politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Local By-Election Results December 22nd / December 2016 Summar

rural_voter said:

The BBC even has a booze questionnaire to suit the time of year
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-30500372.
but is it written to distinguish between the two sides in the EU vote?

I'm told I consume alcohol most like a French citizen. It suits a Remainer. My consumption is said to be 'totally unlike the UK'.

AnneJGP said:

rural_voter said:

The BBC even has a booze questionnaire to suit the time of year
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-30500372.
but is it written to distinguish between the two sides in the EU vote?

I'm told I consume alcohol most like a French citizen. It suits a Remainer. My consumption is said to be 'totally unlike the UK'.

It only asks how much of X have you drunk in the past week, then tells me "most people from Kuwait also abstain". I'm not an abstainer though.

SeanT said:

Just did that booze test

It tells me:

"You drink more heavily than people from Belarus, the heaviest-drinking country in the world"

SeanT said:

HurstLlama said:

@SeanT

You need to be careful with stocks like that. I have always taken to heart the old maxim from Jerome, "You always need enough to eat and a bit more than enough to drink, for thirst is a dangerous thing". Half a dozen or so healthy young people turn up at your place on Christmas eve and that's you screwed for champagne on Christmas Day. In your shoes I'd get another case in tomorrow morning just to be sure. Oh, and for goodness sake make sure you have enough of it, three bottles at least, chilled - nothing worse than being served warm champagne.

Bastard. Now I'm worried.

I do also have a Jeroboam of Veuve Clicquot (a gift from my agent for getting a number 1 bestseller), but it's so big I have no means of chilling it, so I'm waiting for heavy snow on my balcony (literally).

Scott_P said:

@SkyNewsBreak: U.S. media reports 'Star Wars' actress Carrie Fisher has suffered a heart attack and has been rushed to hospital

LucyJones said:

SeanT said:

rcs1000 said:

SeanT said:

Just did that booze test

It tells me:

"You drink more heavily than people from Belarus, the heaviest-drinking country in the world"

That is true of at least a quarter of the population.

Really, it's very simple: Do you drink more than a bottle of wine (or equivalent) six days a week? And can you remember the last day you didn't drink?

You want a 'no' to the first answer, and a 'yes' to the second.

I drink at least a bottle of red every day, and can't remember my last day off (probably when I was ill).

I've been doing this since I can recall and I've earned more than the prime minister every year since 2008.

HOWEVER I am well aware I am REALLY pushing my luck. I need to rein it in, and intend to do so. Likewise Twitter.

Booze and Twitter are my two addictions. OK women too. Booze, Twitter and 20 something women are my only vices. OK and Uber. And oysters. And shoes. And Biz Class flights.

Biz class flights, oysters, posh shoes, Ubers, champagne, red wine, Twitter and 20-something women are my only vices.

Apart from that I'm a bloody monk.

My brother, who was an alcoholic for probably 30+ years, died of a sudden heart attack a couple of weeks ago. He was 54.

SeanT said:

Moses_ said:

Scott_P said:

@SkyNewsBreak: U.S. media reports 'Star Wars' actress Carrie Fisher has suffered a heart attack and has been rushed to hospital

Carrie Fisher, 60, suffers heart attack on transatlantic flight where fellow passengers resorted to giving the star CPR

On a transatlantic flight apparently? Passengers assisted.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4062946/Carrie-Fisher-60-suffers-heart-attack-transatlantic-flight-fellow-passengers-resorted-giving-star-CPR.html#ixzz4ThVbhw1u

If I remember correctly, after youthful mayhem, Carrie Fisher was completely sober and teetotal.

See.

SeanT said:

foxinsoxuk said:

HurstLlama said:

@MarqueeMark

I have now reached the age when I go to a lot more funerals than weddings or christenings. So many old friends and colleagues seem to be falling off the perch or, worse, sinking into dementia each year. I know what the statistics say but, you know, I don't see much difference in death and dementia rates amongst my family and social circle between those who lived according to the quacks' advice and those who didn't, mind you nearly all of us lived bloody hard and fast when we were younger.

So live the way it suits you to live seems to be the way. The grim reaper is going to claim us all and perhaps what matters is the manner of our life not the time of our death.

Of my dozen mates from school, 3 are now dead (lung cancer, Hepatitis B, and the worst was alcoholism, found in his flat one summer 2 weeks after dying) and one now has gynae cancer. It feels like some cheapo teen horror flick with the grim reaper stalking us. To a large extent they are all lifestyle related. I have cleaned up my act.

How old are you, if I may ask?

