Is Biden going honour his commitment to make Washington DC a state in its own right? – politicalbett
Is Biden going honour his commitment to make Washington DC a state in its own right? – politicalbetting.com
One of the policy commitments that all the Democratic primary challengers were pressed on last year was whether they supported the campaign to make Washington DC a state in its own right. Biden agreed.
Comments
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First.
Up before 5:18 am today.
How can he do this when a theme for many of his activists has been unequal representation between States?
Would eg Puerto Rico (pop 5x) not come first?
Here be dragons?2 -
Uh-oh.
New word report on Radio 5.
"Opportunitism".
It seems to be Adrian Giles' fault.0 -
Great vaccine news, with U.K. now over 10% of population, well ahead of the whole world bar two small and rich countries.
Israel over 40% now, and UAE over 25%, should start to see some useful data on effectiveness in the next few weeks.
2 -
Good morning all.MattW said:Uh-oh.
New word report on Radio 5.
"Opportunitism".
It seems to be Adrian Giles' fault.
I have no problem with coining new words providing they're not execrable. That's a good example of the latter.
I have a number of other pet hates. 'Connectivity' is the kind of geek-speak I loathe and 'optics' is another as in, 'the optics of this don't look good.' Yuck.
Oh and another which really grates is the waffly and self-important phrase, 'That said,' beloved of some thread writers on here.
The art of good prose is not to cause the reader to stop and think about the writer.1 -
Surely, this is the reason we have been looking for to put him in the Wicker Man?MattW said:Uh-oh.
New word report on Radio 5.
"Opportunitism".
It seems to be Adrian Giles' fault.0 -
I have a problem with duplicate words, when they have not bothered to learn the real one.Mysticrose said:
Good morning all.MattW said:Uh-oh.
New word report on Radio 5.
"Opportunitism".
It seems to be Adrian Giles' fault.
I have no problem with coining new words providing they're not execrable. That's a good example of the latter.
I have a number of other pet hates. 'Connectivity' is the kind of geek-speak I loathe and 'optics' is another as in, 'the optics of this don't look good.' Yuck.
Oh and another which really grates is the waffly and self-important phrase, 'That said,' beloved of some thread writers on here.
The art of good prose is not to cause the reader to stop and think about the writer.
This one is a bastardisation of "opportunism".
The last one I recall of that quality was "intereactive website".
Where they take aim at a word, and land somewhere slightly different.2 -
The problem they've had in Israel is that people start to think they're immune and needn't worry about any precautions immediately after they walk out of the first dose.Sandpit said:Great vaccine news, with U.K. now over 10% of population, well ahead of the whole world bar two small and rich countries.
Israel over 40% now, and UAE over 25%, should start to see some useful data on effectiveness in the next few weeks.
Hopefully the UK will get the balance right: restrictions plus vaccinations now, mean greater freedom for everyone in just a month or two.2 -
What a stunning success story by the UK.Sandpit said:Great vaccine news, with U.K. now over 10% of population, well ahead of the whole world bar two small and rich countries.
Israel over 40% now, and UAE over 25%, should start to see some useful data on effectiveness in the next few weeks.
I do wish all my fellow remainers, who are so wont to leap on every little Brexit problem, would have the good grace to acknowledge this. And the massive contrast with the shambles in the EU.5 -
I think we're going to be waiting a bit longer than a month or two. Judging by all the grumbling over schools - which we'd expect to be at the front of the queue to reopen - that's going on at the moment, the Government would appear to be tending towards extreme caution right now.rcs1000 said:
The problem they've had in Israel is that people start to think they're immune and needn't worry about any precautions immediately after they walk out of the first dose.Sandpit said:Great vaccine news, with U.K. now over 10% of population, well ahead of the whole world bar two small and rich countries.
Israel over 40% now, and UAE over 25%, should start to see some useful data on effectiveness in the next few weeks.
Hopefully the UK will get the balance right: restrictions plus vaccinations now, mean greater freedom for everyone in just a month or two.1 -
Mysticrose said:
What a stunning success story by the UK.Sandpit said:Great vaccine news, with U.K. now over 10% of population, well ahead of the whole world bar two small and rich countries.
Israel over 40% now, and UAE over 25%, should start to see some useful data on effectiveness in the next few weeks.
I do wish all my fellow remainers, who are so wont to leap on every little Brexit problem, would have the good grace to acknowledge this. And the massive contrast with the shambles in the EU.
Quite. When your star performer is being left for dust by the US, which has only just got out from under the rule of Trump, you know you're in a spot of bother.Mysticrose said:
What a stunning success story by the UK.Sandpit said:Great vaccine news, with U.K. now over 10% of population, well ahead of the whole world bar two small and rich countries.
Israel over 40% now, and UAE over 25%, should start to see some useful data on effectiveness in the next few weeks.
I do wish all my fellow remainers, who are so wont to leap on every little Brexit problem, would have the good grace to acknowledge this. And the massive contrast with the shambles in the EU.2 -
Good morning, everyone.
'Pre-planning' is intensely irritating. Although not quite as stupidly irksome as 'pre-prepared'.
What other kind of sodding prepared is there? The prefix is already in the damned word!2 -
I'm not taking about "total freedom", I'm talking about that moment when you know that you're on the far side of the hump.Black_Rook said:
I think we're going to be waiting a bit longer than a month or two. Judging by all the grumbling over schools - which we'd expect to be at the front of the queue to reopen - that's going on at the moment, the Government would appear to be tending towards extreme caution right now.rcs1000 said:
The problem they've had in Israel is that people start to think they're immune and needn't worry about any precautions immediately after they walk out of the first dose.Sandpit said:Great vaccine news, with U.K. now over 10% of population, well ahead of the whole world bar two small and rich countries.
Israel over 40% now, and UAE over 25%, should start to see some useful data on effectiveness in the next few weeks.
Hopefully the UK will get the balance right: restrictions plus vaccinations now, mean greater freedom for everyone in just a month or two.
It's like when you're running a half marathon, and pass the 15k mark and realize that - yes you're knackered - but there's only 6k to go. It's that point when you know you're getting through this.
In the case of coronavirus, it's the point where you realise that restrictions are on a downward slope.
It's the light at the end of the tunnel.
And we're not there yet. But we now have hope that we'll see that light in a month or two. Cases are falling. More that a tenth of the population have had at least one dose. We're not there yet. But that moment of relief, while it's not in sight... Well, at least it's conceivable now.4 -
That definitely as to be the the worry in most developed countries, already we see on the front page of the Telegraph this morning a group of Tory MPs ‘urging the PM to have restrictions lifted by Easter’.rcs1000 said:
The problem they've had in Israel is that people start to think they're immune and needn't worry about any precautions immediately after they walk out of the first dose.Sandpit said:Great vaccine news, with U.K. now over 10% of population, well ahead of the whole world bar two small and rich countries.
Israel over 40% now, and UAE over 25%, should start to see some useful data on effectiveness in the next few weeks.
Hopefully the UK will get the balance right: restrictions plus vaccinations now, mean greater freedom for everyone in just a month or two.
As the vaccine rollout progresses, there’s going to be a number of quite sensitive points that will need addressing, for example whether to allow the vaccinated to travel or socialise when half the country is still waiting for their jabs, and many in politics and media are still failing to comprehend that most of the restrictions are going to have to remain in place until well into summer.
Here in UAE, they’ve cancelled all live entertainment and reduced capacity limits in bars, restaurants and gyms just this week, due to a recent spike in cases to a U.K. equivalent of around 20k cases per day. Still what we’d call Tier 1 in the U.K. though, pretty much everything is open except nightclubs and sports crowds.
