This week I haves been mostly eating...BOURBON BISCUITS
I find that I have to keep the Bourbon biscuits well away from the Garibaldi biscuits because if you put them in the same tin they keep fighting each other and the custard creams get caught in the cross fire.
This France team is so good to watch. A France-England final in the 2023 RWC would be thrilling.
Not if it's the England team we saw today
1. England would never get that far 2. England play boring boring, losing rugby, as of now 3. France would hammer us, if we did get that far, and it would be tediously one-sided
France will likely win in 2023. Home advantage. A young well coached team with oodles of talent. Dupont.
Once Jones shakes off his obsession with 2019 RWC SA's 6 phases and a kick style of play we'll be fine, England still have one of the best pools of talent in rugby. And in rugby experience is crucial, England in 2023 will still be far savvier than France (see last week).
This week I haves been mostly eating...BOURBON BISCUITS
I only eat biscuits named for historical figures, so Bourbons and Garibaldis are basically it.
Nice
So many people forget Sir Alexander Tollemache Carlyon de Chocolate-Hobnob, Admiral of the Blue and renegade leader of the Patagonian Revolutionary War in 1822
True story. A friend of mine once had sex with an Australian who only agreed to it because she thought that he too was an Australian. He wasn't but lied and said he was. Does that amount to some kind of sexual abuse?
This week I haves been mostly eating...BOURBON BISCUITS
I only eat biscuits named for historical figures, so Bourbons and Garibaldis are basically it.
Nice
So many people forget Sir Alexander Tollemache Carlyon de Chocolate-Hobnob, Admiral of the Blue and renegade leader of the Patagonian Revolutionary War in 1822
I assume the de Chocolate-Hobnobs are a cadet branch of the Hobnob dynasty?
Hooray, we might soon get rid of all the hereditaries. Bunch of unelected people we cannot get rid of, I'm sure the Brexiteer will support this.
Britain’s system of hereditary peerages is outdated and must be abolished, two candidates to be the House of Lord’s next speaker say today.
The 85 dukes earls and barons who sit in the chamber by birthright “devalue” democracy and can no longer be justified, it is claimed.
The intervention by the two peers, who are standing to replace Lord Fowler as speaker, came as a Sunday Times investigation found that the hereditaries cost the taxpayer more and contribute less than life peers.
According to the most detailed data analysis of the institution to date:
● Hereditary peers have cost the taxpayer almost £50 million in expense claims since 2001
● The average hereditary has spoken in the chamber just 50 times over the last five years, compared to 81 times among life peers, and when they do speak, they are 60 per cent more likely to mention their own business or personal interests in the chamber.
The presence of the hereditaries in the Lords was supposed to be a temporary compromise after most were removed in 1999. However, two decades on, those remaining have the right to make or amend laws, and claim a tax-free payment of £323 a day plus travel for parliamentary work.
Baroness Heyter, who along with Lord Alderdice and Lord McFall is standing for speaker this week, said: “It’s not something that would be accepted by the British public today.”
Heyter, the shadow Lords leader, 71, said that byelections — the secretive process by which the hereditaries replenish their numbers whenever a member dies or retires — were “wrong”. Only members of the same party as the departed can vote and the number of peers per party is frozen at 1999 levels, meaning that, in some contests, the electorate can be just three.
As it stands, the contests are paused due to the pandemic. Heyter said that the house should vote on whether or not to resume them at all. Lord Alderdice, the Lib Dem candidate, called for their permanent suspension, saying hereditary peers should be allowed to “wither away”.
Lord McFall, the final candidate, said he “admired” the work of those advocating reform and said that byelections had become “absurd”.
I fail to see why replacing the remaining few hereditaries with yet more political appointments will improve the Lords, either the second chamber goes fully elected or you keep some hereditaries
That's a very curious approach, when the very fact the chamber is now mostly appointed shows that heriditaries are not the defining element and you could remove it without also going full elected.
No, as the hereditaries are the cornerstone of the Lords as are the Bishops, as long as the Lords retains an appointed element the best of them must remain.
