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This is why Friday was National Fish and Chips Day – politicalbetting.com

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  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 56,928
    MaxPB said:

    Had a great afternoon with some friends about 20 of us crammed into a tiny garden and dining room. One subject that came up was Japan (with a few of us working for various Japanese companies this isn't out of the ordinary) and their constant fight with deflation. Something that we're going to struggle with in 10-15 years as the population starts to shrink. One of the best ideas was to give couples ¥5m to have babies and ¥2m each to get married. Helicopter money to help drive population growth rather than endless money printing to fight deflation in a country where there are fewer people spending money every year. I think we're all going to need to look at odd schemes like this in the next decade or so.

    Surely the simplest solution is to subsidise alcohol and bars for those in their early 20s, combined with making contraceptives harder to acquire.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 56,928
    rcs1000 said:

    MaxPB said:

    Had a great afternoon with some friends about 20 of us crammed into a tiny garden and dining room. One subject that came up was Japan (with a few of us working for various Japanese companies this isn't out of the ordinary) and their constant fight with deflation. Something that we're going to struggle with in 10-15 years as the population starts to shrink. One of the best ideas was to give couples ¥5m to have babies and ¥2m each to get married. Helicopter money to help drive population growth rather than endless money printing to fight deflation in a country where there are fewer people spending money every year. I think we're all going to need to look at odd schemes like this in the next decade or so.

    Surely the simplest solution is to subsidise alcohol and bars for those in their early 20s, combined with making contraceptives harder to acquire.
    And on the other end, we can help take care of the top of the population pyramid by legalising all drugs for the over 70s.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 56,928
    ydoethur said:

    Ooh, trivia! Which is the only republican state in the world without an official capital?

    South Africa?
    Nah, it's a small town near Jo'burg. That I forget the name of.
  • FishingFishing Posts: 4,947
    MaxPB said:

    Had a great afternoon with some friends about 20 of us crammed into a tiny garden and dining room. One subject that came up was Japan (with a few of us working for various Japanese companies this isn't out of the ordinary) and their constant fight with deflation. Something that we're going to struggle with in 10-15 years as the population starts to shrink.

    Eh? Our population is expected to keep growing through 2050, by which time we could have the largest population in Europe, excluding Russia.

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/articles/overviewoftheukpopulation/august2019

  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830

    IshmaelZ said:

    Omnium said:

    isam said:

    Congratulations to the happy couple.

    BABY NEWS: Harry and Meghan’s baby girl has arrived. She’s called Lilibet “Lili” Diana Mountbatten-Windsor.

    https://twitter.com/chrisshipitv/status/1401569722336940032

    Congratulations, and that name is just trying a bit too hard.

    It'd be like me declaring a fatwa and launching a intifada against this site and calling my next son Mike Robert TSE Royale.
    Short price for the first criticism of choice of name!
    Yeah, but I mean COME ON.

    "Lilibet" Diana?

    I wish the kid all the best, but it's nauseating.
    Absolutely, because no parent has ever named their sprog after family members.

    I mean the Queen has the same name as her mother.
    Nice idea from them, but I don’t like nicknames as the official name for kids really. Elizabeth known as ‘Lilibet’ would have been nicer, but then again maybe that’s just me being old fashioned.



    Who cares what the Queen is called in private? Who cares what anyone is called in private? The determination to peek inside one family’s life is completely bizarre.
    I've always felt that M'lud with a doff of the cap was acceptable to the 'My Lord' I usually would require.

    Harry really needs to stop this crap or do a DNA test.
    The obsession with one family you have never met is beyond bizarre.
    For me the benchmark for bizarre is not only running a sockpuppet on pb, but actually having conversations with it. To each his own.
    Weird post.
    I'll await @londonpubman's verdict on it.
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 38,528
    rcs1000 said:

    MaxPB said:

    Had a great afternoon with some friends about 20 of us crammed into a tiny garden and dining room. One subject that came up was Japan (with a few of us working for various Japanese companies this isn't out of the ordinary) and their constant fight with deflation. Something that we're going to struggle with in 10-15 years as the population starts to shrink. One of the best ideas was to give couples ¥5m to have babies and ¥2m each to get married. Helicopter money to help drive population growth rather than endless money printing to fight deflation in a country where there are fewer people spending money every year. I think we're all going to need to look at odd schemes like this in the next decade or so.

    Surely the simplest solution is to subsidise alcohol and bars for those in their early 20s, combined with making contraceptives harder to acquire.
    That's also a good idea. Lower the drinking age to 16, more Suntory adverts and raise the age of getting condoms to 21. Instant baby boom.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 41,947

    kinabalu said:

    Trump's trousers at the centre of a growing story. Why would he innovate like this? -

    https://twitter.com/CamJunior1972/status/1401335287582801920?s=20

    Lots of options.

    - He might not have. Plausible the video is faked for a prank.
    - Loyalty test. Whether to deny that they were worn backwards, or to start doing likewise, uncertain at this point.
    - Distraction and/or desperate attempt to gain attention.
    - He's actually lost his marbles in basic day-to-day functional ways, but no-one in his inner circle can correct such a mistake, because he's unwilling to admit to it, or they didn't get to be in the inner circle by pointing out embarrassing things.
    I incline to number 2. That's on brand for your mischievous depot types.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 56,928
    Fishing said:

    MaxPB said:

    Had a great afternoon with some friends about 20 of us crammed into a tiny garden and dining room. One subject that came up was Japan (with a few of us working for various Japanese companies this isn't out of the ordinary) and their constant fight with deflation. Something that we're going to struggle with in 10-15 years as the population starts to shrink.

    Eh? Our population is expected to keep growing through 2050, by which time we could have the largest population in Europe, excluding Russia.

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/articles/overviewoftheukpopulation/august2019

    Yes, but that's due to people living longer.

    If you have an increasing number of old people, with diminishing numbers of young ones, then you have big problems. (See Italy and Japan for the clearest examples.)
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,477
    IshmaelZ said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    Omnium said:

    isam said:

    Congratulations to the happy couple.

    BABY NEWS: Harry and Meghan’s baby girl has arrived. She’s called Lilibet “Lili” Diana Mountbatten-Windsor.

    https://twitter.com/chrisshipitv/status/1401569722336940032

    Congratulations, and that name is just trying a bit too hard.

    It'd be like me declaring a fatwa and launching a intifada against this site and calling my next son Mike Robert TSE Royale.
    Short price for the first criticism of choice of name!
    Yeah, but I mean COME ON.

    "Lilibet" Diana?

    I wish the kid all the best, but it's nauseating.
    Absolutely, because no parent has ever named their sprog after family members.

    I mean the Queen has the same name as her mother.
    Nice idea from them, but I don’t like nicknames as the official name for kids really. Elizabeth known as ‘Lilibet’ would have been nicer, but then again maybe that’s just me being old fashioned.



    Who cares what the Queen is called in private? Who cares what anyone is called in private? The determination to peek inside one family’s life is completely bizarre.
    I've always felt that M'lud with a doff of the cap was acceptable to the 'My Lord' I usually would require.

    Harry really needs to stop this crap or do a DNA test.
    The obsession with one family you have never met is beyond bizarre.
    For me the benchmark for bizarre is not only running a sockpuppet on pb, but actually having conversations with it. To each his own.
    Weird post.
    I'll await @londonpubman's verdict on it.
    Eh?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,154
    edited June 2021
    rcs1000 said:

    ydoethur said:

    Ooh, trivia! Which is the only republican state in the world without an official capital?

    South Africa?
    Nah, it's a small town near Jo'burg. That I forget the name of.
    As I recall, South Africa has three capitals with none taking precedence over the other.

    Having looked it up, I will admit I would never have guessed because I’d never even heard of it.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 41,947
    Foxy said:

    kinabalu said:

    Trump's trousers at the centre of a growing story. Why would he innovate like this? -

    https://twitter.com/CamJunior1972/status/1401335287582801920?s=20

    No fly? And taut as that? They do look like pull ups. Very odd tailoring.
    Yes. I do see the core utility of it but to present to the GOP faithful is quite a call.
  • FishingFishing Posts: 4,947
    rcs1000 said:

    Fishing said:

    MaxPB said:

    Had a great afternoon with some friends about 20 of us crammed into a tiny garden and dining room. One subject that came up was Japan (with a few of us working for various Japanese companies this isn't out of the ordinary) and their constant fight with deflation. Something that we're going to struggle with in 10-15 years as the population starts to shrink.

    Eh? Our population is expected to keep growing through 2050, by which time we could have the largest population in Europe, excluding Russia.

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/articles/overviewoftheukpopulation/august2019

    Yes, but that's due to people living longer.

    If you have an increasing number of old people, with diminishing numbers of young ones, then you have big problems. (See Italy and Japan for the clearest examples.)
    Irrelevant. The OP referred to a shrinking population, which we aren't projected to have. It said nothing about the age distribution of that population.
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 38,528
    Fishing said:

    MaxPB said:

    Had a great afternoon with some friends about 20 of us crammed into a tiny garden and dining room. One subject that came up was Japan (with a few of us working for various Japanese companies this isn't out of the ordinary) and their constant fight with deflation. Something that we're going to struggle with in 10-15 years as the population starts to shrink.

    Eh? Our population is expected to keep growing through 2050, by which time we could have the largest population in Europe, excluding Russia.

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/articles/overviewoftheukpopulation/august2019

    Due to ageing and poor assumptions on immigration.
  • Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826
    isam said:

    I wanted to watch either Life is Beautiful or Cinema Paradiso tonight, and you can’t buy them off Sky Store

    The latter is available on Prime Video apparently: https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/cinema-paradiso

    With so many streaming services nowadays, that's a good website I use now to find out on what service any particular film or TV show is on.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,359
    ydoethur said:

    Ooh, trivia! Which is the only republican state in the world without an official capital?

    South Africa?