SeanT said:

HurstLlama said:

@SeanT

Good for your dad! Not many of us are going to be lucky enough to have such good genes, but the principle I think holds for all. We are here once, enjoy it as best you can to the standards you want for yourself and your loved ones.

If I died tomorrow I'd go up to the Pearly Gates, look God in His omniscient eye, and say Yeah, fair play, I had a fucking good run

I've had nine lives in one. I've fucked many hundreds of women. Had a number one bestselling novel. I've been locked up in prisons and feasted in palaces, I've been to sixty or seventy countries, in utter poverty and total luxury. I've met the famous and the infamous. I've got two beautiful and beloved daughters. I've been kidnapped by Hezbollah, been in knife fights in Marseilles, nearly got killed in Egypt, thought I'd impregnated a hooker in Thailand, I recently climbed to 18,400 feet in Chile, I've done almost every drug known to man, and I've been personally ridiculed on the front page of a Sunday tabloid as a Kinky Sex Freak

So if the Big Man decides I've had more than enough fun and good fortune for one life, I couldn't argue. I'd come quietly.

viewcode said:

FeersumEnjineeya said:

I'm pretty sure that general intelligence tends to correlate with likelihood to commit suicide,

[citation needed]

FeersumEnjineeya said:

...and doctors are obviously intelligent people...

I'm sure they think so, but your average GP does not need intelligence. Most of their cases fall into a small category and the unusual cases get passed on to somebody else

AndyJS said:

It must be awful having even a cold on a long flight, let alone a more serious illness.

foxinsoxuk said:

SeanT said:

HurstLlama said:

@SeanT

Good for your dad! Not many of us are going to be lucky enough to have such good genes, but the principle I think holds for all. We are here once, enjoy it as best you can to the standards you want for yourself and your loved ones.

If I died tomorrow I'd go up to the Pearly Gates, look God in His omniscient eye, and say Yeah, fair play, I had a fucking good run

I've had nine lives in one. I've fucked many hundreds of women. Had a number one bestselling novel. I've been locked up in prisons and feasted in palaces, I've been to sixty or seventy countries, in utter poverty and total luxury. I've met the famous and the infamous. I've got two beautiful and beloved daughters. I've been kidnapped by Hezbollah, been in knife fights in Marseilles, nearly got killed in Egypt, thought I'd impregnated a hooker in Thailand, I recently climbed to 18,400 feet in Chile, I've done almost every drug known to man, and I've been personally ridiculed on the front page of a Sunday tabloid as a Kinky Sex Freak

So if the Big Man decides I've had more than enough fun and good fortune for one life, I couldn't argue. I'd come quietly.

A cousin of mine was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer last year aged early 40's with two young daughters. She is OK on chemo at present, but it is really borrowed time. She has carried on just the same, school runs, school sports days, cooking, organising the family party, working in her husbands business etc. To me that shows a life well lived, getting advance notice from St Peter then carrying on with life exactly the same.

foxinsoxuk said:

HurstLlama said:

@SeanT

"Turns out doctors (male) are three times more likely to kill themselves than the average man. No one is quite sure why, though various theories are posited (access to lethal drugs etc)

Very curious. I wonder if proximity to death itself makes death seem more "acceptable"?"

OK, just to continue this happy train of Christmas thought for a while.

Has there ever been a study that breaks down suicides in the medical profession by specialisation? I would guess that some specialities (e.g. eye doctors, dermatologists) have a much lower rate than others (e.g. General Practitioners) but oncologists come out somewhere in the top end of the table.

I think anaesthetists are supposed to be at particular risk, but am not sure there is real difference by speciality. TheGMC is brutal though, and being up before them carries significant risk, not least because often doctors with mental health issues often fail professionally too.

SeanT said:

FeersumEnjineeya said:

foxinsoxuk said:

SeanT said:

HurstLlama said:

@SeanT

Good for your dad! Not many of us are going to be lucky enough to have such good genes, but the principle I think holds for all. We are here once, enjoy it as best you can to the standards you want for yourself and your loved ones.

If I died tomorrow I'd go up to the Pearly Gates, look God in His omniscient eye, and say Yeah, fair play, I had a fucking good run

I've had nine lives in one. I've fucked many hundreds of women. Had a number one bestselling novel. I've been locked up in prisons and feasted in palaces, I've been to sixty or seventy countries, in utter poverty and total luxury. I've met the famous and the infamous. I've got two beautiful and beloved daughters. I've been kidnapped by Hezbollah, been in knife fights in Marseilles, nearly got killed in Egypt, thought I'd impregnated a hooker in Thailand, I recently climbed to 18,400 feet in Chile, I've done almost every drug known to man, and I've been personally ridiculed on the front page of a Sunday tabloid as a Kinky Sex Freak

So if the Big Man decides I've had more than enough fun and good fortune for one life, I couldn't argue. I'd come quietly.