We have a very unusual demographic here though, skewed very young. The number of deaths is still in single figures per day, even with cases in the thousands.2 -
It is impressive..... lets just hope it works. The science is still not certain that this vaccine programme works.Mysticrose said:
What a stunning success story by the UK.Sandpit said:Great vaccine news, with U.K. now over 10% of population, well ahead of the whole world bar two small and rich countries.
Israel over 40% now, and UAE over 25%, should start to see some useful data on effectiveness in the next few weeks.
I do wish all my fellow remainers, who are so wont to leap on every little Brexit problem, would have the good grace to acknowledge this. And the massive contrast with the shambles in the EU.0 -
Sri Lanka’s batting this morning has been as unconvincing as a Dominic Cummings press statement.
However with a lead of 103 they may already have enough.0 -
Fair play, you’ve been consistent is giving praise where it’s due, and by international standards the U.K. is now doing very well on both vaccines and testing.Mysticrose said:
What a stunning success story by the UK.Sandpit said:Great vaccine news, with U.K. now over 10% of population, well ahead of the whole world bar two small and rich countries.
Israel over 40% now, and UAE over 25%, should start to see some useful data on effectiveness in the next few weeks.
I do wish all my fellow remainers, who are so wont to leap on every little Brexit problem, would have the good grace to acknowledge this. And the massive contrast with the shambles in the EU.
Also to @NickPalmer on the previous thread, for his efforts in persuading the community he serves that viruses and vaccines aren’t political, and that you don’t have to love the current PM to get jabbed!3 -
I've no idea what this sentence means.swing_voter said:
The science is still not certain that this vaccine programme works.Mysticrose said:
What a stunning success story by the UK.Sandpit said:Great vaccine news, with U.K. now over 10% of population, well ahead of the whole world bar two small and rich countries.
Israel over 40% now, and UAE over 25%, should start to see some useful data on effectiveness in the next few weeks.
I do wish all my fellow remainers, who are so wont to leap on every little Brexit problem, would have the good grace to acknowledge this. And the massive contrast with the shambles in the EU.
Do you mean, do vaccines work? Or, does this vaccine work? Or, the 12-week Pfizer interval? Or, if vaccination will stop transmission? Or that mutations might body-swerve the vaccine?
The first two are incontrovertibly answered by data.
The 12-week interval question is interesting. Some really good pieces on the Guardian online today. The balance seems to be swinging towards favourable. The efficacy of the vaccine doesn't appear to drop too steeply in the 12 week interval.
The transmission one seems to me moot. The vaccines prevent you contracting the virus in c. 95% of cases. And even if you do get it, it seems to be a lot less serious.
As for mutations, at the moment latest data appears reasonably encouraging. We may well end up with something like the seasonal flu jab.1 -
More on schools here:
https://www.tes.com/news/school-re-openings-will-not-be-after-half-term
The TES have an insider at the DfE and so far every single one of their reports has been bang on the money.
Although the source’s grammar is not all it might be. Schools *will* be going back after half term - because the alternative is to go back *before* half term. What they mean is, not *immediately* after half term.
Encouraging though that they are at last considering rotas, blended learning and priority groups. What a shame they didn’t consider that in October.1 -
Provided that the wheels aren't blown off by a resistant strain, it will work. And I'm probably the most pessimistic person on this entire site, so it takes something for me to be that confident.swing_voter said:
It is impressive..... lets just hope it works. The science is still not certain that this vaccine programme works.Mysticrose said:
What a stunning success story by the UK.Sandpit said:Great vaccine news, with U.K. now over 10% of population, well ahead of the whole world bar two small and rich countries.
Israel over 40% now, and UAE over 25%, should start to see some useful data on effectiveness in the next few weeks.
I do wish all my fellow remainers, who are so wont to leap on every little Brexit problem, would have the good grace to acknowledge this. And the massive contrast with the shambles in the EU.
The main issues now are defending our progress by minimising importation of the disease; for each of us to try to do our best not to catch the damned thing whilst waiting to be inoculated; and how quickly the program can get around the whole population.
Nonetheless, I think we're going to get there. It'll be a long, depressing slog, especially through the remainder of the cold, wet, dark and miserable Winter. But all the same, we're going to get there.5 -
Something which bothers me about the thinking on teacher vaccination, which is a campaign on which the Daily Mail have jumped, is this.ydoethur said:More on schools here:
https://www.tes.com/news/school-re-openings-will-not-be-after-half-term
The TES have an insider at the DfE and so far every single one of their reports has been bang on the money.
Although the source’s grammar is not all it might be. Schools *will* be going back after half term - because the alternative is to go back *before* half term. What they mean is, not *immediately* after half term.
Encouraging though that they are at last considering rotas, blended learning and priority groups. What a shame they didn’t consider that in October.
If you vaccinate teachers in order to protect them and get children back in school that's good for the teachers. It doesn't stop the children meeting and spreading it back to their homes.2 -
Don’t misunderestimate such neologicalisms.MattW said:
I have a problem with duplicate words, when they have not bothered to learn the real one.Mysticrose said:
Good morning all.MattW said:Uh-oh.
New word report on Radio 5.
"Opportunitism".
It seems to be Adrian Giles' fault.
I have no problem with coining new words providing they're not execrable. That's a good example of the latter.
I have a number of other pet hates. 'Connectivity' is the kind of geek-speak I loathe and 'optics' is another as in, 'the optics of this don't look good.' Yuck.
Oh and another which really grates is the waffly and self-important phrase, 'That said,' beloved of some thread writers on here.
The art of good prose is not to cause the reader to stop and think about the writer.
This one is a bastardisation of "opportunism".
The last one I recall of that quality was "intereactive website".
Where they take aim at a word, and land somewhere slightly different.2 -
That’s not a valid objection. Preantepenultimate contains one more still, for example.Morris_Dancer said:Good morning, everyone.
'Pre-planning' is intensely irritating. Although not quite as stupidly irksome as 'pre-prepared'.
What other kind of sodding prepared is there? The prefix is already in the damned word!
It’s not a term completely without meaning. In cooking there is the preparation you do just before chucking everything in the pan; there is also that which you did a day or more before.
It’s the distinction between preparation work done as part of the activity, and that which is.... pre-prepared.1 -
I agree. Which is why we may not be able to reopen them fully until vulnerable parents have been vaccinated. Personally, I would like to see them offered the same options as teachers.Mysticrose said:
Something which bothers me about the thinking on teacher vaccination, which is a campaign on which the Daily Mail have jumped, is this.ydoethur said:More on schools here:
https://www.tes.com/news/school-re-openings-will-not-be-after-half-term
The TES have an insider at the DfE and so far every single one of their reports has been bang on the money.
Although the source’s grammar is not all it might be. Schools *will* be going back after half term - because the alternative is to go back *before* half term. What they mean is, not *immediately* after half term.
Encouraging though that they are at last considering rotas, blended learning and priority groups. What a shame they didn’t consider that in October.
If you vaccinate teachers in order to protect them and get children back in school that's good for the teachers. It doesn't stop the children meeting and spreading it back to their homes.
That said,* there is a second part to this. If teachers (who have infection rates roughly three times those of the population at large) are vaccinated, that makes reopening on a rota system a great deal easier. One of the things that was bringing us to our knees was the amount of absence through isolation or illness. I was fortunate I only had two days of it - some colleagues were off for a fortnight on three occasions.
