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politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Reflections – Part One

SystemSystem Posts: 11,002
edited December 2019 in General

imagepoliticalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Reflections – Part One

Sometimes, it’s apparently minor decisions in politics which can annoy the most.  Here is my list.

Read the full story here


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Comments

  • FloaterFloater Posts: 14,195
    1st
  • For any Climate Change deniers who point to the Millennium Bug for support:
    https://theconversation.com/if-you-think-the-millennium-bug-was-a-hoax-here-comes-a-history-lesson-129042
  • Good list Miss Cyclefree and agree with all your points.

    Has the Russia report been published yet?

    One other perhaps positive point is that Johnson has now commissioned the Tory Party anti-Islam inquiry as promised. Better late than never.

    On the subject of peerages, I would hope Ken would be awarded one very soon. It is a terrible omission from this year's list.
  • Richard_TyndallRichard_Tyndall Posts: 30,846
    edited December 2019

    For any Climate Change deniers who point to the Millennium Bug for support:
    https://theconversation.com/if-you-think-the-millennium-bug-was-a-hoax-here-comes-a-history-lesson-129042

    I was offshore on an old drilling rig that night and, in spite of a huge amount of work in advance, all our safety and control systems failed. Knowing the reasons and expecting the failure we were able to rectify it all quickly but the threat was undoubtedly real.

    Edit: though on reflection your straw man linkage to Climate change debate is fatuous and wrong.
  • Controversial... But while i dont support the parents, my sympathies are most certainly not with the school and their agendas.
  • NorthernPowerhouseNorthernPowerhouse Posts: 557
    edited December 2019

    For any Climate Change deniers who point to the Millennium Bug for support:
    https://theconversation.com/if-you-think-the-millennium-bug-was-a-hoax-here-comes-a-history-lesson-129042

    While CC is not a hoax, it is a little fountain of crooked, corrupt, rent seeking duplicitous individuals and organisations.

    If you let climate change stay a canvass for their anti capitalist, anti western social justice agenda you'll never get a broad base of support.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 91,392
    edited December 2019
    The one about the Henriques report is most galling to me. Granted I've not read many such reports, but the widespread the basic misunderstanding of fundamental concepts it revealed was astounding.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 91,392
    edited December 2019

    Controversial... But while i dont support the parents, my sympathies are most certainly not with the school and their agendas.

    I'm unclear as to your meaning. If you dont support the parents what do you find objectionable about the schools actions that mean you do not have sympathy with them?

    The annoying thing about the protests was the pretence it was about one thing when it was clearly about another, as comments from protestors revealed when they slipped.
  • eekeek Posts: 24,797

    Controversial... But while i dont support the parents, my sympathies are most certainly not with the school and their agendas.

    What agenda of the school? The campaign is against the curriculum the school is legally required to provide
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 91,392
    edited December 2019

    For any Climate Change deniers who point to the Millennium Bug for support:
    https://theconversation.com/if-you-think-the-millennium-bug-was-a-hoax-here-comes-a-history-lesson-129042

    While CC is not a hoax, it is a little fountain of crooked, corrupt, rent seeking duplicitous individuals and organisations.

    If you let climate change stay a canvass for their anti capitalist, anti western social justice agenda you'll never get a broad base of support.
    I do sometimes wonder why we cannot be radical and green without also demanding a collapse of our political and economic systems.

    Seems possible to me.
  • For any Climate Change deniers who point to the Millennium Bug for support:
    https://theconversation.com/if-you-think-the-millennium-bug-was-a-hoax-here-comes-a-history-lesson-129042

    While CC is not a hoax, it is a little fountain of crooked, corrupt, rent seeking duplicitous individuals and organisations.

    If you let climate change stay a canvass for their anti capitalist, anti western social justice agenda you'll never get a broad base of support.
    It's up to right wingers to make the capitalist case for tackling Climate Change - that shouldn't be difficult and to be fair Mark Carney and Legal & General amongst many others are doing just that.
    To be blind to the problem because 'the left' has taken it up is just plain stupid.
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,074
    eek said:

    Controversial... But while i dont support the parents, my sympathies are most certainly not with the school and their agendas.

    What agenda of the school? The campaign is against the curriculum the school is legally required to provide
    And not just against the curriculum. But against the law of the land. The protestors essentially wanted to be exempt from the law which applies to all citizens; they wanted the benefit of anti-discrimination laws when it helped them while seeking the right to discriminate against others.
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,074
    kle4 said:

    The one about the Henriques report is most galling to me. Granted I've not read many such reports, but the widespread the basic misunderstanding of fundamental concepts it revealed was astounding.

    Couple that with the incompetence of the CPS and count yourself lucky that you are not caught up in the criminal justice system.

    Until you are - as some innocents have been - and then it is a living nightmare.
  • Not even in the top four like DUP in the next election.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 61,574
    From the CPS news page...
    ...Alison dedicated over 30 years to public service and is noted for her commitment to law and order. She was appointed as DPP in 2013, the first lawyer from within the CPS to hold the position, and led the CPS during one of its most challenging periods. She is to be commended for her work during and after the London Riots and on the retrial and conviction of the killers of Stephen Lawrence, among many other achievements.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 61,574
    Cyclefree said:

    kle4 said:

    The one about the Henriques report is most galling to me. Granted I've not read many such reports, but the widespread the basic misunderstanding of fundamental concepts it revealed was astounding.

    Couple that with the incompetence of the CPS and count yourself lucky that you are not caught up in the criminal justice system.

    Until you are - as some innocents have been - and then it is a living nightmare.
    It still astounds me that those found entirely innocent must still pay their own legal costs, and can only in the most exceptional circumstances get compensation.
  • isamisam Posts: 40,730
    Cyclefree said:

    eek said:

    Controversial... But while i dont support the parents, my sympathies are most certainly not with the school and their agendas.

    What agenda of the school? The campaign is against the curriculum the school is legally required to provide
    And not just against the curriculum. But against the law of the land. The protestors essentially wanted to be exempt from the law which applies to all citizens; they wanted the benefit of anti-discrimination laws when it helped them while seeking the right to discriminate against others.
    What do you make of this, Cyclefree? Is it accurate reporting?

    "The document is the work of Dentons, which says it is the world’s biggest law firm; the Thomson Reuters Foundation, an arm of the old media giant that appears dedicated to identity politics of various sorts; and the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex Youth & Student Organisation (IGLYO). Both Dentons and the Thomson Reuters Foundation note that the document does not necessarily reflect their views.

    The report is called ‘Only adults? Good practices in legal gender recognition for youth’. Its purpose is to help trans groups in several countries bring about changes in the law to allow children to legally change their gender, without adult approval and without needing the approval of any authorities. ‘We hope this report will be a powerful tool for activists and NGOs working to advance the rights of trans youth across Europe and beyond,’ says the foreword.