    Edit - do you mean, ‘fully recognised, functioning state?’ As otherwise the Palestinian Territories presumably qualify.
    Certainly a recognised state. You'll know it....
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,586
    Foxy said:

    kinabalu said:

    Trump's trousers at the centre of a growing story. Why would he innovate like this? -

    https://twitter.com/CamJunior1972/status/1401335287582801920?s=20

    No fly? And taut as that? They do look like pull ups. Very odd tailoring.
    They look like he's put them on back to front. I wouldn't put it past him!
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,586
    MaxPB said:

    Had a great afternoon with some friends about 20 of us crammed into a tiny garden and dining room. One subject that came up was Japan (with a few of us working for various Japanese companies this isn't out of the ordinary) and their constant fight with deflation. Something that we're going to struggle with in 10-15 years as the population starts to shrink. One of the best ideas was to give couples ¥5m to have babies and ¥2m each to get married. Helicopter money to help drive population growth rather than endless money printing to fight deflation in a country where there are fewer people spending money every year. I think we're all going to need to look at odd schemes like this in the next decade or so.

    Interesting idea. Globally though, we don't really want population growth.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,359

    Steak & kidney pudding, haggis, and black pudding all in the 'Crap tier'?

    Sometimes I despair of my compatrioits 😱

    Black pudding is a magnificent food. Totnes has a butcher who (as well as the world's finest Scotch eggs) also makes black pudding sausage rolls.....

    (Has anyone had any success hatching a Scotsman out a of Scotch egg?)
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 59,994
    MaxPB said:

    rcs1000 said:

    MaxPB said:

    Had a great afternoon with some friends about 20 of us crammed into a tiny garden and dining room. One subject that came up was Japan (with a few of us working for various Japanese companies this isn't out of the ordinary) and their constant fight with deflation. Something that we're going to struggle with in 10-15 years as the population starts to shrink. One of the best ideas was to give couples ¥5m to have babies and ¥2m each to get married. Helicopter money to help drive population growth rather than endless money printing to fight deflation in a country where there are fewer people spending money every year. I think we're all going to need to look at odd schemes like this in the next decade or so.

    Surely the simplest solution is to subsidise alcohol and bars for those in their early 20s, combined with making contraceptives harder to acquire.
    That's also a good idea. Lower the drinking age to 16, more Suntory adverts and raise the age of getting condoms to 21. Instant baby boom.
    And, send them all on all-inclusive party weekends to Cardiff.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 59,994
    ydoethur said:

    rcs1000 said:

    ydoethur said:

    Ooh, trivia! Which is the only republican state in the world without an official capital?

    South Africa?
    Nah, it's a small town near Jo'burg. That I forget the name of.
    As I recall, South Africa has three capitals with none taking precedence over the other.

    Having looked it up, I will admit I would never have guessed because I’d never even heard of it.
    I thought Pretoria was primus inter pares, though.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,359
    ydoethur said:

    rcs1000 said:

    ydoethur said:

    Ooh, trivia! Which is the only republican state in the world without an official capital?

    South Africa?
    Nah, it's a small town near Jo'burg. That I forget the name of.
    As I recall, South Africa has three capitals with none taking precedence over the other.

    Having looked it up, I will admit I would never have guessed because I’d never even heard of it.
    Really?

    The first shredder in the country went missing. It was supposed to shred sensitive documents. It was found in what passes for the presidential palace. The main man thought it great for making coleslaw....
  • AnExileinD4AnExileinD4 Posts: 337
    rcs1000 said:

    ydoethur said:

    Ooh, trivia! Which is the only republican state in the world without an official capital?

    South Africa?
    Nah, it's a small town near Jo'burg. That I forget the name of.
    Pretoria. Perfectly pleasant in a Canberra sort of way.

  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 21,965
    Sort of on topic:

    Q. What is a nuclear physicist's favourite meal?

    A. Fission Chips

  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,480

    ydoethur said:

    Ooh, trivia! Which is the only republican state in the world without an official capital?

    South Africa?

    Edit - do you mean, ‘fully recognised, functioning state?’ As otherwise the Palestinian Territories presumably qualify.
    Certainly a recognised state. You'll know it....
    Singapore?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,154

    ydoethur said:

    rcs1000 said:

    ydoethur said:

    Ooh, trivia! Which is the only republican state in the world without an official capital?

    South Africa?
    Nah, it's a small town near Jo'burg. That I forget the name of.
    As I recall, South Africa has three capitals with none taking precedence over the other.

    Having looked it up, I will admit I would never have guessed because I’d never even heard of it.
    Really?

    The first shredder in the country went missing. It was supposed to shred sensitive documents. It was found in what passes for the presidential palace. The main man thought it great for making coleslaw....
    Assuming we are talking about the same country (and if not, the premise of your question is wrong) I hadn’t heard of it. Knew a little about both it’s neighbours, but not that one.
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,549
    Snoopes.com - No, Trump Did Not Wear His Pants Backwards at Rally
    You asked, so we watched the 90-minute speech.

    https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-wear-pants-backwards/
  • isamisam Posts: 41,118

    isam said:

    I wanted to watch either Life is Beautiful or Cinema Paradiso tonight, and you can’t buy them off Sky Store

    The latter is available on Prime Video apparently: https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/cinema-paradiso

    With so many streaming services nowadays, that's a good website I use now to find out on what service any particular film or TV show is on.
    Thanks

    I think I’ve just accidentally signed up for Prime!!
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 10,691
    Omnium said:

    Omnium said:

    isam said:

    Congratulations to the happy couple.

    BABY NEWS: Harry and Meghan’s baby girl has arrived. She’s called Lilibet “Lili” Diana Mountbatten-Windsor.

    https://twitter.com/chrisshipitv/status/1401569722336940032

    Congratulations, and that name is just trying a bit too hard.

    It'd be like me declaring a fatwa and launching a intifada against this site and calling my next son Mike Robert TSE Royale.
    Short price for the first criticism of choice of name!
    Yeah, but I mean COME ON.

    "Lilibet" Diana?

    I wish the kid all the best, but it's nauseating.
    Absolutely, because no parent has ever named their sprog after family members.

    I mean the Queen has the same name as her mother.
    Nice idea from them, but I don’t like nicknames as the official name for kids really. Elizabeth known as ‘Lilibet’ would have been nicer, but then again maybe that’s just me being old fashioned.



    Who cares what the Queen is called in private? Who cares what anyone is called in private? The determination to peek inside one family’s life is completely bizarre.
    I've always felt that M'lud with a doff of the cap was acceptable to the 'My Lord' I usually would require.

    Harry really needs to stop this crap or do a DNA test.
    The obsession with one family you have never met is beyond bizarre.
    When you say obsession then you'd suggest I've posted about them before I presume?

    Try to find an example.

    Turns out there are none. Hang your head.
    It'd have been so easy to apologise, but you choose to run away. @Anabobazina - shabby.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,359
    ydoethur said:

    Ooh, trivia! Which is the only republican state in the world without an official capital?

    South Africa?

    Edit - do you mean, ‘fully recognised, functioning state?’ As otherwise the Palestinian Territories presumably qualify.
    By a law ratified by Yasser Arafat, the capital of the Palestinian Territories is Jerusalem.

    So that's settled then.....
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,359
    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    rcs1000 said:

    ydoethur said:

    Ooh, trivia! Which is the only republican state in the world without an official capital?

    South Africa?
    Nah, it's a small town near Jo'burg. That I forget the name of.
    As I recall, South Africa has three capitals with none taking precedence over the other.

    Having looked it up, I will admit I would never have guessed because I’d never even heard of it.
    Really?

    The first shredder in the country went missing. It was supposed to shred sensitive documents. It was found in what passes for the presidential palace. The main man thought it great for making coleslaw....
    Assuming we are talking about the same country (and if not, the premise of your question is wrong) I hadn’t heard of it. Knew a little about both it’s neighbours, but not that one.
    Now are you kidding me?
  • Andy_CookeAndy_Cooke Posts: 4,993
    isam said:

    I wanted to watch either Life is Beautiful or Cinema Paradiso tonight, and you can’t buy them off Sky Store

    Use justwatch.com to track down where you can watch things.

    https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/life-is-beautiful

    https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/cinema-paradiso
  • FishingFishing Posts: 4,947
    MaxPB said:

    Fishing said:

    MaxPB said:

    Had a great afternoon with some friends about 20 of us crammed into a tiny garden and dining room. One subject that came up was Japan (with a few of us working for various Japanese companies this isn't out of the ordinary) and their constant fight with deflation. Something that we're going to struggle with in 10-15 years as the population starts to shrink.

    Eh? Our population is expected to keep growing through 2050, by which time we could have the largest population in Europe, excluding Russia.

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/articles/overviewoftheukpopulation/august2019

    Due to ageing and poor assumptions on immigration.
    I think the assumptions on immigration are, if anything, an underestimate. And how old people are is irrelevant to the total population, which is what you said would shrink.
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216
    “The programme is constructed to ratchet up compliance; organizations compete with each other to display greater obedience to Stonewall’s demands, & every year the demands become more onerous”

    A damning assessment of Stonewall’s Diversity Champions Scheme.


    https://twitter.com/andrewdoyle_com/status/1401591340639657987?s=20
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,480

    ydoethur said:

    Ooh, trivia! Which is the only republican state in the world without an official capital?

    South Africa?

    Edit - do you mean, ‘fully recognised, functioning state?’ As otherwise the Palestinian Territories presumably qualify.
    By a law ratified by Yasser Arafat, the capital of the Palestinian Territories is Jerusalem.

    So that's settled then.....
    The capital of two countries?
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,359
    Fishing said:

    MaxPB said:

    Fishing said:

    MaxPB said:

    Had a great afternoon with some friends about 20 of us crammed into a tiny garden and dining room. One subject that came up was Japan (with a few of us working for various Japanese companies this isn't out of the ordinary) and their constant fight with deflation. Something that we're going to struggle with in 10-15 years as the population starts to shrink.

    Eh? Our population is expected to keep growing through 2050, by which time we could have the largest population in Europe, excluding Russia.