That was also buggering school budgets like a reluctant Turkish conscript due to the amount of cover required. Don’t be surprised to see Academy chains going bust in the next twelve months. Again, vaccination would mitigate this.
*I am naughty, but hopefully not waffly.2 -
R4 Green Party Dutch MEP companies are to blame for slow vaccine roll out but definitely not the EU, the Commission or the EMA. And there’s the problem. In the U.K. “blame Boris!”, in the EU “not us gov!”2
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On topic:
If it’s necessary to exclude the Capitol to keep the move constitutional, couldn’t they just restrict the District of Columbia to the Capitol and hand the rest back to Maryland?
That would solve all the problems at a stroke.
Admittedly it wouldn’t give the Dems two more senators, but they can then concentrate on statehood for Puerto Rico, which probably would.0 -
From a purely selfish point of view - if wanting to put the lives of older and vulnerable family ahead of other peoples' kids getting back in the classroom can really be considered that selfish - I'd rather that the schools were kept shut for as long as possible. Or, at any rate, that they made sensible plans to reopen the primaries after Easter, but left the more dangerous secondaries a lot longer (and, if they want to reassure the teachers and the unions by promoting them up the vaccine priority list, perhaps into the fifth cohort with the recently retired, then only having to do that for the primary teachers would make that less of a stretch too.) Presumably easier to implement than complicated hokey-cokey schedules for all pupils as well?ydoethur said:More on schools here:
https://www.tes.com/news/school-re-openings-will-not-be-after-half-term
The TES have an insider at the DfE and so far every single one of their reports has been bang on the money.
Although the source’s grammar is not all it might be. Schools *will* be going back after half term - because the alternative is to go back *before* half term. What they mean is, not *immediately* after half term.
Encouraging though that they are at last considering rotas, blended learning and priority groups. What a shame they didn’t consider that in October.1 -
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It’s evident that the Guernsey outbreak has been spread by hospitality and education - 7 schools are involved, all education now shut for 2 days while they test & trace.Mysticrose said:
Something which bothers me about the thinking on teacher vaccination, which is a campaign on which the Daily Mail have jumped, is this.ydoethur said:More on schools here:
https://www.tes.com/news/school-re-openings-will-not-be-after-half-term
The TES have an insider at the DfE and so far every single one of their reports has been bang on the money.
Although the source’s grammar is not all it might be. Schools *will* be going back after half term - because the alternative is to go back *before* half term. What they mean is, not *immediately* after half term.
Encouraging though that they are at last considering rotas, blended learning and priority groups. What a shame they didn’t consider that in October.
If you vaccinate teachers in order to protect them and get children back in school that's good for the teachers. It doesn't stop the children meeting and spreading it back to their homes.
1 -
Mr. B, I must disagree.
Penultimate, antepenultimate, and preantepenultimate days are different days. Preparations are all things you do beforehand.0 -
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Well, in the short term it might be. That said, if you can actually plan such things they become easier. The issue before Christmas was we weren’t able to plan, and every time we did the DfE went apeshit.Black_Rook said:
From a purely selfish point of view - if wanting to put the lives of older and vulnerable family ahead of other peoples' kids getting back in the classroom can really be considered that selfish - I'd rather that the schools were kept shut for as long as possible. Or, at any rate, that they made sensible plans to reopen the primaries after Easter, but left the more dangerous secondaries a lot longer (and, if they want to reassure the teachers and the unions by promoting them up the vaccine priority list, perhaps into the fifth cohort with the recently retired, then only having to do that for the primary teachers would make that less of a stretch too.) Presumably easier to implement than complicated hokey-cokey schedules for all pupils as well?ydoethur said:More on schools here:
https://www.tes.com/news/school-re-openings-will-not-be-after-half-term
The TES have an insider at the DfE and so far every single one of their reports has been bang on the money.
Although the source’s grammar is not all it might be. Schools *will* be going back after half term - because the alternative is to go back *before* half term. What they mean is, not *immediately* after half term.
Encouraging though that they are at last considering rotas, blended learning and priority groups. What a shame they didn’t consider that in October.
I do worry somewhat about the long term effects in other ways. For example, if we keep schools shut until May, we’ll probably have to cancel next year’s exams as well. This might, in the longer term, see us get rid of the current Cummings inspired mess and get proper, fair and rigorous assessment systems in place that don’t just rely on an exam set to criteria decided by a civil servant who appears (judging by their written work) to have a drinking problem.
But it would completely bugger current Year 10 and Year 12, as we will simply not have enough data on them to make a sensible judgement about their abilities. We might as well give everyone 9 and A* and be done with it.
Expect to see universities setting and using their own entrance exams a lot in the next 18 months, and to base them on cognitive levels rather than knowledge.0 -
Friends in the U.K. who have had the jab say the nurse explains how immunity builds gradually and to continue being very careful. What’s not helpful is RyanAir O’Leary blethering about “jab & go”.rcs1000 said:
The problem they've had in Israel is that people start to think they're immune and needn't worry about any precautions immediately after they walk out of the first dose.Sandpit said:Great vaccine news, with U.K. now over 10% of population, well ahead of the whole world bar two small and rich countries.
Israel over 40% now, and UAE over 25%, should start to see some useful data on effectiveness in the next few weeks.
Hopefully the UK will get the balance right: restrictions plus vaccinations now, mean greater freedom for everyone in just a month or two.2 -
Mr. B, glad to see Biden reacting that way to Chinese actions.0
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But you objected on two grounds, the first of which you now acknowledge was invalid.Morris_Dancer said:Mr. B, I must disagree.
Penultimate, antepenultimate, and preantepenultimate days are different days. Preparations are all things you do beforehand.
You haven’t really addressed my second point, which is that there’s a genuine difference in meaning between prepared, and pre-prepared.0 -
Vaccine politics is about to become a very real issue in a number of countries, as the new variants lead towards a return to last spring’s level of restrictions.CarlottaVance said:R4 Green Party Dutch MEP companies are to blame for slow vaccine roll out but definitely not the EU, the Commission or the EMA. And there’s the problem. In the U.K. “blame Boris!”, in the EU “not us gov!”
Israel looks like they’ll be done by about March, UAE by June and U.K. by September, while much of Europe looks like they’ll be severely restricted for most of the year, with the tourist areas unlikely to be open in the summer as they were last year.
I imagine that in Southern Europe especially, there’s going to be widespread anger at the speed of the rollout. Doubly so if a vaccinated UK closes its border with France, as France did to UK a only a few weeks ago!0 -
Simon Heffer is not a fan of a new book -- see the URL -- though he does concede:
Much of what he says about British underperformance since 1945 is true: the loss of empire; the Suez debacle; the economic quagmire of the 1970s; the humiliation of the Exchange Rate Mechanism; the long civil war over Europe in the Conservative Party; the Iraq war; David Cameron’s casual approach to profoundly important matters of statesmanship; Theresa May’s inability to make a decision; and Boris Johnson’s struggle to tell the truth.
But alas:
However, this book, not for want of length, is almost devoid of insight, originality or acuity. It has all been said before, and said better, and much of it was no more true or interesting when said the first time. The claim on the book’s dust wrapper that it is “magisterial and profoundly perceptive” invites scrutiny under the Trade Descriptions Act: it is a chronic whinge and a book such as one gives for Christmas to someone one deeply dislikes.