    As you’d expect of a report co-written by the staff of a major law firm, it’s a comprehensive and solid document, summarising law, policy and ‘advocacy’ across several countries. Based on the contributions of trans groups from around the world (including two in the UK, one of which is not named), it collects and shares ‘best practice’ in ‘lobbying’ to change the law so that parents no longer have a say on their child’s legal gender."

    https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2019/12/the-document-that-reveals-the-remarkable-tactics-of-trans-lobbyists/
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 61,574
    kle4 said:

    For any Climate Change deniers who point to the Millennium Bug for support:
    https://theconversation.com/if-you-think-the-millennium-bug-was-a-hoax-here-comes-a-history-lesson-129042

    While CC is not a hoax, it is a little fountain of crooked, corrupt, rent seeking duplicitous individuals and organisations.

    If you let climate change stay a canvass for their anti capitalist, anti western social justice agenda you'll never get a broad base of support.
    I do sometimes wonder why we cannot be radical and green without also demanding a collapse of our political and economic systems.

    Seems possible to me.
    It’s more than possible - and it is essential if action is ever to be taken on a global scale.
  • Good afternoon, everyone.

    Back to Firefox for the first time in a while.

    On-topic: some good picks, particularly Ken Clarke's absence from the Lords. I think it's less than stellar that Saunders got a gong following the collapse of rape trials for inexcusable reasons (turns out the defendants get to see evidence too. Whhoever would've guessed).

    Speaking of that sort of thing, the Cypus story sounds dubious. A woman withdraws her allegation and says it was made up affter the police spoke to her without a lawyer present... not sure that stands up. Or the other hotel (Spanish?) claiming that the case of the three drowned tourists is now closed.

    Dodginess all round.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 49,958
    Bravo to those MPs who decided not to stand again in the 2019 election, because they refused to be what their voters required them to be.

    Their voters now have someone they can require to follow their instructions.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 58,941

    Good afternoon, everyone.

    Back to Firefox for the first time in a while.

    On-topic: some good picks, particularly Ken Clarke's absence from the Lords. I think it's less than stellar that Saunders got a gong following the collapse of rape trials for inexcusable reasons (turns out the defendants get to see evidence too. Whhoever would've guessed).

    Speaking of that sort of thing, the Cypus story sounds dubious. A woman withdraws her allegation and says it was made up affter the police spoke to her without a lawyer present... not sure that stands up. Or the other hotel (Spanish?) claiming that the case of the three drowned tourists is now closed.

    Dodginess all round.

    As far as I can tell the dissolution honours list hasn't been published yet. There we no peerages awarded in the New Years list.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 23,926
    edited December 2019
    1. Lords and Ladies.

    Never mind whether Ken Clarke deserves it more than Zac Goldsmith and Nicki Morgan. WTF did no-one in Number 10 suggest it rather undermined Boris's whole "people's parliament" schtick if his very first act was to appoint this pair, unelected and in Zac's case actively rejected by the people, to the Cabinet?

    It's almost as if Boris would say anything to get elected.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 23,926
    edited December 2019
    3. Russian enigmas.

    I'm not holding my breath for the report on Russian interference in our politics, especially as (a) Russia probably helped Boris, and (b) both main parties use many of the same techniques.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 19,072
    FPT

    So I’ve had no letters or phone calls from the NHS so hopefully that means my surgery tomorrow isn’t being cancelled or delayed further...

    Fingers crossed for a positive start to 2020!
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,771
    eek said:

    Controversial... But while i dont support the parents, my sympathies are most certainly not with the school and their agendas.

    What agenda of the school? The campaign is against the curriculum the school is legally required to provide
    Exactly! The school is pushing a Tory agenda!
  • 4. Rewards for failures.

    Think how bad the FCA would have been if George Osborne had not changed its letterhead thoroughly reformed it after Gordon Brown smashed up City regulation (according to the CCHQ 2010 version of history).
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 61,574
    isam said:

    Cyclefree said:

    eek said:

    Controversial... But while i dont support the parents, my sympathies are most certainly not with the school and their agendas.

    What agenda of the school? The campaign is against the curriculum the school is legally required to provide
    And not just against the curriculum. But against the law of the land. The protestors essentially wanted to be exempt from the law which applies to all citizens; they wanted the benefit of anti-discrimination laws when it helped them while seeking the right to discriminate against others.
    What do you make of this, Cyclefree? Is it accurate reporting?

    "The document is the work of Dentons, which says it is the world’s biggest law firm; the Thomson Reuters Foundation, an arm of the old media giant that appears dedicated to identity politics of various sorts; and the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex Youth & Student Organisation (IGLYO). Both Dentons and the Thomson Reuters Foundation note that the document does not necessarily reflect their views.

    The report is called ‘Only adults? Good practices in legal gender recognition for youth’. Its purpose is to help trans groups in several countries bring about changes in the law to allow children to legally change their gender, without adult approval and without needing the approval of any authorities. ‘We hope this report will be a powerful tool for activists and NGOs working to advance the rights of trans youth across Europe and beyond,’ says the foreword.

    As you’d expect of a report co-written by the staff of a major law firm, it’s a comprehensive and solid document, summarising law, policy and ‘advocacy’ across several countries. Based on the contributions of trans groups from around the world (including two in the UK, one of which is not named), it collects and shares ‘best practice’ in ‘lobbying’ to change the law so that parents no longer have a say on their child’s legal gender."

    https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2019/12/the-document-that-reveals-the-remarkable-tactics-of-trans-lobbyists/
    No.
    Whatever your opinions on the issue, the selective quotations from the report are very clearly made to support the case of the author, and they omit the parts which don’t.
    Which is mildly ironic, as this is more or less one of the things the reports is accused of.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 49,958
    The might as well now update the Russian report with an investigtion of any inteference in GE 2019.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,771
    kle4 said:

    For any Climate Change deniers who point to the Millennium Bug for support:
    https://theconversation.com/if-you-think-the-millennium-bug-was-a-hoax-here-comes-a-history-lesson-129042

    While CC is not a hoax, it is a little fountain of crooked, corrupt, rent seeking duplicitous individuals and organisations.

    If you let climate change stay a canvass for their anti capitalist, anti western social justice agenda you'll never get a broad base of support.
    I do sometimes wonder why we cannot be radical and green without also demanding a collapse of our political and economic systems.

    Seems possible to me.
    Well, we can of course.

    It's not that complicated to do what we're doing now. To tighten up building standards so that - for example - new construction has better insulation, automatically dimming lights and solar panels integrated from the start.

    Or to put in place ever rising fuel economy standards. Or subsidies for electric vehicles.

    In other words, what we're doing now is using capitalism to iterate, to use fewer resources, year on year, without affecting our standard of living. (That this also lowers our economic reliance on people who want to kill us is an added bonus.)

