Hurrah. Good news for ROI, and the right thing to do.
Why? They hate us. See ALL their media coverage of the UK since the Neolithic era.
On the other hand, this will infuriate them AND humiliate them, so yeah, let's do it. But they won't thank us
I don't think it's as simple as that. And I think they will be quietly thankful - I don't expect or want weeping and people strewing rose petals in Boris's path.
It is also true that Britain as an entity has been responsible for a great deal of hardship in Ireland over the years, and whilst I don't hold any personal shame for that, this does feel like a bit of poetical restitution.
Simon Coveney (I think) politely told us to f*** off when the idea was suggested a few weeks ago
straight question as I have never thought of this before but are "god" and "good" related in some way in terms of language? Was to be good at one point to be God like?
I would not have thought so. Most Gods, as described by their followers, seem to have the tantrum-like temper of a 2 year old. Even the first 5 Commandments are about what you need to do to Him happy and stop him visiting vengeance on you and all your future generations ....
No exactly a poster child for "Good"
But the majority of the Commandments are actually incredibly wise rules for society - especially a society that is nomadic and trying to survive living by their wits passing through hostile territory. Right down to not eating shellfish or pork, which are more likely to have pathogens. Whether you believe God gave them to man, or whether man invented God to give them to man, you can't deny their inherent worth.
They are just an edited down version of the 42 "Negative Confessions" of ancient Egypt. Bear in mind that Moses was brought up as an Egyptian.
Germany woefully behind with COVID vaccinations, and shortages only small part of an "unbelievable" problem...
Dr. Joachim Wunderlich, a cardiologist who has helped staff a local vaccination center in Berlin, told CBS News that the bureaucratic process for people to get vaccinated in Germany was "unbelievable," and the amount of paperwork involved, "insane."
"You can't expect an over-80-year-old to fill out 10 pages and numerous consent forms and ask them to call a hotline to make an appointment," he said. "And then they risk being turned away because they forgot some forms at home."
That doesn't say what you think it says. It says GPs will start vaccinating the week after Easter. Other kinds of doctors' practices will start getting vaccines end April
I assume this will be Novavax doses where we're set to have a 30-35m surplus starting in June where we'll be producing millions more per month than we can use. I also hope we send them to Canada, Australia and NZ. After seeing what the EU has done with exports we should definitely help out our allies. Previously I'd have sent them to the developing world but watching them have their paid for doses stolen by the EU gives us both an opportunity and a moral obligation to help our friends.
And we already have a commitment to 50% of surplus to go via Covax.
That is a little premature surely? They will wait for Eurostar to collapse, brick up the tunnel on this side and then it will be "Continent cut off" time and the the dream of North-Korea-on-Thames will finally come to pass with the Sceptered Isle secure from forriners and no one allowed to leave ...
Must admit that getting called "dude" in real life is a little disturbing and annoying . "mate" is fine most of the time unless the caller is trying to sell me something (then it just sounds false) but never "dude" or "bud"
More of a young person thing? It was relatively common while I wat Uni, I assumed due to us growing up on american TV where it would be more common, and I do hear it from time to time from colleagues in their 20s.
As someone in their 30s, it throws me a little, but not as much as people in their 60s calling me 'mate' in a professional capacity.
Yes, I have a couple of young female colleagues who call everyone dude (it's not gender-related if it ever was).
"Dude" has a really interesting etymological back story. Effectively replacing dandy, (Yankee DOODle Dandy?) but also a term of disdain for the effete Metropolitan elite in late 19th Century US. The opposite of a "redneck". Oscar Wilde fans in the States were "dudes".
That's pretty exciting - would deliver a green-left majority (unless the Greens decided they preferred the CDU, but I doubt it). In a way the Green leadership might prefer a slightly less good result, to keep the CDU option open - if there's a centre-left alternative, their supporters would kill them for opting for the CDU.
Still all within 1-2%...
With a Jamaica coalition, who would be the lead partner now?
I bet the Tories were gutted when Labour called out the protesting
In this, the parties are always helped by the wilder backbenchers on the other side, who can be relied upon to say the 'right' thing (and who are usually amazingly lacking in self awareness of how much of a gift they are to the people they claim to despise), though its harder to present some of them as indicative of the mainstream. For Labour, that is definitely one of the values of Keir. If he doesn't parrot the same things as his wilder members, people will buy it.
Hang on - 3.7 million SPARE Covid jabs? I mean, the rationale is obvious enough - I've managed to decipher the first paragraph by squinting hard, looks like it's partly to help bring NI out of lockdown safely and partly an olive branch to the EU - but is there really that much slack in the rollout, or has the Government decided to slow Phase Two down?
Bottom of the first column gives Easter as a date for when the first UK doses could go to Ireland.
My suspicion is this is a face saving way for the UK to give up some of the doses they had exclusivity for in return for no direct EU export ban on vaccines being delivered to the UK.
With us having lower supplies in April, and Europe having built up steadily over the last few months, will the bigger nations at last start jabbing more per day than us, so they can stop with all the distraction tactics?
Must admit that getting called "dude" in real life is a little disturbing and annoying . "mate" is fine most of the time unless the caller is trying to sell me something (then it just sounds false) but never "dude" or "bud"
Bud is brummie vernacular for mate, but horribly condescending elsewhere.
Is it? I grew up in and around Birmingham and nobody ever said "bud".
I first heard it used regularly when I started working in Bristol. Never heard it used anywhare else.
Hurrah. Good news for ROI, and the right thing to do.
Why? They hate us. See ALL their media coverage of the UK since the Neolithic era.
On the other hand, this will infuriate them AND humiliate them, so yeah, let's do it. But they won't thank us
I don't think it's as simple as that. And I think they will be quietly thankful - I don't expect or want weeping and people strewing rose petals in Boris's path.
It is also true that Britain as an entity has been responsible for a great deal of hardship in Ireland over the years, and whilst I don't hold any personal shame for that, this does feel like a bit of poetical restitution.
Simon Coveney (I think) politely told us to f*** off when the idea was suggested a few weeks ago
I try not to be negative, but that man seems to be a turd of the highest order - and this is the latest evidence in that direction.
Thankfully, it's not his decision - he's the Foreign Minister. Afaik, Sinn Fein are in favour, and if they're in favour, I see no reason for anyone else not to be. I can't see any objections standing.
"It's Farage the husky tree hugger! Reinvented as a green activist, the former UKIP leader takes aim at pub passports, Carrie's 'disturbing' power – and the Johnson family's backing for Beijing
In an exclusive interview with The Mail on Sunday, Nigel Farage talks coronavirus vaccines, pub passports, and the Prime Minister's stance towards China
Former UKIP leader insists he has been an environmentalist all of his life"
Hurrah. Good news for ROI, and the right thing to do.
Why? They hate us. See ALL their media coverage of the UK since the Neolithic era.
On the other hand, this will infuriate them AND humiliate them, so yeah, let's do it. But they won't thank us
I don't think it's as simple as that. And I think they will be quietly thankful - I don't expect or want weeping and people strewing rose petals in Boris's path.
It is also true that Britain as an entity has been responsible for a great deal of hardship in Ireland over the years, and whilst I don't hold any personal shame for that, this does feel like a bit of poetical restitution.
Simon Coveney (I think) politely told us to f*** off when the idea was suggested a few weeks ago
Presumably due to solidarity, since I cannot quite think of another reason you'd say no to receiving more. Even if we sent them 50k a week it would not affect us much but be a pretty big impact for them.
I bet the Tories were gutted when Labour called out the protesting
In this, the parties are always helped by the wilder backbenchers on the other side, who can be relied upon to say the 'right' thing (and who are usually amazingly lacking in self awareness of how much of a gift they are to the people they claim to despise), though its harder to present some of them as indicative of the mainstream. For Labour, that is definitely one of the values of Keir. If he doesn't parrot the same things as his wilder members, people will buy it.
I’ve said this since day 1, the nutters just make it easy for Starmer to show he’s moderate. And in so doing they make themselves irrelevant.
I assume this will be Novavax doses where we're set to have a 30-35m surplus starting in June where we'll be producing millions more per month than we can use. I also hope we send them to Canada, Australia and NZ. After seeing what the EU has done with exports we should definitely help out our allies. Previously I'd have sent them to the developing world but watching them have their paid for doses stolen by the EU gives us both an opportunity and a moral obligation to help our friends.
I hope (to .. er .. God) that the politics of this has been sorted out with Dublin in advance of this leak, and the Times do not trigger a political reaction in Ireland that stops it.
Bloody irresponsible of whichever idiot Cabinet Minister talked about "a poke in the eye for Brussels." That is the one the EU brown-nose press will lead with, just like Boris' 'capitalism and greed'.
It should be a red hot poker up the Rs rather than a poke in the eye, but if the tactic is "talk quietly and carry a big stick", then FFS talk quietly.
On the doses, I hope that it is at least partially quicker than Novavax will arrive.
What they need most is first doses for the remaining part of their Groups 1-4 in the next few weeks, to choke off deaths.
I had been wondering whether doses to ROI might be part of the deal over the dispute over the approx 10m doses worth vaccine substance manufactured at the Dutch plant.
Hurrah. Good news for ROI, and the right thing to do.
Why? They hate us. See ALL their media coverage of the UK since the Neolithic era.
On the other hand, this will infuriate them AND humiliate them, so yeah, let's do it. But they won't thank us
I don't think it's as simple as that. And I think they will be quietly thankful - I don't expect or want weeping and people strewing rose petals in Boris's path.
It is also true that Britain as an entity has been responsible for a great deal of hardship in Ireland over the years, and whilst I don't hold any personal shame for that, this does feel like a bit of poetical restitution.
Simon Coveney (I think) politely told us to f*** off when the idea was suggested a few weeks ago
Presumably due to solidarity, since I cannot quite think of another reason you'd say no to receiving more. Even if we sent them 50k a week it would not affect us much but be a pretty big impact for them.
Probably because its not actually been offered yet.
If it were the case that the UK was actually at a point to offer, then it would be more of a decision.
"Min Aung Hlaing was born on 3 July 1956 in Tavoy, Burma (now Dawei, Myanmar). His father, Thaung Hlaing, is a former civil engineer at the Ministry of Construction.[8]
Min Aung Hlaing passed his matriculation exam in 1972 at BEHS 1 Latha of Rangoon (now Yangon).[8][9] He attended and studied law at the Rangoon Arts and Science University from 1973 to 1974. He was admitted to the Defense Services Academy as part of the 19th Intake in 1974 on his third attempt, where he graduated.[10] According to classmates, Min Aung Hlaing was taciturn, and an unremarkable cadet.[11] He was reportedly shunned by classmates because of his reserved personality.[8]
Career Following graduation, Min Aung Hlaing went on to serve in different command positions, rising slowly through the ranks.[11] Early in his career, military colleagues gave him a nickname referring to cat feces, "something deposited quietly but leaving a powerful stink.""
Hurrah. Good news for ROI, and the right thing to do.
Why? They hate us. See ALL their media coverage of the UK since the Neolithic era.
On the other hand, this will infuriate them AND humiliate them, so yeah, let's do it. But they won't thank us
I don't think it's as simple as that. And I think they will be quietly thankful - I don't expect or want weeping and people strewing rose petals in Boris's path.