No honour amongst journalists:
many of Stephens’s attitudes are second-hand –- milked from the writings of the conceited and overrated Hugo Young
And since this thread is about new, exotic words, here is an old, foreign-sounding one:
Enoch Powell, as the godfather of British souverainisme (to use a word for which Stephens looks, but cannot find)
More at the Telegraph:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/book-should-remoans-final-whimper-good-riddance1/0 -
Advertising Standards and aviation authorities need to jump hard on idiots like O’Leary.CarlottaVance said:
Friends in the U.K. who have had the jab say the nurse explains how immunity builds gradually and to continue being very careful. What’s not helpful is RyanAir O’Leary blethering about “jab & go”.rcs1000 said:
The problem they've had in Israel is that people start to think they're immune and needn't worry about any precautions immediately after they walk out of the first dose.Sandpit said:Great vaccine news, with U.K. now over 10% of population, well ahead of the whole world bar two small and rich countries.
Israel over 40% now, and UAE over 25%, should start to see some useful data on effectiveness in the next few weeks.
Hopefully the UK will get the balance right: restrictions plus vaccinations now, mean greater freedom for everyone in just a month or two.
I know he’s built a reputation on only ever opening his mouth to insert his foot, and profiting from the publicity - but now isn’t the time.0 -
When has he ever been a fan of anything?DecrepiterJohnL said:Simon Heffer is not a fan of a new book/
0 -
Israel is extending its vaccination programme to older teenagers but schools are currently closed.ydoethur said:More on schools here:
https://www.tes.com/news/school-re-openings-will-not-be-after-half-term
The TES have an insider at the DfE and so far every single one of their reports has been bang on the money.
Although the source’s grammar is not all it might be. Schools *will* be going back after half term - because the alternative is to go back *before* half term. What they mean is, not *immediately* after half term.
Encouraging though that they are at last considering rotas, blended learning and priority groups. What a shame they didn’t consider that in October.
The government had intended to lift the lockdown at the end of January but Education Minister Yoav Galant, speaking on Ynet TV, said it was too early to know if schools would reopen next month.
Israel expanded its rapid vaccination drive on Sunday to include late teens in what the government described as an effort to enable their attendance at school exams.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-israel-teens-idUSKBN29T0A40 -
Mr. B, no. The examples you raised all mean specifically different times. By your rational, the word pre-pre-prepared would be acceptable. And so would pre-pre-pre-prepared.
There's no difference between prepared and pre-prepared just because one is earlier. The past is one general thing, and prepared is also a general term. There's no pre-past, or pre-pre-past (and the term prehistoric is substantially different because it refers specifically to stuff before history started being recorded/known about through human artefacts and writing).0 -
Seems to be a bit of a chronic whinge from Heffers himself, if use of the word remoan wasn't already a guarantee of that. CBWS (chronic bad winners syndrome) seems to be on the increase, especially at the Tele.DecrepiterJohnL said:Simon Heffer is not a fan of a new book -- see the URL -- though he does concede:
Much of what he says about British underperformance since 1945 is true: the loss of empire; the Suez debacle; the economic quagmire of the 1970s; the humiliation of the Exchange Rate Mechanism; the long civil war over Europe in the Conservative Party; the Iraq war; David Cameron’s casual approach to profoundly important matters of statesmanship; Theresa May’s inability to make a decision; and Boris Johnson’s struggle to tell the truth.
But alas:
However, this book, not for want of length, is almost devoid of insight, originality or acuity. It has all been said before, and said better, and much of it was no more true or interesting when said the first time. The claim on the book’s dust wrapper that it is “magisterial and profoundly perceptive” invites scrutiny under the Trade Descriptions Act: it is a chronic whinge and a book such as one gives for Christmas to someone one deeply dislikes.
No honour amongst journalists:
many of Stephens’s attitudes are second-hand –- milked from the writings of the conceited and overrated Hugo Young
And since this thread is about new, exotic words, here is an old, foreign-sounding one:
Enoch Powell, as the godfather of British souverainisme (to use a word for which Stephens looks, but cannot find)
More at the Telegraph:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/book-should-remoans-final-whimper-good-riddance1/0 -
Guernsey CMO recommendation on face coverings for children/young people - secondary (11+) strongly recommended, primary - if they will tolerate it, under primary - don’t bother.0
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Thank you, I hadn’t heard that. That does possibly open up another route for vaccination, but late teens are not the only ones in school of course. If it’s possible to use it on children over the age of nine, that really would be a game changer in terms of protecting vulnerable parents and grandparents.DecrepiterJohnL said:
Israel is extending its vaccination programme to older teenagers but schools are currently closed.ydoethur said:More on schools here:
https://www.tes.com/news/school-re-openings-will-not-be-after-half-term
The TES have an insider at the DfE and so far every single one of their reports has been bang on the money.
Although the source’s grammar is not all it might be. Schools *will* be going back after half term - because the alternative is to go back *before* half term. What they mean is, not *immediately* after half term.
Encouraging though that they are at last considering rotas, blended learning and priority groups. What a shame they didn’t consider that in October.
The government had intended to lift the lockdown at the end of January but Education Minister Yoav Galant, speaking on Ynet TV, said it was too early to know if schools would reopen next month.
Israel expanded its rapid vaccination drive on Sunday to include late teens in what the government described as an effort to enable their attendance at school exams.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-israel-teens-idUSKBN29T0A40 -
I'm hearing some anecdotal reports of very peculiar Key Worker classifications.
Suspect in my lockdown I am far behind on hearing about such.
0 -
Bright cold morning today here. And no snow.
I looked through the comments above and one phrase leapt out me, Mr DL's remarks about Simo Heffers book:
"Boris Johnson’s struggle to tell the truth."
Our PM doesn't struggle to tell the truth; he ignores the truth and says whatever people want to hear. There's no question of struggle; that would imply he had any conception of truth in the first place.1 -
Nothing bugs me more than this, and I know Scotland has it but it’s a stupid idea.CarlottaVance said:Guernsey CMO recommendation on face coverings for children/young people - secondary (11+) strongly recommended, primary - if they will tolerate it, under primary - don’t bother.
Face masks according to all the evidence various posters have provided, do cut transmission. But they seem to cut transmission in the event of fleeting contacts in public spaces. Not if you’re sat in the same unventilated room for literally hours at a time. For that, you would need a mask from a hazmat suit.
At the same time, they make teaching utterly fucking impossible. For a start, it becomes a nightmare, particularly if you’re deaf, to hear what they’re saying. But it also makes it impossible to hear or see who’s talking and disrupting the lesson, or in one particularly nasty case, who was racially abusing another student.
Anyone who thinks they are a good idea in schools is an idiot who has never taught in one. So the entire DfE will probably be fully behind them.0 -
Your boy* took a damn good catch this morning. He’s done alright in his career so far, hasn’t he?OldKingCole said:Bright cold morning today here. And no snow.
I looked through the comments above and one phrase leapt out me, Mr DL's remarks about Simo Heffers book:
"Boris Johnson’s struggle to tell the truth."
Our PM doesn't struggle to tell the truth; he ignores the truth and says whatever people want to hear. There's no question of struggle; that would imply he had any conception of truth in the first place.
*in the sense of, an Essex player.0 -
Not quite F1: Button's both owning a team and driving in Extreme E:
https://twitter.com/adamcooperF1/status/1353600708214452225
I've heard of player managers in football, not sure I've heard of owner-drivers in motorsport. But then, I only really follow F1 so it might happen in other categories all the time.0 -
Yep but that is 1 step further along the thought process than your average Daily Mail will think.Mysticrose said:
Something which bothers me about the thinking on teacher vaccination, which is a campaign on which the Daily Mail have jumped, is this.ydoethur said:More on schools here:
https://www.tes.com/news/school-re-openings-will-not-be-after-half-term
The TES have an insider at the DfE and so far every single one of their reports has been bang on the money.