I would far rather have a few hereditaries than yet another poiitical donor life peer
So much a cornerstone of the Lords that they removed almost all of them and stated the ones who remained were a temporary measure only?
When not even all hereditaries in the Lords, let alone generally, do not support the status quo, I think it is a losing battle.
I am a Tory, I never saw the need to change the Lords as it was in 1999 and I certainly do not seek to change it now, the remaining hereditaries have had a stake in our nation for hundreds of years, they should stay
My family have also had a stake in the nation for hundreds of years, yet we do not get representation in the Lords...
Long overdue for abolition.
Completely agree with this. There are many many families that have done their bit for the country and never had the slightest recognition. The idea that the upper classes have somehow slaved away preserving the nation over generations is risible.
Certainly since World War II, and then completely and utterly since the demise of the most socially responsible Tory Wets, it is. Residual upper-class dominance in the officer class might be the last claim, but most of Britain's wars since 1945 haven't benefitted it.
Lions governed by (unelected) Donkeys.
It's a little worse than that. The self-selected priviledged financed by the poor.
I'm a Tory. I'm quite happy with the setup as to Lords vs Commons. I'm not at all happy with the ridiculous gravy train. The Lords should be much smaller and personally I'd just restrict it to ex-MPs.
OK, pop quiz, hotshots!
Which is the only sovereign country on the planet to have an Upper House with more members than its Lower House?
The size of the Lords gravy train is tiny compared to the Commons - like a quarter of the size?
They only get paid when they attend.
I think the idea of an assembly with a wide range of subject expert is great.
Bugger conformity. Though some reforms could be an improvement.
True story. A friend of mine once had sex with an Australian who only agreed to it because she thought that he too was an Australian. He wasn't but lied and said he was. Does that amount to some kind of sexual abuse?
Lieutenant Colonel James Bohannon "Jammy" Dodger famously led the Navajo Nation in their attack on the Texan frontier forts in 1854, he was so named for his absurd luck in "dodging" US cavalry bullets shot at close quarters.
True story. A friend of mine once had sex with an Australian who only agreed to it because she thought that he too was an Australian. He wasn't but lied and said he was. Does that amount to some kind of sexual abuse?
Lieutenant Colonel James Bohannon "Jammy" Dodger famously led the Navajo Nation in their attack on the Texan frontier forts in 1854, he was so named for his absurd luck in "dodging" US cavalry bullets shot at close quarters.
Only "lucky" because he would hide behind the Wagon Wheels.....
This week I haves been mostly eating...BOURBON BISCUITS
I only eat biscuits named for historical figures, so Bourbons and Garibaldis are basically it.
Nice
So many people forget Sir Alexander Tollemache Carlyon de Chocolate-Hobnob, Admiral of the Blue and renegade leader of the Patagonian Revolutionary War in 1822
I assume the de Chocolate-Hobnobs are a cadet branch of the Hobnob dynasty?
Yes indeed, and close cousins, of course, of the recusant Catholic Digestives of Arundel, who fought the Henrician and Elizabethan Reformation
This week I haves been mostly eating...BOURBON BISCUITS
I only eat biscuits named for historical figures, so Bourbons and Garibaldis are basically it.
TUC
Named, of course, for Sir Thomas Urquhart-Cameron (1821-1902,) the celebrated Scottish entrepreneur and inventor. Also notable for designing the first propeller-driven steamship to be built on the Clyde, and for his pioneering contributions to the development of the orthopaedic mattress.
Interesting that Sunak simply passed him on to the Treasury. The chumocracy in action.
If someone lobbies a politician inappropriately shouldn't they direct people to make formal representation to officials?
It depends on what grounds they're being directed on.
In which case doesn't the 'chumocracy' allegation need to be held back until we know that, or does the story expand on that?
The story says very little on this, other than that Sunak first supported those believing the company didn't qualify, and then directed Cameron onto a senior group. That could be interpreted one of two ways, and given the government's recent record in this exact area, they shouldn't be too surprised at those less inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt.
This week I haves been mostly eating...BOURBON BISCUITS
I only eat biscuits named for historical figures, so Bourbons and Garibaldis are basically it.