It is also true that Britain as an entity has been responsible for a great deal of hardship in Ireland over the years, and whilst I don't hold any personal shame for that, this does feel like a bit of poetical restitution.
Simon Coveney (I think) politely told us to f*** off when the idea was suggested a few weeks ago
Presumably due to solidarity, since I cannot quite think of another reason you'd say no to receiving more. Even if we sent them 50k a week it would not affect us much but be a pretty big impact for them.
Probably because its not actually been offered yet.
If it were the case that the UK was actually at a point to offer, then it would be more of a decision.
I don't see how that tracks - people are able, and indeed do, respond to theoretical matters all the time. If he said something like 'Let's wait and see what actually gets offered, but I'd have some concerns about the mechanism for delivery particularly when considering other Member states in need' or some such, that would be one thing. If he, politely, said something like 'No thanks, we wouldn't want anything from them', that's completely different and would be a pretty unreasonable thing to say even about a theoretical offer.
"It's Farage the husky tree hugger! Reinvented as a green activist, the former UKIP leader takes aim at pub passports, Carrie's 'disturbing' power – and the Johnson family's backing for Beijing
In an exclusive interview with The Mail on Sunday, Nigel Farage talks coronavirus vaccines, pub passports, and the Prime Minister's stance towards China
Former UKIP leader insists he has been an environmentalist all of his life"
Wow. Nigel slams McDonalds eaters. Bit elitist isn't it?
Oh look, the newspapers have finally got there. It's only taken them a month to realise.
You've been a great source for knowing what's coming well before the media.
Where do our Moderna come from? Isn't it Germany?
That's probably been a good tactic for the Govt wanting to minimise risks to the lockdown - let the gibber and wibble and voon whilst doing the real work in the background.
IMO the tactic wrt to UVDL and the EU Goonocracy may be similar; let them wibble and shout their displacement activity about "Export Bans" which can have no impact whatsoever, to avoid them thinking about anything that might work.
Yes, you probably would. Unless it doubled overnight. You would simply absorb the extra and spend it on a higher living standard. Slowly and gently move upwards....
It is rare to the point of non-existence to find someone who earns £100K and lives as if he/she was on 50k and puts the rest in the bank/gives it to charity.
FWIW that's roughly where I am - £120K income, pay £40-odd K tax, live on £30K, give away the balance. Leftism rather than Christianity in my case, but the same idea. My actual living costs are only about £25K, leaving a bit free for treats like the new computer that I'm eyeing.
Don't think I'd enjoy spending £80K/year. Larger home would be more hassle, I've travelled loads already, and anyway there are obviously more urgent needs around. And it feels pleasantly secure - if I lose my day job, it just means I've less to give away but can live exactly as before.
Oh look, the newspapers have finally got there. It's only taken them a month to realise.
You've been a great source for knowing what's coming well before the media.
Where do our Moderna come from? Isn't it Germany?
That's probably been a good tactic for the Govt wanting to minimise risks to the lockdown - let the gibber and wibble and voon whilst doing the real work in the background.
IMO the tactic wrt to UVDL and the EU Goonocracy may be similar; let them wibble and shout their displacement activity about "Export Bans" which can have no impact whatsoever, to avoid them thinking about anything that might work.
Discounting employer pension contributions (add a further £9000) my income this financial year will be somewhere around £44,000.
Which apparently puts me in the top 7% of earners in the country.
It’s probably actually higher than that in terms of disposable income, as I live alone and in a very cheap area.
I must admit a bit like Leon’s friend, I find it hard to get my head around that. I don’t feel like one of the wealthy elite - certainly I don’t think I live like them - but it does occur to me that I have more money than I need, a decent house and access to pretty much anything I want, and I seldom have to back off from a project on financial grounds. I think the only thing I’ve had to rethink is buying an electric car, and that wasn’t solely due to money.
And however you look at it, that makes me pretty fortunate.
I get quite angry at people who don't realise this basic truth. Most people don't earn large amounts, by definition. Median household income in the UK is around £28-30k
That is enough for a decent life, of course, and we are a safe, wealthy country. But it means you don't have to go much higher than this to be obviously wealthy to MOST people, even if you don't feel it. Such as you
Someone with a personal net income of £50k a year is RICH. They will furiously deny it, they certainly won't believe it. But they are. To most of the country
Why do they deny it? Doesn't make sense to me.
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.
The trouble is modern day Christians have turned the meaning of that line upside down. They interpret it as "we must stop people being poor". But the original meaning was "don't worry about being poor - you're going to heaven".
It seems pretty clear to me that it means redistribution of wealth. The line occurs in this context (KJV):
18 And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
19 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.
20 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.
21 And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up.
22 Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.
23 And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.
24 And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!
25 For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
So according to Jesus the virtuous thing is to give away all your wealth to the poor, thus making it much easier for you to achieve eternal bliss in heaven, but also much harder for them? Hmm...
Yes, Jesus was often a little paradoxical. Nonetheless that is what he directed.
Obviously the Queen and the CoE aren't so keen on that bit, so usually skip it.
He directed it to the wealthy young man in the story. The way I read it, the story goes that the wealthy man refuses the chance to be a disciple of Jesus because he cannot contemplate giving up his wealth. That mentality, common in the very wealthy, is, I think, what Jesus is noting.
I have different ideas about wealth than I had years ago. I think its about flow - those of us who are blessed financially should make sure that wealth in turn flows to others - yes by gifting, but also by buying, employing, etc. If you horde it under a mattress (or its equivalent) you are really quite a bad repository of wealth.
Wealth is a stock. Income is a flow.
On income - rationally, I know I'm one of the lucky ones. We have a houehold income of about £80k - which is always close to the top bracket on surveys. So it's a mystery atery we we never have any money. Actually it's not a mystery. It's because we've got three kids. But then, we are, happily, rich enough to afford three kids. I always find household income an odd metric. An individual earning £50k is rich. Two people living in a house each earning £25k are - well, clearly not poor, but a lot less rich than the first fella.
straight question as I have never thought of this before but are "god" and "good" related in some way in terms of language? Was to be good at one point to be God like?
I would not have thought so. Most Gods, as described by their followers, seem to have the tantrum-like temper of a 2 year old. Even the first 5 Commandments are about what you need to do to Him happy and stop him visiting vengeance on you and all your future generations ....
No exactly a poster child for "Good"
But the majority of the Commandments are actually incredibly wise rules for society - especially a society that is nomadic and trying to survive living by their wits passing through hostile territory. Right down to not eating shellfish or pork, which are more likely to have pathogens. Whether you believe God gave them to man, or whether man invented God to give them to man, you can't deny their inherent worth.
Given the constant threat of hunger some tips on how to safely eat pork and shellfish would have been even better.
Most governments would settle for a 4% lead, a year and a half after the last election.
FPT, Bristol West is a great example of the shifts that have taken place among urban upper middle class voters. Other seats like Hornsey & Wood Green, Leeds NE and NW, Manchester Withington, Exeter show the same shift. I'd be interested for views as to why upper middle class voters in big cities have become very left wing (even as voters elsewhere have shifted right).
This has happened amongst my peer group, particularly graduate females.
I think it's a function of values shifts - new religions of internationalism, feminism, diversity and climate change - and the fact trade unions, nationalisation, and very high taxation are no longer a real threat to them or the economy. It's basically a form of disconnected and relatively cost-free hyperindividualism combined with virtue signalling.
Also Labour/Greens look and sound more like them now in a way it simply didn't in the past.
I bet the Tories were gutted when Labour called out the protesting
In this, the parties are always helped by the wilder backbenchers on the other side, who can be relied upon to say the 'right' thing (and who are usually amazingly lacking in self awareness of how much of a gift they are to the people they claim to despise), though its harder to present some of them as indicative of the mainstream. For Labour, that is definitely one of the values of Keir. If he doesn't parrot the same things as his wilder members, people will buy it.
I’ve said this since day 1, the nutters just make it easy for Starmer to show he’s moderate. And in so doing they make themselves irrelevant.
The thing for me is I think that the Corbyns, Sultanas, Burgons and such of the world think that the Tories hate them, and are very proud of that.
When I'd think the situation is more that the Tories really dislike them, but also regard them as among the most useful and effective advocates of Toryism out there. Certainly more effective than most Tory MPs.
Of course, they cannot nor should they simply shut up about their views and policies, and no party accepts that the other side is more popular than them (as, electorally, has been the case with the Tories for a while) and thus that their own position (in some matters) is less popular.
But there has to be a place where you can pillory the other side without acting like you think they are the devil. Many people just voted for that devil, and might well regret it, but if only those beyond the pale would consider it? Well, you might hesitate to switch back.
I look forward to seeing how the Tories sturggle with the same issues when they are next out of office, I was too young to enjoy their flailings post 97.
Discounting employer pension contributions (add a further £9000) my income this financial year will be somewhere around £44,000.
Which apparently puts me in the top 7% of earners in the country.
It’s probably actually higher than that in terms of disposable income, as I live alone and in a very cheap area.
I must admit a bit like Leon’s friend, I find it hard to get my head around that. I don’t feel like one of the wealthy elite - certainly I don’t think I live like them - but it does occur to me that I have more money than I need, a decent house and access to pretty much anything I want, and I seldom have to back off from a project on financial grounds. I think the only thing I’ve had to rethink is buying an electric car, and that wasn’t solely due to money.
And however you look at it, that makes me pretty fortunate.
I get quite angry at people who don't realise this basic truth. Most people don't earn large amounts, by definition. Median household income in the UK is around £28-30k
That is enough for a decent life, of course, and we are a safe, wealthy country. But it means you don't have to go much higher than this to be obviously wealthy to MOST people, even if you don't feel it. Such as you
Someone with a personal net income of £50k a year is RICH. They will furiously deny it, they certainly won't believe it. But they are. To most of the country
Why do they deny it? Doesn't make sense to me.
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.
The trouble is modern day Christians have turned the meaning of that line upside down. They interpret it as "we must stop people being poor". But the original meaning was "don't worry about being poor - you're going to heaven".
It seems pretty clear to me that it means redistribution of wealth. The line occurs in this context (KJV):
18 And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
19 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.
20 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.
21 And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up.
22 Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.
23 And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.
24 And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!
25 For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
So according to Jesus the virtuous thing is to give away all your wealth to the poor, thus making it much easier for you to achieve eternal bliss in heaven, but also much harder for them? Hmm...
Yes, Jesus was often a little paradoxical. Nonetheless that is what he directed.
Obviously the Queen and the CoE aren't so keen on that bit, so usually skip it.
He directed it to the wealthy young man in the story. The way I read it, the story goes that the wealthy man refuses the chance to be a disciple of Jesus because he cannot contemplate giving up his wealth. That mentality, common in the very wealthy, is, I think, what Jesus is noting.
I have different ideas about wealth than I had years ago. I think its about flow - those of us who are blessed financially should make sure that wealth in turn flows to others - yes by gifting, but also by buying, employing, etc. If you horde it under a mattress (or its equivalent) you are really quite a bad repository of wealth.
Wealth is a stock. Income is a flow.
On income - rationally, I know I'm one of the lucky ones. We have a houehold income of about £80k - which is always close to the top bracket on surveys. So it's a mystery atery we we never have any money. Actually it's not a mystery. It's because we've got three kids. But then, we are, happily, rich enough to afford three kids. I always find household income an odd metric. An individual earning £50k is rich. Two people living in a house each earning £25k are - well, clearly not poor, but a lot less rich than the first fella.
