Arlene Foster, End Of An Era. Who Next? – politicalbetting.com

TheScreamingEagles said:

bigjohnowls said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

rcs1000 said:

I told my wife the "my grandfather died in Auschwitz" joke last night.

She was not impressed.

I once asked the other half

'What makes a suicide bomber tick?'

She told me she hated me for making laughing at racist jokes.

"For making laughing"

I can't blame autocorrect for that as I'm on the laptop.

I'll blame tiredness, fixed it now.

How is that joke "racist"?

You're laughing at suicide bombers, who slaughter dozens of people in an insane act of hatred, and self-destructive nihilism. I can't think of many people worthier of mockery.

There are plenty of non-Muslim suicide bombers, btw. The technique was invented by anarchists, the Japanese turned it into a military policy, the Tamil Tigers were keen

FrancisUrquhart said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

ping said:

Lol @ right wingers getting triggered by Starmer in JL

It was just a bit of fun

Made me smile, anyway.

And the politics are all wrong

Maybe his advisors need to understand faking an interest in something is not a good look

You have to wonder about his advisors. I mean sending him to Bath and getting into that argument with the nutter from the pub, then trying to go into his pub.

I mean a) what was he doing in the centre of Bath, no Labour votes there and b) his advisors clearly hadn't checked this guy out properly nor managed the situation well. You don't get into debates with those kind of people, you placate them with some non-answer and say people speak to one of my team, at which point they jump in with a clipboard and a load of pointless questions.

We discussed this at the time. The pubkeeper has told the Labour team that he was a lifelong supporter and Keir was welcome. Short of getting private investigators in, what were they supposed to have done? And Bath does have Labour voters (not to mention 5 Labour councillors) - it's important to show it's a national party.

But...I agree with you on what to do when someone unexpectedly kicks off.

"Obesity 'a major factor' in risk of hospitalisation and death from COVID
A study looking at seven million UK people finds the impact of a high BMI on the severity of COVID is worse at younger ages.

Philip Whiteside, international news reporter"

https://news.sky.com/story/obesity-a-major-factor-in-risk-of-hospitalisation-and-death-from-covid-study-12290433

solarflare said:

Leon said:

solarflare said:

ThomasNashe said:

williamglenn said:

Starmer's photographer has been busy today.



https://twitter.com/AngelaRayner/status/1387826514360737796

Somehow Angela appears to have accessorized Manchester.

Did they block off the street for their PR purposes, or is that just the new normal level of general public activity?

Much of central London is similar, still

I get the sense provincial PBers do not understand the calamity that has befallen our great cities, London especially. This is one reason I am hesitant about declaring a Roaring Twenties type Covid-aftermath (tho I yearn for it)

London and the other cities motor the UK economy. If they are fucked, we are fucked, no matter how many beer gardens we book and fill

I'm off work next week and have decided to take a trip up to Glasgow, seeing as how I've not been there for more than a year (despite studying there or working there all my adulthood up until covid). I'm interested to see how much life there is.

I've been told it's pretty bleak, albeit that was just before the Scotland travel restrictions and then subsequent re-opening of shops. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to find.

I'm going into central London tomorrow - Park Lane - to get a new car. It will be the first time in many weeks.

Apart from Soho, and a couple of other hot-spots, I understand it is all, still, quite deserted. Which is depressing

Leon said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

bigjohnowls said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

rcs1000 said:

I told my wife the "my grandfather died in Auschwitz" joke last night.

She was not impressed.

I once asked the other half

'What makes a suicide bomber tick?'

She told me she hated me for making laughing at racist jokes.

"For making laughing"

I can't blame autocorrect for that as I'm on the laptop.

I'll blame tiredness, fixed it now.

How is that joke "racist"?

You're laughing at suicide bombers, who slaughter dozens of people in an insane act of hatred, and self-destructive nihilism. I can't think of many people worthier of mockery.

There are plenty of non-Muslim suicide bombers, btw. The technique was invented by anarchists, the Japanese turned it into a military policy, the Tamil Tigers were keen

It depends on your worldview.

For me it isn't, for some it is.

Andy_JS said:

"Obesity 'a major factor' in risk of hospitalisation and death from COVID
A study looking at seven million UK people finds the impact of a high BMI on the severity of COVID is worse at younger ages.