    But many* Greens aren't really interested in this. They are really anti-progress, anti-science, anti-capitalism. They read The Silent Spring, and instead of correctly regarding it as complete tosh, they believed every word.

    * Not all greens. Perhaps not even most greens. But certainly a great many greens.
  • isamisam Posts: 40,730
    edited December 2019
    Nigelb said:

    isam said:

    Cyclefree said:

    eek said:

    Controversial... But while i dont support the parents, my sympathies are most certainly not with the school and their agendas.

    What agenda of the school? The campaign is against the curriculum the school is legally required to provide
    And not just against the curriculum. But against the law of the land. The protestors essentially wanted to be exempt from the law which applies to all citizens; they wanted the benefit of anti-discrimination laws when it helped them while seeking the right to discriminate against others.
    What do you make of this, Cyclefree? Is it accurate reporting?

    "The document is the work of Dentons, which says it is the world’s biggest law firm; the Thomson Reuters Foundation, an arm of the old media giant that appears dedicated to identity politics of various sorts; and the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex Youth & Student Organisation (IGLYO). Both Dentons and the Thomson Reuters Foundation note that the document does not necessarily reflect their views.

    The report is called ‘Only adults? Good practices in legal gender recognition for youth’. Its purpose is to help trans groups in several countries bring about changes in the law to allow children to legally change their gender, without adult approval and without needing the approval of any authorities. ‘We hope this report will be a powerful tool for activists and NGOs working to advance the rights of trans youth across Europe and beyond,’ says the foreword.

    As you’d expect of a report co-written by the staff of a major law firm, it’s a comprehensive and solid document, summarising law, policy and ‘advocacy’ across several countries. Based on the contributions of trans groups from around the world (including two in the UK, one of which is not named), it collects and shares ‘best practice’ in ‘lobbying’ to change the law so that parents no longer have a say on their child’s legal gender."

    https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2019/12/the-document-that-reveals-the-remarkable-tactics-of-trans-lobbyists/
    No.
    Whatever your opinions on the issue, the selective quotations from the report are very clearly made to support the case of the author, and they omit the parts which don’t.
    Which is mildly ironic, as this is more or less one of the things the reports is accused of.
    Crikey you read that whole report quickly, bravo!
  • squareroot2squareroot2 Posts: 6,287

    The might as well now update the Russian report with an investigtion of any inteference in GE 2019.

    Will there be any report on how many Govts the UK has interfered with?
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 38,851

    Controversial... But while i dont support the parents, my sympathies are most certainly not with the school and their agendas.

    Uncomfortably trapped between 2 phobias?
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 49,958

    Good afternoon, everyone.

    Back to Firefox for the first time in a while.

    On-topic: some good picks, particularly Ken Clarke's absence from the Lords. I think it's less than stellar that Saunders got a gong following the collapse of rape trials for inexcusable reasons (turns out the defendants get to see evidence too. Whhoever would've guessed).

    Speaking of that sort of thing, the Cypus story sounds dubious. A woman withdraws her allegation and says it was made up affter the police spoke to her without a lawyer present... not sure that stands up. Or the other hotel (Spanish?) claiming that the case of the three drowned tourists is now closed.

    Dodginess all round.

    Holiday destinations hate the idea of bad news putting off visitors. They will always try and close it down, by fair means or foul.

    See Stephen Spielberg's documentary of this phenomenon, when a shark attacks the small town of Amity.....
  • Mr. Mark, yeah, that's the implication I've read.

    But it's dumb even from that perspective. Who would be likelier to go to Cyprus based on the story?

    It doesn't necessarily engender confidence in the authorities.
  • FishingFishing Posts: 4,555
    edited December 2019
    I just read Rebecca Long-Bailey's article on what Labour need to do and why she's the right person to do it.

    It starts with a lament for the loss of the coal and oil industries (and is illustrated with a picture of coal miners) and then ends with a call for a Green Industrial Revolution.

    Tory assault on coal industry=a horrifying destruction of working class communities
    Labour assault=guaranteeing the future of the planet.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,771
    isam said:
    My wife is (originally) South African. Her cousin (also South African), and her husband (also South African) emigrated to Australia about twenty years ago.

    It is fair to say that he in particular is a South African man. No gender politics. Strong interest in rugby.

    They had a son. From the age of two or three, their son may have had a penis, but identified in every way as a girl. How he wanted to look. What he wanted to play with. He told his parents - and this is a three year old - that he's a girl. For five years they fought him. They made him dress as a boy.

    I don't want to share too many details, but eventually, they realised it wasn't working. At the age of about nine or ten, the boy started dressing as a girl and taking a female name. And is 100x happier.

    This wasn't the parents pushing some lefty agenda. This was a girl in a boys body. And I would have been sceptical if I hadn't seen it myself.

  • kle4kle4 Posts: 91,392

    FPT

    So I’ve had no letters or phone calls from the NHS so hopefully that means my surgery tomorrow isn’t being cancelled or delayed further...

    Fingers crossed for a positive start to 2020!

    Best wishes!
  • FishingFishing Posts: 4,555
    Reposted FPT:

    Has the Jezziah been on here recently? Or justin124?
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 91,392
    Fishing said:

    Reposted FPT:

    Has the Jezziah been on here recently? Or justin124?

    I think a break is fair enough after this month!
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 61,574
    rcs1000 said:

    isam said:
    My wife is (originally) South African. Her cousin (also South African), and her husband (also South African) emigrated to Australia about twenty years ago.

    It is fair to say that he in particular is a South African man. No gender politics. Strong interest in rugby.

    They had a son. From the age of two or three, their son may have had a penis, but identified in every way as a girl. How he wanted to look. What he wanted to play with. He told his parents - and this is a three year old - that he's a girl. For five years they fought him. They made him dress as a boy.

    I don't want to share too many details, but eventually, they realised it wasn't working. At the age of about nine or ten, the boy started dressing as a girl and taking a female name. And is 100x happier.

    This wasn't the parents pushing some lefty agenda. This was a girl in a boys body. And I would have been sceptical if I hadn't seen it myself.

    The other fairly important part of the report which that article doesn’t quote (curious, as it’s repeated a couple of times):
    States must ensure that the best interests of the child are analysed during legal transition procedures, and that the minor’s view is given proper weight, taking into account their individual maturity and development...
    Which seems a not unreasonable principle to me.
  • isamisam Posts: 40,730
    rcs1000 said:

    isam said:
    My wife is (originally) South African. Her cousin (also South African), and her husband (also South African) emigrated to Australia about twenty years ago.

    It is fair to say that he in particular is a South African man. No gender politics. Strong interest in rugby.