Although the source’s grammar is not all it might be. Schools *will* be going back after half term - because the alternative is to go back *before* half term. What they mean is, not *immediately* after half term.
Encouraging though that they are at last considering rotas, blended learning and priority groups. What a shame they didn’t consider that in October.
If you vaccinate teachers in order to protect them and get children back in school that's good for the teachers. It doesn't stop the children meeting and spreading it back to their homes.
And Papers have to make up and suggest things like this as the Government isn't doing stuff and the papers have space to fill and need stories to see papers at all.4 -
Jack Brabham, who back in 1966 became the only F1 driver to win the world title in a car bearing his own name.Morris_Dancer said:Not quite F1: Button's both owning a team and driving in Extreme E:
https://twitter.com/adamcooperF1/status/1353600708214452225
I've heard of player managers in football, not sure I've heard of owner-drivers in motorsport. But then, I only really follow F1 so it might happen in other categories all the time.1 -
Thanks; only just logged on; had our Burns Night last night so slept longer than usual this morning.ydoethur said:
Your boy* took a damn good catch this morning. He’s done alright in his career so far, hasn’t he?OldKingCole said:Bright cold morning today here. And no snow.
I looked through the comments above and one phrase leapt out me, Mr DL's remarks about Simo Heffers book:
"Boris Johnson’s struggle to tell the truth."
Our PM doesn't struggle to tell the truth; he ignores the truth and says whatever people want to hear. There's no question of struggle; that would imply he had any conception of truth in the first place.
*in the sense of, an Essex player.
Then I had a look at the cricket, and does look good.
In Essex we've always expected Lawrence to play for England; the problem is that in England we've a number of good No 4 & 5's. Would you drop Lawrence for Stokes..... of course. But you want Lawrence in the side....... so who do you remove?0 -
Though the EU is not to blame for why the Dutch roll-out is so much slower than the Italian or Maltese. The Dutch have a fairly well run centralised NHS type system, while in Italy it is a chaotic system of private medicine and independent public hospitals. While supplies are limited, it is national governments that are responsible for implementation.CarlottaVance said:R4 Green Party Dutch MEP companies are to blame for slow vaccine roll out but definitely not the EU, the Commission or the EMA. And there’s the problem. In the U.K. “blame Boris!”, in the EU “not us gov!”
The Israeli figure of 60% protection for single vaccine in the over 60's is hopeful, but based on very few cases, so must have wide Confidence Intervals.
https://twitter.com/foxinsoxuk/status/1353454495527788548?s=09
0 -
Pre-WWII is wasn't;'t unusual, I seem to recall. A wealthy young man could compete.Morris_Dancer said:Not quite F1: Button's both owning a team and driving in Extreme E:
https://twitter.com/adamcooperF1/status/1353600708214452225
I've heard of player managers in football, not sure I've heard of owner-drivers in motorsport. But then, I only really follow F1 so it might happen in other categories all the time.1 -
Stokes for Curran, with Buttler at 7.OldKingCole said:
Thanks; only just logged on; had our Burns Night last night so slept longer than usual this morning.ydoethur said:
Your boy* took a damn good catch this morning. He’s done alright in his career so far, hasn’t he?OldKingCole said:Bright cold morning today here. And no snow.
I looked through the comments above and one phrase leapt out me, Mr DL's remarks about Simo Heffers book:
"Boris Johnson’s struggle to tell the truth."
Our PM doesn't struggle to tell the truth; he ignores the truth and says whatever people want to hear. There's no question of struggle; that would imply he had any conception of truth in the first place.
*in the sense of, an Essex player.
Then I had a look at the cricket, and does look good.
In Essex we've always expected Lawrence to play for England; the problem is that in England we've a number of good No 4 & 5's. Would you drop Lawrence for Stokes..... of course. But you want Lawrence in the side....... so who do you remove?
And Pope in at 3 for Bairstow if he’s recovered from that shoulder problem.
If not, give Stokes another try at 3. He’s averaging 50-odd over the last two years, after all.0 -
King Cole, come to think of it Stroll could've been competing in a car bearing his name, if his dad had wanted that.1
-
Bizarre - thety still have not authorised AZN - whose fault is that?CarlottaVance said:R4 Green Party Dutch MEP companies are to blame for slow vaccine roll out but definitely not the EU, the Commission or the EMA. And there’s the problem. In the U.K. “blame Boris!”, in the EU “not us gov!”
0 -
Gordo Brown on R4 saying the UK will endure if the argument in defence of it is made properly followed by ‘we need a constitutional commission’ & some Orwellian ‘I’m a patriot not a nationalist’ guff. This fresh, new thinking is bound to do the trick.0
-
Quite; the middle order is fine. Spoiled for choice. Now about No's 1 and 2 ..........ydoethur said:
Stokes for Curran, with Buttler at 7.OldKingCole said:
Thanks; only just logged on; had our Burns Night last night so slept longer than usual this morning.ydoethur said:
Your boy* took a damn good catch this morning. He’s done alright in his career so far, hasn’t he?OldKingCole said:Bright cold morning today here. And no snow.
I looked through the comments above and one phrase leapt out me, Mr DL's remarks about Simo Heffers book:
"Boris Johnson’s struggle to tell the truth."
Our PM doesn't struggle to tell the truth; he ignores the truth and says whatever people want to hear. There's no question of struggle; that would imply he had any conception of truth in the first place.
*in the sense of, an Essex player.
Then I had a look at the cricket, and does look good.
In Essex we've always expected Lawrence to play for England; the problem is that in England we've a number of good No 4 & 5's. Would you drop Lawrence for Stokes..... of course. But you want Lawrence in the side....... so who do you remove?
And Pope in at 3 for Bairstow if he’s recovered from that shoulder problem.
If not, give Stokes another try at 3. He’s averaging 50-odd over the last two years, after all.0 -
Wouldn’t you expect more than 60%?Foxy said:
Though the EU is not to blame for why the Dutch roll-out is so much slower than the Italian or Maltese. The Dutch have a fairly well run centralised NHS type system, while in Italy it is a chaotic system of private medicine and independent public hospitals. While supplies are limited, it is national governments that are responsible for implementation.CarlottaVance said:R4 Green Party Dutch MEP companies are to blame for slow vaccine roll out but definitely not the EU, the Commission or the EMA. And there’s the problem. In the U.K. “blame Boris!”, in the EU “not us gov!”
The Israeli figure of 60% protection for single vaccine in the over 60's is hopeful, but based on very few cases, so must have wide Confidence Intervals.
https://twitter.com/foxinsoxuk/status/1353454495527788548?s=090 -
Pfizer is currently doing a phase 3 trial on secondary school age children.ydoethur said:
Thank you, I hadn’t heard that. That does possibly open up another route for vaccination, but late teens are not the only ones in school of course. If it’s possible to use it on children over the age of nine, that really would be a game changer in terms of protecting vulnerable parents and grandparents.DecrepiterJohnL said:
Israel is extending its vaccination programme to older teenagers but schools are currently closed.ydoethur said:More on schools here:
https://www.tes.com/news/school-re-openings-will-not-be-after-half-term
The TES have an insider at the DfE and so far every single one of their reports has been bang on the money.