TUC
Named, of course, for Sir Thomas Urquhart-Cameron (1821-1902,) the celebrated Scottish entrepreneur and inventor. Also notable for designing the first propeller-driven steamship to be built on the Clyde, and for his pioneering contributions to the development of the orthopaedic mattress.
This breaks the established law, which I have tacitly laid down, that all biscuits are actually named after famous radical or revolutionary figures. So you are, I am afraid, wrong
An example:
Richie "Rich" T Booker, a famous Civil Rights champion who led the march in Mobile, Alabama against the brutal "Dunkers of the South"
The Conservatives in both Scotland and Wales have talked about splitting off at various points, which would create an English party by default. I'm amazed they've not done it. Devolution's not going away, so the best way to approach it (and, by extension, both to try to preserve some sort of Union and to bolster their ascendancy in England) is to accept that UK-wide parties have had it, and that a CDU/CSU type arrangement between sister parties within an inevitably looser Union is the way forward.
Hooray, we might soon get rid of all the hereditaries. Bunch of unelected people we cannot get rid of, I'm sure the Brexiteer will support this.
Britain’s system of hereditary peerages is outdated and must be abolished, two candidates to be the House of Lord’s next speaker say today.
The 85 dukes earls and barons who sit in the chamber by birthright “devalue” democracy and can no longer be justified, it is claimed.
The intervention by the two peers, who are standing to replace Lord Fowler as speaker, came as a Sunday Times investigation found that the hereditaries cost the taxpayer more and contribute less than life peers.
According to the most detailed data analysis of the institution to date:
● Hereditary peers have cost the taxpayer almost £50 million in expense claims since 2001
● The average hereditary has spoken in the chamber just 50 times over the last five years, compared to 81 times among life peers, and when they do speak, they are 60 per cent more likely to mention their own business or personal interests in the chamber.
The presence of the hereditaries in the Lords was supposed to be a temporary compromise after most were removed in 1999. However, two decades on, those remaining have the right to make or amend laws, and claim a tax-free payment of £323 a day plus travel for parliamentary work.
Baroness Heyter, who along with Lord Alderdice and Lord McFall is standing for speaker this week, said: “It’s not something that would be accepted by the British public today.”
Heyter, the shadow Lords leader, 71, said that byelections — the secretive process by which the hereditaries replenish their numbers whenever a member dies or retires — were “wrong”. Only members of the same party as the departed can vote and the number of peers per party is frozen at 1999 levels, meaning that, in some contests, the electorate can be just three.
As it stands, the contests are paused due to the pandemic. Heyter said that the house should vote on whether or not to resume them at all. Lord Alderdice, the Lib Dem candidate, called for their permanent suspension, saying hereditary peers should be allowed to “wither away”.
Lord McFall, the final candidate, said he “admired” the work of those advocating reform and said that byelections had become “absurd”.
I fail to see why replacing the remaining few hereditaries with yet more political appointments will improve the Lords, either the second chamber goes fully elected or you keep some hereditaries
That's a very curious approach, when the very fact the chamber is now mostly appointed shows that heriditaries are not the defining element and you could remove it without also going full elected.
No, as the hereditaries are the cornerstone of the Lords as are the Bishops, as long as the Lords retains an appointed element the best of them must remain.
I would far rather have a few hereditaries than yet another poiitical donor life peer
So much a cornerstone of the Lords that they removed almost all of them and stated the ones who remained were a temporary measure only?
When not even all hereditaries in the Lords, let alone generally, do not support the status quo, I think it is a losing battle.
I am a Tory, I never saw the need to change the Lords as it was in 1999 and I certainly do not seek to change it now, the remaining hereditaries have had a stake in our nation for hundreds of years, they should stay
My family have also had a stake in the nation for hundreds of years, yet we do not get representation in the Lords...
Long overdue for abolition.
Completely agree with this. There are many many families that have done their bit for the country and never had the slightest recognition. The idea that the upper classes have somehow slaved away preserving the nation over generations is risible.