I bet the Tories were gutted when Labour called out the protesting
In this, the parties are always helped by the wilder backbenchers on the other side, who can be relied upon to say the 'right' thing (and who are usually amazingly lacking in self awareness of how much of a gift they are to the people they claim to despise), though its harder to present some of them as indicative of the mainstream. For Labour, that is definitely one of the values of Keir. If he doesn't parrot the same things as his wilder members, people will buy it.
I’ve said this since day 1, the nutters just make it easy for Starmer to show he’s moderate. And in so doing they make themselves irrelevant.
The thing for me is I think that the Corbyns, Sultanas, Burgons and such of the world think that the Tories hate them, and are very proud of that.
When I'd think the situation is more that the Tories really dislike them, but also regard them as among the most useful and effective advocates of Toryism out there. Certainly more effective than most Tory MPs.
Of course, they cannot nor should they simply shut up about their views and policies, and no party accepts that the other side is more popular than them (as, electorally, has been the case with the Tories for a while) and thus that their own position (in some matters) is less popular.
But there has to be a place where you can pillory the other side without acting like you think they are the devil. Many people just voted for that devil, and might well regret it, but if only those beyond the pale would consider it? Well, you might hesitate to switch back.
I look forward to seeing how the Tories sturggle with the same issues when they are next out of office, I was too young to enjoy their flailings post 97.
We must be quite similar ages, then. I had thought you were quite a lot older, you certainly come across very mature in your postings.
Oh look, the newspapers have finally got there. It's only taken them a month to realise.
You've been a great source for knowing what's coming well before the media.
Where do our Moderna come from? Isn't it Germany?
Switzerland - looks like they have been able to build a whole new factory in just 8 months. Fill and finish is then carried out in Spain, so I imagine UDL will be claiming this vaccine as another EU export.
I bet the Tories were gutted when Labour called out the protesting
In this, the parties are always helped by the wilder backbenchers on the other side, who can be relied upon to say the 'right' thing (and who are usually amazingly lacking in self awareness of how much of a gift they are to the people they claim to despise), though its harder to present some of them as indicative of the mainstream. For Labour, that is definitely one of the values of Keir. If he doesn't parrot the same things as his wilder members, people will buy it.
I’ve said this since day 1, the nutters just make it easy for Starmer to show he’s moderate. And in so doing they make themselves irrelevant.
The thing for me is I think that the Corbyns, Sultanas, Burgons and such of the world think that the Tories hate them, and are very proud of that.
When I'd think the situation is more that the Tories really dislike them, but also regard them as among the most useful and effective advocates of Toryism out there. Certainly more effective than most Tory MPs.
Of course, they cannot nor should they simply shut up about their views and policies, and no party accepts that the other side is more popular than them (as, electorally, has been the case with the Tories for a while) and thus that their own position (in some matters) is less popular.
But there has to be a place where you can pillory the other side without acting like you think they are the devil. Many people just voted for that devil, and might well regret it, but if only those beyond the pale would consider it? Well, you might hesitate to switch back.
I look forward to seeing how the Tories sturggle with the same issues when they are next out of office, I was too young to enjoy their flailings post 97.
We must be quite similar ages, then. I had thought you were quite a lot older, you certainly come across very mature in your postings.
Oh, I'm quite a bit older I believe, I'm 34. But I didn't experience an epiphany around interest in politics until at least the mid 2000s.
I had a lot of freetime in a do-nothing job placement at the time of the 2010 GE, left me time to stumble onto certain political blogs...
Most governments would settle for a 4% lead, a year and a half after the last election.
FPT, Bristol West is a great example of the shifts that have taken place among urban upper middle class voters. Other seats like Hornsey & Wood Green, Leeds NE and NW, Manchester Withington, Exeter show the same shift. I'd be interested for views as to why upper middle class voters in big cities have become very left wing (even as voters elsewhere have shifted right).
Guilt, and property values, and they are related
If you own a nice house in a nice part of a big UK city, you have enjoyed a huge capital boost from rising house prices over the last decades (and you may have benefited from your parents' houses doing the same, which you have inherited)
This is unearned wealth. You did nothing to deserve this lottery win. You were just lucky. Unearned luck creates guilt, especially when you see the younger generation struggling to buy, with worse jobs and prospects
This is why self-made people are often happily and openly right wing, they didn't luck out (in their eyes) they EARNED the fortune, so Labour and the taxman can take a hike
Also, we have not had a majorly confiscatory leftwing UK government for a long while. One that might lift top tax rates to 60-70%, impose a wealth tax, and so on. So the upper middle feels invulnerable and able to virtuously vote left. The Commies will never arrive
Views would rapidly change in the urbanite metropolitans if a Corbynite party ever came to power
This accurately describes the owners of my company, who are comfortable multi-millionaires, having inherited the business from their father, and own large houses in Richmond, and are insufferably Woke as a result.
I bet the Tories were gutted when Labour called out the protesting
In this, the parties are always helped by the wilder backbenchers on the other side, who can be relied upon to say the 'right' thing (and who are usually amazingly lacking in self awareness of how much of a gift they are to the people they claim to despise), though its harder to present some of them as indicative of the mainstream. For Labour, that is definitely one of the values of Keir. If he doesn't parrot the same things as his wilder members, people will buy it.
I’ve said this since day 1, the nutters just make it easy for Starmer to show he’s moderate. And in so doing they make themselves irrelevant.
The thing for me is I think that the Corbyns, Sultanas, Burgons and such of the world think that the Tories hate them, and are very proud of that.
When I'd think the situation is more that the Tories really dislike them, but also regard them as among the most useful and effective advocates of Toryism out there. Certainly more effective than most Tory MPs.
Of course, they cannot nor should they simply shut up about their views and policies, and no party accepts that the other side is more popular than them (as, electorally, has been the case with the Tories for a while) and thus that their own position (in some matters) is less popular.
But there has to be a place where you can pillory the other side without acting like you think they are the devil. Many people just voted for that devil, and might well regret it, but if only those beyond the pale would consider it? Well, you might hesitate to switch back.
I look forward to seeing how the Tories sturggle with the same issues when they are next out of office, I was too young to enjoy their flailings post 97.
We must be quite similar ages, then. I had thought you were quite a lot older, you certainly come across very mature in your postings.
Oh, I'm quite a bit older I believe, I'm 34. But I didn't experience an epiphany around interest in politics until at least the mid 2000s.
I had a lot of freetime in a do-nothing job placement at the time of the 2010 GE, left me time to stumble onto certain political blogs...
You're not much older, I would rather not share my age though if that's alright. It's not personal, I just don't share any details about myself online.
Oh look, the newspapers have finally got there. It's only taken them a month to realise.
You've been a great source for knowing what's coming well before the media.
Where do our Moderna come from? Isn't it Germany?
Switzerland - looks like they have been able to build a whole new factory in just 8 months. Fill and finish is then carried out in Spain, so I imagine UDL will be claiming this vaccine as another EU export.
I bet the Tories were gutted when Labour called out the protesting
In this, the parties are always helped by the wilder backbenchers on the other side, who can be relied upon to say the 'right' thing (and who are usually amazingly lacking in self awareness of how much of a gift they are to the people they claim to despise), though its harder to present some of them as indicative of the mainstream. For Labour, that is definitely one of the values of Keir. If he doesn't parrot the same things as his wilder members, people will buy it.
I’ve said this since day 1, the nutters just make it easy for Starmer to show he’s moderate. And in so doing they make themselves irrelevant.
The thing for me is I think that the Corbyns, Sultanas, Burgons and such of the world think that the Tories hate them, and are very proud of that.
When I'd think the situation is more that the Tories really dislike them, but also regard them as among the most useful and effective advocates of Toryism out there. Certainly more effective than most Tory MPs.
Of course, they cannot nor should they simply shut up about their views and policies, and no party accepts that the other side is more popular than them (as, electorally, has been the case with the Tories for a while) and thus that their own position (in some matters) is less popular.
But there has to be a place where you can pillory the other side without acting like you think they are the devil. Many people just voted for that devil, and might well regret it, but if only those beyond the pale would consider it? Well, you might hesitate to switch back.
I look forward to seeing how the Tories sturggle with the same issues when they are next out of office, I was too young to enjoy their flailings post 97.
We must be quite similar ages, then. I had thought you were quite a lot older, you certainly come across very mature in your postings.
Oh, I'm quite a bit older I believe, I'm 34. But I didn't experience an epiphany around interest in politics until at least the mid 2000s.
I had a lot of freetime in a do-nothing job placement at the time of the 2010 GE, left me time to stumble onto certain political blogs...
You're not much older, I would rather not share my age though if that's alright.
No need to share, the glory of the internet.
Fortunately, I have always been a grumpy middle aged person in temperament so I feel like I'm growing into it.
Yes, you probably would. Unless it doubled overnight. You would simply absorb the extra and spend it on a higher living standard. Slowly and gently move upwards....
It is rare to the point of non-existence to find someone who earns £100K and lives as if he/she was on 50k and puts the rest in the bank/gives it to charity.
FWIW that's roughly where I am - £120K income, pay £40-odd K tax, live on £30K, give away the balance. Leftism rather than Christianity in my case, but the same idea. My actual living costs are only about £25K, leaving a bit free for treats like the new computer that I'm eyeing.
Don't think I'd enjoy spending £80K/year. Larger home would be more hassle, I've travelled loads already, and anyway there are obviously more urgent needs around. And it feels pleasantly secure - if I lose my day job, it just means I've less to give away but can live exactly as before.
That's roughly a version of the John Wesley system, and impressive. Nonconformists and Trade Unions.
Though he did it on I think £28 a year .
Or, for an astringent quote:
"...if I leave behind me ten pounds...you and all mankind [may] bear witness against me, that I have lived and died a thief and a robber."
Most governments would settle for a 4% lead, a year and a half after the last election.
FPT, Bristol West is a great example of the shifts that have taken place among urban upper middle class voters. Other seats like Hornsey & Wood Green, Leeds NE and NW, Manchester Withington, Exeter show the same shift. I'd be interested for views as to why upper middle class voters in big cities have become very left wing (even as voters elsewhere have shifted right).
Guilt, and property values, and they are related
If you own a nice house in a nice part of a big UK city, you have enjoyed a huge capital boost from rising house prices over the last decades (and you may have benefited from your parents' houses doing the same, which you have inherited)
This is unearned wealth. You did nothing to deserve this lottery win. You were just lucky. Unearned luck creates guilt, especially when you see the younger generation struggling to buy, with worse jobs and prospects
This is why self-made people are often happily and openly right wing, they didn't luck out (in their eyes) they EARNED the fortune, so Labour and the taxman can take a hike
Also, we have not had a majorly confiscatory leftwing UK government for a long while. One that might lift top tax rates to 60-70%, impose a wealth tax, and so on. So the upper middle feels invulnerable and able to virtuously vote left. The Commies will never arrive
Views would rapidly change in the urbanite metropolitans if a Corbynite party ever came to power
This accurately describes the owners of my company, who are comfortable multi-millionaires, having inherited the business from their father, and own large houses in Richmond, and are insufferably Woke as a result.
You run the risk of being as snobby about progressives as you claim they are about working class people
Oh look, the newspapers have finally got there. It's only taken them a month to realise.