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/articles/overviewoftheukpopulation/august2019

    Due to ageing and poor assumptions on immigration.
    I think the assumptions on immigration are, if anything, an underestimate. And how old people are is irrelevant to the total population, which is what you said would shrink.
    Surely assumptions on immigration depend on whether open-door Labour forms a government again before 2050?
  • FishingFishing Posts: 4,947

    Fishing said:

    Foxy said:

    TOPPING said:

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    Good British food:

    Cheddar Cheese, Apple Crumble, Coronation Chicken, Mrs King’s Pork Pies, Roast Beef and Horseradish Sandwiches, Stilton, Cumberland Sausage, Marmalade, Dover Sole, Clotted Cream and Jam Scones, Haggis, Stout, Rhubarb and Custard, Chips, Chips, Chips, Bakewell Tart etc etc etc etc

    Obviously we cannot compete with French, Italian and Japanese which are all God Tier.

    It is still not possible to dine “serendipitously” outside of London, like it is in France.

    Good list, but I'm not sure how much you've travelled outside of London recently?

    The food in Hampshire is very good to phenomenal in most places - it has to be, or they'd close - and that's also the case in Dorset, Somerset, Devon and Cornwall.

    I wonder if there's a strange symbiosis going on here with the smoking ban and change in attitudes to drink-driving here - good food is almost the only way rural hostelries can now survive.
    Local knowledge helps. It is fairly easy to eat badly and expensively in most of England, and well at more reasonable places nearby.

    A lot depends on what you consider good food. Nearly everything in the header is unhealthy, full of fat, refined carbs and hardly any vegetables. While pretty much all can be part of a healthy diet, in practice they are mostly part of a nutritional wasteland of a diet.
    Saturated fat, e.g. cheese & butter from grass-fed animals, is in reasonable amounts extremely good for health. It raises HDL cholesterol = a good thing. The French and Swiss have the highest sat. fat consumption in Europe, I think and statistically have good health.

    The UK and US govts and medical professions have given people the opposite advice for >40 years - the so-called 'food pyramid'. The UK has an apparent epidemic - one is tempted to say 'pandemic' - of type 2 diabetes.

    The Anglosphere, with semi-junk food diets, has appalling overweight and obesity figures. Western Europe (i.e. other than the UK) and the Far East do quite well.
    Yes, and the Dutch have a traditional diet that on the face of it is full of saturated fat and carbs. They make up for it by doing a lot of cycling so are amongst the slimmest of Europeans.
    So it doesn't matter what you eat as long as you exercise is what you're saying?
    It certainly makes a great difference to weight.

    The calorie intake of the average Briton is lower than in the Sixties, yet we are as a nation much fatter. The exercise of daily life is the big difference.

    The thin people that you see with junk food are the Deliveroo cyclists...

    The other thing is presumably central heating. We no longer need to keep warm in the winter.
    What you need is a house where you get ice on the inside of windows during winter......
    Yes I had one of those as a student. In Newcastle. Don't think I'm hard enough any more. We did have a real fire in the living room though, with a back boiler, so loads of hot baths.
    My first year student room had the opposite problem. It was so heated that you couldn't wear a light pullover without it being drenched in sweat quite quickly. I always felt drowsy in it. One of my friends nicknamed it "Hawaii".
    My wife will buy it, unseen....
    Good luck to her, not sure how she would come with the bar staff taking deliveries, smoking outside and talking loudly from 6 am though.
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,549
    Republic of South Africa

    Administrative capital - Pretoria

    Legislative capital - Cape Town

    Judicial capital - Bloemfontein

    (Something yours truly learned in the 6th grade)
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,359
    Foxy said:

    ydoethur said:

    Ooh, trivia! Which is the only republican state in the world without an official capital?

    South Africa?

    Edit - do you mean, ‘fully recognised, functioning state?’ As otherwise the Palestinian Territories presumably qualify.
    Certainly a recognised state. You'll know it....
    Singapore?
    Apparently the accepted official capital of Singapore is, er, Singapore....
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,359
    Fishing said:

    Fishing said:

    Foxy said:

    TOPPING said:

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    Good British food:

    Cheddar Cheese, Apple Crumble, Coronation Chicken, Mrs King’s Pork Pies, Roast Beef and Horseradish Sandwiches, Stilton, Cumberland Sausage, Marmalade, Dover Sole, Clotted Cream and Jam Scones, Haggis, Stout, Rhubarb and Custard, Chips, Chips, Chips, Bakewell Tart etc etc etc etc

    Obviously we cannot compete with French, Italian and Japanese which are all God Tier.

    It is still not possible to dine “serendipitously” outside of London, like it is in France.

    Good list, but I'm not sure how much you've travelled outside of London recently?

    The food in Hampshire is very good to phenomenal in most places - it has to be, or they'd close - and that's also the case in Dorset, Somerset, Devon and Cornwall.

    I wonder if there's a strange symbiosis going on here with the smoking ban and change in attitudes to drink-driving here - good food is almost the only way rural hostelries can now survive.
    Local knowledge helps. It is fairly easy to eat badly and expensively in most of England, and well at more reasonable places nearby.

    A lot depends on what you consider good food. Nearly everything in the header is unhealthy, full of fat, refined carbs and hardly any vegetables. While pretty much all can be part of a healthy diet, in practice they are mostly part of a nutritional wasteland of a diet.
    Saturated fat, e.g. cheese & butter from grass-fed animals, is in reasonable amounts extremely good for health. It raises HDL cholesterol = a good thing. The French and Swiss have the highest sat. fat consumption in Europe, I think and statistically have good health.

    The UK and US govts and medical professions have given people the opposite advice for >40 years - the so-called 'food pyramid'. The UK has an apparent epidemic - one is tempted to say 'pandemic' - of type 2 diabetes.

    The Anglosphere, with semi-junk food diets, has appalling overweight and obesity figures. Western Europe (i.e. other than the UK) and the Far East do quite well.
    Yes, and the Dutch have a traditional diet that on the face of it is full of saturated fat and carbs. They make up for it by doing a lot of cycling so are amongst the slimmest of Europeans.
    So it doesn't matter what you eat as long as you exercise is what you're saying?
    It certainly makes a great difference to weight.

    The calorie intake of the average Briton is lower than in the Sixties, yet we are as a nation much fatter. The exercise of daily life is the big difference.

    The thin people that you see with junk food are the Deliveroo cyclists...

    The other thing is presumably central heating. We no longer need to keep warm in the winter.
    What you need is a house where you get ice on the inside of windows during winter......
    Yes I had one of those as a student. In Newcastle. Don't think I'm hard enough any more. We did have a real fire in the living room though, with a back boiler, so loads of hot baths.
    My first year student room had the opposite problem. It was so heated that you couldn't wear a light pullover without it being drenched in sweat quite quickly. I always felt drowsy in it. One of my friends nicknamed it "Hawaii".
    My wife will buy it, unseen....
    Good luck to her, not sure how she would come with the bar staff taking deliveries, smoking outside and talking loudly from 6 am though.
    Was that meant to be "cope"???
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 77,894
    MaxPB said:

    rcs1000 said:

    MaxPB said:

    Had a great afternoon with some friends about 20 of us crammed into a tiny garden and dining room. One subject that came up was Japan (with a few of us working for various Japanese companies this isn't out of the ordinary) and their constant fight with deflation. Something that we're going to struggle with in 10-15 years as the population starts to shrink. One of the best ideas was to give couples ¥5m to have babies and ¥2m each to get married. Helicopter money to help drive population growth rather than endless money printing to fight deflation in a country where there are fewer people spending money every year. I think we're all going to need to look at odd schemes like this in the next decade or so.

    Surely the simplest solution is to subsidise alcohol and bars for those in their early 20s, combined with making contraceptives harder to acquire.
    That's also a good idea. Lower the drinking age to 16, more Suntory adverts and raise the age of getting condoms to 21. Instant baby boom.
    Tax allowances based on your family might be a good idea (Done in France I think). We do need a higher birth rate here in the UK.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,586
    O/T What's happened to our much-lauded vaccination programme?

    Germany, Italy and France are all vaccinating at a higher rate than the UK now. Are we still supply constrained?

    https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations#how-many-covid-19-vaccine-doses-are-administered-daily
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,586
    Pulpstar said:

    MaxPB said:

    rcs1000 said:

    MaxPB said:

    Had a great afternoon with some friends about 20 of us crammed into a tiny garden and dining room. One subject that came up was Japan (with a few of us working for various Japanese companies this isn't out of the ordinary) and their constant fight with deflation. Something that we're going to struggle with in 10-15 years as the population starts to shrink. One of the best ideas was to give couples ¥5m to have babies and ¥2m each to get married. Helicopter money to help drive population growth rather than endless money printing to fight deflation in a country where there are fewer people spending money every year. I think we're all going to need to look at odd schemes like this in the next decade or so.

    Surely the simplest solution is to subsidise alcohol and bars for those in their early 20s, combined with making contraceptives harder to acquire.
    That's also a good idea. Lower the drinking age to 16, more Suntory adverts and raise the age of getting condoms to 21. Instant baby boom.
    Tax allowances based on your family might be a good idea (Done in France I think). We do need a higher birth rate here in the UK.
    Er... why?
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,586

    Fishing said:

    Fishing said:

    Foxy said:

    TOPPING said:

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    Good British food:

    Cheddar Cheese, Apple Crumble, Coronation Chicken, Mrs King’s Pork Pies, Roast Beef and Horseradish Sandwiches, Stilton, Cumberland Sausage, Marmalade, Dover Sole, Clotted Cream and Jam Scones, Haggis, Stout, Rhubarb and Custard, Chips, Chips, Chips, Bakewell Tart etc etc etc etc

    Obviously we cannot compete with French, Italian and Japanese which are all God Tier.

    It is still not possible to dine “serendipitously” outside of London, like it is in France.

    Good list, but I'm not sure how much you've travelled outside of London recently?

    The food in Hampshire is very good to phenomenal in most places - it has to be, or they'd close - and that's also the case in Dorset, Somerset, Devon and Cornwall.