Philip Whiteside, international news reporter"

https://news.sky.com/story/obesity-a-major-factor-in-risk-of-hospitalisation-and-death-from-covid-study-12290433

Any news on bears or the Pope?

Foxy said:

Casino_Royale said:

Leon said:

ydoethur said:

bigjohnowls said:

Westminster voting intention:

CON: 44% (-)
LAB: 33% (-1)
GRN: 7% (-)
LDEM: 7% (+2)
REFUK: 3% (+1)

via
@YouGov
, 27 - 28 Apr
Chgs. w/ 22 Apr

SKS fans please explain

Clue he is f****** useless

I don’t remember you saying that about Jeremy Corbyn, and he had much worse numbers against a weaker albeit much better PM.

Are you actually claiming Theresa May is a "much better PM" than Boris?

On what metric? What on earth did she do that makes her "much better"? She spent tortuous post-Brexit years agreeing to everything the EU wanted, so she could bring home a Brexit deal which was so shit she couldn't get it through parliament. This was a result of her own initial howling errors, when she imposed red lines at the start which painted her into a terrible corner. All her own fault. She achieved nothing else in office.

As an election-winning politician she is *much better* than Boris in the same way that Worksop is "much better" than Paris, ie this is a view so eccentric only one person in the entire world believes it, and it's not even her, it's you.

Even she knows she is shit at elections, she nearly lost to JEREMY CORBYN

"much better"

lol

She worked far harder, and had a very strong sense of duty (still does) but her people skills were abominable, which is why she proved to be such a poor negotiator, man-manager and political leader amongst the electorate at large. The Home Office was about her level.

Interestingly, Boris is almost the precise opposite.

Johnson is certainly a better campaigner, but negotiator and man-manager?

Johnson negotiated the excreable NI protocol, which Tories now seem to hate.

When it comes to man-management, he put Dom Cummings at the centre of his government.

It's all in the eye of the beholder I guess.

He was largely stuck with the NI protocol when he took over, and he did far better negotiating over the TCA than I thought he would.

Again, he's made some bad picks (he started off too ideologically Vote Leave, and stuck with Cummings for too long) but I now think he's got a half decent team.

Truss, Dowden and Gove are all first class

Leon said:

solarflare said:

Leon said:

solarflare said:

ThomasNashe said:

williamglenn said:

Starmer's photographer has been busy today.



https://twitter.com/AngelaRayner/status/1387826514360737796

Somehow Angela appears to have accessorized Manchester.

Did they block off the street for their PR purposes, or is that just the new normal level of general public activity?

Much of central London is similar, still

I get the sense provincial PBers do not understand the calamity that has befallen our great cities, London especially. This is one reason I am hesitant about declaring a Roaring Twenties type Covid-aftermath (tho I yearn for it)

London and the other cities motor the UK economy. If they are fucked, we are fucked, no matter how many beer gardens we book and fill

I'm off work next week and have decided to take a trip up to Glasgow, seeing as how I've not been there for more than a year (despite studying there or working there all my adulthood up until covid). I'm interested to see how much life there is.

I've been told it's pretty bleak, albeit that was just before the Scotland travel restrictions and then subsequent re-opening of shops. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to find.

I'm going into central London tomorrow - Park Lane - to get a new car. It will be the first time in many weeks.

Apart from Soho, and a couple of other hot-spots, I understand it is all, still, quite deserted. Which is depressing

It won't be going back. I used to live on Fleet St and on the weekends it was completely deserted. Now I work round the corner and we're only ever going to go back 2 days a week - as far as I can tell that's pretty typical so it's going to be much calmer in future.

Casino_Royale said:

rcs1000 said:

I told my wife the "my grandfather died in Auschwitz" joke last night.

She was not impressed.

That's nothing. I made my wife watch 1984 last night, with John Hurt, Suzanna Hamilton and Richard Burton (plus Rab C. Nesbitt, strangely) and she said it was the most disturbing, dark and deeply depressing thing she's ever seen.

Afterwards, however, she conceded it was thought-provoking and rather profound.

Black Mirror is all of those things I can't recommend it highly enough.

ThomasNashe said:

Anabobazina said:

ThomasNashe said:

williamglenn said:

Starmer's photographer has been busy today.



https://twitter.com/AngelaRayner/status/1387826514360737796

Somehow Angela appears to have accessorized Manchester.