You've been a great source for knowing what's coming well before the media.
Where do our Moderna come from? Isn't it Germany?
Switzerland - looks like they have been able to build a whole new factory in just 8 months. Fill and finish is then carried out in Spain, so I imagine UDL will be claiming this vaccine as another EU export.
Most governments would settle for a 4% lead, a year and a half after the last election.
FPT, Bristol West is a great example of the shifts that have taken place among urban upper middle class voters. Other seats like Hornsey & Wood Green, Leeds NE and NW, Manchester Withington, Exeter show the same shift. I'd be interested for views as to why upper middle class voters in big cities have become very left wing (even as voters elsewhere have shifted right).
This has happened amongst my peer group, particularly graduate females.
I think it's a function of values shifts - new religions of internationalism, feminism, diversity and climate change - and the fact trade unions, nationalisation, and very high taxation are no longer a real threat to them or the economy. It's basically a form of disconnected and relatively cost-free hyperindividualism combined with virtue signalling.
Also Labour/Greens look and sound more like them now in a way it simply didn't in the past.
I think they are wealthy enough not to be hurt personally by it.
That's pretty exciting - would deliver a green-left majority (unless the Greens decided they preferred the CDU, but I doubt it). In a way the Green leadership might prefer a slightly less good result, to keep the CDU option open - if there's a centre-left alternative, their supporters would kill them for opting for the CDU.
Still all within 1-2%...
The direction of travel is suggesting that the Greens could well end up largest Party. And therefore difficult to see a way of denying them the Chancellorship. (The only feasible coalition without them would be Union/SPD and FDP), not sure why the SPD would go for that, unless they led it. How far can the Union fall is the question?
Hurrah. Good news for ROI, and the right thing to do.
Why? They hate us. See ALL their media coverage of the UK since the Neolithic era.
On the other hand, this will infuriate them AND humiliate them, so yeah, let's do it. But they won't thank us
I don't think it's as simple as that. And I think they will be quietly thankful - I don't expect or want weeping and people strewing rose petals in Boris's path.
It is also true that Britain as an entity has been responsible for a great deal of hardship in Ireland over the years, and whilst I don't hold any personal shame for that, this does feel like a bit of poetical restitution.
To be honest, I think we were insanely fair on them during the Famine. It was their stupid choice to plant ONLY POTATOES
Brilliant idea, not
We should have just sealed off the whole island and left them to it, instead we charitably - without any thanks or honour - kept the vital channels of commerce open, so Ireland could continue to export wheat through Liverpool and Cardiff, earning much-needed foreign currency which enabled them to build evermore spectacular Famine memorials
Oh look, the newspapers have finally got there. It's only taken them a month to realise.
You've been a great source for knowing what's coming well before the media.
Where do our Moderna come from? Isn't it Germany?
That's probably been a good tactic for the Govt wanting to minimise risks to the lockdown - let the gibber and wibble and voon whilst doing the real work in the background.
IMO the tactic wrt to UVDL and the EU Goonocracy may be similar; let them wibble and shout their displacement activity about "Export Bans" which can have no impact whatsoever, to avoid them thinking about anything that might work.
Switzerland.
Are Lonza making Moderna? I used to do quite a bit of work for them. Great bunch of guys.
Must admit that getting called "dude" in real life is a little disturbing and annoying . "mate" is fine most of the time unless the caller is trying to sell me something (then it just sounds false) but never "dude" or "bud"
More of a young person thing? It was relatively common while I wat Uni, I assumed due to us growing up on american TV where it would be more common, and I do hear it from time to time from colleagues in their 20s.
As someone in their 30s, it throws me a little, but not as much as people in their 60s calling me 'mate' in a professional capacity.
Yes, I have a couple of young female colleagues who call everyone dude (it's not gender-related if it ever was).
"Dude" has a really interesting etymological back story. Effectively replacing dandy, (Yankee DOODle Dandy?) but also a term of disdain for the effete Metropolitan elite in late 19th Century US. The opposite of a "redneck". Oscar Wilde fans in the States were "dudes".
There are things called "Dude Ranches", where metropolitans go to pretend to be rough, tough cowboys.
Goes back before 1900 years or more as a term, as suggested.
Oh look, the newspapers have finally got there. It's only taken them a month to realise.
You've been a great source for knowing what's coming well before the media.
Where do our Moderna come from? Isn't it Germany?
That's probably been a good tactic for the Govt wanting to minimise risks to the lockdown - let the gibber and wibble and voon whilst doing the real work in the background.
IMO the tactic wrt to UVDL and the EU Goonocracy may be similar; let them wibble and shout their displacement activity about "Export Bans" which can have no impact whatsoever, to avoid them thinking about anything that might work.
Switzerland.
Are Lonza making Moderna? I used to do quite a bit of work for them. Great bunch of guys.
Yeah they are! I heard they beat Roche and Novartis too.
I bet the Tories were gutted when Labour called out the protesting
In this, the parties are always helped by the wilder backbenchers on the other side, who can be relied upon to say the 'right' thing (and who are usually amazingly lacking in self awareness of how much of a gift they are to the people they claim to despise), though its harder to present some of them as indicative of the mainstream. For Labour, that is definitely one of the values of Keir. If he doesn't parrot the same things as his wilder members, people will buy it.
I’ve said this since day 1, the nutters just make it easy for Starmer to show he’s moderate. And in so doing they make themselves irrelevant.
The thing for me is I think that the Corbyns, Sultanas, Burgons and such of the world think that the Tories hate them, and are very proud of that.
When I'd think the situation is more that the Tories really dislike them, but also regard them as among the most useful and effective advocates of Toryism out there. Certainly more effective than most Tory MPs.
Of course, they cannot nor should they simply shut up about their views and policies, and no party accepts that the other side is more popular than them (as, electorally, has been the case with the Tories for a while) and thus that their own position (in some matters) is less popular.
But there has to be a place where you can pillory the other side without acting like you think they are the devil. Many people just voted for that devil, and might well regret it, but if only those beyond the pale would consider it? Well, you might hesitate to switch back.
I look forward to seeing how the Tories sturggle with the same issues when they are next out of office, I was too young to enjoy their flailings post 97.
We must be quite similar ages, then. I had thought you were quite a lot older, you certainly come across very mature in your postings.
I will say, I think given the subject matters people raise on here (even occasionally politics) my mental picture of most posters turns out to be a decade or so older than is the case.
Yes, you need the whole ecosystem. And that includes a million office workers flooding in, filling restaurants, going to pubs after work, having lunch and evening meetings. That makes the *buzz* of a world city
Take them away and you lose an awful lot of the buzz and you have a museum town - Venice - except London is not remotely as beautiful as Venice (nowhere is)
Take away foreign students, as well....
London is a precious thing. I know many resent it. But it generates great wealth, like all world cities. We fuck with it at our peril
Brexiteer takes time away from demanding Western solidarity against the Chinese menace to warn against doing anything to jeopardise the status of London and its foreign students...
Hurrah. Good news for ROI, and the right thing to do.
Why? They hate us. See ALL their media coverage of the UK since the Neolithic era.
On the other hand, this will infuriate them AND humiliate them, so yeah, let's do it. But they won't thank us
I don't think it's as simple as that. And I think they will be quietly thankful - I don't expect or want weeping and people strewing rose petals in Boris's path.
It is also true that Britain as an entity has been responsible for a great deal of hardship in Ireland over the years, and whilst I don't hold any personal shame for that, this does feel like a bit of poetical restitution.
To be honest, I think we were insanely fair on them during the Famine. It was their stupid choice to plant ONLY POTATOES
Brilliant idea, not
We should have just sealed off the whole island and left them to it, instead we charitably - without any thanks or honour - kept the vital channels of commerce open, so Ireland could continue to export wheat through Liverpool and Cardiff, earning much-needed foreign currency which enabled them to build evermore spectacular Famine memorials
Hurrah. Good news for ROI, and the right thing to do.
Why? They hate us. See ALL their media coverage of the UK since the Neolithic era.
On the other hand, this will infuriate them AND humiliate them, so yeah, let's do it. But they won't thank us
I don't think it's as simple as that. And I think they will be quietly thankful - I don't expect or want weeping and people strewing rose petals in Boris's path.
It is also true that Britain as an entity has been responsible for a great deal of hardship in Ireland over the years, and whilst I don't hold any personal shame for that, this does feel like a bit of poetical restitution.
To be honest, I think we were insanely fair on them during the Famine. It was their stupid choice to plant ONLY POTATOES
Brilliant idea, not
We should have just sealed off the whole island and left them to it, instead we charitably - without any thanks or honour - kept the vital channels of commerce open, so Ireland could continue to export wheat through Liverpool and Cardiff, earning much-needed foreign currency which enabled them to build evermore spectacular Famine memorials
Note that Irish historians NEVER acknowledge this
FFS over a million died, in what was then our own country. Not a joking matter.
Hurrah. Good news for ROI, and the right thing to do.
Why? They hate us. See ALL their media coverage of the UK since the Neolithic era.
On the other hand, this will infuriate them AND humiliate them, so yeah, let's do it. But they won't thank us
I don't think it's as simple as that. And I think they will be quietly thankful - I don't expect or want weeping and people strewing rose petals in Boris's path.
It is also true that Britain as an entity has been responsible for a great deal of hardship in Ireland over the years, and whilst I don't hold any personal shame for that, this does feel like a bit of poetical restitution.
To be honest, I think we were insanely fair on them during the Famine. It was their stupid choice to plant ONLY POTATOES
Brilliant idea, not
We should have just sealed off the whole island and left them to it, instead we charitably - without any thanks or honour - kept the vital channels of commerce open, so Ireland could continue to export wheat through Liverpool and Cardiff, earning much-needed foreign currency which enabled them to build evermore spectacular Famine memorials
That's pretty exciting - would deliver a green-left majority (unless the Greens decided they preferred the CDU, but I doubt it). In a way the Green leadership might prefer a slightly less good result, to keep the CDU option open - if there's a centre-left alternative, their supporters would kill them for opting for the CDU.
Still all within 1-2%...
I wonder how keen the SPD, who last time around were very keen to go into opposition to avoid continuing to be the junior partner to the CDU/CSU, would be to become a junior partner in a Green-led coalition.
Tactically they would surely do better in opposition, let it be the Greens turn to suffer as junior partner to the CDU/CSU.
Policy-wise, a Green-led coalition might get them most of what they want. But at the cost of reducing the party to further irrelevance.
Thats pretty exciting - would deliver a green-left majority (unless the Greens decided they preferred the CDU, but I doubt it). In a way the Green leadership might prefer a slightly less good result, to keep the CDU option open - if there's a centre-left alternative, their supporters would kill them for opting for the CDU.
Still all within 1-2%...
The direction of travel is suggesting that the Greens could well end up largest Party. And therefore difficult to see a way of denying them the Chancellorship. (The only feasible coalition without them would be Union/SPD and FDP), not sure why the SPD would go for that, unless they led it. How far can the Union fall is the question?
All German polling until CSU leader Soder announces his bid to be Union chancellor candidate instead of the hapless new CDU leader Laschet should be taken with a pinch of salt.