    They had a son. From the age of two or three, their son may have had a penis, but identified in every way as a girl. How he wanted to look. What he wanted to play with. He told his parents - and this is a three year old - that he's a girl. For five years they fought him. They made him dress as a boy.

    I don't want to share too many details, but eventually, they realised it wasn't working. At the age of about nine or ten, the boy started dressing as a girl and taking a female name. And is 100x happier.

    This wasn't the parents pushing some lefty agenda. This was a girl in a boys body. And I would have been sceptical if I hadn't seen it myself.

    Hmm... I haven't seen it myself, so remain sceptical!
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 61,574
    And I would have been sceptical if I hadn't seen it myself.

    I think this is a pretty common reaction in such cases, and often that of the parents.
  • Mr. Gate, best of luck :)
  • FishingFishing Posts: 4,555
    kle4 said:

    Fishing said:

    Reposted FPT:

    Has the Jezziah been on here recently? Or justin124?

    I think a break is fair enough after this month!
    It is good to get some different views. When I just want the Conservative view I go to ConHome. Like it or not, their man and party got a third of the vote in the election just gone. Not to have people advocating that POV means that the site is missing something.

    On the other hand, maybe they just had fun Christmases. I hope that's the reason.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,771
    isam said:

    rcs1000 said:

    isam said:
    My wife is (originally) South African. Her cousin (also South African), and her husband (also South African) emigrated to Australia about twenty years ago.

    It is fair to say that he in particular is a South African man. No gender politics. Strong interest in rugby.

    They had a son. From the age of two or three, their son may have had a penis, but identified in every way as a girl. How he wanted to look. What he wanted to play with. He told his parents - and this is a three year old - that he's a girl. For five years they fought him. They made him dress as a boy.

    I don't want to share too many details, but eventually, they realised it wasn't working. At the age of about nine or ten, the boy started dressing as a girl and taking a female name. And is 100x happier.

    This wasn't the parents pushing some lefty agenda. This was a girl in a boys body. And I would have been sceptical if I hadn't seen it myself.

    Hmm... I haven't seen it myself, so remain sceptical!
    Of course you are.

    Because it's an agenda being pushed by people with whom you disagree on other things. The people who believe in trans rights tend also to be Green, tend also to be pro-EU migration and the like.

    But until you know the hell (and it really is hell) of having a child who is trans, than frankly, you know shit.
  • Mr. 1000, are they going ahead with hormone treatments?

    I'm wary of that, on children, because (I believe) it sterilises them.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,771

    Mr. 1000, are they going ahead with hormone treatments?

    I'm wary of that, on children, because (I believe) it sterilises them.

    They are not. They are hoping that puberty "resets" their children back to their birth sex. But they are going to be led by their child. They've stopped trying to force him/her to be something they're not.
  • glwglw Posts: 9,535
    edited December 2019

    4. Rewards for failures.

    Think how bad the FCA would have been if George Osborne had not changed its letterhead thoroughly reformed it after Gordon Brown smashed up City regulation (according to the CCHQ 2010 version of history).

    What you have written is factually wrong. The FCA did take over some of the responsibilities of the abolished FSA, but the PRA was also established, and overall financial stability responsibility was returned to the BoE.

    So Osborne did a hell of a lot more than merely changing the letterhead.

    Still it doesn't surprise me that over a decade later we still have Labour supporters screeching that "Brown did nothing wrong!" No wonder you are unelectable when up against even a lying buffoon like Boris.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 50,765
    Almost nothing there to disagree with. The Alison Saunders damehood is particularly egregious. Reward for failure.

    Can't help feeling that we will look back at Mark Carney's time as governor as something of a golden age for the Bank. Osborne worked hard to get him. He was right.
  • FishingFishing Posts: 4,555
    rcs1000 said:



    But until you know the hell (and it really is hell) of having a child who is trans, than frankly, you know shit.

    I'm sure it can be if you aren't set up to deal with it or if the country you live in isn't tolerant. Maybe even most parents find it hell.

    But I don't think it always is. Friends of mine have a trans child (the third of three boys) and they seem fine with it and report no significant problems.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 58,941
    She's already backtracking from the claims of millions in her earlier tweet? :)
  • squareroot2squareroot2 Posts: 6,287
    edited December 2019
    She is bonkers. these sort of people are best ignored, they think that the more they shout the more people will listen.
  • FPT

    So I’ve had no letters or phone calls from the NHS so hopefully that means my surgery tomorrow isn’t being cancelled or delayed further...

    Fingers crossed for a positive start to 2020!

    All the very best and a great new 2020
  • Mr. 1000, glad to hear that.

    Those pushing hormone therapy on young children may be creating a new scandal down the line, with thousands being sterilised over time.

    Did a bit on extra genders etc at university. There was a tribe of native Americans that had a third gender: berdache[sp]. Essentially, a chap who plucks his beard out and lives with a married couple as a sort of second wife (including imitating the menstrual cycle by cutting his legs open).

    In the modern world, Iran's a pioneer in transgender surgery.

    Unfortunately this is because being gay has consequences including hanging from a crane, so many gay couples take the decision that one of them will 'become' transgender (which is legal) because it's better for life expectancy.

    A problem is that those at the bonkers end of the spectrum sometimes assert that sex is a construct or a fiction and that differences don't exist or matter, which is fundamentally untrue. It's why transgender people (male to female) in sport is not, generally, right. Male muscle is simply superior to female muscle. Men have more of it, and even if you transition that doesn't alter the structure of your chromosomes. There is, after all, a reason why almost all sports are segregated based on sex.
  • isamisam Posts: 40,730
    edited December 2019
    rcs1000 said:

    isam said:

    rcs1000 said:

    isam said:
    My wife is (originally) South African. Her cousin (also South African), and her husband (also South African) emigrated to Australia about twenty years ago.

    It is fair to say that he in particular is a South African man. No gender politics. Strong interest in rugby.

    They had a son. From the age of two or three, their son may have had a penis, but identified in every way as a girl. How he wanted to look. What he wanted to play with. He told his parents - and this is a three year old - that he's a girl. For five years they fought him. They made him dress as a boy.

    I don't want to share too many details, but eventually, they realised it wasn't working. At the age of about nine or ten, the boy started dressing as a girl and taking a female name. And is 100x happier.

    This wasn't the parents pushing some lefty agenda. This was a girl in a boys body. And I would have been sceptical if I hadn't seen it myself.

    Hmm... I haven't seen it myself, so remain sceptical!
    Of course you are.

    Because it's an agenda being pushed by people with whom you disagree on other things. The people who believe in trans rights tend also to be Green, tend also to be pro-EU migration and the like.

    But until you know the hell (and it really is hell) of having a child who is trans, than frankly, you know shit.
    Actually you are bang wrong, I don’t choose what I believe on the basis of whether I agree with the people who push that agenda on other things at all.