I quite like Angela, she was on Marr on Sunday and just looked like she was taking the piss out of Marr/Boris/The Establishment the whole time. She has a cheeky smile.

Can’t imagine her as leader: too northern and working class and probably a bit brassy for metro liberals down here. But she seems like a good laugh. Passes the pub test with flying colours.

I have warmed to her. I think Labour probably would be doing better with one of the women in charge: either her, Nandy or Phillips.

She has an amazing backstory, Rayner. I did not know any of this

"Rayner was born on 28 March 1980 in Stockport, Greater Manchester.[2] She attended Avondale School in Stockport, leaving the school aged 16 after becoming pregnant, and did not obtain any qualifications.[3][4] She later studied part-time at Stockport College, learning British Sign Language, and qualifying as a social care worker.[2]

"After leaving college, Rayner worked for Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council as a care worker for a number of years"

Good for her. Apparently her mother could not read or write

If Labour are to return to power, it should be with a provincial white woman like this. I can imagine voting for her, when I am feeling a bit soft-hearted.


However, she also has the tiniest waist in British politics, which is a health concern


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Rayner#/media/File:Angela_Rayner,_2020_Labour_Party_deputy_leadership_election_hustings,_Bristol.jpg

Anabobazina said:

ThomasNashe said:

Anabobazina said:

ThomasNashe said:

williamglenn said:

Starmer's photographer has been busy today.



https://twitter.com/AngelaRayner/status/1387826514360737796

Somehow Angela appears to have accessorized Manchester.

I quite like Angela, she was on Marr on Sunday and just looked like she was taking the piss out of Marr/Boris/The Establishment the whole time. She has a cheeky smile.

Can’t imagine her as leader: too northern and working class and probably a bit brassy for metro liberals down here. But she seems like a good laugh. Passes the pub test with flying colours.

I have warmed to her. I think Labour probably would be doing better with one of the women in charge: either her, Nandy or Phillips.

Agreed. Not a fan of Jess as leader though.

Think Dr Rosena is the one to watch.

Your choice L4%K was mullered on 5 live this morning

Rachel Burdon told her "we've heard enough you have nothing to say come back when" she had a policy on Social Care after 5 mins of vacuous crap from L4%K

TheScreamingEagles said:

To be fair to Edwin Poots he is a progressive liberal compared to his father.

Steeped in traditional Paisleyite politics, Mr Poots's father Charlie was a close associate of the former first minister and a founding member of the DUP.

He died earlier this year aged 90 at the height of the first coronavirus lockdown.

Charlie Poots was also outspoken, stating at the height of the Troubles in 1975 that he would cut off vital services to Catholic areas if he was in charge.

“I would cut off all supplies, including water and electricity, to Catholic areas. And I would stop Catholics from getting social security.

“It is the only way to deal with enemies of the state and to stamp out the present troubles.”

I was invited to see Mr Poots for my previous charity a few years ago. He listened in complete silence, barely suppressing a yawn and said "Thank you for coming". Made Gordon Brown seem like a chatterbox.

Foxy said:

Andy_JS said:

"Obesity 'a major factor' in risk of hospitalisation and death from COVID
A study looking at seven million UK people finds the impact of a high BMI on the severity of COVID is worse at younger ages.

Philip Whiteside, international news reporter"

https://news.sky.com/story/obesity-a-major-factor-in-risk-of-hospitalisation-and-death-from-covid-study-12290433

I believe that. All the youngsters that I saw on ICU were quite obese.

It's also one of the reasons the death rate was much worse here than in parts of Europe where the obesity rate is so much lower.

Leon said:

Ah, Starmer is another short-arse, like Boris

5 foot 8

https://www.celebheights.com/s/Sir-Keir-Starmer-52247.html

That's nothing, I'm only 5ft 7.

Leon said:

How do you embed photos in PB comments? Anyone?

Like this:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Mortimer said:

solarflare said:

There's an old Mitchell and Webb sketch which is (from memory) basically a load of toothbrush marketing executives sitting around a table trying to work out their next product and saying "if we can get them to brush their tongues, we can get them to do anything!".

At some point if the covid restrictions don't drop away as promised, the parallels will start to get a bit uncomfortable.

To be honest almost no-one I know is paying a blind bit of notice to the rules anymore. Hugs, 'quick cups of tea' that last a few hours and sunday lunches are happening everywhere.

It isn't even taboo anymore.