On the latest polling 22% prefer Greens leader Habeck as next Chancellor, 19% prefer SPD leader Scholz and just 18% prefer Laschet. However 35% want Soder to be next Chancellor, to just 20% for Habeck and 19% for Scholz, a vast difference
Hurrah. Good news for ROI, and the right thing to do.
Why? They hate us. See ALL their media coverage of the UK since the Neolithic era.
On the other hand, this will infuriate them AND humiliate them, so yeah, let's do it. But they won't thank us
I don't think it's as simple as that. And I think they will be quietly thankful - I don't expect or want weeping and people strewing rose petals in Boris's path.
It is also true that Britain as an entity has been responsible for a great deal of hardship in Ireland over the years, and whilst I don't hold any personal shame for that, this does feel like a bit of poetical restitution.
To be honest, I think we were insanely fair on them during the Famine. It was their stupid choice to plant ONLY POTATOES
Brilliant idea, not
We should have just sealed off the whole island and left them to it, instead we charitably - without any thanks or honour - kept the vital channels of commerce open, so Ireland could continue to export wheat through Liverpool and Cardiff, earning much-needed foreign currency which enabled them to build evermore spectacular Famine memorials
Note that Irish historians NEVER acknowledge this
Yeah, I think there's a good reason they don't 'acknowledge' that.
If looking for a fight I think forgetting it was part of this country at the time and thus any assistance that might have existed was not charity but should have been obligation (and much more of it to boot) is not a convincing ground to pick one. It's counterintuitively too outrageous.
Oh look, the newspapers have finally got there. It's only taken them a month to realise.
You've been a great source for knowing what's coming well before the media.
Where do our Moderna come from? Isn't it Germany?
That's probably been a good tactic for the Govt wanting to minimise risks to the lockdown - let the gibber and wibble and voon whilst doing the real work in the background.
IMO the tactic wrt to UVDL and the EU Goonocracy may be similar; let them wibble and shout their displacement activity about "Export Bans" which can have no impact whatsoever, to avoid them thinking about anything that might work.
Switzerland.
Are Lonza making Moderna? I used to do quite a bit of work for them. Great bunch of guys.
Yeah they are! I heard they beat Roche and Novartis too.
Lonza and Moderna beating Roche and Novartis brings the Wimbledon mixed doubles to mind.
Hurrah. Good news for ROI, and the right thing to do.
Why? They hate us. See ALL their media coverage of the UK since the Neolithic era.
On the other hand, this will infuriate them AND humiliate them, so yeah, let's do it. But they won't thank us
I don't think it's as simple as that. And I think they will be quietly thankful - I don't expect or want weeping and people strewing rose petals in Boris's path.
It is also true that Britain as an entity has been responsible for a great deal of hardship in Ireland over the years, and whilst I don't hold any personal shame for that, this does feel like a bit of poetical restitution.
To be honest, I think we were insanely fair on them during the Famine. It was their stupid choice to plant ONLY POTATOES
Brilliant idea, not
We should have just sealed off the whole island and left them to it, instead we charitably - without any thanks or honour - kept the vital channels of commerce open, so Ireland could continue to export wheat through Liverpool and Cardiff, earning much-needed foreign currency which enabled them to build evermore spectacular Famine memorials
Hurrah. Good news for ROI, and the right thing to do.
Why? They hate us. See ALL their media coverage of the UK since the Neolithic era.
On the other hand, this will infuriate them AND humiliate them, so yeah, let's do it. But they won't thank us
I don't think it's as simple as that. And I think they will be quietly thankful - I don't expect or want weeping and people strewing rose petals in Boris's path.
It is also true that Britain as an entity has been responsible for a great deal of hardship in Ireland over the years, and whilst I don't hold any personal shame for that, this does feel like a bit of poetical restitution.
To be honest, I think we were insanely fair on them during the Famine. It was their stupid choice to plant ONLY POTATOES
Brilliant idea, not
We should have just sealed off the whole island and left them to it, instead we charitably - without any thanks or honour - kept the vital channels of commerce open, so Ireland could continue to export wheat through Liverpool and Cardiff, earning much-needed foreign currency which enabled them to build evermore spectacular Famine memorials
Note that Irish historians NEVER acknowledge this
Whenever I've gone to Ireland for a business trip - even if only for a couple of days - at least one Irishman or woman (it can be either) has picked up on my accent and name and mentioned "800 years" to me at some point. And this is in the workplace - in a professional environment.
It's done in a slightly jokey way, so I've learned to joke back: "wasn't long enough."
Must admit that getting called "dude" in real life is a little disturbing and annoying . "mate" is fine most of the time unless the caller is trying to sell me something (then it just sounds false) but never "dude" or "bud"
More of a young person thing? It was relatively common while I wat Uni, I assumed due to us growing up on american TV where it would be more common, and I do hear it from time to time from colleagues in their 20s.
As someone in their 30s, it throws me a little, but not as much as people in their 60s calling me 'mate' in a professional capacity.
Yes, I have a couple of young female colleagues who call everyone dude (it's not gender-related if it ever was).
"Dude" has a really interesting etymological back story. Effectively replacing dandy, (Yankee DOODle Dandy?) but also a term of disdain for the effete Metropolitan elite in late 19th Century US. The opposite of a "redneck". Oscar Wilde fans in the States were "dudes".
There are things called "Dude Ranches", where metropolitans go to pretend to be rough, tough cowboys.
Goes back before 1900 years or more as a term, as suggested.
There is nothing complicated about it really. Two polls all in MoE change around the trend of ~5-6% Tory lead, which has been the case for the past couple of months.
Yes, you probably would. Unless it doubled overnight. You would simply absorb the extra and spend it on a higher living standard. Slowly and gently move upwards....
It is rare to the point of non-existence to find someone who earns £100K and lives as if he/she was on 50k and puts the rest in the bank/gives it to charity.
FWIW that's roughly where I am - £120K income, pay £40-odd K tax, live on £30K, give away the balance. Leftism rather than Christianity in my case, but the same idea. My actual living costs are only about £25K, leaving a bit free for treats like the new computer that I'm eyeing.
Don't think I'd enjoy spending £80K/year. Larger home would be more hassle, I've travelled loads already, and anyway there are obviously more urgent needs around. And it feels pleasantly secure - if I lose my day job, it just means I've less to give away but can live exactly as before.
That's roughly a version of the John Wesley system, and impressive. Nonconformists and Trade Unions.
Though he did it on I think £28 a year .
Or, for an astringent quote:
"...if I leave behind me ten pounds...you and all mankind [may] bear witness against me, that I have lived and died a thief and a robber."
I have drawn up a will and left my entire estate to three charities. No IHT to pay - though not motivated by that.
There is nothing complicated about it really. Two polls all in MoE change around the trend of ~5-6% Tory lead, which has been the case for the past couple of months.
5 pount lead feels right to me, I think it will be a tie again soon
Look, if the Tories can’t lead by more than 8 points after closing the pubs for a year, cancelling Christmas, stopping everyone from going on holiday, and killing tens of thousands of grandparents then it really is time for Boris to go!
Hurrah. Good news for ROI, and the right thing to do.
Why? They hate us. See ALL their media coverage of the UK since the Neolithic era.
On the other hand, this will infuriate them AND humiliate them, so yeah, let's do it. But they won't thank us
I don't think it's as simple as that. And I think they will be quietly thankful - I don't expect or want weeping and people strewing rose petals in Boris's path.
It is also true that Britain as an entity has been responsible for a great deal of hardship in Ireland over the years, and whilst I don't hold any personal shame for that, this does feel like a bit of poetical restitution.
To be honest, I think we were insanely fair on them during the Famine. It was their stupid choice to plant ONLY POTATOES
Brilliant idea, not
We should have just sealed off the whole island and left them to it, instead we charitably - without any thanks or honour - kept the vital channels of commerce open, so Ireland could continue to export wheat through Liverpool and Cardiff, earning much-needed foreign currency which enabled them to build evermore spectacular Famine memorials
Note that Irish historians NEVER acknowledge this
Yeah, I think there's a good reason they don't 'acknowledge' that.
If looking for a fight I think forgetting it was part of this country at the time and thus any assistance that might have existed was not charity but should have been obligation (and much more of it to boot) is not a convincing ground to pick one. It's counterintuitively too outrageous.
To be more serious, it REALLY is time the Irish got over the Anglophobia. Their response to Covid shows anything but. First they gloated about our failures, now they kvetch about our alleged "success", they are quite, quite neurotic
Even as they become one of the richest countries in the world (OK the GDP figures are distorted but they are still doing well, off a parasitic corp tax rate).
It shows me what an indy Scotland would be like. The die-hards (and there would be many of them) would still loathe and resent the English, those eternally unforgivable conquerors who "made them speak English".
If Sindy ever happens, I predict it will not be the liberation from England Nats hope. England, the universal western culture, with that damnably popular language, will still loom far too large in their nightmares and daydreams
Yes, you need the whole ecosystem. And that includes a million office workers flooding in, filling restaurants, going to pubs after work, having lunch and evening meetings. That makes the *buzz* of a world city
Take them away and you lose an awful lot of the buzz and you have a museum town - Venice - except London is not remotely as beautiful as Venice (nowhere is)
Take away foreign students, as well....
London is a precious thing. I know many resent it. But it generates great wealth, like all world cities. We fuck with it at our peril
Brexiteer takes time away from demanding Western solidarity against the Chinese menace to warn against doing anything to jeopardise the status of London and its foreign students...
You've posted less than a thousand times on this site over many years but, whenever you do, it's nothing more than drop-in-and-out sardonic digs at posters who you disagree with that are devoid of any humour or insight whatsoever. So everyone ignores you.
There is nothing complicated about it really. Two polls all in MoE change around the trend of ~5-6% Tory lead, which has been the case for the past couple of months.
5 pount lead feels right to me, I think it will be a tie again soon
Cancelling foreign summer holidays will definitely dent Tory number,. especially after showing all that leg about it being possible, and all the UK reasonable priced holidays will have been nabbed by now.
There is nothing complicated about it really. Two polls all in MoE change around the trend of ~5-6% Tory lead, which has been the case for the past couple of months.
5 pount lead feels right to me, I think it will be a tie again soon
Cancelling foreign summer holidays will definitely dent Tory number,. especially after showing all that leg about it being possible, and all the UK reasonable priced holidays will have been nabbed by now.
Why? No one thinks Starmer wouldn’t have done the same
Hurrah. Good news for ROI, and the right thing to do.
Why? They hate us. See ALL their media coverage of the UK since the Neolithic era.
On the other hand, this will infuriate them AND humiliate them, so yeah, let's do it. But they won't thank us
I don't think it's as simple as that. And I think they will be quietly thankful - I don't expect or want weeping and people strewing rose petals in Boris's path.
It is also true that Britain as an entity has been responsible for a great deal of hardship in Ireland over the years, and whilst I don't hold any personal shame for that, this does feel like a bit of poetical restitution.
To be honest, I think we were insanely fair on them during the Famine. It was their stupid choice to plant ONLY POTATOES
Brilliant idea, not
We should have just sealed off the whole island and left them to it, instead we charitably - without any thanks or honour - kept the vital channels of commerce open, so Ireland could continue to export wheat through Liverpool and Cardiff, earning much-needed foreign currency which enabled them to build evermore spectacular Famine memorials
Note that Irish historians NEVER acknowledge this
FFS over a million died, in what was then our own country. Not a joking matter.