    I wonder if there's a strange symbiosis going on here with the smoking ban and change in attitudes to drink-driving here - good food is almost the only way rural hostelries can now survive.
    Local knowledge helps. It is fairly easy to eat badly and expensively in most of England, and well at more reasonable places nearby.

    A lot depends on what you consider good food. Nearly everything in the header is unhealthy, full of fat, refined carbs and hardly any vegetables. While pretty much all can be part of a healthy diet, in practice they are mostly part of a nutritional wasteland of a diet.
    Saturated fat, e.g. cheese & butter from grass-fed animals, is in reasonable amounts extremely good for health. It raises HDL cholesterol = a good thing. The French and Swiss have the highest sat. fat consumption in Europe, I think and statistically have good health.

    The UK and US govts and medical professions have given people the opposite advice for >40 years - the so-called 'food pyramid'. The UK has an apparent epidemic - one is tempted to say 'pandemic' - of type 2 diabetes.

    The Anglosphere, with semi-junk food diets, has appalling overweight and obesity figures. Western Europe (i.e. other than the UK) and the Far East do quite well.
    Yes, and the Dutch have a traditional diet that on the face of it is full of saturated fat and carbs. They make up for it by doing a lot of cycling so are amongst the slimmest of Europeans.
    So it doesn't matter what you eat as long as you exercise is what you're saying?
    It certainly makes a great difference to weight.

    The calorie intake of the average Briton is lower than in the Sixties, yet we are as a nation much fatter. The exercise of daily life is the big difference.

    The thin people that you see with junk food are the Deliveroo cyclists...

    The other thing is presumably central heating. We no longer need to keep warm in the winter.
    What you need is a house where you get ice on the inside of windows during winter......
    Yes I had one of those as a student. In Newcastle. Don't think I'm hard enough any more. We did have a real fire in the living room though, with a back boiler, so loads of hot baths.
    My first year student room had the opposite problem. It was so heated that you couldn't wear a light pullover without it being drenched in sweat quite quickly. I always felt drowsy in it. One of my friends nicknamed it "Hawaii".
    My wife will buy it, unseen....
    Good luck to her, not sure how she would come with the bar staff taking deliveries, smoking outside and talking loudly from 6 am though.
    Was that meant to be "cope"???
    Cope again?
  • AnExileinD4AnExileinD4 Posts: 337

    Republic of South Africa

    Administrative capital - Pretoria

    Legislative capital - Cape Town

    Judicial capital - Bloemfontein

    (Something yours truly learned in the 6th grade)

    Bloemfontein is like visiting Iowa City. That I quite like Bloemfontein suggests that I’m a hick.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,154

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    rcs1000 said:

    ydoethur said:

    Ooh, trivia! Which is the only republican state in the world without an official capital?

    South Africa?
    Nah, it's a small town near Jo'burg. That I forget the name of.
    As I recall, South Africa has three capitals with none taking precedence over the other.

    Having looked it up, I will admit I would never have guessed because I’d never even heard of it.
    Really?

    The first shredder in the country went missing. It was supposed to shred sensitive documents. It was found in what passes for the presidential palace. The main man thought it great for making coleslaw....
    Assuming we are talking about the same country (and if not, the premise of your question is wrong) I hadn’t heard of it. Knew a little about both it’s neighbours, but not that one.
    Now are you kidding me?
    No.

    Which makes me think, unless you expect me to know the name of every single country in the world, that there is more than one and your original question is wrong,
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,586
    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    rcs1000 said:

    ydoethur said:

    Ooh, trivia! Which is the only republican state in the world without an official capital?

    South Africa?
    Nah, it's a small town near Jo'burg. That I forget the name of.
    As I recall, South Africa has three capitals with none taking precedence over the other.

    Having looked it up, I will admit I would never have guessed because I’d never even heard of it.
    Really?

    The first shredder in the country went missing. It was supposed to shred sensitive documents. It was found in what passes for the presidential palace. The main man thought it great for making coleslaw....
    Assuming we are talking about the same country (and if not, the premise of your question is wrong) I hadn’t heard of it. Knew a little about both it’s neighbours, but not that one.
    Now are you kidding me?
    No.

    Which makes me think, unless you expect me to know the name of every single country in the world, that there is more than one and your original question is wrong,
    FFS Somebody just name the country. It's hardly likely to sue for libel!
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,359
    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    rcs1000 said:

    ydoethur said:

    Ooh, trivia! Which is the only republican state in the world without an official capital?

    South Africa?
    Nah, it's a small town near Jo'burg. That I forget the name of.
    As I recall, South Africa has three capitals with none taking precedence over the other.

    Having looked it up, I will admit I would never have guessed because I’d never even heard of it.
    Really?

    The first shredder in the country went missing. It was supposed to shred sensitive documents. It was found in what passes for the presidential palace. The main man thought it great for making coleslaw....
    Assuming we are talking about the same country (and if not, the premise of your question is wrong) I hadn’t heard of it. Knew a little about both it’s neighbours, but not that one.
    Now are you kidding me?
    No.

    Which makes me think, unless you expect me to know the name of every single country in the world, that there is more than one and your original question is wrong,
    What kind of teacher doesn't know the name of every single country in the world?
  • state_go_awaystate_go_away Posts: 5,793
    edited June 2021

    Pulpstar said:

    MaxPB said:

    rcs1000 said:

    MaxPB said:

    Had a great afternoon with some friends about 20 of us crammed into a tiny garden and dining room. One subject that came up was Japan (with a few of us working for various Japanese companies this isn't out of the ordinary) and their constant fight with deflation. Something that we're going to struggle with in 10-15 years as the population starts to shrink. One of the best ideas was to give couples ¥5m to have babies and ¥2m each to get married. Helicopter money to help drive population growth rather than endless money printing to fight deflation in a country where there are fewer people spending money every year. I think we're all going to need to look at odd schemes like this in the next decade or so.

    Surely the simplest solution is to subsidise alcohol and bars for those in their early 20s, combined with making contraceptives harder to acquire.
    That's also a good idea. Lower the drinking age to 16, more Suntory adverts and raise the age of getting condoms to 21. Instant baby boom.
    Tax allowances based on your family might be a good idea (Done in France I think). We do need a higher birth rate here in the UK.
    Er... why?
    I think on this issue the UK is actually in the Goldilocks zone and can worry about other things like Brexit and the fact that the Euro 96 song containing the exasperated worlds of "30 years of hurt" is now "55 years of hurt" and will be 56 next year unless Southgate changes course. Also how do we win the Eurovision ever again?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,154
    OK. I see the problem.

    I was thinking of Nauru.

    @MarqueeMark was thinking of Switzerland, which does not name a capital in its constitution and instead has Berne as a ‘federal city.’

    So it was a false premise:

    https://garfors.com/the-two-countries-without-capitals-html/
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,154

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    rcs1000 said:

    ydoethur said:

    Ooh, trivia! Which is the only republican state in the world without an official capital?

    South Africa?
    Nah, it's a small town near Jo'burg. That I forget the name of.
    As I recall, South Africa has three capitals with none taking precedence over the other.

    Having looked it up, I will admit I would never have guessed because I’d never even heard of it.
    Really?

    The first shredder in the country went missing. It was supposed to shred sensitive documents. It was found in what passes for the presidential palace. The main man thought it great for making coleslaw....
    Assuming we are talking about the same country (and if not, the premise of your question is wrong) I hadn’t heard of it. Knew a little about both it’s neighbours, but not that one.
    Now are you kidding me?
    No.

    Which makes me think, unless you expect me to know the name of every single country in the world, that there is more than one and your original question is wrong,
    What kind of teacher doesn't know the name of every single country in the world?
    An honest one? :smile:
  • squareroot2squareroot2 Posts: 6,662

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    rcs1000 said:

    ydoethur said:

    Ooh, trivia! Which is the only republican state in the world without an official capital?

    South Africa?
    Nah, it's a small town near Jo'burg. That I forget the name of.
    As I recall, South Africa has three capitals with none taking precedence over the other.

    Having looked it up, I will admit I would never have guessed because I’d never even heard of it.
    Really?

    The first shredder in the country went missing. It was supposed to shred sensitive documents. It was found in what passes for the presidential palace. The main man thought it great for making coleslaw....
    Assuming we are talking about the same country (and if not, the premise of your question is wrong) I hadn’t heard of it. Knew a little about both it’s neighbours, but not that one.
    Now are you kidding me?
    No.

    Which makes me think, unless you expect me to know the name of every single country in the world, that there is more than one and your original question is wrong,
    What kind of teacher doesn't know the name of every single country in the world?
    Nearly all....
  • state_go_awaystate_go_away Posts: 5,793
    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    rcs1000 said:

    ydoethur said:

    Ooh, trivia! Which is the only republican state in the world without an official capital?

    South Africa?
    Nah, it's a small town near Jo'burg. That I forget the name of.
    As I recall, South Africa has three capitals with none taking precedence over the other.

    Having looked it up, I will admit I would never have guessed because I’d never even heard of it.
    Really?

    The first shredder in the country went missing. It was supposed to shred sensitive documents. It was found in what passes for the presidential palace. The main man thought it great for making coleslaw....
    Assuming we are talking about the same country (and if not, the premise of your question is wrong) I hadn’t heard of it. Knew a little about both it’s neighbours, but not that one.
    Now are you kidding me?
    No.

    Which makes me think, unless you expect me to know the name of every single country in the world, that there is more than one and your original question is wrong,
    What kind of teacher doesn't know the name of every single country in the world?
    An honest one? :smile:
    A Geography one?
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,257

    O/T What's happened to our much-lauded vaccination programme?