I suspect plenty of people, particularly the vaccinated, are going to treat the 17th of May lifting of restrictions like the lifting of the restrictions of June 21st.

Well yes, because there’s not much difference in practical terms. A little known element of the 17 May easement is that the Rule of Six is lifted outdoors. Not far from normality...

turbotubbs said:

Foxy said:

Andy_JS said:

"Obesity 'a major factor' in risk of hospitalisation and death from COVID
A study looking at seven million UK people finds the impact of a high BMI on the severity of COVID is worse at younger ages.

Philip Whiteside, international news reporter"

https://news.sky.com/story/obesity-a-major-factor-in-risk-of-hospitalisation-and-death-from-covid-study-12290433

I believe that. All the youngsters that I saw on ICU were quite obese.

Out of interest are we talking heavy or properly obese? I’m overweight, and probably just touch a bmi of 30 so would be called obese, but I have a stocky frame (ex prop etc).

BMI of 40+

Charles said:

maaarsh said:

Leon said:

solarflare said:

Leon said:

solarflare said:

ThomasNashe said:

williamglenn said:

Starmer's photographer has been busy today.



https://twitter.com/AngelaRayner/status/1387826514360737796

Somehow Angela appears to have accessorized Manchester.

Did they block off the street for their PR purposes, or is that just the new normal level of general public activity?

Much of central London is similar, still

I get the sense provincial PBers do not understand the calamity that has befallen our great cities, London especially. This is one reason I am hesitant about declaring a Roaring Twenties type Covid-aftermath (tho I yearn for it)

London and the other cities motor the UK economy. If they are fucked, we are fucked, no matter how many beer gardens we book and fill

I'm off work next week and have decided to take a trip up to Glasgow, seeing as how I've not been there for more than a year (despite studying there or working there all my adulthood up until covid). I'm interested to see how much life there is.

I've been told it's pretty bleak, albeit that was just before the Scotland travel restrictions and then subsequent re-opening of shops. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to find.

I'm going into central London tomorrow - Park Lane - to get a new car. It will be the first time in many weeks.

Apart from Soho, and a couple of other hot-spots, I understand it is all, still, quite deserted. Which is depressing

It won't be going back. I used to live on Fleet St and on the weekends it was completely deserted. Now I work round the corner and we're only ever going to go back 2 days a week - as far as I can tell that's pretty typical so it's going to be much calmer in future.

Where did you live on Fleet st? My old stomping ground

New Bridge street technically, was in a top floor flat on ludgate circus for 18 months - woken up by the bells of St Brides which were more or less head height for me.

TheScreamingEagles said:

Mortimer said:

solarflare said:

There's an old Mitchell and Webb sketch which is (from memory) basically a load of toothbrush marketing executives sitting around a table trying to work out their next product and saying "if we can get them to brush their tongues, we can get them to do anything!".

At some point if the covid restrictions don't drop away as promised, the parallels will start to get a bit uncomfortable.

To be honest almost no-one I know is paying a blind bit of notice to the rules anymore. Hugs, 'quick cups of tea' that last a few hours and sunday lunches are happening everywhere.

It isn't even taboo anymore.

I suspect plenty of people, particularly the vaccinated, are going to treat the 17th of May lifting of restrictions like the lifting of the restrictions of June 21st.

Agree. The more the govt decides to continue restrictive measures the more I will flout them.

Have been invited to a birthday party for 14 people on May 14th.

Leon said:

ThomasNashe said:

Anabobazina said:

ThomasNashe said:

williamglenn said:

Starmer's photographer has been busy today.



https://twitter.com/AngelaRayner/status/1387826514360737796

Somehow Angela appears to have accessorized Manchester.

I quite like Angela, she was on Marr on Sunday and just looked like she was taking the piss out of Marr/Boris/The Establishment the whole time. She has a cheeky smile.

Can’t imagine her as leader: too northern and working class and probably a bit brassy for metro liberals down here. But she seems like a good laugh. Passes the pub test with flying colours.

I have warmed to her. I think Labour probably would be doing better with one of the women in charge: either her, Nandy or Phillips.