Ireland was invaded by Normans from England, so your statement that it was "... then our own country" is rather inaccurate. It was more like a possession or possibly a colony.
And the reason they grew potatoes was because you could grow twice as much crop with potatoes as opposed to the next best choice. And the absentee Lords gave each family so little land that even with potatoes they were at near starvation levels...
Discounting employer pension contributions (add a further £9000) my income this financial year will be somewhere around £44,000.
Which apparently puts me in the top 7% of earners in the country.
It’s probably actually higher than that in terms of disposable income, as I live alone and in a very cheap area.
I must admit a bit like Leon’s friend, I find it hard to get my head around that. I don’t feel like one of the wealthy elite - certainly I don’t think I live like them - but it does occur to me that I have more money than I need, a decent house and access to pretty much anything I want, and I seldom have to back off from a project on financial grounds. I think the only thing I’ve had to rethink is buying an electric car, and that wasn’t solely due to money.
And however you look at it, that makes me pretty fortunate.
I get quite angry at people who don't realise this basic truth. Most people don't earn large amounts, by definition. Median household income in the UK is around £28-30k
That is enough for a decent life, of course, and we are a safe, wealthy country. But it means you don't have to go much higher than this to be obviously wealthy to MOST people, even if you don't feel it. Such as you
Someone with a personal net income of £50k a year is RICH. They will furiously deny it, they certainly won't believe it. But they are. To most of the country
Why do they deny it? Doesn't make sense to me.
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.
The trouble is modern day Christians have turned the meaning of that line upside down. They interpret it as "we must stop people being poor". But the original meaning was "don't worry about being poor - you're going to heaven".
It seems pretty clear to me that it means redistribution of wealth. The line occurs in this context (KJV):
18 And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
19 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.
20 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.
21 And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up.
22 Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.
23 And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.
24 And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!
25 For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
So according to Jesus the virtuous thing is to give away all your wealth to the poor, thus making it much easier for you to achieve eternal bliss in heaven, but also much harder for them since they now have money? Hmm...
I think that's to over-reading and misunderstanding the point of that episode. Look at what happens. The chap rolls up, basically says to Jesus "I'm perfect. Tell me I'll inherit eternal life".
Jesus pushes back in two different ways.
The first is quite subtle. "Why do you call me good? Only God is good". This is itself two-pronged. Its half Jesus claiming his divinity, and asking if this guy really affirms this, and it's half a statement that this guy isn't completely good, whatever he thinks. Jesus gets this in first - I'm guessing he's half an idea where this conversation is going.
Jesus's second point hammers this home. This bloke apparently kept all the commandments - which include "loving the Lord thy God with all thy heart". But when given a direct instruction from the Lord to sell all his stuff, it reveals his greed - he'd rather have the stuff than do what his God asked of him. So he wasn't perfectly keeping the commandments like he thought he was.
Christianity constantly confirms that being poor is no barrier to being a part of God's kingdom. It also has a good deal to say on the dangers of riches leading to greed and selfishness, but I don't think it directly instructs it's followers to sell all their possessions and give to the poor. It certainly has nothing to say on the topic of government forcibly removing one's riches and giving them to the poor.
Incidentally, a little later in the chapter recounting this in Mark (ch 10 v46-52) , we get a mirror image, as if the chapter had been folded in half like a child's paint butterfly. This time it's not a rich man - it's a blind beggar. He hears Jesus passing in a crowd and shouts to him - asking, not for affirmation, but for mercy. When Jesus stops and pays attention, he abandons his coat (probably one of his few valuable possessions, the odds of ever getting it back as a blind bloke in a large crowd being slim to none) in his dash to get to Jesus. Unlike the arrogant rich man, he asks for mercy, and recives it - his sight is restored, and so is his relationship with God - he leaves the little he has, and follows Jesus rejoicing.
Mark's gospel is a brilliantly effective piece of writing, with a lot of depth to it (his depiction of Jesus's first overnight trial is almost darkly comedic - it's the inverse of a real trial in every way, with the man on trial as the only innocent party, and the witness unable to agree in their made up stories. Eventually he's convicted for telling the truth), although to get a lot of the half-hidden plot lines you do have to have a rudimentary understanding of contemporary Jewish culture and symbolism. Its worth a bit of anyone's time to read and get one's head around (it's also the shortest gospel of the four) - if anyone is interested, I'd be very happy to try point them at some resources to help them see some of the intricaties.
There is nothing complicated about it really. Two polls all in MoE change around the trend of ~5-6% Tory lead, which has been the case for the past couple of months.
5 pount lead feels right to me, I think it will be a tie again soon
Cancelling foreign summer holidays will definitely dent Tory number,. especially after showing all that leg about it being possible, and all the UK reasonable priced holidays will have been nabbed by now.
Why? No one thinks Starmer wouldn’t have done the same
People will just be really pissed off, especially when they go oh well lets go to Cornwall, what do you mean a week is £20k...
There is nothing complicated about it really. Two polls all in MoE change around the trend of ~5-6% Tory lead, which has been the case for the past couple of months.
5 pount lead feels right to me, I think it will be a tie again soon
Cancelling foreign summer holidays will definitely dent Tory number,. especially after showing all that leg about it being possible, and all the UK reasonable priced holidays will have been nabbed by now.
Prediction: they won't cancel foreign holidays. There will be corridors and traffic lights.
And rightly so. If there are two countries well vaxxed, with minimum infection, let them travel to each other. With precautions.
We cannot wait til the world has Zero Covid. It could be years, or it could be never. The travel and hospitality industries - and human nature - demand a rational response
There is nothing complicated about it really. Two polls all in MoE change around the trend of ~5-6% Tory lead, which has been the case for the past couple of months.
Absolutely. What is strange is that, given we are in a pandemic, and that, therefore, government action or inaction has a very real impact on the survival of ourselves and our loved ones... The polls have been remarkably static. Just ebbing and flowing at the margins quite sedately.
Hurrah. Good news for ROI, and the right thing to do.
Why? They hate us. See ALL their media coverage of the UK since the Neolithic era.
On the other hand, this will infuriate them AND humiliate them, so yeah, let's do it. But they won't thank us
I don't think it's as simple as that. And I think they will be quietly thankful - I don't expect or want weeping and people strewing rose petals in Boris's path.
It is also true that Britain as an entity has been responsible for a great deal of hardship in Ireland over the years, and whilst I don't hold any personal shame for that, this does feel like a bit of poetical restitution.
To be honest, I think we were insanely fair on them during the Famine. It was their stupid choice to plant ONLY POTATOES
Brilliant idea, not
We should have just sealed off the whole island and left them to it, instead we charitably - without any thanks or honour - kept the vital channels of commerce open, so Ireland could continue to export wheat through Liverpool and Cardiff, earning much-needed foreign currency which enabled them to build evermore spectacular Famine memorials
Note that Irish historians NEVER acknowledge this
Yeah, I think there's a good reason they don't 'acknowledge' that.
If looking for a fight I think forgetting it was part of this country at the time and thus any assistance that might have existed was not charity but should have been obligation (and much more of it to boot) is not a convincing ground to pick one. It's counterintuitively too outrageous.
To be more serious, it REALLY is time the Irish got over the Anglophobia. Their response to Covid shows anything but. First they gloated about our failures, now they kvetch about our alleged "success", they are quite, quite neurotic
Even as they become one of the richest countries in the world (OK the GDP figures are distorted but they are still doing well, off a parasitic corp tax rate).
It shows me what an indy Scotland would be like. The die-hards (and there would be many of them) would still loathe and resent the English, those eternally unforgivable conquerors who "made them speak English".
If Sindy ever happens, I predict it will not be the liberation from England Nats hope. England, the universal western culture, with that damnably popular language, will still loom far too large in their nightmares and daydreams
I do, in general, agree that all places need to get over their [x]ophobia, as it is all too real for states to continue to blame their problems on places which ruled them decades or even centuries ago (and yes, I think we will blame many things on the EU), far beyond the plausible points around systemic issues and legacies of that rule, which I'm not dismissing.
That being said, while I think a big part of getting along in the now is, well, forgetting rather than dwelling on the nastier aspects of the past (and I think the NI peace process and the EU project are examples of nations accepting that principle), I did come across a quote just today from Michael Higgins, that 'A feigned amnesia around the uncomfortable aspects of our shared history will not help us to forge a better future together'.
I think there's something in that as well. I'm not sure how one does not feign amnesia around uncomfortable aspects, but also doesn't dwell or wallow in it, like how some people got worked up over the England rugby team playing at Croke Park.
Hurrah. Good news for ROI, and the right thing to do.
Why? They hate us. See ALL their media coverage of the UK since the Neolithic era.
On the other hand, this will infuriate them AND humiliate them, so yeah, let's do it. But they won't thank us
I don't think it's as simple as that. And I think they will be quietly thankful - I don't expect or want weeping and people strewing rose petals in Boris's path.
It is also true that Britain as an entity has been responsible for a great deal of hardship in Ireland over the years, and whilst I don't hold any personal shame for that, this does feel like a bit of poetical restitution.
To be honest, I think we were insanely fair on them during the Famine. It was their stupid choice to plant ONLY POTATOES
Brilliant idea, not
We should have just sealed off the whole island and left them to it, instead we charitably - without any thanks or honour - kept the vital channels of commerce open, so Ireland could continue to export wheat through Liverpool and Cardiff, earning much-needed foreign currency which enabled them to build evermore spectacular Famine memorials
Note that Irish historians NEVER acknowledge this
FFS over a million died, in what was then our own country. Not a joking matter.
Ireland was invaded by Normans from England, so your statement that it was "... then our own country" is rather inaccurate. It was more like a possession or possibly a colony.
His meaning seems pretty clear. Whatever the rights or wrongs of historical imperial associations, Ireland was part of the British State at the time and thus treating it well, and a lot better than it actually was, should not be presented as if it would be an act of charity. It should have been a given that it be treated well.
I mean, your own statement about Normans from England seems pretty inaccurate, since why blame England at all if it was under the domination of an invading force?
Hurrah. Good news for ROI, and the right thing to do.
Why? They hate us. See ALL their media coverage of the UK since the Neolithic era.
On the other hand, this will infuriate them AND humiliate them, so yeah, let's do it. But they won't thank us
I don't think it's as simple as that. And I think they will be quietly thankful - I don't expect or want weeping and people strewing rose petals in Boris's path.
It is also true that Britain as an entity has been responsible for a great deal of hardship in Ireland over the years, and whilst I don't hold any personal shame for that, this does feel like a bit of poetical restitution.
To be honest, I think we were insanely fair on them during the Famine. It was their stupid choice to plant ONLY POTATOES
Brilliant idea, not
We should have just sealed off the whole island and left them to it, instead we charitably - without any thanks or honour - kept the vital channels of commerce open, so Ireland could continue to export wheat through Liverpool and Cardiff, earning much-needed foreign currency which enabled them to build evermore spectacular Famine memorials
Note that Irish historians NEVER acknowledge this
Yeah, I think there's a good reason they don't 'acknowledge' that.
If looking for a fight I think forgetting it was part of this country at the time and thus any assistance that might have existed was not charity but should have been obligation (and much more of it to boot) is not a convincing ground to pick one. It's counterintuitively too outrageous.