Although the source’s grammar is not all it might be. Schools *will* be going back after half term - because the alternative is to go back *before* half term. What they mean is, not *immediately* after half term.
Encouraging though that they are at last considering rotas, blended learning and priority groups. What a shame they didn’t consider that in October.
The government had intended to lift the lockdown at the end of January but Education Minister Yoav Galant, speaking on Ynet TV, said it was too early to know if schools would reopen next month.
Israel expanded its rapid vaccination drive on Sunday to include late teens in what the government described as an effort to enable their attendance at school exams.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-israel-teens-idUSKBN29T0A42 -
Mr. Divvie, it is ironic to hear Brown come out with that, given the divisions have been increased (cemented?) by the devolution Labour thought would give them a fiefdom forever, and the system they contrived is now making it easier for the SNP to retain their dominance of Holyrood.1
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I know you don’t watch much television, but you’re surely aware of the time honoured phrase, “here’s one I prepared earlier ?Morris_Dancer said:Mr. B, no. The examples you raised all mean specifically different times. By your rational, the word pre-pre-prepared would be acceptable. And so would pre-pre-pre-prepared.
There's no difference between prepared and pre-prepared just because one is earlier. The past is one general thing, and prepared is also a general term. There's no pre-past, or pre-pre-past (and the term prehistoric is substantially different because it refers specifically to stuff before history started being recorded/known about through human artefacts and writing).
But we are agreed on the Biden administration’s prompt response on Taiwan. It would have far less effect had it been much delayed.0 -
That sort of ballpark figure, though probably better with a single jab in a younger age group. Indeed that is what the Israelis have found.IanB2 said:
Wouldn’t you expect more than 60%?Foxy said:
Though the EU is not to blame for why the Dutch roll-out is so much slower than the Italian or Maltese. The Dutch have a fairly well run centralised NHS type system, while in Italy it is a chaotic system of private medicine and independent public hospitals. While supplies are limited, it is national governments that are responsible for implementation.CarlottaVance said:R4 Green Party Dutch MEP companies are to blame for slow vaccine roll out but definitely not the EU, the Commission or the EMA. And there’s the problem. In the U.K. “blame Boris!”, in the EU “not us gov!”
The Israeli figure of 60% protection for single vaccine in the over 60's is hopeful, but based on very few cases, so must have wide Confidence Intervals.
https://twitter.com/foxinsoxuk/status/1353454495527788548?s=090 -
If the Sunday Times is right from Yesterday - the pro independence parties are going to have 2/3 of the seats come May. In the same way that HYUFD states that the Tories 80 seat majority is enough to stop a referendum, the 40 seat majority independence will have (216 if you expended to to Parliament's 650 seats) is enough to say that Scotland wants one.Morris_Dancer said:Mr. Divvie, it is ironic to hear Brown come out with that, given the divisions have been increased (cemented?) by the devolution Labour thought would give them a fiefdom forever, and the system they contrived is now making it easier for the SNP to retain their dominance of Holyrood.
0 -
Postwar, Bruce McLaren is the prime example.OldKingCole said:
Pre-WWII is wasn't;'t unusual, I seem to recall. A wealthy young man could compete.Morris_Dancer said:Not quite F1: Button's both owning a team and driving in Extreme E:
https://twitter.com/adamcooperF1/status/1353600708214452225
I've heard of player managers in football, not sure I've heard of owner-drivers in motorsport. But then, I only really follow F1 so it might happen in other categories all the time.
Though that was business acumen rather than wealth.0 -
A beautiful if very cold morning. Nice to see the sun up already; fifteen minutes earlier than in December which, added to the forty five minutes in the evening, means already an hour’s extra daylight. Spring is coming!4
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Drat! Damn you, Mr Palmer, foiling our plans to only vaccinate Boris-loving Tories up and down the land..... Next you'll be saying we should be magnanimous in jabbing the Scots too.Sandpit said:
Fair play, you’ve been consistent is giving praise where it’s due, and by international standards the U.K. is now doing very well on both vaccines and testing.Mysticrose said:
What a stunning success story by the UK.Sandpit said:Great vaccine news, with U.K. now over 10% of population, well ahead of the whole world bar two small and rich countries.
Israel over 40% now, and UAE over 25%, should start to see some useful data on effectiveness in the next few weeks.
I do wish all my fellow remainers, who are so wont to leap on every little Brexit problem, would have the good grace to acknowledge this. And the massive contrast with the shambles in the EU.
Also to @NickPalmer on the previous thread, for his efforts in persuading the community he serves that viruses and vaccines aren’t political, and that you don’t have to love the current PM to get jabbed!
Bloody do-gooders.2 -
Sri Lanka’s lead is approaching defensibility.0
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Mr. B, 'prepared earlier', is fine. 'Pre-prepared' is an ugly and horrendous term.
Mr. eek, aye. There does have to be some sort of limit, though. It'd be ridiculous having perpetual plebiscites with the result never counting if it's No and irrevocably enforced if it's Yes.
And the Conservatives should throw out the imbecile in Number Ten.1 -
The problem with the Union is that there is an ever decreasing sentiment for it, even if there is an economic case.Theuniondivvie said:Gordo Brown on R4 saying the UK will endure if the argument in defence of it is made properly followed by ‘we need a constitutional commission’ & some Orwellian ‘I’m a patriot not a nationalist’ guff. This fresh, new thinking is bound to do the trick.
Union was largely driven by external threat, either because England felt threatened by the back door, hence conquest, or by the threat from France, Germany or Soviet Union giving a more positive reason to stand together.
There is simply little reason for it anymore other than accidents of history.0 -
Three weeks after the first shot ?IanB2 said:
Wouldn’t you expect more than 60%?Foxy said:
Though the EU is not to blame for why the Dutch roll-out is so much slower than the Italian or Maltese. The Dutch have a fairly well run centralised NHS type system, while in Italy it is a chaotic system of private medicine and independent public hospitals. While supplies are limited, it is national governments that are responsible for implementation.CarlottaVance said:R4 Green Party Dutch MEP companies are to blame for slow vaccine roll out but definitely not the EU, the Commission or the EMA. And there’s the problem. In the U.K. “blame Boris!”, in the EU “not us gov!”
The Israeli figure of 60% protection for single vaccine in the over 60's is hopeful, but based on very few cases, so must have wide Confidence Intervals.
https://twitter.com/foxinsoxuk/status/1353454495527788548?s=09
Probably not.
Whether the figure will continue to improve, after three weeks, in the UK is the interesting question.
And equally, the comparative figure in Israel for those post booster shot.1 -
Yes, the `take back control' message really cuts to the chase....Foxy said:
The problem with the Union is that there is an ever decreasing sentiment for it, even if there is an economic case.Theuniondivvie said:Gordo Brown on R4 saying the UK will endure if the argument in defence of it is made properly followed by ‘we need a constitutional commission’ & some Orwellian ‘I’m a patriot not a nationalist’ guff. This fresh, new thinking is bound to do the trick.
Union was largely driven by external threat, either because England felt threatened by the back door, hence conquest, or by the threat from France, Germany or Soviet Union giving a more positive reason to stand together.
There is simply little reason for it anymore other than accidents of history.0 -
Noticed it so much at the weekend - sunset roughly 1700, i.e. if we'd been at the football, it wouldn't have got dark until *after* the match.IanB2 said:A beautiful if very cold morning. Nice to see the sun up already; fifteen minutes earlier than in December which, added to the forty five minutes in the evening, means already an hour’s extra daylight. Spring is coming!