She has an amazing backstory, Rayner. I did not know any of this

"Rayner was born on 28 March 1980 in Stockport, Greater Manchester.[2] She attended Avondale School in Stockport, leaving the school aged 16 after becoming pregnant, and did not obtain any qualifications.[3][4] She later studied part-time at Stockport College, learning British Sign Language, and qualifying as a social care worker.[2]

"After leaving college, Rayner worked for Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council as a care worker for a number of years"

Good for her. Apparently her mother could not read or write

If Labour are to return to power, it should be with a provincial white woman like this. I can imagine voting for her, when I am feeling a bit soft-hearted.


However, she also has the tiniest waist in British politics, which is a health concern


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Rayner#/media/File:Angela_Rayner,_2020_Labour_Party_deputy_leadership_election_hustings,_Bristol.jpg

I recall when she was attacked by Allison Pearson for being shadow Education Sec without GCSEs, she was defended in a quite beautifully moving and devastating way by Nick Bowles - of all people.

bigjohnowls said:

Anabobazina said:

ThomasNashe said:

Anabobazina said:

ThomasNashe said:

williamglenn said:

Starmer's photographer has been busy today.



https://twitter.com/AngelaRayner/status/1387826514360737796

Somehow Angela appears to have accessorized Manchester.

I quite like Angela, she was on Marr on Sunday and just looked like she was taking the piss out of Marr/Boris/The Establishment the whole time. She has a cheeky smile.

Can’t imagine her as leader: too northern and working class and probably a bit brassy for metro liberals down here. But she seems like a good laugh. Passes the pub test with flying colours.

I have warmed to her. I think Labour probably would be doing better with one of the women in charge: either her, Nandy or Phillips.

Agreed. Not a fan of Jess as leader though.

Think Dr Rosena is the one to watch.

Your choice L4%K was mullered on 5 live this morning

Rachel Burdon told her "we've heard enough you have nothing to say come back when" she had a policy on Social Care after 5 mins of vacuous crap from L4%K

My choice?

Any PBers willing to help out with this barrel scraping? Pity the chi chi travel writer isn't still around - 'they said my dear friend's flint dildos were shite!!'.

https://twitter.com/Lucy_Aspden/status/1387786513572892673?s=20

I am not a Labour supporter, far from it, but I am desperately keen that we should have a strong leader of the opposition; it vital for a successful democracy.
I live in the Bedfordshire NE constituency, (a Tory fiefdom) but I have met the Labour MP for Bedford (the neighbouring constituency) Mohammad Yasin on a number of occasions. He is bright, articulate, and diligent. He has played a blinder locally persuading the local ethnic minorities to follow the rules on Covid and to get vaccinated. He has an interesting 'backstory' and retained his seat last time against the national swing.
I have tried to get odds on him to place a bet as the next Labour leader, but can't find anyone with his name on the list.
But regardless of party loyalties, watch out for him. Labour, and the country could do far worse.

maaarsh said:

<

It's been 12 months so far and every colleague survey I've seen says the opposite.

But no reason it wouldn't reverse if people really demanded it - the office space is good for nothing but offices, or residential conversion after a lengthy planning process, so there'll be plenty of spare capacity for any business that wants it.

Yes, this old kite flying "everyone will go back to the office" nonsense.

My company is giving up its offices and will hire space as and when needed - there's plenty of meeting rooms of all shapes and sizes for hire out there.

No one is saying the office in general is dead - simply the antiquated notion of banks of desks and workers treated like battery hens. The future is collaborative space, networking, hybrid meetings and the like. Some will doubtless moan and gripe about the lack of social activity and the like but it's the future and very soon it's going to be the present.

bigjohnowls said:

Sunil_Prasannan said:

Leon said:

How do you embed photos in PB comments? Anyone?

Like this:

Can u tell us how to do it

I have a photo off ickell SKS with Toby Perkins

Easy, man!

You type

img src="image name"

inside these angled brackets < and >

You find the "image name" by right-clicking your picture on the internet, looking for "copy image location" and paste into PB.

bigjohnowls said:

Anabobazina said:

ThomasNashe said:

Anabobazina said:

ThomasNashe said:

williamglenn said:

Starmer's photographer has been busy today.



https://twitter.com/AngelaRayner/status/1387826514360737796

Somehow Angela appears to have accessorized Manchester.

I quite like Angela, she was on Marr on Sunday and just looked like she was taking the piss out of Marr/Boris/The Establishment the whole time. She has a cheeky smile.

Can’t imagine her as leader: too northern and working class and probably a bit brassy for metro liberals down here. But she seems like a good laugh. Passes the pub test with flying colours.