    Germany, Italy and France are all vaccinating at a higher rate than the UK now. Are we still supply constrained?

    https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations#how-many-covid-19-vaccine-doses-are-administered-daily

    My brother, who is six years younger than me and lives in Brussels, messaged me before to say that he expects to have his second dose before mine.
  • FishingFishing Posts: 4,947

    Fishing said:

    Fishing said:

    Foxy said:

    TOPPING said:

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    Good British food:

    Cheddar Cheese, Apple Crumble, Coronation Chicken, Mrs King’s Pork Pies, Roast Beef and Horseradish Sandwiches, Stilton, Cumberland Sausage, Marmalade, Dover Sole, Clotted Cream and Jam Scones, Haggis, Stout, Rhubarb and Custard, Chips, Chips, Chips, Bakewell Tart etc etc etc etc

    Obviously we cannot compete with French, Italian and Japanese which are all God Tier.

    It is still not possible to dine “serendipitously” outside of London, like it is in France.

    Good list, but I'm not sure how much you've travelled outside of London recently?

    The food in Hampshire is very good to phenomenal in most places - it has to be, or they'd close - and that's also the case in Dorset, Somerset, Devon and Cornwall.

    I wonder if there's a strange symbiosis going on here with the smoking ban and change in attitudes to drink-driving here - good food is almost the only way rural hostelries can now survive.
    Local knowledge helps. It is fairly easy to eat badly and expensively in most of England, and well at more reasonable places nearby.

    A lot depends on what you consider good food. Nearly everything in the header is unhealthy, full of fat, refined carbs and hardly any vegetables. While pretty much all can be part of a healthy diet, in practice they are mostly part of a nutritional wasteland of a diet.
    Saturated fat, e.g. cheese & butter from grass-fed animals, is in reasonable amounts extremely good for health. It raises HDL cholesterol = a good thing. The French and Swiss have the highest sat. fat consumption in Europe, I think and statistically have good health.

    The UK and US govts and medical professions have given people the opposite advice for >40 years - the so-called 'food pyramid'. The UK has an apparent epidemic - one is tempted to say 'pandemic' - of type 2 diabetes.

    The Anglosphere, with semi-junk food diets, has appalling overweight and obesity figures. Western Europe (i.e. other than the UK) and the Far East do quite well.
    Yes, and the Dutch have a traditional diet that on the face of it is full of saturated fat and carbs. They make up for it by doing a lot of cycling so are amongst the slimmest of Europeans.
    So it doesn't matter what you eat as long as you exercise is what you're saying?
    It certainly makes a great difference to weight.

    The calorie intake of the average Briton is lower than in the Sixties, yet we are as a nation much fatter. The exercise of daily life is the big difference.

    The thin people that you see with junk food are the Deliveroo cyclists...

    The other thing is presumably central heating. We no longer need to keep warm in the winter.
    What you need is a house where you get ice on the inside of windows during winter......
    Yes I had one of those as a student. In Newcastle. Don't think I'm hard enough any more. We did have a real fire in the living room though, with a back boiler, so loads of hot baths.
    My first year student room had the opposite problem. It was so heated that you couldn't wear a light pullover without it being drenched in sweat quite quickly. I always felt drowsy in it. One of my friends nicknamed it "Hawaii".
    My wife will buy it, unseen....
    Good luck to her, not sure how she would come with the bar staff taking deliveries, smoking outside and talking loudly from 6 am though.
    Was that meant to be "cope"???
    Yes. I'd like to blame autocorrect, but it was just my sloppy typing.

    Anyway if she's one of those people who can sleep through anything, she'd be fine. I'm not.
  • alex_alex_ Posts: 7,518
    Would have guessed Luxembourg or Monaco, but they are not republics.

  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,480
    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    rcs1000 said:

    ydoethur said:

    Ooh, trivia! Which is the only republican state in the world without an official capital?

    South Africa?
    Nah, it's a small town near Jo'burg. That I forget the name of.
    As I recall, South Africa has three capitals with none taking precedence over the other.

    Having looked it up, I will admit I would never have guessed because I’d never even heard of it.
    Really?

    The first shredder in the country went missing. It was supposed to shred sensitive documents. It was found in what passes for the presidential palace. The main man thought it great for making coleslaw....
    Assuming we are talking about the same country (and if not, the premise of your question is wrong) I hadn’t heard of it. Knew a little about both it’s neighbours, but not that one.
    Now are you kidding me?
    No.

    Which makes me think, unless you expect me to know the name of every single country in the world, that there is more than one and your original question is wrong,
    By coincidence also the most obese country in the world? And that 90% unemployment rate sounds the worst in the world too.
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,549
    Republic without official captial = Nauru?

    Wiki says that Yaren is "de facto" capital.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,257

    Republic of South Africa

    Administrative capital - Pretoria

    Legislative capital - Cape Town

    Judicial capital - Bloemfontein

    (Something yours truly learned in the 6th grade)

    Bloemfontein is like visiting Iowa City. That I quite like Bloemfontein suggests that I’m a hick.
    Already guessed from your dodgy taste in food.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,154
    Switzerland of course is unusual in another way - it doesn’t have a single Head of State. The Federal Council hold the office in commission.
  • state_go_awaystate_go_away Posts: 5,793
    edited June 2021

    Republic without official captial = Nauru?

    Wiki says that Yaren is "de facto" capital.

    I used to do an audit for a client who was the ambassador for Nauru as a sideline to his main business of farming and property development in Sevenoaks. The actual barn i worked in was the embassy (or whatever they call the official office for micro states).After doing the audit I was curious so learnt a lot about Nauru .A lot of phosphate there and Commonwealth gold weightlifters!
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,154
    edited June 2021
    Foxy said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    rcs1000 said:

    ydoethur said:

    Ooh, trivia! Which is the only republican state in the world without an official capital?

    South Africa?
    Nah, it's a small town near Jo'burg. That I forget the name of.
    As I recall, South Africa has three capitals with none taking precedence over the other.

    Having looked it up, I will admit I would never have guessed because I’d never even heard of it.
    Really?

    The first shredder in the country went missing. It was supposed to shred sensitive documents. It was found in what passes for the presidential palace. The main man thought it great for making coleslaw....
    Assuming we are talking about the same country (and if not, the premise of your question is wrong) I hadn’t heard of it. Knew a little about both it’s neighbours, but not that one.
    Now are you kidding me?
    No.

    Which makes me think, unless you expect me to know the name of every single country in the world, that there is more than one and your original question is wrong,
    By coincidence also the most obese country in the world? And that 90% unemployment rate sounds the worst in the world too.
    So there’s a third one as well?

    Unless the Swiss are much fatter than I realised?

    Edit - I think that time you really were talking about Nauru!
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,549
    ydoethur said:

    Switzerland of course is unusual in another way - it doesn’t have a single Head of State. The Federal Council hold the office in commission.

    San Marino has two heads of state - Captains General - who serve simultaneous 6-month terms.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,154

    ydoethur said:

    Switzerland of course is unusual in another way - it doesn’t have a single Head of State. The Federal Council hold the office in commission.

    San Marino has two heads of state - Captains General - who serve simultaneous 6-month terms.
    And Andorra has two heads of state, neither of whom live in the country - the President of France and the Bishop of Urgell.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,480
    ydoethur said:

    Foxy said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    rcs1000 said:

    ydoethur said:

    Ooh, trivia! Which is the only republican state in the world without an official capital?

    South Africa?
    Nah, it's a small town near Jo'burg. That I forget the name of.
    As I recall, South Africa has three capitals with none taking precedence over the other.

    Having looked it up, I will admit I would never have guessed because I’d never even heard of it.
    Really?

    The first shredder in the country went missing. It was supposed to shred sensitive documents. It was found in what passes for the presidential palace. The main man thought it great for making coleslaw....
    Assuming we are talking about the same country (and if not, the premise of your question is wrong) I hadn’t heard of it. Knew a little about both it’s neighbours, but not that one.
    Now are you kidding me?
    No.

    Which makes me think, unless you expect me to know the name of every single country in the world, that there is more than one and your original question is wrong,
    By coincidence also the most obese country in the world? And that 90% unemployment rate sounds the worst in the world too.
    So there’s a third one as well?

    Unless the Swiss are much fatter than I realised?

    Edit - I think that time you really were talking about Nauru!
    Yep. The country went to shit when the shit ran out...

    https://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2013-02-04/nauru-country-without-a-capital-maphead-ken-jennings
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,549

    Republic without official captial = Nauru?

    Wiki says that Yaren is "de facto" capital.

    I used to do an audit for a client who was the ambassador for Nauru as a sideline to his main business of farming and property development in Sevenoaks. The actual barn i worked in was the embassy (or whatever they call the official office for micro states).After doing the audit I was curious so learnt a lot about Nauru .A lot of phosphate there
    Past tense -there WAS a lot of phosphate there, but IIRC it's run out. And the Nauruans did NOT save for when the shit (or guano if you prefer) ran out.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,278

    Reuters.com - Conservative win in German state election boosts Laschet's chancellery hopes

    https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/east-german-state-votes-final-test-before-election-decide-who-replaces-merkel-2021-06-05/

    Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives won a resounding victory in a state election in eastern Germany on Sunday, in a boost to Armin Laschet, who hopes to succeed her in September's national election.

    An exit poll from the Saxony-Anhalt election for public broadcaster MDR had the Christian Democrats (CDU) on 36%, up more than 6 points on five years ago, and far ahead of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), who were on 22.5%, slightly down on the previous election.

    Laschet, a centrist, was seen as having made an uncertain start to his election campaign and had faced calls to chart a more right-wing course to win back voters disenchanted by 16 years of compromises under Merkel.

    "We have won the election," Saxony-Anhalt state premier Reiner Haseloff said after the exit polls came out. "A great majority of our citizens have said we don't want to be associated with the AfD. And for that I'm grateful."

    He and other conservatives hailed the result as a tailwind for them ahead of the federal election.

    "This will give us a boost for Berlin," national conservative caucus leader Ralph Brinkhaus said. "It is a victory for Armin Laschet."

    The results were disappointing for most other parties, with the Greens, who are running a close second to the conservatives nationally, only in the single digits in the regional election.