A cousin of mine was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer last year aged early 40's with two young daughters. She is OK on chemo at present, but it is really borrowed time. She has carried on just the same, school runs, school sports days, cooking, organising the family party, working in her husbands business etc. To me that shows a life well lived, getting advance notice from St Peter then carrying on with life exactly the same.

Yes. It was exactly the same with my wife (she died 10 years ago, aged 35). After her diagnosis with metastatic breast cancer, we discussed what she'd like to do - countries she'd like to experience, sights she'd like to see and suchlike. She decided that her life was as near to perfect as she'd wanted (apart from the cancer, of course). She carried on looking after our little son as best she could, and she even went back to work part-time although we had no need for the money. Mainly, she wanted to love and be loved, and she was.

Edit: My heart aches for your cousin and her family, but there's very little that anyone else can do apart from be there, listen and reassure. Her husband and daughters will appreciate contact after she has gone; many people stop talking to the bereaved simply because they don't know what to say. I very much appreciated the ones that didn't.

Goodness. I don't know what to say, or whether I should say anything. Apart from Merry Christmas. A Very Fucking Merry Christmas.

FeersumEnjineeya said:

foxinsoxuk said:

SeanT said:

HurstLlama said:

@SeanT

Good for your dad! Not many of us are going to be lucky enough to have such good genes, but the principle I think holds for all. We are here once, enjoy it as best you can to the standards you want for yourself and your loved ones.

If I died tomorrow I'd go up to the Pearly Gates, look God in His omniscient eye, and say Yeah, fair play, I had a fucking good run

I've had nine lives in one. I've fucked many hundreds of women. Had a number one bestselling novel. I've been locked up in prisons and feasted in palaces, I've been to sixty or seventy countries, in utter poverty and total luxury. I've met the famous and the infamous. I've got two beautiful and beloved daughters. I've been kidnapped by Hezbollah, been in knife fights in Marseilles, nearly got killed in Egypt, thought I'd impregnated a hooker in Thailand, I recently climbed to 18,400 feet in Chile, I've done almost every drug known to man, and I've been personally ridiculed on the front page of a Sunday tabloid as a Kinky Sex Freak

So if the Big Man decides I've had more than enough fun and good fortune for one life, I couldn't argue. I'd come quietly.

A

Yes. It was exactly the same with my wife (she died 10 years ago, aged 35). After her diagnosis with metastatic breast cancer, we discussed what she'd like to do - countries she'd like to experience, sights she'd like to see and suchlike. She decided that her life was as near to perfect as she'd wanted (apart from the cancer, of course). She carried on looking after our little son as best she could, and she even went back to work part-time although we had no need for the money. Mainly, she wanted to love and be loved, and she was.

Edit: My heart aches for your cousin and her family, but there's very little that anyone else can do apart from be there, listen and reassure. Her husband and daughters will appreciate contact after she has gone; many people stop talking to the bereaved simply because they don't know what to say. I very much appreciated the ones that didn't.

AnneJGP said:

viewcode said:

FeersumEnjineeya said:

I'm pretty sure that general intelligence tends to correlate with likelihood to commit suicide,

[citation needed]

FeersumEnjineeya said:

...and doctors are obviously intelligent people...

I'm sure they think so, but your average GP does not need intelligence. Most of their cases fall into a small category and the unusual cases get passed on to somebody else

I have always understood that one needs quite a high intelligence merely to get into medical school.

HurstLlama said:

@FoxInSox

"... TheGMC is brutal though ..."

Thanks, Doc, lots to think about.

Before I can sleep I need to go and consider my position in the Diplomacy game.

viewcode said:

AnneJGP said:

viewcode said:

FeersumEnjineeya said:

I'm pretty sure that general intelligence tends to correlate with likelihood to commit suicide,

[citation needed]

FeersumEnjineeya said:

...and doctors are obviously intelligent people...

I'm sure they think so, but your average GP does not need intelligence. Most of their cases fall into a small category and the unusual cases get passed on to somebody else

I have always understood that one needs quite a high intelligence merely to get into medical school.

One needs good A levels. There are resits if you fail the first time.