    And seeing as you were sceptical until you saw it yourself, why am I any different now to how you were then?
  • rcs1000 said:

    Mr. 1000, are they going ahead with hormone treatments?

    I'm wary of that, on children, because (I believe) it sterilises them.

    They are not. They are hoping that puberty "resets" their children back to their birth sex. But they are going to be led by their child. They've stopped trying to force him/her to be something they're not.
    Is there any hard science on this? Are there any reasonably-objective testing protocols that can distinguish between the genuinely trans and the merely disturbed?
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 25,046
    edited December 2019
    Is there a reason we should be more convinced about anthropogenic global warming than we were say 10 years ago? I have not been keeping up with the science, so I haven't heard anything new. It appears to me more like the volume (literally in many cases) of the alarmism and condemnation of 'deniers' has been raised and people have got into line accordingly.

    For the the record, I believe in conserving fossil fuels, and in using beneficial forms of renewable energy, and in preserving our beautiful planet for future generations. But I also disapprove of unthinking puritanism and diminishing personal freedom.
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 25,164

    Is there a reason we should be more convinced about anthropogenic global warming than we were say 10 years ago? I have not been keeping up with the science, so I haven't heard anything new. It appears to me more like the volume (literally in many cases) of the alarmism and condemnation of 'deniers' has been raised and people have got into line accordingly.

    For the the record, I believe in conserving fossil fuels, and in using beneficial forms of renewable energy, and in preserving our beautiful planet for future generations. But I also disapprove of unthinking puritanism and diminishing personal freedom.

    When I was at university between 2005-08, we were told then that the point of no return was approaching. So I always smile when I hear similar things being said now.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 91,392

    Is there a reason we should be more convinced about anthropogenic global warming than we were say 10 years ago? I have not been keeping up with the science, so I haven't heard anything new. It appears to me more like the volume (literally in many cases) of the alarmism and condemnation of 'deniers' has been raised and people have got into line accordingly.

    For the the record, I believe in conserving fossil fuels, and in using beneficial forms of renewable energy, and in preserving our beautiful planet for future generations. But I also disapprove of unthinking puritanism and diminishing personal freedom.

    There has definitely been a ramping up in concern and responsive talk by government and organisations in the last year and a bit (action may be another matter, but I'm not qualified to judge). At the start of this year I was at a meeting where someone mentioned Greta Thunberg and I doubt 1 in 10 knew who she was (I not being one of them), but by the end of the year she might as well have been as familiar as a close sibling we've heard about and from her so much. XR and similar have had a very effective campaign in terms of raising awareness and grabbing attention.

    I think they will prove very successful, but not on their own terms - there is pushback and many people don't go along with the most alarmist of claims or seek the overthrow of society, but the desire to attempt to become a lot greener does seem to have turned a corner with many people and organisations, so I think those concerned about puritanism and diminished freedom can rest a bit easier in that the XR and similar success will not as they themselves wish.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,771
    Animal_pb said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Mr. 1000, are they going ahead with hormone treatments?

    I'm wary of that, on children, because (I believe) it sterilises them.

    They are not. They are hoping that puberty "resets" their children back to their birth sex. But they are going to be led by their child. They've stopped trying to force him/her to be something they're not.
    Is there any hard science on this? Are there any reasonably-objective testing protocols that can distinguish between the genuinely trans and the merely disturbed?
    I think the parents are simply following the maxim "first, do no harm".

  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 25,046
    rcs1000 said:

    Mr. 1000, are they going ahead with hormone treatments?

    I'm wary of that, on children, because (I believe) it sterilises them.

    They are not. They are hoping that puberty "resets" their children back to their birth sex. But they are going to be led by their child. They've stopped trying to force him/her to be something they're not.
    Is there not a halfway point of accepting he was a boy who preferred traditionally feminine pastimes? It sounds like both boy and parents had very traditional views on what was appropriate - how else does a 3 year old make a firm decision to be a girl?
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 25,164
    DavidL said:

    Almost nothing there to disagree with. The Alison Saunders damehood is particularly egregious. Reward for failure.

    Can't help feeling that we will look back at Mark Carney's time as governor as something of a golden age for the Bank. Osborne worked hard to get him. He was right.

    BiB - Really? They kept interest rates at below 1% at a time when the economy has been growing. We have no bullets in the chamber for when the next recession hits.
  • On 2019 predictions, I definitely didn't Mussolini's granddaughter deciding that she's a Rangers' supporter coming.

    https://twitter.com/Ale_Mussolini_/status/1211315773786009600?s=20
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,771
    isam said:

    rcs1000 said:

    isam said:

    rcs1000 said:

    isam said:
    My wife is (originally) South African. Her cousin (also South African), and her husband (also South African) emigrated to Australia about twenty years ago.

    It is fair to say that he in particular is a South African man. No gender politics. Strong interest in rugby.

    They had a son. From the age of two or three, their son may have had a penis, but identified in every way as a girl. How he wanted to look. What he wanted to play with. He told his parents - and this is a three year old - that he's a girl. For five years they fought him. They made him dress as a boy.

    I don't want to share too many details, but eventually, they realised it wasn't working. At the age of about nine or ten, the boy started dressing as a girl and taking a female name. And is 100x happier.

    This wasn't the parents pushing some lefty agenda. This was a girl in a boys body. And I would have been sceptical if I hadn't seen it myself.

    Hmm... I haven't seen it myself, so remain sceptical!
    Of course you are.

    Because it's an agenda being pushed by people with whom you disagree on other things. The people who believe in trans rights tend also to be Green, tend also to be pro-EU migration and the like.

    But until you know the hell (and it really is hell) of having a child who is trans, than frankly, you know shit.
    Actually you are bang wrong, I don’t choose what I believe on the basis of whether I agree with the people who push that agenda on other things at all.

    And seeing as you were sceptical until you saw it yourself, why am I any different now to how you were then?
    I apologise for my mis-characterisation.

    The reason for my being wring is that I see, when I look around, remarkable degrees of correlation in belief. In the US, being evangelical correlates very strongly with climate change scepticism. Why?

    In the UK, being very environmentally aware correlates strongly with being anti-capitalist. There are strong degrees of correlation between Euro-scepticism and other things that have nothing to do with Euro-scepticism.

    It's like people, on average, find themselves on a "side" and then have to swallow all that side's views, whether accurate or not. Where's the critical thinking? Can't I be Eurosceptic, but recognise the EU has done some good things? Can't I be sceptical about AGW, but believe that it's in our interests to use fewer natural resources?
  • rcs1000 said:

    Animal_pb said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Mr. 1000, are they going ahead with hormone treatments?

    I'm wary of that, on children, because (I believe) it sterilises them.