    "Sure, we'd like to have done better," said their candidate for chancellor, Annalena Baerbock. The Greens are traditionally weaker in less urban eastern Germany, which is more reliant on the carbon-intensive industries that the Greens hope to phase out.

    Baerbock said the conservatives had benefited from voters rallying to the incumbent out of a desire to thwart the far-right, who had been as little as one point behind the conservatives in some opinion polls. . . .

    Carsten Nickel, an analyst at consultancy Teneo, said the state election result was a "much-needed boost for Laschet just as the Bundestag campaign is about to heat up".

    The pro-business Free Democrats were another winner, re-entering parliament after their vote share climbed back above the 5% threshold needed to win seats.

    The Social Democrats, junior partners in Merkel's ruling coalition, had a disappointing night, with their forecast vote share of 8% showing they were unable to capitalise on the popularity of Olaf Scholz, who is finance minister and their candidate for chancellor.

    Haseloff conceded that forming a state government could be tricky. His ally, state legislator Siegfried Borgwardt, said the party would not join forces with the AfD or the far-left Linke, but he would not commit to any other scenarios at this stage.

    Good result for the CDU who are now back in the driving seat to lead another Coalition after September's election, poor result for the Greens and AfD.

    Though the CDU score will have been boosted by some centre left voters lending their vote to the CDU to beat the AfD
  • state_go_awaystate_go_away Posts: 5,793
    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Switzerland of course is unusual in another way - it doesn’t have a single Head of State. The Federal Council hold the office in commission.

    San Marino has two heads of state - Captains General - who serve simultaneous 6-month terms.
    And Andorra has two heads of state, neither of whom live in the country - the President of France and the Bishop of Urgell.
    The President of France probably is not even aware ! Wheras the Bishop of Urgell probably dines out on it
  • state_go_awaystate_go_away Posts: 5,793

    Republic without official captial = Nauru?

    Wiki says that Yaren is "de facto" capital.

    I used to do an audit for a client who was the ambassador for Nauru as a sideline to his main business of farming and property development in Sevenoaks. The actual barn i worked in was the embassy (or whatever they call the official office for micro states).After doing the audit I was curious so learnt a lot about Nauru .A lot of phosphate there
    Past tense -there WAS a lot of phosphate there, but IIRC it's run out. And the Nauruans did NOT save for when the shit (or guano if you prefer) ran out.
    welll I did the audit over 25 years ago!
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 21,965

    Fishing said:

    MaxPB said:

    Fishing said:

    MaxPB said:

    Had a great afternoon with some friends about 20 of us crammed into a tiny garden and dining room. One subject that came up was Japan (with a few of us working for various Japanese companies this isn't out of the ordinary) and their constant fight with deflation. Something that we're going to struggle with in 10-15 years as the population starts to shrink.

    Eh? Our population is expected to keep growing through 2050, by which time we could have the largest population in Europe, excluding Russia.

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/articles/overviewoftheukpopulation/august2019

    Due to ageing and poor assumptions on immigration.
    I think the assumptions on immigration are, if anything, an underestimate. And how old people are is irrelevant to the total population, which is what you said would shrink.
    Surely assumptions on immigration depend on whether open-door Labour forms a government again before 2050?
    You can imagine under a Labour Government the UK Border Force would take on the role of collecting migrants from French waters and giving them a lift to Blighty.

    Oh, they do that already do they?
  • alex_alex_ Posts: 7,518

    O/T What's happened to our much-lauded vaccination programme?

    Germany, Italy and France are all vaccinating at a higher rate than the UK now. Are we still supply constrained?

    https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations#how-many-covid-19-vaccine-doses-are-administered-daily

    Half term

  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,549
    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Switzerland of course is unusual in another way - it doesn’t have a single Head of State. The Federal Council hold the office in commission.

    San Marino has two heads of state - Captains General - who serve simultaneous 6-month terms.
    And Andorra has two heads of state, neither of whom live in the country - the President of France and the Bishop of Urgell.
    But Andorra is a principality NOT a republic. Whereas San Marino IS a Republic, official a most serene one!

    As in "Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino"
  • AnExileinD4AnExileinD4 Posts: 337

    Republic of South Africa

    Administrative capital - Pretoria

    Legislative capital - Cape Town

    Judicial capital - Bloemfontein

    (Something yours truly learned in the 6th grade)

    Bloemfontein is like visiting Iowa City. That I quite like Bloemfontein suggests that I’m a hick.
    Already guessed from your dodgy taste in food.
    2/10. Generous 100% uplift because it’s June,
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,154

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Switzerland of course is unusual in another way - it doesn’t have a single Head of State. The Federal Council hold the office in commission.

    San Marino has two heads of state - Captains General - who serve simultaneous 6-month terms.
    And Andorra has two heads of state, neither of whom live in the country - the President of France and the Bishop of Urgell.
    The President of France probably is not even aware ! Wheras the Bishop of Urgell probably dines out on it
    I think he probably does, if only because Sarkozy tried to use his position as co-Prince to force tax reforms on them, making it quite a hot political issue
  • alex_alex_ Posts: 7,518

    O/T What's happened to our much-lauded vaccination programme?

    Germany, Italy and France are all vaccinating at a higher rate than the UK now. Are we still supply constrained?

    https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations#how-many-covid-19-vaccine-doses-are-administered-daily

    My brother, who is six years younger than me and lives in Brussels, messaged me before to say that he expects to have his second dose before mine.
    What is the Belgian policy on second dose intervals?
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,278
    On topic, agree with most of the Top Tier apart from Fish and Chips which I am not a fan of, I prefer fresh unfried fish and chips with burgers.

    I would put cauliflower cheese and Toad in the Hole higher too and am a fan of Bubble and Squeak, Scotch Eggs and Steak and Kidney Pudding which are far too low for me.

    As TSE correctly states though we tend to prefer comfort fair as a people, we are never going to match the French or Italians or indeed the Japanese for the quality of our cuisine
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,154
    HYUFD said:

    On topic, agree with most of the Top Tier apart from Fish and Chips which I am not a fan of, I prefer fresh unfried fish and chips with burgers.

    I would put cauliflower cheese and Toad in the Hole higher too and am a fan of Bubble and Squeak, Scotch Eggs and Steak and Kidney Pudding which are far too low for me.

    As TSE correctly states though we tend to prefer comfort fair as a people, we are never going to match the French or Italians or indeed the Japanese for the quality of our cuisine

    Unfried fish with burgers?

    I’ve heard of a surf and turf, but even so...
  • AnExileinD4AnExileinD4 Posts: 337
    alex_ said:

    O/T What's happened to our much-lauded vaccination programme?

    Germany, Italy and France are all vaccinating at a higher rate than the UK now. Are we still supply constrained?

    https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations#how-many-covid-19-vaccine-doses-are-administered-daily

    My brother, who is six years younger than me and lives in Brussels, messaged me before to say that he expects to have his second dose before mine.
    What is the Belgian policy on second dose intervals?
    Accelerated timeline for child molesters with cellar development.. Long queues.
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 21,965

    Pulpstar said:

    MaxPB said:

    rcs1000 said:

    MaxPB said:

    Had a great afternoon with some friends about 20 of us crammed into a tiny garden and dining room. One subject that came up was Japan (with a few of us working for various Japanese companies this isn't out of the ordinary) and their constant fight with deflation. Something that we're going to struggle with in 10-15 years as the population starts to shrink. One of the best ideas was to give couples ¥5m to have babies and ¥2m each to get married. Helicopter money to help drive population growth rather than endless money printing to fight deflation in a country where there are fewer people spending money every year. I think we're all going to need to look at odd schemes like this in the next decade or so.

    Surely the simplest solution is to subsidise alcohol and bars for those in their early 20s, combined with making contraceptives harder to acquire.
    That's also a good idea. Lower the drinking age to 16, more Suntory adverts and raise the age of getting condoms to 21. Instant baby boom.
    Tax allowances based on your family might be a good idea (Done in France I think). We do need a higher birth rate here in the UK.
    Er... why?
    I think on this issue the UK is actually in the Goldilocks zone and can worry about other things like Brexit and the fact that the Euro 96 song containing the exasperated worlds of "30 years of hurt" is now "55 years of hurt" and will be 56 next year unless Southgate changes course. Also how do we win the Eurovision ever again?
    Silly lyric. How were the four years between 1966 and 1970 'years of hurt' when we were reigning world champions?

    Should have been '26 years of hurt'.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 56,928
    Fishing said:

    MaxPB said:

    Fishing said:

    MaxPB said:

    Had a great afternoon with some friends about 20 of us crammed into a tiny garden and dining room. One subject that came up was Japan (with a few of us working for various Japanese companies this isn't out of the ordinary) and their constant fight with deflation. Something that we're going to struggle with in 10-15 years as the population starts to shrink.

    Eh? Our population is expected to keep growing through 2050, by which time we could have the largest population in Europe, excluding Russia.

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/articles/overviewoftheukpopulation/august2019

    Due to ageing and poor assumptions on immigration.
    I think the assumptions on immigration are, if anything, an underestimate. And how old people are is irrelevant to the total population, which is what you said would shrink.
    Immigration is an interesting one. Because if your population pyramid inverts then you become a place that's very unattractive for young people to live.

    Ever greater percentages of young peoples' paychecks are sequestered to pay for the oldies, and that means - as with both Italy and Japan - you end up with net emigration of the young and the talented.
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,549

    Republic without official captial = Nauru?

    Wiki says that Yaren is "de facto" capital.