SeanT said:

viewcode said:

SeanT said:

I'm researching suicide for a new thriller

[I have odd circumstances: I have relatives who've attempted and committed suicide and I have relatives who were nurses and bought work gossip home. So I perhaps know more about this than I should]

Helium inhalation. There was a case where two people went wandering inside an inflated helium balloon and just sat down and died painlessly. The feeling of suffocation isn't caused by not enough oxygen being breathed *in*, it's caused by not enough carbon dioxide being breathed *out*. So the trick is to breath normally but in an atmosphere that contains little/no oxygen. Helium is great for this purpose, as it is noncorrosive and painless to breathe and is commercially available without a licence.

Avoid paracetamol overdose. Paracetamol kills you by causing liver failure and the pain from liver failure can be managed. Unfortunately your kidneys will *also* collapse, and the pain from that is more difficult to handle. People who change their mind after excess paracetamol consumption have a limited time (less than 24hrs?) to get the antidote, after which the damage is too far gone and you have less than a week to put your affairs in order

There was a brief fad in the 90's for burning charcoal briquettes indoors in poorly-ventilated rooms: the carbon monoxide build up does the trick. But it's difficult to regulate the amount and you may just pass out in an awkward position, resulting in limb damage due to restricted blood flow. So now you're depressed and an amputee.

You can always hang yourself, but - again - prolonged and painful. You're supposed to break your neck in the fall, but everybody muffs it and you just choke to death.

Slashing your wrists. Difficult and painful.

Jumping in front of a train. Do not do this. The train is immediately taken out of service, the driver is removed pending interview by police, the body is not declared dead until the coroner arrives (which may take some time) even if the person is catastrophically disassembled. Until the body is pronounced, trains will not run.

Shotgun? More people survive than you think: putting it under your chin just blows your face off, and that does not kill you. There have been cases where people pointed a shotgun to their chest, pulled the trigger, survived it, reloaded and shot again. Eurgh.

Oh before I forget: Merry Xmas...

Razors pain you,
Rivers are damp,
Acids stain you,
And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren't lawful,
Nooses give,
Gas smells awful.
You might as well live.


(Dorothy Parker)

surbiton said:

Bromptonaut said:

Theresa May is increasingly isolated and alienating key colleagues, officials tell Bloomberg

https://t.co/zSKSU5qnwI https://t.co/WgjKJbjQQ1

I don't think she will last 2017.

Merry Christmas, all !

Moses_ said:

Just watching on Netflix a series called "Designated Surrvivor

I can highly recommend this as a superb political thriller based around the assassination of the entire US government.

No more spoilers....

viewcode said:

SeanT said:

I'm researching suicide for a new thriller

[I have odd circumstances: I have relatives who've attempted and committed suicide and I have relatives who were nurses and bought work gossip home. So I perhaps know more about this than I should]

Helium inhalation. There was a case where two people went wandering inside an inflated helium balloon and just sat down and died painlessly. The feeling of suffocation isn't caused by not enough oxygen being breathed *in*, it's caused by not enough carbon dioxide being breathed *out*. So the trick is to breath normally but in an atmosphere that contains little/no oxygen. Helium is great for this purpose, as it is noncorrosive and painless to breathe and is commercially available without a licence.

Avoid paracetamol overdose. Paracetamol kills you by causing liver failure and the pain from liver failure can be managed. Unfortunately your kidneys will *also* collapse, and the pain from that is more difficult to handle. People who change their mind after excess paracetamol consumption have a limited time (less than 24hrs?) to get the antidote, after which the damage is too far gone and you have less than a week to put your affairs in order

Oh before I forget: Merry Xmas...

viewcode said:

SeanT said:

I'm researching suicide for a new thriller

[I have odd circumstances: I have relatives who've attempted and committed suicide and I have relatives who were nurses and bought work gossip home. So I perhaps know more about this than I should]

Helium inhalation. There was a case where two people went wandering inside an inflated helium balloon and just sat down and died painlessly. The feeling of suffocation isn't caused by not enough oxygen being breathed *in*, it's caused by not enough carbon dioxide being breathed *out*. So the trick is to breath normally but in an atmosphere that contains little/no oxygen. Helium is great for this purpose, as it is noncorrosive and painless to breathe and is commercially available without a licence.

Avoid paracetamol overdose. Paracetamol kills you by causing liver failure and the pain from liver failure can be managed. Unfortunately your kidneys will *also* collapse, and the pain from that is more difficult to handle. People who change their mind after excess paracetamol consumption have a limited time (less than 24hrs?) to get the antidote, after which the damage is too far gone and you have less than a week to put your affairs in order

There was a brief fad in the 90's for burning charcoal briquettes indoors in poorly-ventilated rooms: the carbon monoxide build up does the trick. But it's difficult to regulate the amount and you may just pass out in an awkward position, resulting in limb damage due to restricted blood flow. So now you're depressed and an amputee.