    They are not. They are hoping that puberty "resets" their children back to their birth sex. But they are going to be led by their child. They've stopped trying to force him/her to be something they're not.
    Is there any hard science on this? Are there any reasonably-objective testing protocols that can distinguish between the genuinely trans and the merely disturbed?
    I think the parents are simply following the maxim "first, do no harm".

    Not arguing with their approach in the slightest; it must be very difficult for them. There but for the grace of God go all of us with small children.

    I'm just acutely conscious that most of us (certainly me, anyway) come at this from a position of relative ignorance, and I was wondering whether any of the surprisingly-widely learned PB.com readership know of any kind of definitive studies on this area they could point towards.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 18,231

    FPT

    So I’ve had no letters or phone calls from the NHS so hopefully that means my surgery tomorrow isn’t being cancelled or delayed further...

    Fingers crossed for a positive start to 2020!

    Indeed. I put you in the year-end summary as "other", not in the "illnesses/deaths" columns. So don't you dare die before it's published. I will be miffed... :)
  • Mr. 86, it does seem a bit like Zeno's Paradox.

    That pesky tortoise.

    There's actually a massive overlap between stuff we should do if warming enthusiasts are right and stuff we should do if they're wrong.

    Geothermal and solar energy exploitation, energy efficient devices, heat efficient homes and so on.

    The world's always been ending. From Ragnarok to zombies, Chicken Licken's always been scared the sky is falling in.

    I'm unpersuaded. And the main reason is that the climate has always changed and will always change. I've not seen anything that persuades me, and people just saying "The science agrees" when the likes of David Bellamy vanished from screens for refusing to go along with that don't convince me at all.

    The use of 'deniers' is particularly wretched. Disagreement on science is not the moral equivalent of pretending the genocide of six million Jews never happened. [It will be remembered I condemned Osborne for his use of 'deficit deniers' also].

    Edited extra bit: sorry, bit rambly.

    'Warming enthusiasts' indeed. I think that it would be difficult to find one of those.
    As for David Bellamy -
    "In his foreword to the 1989 book The Greenhouse Effect,[25] Bellamy wrote:

    The profligate demands of humankind are causing far reaching changes to the atmosphere of planet Earth, of this there is no doubt. Earth's temperature is showing an upward swing, the so-called greenhouse effect, now a subject of international concern. The greenhouse effect may melt the glaciers and ice caps of the world causing the sea to rise and flood many of our great cities and much of our best farmland.

    Bellamy's later statements on global warming indicate that he subsequently changed his views completely. A letter he published on 16 April 2005 in New Scientist asserted that a large proportion (555 of 625) of the glaciers being observed by the World Glacier Monitoring Service were advancing, not retreating.[26] George Monbiot of The Guardian tracked down Bellamy's original source for this information and found that it was from discredited data originally published by Fred Singer, who claimed to have obtained these figures from a 1989 article in the journal Science: however, Monbiot proved that this article had never existed.[27] Bellamy subsequently accepted that his figures on glaciers were wrong, and announced in a letter to The Sunday Times in 2005 that he had "decided to draw back from the debate on global warming",[28]
  • Not sure if this has been mentioned, but on Bercow, seems (the former) Black Rod is not a fan: https://twitter.com/LBC/status/1211349924819931137
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,771

    Is there a reason we should be more convinced about anthropogenic global warming than we were say 10 years ago? I have not been keeping up with the science, so I haven't heard anything new. It appears to me more like the volume (literally in many cases) of the alarmism and condemnation of 'deniers' has been raised and people have got into line accordingly.

    For the the record, I believe in conserving fossil fuels, and in using beneficial forms of renewable energy, and in preserving our beautiful planet for future generations. But I also disapprove of unthinking puritanism and diminishing personal freedom.

    I find the NOAA data on ocean heat content to be pretty compelling, not least because they have three very different measurement methods (thermal expansion based on measuring sea levels, ships with temperature measuring equipment, IR cameras from space) which all give essentially the same answer. That continues to show the earth warming.

    Also, oceanic heat content is naturally slower moving than some other measures, and therefore you avoid either rapid spikes upward (or downward).

    It's certainly made me more convinced by the GW part of AGW.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,751
    Well, that was better than The Last Jedi. And I think probably better than The Force Awakens.

    But it was no Empire Strikes Back.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 50,765
    Talking of AGW events like this surely have more effect than almost every cow fart in history: https://www.newsweek.com/ohio-gas-well-methane-leak-worst-ever-space-observations-1477992

    There was a similar massive leak in California in 2015. We are testing the coping mechanisms of Gaia to the very limits.
  • rcs1000 said:

    Mr. 1000, are they going ahead with hormone treatments?

    I'm wary of that, on children, because (I believe) it sterilises them.

    They are not. They are hoping that puberty "resets" their children back to their birth sex. But they are going to be led by their child. They've stopped trying to force him/her to be something they're not.
    Is there not a halfway point of accepting he was a boy who preferred traditionally feminine pastimes? It sounds like both boy and parents had very traditional views on what was appropriate - how else does a 3 year old make a firm decision to be a girl?
    If parents have a traditional view of gender behaviour, perhaps a child will take their lead even when deciding their own gender is the opposite of their birth sex?

    'Mum & dad say this is the way girls behave so that's how I'm going to behave, even if they don't like me doing it.'

    No idea if it's the case here but I guess it's a possibility.
  • tlg86 said:

    Is there a reason we should be more convinced about anthropogenic global warming than we were say 10 years ago? I have not been keeping up with the science, so I haven't heard anything new. It appears to me more like the volume (literally in many cases) of the alarmism and condemnation of 'deniers' has been raised and people have got into line accordingly.

    For the the record, I believe in conserving fossil fuels, and in using beneficial forms of renewable energy, and in preserving our beautiful planet for future generations. But I also disapprove of unthinking puritanism and diminishing personal freedom.

    When I was at university between 2005-08, we were told then that the point of no return was approaching. So I always smile when I hear similar things being said now.
    I'm against exaggeration, but it's only 11 years you're smiling about so not long really.
    Nobody knows exactly when a point of no return will be reached, but positive feedback loops do exist and if we get into one that may well wipe the smile off your children or grandchildren's faces.
    In any case offshore wind is cheaper than coal now and gas won't be far behind. Why not make the changes for reasons of clean air if nothing else.
  • isamisam Posts: 40,730
    rcs1000 said:

    isam said:

    rcs1000 said:

    isam said:

    rcs1000 said:

    isam said:
    My wife is (originally) South African. Her cousin (also South African), and her husband (also South African) emigrated to Australia about twenty years ago.

    It is fair to say that he in particular is a South African man. No gender politics. Strong interest in rugby.

    They had a son. From the age of two or three, their son may have had a penis, but identified in every way as a girl. How he wanted to look. What he wanted to play with. He told his parents - and this is a three year old - that he's a girl. For five years they fought him. They made him dress as a boy.