0 -
If your argument is now merely aesthetic, we would have to bin a good half of the OED.Morris_Dancer said:Mr. B, 'prepared earlier', is fine. 'Pre-prepared' is an ugly and horrendous term.
0 -
It is, given Brown seems to think that the Kilbrandon Commission initiated in the 60s was the last considered examination of the constitution and devolution. That he had the opportunity to do similar in his 11 years as chancellor and then pm seems not to have occurred to him.Morris_Dancer said:Mr. Divvie, it is ironic to hear Brown come out with that, given the divisions have been increased (cemented?) by the devolution Labour thought would give them a fiefdom forever, and the system they contrived is now making it easier for the SNP to retain their dominance of Holyrood.
0 -
No nothing at all except to stop Customs Posts at Berwick, inevitable in the event of Scexit or to ensure our place in the G7 and as permanent members of the UN Security Council and protect our place in the world.Foxy said:
The problem with the Union is that there is an ever decreasing sentiment for it, even if there is an economic case.Theuniondivvie said:Gordo Brown on R4 saying the UK will endure if the argument in defence of it is made properly followed by ‘we need a constitutional commission’ & some Orwellian ‘I’m a patriot not a nationalist’ guff. This fresh, new thinking is bound to do the trick.
Union was largely driven by external threat, either because England felt threatened by the back door, hence conquest, or by the threat from France, Germany or Soviet Union giving a more positive reason to stand together.
There is simply little reason for it anymore other than accidents of history.
Plus of course Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland all have large deficits, only London and the SE raises more in revenue than it spends so if Scotland went independent that would mean deep spending cuts and tax rises would be required from Edinburgh to avoid Scotland going bankrupt. Dublin has also ruled out a border poll for at least 5 years as it does not want to have to fund NI anytime soon1 -
1
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Maybe, but remember that behaviour after getting the jab can counteract the vaccine effect.IanB2 said:
Wouldn’t you expect more than 60%?Foxy said:
Though the EU is not to blame for why the Dutch roll-out is so much slower than the Italian or Maltese. The Dutch have a fairly well run centralised NHS type system, while in Italy it is a chaotic system of private medicine and independent public hospitals. While supplies are limited, it is national governments that are responsible for implementation.CarlottaVance said:R4 Green Party Dutch MEP companies are to blame for slow vaccine roll out but definitely not the EU, the Commission or the EMA. And there’s the problem. In the U.K. “blame Boris!”, in the EU “not us gov!”
The Israeli figure of 60% protection for single vaccine in the over 60's is hopeful, but based on very few cases, so must have wide Confidence Intervals.
https://twitter.com/foxinsoxuk/status/1353454495527788548?s=091 -
That is true.Theuniondivvie said:
It is, given Brown seems to think that the Kilbrandon Commission initiated in the 60s was the last considered examination of the constitution and devolution. That he had the opportunity to do similar in his 11 years as chancellor and then pm seems not to have occurred to him.Morris_Dancer said:Mr. Divvie, it is ironic to hear Brown come out with that, given the divisions have been increased (cemented?) by the devolution Labour thought would give them a fiefdom forever, and the system they contrived is now making it easier for the SNP to retain their dominance of Holyrood.
But he is right, we don need to rethink the whole system of government from the guts up. Local government is a mess, national government is a bigger mess, and the devolutionary settlement is a complete failure. Removing the House of Lords, on its own, is an urgent matter and yet it's not the most serious problem.
And that's true whether or not Scotland becomes independent.0 -
Mr Dancer, surely a decision on which biscuits to put out for the local council's planning meeting would be pre-planning?Morris_Dancer said:Good morning, everyone.
'Pre-planning' is intensely irritating. Although not quite as stupidly irksome as 'pre-prepared'.
What other kind of sodding prepared is there? The prefix is already in the damned word!0 -
A paper I saw on the BBC site suggests we should be looking for an effectiveness of "at least 64%" (actually 64.1% which seems over-precise) after the first dose - but that's for the AZN which is batting at a lower total. Moderna claims about 80% after a single dose. For Pfizer it seems less clear. All of the vaccines claim to reduce serious symptoms even in subsequent infections, so I'd be looking for a very high reduction in hospitalisations.Nigelb said:
Three weeks after the first shot ?IanB2 said:
Wouldn’t you expect more than 60%?Foxy said:
Though the EU is not to blame for why the Dutch roll-out is so much slower than the Italian or Maltese. The Dutch have a fairly well run centralised NHS type system, while in Italy it is a chaotic system of private medicine and independent public hospitals. While supplies are limited, it is national governments that are responsible for implementation.CarlottaVance said:R4 Green Party Dutch MEP companies are to blame for slow vaccine roll out but definitely not the EU, the Commission or the EMA. And there’s the problem. In the U.K. “blame Boris!”, in the EU “not us gov!”
The Israeli figure of 60% protection for single vaccine in the over 60's is hopeful, but based on very few cases, so must have wide Confidence Intervals.
https://twitter.com/foxinsoxuk/status/1353454495527788548?s=09
Probably not.
Whether the figure will continue to improve, after three weeks, in the UK is the interesting question.
And equally, the comparative figure in Israel for those post booster shot.
But what I missed in my earlier post is the two lots of three weeks that are necessary - three weeks for the immunity to become effective and another three weeks for it to feed through to hospitalisations. So I guess a rough indication of a decent reduction after just three weeks is indeed good news.0 -
agreed on optics.Mysticrose said:
Good morning all.MattW said:Uh-oh.
New word report on Radio 5.
"Opportunitism".
It seems to be Adrian Giles' fault.
I have no problem with coining new words providing they're not execrable. That's a good example of the latter.
I have a number of other pet hates. 'Connectivity' is the kind of geek-speak I loathe and 'optics' is another as in, 'the optics of this don't look good.' Yuck.
Oh and another which really grates is the waffly and self-important phrase, 'That said,' beloved of some thread writers on here.
The art of good prose is not to cause the reader to stop and think about the writer.
search back for its use on here and see how many situations where 'the optics of this don't look good' had any affect on absolutely anything.0 -
It would not matter if the SNP won every seat at Holyrood Westminster is sovereign and we have a UK Tory majority government and when Boris righly refuses a legal indyref2 any referendum Sturgeon attempts to hold will not only be illegal but will be boycotted by Unionists. Madrid showed in Catalonia illegal referendums can be ignored as will this one. Plus the latest polling has the SNP on about 51% and 46% on the constituency and list votes, which is below where it was in the autumn and the poll yesterday had 35% for the status quo and 18% for devomax and 47% for independence, so more back devomax than independenceeek said:
If the Sunday Times is right from Yesterday - the pro independence parties are going to have 2/3 of the seats come May. In the same way that HYUFD states that the Tories 80 seat majority is enough to stop a referendum, the 40 seat majority independence will have (216 if you expended to to Parliament's 650 seats) is enough to say that Scotland wants one.Morris_Dancer said:Mr. Divvie, it is ironic to hear Brown come out with that, given the divisions have been increased (cemented?) by the devolution Labour thought would give them a fiefdom forever, and the system they contrived is now making it easier for the SNP to retain their dominance of Holyrood.
0 -
In the absence of devolution - I think there still would have been a strong movement for Scottish Independence.Morris_Dancer said:Mr. Divvie, it is ironic to hear Brown come out with that, given the divisions have been increased (cemented?) by the devolution Labour thought would give them a fiefdom forever, and the system they contrived is now making it easier for the SNP to retain their dominance of Holyrood.