Certainly since World War II, and then completely and utterly since the demise of the most socially responsible Tory Wets, it is. Residual upper-class dominance in the officer class might be the last claim, but most of Britain's wars since 1945 haven't benefitted it.
Lions governed by (unelected) Donkeys.
It's a little worse than that. The self-selected priviledged financed by the poor.
I'm a Tory. I'm quite happy with the setup as to Lords vs Commons. I'm not at all happy with the ridiculous gravy train. The Lords should be much smaller and personally I'd just restrict it to ex-MPs.
OK, pop quiz, hotshots!
Which is the only sovereign country on the planet to have an Upper House with more members than its Lower House?
The size of the Lords gravy train is tiny compared to the Commons - like a quarter of the size?
They only get paid when they attend.
I think the idea of an assembly with a wide range of subject expert is great.
Bugger conformity. Though some reforms could be an improvement.
There are over 800 members of the Lords. It’s the largest second chamber in the world.
No, it had the potential to be interesting. But it was just dull. For example the French one was Boyle and that guy from Eurotrash firing arrows and making crap jokes.
It was Al Murray who is English. The chances of a Scottish comedian either wanting or being commissioned to make something called ‘Why Does Everyone Hate The English’ are between zero and feckall.
Despite what Some English people think, Scottish Nationalists don’t hate the English. We just want to be treated as equals.
Cameron has a reputation to shred? News to all but TSE...
How is it a “system in disrepute”? The “system” appears to have told him to jog on.
I think the issue is he had a bunch of share options which would have made him very rich if he had delivered with the lobbying. But a large number of share options suggest that those giving them to him knew it was a very, very hard sell to Government that only a former PM had a chance to even get heard.
I have been warning. This is a social explosion waiting to happen. An extraordinary rise in incel males. Not good. Not good one bit
The effect of so much social life moving to first-impressions driven social media, as you and others have said. I expect the chart for women will also show a decline.
I am a Tory, I never saw the need to change the Lords as it was in 1999 and I certainly do not seek to change it now, the remaining hereditaries have had a stake in our nation for hundreds of years, they should stay
A good point, young HY. And 400 years ago your ancestors were downtrodden peasants, living short and brutish lives. So if you follow your own logic.......
This week I haves been mostly eating...BOURBON BISCUITS
I only eat biscuits named for historical figures, so Bourbons and Garibaldis are basically it.
TUC
Named, of course, for Sir Thomas Urquhart-Cameron (1821-1902,) the celebrated Scottish entrepreneur and inventor. Also notable for designing the first propeller-driven steamship to be built on the Clyde, and for his pioneering contributions to the development of the orthopaedic mattress.
This breaks the established law, which I have tacitly laid down, that all biscuits are actually named after famous radical or revolutionary figures. So you are, I am afraid, wrong
An example:
Richie "Rich" T Booker, a famous Civil Rights champion who led the march in Mobile, Alabama against the brutal "Dunkers of the South"
This is to entirely ignore Urquhart-Cameron's participation on the side of the revolutionaries in the Dominican War of Independence during the early 1850s. His daring actions as commandante of a brigade, during the climactic rout of the armies of the Haitian Empire at the Battle of Sabana Larga in 1856, are well-attested.
This week I haves been mostly eating...BOURBON BISCUITS
I only eat biscuits named for historical figures, so Bourbons and Garibaldis are basically it.
TUC
Named, of course, for Sir Thomas Urquhart-Cameron (1821-1902,) the celebrated Scottish entrepreneur and inventor. Also notable for designing the first propeller-driven steamship to be built on the Clyde, and for his pioneering contributions to the development of the orthopaedic mattress.
This breaks the established law, which I have tacitly laid down, that all biscuits are actually named after famous radical or revolutionary figures. So you are, I am afraid, wrong
An example:
Richie "Rich" T Booker, a famous Civil Rights champion who led the march in Mobile, Alabama against the brutal "Dunkers of the South"
This is to entirely ignore Urquhart-Cameron's participation on the side of the revolutionaries in the Dominican War of Independence during the early 1850s. His daring actions as commandante of a brigade, during the climactic rout of the armies of the Haitian Empire at the Battle of Sabana Larga in 1856, are well-attested.