    I don't want to share too many details, but eventually, they realised it wasn't working. At the age of about nine or ten, the boy started dressing as a girl and taking a female name. And is 100x happier.

    This wasn't the parents pushing some lefty agenda. This was a girl in a boys body. And I would have been sceptical if I hadn't seen it myself.

    Hmm... I haven't seen it myself, so remain sceptical!
    Of course you are.

    Because it's an agenda being pushed by people with whom you disagree on other things. The people who believe in trans rights tend also to be Green, tend also to be pro-EU migration and the like.

    But until you know the hell (and it really is hell) of having a child who is trans, than frankly, you know shit.
    Actually you are bang wrong, I don’t choose what I believe on the basis of whether I agree with the people who push that agenda on other things at all.

    And seeing as you were sceptical until you saw it yourself, why am I any different now to how you were then?
    I apologise for my mis-characterisation.

    The reason for my being wring is that I see, when I look around, remarkable degrees of correlation in belief. In the US, being evangelical correlates very strongly with climate change scepticism. Why?

    In the UK, being very environmentally aware correlates strongly with being anti-capitalist. There are strong degrees of correlation between Euro-scepticism and other things that have nothing to do with Euro-scepticism.

    It's like people, on average, find themselves on a "side" and then have to swallow all that side's views, whether accurate or not. Where's the critical thinking? Can't I be Eurosceptic, but recognise the EU has done some good things? Can't I be sceptical about AGW, but believe that it's in our interests to use fewer natural resources?
    Yes, there is a lack of critical thinking, and people often do just take sides and fix their blinkers
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,709
    ydoethur said:

    Well, that was better than The Last Jedi. And I think probably better than The Force Awakens.

    But it was no Empire Strikes Back.

    Well it was the final one so hopefully we can have non Star Wars movies to talk about next Christmas
  • rcs1000 said:

    Is there a reason we should be more convinced about anthropogenic global warming than we were say 10 years ago? I have not been keeping up with the science, so I haven't heard anything new. It appears to me more like the volume (literally in many cases) of the alarmism and condemnation of 'deniers' has been raised and people have got into line accordingly.

    For the the record, I believe in conserving fossil fuels, and in using beneficial forms of renewable energy, and in preserving our beautiful planet for future generations. But I also disapprove of unthinking puritanism and diminishing personal freedom.

    I find the NOAA data on ocean heat content to be pretty compelling, not least because they have three very different measurement methods (thermal expansion based on measuring sea levels, ships with temperature measuring equipment, IR cameras from space) which all give essentially the same answer. That continues to show the earth warming.

    Also, oceanic heat content is naturally slower moving than some other measures, and therefore you avoid either rapid spikes upward (or downward).

    It's certainly made me more convinced by the GW part of AGW.
    I have never had any doubt about the GW part of AGW. The evidence is overwhelming and compelling.

    The 'A' part less so. As long as the data continues to match or fall short of previous natural warmings in its rate and extent (which it undoubtedly does) then all the arguments are unfounded.

    But - and this is where I differ from other sceptics - that doesn't make me opposed to any of the measures we are taking. We may be doing them for ill founded reasons (and I do fear for the reputation of science if that becomes obvious) but reducing or eliminating the use of fossil fuels, reducing energy consumption and moving to a mixed renewables energy economy is entirely sensible and desirable. Hydrocarbons are a finite resource with many very important uses and burning them -whilst it had its part to play in our development as a civilisation - is now a very poor way to waste them.
  • mattmatt Posts: 3,789
    If there’s one thing lawyers are good at, it’s erudite whinging.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 18,231
    edited December 2019
    Animal_pb said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Mr. 1000, are they going ahead with hormone treatments?

    I'm wary of that, on children, because (I believe) it sterilises them.

    They are not. They are hoping that puberty "resets" their children back to their birth sex. But they are going to be led by their child. They've stopped trying to force him/her to be something they're not.
    Is there any hard science on this? Are there any reasonably-objective testing protocols that can distinguish between the genuinely trans and the merely disturbed?
    I normally pride myself on being able to find out anything on anything and summarise it simply for laypeople, but I suspect in this case such research would not reward my time. I fear that it would end with me summarising facts which are not facts derived from unexamined science or - even worse - middle-class-science based on a consensus that isn't a consensus then providing that summary to people who would not believe it regardless of how I phrased it whilst berating me for trying in the first place. Pay me and I'll have a go (seriously: I am cheap!) but otherwise, no. It would be like researching Northern Ireland for the Conservative Party.
  • Mr. Tyndall, there's always been a desire by some to feel guilty, and by some to feel we're the centre of the universe (as expressed literally by some Christians a few centuries ago).
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 91,392
    edited December 2019
    viewcode said:
    I love that kind of thing.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 91,392
    HYUFD said:

    ydoethur said:

    Well, that was better than The Last Jedi. And I think probably better than The Force Awakens.

    But it was no Empire Strikes Back.

    Well it was the final one so hopefully we can have non Star Wars movies to talk about next Christmas
    It's not going to be the last one. Though Solos failure may mean they are more cautious in side stuff
  • DavidL said:

    Talking of AGW events like this surely have more effect than almost every cow fart in history: https://www.newsweek.com/ohio-gas-well-methane-leak-worst-ever-space-observations-1477992

    There was a similar massive leak in California in 2015. We are testing the coping mechanisms of Gaia to the very limits.

    A mild Moscow must be one of the signs of the oncoming apocalypse.

    https://twitter.com/KatyushaBoom/status/1211688935270817792?s=20
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 40,950
    Wouldn't Clarke more likely be enobled as part of the dissolution honours not the new year ones?

    Which of course is at risk because such honours would traditionally include the speaker and hence there may not be one this time which would discriminate against Clarke and others.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,709
    edited December 2019
    kle4 said:

    HYUFD said:

    ydoethur said:

    Well, that was better than The Last Jedi. And I think probably better than The Force Awakens.

    But it was no Empire Strikes Back.

    Well it was the final one so hopefully we can have non Star Wars movies to talk about next Christmas
    It's not going to be the last one. Though Solos failure may mean they are more cautious in side stuff
    This is the last one of the series and having done the main series, the prequels and now the sequels there is little further they can go with it. Star Wars has now ended bar repeats
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 40,950
    Nigelb said:

    From the CPS news page...
    ...Alison dedicated over 30 years to public service and is noted for her commitment to law and order. She was appointed as DPP in 2013, the first lawyer from within the CPS to hold the position, and led the CPS during one of its most challenging periods. She is to be commended for her work during and after the London Riots and on the retrial and conviction of the killers of Stephen Lawrence, among many other achievements.