You can always hang yourself, but - again - prolonged and painful. You're supposed to break your neck in the fall, but everybody muffs it and you just choke to death.

Slashing your wrists. Difficult and painful.

Jumping in front of a train. Do not do this. The train is immediately taken out of service, the driver is removed pending interview by police, the body is not declared dead until the coroner arrives (which may take some time) even if the person is catastrophically disassembled. Until the body is pronounced, trains will not run.

Shotgun? More people survive than you think: putting it under your chin just blows your face off, and that does not kill you. There have been cases where people pointed a shotgun to their chest, pulled the trigger, survived it, reloaded and shot again. Eurgh.

Oh before I forget: Merry Xmas...

Moses_ said:

TCPoliticalBetting said:

Moses_ said:

I used to drink a lot of Bacardi hence stopped because I had bronchitis and hospitalised for a few days. I kept it going when I came out as well as cutting out biscuits my other weakness.

In 5 weeks I had lost a stone and a half or around 10k. I am keeping it going but it's slowed now and having got rid of the topside excess I seem to lose around a 1/2 to 1 kg a week. I guess the rest is going to be a slog and exercise also needed.

I feel better and think I look better weight wise but if I'm honest I could absolutely murder a custard cream and a mojito

Thought I'd mention it for the upcoming New Years resolutions day.

Key is to keep the weight off for 12+ months. In my experience if you can get past the 12 month point then your body and lifestyle will have achieved a permanent change.

Chicken (not fried) and eggs are best for high protein food to fill you up for a reasonable amount of calories.

12 months... A way to go then but Intend to persevere and thanks for the tips.

SeanT said:

foxinsoxuk said:

SeanT said:

foxinsoxuk said:

HurstLlama said:

@MarqueeMark

I have now reached the age when I go to a lot more funerals than weddings or christenings. So many old friends and colleagues seem to be falling off the perch or, worse, sinking into dementia each year. I know what the statistics say but, you know, I don't see much difference in death and dementia rates amongst my family and social circle between those who lived according to the quacks' advice and those who didn't, mind you nearly all of us lived bloody hard and fast when we were younger.

So live the way it suits you to live seems to be the way. The grim reaper is going to claim us all and perhaps what matters is the manner of our life not the time of our death.

Of my dozen mates from school, 3 are now dead (lung cancer, Hepatitis B, and the worst was alcoholism, found in his flat one summer 2 weeks after dying) and one now has gynae cancer. It feels like some cheapo teen horror flick with the grim reaper stalking us. To a large extent they are all lifestyle related. I have cleaned up my act.

How old are you, if I may ask?

52.

5/146 of my year at Medschool are dead too. 1 suicide, 4 from cancer, including one this year. When people our age get cancer it tends to be aggressive forms. Medicine is a tough mistress.

Eeek. I'm 53 - and I'm researching suicide for a new thriller. Turns out doctors (male) are three times more likely to kill themselves than the average man. No one is quite sure why, though various theories are posited (access to lethal drugs etc)

Very curious. I wonder if proximity to death itself makes death seem more "acceptable"?

CarlottaVance said:

david_herdson said:

If you're depressed now, wait until you read my thread for tomorrow.

Even worse than MiseryMeeks ?

Moses_ said:

foxinsoxuk said:

Moses_ said:

TCPoliticalBetting said:

Moses_ said:

I used to drink a lot of Bacardi hence stopped because I had bronchitis and hospitalised for a few days. I kept it going when I came out as well as cutting out biscuits my other weakness.

In 5 weeks I had lost a stone and a half or around 10k. I am keeping it going but it's slowed now and having got rid of the topside excess I seem to lose around a 1/2 to 1 kg a week. I guess the rest is going to be a slog and exercise also needed.

I feel better and think I look better weight wise but if I'm honest I could absolutely murder a custard cream and a mojito

Thought I'd mention it for the upcoming New Years resolutions day.

Key is to keep the weight off for 12+ months. In my experience if you can get past the 12 month point then your body and lifestyle will have achieved a permanent change.

Chicken (not fried) and eggs are best for high protein food to fill you up for a reasonable amount of calories.

12 months... A way to go then but Intend to persevere and thanks for the tips.

Weight loss is easy, it is keeping it off that is hard, but the advice is correct. Once someone has kept weight off as long as that, the body seems to recalibrate to the new weight and set its thermostat accordingly.

Thanks.. I just hope it becomes easier as it goes along. There are some real pangs at the moment ......the sort that make you want to rush to the nearest biscuit barrel.