I have warmed to her. I think Labour probably would be doing better with one of the women in charge: either her, Nandy or Phillips.

Agreed. Not a fan of Jess as leader though.

Think Dr Rosena is the one to watch.

Your choice L4%K was mullered on 5 live this morning

Rachel Burdon told her "we've heard enough you have nothing to say come back when" she had a policy on Social Care after 5 mins of vacuous crap from L4%K

I like Rosena, but she can be a bit erratic. Rayner is pretty consistently sound, stepping around all the booby traps of front line political life. Sure she will have the Home County matrons clutching their pearls, but I think she would stand the best chance of recovering the Purple Wall. I think she is far more acceptable to the left, but has deftly moved into the post Corbyn era. Most importantly, she will get the vote out and motivated, and squeeze the Greens.

Sunil_Prasannan said:

bigjohnowls said:

Sunil_Prasannan said:

Leon said:

How do you embed photos in PB comments? Anyone?

Like this:

Can u tell us how to do it

I have a photo off ickell SKS with Toby Perkins

Easy, man!

You type

img src="image name"

inside these angled brackets < and >

You find the "image name" by right-clicking your picture on the internet, looking for "copy image location" and paste into PB.

For god's sake don't tell him, you'll only encourage him

Leon said:

MaxPB said:

Leon said:

MaxPB said:

Leon said:

MaxPB said:

Leon said:

THIS could damage the government, badly, not a bunch of stupid curtains

Five ways that Covid restrictions will remain with us, after June 21

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/04/27/june-21-wont-much-return-normal-thought/?WT.mc_id=e_DM1403673&WT.tsrc=email&etype=Edi_Edi_New_Sub_Digital&utmsource=email&utm_medium=Edi_Edi_New_Sub_Digital20210429&utm_campaign=DM1403673


No proper gigs, no crowded pubs, masks forever, Covid marshalls, weird distanced restaurants, vaxports are back, on and on

FUCK THIS SHIT. Really. Fuck it

Boris said it would all be gone by June 21, and that's why we should stick by the looooooong roadmap. The British public have done their bit, and gone along with it. Superbly, in the main. If the British government now turns around and says "Oh we were lying, life will stay eerie and shit forever", then I will never vote for the Tories again

This is all Gove IMO. He needs to be shown the door asap, he's untrustworthy and will betray anyone if he thinks it will help him become PM. Even though he would be the most unpopular PM since Eden and would lose to anyone Labour put up.

I find it hard to believe Gove is this stupid. He will never be PM. Tory MPS can see a vote-loser. Gove must know this. He said it himself: I don't have the face for it

Lady Macbeth whispers in his ear about it every so often. Charles can probably expand but I'm told she's extremely jealous of the Cameron and Boris clans and believes that her husband is why both finally made it to the top spot and is very bitter that Michael hasn't been able to ascend despite ample opportunity.

I genuinely don't understand the point you are making, however

(the fault is mine not yours)

Are you saying Gove is leaking this kind of true or invented stuff to make Boris look bad (if it is invented who invented it?), or he is actually PLANNING continued restrictions (how? when?) or...... something else?

Ultimately to damage Boris. Look at the newspaper going in hard against him in this idiotic wallpaper crap. Now he's piling in on lockdown forever because he knows it's an extremely unpopular policy with the Tory party, all of this damages Boris and makes him spend political capital to fight. It's stupid becuase Gove would never get to the final two and the members all hate him too.

Ah, ta.That was my supposition

He's a nutter if it is the case, tho I do have some sympathy for his wife, who gets appalling abuse on social media. It is vile misogynist crap - I see Rayner gets the same. This is not a political point

I sometimes think the world would be 100% better if we could disinvent social media. Brings out the beast in people. I do sincerely believe Governments should tax Facebook and Twitter until they hurt, as they are polluters of our discourse, just as diesel cars or coal-burning power stations pollute our air

Social media is a curse.

stodge said:

maaarsh said:

<

It's been 12 months so far and every colleague survey I've seen says the opposite.

But no reason it wouldn't reverse if people really demanded it - the office space is good for nothing but offices, or residential conversion after a lengthy planning process, so there'll be plenty of spare capacity for any business that wants it.

Yes, this old kite flying "everyone will go back to the office" nonsense.

My company is giving up its offices and will hire space as and when needed - there's plenty of meeting rooms of all shapes and sizes for hire out there.