To be more serious, it REALLY is time the Irish got over the Anglophobia. Their response to Covid shows anything but. First they gloated about our failures, now they kvetch about our alleged "success", they are quite, quite neurotic
Even as they become one of the richest countries in the world (OK the GDP figures are distorted but they are still doing well, off a parasitic corp tax rate).
It shows me what an indy Scotland would be like. The die-hards (and there would be many of them) would still loathe and resent the English, those eternally unforgivable conquerors who "made them speak English".
If Sindy ever happens, I predict it will not be the liberation from England Nats hope. England, the universal western culture, with that damnably popular language, will still loom far too large in their nightmares and daydreams
You don't have to be a psychologist or a philosopher to appreciate that bitter, dissatisfied and resentful people are going to continue to be bitter, dissatisfied and resentful, irrespective of any change in their outer circumstances.
There is nothing complicated about it really. Two polls all in MoE change around the trend of ~5-6% Tory lead, which has been the case for the past couple of months.
5 pount lead feels right to me, I think it will be a tie again soon
Cancelling foreign summer holidays will definitely dent Tory number,. especially after showing all that leg about it being possible, and all the UK reasonable priced holidays will have been nabbed by now.
Prediction: they won't cancel foreign holidays. There will be corridors and traffic lights.
And rightly so. If there are two countries well vaxxed, with minimum infection, let them travel to each other. With precautions.
We cannot wait til the world has Zero Covid. It could be years, or it could be never. The travel and hospitality industries - and human nature - demand a rational response
But most people will want to go to Spain or Greece, who won't be well vaccinated any time soon.
Thats pretty exciting - would deliver a green-left majority (unless the Greens decided they preferred the CDU, but I doubt it). In a way the Green leadership might prefer a slightly less good result, to keep the CDU option open - if there's a centre-left alternative, their supporters would kill them for opting for the CDU.
Still all within 1-2%...
The direction of travel is suggesting that the Greens could well end up largest Party. And therefore difficult to see a way of denying them the Chancellorship. (The only feasible coalition without them would be Union/SPD and FDP), not sure why the SPD would go for that, unless they led it. How far can the Union fall is the question?
All German polling until CSU leader Soder announces his bid to be Union chancellor candidate instead of the hapless new CDU leader Laschet should be taken with a pinch of salt.
On the latest polling 22% prefer Greens leader Habeck as next Chancellor, 19% prefer SPD leader Scholz and just 18% prefer Laschet. However 35% want Soder to be next Chancellor, to just 20% for Habeck and 19% for Scholz, a vast difference
Yes, good reality check. Though it doesn't affect the Habeck/Scholz figures much - essentially Soder is liked by the right and Laschet isn't (much). He might well pull over some from the AfD, though, which as you say would change the calculations.
On the SPD/Left being willing to be junior partners to the Greens - I think they'd have trouble refusing if the maths made it possible, since that would force a Green-CDU government. It'd be like the LibDems enabling a Tory government, which is surely unthi...oh.
It has had a tough time. For a short while it experienced the worst Covid rates in the world, I believe
Today it reports 344 cases and 8 new deaths.
Now, Portugal is a small country. Just 10m people.
But 344 cases and 8 deaths is TINY even in that context. And it is still falling. Covid is being cornered, if not eradicated.
At the same time in a couple of months most of Britain will have been vaxxed.
The Portuguese need our money, they want us to go there. We want to go there, to the sun.
Life is not without risk. There will be some risk. But if Portugal agrees to bar flights from high risk countries like Brazil (if it continues to be so awful there) I cannot see a reason why we cannot holiday on the Algarve in July
Hurrah. Good news for ROI, and the right thing to do.
Why? They hate us. See ALL their media coverage of the UK since the Neolithic era.
On the other hand, this will infuriate them AND humiliate them, so yeah, let's do it. But they won't thank us
I don't think it's as simple as that. And I think they will be quietly thankful - I don't expect or want weeping and people strewing rose petals in Boris's path.
It is also true that Britain as an entity has been responsible for a great deal of hardship in Ireland over the years, and whilst I don't hold any personal shame for that, this does feel like a bit of poetical restitution.
To be honest, I think we were insanely fair on them during the Famine. It was their stupid choice to plant ONLY POTATOES
Brilliant idea, not
We should have just sealed off the whole island and left them to it, instead we charitably - without any thanks or honour - kept the vital channels of commerce open, so Ireland could continue to export wheat through Liverpool and Cardiff, earning much-needed foreign currency which enabled them to build evermore spectacular Famine memorials
Note that Irish historians NEVER acknowledge this
FFS over a million died, in what was then our own country. Not a joking matter.
Ireland was invaded by Normans from England, so your statement that it was "... then our own country" is rather inaccurate. It was more like a possession or possibly a colony.
And the reason they grew potatoes was because you could grow twice as much crop with potatoes as opposed to the next best choice. And the absentee Lords gave each family so little land that even with potatoes they were at near starvation levels...
In case you missed it before the Normans invaded Ireland they first invaded England - and committed genocide just as terrible as anything they inflicted on the Irish.
If you want to moan about someone moan about the French. They are the root cause of all of this.
Hurrah. Good news for ROI, and the right thing to do.
Why? They hate us. See ALL their media coverage of the UK since the Neolithic era.
On the other hand, this will infuriate them AND humiliate them, so yeah, let's do it. But they won't thank us
I don't think it's as simple as that. And I think they will be quietly thankful - I don't expect or want weeping and people strewing rose petals in Boris's path.
It is also true that Britain as an entity has been responsible for a great deal of hardship in Ireland over the years, and whilst I don't hold any personal shame for that, this does feel like a bit of poetical restitution.
To be honest, I think we were insanely fair on them during the Famine. It was their stupid choice to plant ONLY POTATOES
Brilliant idea, not
We should have just sealed off the whole island and left them to it, instead we charitably - without any thanks or honour - kept the vital channels of commerce open, so Ireland could continue to export wheat through Liverpool and Cardiff, earning much-needed foreign currency which enabled them to build evermore spectacular Famine memorials
Note that Irish historians NEVER acknowledge this
FFS over a million died, in what was then our own country. Not a joking matter.
The population of Britain at that time was about 20 million.
Its now over 60 million.
The population of Ireland at that time was over 8 million.
It is now less than 7 million.
Ireland really had overbred itself way beyond economic sustainability.
Mass emigration and a population crash was going to happen at some point.
Because of the potato blight the time period it came in was compressed.
Hurrah. Good news for ROI, and the right thing to do.
Why? They hate us. See ALL their media coverage of the UK since the Neolithic era.
On the other hand, this will infuriate them AND humiliate them, so yeah, let's do it. But they won't thank us
I don't think it's as simple as that. And I think they will be quietly thankful - I don't expect or want weeping and people strewing rose petals in Boris's path.
It is also true that Britain as an entity has been responsible for a great deal of hardship in Ireland over the years, and whilst I don't hold any personal shame for that, this does feel like a bit of poetical restitution.
To be honest, I think we were insanely fair on them during the Famine. It was their stupid choice to plant ONLY POTATOES
Brilliant idea, not
We should have just sealed off the whole island and left them to it, instead we charitably - without any thanks or honour - kept the vital channels of commerce open, so Ireland could continue to export wheat through Liverpool and Cardiff, earning much-needed foreign currency which enabled them to build evermore spectacular Famine memorials
Note that Irish historians NEVER acknowledge this
FFS over a million died, in what was then our own country. Not a joking matter.
Ireland was invaded by Normans from England, so your statement that it was "... then our own country" is rather inaccurate. It was more like a possession or possibly a colony.
And the reason they grew potatoes was because you could grow twice as much crop with potatoes as opposed to the next best choice. And the absentee Lords gave each family so little land that even with potatoes they were at near starvation levels...
In case you missed it before the Normans invaded Ireland they first invaded England - and committed genocide just as terrible as anything they inflicted on the Irish.
If you want to moan about someone moan about the French. They are the root cause of all of this.
That is why I called them "Normans from England" and not "English". Of course, by 1916 that distinction had worn rather thin....
It has had a tough time. For a short while it experienced the worst Covid rates in the world, I believe
Today it reports 344 cases and 8 new deaths.
Now, Portugal is a small country. Just 10m people.
But 344 cases and 8 deaths is TINY even in that context. And it is still falling. Covid is being cornered, if not eradicated.
At the same time in a couple of months most of Britain will have been vaxxed.
The Portuguese need our money, they want us to go there. We want to go there, to the sun.
Life is not without risk. There will be some risk. But if Portugal agrees to bar flights from high risk countries like Brazil (if it continues to be so awful there) I cannot see a reason why we cannot holiday on the Algarve in July
If I cared only about holidays, and not British lives, I would suggest our vaccinating Malta. 250000 would get them over the top on first doses.
Thats pretty exciting - would deliver a green-left majority (unless the Greens decided they preferred the CDU, but I doubt it). In a way the Green leadership might prefer a slightly less good result, to keep the CDU option open - if there's a centre-left alternative, their supporters would kill them for opting for the CDU.
Still all within 1-2%...
The direction of travel is suggesting that the Greens could well end up largest Party. And therefore difficult to see a way of denying them the Chancellorship. (The only feasible coalition without them would be Union/SPD and FDP), not sure why the SPD would go for that, unless they led it. How far can the Union fall is the question?
All German polling until CSU leader Soder announces his bid to be Union chancellor candidate instead of the hapless new CDU leader Laschet should be taken with a pinch of salt.
On the latest polling 22% prefer Greens leader Habeck as next Chancellor, 19% prefer SPD leader Scholz and just 18% prefer Laschet. However 35% want Soder to be next Chancellor, to just 20% for Habeck and 19% for Scholz, a vast difference
Yes, good reality check. Though it doesn't affect the Habeck/Scholz figures much - essentially Soder is liked by the right and Laschet isn't (much). He might well pull over some from the AfD, though, which as you say would change the calculations.
On the SPD/Left being willing to be junior partners to the Greens - I think they'd have trouble refusing if the maths made it possible, since that would force a Green-CDU government. It'd be like the LibDems enabling a Tory government, which is surely unthi...oh.
There is also the "traffic light" coalition Green/SPD/FDP. Course the FDP bailed before. But they would certainly prefer it to an outright Leftist coalition. The SPD might just too. Ditto the Greens themselves.
Comments
Isn’t that a sacred cow?
The opposite of a "redneck".
Oscar Wilde fans in the States were "dudes".
My suspicion is this is a face saving way for the UK to give up some of the doses they had exclusivity for in return for no direct EU export ban on vaccines being delivered to the UK.
Thankfully, it's not his decision - he's the Foreign Minister. Afaik, Sinn Fein are in favour, and if they're in favour, I see no reason for anyone else not to be. I can't see any objections standing.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9410053/Farage-takes-aim-pub-passports-Carries-power-Johnson-familys-backing-Beijing.html
"It's Farage the husky tree hugger! Reinvented as a green activist, the former UKIP leader takes aim at pub passports, Carrie's 'disturbing' power – and the Johnson family's backing for Beijing
In an exclusive interview with The Mail on Sunday, Nigel Farage talks coronavirus vaccines, pub passports, and the Prime Minister's stance towards China
Former UKIP leader insists he has been an environmentalist all of his life"
Bloody irresponsible of whichever idiot Cabinet Minister talked about "a poke in the eye for Brussels." That is the one the EU brown-nose press will lead with, just like Boris' 'capitalism and greed'.