I have been warning. This is a social explosion waiting to happen. An extraordinary rise in incel males. Not good. Not good one bit
The effect of so much social life moving to first-impressions driven social media, as you and others have said. I expect the chart for women will also show a decline.
The combination of these weird hormone disrupting chemicals in the biosphere and the tendency of a great many socially-awkward/shallow young people to reject every possible sexual partner on sight may eventually have the effect of starting to drive human population numbers into reverse.
So long as the effect causes gentle decline for a century or two and doesn't lead to extinction then this is a good thing. It would certainly relieve the pressure on finite natural resources.
Any scientist active on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media must deal with some unpleasant anonymous trolls, but that goes with the territory and is not the issue. It is the attacks by politicians, journalists, and fellow scientists that send a chilling message to other scientists and journalists to watch their words and self-censor.
I have been warning. This is a social explosion waiting to happen. An extraordinary rise in incel males. Not good. Not good one bit
The effect of so much social life moving to first-impressions driven social media, as you and others have said. I expect the chart for women will also show a decline.
The combination of these weird hormone disrupting chemicals in the biosphere and the tendency of a great many socially-awkward/shallow young people to reject every possible sexual partner on sight may eventually have the effect of starting to drive human population numbers into reverse.
So long as the effect causes gentle decline for a century or two and doesn't lead to extinction then this is a good thing. It would certainly relieve the pressure on finite natural resources.
Nah, it’s simpler than that. Young people don’t drink enough these days.
This week I haves been mostly eating...BOURBON BISCUITS
I only eat biscuits named for historical figures, so Bourbons and Garibaldis are basically it.
TUC
Named, of course, for Sir Thomas Urquhart-Cameron (1821-1902,) the celebrated Scottish entrepreneur and inventor. Also notable for designing the first propeller-driven steamship to be built on the Clyde, and for his pioneering contributions to the development of the orthopaedic mattress.
This breaks the established law, which I have tacitly laid down, that all biscuits are actually named after famous radical or revolutionary figures. So you are, I am afraid, wrong
An example:
Richie "Rich" T Booker, a famous Civil Rights champion who led the march in Mobile, Alabama against the brutal "Dunkers of the South"
This is to entirely ignore Urquhart-Cameron's participation on the side of the revolutionaries in the Dominican War of Independence during the early 1850s. His daring actions as commandante of a brigade, during the climactic rout of the armies of the Haitian Empire at the Battle of Sabana Larga in 1856, are well-attested.
Free booze in pubs and clubs for all for a week in August should solve the problem.
Incels won't be going. They will be sitting in their underpants in their bedroom complaining online that women don't deserve them.
Ah, ok. Them. Can’t be twenty odd percent can they?
Selfishly, if I was still in my twenties I think I’d view that as good news. More for me.
Modern western societies are built on the idea of most people being able to find a partner. If that doesn't happen, it spells armageddon for everything we hold dear. Not something to joke about in my opinion.
That would just be the traditional definition of celibate.
Incels are a modern phenomenon consisting, AIUI, of frustrated men who descend into (sometimes violent) misogyny because women don't want to have the sex with them to which they feel they are entitled.
Free booze in pubs and clubs for all for a week in August should solve the problem.
Incels won't be going. They will be sitting in their underpants in their bedroom complaining online that women don't deserve them.
The growing number of incels is a very serious problem IMO.
In my opinion, they need to get offline, have a shower, dress and groom themselves properly, then treat women with respect, and to be a good listener. It is a simple formula that works.
Free booze in pubs and clubs for all for a week in August should solve the problem.
Incels won't be going. They will be sitting in their underpants in their bedroom complaining online that women don't deserve them.
The growing number of incels is a very serious problem IMO.
In my opinion, they need to get offline, have a shower, dress and groom themselves properly, then treat women with respect, and to be a good listener. It is a simple formula that works.
You silly old coot. You don't understand what is happening and why
Free booze in pubs and clubs for all for a week in August should solve the problem.
Incels won't be going. They will be sitting in their underpants in their bedroom complaining online that women don't deserve them.