No one is saying the office in general is dead - simply the antiquated notion of banks of desks and workers treated like battery hens. The future is collaborative space, networking, hybrid meetings and the like. Some will doubtless moan and gripe about the lack of social activity and the like but it's the future and very soon it's going to be the present.

Hybrid working is where we’ll end up. The 9-5 is dead, as is permanent homeworking for most people. Good. A mixture is best.

Sunil_Prasannan said:

Leon said:

How do you embed photos in PB comments? Anyone?

Like this:

I remember seeing a whole batch of those in the bargain book bin at Smith's at Lakeside one day.

10p per copy but not getting any takers even at that price.

Philip_Thompson said:

bigjohnowls said:

Sunil_Prasannan said:

Leon said:

How do you embed photos in PB comments? Anyone?

Like this:

Can u tell us how to do it

I have a photo off ickell SKS with Toby Perkins

[img src="picturelink"/]

Replace the square brackets with triangular brackets.
picturelink is the link to the picture. Keep the quotation marks and everything else.

Do it via the commenting system interface, where there is an "add picture" button.

MattW said:

Philip_Thompson said:

bigjohnowls said:

Sunil_Prasannan said:

Leon said:

How do you embed photos in PB comments? Anyone?

Like this:

Can u tell us how to do it

I have a photo off ickell SKS with Toby Perkins

[img src="picturelink"/]

Replace the square brackets with triangular brackets.
picturelink is the link to the picture. Keep the quotation marks and everything else.

Do it via the commenting system interface, where there is an "add picture" button.

Didn't know you could do that, I've always used the coding.

stodge said:

Sunil_Prasannan said:

Leon said:

How do you embed photos in PB comments? Anyone?

Like this:

I remember seeing a whole batch of those in the bargain book bin at Smith's at Lakeside one day.

10p per copy but not getting any takers even at that price.

I remember the harrowing day the great SeanT left us, refusing to continue his scintillating commentary despite many pleas from the Smithsons. It was like the felling of a mighty redwood in California. No, it was worse, it was like the snuffing out of a giant star, Betelgeuse extinguished: in our lifetimes

I readily confess, I wept. I was just a lurker, but I sobbed like a babe in arms

Anyway, that day he left, I remember him admitting that his book, that one there, has sold a million copies worldwide, so he probably won't mind a few bargain book bins in the Lakes

Philip_Thompson said:

FF43 said:

Philip_Thompson said:

Scott_xP said:

The Government prioritised sovereignty over access to EU markets. No one should be surprised that British exporters are paying a price. My piece for @NewStatesman on the early signs of the economic damage caused by Brexit,
https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/brexit/2021/04/experts-were-right-brexit-doing-economic-damage-uk

And yet exports aren't down macroeconomically. So its just you and die hard Remoaners pissing into the wind.

Exports to the EU fell 15% on ONS figures and 32% on Eurostat figures between Dec and Feb and similar yoy, while world and European trade is doing fine right now.

Which is what you would expect when you insert significant and specific trade barriers, which are known to be problematic.

But maybe not a "macroeconomic fall" in exports (no idea what that means). So perhaps you are right.

Incidentally, the UK seems to have changed the way it measures exports to the EU in December, while the EU didn't. The numbers do match on imports, which the UK didn't change. It looks the UK figures aren't apples to apples.

https://twitter.com/thom_sampson/status/1384052894224187392

Comparing YoY is disingenuous because as rcs says there's a pandemic going on right now.
Comparing Dec to Feb is disingenuous because as rcs says there was stockpiling going on in Dec which is now unwinding.

But if you compare exports with most of the pandemic (besides the final couple of months, when there was stockpiling) the exports have gone back up to the same levels they were most of the pandemic.
If you compare imports however they are lower than they were throughout all of the pandemic, besides the initial lockdown.

But again as rcs said, because of the pandemic its going to take a while to see the big picture.

Nevertheless trade is doing fine right now, either down a bit or up a bit everywhere. Worldwide, trade into the EU and trade between EU countries. If it is the pandemic it is specifically hitting EU and UK trade, coincidentally at the point when they introduced trade barriers that are known to be problematic.