    Yeah that's another one of the list I take issue with. She was rewarded for years of service. Penalising individual errors might discourage good candidates in future.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 50,765

    DavidL said:

    Talking of AGW events like this surely have more effect than almost every cow fart in history: https://www.newsweek.com/ohio-gas-well-methane-leak-worst-ever-space-observations-1477992

    There was a similar massive leak in California in 2015. We are testing the coping mechanisms of Gaia to the very limits.

    A mild Moscow must be one of the signs of the oncoming apocalypse.

    https://twitter.com/KatyushaBoom/status/1211688935270817792?s=20
    I went on a study tour in the Soviet Union about 1978 at Easter. We went to a Palace with no heating. Inside it was about -20, getting colder as we went further inside. It gave a vivid picture of how cold Moscow was in the winter months. Artificial snow? In Moscow? Blimey. As big a sign as those terrible fires in Australia.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 40,950

    FPT

    So I’ve had no letters or phone calls from the NHS so hopefully that means my surgery tomorrow isn’t being cancelled or delayed further...

    Fingers crossed for a positive start to 2020!

    Missed this good luck not sure what the procedure is but hope it goes well.

    I will be at the NHS on Monday for a different reason. Many moons ago I signed up as a potential bone marrow donor and was called last week to say someone who needs a transplant is a match for me. Which will I hope be a good news story.
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 25,164

    tlg86 said:

    Is there a reason we should be more convinced about anthropogenic global warming than we were say 10 years ago? I have not been keeping up with the science, so I haven't heard anything new. It appears to me more like the volume (literally in many cases) of the alarmism and condemnation of 'deniers' has been raised and people have got into line accordingly.

    For the the record, I believe in conserving fossil fuels, and in using beneficial forms of renewable energy, and in preserving our beautiful planet for future generations. But I also disapprove of unthinking puritanism and diminishing personal freedom.

    When I was at university between 2005-08, we were told then that the point of no return was approaching. So I always smile when I hear similar things being said now.
    I'm against exaggeration, but it's only 11 years you're smiling about so not long really.
    Nobody knows exactly when a point of no return will be reached, but positive feedback loops do exist and if we get into one that may well wipe the smile off your children or grandchildren's faces.
    In any case offshore wind is cheaper than coal now and gas won't be far behind. Why not make the changes for reasons of clean air if nothing else.
    Okay, I'll be more specific. They were thinking that unless there was a major change by 2010-12, we were done for. Obviously the point of no return is not the point at which the apocalypse happens.

    Like others on here I think we should be changing our behaviour anyway. Funnily enough I think we will have a mahoosive global recession, which will help in this regard. Quite how the XR lot will react to that I don't know.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 50,765
    TOPPING said:

    FPT

    So I’ve had no letters or phone calls from the NHS so hopefully that means my surgery tomorrow isn’t being cancelled or delayed further...

    Fingers crossed for a positive start to 2020!

    Missed this good luck not sure what the procedure is but hope it goes well.

    I will be at the NHS on Monday for a different reason. Many moons ago I signed up as a potential bone marrow donor and was called last week to say someone who needs a transplant is a match for me. Which will I hope be a good news story.
    Wow. Respect.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 18,231
    kle4 said:

    viewcode said:
    I love that kind of thing.
    I got the code quiz right at the end, without looking at the comments! And I haven't coded in Javascript since (thinks) 2012 at the latest! Pause. OK, that's not really something to boast about... :)

    I've looked at date formats frequently over the years, particularly for timestamps. You find yourself writing yyyy-mm-dd-hh-mm-ss and then you get tripped up by those which use milliseconds as well.
  • eekeek Posts: 24,797
    HYUFD said:

    kle4 said:

    HYUFD said:

    ydoethur said:

    Well, that was better than The Last Jedi. And I think probably better than The Force Awakens.

    But it was no Empire Strikes Back.

    Well it was the final one so hopefully we can have non Star Wars movies to talk about next Christmas
    It's not going to be the last one. Though Solos failure may mean they are more cautious in side stuff
    This is the last one of the series and having done the main series, the prequels and now the sequels there is little further they can go with it. Star Wars has now ended bar repeats
    As the Mandalorian will show when it eventually arrives there is plenty of stories and enjoyment left in the Star Wars Universe.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,614
    edited December 2019

    DavidL said:

    Talking of AGW events like this surely have more effect than almost every cow fart in history: https://www.newsweek.com/ohio-gas-well-methane-leak-worst-ever-space-observations-1477992

    There was a similar massive leak in California in 2015. We are testing the coping mechanisms of Gaia to the very limits.

    A mild Moscow must be one of the signs of the oncoming apocalypse.

    https://twitter.com/KatyushaBoom/status/1211688935270817792?s=20
    Ukraine stole their snow! Plenty of the white stuff around Kiev at the moment, although there’s the occasional warm day (5° or so).
  • Mr. HYUFD, the best new trilogy idea would be one that featured Grand Admiral Thrawn returning from the Outer Rim with his battered but intact task force, only to find he's got some rebels to crush.

    [This is expanded universe stuff, doesn't feature in the main franchise, although I've not seen the Mandalorian or Rebels, so could be in there].
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 40,950
    DavidL said:

    TOPPING said:

    FPT

    So I’ve had no letters or phone calls from the NHS so hopefully that means my surgery tomorrow isn’t being cancelled or delayed further...

    Fingers crossed for a positive start to 2020!

    Missed this good luck not sure what the procedure is but hope it goes well.

    I will be at the NHS on Monday for a different reason. Many moons ago I signed up as a potential bone marrow donor and was called last week to say someone who needs a transplant is a match for me. Which will I hope be a good news story.
    Wow. Respect.
    Not due to me! Everyone should sign up (dkms.org.uk); it's just a more drawn out version of giving blood.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 18,231
    edited December 2019
    HYUFD said:

    kle4 said:

    HYUFD said:

    ydoethur said:

    Well, that was better than The Last Jedi. And I think probably better than The Force Awakens.

    But it was no Empire Strikes Back.

    Well it was the final one so hopefully we can have non Star Wars movies to talk about next Christmas
    It's not going to be the last one. Though Solos failure may mean they are more cautious in side stuff
    This is the last one of the series and having done the main series, the prequels and now the sequels there is little further they can go with it. Star Wars has now ended bar repeats
    Oh, you sweet, sweet innocent child you. There are three more upcoming main movies with release dates on December 16, 2022, December 20, 2024 and December 18, 2026. There may be three other movies under Rian Johnson (spit). There's the Mandalorian on Disney Plus. There's the upcoming Kenobi TV series, also on Disney Plus. There's Kevin Feige's proposed film(s).

    It's a billion dollar franchise and they've just opened a (bit of a) theme park. They won't let it go until you kill them with a brick.

    https://www.gamesradar.com/uk/upcoming-star-wars-movies/
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