    I used to do an audit for a client who was the ambassador for Nauru as a sideline to his main business of farming and property development in Sevenoaks. The actual barn i worked in was the embassy (or whatever they call the official office for micro states).After doing the audit I was curious so learnt a lot about Nauru .A lot of phosphate there
    Past tense -there WAS a lot of phosphate there, but IIRC it's run out. And the Nauruans did NOT save for when the shit (or guano if you prefer) ran out.
    welll I did the audit over 25 years ago!
    Well, at least you got some benefit from Nauru's natural wealth before (or rather while) it was all looted and pissed (poetic justice?) away.
  • alex_alex_ Posts: 7,518

    Pulpstar said:

    MaxPB said:

    rcs1000 said:

    MaxPB said:

    Had a great afternoon with some friends about 20 of us crammed into a tiny garden and dining room. One subject that came up was Japan (with a few of us working for various Japanese companies this isn't out of the ordinary) and their constant fight with deflation. Something that we're going to struggle with in 10-15 years as the population starts to shrink. One of the best ideas was to give couples ¥5m to have babies and ¥2m each to get married. Helicopter money to help drive population growth rather than endless money printing to fight deflation in a country where there are fewer people spending money every year. I think we're all going to need to look at odd schemes like this in the next decade or so.

    Surely the simplest solution is to subsidise alcohol and bars for those in their early 20s, combined with making contraceptives harder to acquire.
    That's also a good idea. Lower the drinking age to 16, more Suntory adverts and raise the age of getting condoms to 21. Instant baby boom.
    Tax allowances based on your family might be a good idea (Done in France I think). We do need a higher birth rate here in the UK.
    Er... why?
    I think on this issue the UK is actually in the Goldilocks zone and can worry about other things like Brexit and the fact that the Euro 96 song containing the exasperated worlds of "30 years of hurt" is now "55 years of hurt" and will be 56 next year unless Southgate changes course. Also how do we win the Eurovision ever again?
    Silly lyric. How were the four years between 1966 and 1970 'years of hurt' when we were reigning world champions?

    Should have been '26 years of hurt'.
    1967: England 2-3 Scotland
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,257

    Republic of South Africa

    Administrative capital - Pretoria

    Legislative capital - Cape Town

    Judicial capital - Bloemfontein

    (Something yours truly learned in the 6th grade)

    Bloemfontein is like visiting Iowa City. That I quite like Bloemfontein suggests that I’m a hick.
    Already guessed from your dodgy taste in food.
    2/10. Generous 100% uplift because it’s June,
    Save your dodgy ratings for Trip Advisor.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,586
    alex_ said:

    O/T What's happened to our much-lauded vaccination programme?

    Germany, Italy and France are all vaccinating at a higher rate than the UK now. Are we still supply constrained?

    https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations#how-many-covid-19-vaccine-doses-are-administered-daily

    Half term

    Why would that make a difference?
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,278
    ydoethur said:

    HYUFD said:

    On topic, agree with most of the Top Tier apart from Fish and Chips which I am not a fan of, I prefer fresh unfried fish and chips with burgers.

    I would put cauliflower cheese and Toad in the Hole higher too and am a fan of Bubble and Squeak, Scotch Eggs and Steak and Kidney Pudding which are far too low for me.

    As TSE correctly states though we tend to prefer comfort fair as a people, we are never going to match the French or Italians or indeed the Japanese for the quality of our cuisine

    Unfried fish with burgers?

    I’ve heard of a surf and turf, but even so...
    As separate meals I meant
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,480

    Pulpstar said:

    MaxPB said:

    rcs1000 said:

    MaxPB said:

    Had a great afternoon with some friends about 20 of us crammed into a tiny garden and dining room. One subject that came up was Japan (with a few of us working for various Japanese companies this isn't out of the ordinary) and their constant fight with deflation. Something that we're going to struggle with in 10-15 years as the population starts to shrink. One of the best ideas was to give couples ¥5m to have babies and ¥2m each to get married. Helicopter money to help drive population growth rather than endless money printing to fight deflation in a country where there are fewer people spending money every year. I think we're all going to need to look at odd schemes like this in the next decade or so.

    Surely the simplest solution is to subsidise alcohol and bars for those in their early 20s, combined with making contraceptives harder to acquire.
    That's also a good idea. Lower the drinking age to 16, more Suntory adverts and raise the age of getting condoms to 21. Instant baby boom.
    Tax allowances based on your family might be a good idea (Done in France I think). We do need a higher birth rate here in the UK.
    Er... why?
    I think on this issue the UK is actually in the Goldilocks zone and can worry about other things like Brexit and the fact that the Euro 96 song containing the exasperated worlds of "30 years of hurt" is now "55 years of hurt" and will be 56 next year unless Southgate changes course. Also how do we win the Eurovision ever again?
    Silly lyric. How were the four years between 1966 and 1970 'years of hurt' when we were reigning world champions?

    Should have been '26 years of hurt'.
    You have ruined it for me now. I will only be able to be thinking that when it plays.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,257
    rcs1000 said:

    Fishing said:

    MaxPB said:

    Fishing said:

    MaxPB said:

    Had a great afternoon with some friends about 20 of us crammed into a tiny garden and dining room. One subject that came up was Japan (with a few of us working for various Japanese companies this isn't out of the ordinary) and their constant fight with deflation. Something that we're going to struggle with in 10-15 years as the population starts to shrink.

    Eh? Our population is expected to keep growing through 2050, by which time we could have the largest population in Europe, excluding Russia.

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/articles/overviewoftheukpopulation/august2019

    Due to ageing and poor assumptions on immigration.
    I think the assumptions on immigration are, if anything, an underestimate. And how old people are is irrelevant to the total population, which is what you said would shrink.
    Immigration is an interesting one. Because if your population pyramid inverts then you become a place that's very unattractive for young people to live.

    Ever greater percentages of young peoples' paychecks are sequestered to pay for the oldies, and that means - as with both Italy and Japan - you end up with net emigration of the young and the talented.
    Brexit was basically a vote to invert the pyramid.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 56,928
    Pulpstar said:

    MaxPB said:

    rcs1000 said:

    MaxPB said:

    Had a great afternoon with some friends about 20 of us crammed into a tiny garden and dining room. One subject that came up was Japan (with a few of us working for various Japanese companies this isn't out of the ordinary) and their constant fight with deflation. Something that we're going to struggle with in 10-15 years as the population starts to shrink. One of the best ideas was to give couples ¥5m to have babies and ¥2m each to get married. Helicopter money to help drive population growth rather than endless money printing to fight deflation in a country where there are fewer people spending money every year. I think we're all going to need to look at odd schemes like this in the next decade or so.

    Surely the simplest solution is to subsidise alcohol and bars for those in their early 20s, combined with making contraceptives harder to acquire.
    That's also a good idea. Lower the drinking age to 16, more Suntory adverts and raise the age of getting condoms to 21. Instant baby boom.
    Tax allowances based on your family might be a good idea (Done in France I think). We do need a higher birth rate here in the UK.
    The French system is superb: everyone in a family gets their own tax allowances (including children) and they stack. So, if you have a couple with two children, then you get 4 x €8,000 of zero tax, plus 4 x whatever the lower tax limit is etc..

    The consequence is that working families instantly become quite a lot richer when they have children.

    France is, as far as I know, the only country in the world where female university graduates are having babies at an above replacement rate.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 56,928

    O/T What's happened to our much-lauded vaccination programme?

    Germany, Italy and France are all vaccinating at a higher rate than the UK now. Are we still supply constrained?

    https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations#how-many-covid-19-vaccine-doses-are-administered-daily

    The collapse in the US vaccination rate is quite extraordinary. In many (Southern) states, vaccination has ground to a complete halt.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,639
    alex_ said:

    Pulpstar said:

    MaxPB said:

    rcs1000 said:

    MaxPB said:

    Had a great afternoon with some friends about 20 of us crammed into a tiny garden and dining room. One subject that came up was Japan (with a few of us working for various Japanese companies this isn't out of the ordinary) and their constant fight with deflation. Something that we're going to struggle with in 10-15 years as the population starts to shrink. One of the best ideas was to give couples ¥5m to have babies and ¥2m each to get married. Helicopter money to help drive population growth rather than endless money printing to fight deflation in a country where there are fewer people spending money every year. I think we're all going to need to look at odd schemes like this in the next decade or so.

    Surely the simplest solution is to subsidise alcohol and bars for those in their early 20s, combined with making contraceptives harder to acquire.
    That's also a good idea. Lower the drinking age to 16, more Suntory adverts and raise the age of getting condoms to 21. Instant baby boom.
    Tax allowances based on your family might be a good idea (Done in France I think). We do need a higher birth rate here in the UK.
    Er... why?
    I think on this issue the UK is actually in the Goldilocks zone and can worry about other things like Brexit and the fact that the Euro 96 song containing the exasperated worlds of "30 years of hurt" is now "55 years of hurt" and will be 56 next year unless Southgate changes course. Also how do we win the Eurovision ever again?
    Silly lyric. How were the four years between 1966 and 1970 'years of hurt' when we were reigning world champions?

    Should have been '26 years of hurt'.
    1967: England 2-3 Scotland
    I remembere them ripping up the Wembley turf to take home ...
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,480
    rcs1000 said:

    Fishing said:

    MaxPB said:

    Fishing said:

    MaxPB said:

    Had a great afternoon with some friends about 20 of us crammed into a tiny garden and dining room. One subject that came up was Japan (with a few of us working for various Japanese companies this isn't out of the ordinary) and their constant fight with deflation. Something that we're going to struggle with in 10-15 years as the population starts to shrink.

    Eh? Our population is expected to keep growing through 2050, by which time we could have the largest population in Europe, excluding Russia.

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/articles/overviewoftheukpopulation/august2019

    Due to ageing and poor assumptions on immigration.
    I think the assumptions on immigration are, if anything, an underestimate. And how old people are is irrelevant to the total population, which is what you said would shrink.
    Immigration is an interesting one. Because if your population pyramid inverts then you become a place that's very unattractive for young people to live.

    Ever greater percentages of young peoples' paychecks are sequestered to pay for the oldies, and that means - as with both Italy and Japan - you end up with net emigration of the young and the talented.
    I think that your tip for a year of net emigration has probably come true.

    I think though that the combination of global warming and employment opportunities will keep migration from Africa going, indeed accelerating over the next couple of decades.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,359
    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    rcs1000 said:

    ydoethur said:

    Ooh, trivia! Which is the only republican state in the world without an official capital?