The growing number of incels is a very serious problem IMO.
In my opinion, they need to get offline, have a shower, dress and groom themselves properly, then treat women with respect, and to be a good listener. It is a simple formula that works.
That isn't the problem IMO. The problem is women have been told they should only accept their perfect idea of a male partner, or something very close to it.
Free booze in pubs and clubs for all for a week in August should solve the problem.
Incels won't be going. They will be sitting in their underpants in their bedroom complaining online that women don't deserve them.
The growing number of incels is a very serious problem IMO.
Agree. A high proportion of bloke problems are solved by three things: girl, job, getting past the age of 23. Shakespeare said something along those lines.
Free booze in pubs and clubs for all for a week in August should solve the problem.
Incels won't be going. They will be sitting in their underpants in their bedroom complaining online that women don't deserve them.
That's quite a lot of unwanted human misery which you are happily chortling at.
I am not chortling, just telling the truth.
I work in a mostly female environment, I over hear conversations about useless men all the time from despairing single women. It is not about looks, it is about behaviour.
Completely agree with this. There are many many families that have done their bit for the country and never had the slightest recognition. The idea that the upper classes have somehow slaved away preserving the nation over generations is risible.
The point is that they've been key stakeholders in the country for centuries and continue to be responsible for the administration of large areas of the land - and thus have a deep interest in the communities in which they're rooted that extends over multiple lifespans. That's a particularly distinct position of responsibility in our society.
I'm a high Tory and I think things acquire value the longer they're in place, and there should be a corresponding higher test for change - particularly where the alternative is disputed or of questionable value.
So, I don't see the harm in keeping a select number of them indefinitely, and I think that a handful of Dukes, Earls, Marquesses and Viscounts adds to the quaintly idiosyncratic nature of the British constitution, which we'd miss if it was wholly lost.
My father's background was similar (his cousin was Viscount Stuart), and I've no great objection to the existence of feudal titles, any more than I get worked up over the monarchy. But it's unwise to have it overlap with political decision-making, since it's obviously unreasonable that someone who's there purely by accident of birth should be asked to ponder on the best way to deliver social services or health - they might be good, but it's a happy accident. The monarchy flourishes only as long as the family is uncontroversial, and the same is true of dukes etc. As a piece of traditional British colour, why not? As an element of democracy, not really.
Comments
BTW Wiki describes Oreos as a 'sandwich cookie'.
I'll get me coat.
Whatever else it’s not exactly been dull.
Edit - bollocks, should have kept my mouth shut.
They only get paid when they attend.
I think the idea of an assembly with a wide range of subject expert is great.
Bugger conformity. Though some reforms could be an improvement.
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/man-jailed-for-raping-woman-over-refusal-to-wear-condom-1.3425186
https://twitter.com/tejmuk/status/1373372389363490819?s=21
In isolation, though, it would look awful.
I was a strange child.
An example:
Richie "Rich" T Booker, a famous Civil Rights champion who led the march in Mobile, Alabama against the brutal "Dunkers of the South"
But I suspect the extent to which this registers with swing voters will only reinforce the view that they were right to ignore him in 2016.
Named after...
On second thoughts, let's not.
TSE and Leon will now accuse me of being an incel (whatever that is).
Nearly
So there.
France 20
60 mins
https://twitter.com/antifascistrc/status/1373357615510659074?s=21
So long as the effect causes gentle decline for a century or two and doesn't lead to extinction then this is a good thing. It would certainly relieve the pressure on finite natural resources.
https://thefederalist.com/2021/03/18/one-of-the-lockdowns-greatest-casualties-could-be-science/
Ooh err.
Selfishly, if I was still in my twenties I think I’d view that as good news. More for me.
They couldn't spot a blatant knock on.
Incels are a modern phenomenon consisting, AIUI, of frustrated men who descend into (sometimes violent) misogyny because women don't want to have the sex with them to which they feel they are entitled.
Your countrymen still moan like whores over the 2003 coupe du monde QF.
I work in a mostly female environment, I over hear conversations about useless men all the time from despairing single women. It is not about looks, it is about behaviour.