It should be a red hot poker up the Rs rather than a poke in the eye, but if the tactic is "talk quietly and carry a big stick", then FFS talk quietly.
On the doses, I hope that it is at least partially quicker than Novavax will arrive.
What they need most is first doses for the remaining part of their Groups 1-4 in the next few weeks, to choke off deaths.
I had been wondering whether doses to ROI might be part of the deal over the dispute over the approx 10m doses worth vaccine substance manufactured at the Dutch plant.
If it were the case that the UK was actually at a point to offer, then it would be more of a decision.
"Min Aung Hlaing was born on 3 July 1956 in Tavoy, Burma (now Dawei, Myanmar). His father, Thaung Hlaing, is a former civil engineer at the Ministry of Construction.[8]
Min Aung Hlaing passed his matriculation exam in 1972 at BEHS 1 Latha of Rangoon (now Yangon).[8][9] He attended and studied law at the Rangoon Arts and Science University from 1973 to 1974. He was admitted to the Defense Services Academy as part of the 19th Intake in 1974 on his third attempt, where he graduated.[10] According to classmates, Min Aung Hlaing was taciturn, and an unremarkable cadet.[11] He was reportedly shunned by classmates because of his reserved personality.[8]
Career
Following graduation, Min Aung Hlaing went on to serve in different command positions, rising slowly through the ranks.[11] Early in his career, military colleagues gave him a nickname referring to cat feces, "something deposited quietly but leaving a powerful stink.""
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Min_Aung_Hlaing
That's probably been a good tactic for the Govt wanting to minimise risks to the lockdown - let the gibber and wibble and voon whilst doing the real work in the background.
IMO the tactic wrt to UVDL and the EU Goonocracy may be similar; let them wibble and shout their displacement activity about "Export Bans" which can have no impact whatsoever, to avoid them thinking about anything that might work.
Don't think I'd enjoy spending £80K/year. Larger home would be more hassle, I've travelled loads already, and anyway there are obviously more urgent needs around. And it feels pleasantly secure - if I lose my day job, it just means I've less to give away but can live exactly as before.
Actually it's not a mystery. It's because we've got three kids. But then, we are, happily, rich enough to afford three kids.
I always find household income an odd metric. An individual earning £50k is rich. Two people living in a house each earning £25k are - well, clearly not poor, but a lot less rich than the first fella.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9409927/PIERS-MORGAN-REAL-truth-Writing-time-dramatic-exit-GMB.html
I think it's a function of values shifts - new religions of internationalism, feminism, diversity and climate change - and the fact trade unions, nationalisation, and very high taxation are no longer a real threat to them or the economy. It's basically a form of disconnected and relatively cost-free hyperindividualism combined with virtue signalling.
Also Labour/Greens look and sound more like them now in a way it simply didn't in the past.
When I'd think the situation is more that the Tories really dislike them, but also regard them as among the most useful and effective advocates of Toryism out there. Certainly more effective than most Tory MPs.
Of course, they cannot nor should they simply shut up about their views and policies, and no party accepts that the other side is more popular than them (as, electorally, has been the case with the Tories for a while) and thus that their own position (in some matters) is less popular.
But there has to be a place where you can pillory the other side without acting like you think they are the devil. Many people just voted for that devil, and might well regret it, but if only those beyond the pale would consider it? Well, you might hesitate to switch back.
I look forward to seeing how the Tories sturggle with the same issues when they are next out of office, I was too young to enjoy their flailings post 97.
Switzerland - looks like they have been able to build a whole new factory in just 8 months. Fill and finish is then carried out in Spain, so I imagine UDL will be claiming this vaccine as another EU export.
https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/sci-tech/swiss-factory-rushes-to-prepare-for-moderna-covid-19-vaccine/46081656
I had a lot of freetime in a do-nothing job placement at the time of the 2010 GE, left me time to stumble onto certain political blogs...
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/mar/28/race-to-contain-brisbane-covid-outbreak-after-infected-man-held-party-while-awaiting-test-results
Fortunately, I have always been a grumpy middle aged person in temperament so I feel like I'm growing into it.
Though he did it on I think £28 a year
Or, for an astringent quote:
"...if I leave behind me ten pounds...you and all mankind [may] bear witness against me, that I have lived and died a thief and a robber."
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-56547720
I don't fancy being in India at the moment.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-9410269/MAIL-SUNDAY-COMMENT-no-longer-justification-ban-travel-17.html
How far can the Union fall is the question?
Brilliant idea, not
We should have just sealed off the whole island and left them to it, instead we charitably - without any thanks or honour - kept the vital channels of commerce open, so Ireland could continue to export wheat through Liverpool and Cardiff, earning much-needed foreign currency which enabled them to build evermore spectacular Famine memorials
Note that Irish historians NEVER acknowledge this
Goes back before 1900 years or more as a term, as suggested.
https://www.clazyu.com/blog/working-dude-ranch/what-is-a-dude-ranch-a-brief-history/
It's also a vaguely patronising term feminists use to address men these days.
Tactically they would surely do better in opposition, let it be the Greens turn to suffer as junior partner to the CDU/CSU.
Policy-wise, a Green-led coalition might get them most of what they want. But at the cost of reducing the party to further irrelevance.
On the latest polling 22% prefer Greens leader Habeck as next Chancellor, 19% prefer SPD leader Scholz and just 18% prefer Laschet. However 35% want Soder to be next Chancellor, to just 20% for Habeck and 19% for Scholz, a vast difference
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chancellor_polling_for_the_2021_German_federal_election
Cons 44
Labour 36
https://twitter.com/JoeTwyman/status/1375934025202819074?s=19
If looking for a fight I think forgetting it was part of this country at the time and thus any assistance that might have existed was not charity but should have been obligation (and much more of it to boot) is not a convincing ground to pick one. It's counterintuitively too outrageous.
https://twitter.com/joetwyman/status/1375934025202819074?s=21
It's done in a slightly jokey way, so I've learned to joke back: "wasn't long enough."
Most recent poll - 25th -27th March
As someone who was a teenager on Canada's West coast, it has always been a term that throws me back to happier times.
Even as they become one of the richest countries in the world (OK the GDP figures are distorted but they are still doing well, off a parasitic corp tax rate).
It shows me what an indy Scotland would be like. The die-hards (and there would be many of them) would still loathe and resent the English, those eternally unforgivable conquerors who "made them speak English".
If Sindy ever happens, I predict it will not be the liberation from England Nats hope. England, the universal western culture, with that damnably popular language, will still loom far too large in their nightmares and daydreams
Your name is apt: fruit by name, fruit by nature.
72% support the £5,000 travel fine and 69% support ban on all foreign travel before the 17th May
And the reason they grew potatoes was because you could grow twice as much crop with potatoes as opposed to the next best choice. And the absentee Lords gave each family so little land that even with potatoes they were at near starvation levels...
Jesus pushes back in two different ways.
The first is quite subtle. "Why do you call me good? Only God is good". This is itself two-pronged. Its half Jesus claiming his divinity, and asking if this guy really affirms this, and it's half a statement that this guy isn't completely good, whatever he thinks. Jesus gets this in first - I'm guessing he's half an idea where this conversation is going.
Jesus's second point hammers this home. This bloke apparently kept all the commandments - which include "loving the Lord thy God with all thy heart". But when given a direct instruction from the Lord to sell all his stuff, it reveals his greed - he'd rather have the stuff than do what his God asked of him. So he wasn't perfectly keeping the commandments like he thought he was.
Christianity constantly confirms that being poor is no barrier to being a part of God's kingdom. It also has a good deal to say on the dangers of riches leading to greed and selfishness, but I don't think it directly instructs it's followers to sell all their possessions and give to the poor. It certainly has nothing to say on the topic of government forcibly removing one's riches and giving them to the poor.
Incidentally, a little later in the chapter recounting this in Mark (ch 10 v46-52) , we get a mirror image, as if the chapter had been folded in half like a child's paint butterfly. This time it's not a rich man - it's a blind beggar. He hears Jesus passing in a crowd and shouts to him - asking, not for affirmation, but for mercy.
When Jesus stops and pays attention, he abandons his coat (probably one of his few valuable possessions, the odds of ever getting it back as a blind bloke in a large crowd being slim to none) in his dash to get to Jesus. Unlike the arrogant rich man, he asks for mercy, and recives it - his sight is restored, and so is his relationship with God - he leaves the little he has, and follows Jesus rejoicing.
Mark's gospel is a brilliantly effective piece of writing, with a lot of depth to it (his depiction of Jesus's first overnight trial is almost darkly comedic - it's the inverse of a real trial in every way, with the man on trial as the only innocent party, and the witness unable to agree in their made up stories. Eventually he's convicted for telling the truth), although to get a lot of the half-hidden plot lines you do have to have a rudimentary understanding of contemporary Jewish culture and symbolism.
Its worth a bit of anyone's time to read and get one's head around (it's also the shortest gospel of the four) - if anyone is interested, I'd be very happy to try point them at some resources to help them see some of the intricaties.
And rightly so. If there are two countries well vaxxed, with minimum infection, let them travel to each other. With precautions.
We cannot wait til the world has Zero Covid. It could be years, or it could be never. The travel and hospitality industries - and human nature - demand a rational response
https://twitter.com/GoodwinMJ/status/1375938510251823106?s=20
The polls have been remarkably static. Just ebbing and flowing at the margins quite sedately.
Though as it happens the polls have been within MoE of Con 42, Lab 36 for a while now.
That being said, while I think a big part of getting along in the now is, well, forgetting rather than dwelling on the nastier aspects of the past (and I think the NI peace process and the EU project are examples of nations accepting that principle), I did come across a quote just today from Michael Higgins, that 'A feigned amnesia around the uncomfortable aspects of our shared history will not help us to forge a better future together'.
I think there's something in that as well. I'm not sure how one does not feign amnesia around uncomfortable aspects, but also doesn't dwell or wallow in it, like how some people got worked up over the England rugby team playing at Croke Park.
I mean, your own statement about Normans from England seems pretty inaccurate, since why blame England at all if it was under the domination of an invading force?
On the SPD/Left being willing to be junior partners to the Greens - I think they'd have trouble refusing if the maths made it possible, since that would force a Green-CDU government. It'd be like the LibDems enabling a Tory government, which is surely unthi...oh.
Portugal
It has had a tough time. For a short while it experienced the worst Covid rates in the world, I believe
Today it reports 344 cases and 8 new deaths.
Now, Portugal is a small country. Just 10m people.
But 344 cases and 8 deaths is TINY even in that context. And it is still falling. Covid is being cornered, if not eradicated.
At the same time in a couple of months most of Britain will have been vaxxed.
The Portuguese need our money, they want us to go there. We want to go there, to the sun.
Life is not without risk. There will be some risk. But if Portugal agrees to bar flights from high risk countries like Brazil (if it continues to be so awful there) I cannot see a reason why we cannot holiday on the Algarve in July
If you want to moan about someone moan about the French. They are the root cause of all of this.
Its now over 60 million.
The population of Ireland at that time was over 8 million.
It is now less than 7 million.
Ireland really had overbred itself way beyond economic sustainability.
Mass emigration and a population crash was going to happen at some point.
Because of the potato blight the time period it came in was compressed.
The SPD might just too. Ditto the Greens themselves.