My alternative history guess would be that Scotland still would have elected SNP MPs in droves in 2015, and so the only difference would have been a Scottish Independence referendum a few years later.0 -
DC has about the same population as Delaware, slightly less, so if it did become a state that means it would have only 1 US House Representative as Delaware does anyway and 3 EC votes as Delaware does, so unlikely to make much difference at the House and Presidential level.
The main difference would be in the Senate if it got 2 out of 102 Senators in an expanded Senate1 -
Isn't 'that said' an OK way to introduce a contradictory statement? 'He was known for his detestation of fast food - that said, he did make an exception for his local Indian takeaway, the Taj Mahal, where he was a frequent customer.'Mysticrose said:
Good morning all.MattW said:Uh-oh.
New word report on Radio 5.
"Opportunitism".
It seems to be Adrian Giles' fault.
I have no problem with coining new words providing they're not execrable. That's a good example of the latter.
I have a number of other pet hates. 'Connectivity' is the kind of geek-speak I loathe and 'optics' is another as in, 'the optics of this don't look good.' Yuck.
Oh and another which really grates is the waffly and self-important phrase, 'That said,' beloved of some thread writers on here.
The art of good prose is not to cause the reader to stop and think about the writer.0 -
Siri, show me an example of total commitment
As Root, fresh from 186 yesterday and clearly struggling with stiffness, brings himself on.
Edit - and fuck me, gets a wicket!1 -
Having now left the EU CU, the Berwick border is going to be a feature of another Scotland referendum in a way that it wasn’t in 2014.HYUFD said:
No nothing at all except to stop Customs Posts at Berwick, inevitable in the event of Scexit or to ensure our place in the G7 and as permanent members of the UN Security Council and protect our place in the world.Foxy said:
The problem with the Union is that there is an ever decreasing sentiment for it, even if there is an economic case.Theuniondivvie said:Gordo Brown on R4 saying the UK will endure if the argument in defence of it is made properly followed by ‘we need a constitutional commission’ & some Orwellian ‘I’m a patriot not a nationalist’ guff. This fresh, new thinking is bound to do the trick.
Union was largely driven by external threat, either because England felt threatened by the back door, hence conquest, or by the threat from France, Germany or Soviet Union giving a more positive reason to stand together.
There is simply little reason for it anymore other than accidents of history.
Plus of course Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland all have large deficits, only London and the SE raises more in revenue than it spends so if Scotland went independent that would mean deep spending cuts and tax rises would be required from Edinburgh to avoid Scotland going bankrupt. Dublin has also ruled out a border poll for at least 5 years as it does not want to have to fund NI anytime soon
If an independent Scotland were to join the EU, is there any possible way that we don’t have physical border infrastructure on the M6 and A1, and a rebuilding of Hadrian’s wall in barbed wire?2 -
Or, if I was still working in the office, I could leave in daylight and get home before it got fully dark.BannedinnParis said:
Noticed it so much at the weekend - sunset roughly 1700, i.e. if we'd been at the football, it wouldn't have got dark until *after* the match.IanB2 said:A beautiful if very cold morning. Nice to see the sun up already; fifteen minutes earlier than in December which, added to the forty five minutes in the evening, means already an hour’s extra daylight. Spring is coming!
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Not sure that there’s a great record for ex PMs getting anything much done (aside from writing crappy, self excusing memoirs) let alone root and branch constitutional reform of the UK.ydoethur said:
That is true.Theuniondivvie said:
It is, given Brown seems to think that the Kilbrandon Commission initiated in the 60s was the last considered examination of the constitution and devolution. That he had the opportunity to do similar in his 11 years as chancellor and then pm seems not to have occurred to him.Morris_Dancer said:Mr. Divvie, it is ironic to hear Brown come out with that, given the divisions have been increased (cemented?) by the devolution Labour thought would give them a fiefdom forever, and the system they contrived is now making it easier for the SNP to retain their dominance of Holyrood.
But he is right, we don need to rethink the whole system of government from the guts up. Local government is a mess, national government is a bigger mess, and the devolutionary settlement is a complete failure. Removing the House of Lords, on its own, is an urgent matter and yet it's not the most serious problem.
And that's true whether or not Scotland becomes independent.
Oops, I forgot about the Middle East peace envoy.0 -
It happened like that last year as wellIanB2 said:A beautiful if very cold morning. Nice to see the sun up already; fifteen minutes earlier than in December which, added to the forty five minutes in the evening, means already an hour’s extra daylight. Spring is coming!
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When several Welsh assembly members were having their recent naughty drink? Bad optics....BannedinnParis said:
agreed on optics.Mysticrose said:
Good morning all.MattW said:Uh-oh.
New word report on Radio 5.
"Opportunitism".
It seems to be Adrian Giles' fault.
I have no problem with coining new words providing they're not execrable. That's a good example of the latter.
I have a number of other pet hates. 'Connectivity' is the kind of geek-speak I loathe and 'optics' is another as in, 'the optics of this don't look good.' Yuck.
Oh and another which really grates is the waffly and self-important phrase, 'That said,' beloved of some thread writers on here.
The art of good prose is not to cause the reader to stop and think about the writer.
search back for its use on here and see how many situations where 'the optics of this don't look good' had any affect on absolutely anything.0 -
Any predictions for next year?MikeSmithson said:
It happened like that last year as wellIanB2 said:A beautiful if very cold morning. Nice to see the sun up already; fifteen minutes earlier than in December which, added to the forty five minutes in the evening, means already an hour’s extra daylight. Spring is coming!
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"Curate" as in choosing similar things. "Iconic" for some kind of minor intellectual or physical landmark. "Bandwidth" for capacity. "Craft" for beer with added laxative...BannedinnParis said:
agreed on optics.Mysticrose said:
Good morning all.MattW said:Uh-oh.
New word report on Radio 5.
"Opportunitism".
It seems to be Adrian Giles' fault.
I have no problem with coining new words providing they're not execrable. That's a good example of the latter.
I have a number of other pet hates. 'Connectivity' is the kind of geek-speak I loathe and 'optics' is another as in, 'the optics of this don't look good.' Yuck.
Oh and another which really grates is the waffly and self-important phrase, 'That said,' beloved of some thread writers on here.
The art of good prose is not to cause the reader to stop and think about the writer.
search back for its use on here and see how many situations where 'the optics of this don't look good' had any affect on absolutely anything.2 -
Bigger population than Vermont or Wyoming. Just saying.HYUFD said:DC has about the same population as Delaware, slightly less, so if it did become a state that means it would have only 1 US House Representative as Delaware does anyway and 3 EC votes as Delaware does, so unlikely to make much difference at the House and Presidential level.
The main difference would be in the Senate if it got 2 out of 102 Senators in an expanded Senate0 -
Evidence please ?MikeSmithson said:
It happened like that last year as wellIanB2 said:A beautiful if very cold morning. Nice to see the sun up already; fifteen minutes earlier than in December which, added to the forty five minutes in the evening, means already an hour’s extra daylight. Spring is coming!
1 -
"unlikely to make much difference at the House and Presidential level" - especially true at Presidential level where it is already covered by the ECHYUFD said:DC has about the same population as Delaware, slightly less, so if it did become a state that means it would have only 1 US House Representative as Delaware does anyway and 3 EC votes as Delaware does, so unlikely to make much difference at the House and Presidential level.
The main difference would be in the Senate if it got 2 out of 102 Senators in an expanded Senate0
