attempted to overtake the tug from below, above and to either side. The pilot must have been having kittens wondering where I was.