    South Africa?
    Nah, it's a small town near Jo'burg. That I forget the name of.
    As I recall, South Africa has three capitals with none taking precedence over the other.

    Having looked it up, I will admit I would never have guessed because I’d never even heard of it.
    Really?

    The first shredder in the country went missing. It was supposed to shred sensitive documents. It was found in what passes for the presidential palace. The main man thought it great for making coleslaw....
    Assuming we are talking about the same country (and if not, the premise of your question is wrong) I hadn’t heard of it. Knew a little about both it’s neighbours, but not that one.
    Now are you kidding me?
    No.

    Which makes me think, unless you expect me to know the name of every single country in the world, that there is more than one and your original question is wrong,
    Nauru you kidding me?

    I don't know why I bother...
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 21,965
    alex_ said:

    Pulpstar said:

    MaxPB said:

    rcs1000 said:

    MaxPB said:

    Had a great afternoon with some friends about 20 of us crammed into a tiny garden and dining room. One subject that came up was Japan (with a few of us working for various Japanese companies this isn't out of the ordinary) and their constant fight with deflation. Something that we're going to struggle with in 10-15 years as the population starts to shrink. One of the best ideas was to give couples ¥5m to have babies and ¥2m each to get married. Helicopter money to help drive population growth rather than endless money printing to fight deflation in a country where there are fewer people spending money every year. I think we're all going to need to look at odd schemes like this in the next decade or so.

    Surely the simplest solution is to subsidise alcohol and bars for those in their early 20s, combined with making contraceptives harder to acquire.
    That's also a good idea. Lower the drinking age to 16, more Suntory adverts and raise the age of getting condoms to 21. Instant baby boom.
    Tax allowances based on your family might be a good idea (Done in France I think). We do need a higher birth rate here in the UK.
    Er... why?
    I think on this issue the UK is actually in the Goldilocks zone and can worry about other things like Brexit and the fact that the Euro 96 song containing the exasperated worlds of "30 years of hurt" is now "55 years of hurt" and will be 56 next year unless Southgate changes course. Also how do we win the Eurovision ever again?
    Silly lyric. How were the four years between 1966 and 1970 'years of hurt' when we were reigning world champions?

    Should have been '26 years of hurt'.
    1967: England 2-3 Scotland
    Even that only gives you 29 years!
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 38,528
    edited June 2021
    rcs1000 said:

    Fishing said:

    MaxPB said:

    Fishing said:

    MaxPB said:

    Had a great afternoon with some friends about 20 of us crammed into a tiny garden and dining room. One subject that came up was Japan (with a few of us working for various Japanese companies this isn't out of the ordinary) and their constant fight with deflation. Something that we're going to struggle with in 10-15 years as the population starts to shrink.

    Eh? Our population is expected to keep growing through 2050, by which time we could have the largest population in Europe, excluding Russia.

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/articles/overviewoftheukpopulation/august2019

    Due to ageing and poor assumptions on immigration.
    I think the assumptions on immigration are, if anything, an underestimate. And how old people are is irrelevant to the total population, which is what you said would shrink.
    Immigration is an interesting one. Because if your population pyramid inverts then you become a place that's very unattractive for young people to live.

    Ever greater percentages of young peoples' paychecks are sequestered to pay for the oldies, and that means - as with both Italy and Japan - you end up with net emigration of the young and the talented.
    Which is why those immigration numbers are a fantasy. Young people won't come to the UK to pay 50% of their wages to pay for old people who pissed away all their money.

    Which takes me back to the original point of helicopter money to have kids and get married. Something like £50k paid over 10 years for a kid and £20k over 5 years to get married for your first three kids and first marriage.
  • alex_alex_ Posts: 7,518
    edited June 2021

    alex_ said:

    O/T What's happened to our much-lauded vaccination programme?

    Germany, Italy and France are all vaccinating at a higher rate than the UK now. Are we still supply constrained?

    https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations#how-many-covid-19-vaccine-doses-are-administered-daily

    Half term

    Why would that make a difference?
    Lower demand among target/eligible groups.

    676,000 yesterday. Another few days of that and the numbers will start rising significantly again.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 51,578

    Pulpstar said:

    MaxPB said:

    rcs1000 said:

    MaxPB said:

    Had a great afternoon with some friends about 20 of us crammed into a tiny garden and dining room. One subject that came up was Japan (with a few of us working for various Japanese companies this isn't out of the ordinary) and their constant fight with deflation. Something that we're going to struggle with in 10-15 years as the population starts to shrink. One of the best ideas was to give couples ¥5m to have babies and ¥2m each to get married. Helicopter money to help drive population growth rather than endless money printing to fight deflation in a country where there are fewer people spending money every year. I think we're all going to need to look at odd schemes like this in the next decade or so.

    Surely the simplest solution is to subsidise alcohol and bars for those in their early 20s, combined with making contraceptives harder to acquire.
    That's also a good idea. Lower the drinking age to 16, more Suntory adverts and raise the age of getting condoms to 21. Instant baby boom.
    Tax allowances based on your family might be a good idea (Done in France I think). We do need a higher birth rate here in the UK.
    Er... why?
    I think on this issue the UK is actually in the Goldilocks zone and can worry about other things like Brexit and the fact that the Euro 96 song containing the exasperated worlds of "30 years of hurt" is now "55 years of hurt" and will be 56 next year unless Southgate changes course. Also how do we win the Eurovision ever again?
    Silly lyric. How were the four years between 1966 and 1970 'years of hurt' when we were reigning world champions?

    Should have been '26 years of hurt'.
    World in Motion was a much better Footy song in any case!
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 21,965
    HYUFD said:

    ydoethur said:

    HYUFD said:

    On topic, agree with most of the Top Tier apart from Fish and Chips which I am not a fan of, I prefer fresh unfried fish and chips with burgers.

    I would put cauliflower cheese and Toad in the Hole higher too and am a fan of Bubble and Squeak, Scotch Eggs and Steak and Kidney Pudding which are far too low for me.

    As TSE correctly states though we tend to prefer comfort fair as a people, we are never going to match the French or Italians or indeed the Japanese for the quality of our cuisine

    Unfried fish with burgers?

    I’ve heard of a surf and turf, but even so...
    As separate meals I meant
    I think you also meant that you cook the fish by a different method, rather than slapping a raw cod fillet on the plate.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,586
    rcs1000 said:

    O/T What's happened to our much-lauded vaccination programme?

    Germany, Italy and France are all vaccinating at a higher rate than the UK now. Are we still supply constrained?

    https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations#how-many-covid-19-vaccine-doses-are-administered-daily

    The collapse in the US vaccination rate is quite extraordinary. In many (Southern) states, vaccination has ground to a complete halt.
    Yes, I noticed that too. The US seems to be at 50% 1st dose and 41% two doses. Is it running into a maximum take-up percentage of say 50-60%?
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 38,528
    alex_ said:

    Pulpstar said:

    MaxPB said:

    rcs1000 said:

    MaxPB said:

    Had a great afternoon with some friends about 20 of us crammed into a tiny garden and dining room. One subject that came up was Japan (with a few of us working for various Japanese companies this isn't out of the ordinary) and their constant fight with deflation. Something that we're going to struggle with in 10-15 years as the population starts to shrink. One of the best ideas was to give couples ¥5m to have babies and ¥2m each to get married. Helicopter money to help drive population growth rather than endless money printing to fight deflation in a country where there are fewer people spending money every year. I think we're all going to need to look at odd schemes like this in the next decade or so.

    Surely the simplest solution is to subsidise alcohol and bars for those in their early 20s, combined with making contraceptives harder to acquire.
    That's also a good idea. Lower the drinking age to 16, more Suntory adverts and raise the age of getting condoms to 21. Instant baby boom.
    Tax allowances based on your family might be a good idea (Done in France I think). We do need a higher birth rate here in the UK.
    Er... why?
    I think on this issue the UK is actually in the Goldilocks zone and can worry about other things like Brexit and the fact that the Euro 96 song containing the exasperated worlds of "30 years of hurt" is now "55 years of hurt" and will be 56 next year unless Southgate changes course. Also how do we win the Eurovision ever again?
    Silly lyric. How were the four years between 1966 and 1970 'years of hurt' when we were reigning world champions?

    Should have been '26 years of hurt'.
    1967: England 2-3 Scotland
    Happily football doesn't have the concept of a lineal champion!
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 21,965
    edited June 2021
    Foxy said:

    Pulpstar said:

    MaxPB said:

    rcs1000 said:

    MaxPB said:

    Had a great afternoon with some friends about 20 of us crammed into a tiny garden and dining room. One subject that came up was Japan (with a few of us working for various Japanese companies this isn't out of the ordinary) and their constant fight with deflation. Something that we're going to struggle with in 10-15 years as the population starts to shrink. One of the best ideas was to give couples ¥5m to have babies and ¥2m each to get married. Helicopter money to help drive population growth rather than endless money printing to fight deflation in a country where there are fewer people spending money every year. I think we're all going to need to look at odd schemes like this in the next decade or so.

    Surely the simplest solution is to subsidise alcohol and bars for those in their early 20s, combined with making contraceptives harder to acquire.
    That's also a good idea. Lower the drinking age to 16, more Suntory adverts and raise the age of getting condoms to 21. Instant baby boom.
    Tax allowances based on your family might be a good idea (Done in France I think). We do need a higher birth rate here in the UK.
    Er... why?
    I think on this issue the UK is actually in the Goldilocks zone and can worry about other things like Brexit and the fact that the Euro 96 song containing the exasperated worlds of "30 years of hurt" is now "55 years of hurt" and will be 56 next year unless Southgate changes course. Also how do we win the Eurovision ever again?
    Silly lyric. How were the four years between 1966 and 1970 'years of hurt' when we were reigning world champions?

    Should have been '26 years of hurt'.
    You have ruined it for me now. I will only be able to be thinking that when it plays.
    Just pretend that it was the song for the 1994 World Cup!

    Edit: No, that's not right. Euro 2000.
This discussion has been closed.