FF43 said:

rcs1000 said:

Paristonda said:

France has opened up vaccinations to any adults obese (BMI 30+) following several days of pressure to widen the criteria with all the unused slots. I’m just under that limit after months of dieting this winter so it’s somewhat frustrating. I’ve decided to book an appointment for a week from now and gain a kilo in the meantime to put me over (I’m 30 so could be waiting months otherwise).

I know the story is that France has loads of unused appointments, but if you look at "proportion of doses received that have been administered", then they are ahead of almost every other EU country:

            Rcvd        Administered    % used
France      22,335      19,644          88%
Germany     29,645      25,489          86%
Poland      12,901      10,986          85%
Sweden      3,632       3,017           83%
Italy       22,795      18,722          82%
Netherlands 6,357       5,176           81%

Which is exactly the opposite of what you'd expect if they were struggling to find people to vaccinate.

France is also above the EU average for vaccinations (26.7% at least one dose vs 26.5%). The real laggards are Latvia and Greece.

Edit to add: all the numbers are in thousands. So, 22,335 means 22.335 million

As a general comment, I don't think % of deliveries administered is a particularly useful figure for determining whether a vaccination programme is successful. There could be valid distribution reasons why the figure was higher or lower. eg time to get from distribution centre to vaccination point, stickiness of deliveries, holding back second doses, the way deliveries may be recorded in advance while vaccinations are recorded in arrears.

The better measure I think is whether the % figure is trending down, indicating supply overtaking demand, which I think is happening in the US now.

In the US, the percentage unused has been pretty accurate at foretelling a slowdown. Mississippi and Alabama (for example) have only used a little over 60% of the doses they've recieved.

Leon said:

stodge said:

Sunil_Prasannan said:

Leon said:

How do you embed photos in PB comments? Anyone?

Like this:

I remember seeing a whole batch of those in the bargain book bin at Smith's at Lakeside one day.

10p per copy but not getting any takers even at that price.

I remember the harrowing day the great SeanT left us, refusing to continue his scintillating commentary despite many pleas from the Smithsons. It was like the felling of a mighty redwood in California. No, it was worse, it was like the snuffing out of a giant star, Betelgeuse extinguished: in our lifetimes

I readily confess, I wept. I was just a lurker, but I sobbed like a babe in arms

Anyway, that day he left, I remember him admitting that his book, that one there, has sold a million copies worldwide, so he probably won't mind a few bargain book bins in the Lakes

The Phil Collins Secret was truly amazing, a literary masterpiece.

Casino_Royale said:

Anabobazina said:

stodge said:

maaarsh said:

<

It's been 12 months so far and every colleague survey I've seen says the opposite.

But no reason it wouldn't reverse if people really demanded it - the office space is good for nothing but offices, or residential conversion after a lengthy planning process, so there'll be plenty of spare capacity for any business that wants it.

Yes, this old kite flying "everyone will go back to the office" nonsense.

My company is giving up its offices and will hire space as and when needed - there's plenty of meeting rooms of all shapes and sizes for hire out there.

No one is saying the office in general is dead - simply the antiquated notion of banks of desks and workers treated like battery hens. The future is collaborative space, networking, hybrid meetings and the like. Some will doubtless moan and gripe about the lack of social activity and the like but it's the future and very soon it's going to be the present.

Hybrid working is where we’ll end up. The 9-5 is dead, as is permanent homeworking for most people. Good. A mixture is best.

At the end of the day, most people don't like their boss peering over their shoulders and office politics even less.

Indeed. I think people have realised that a) people can be trusted to work in their own space and b) being co-located is vastly superior to Zoom for collaboration. Ergo, a hybrid model is best - office for collaboration and ideation, home for solitary work.

Leon said:

I remember the harrowing day the great SeanT left us, refusing to continue his scintillating commentary despite many pleas from the Smithsons. It was like the felling of a mighty redwood in California. No, it was worse, it was like the snuffing out of a giant star, Betelgeuse extinguished: in our lifetimes

I readily confess, I wept. I was just a lurker, but I sobbed like a babe in arms

Anyway, that day he left, I remember him admitting that his book, that one there, has sold a million copies worldwide, so he probably won't mind a few bargain book bins in the Lakes

To be honest, his best days were well behind him.

When he was first on PB, in the mid 2000s, he was genuinely witty and ascerbic with more than a touch of dry humour and it was a pleasure to get a verbal mauling from him but over time he became just another anti-Left bore, more a provocateur ever more desperate to get a response from the gullible than an interesting observer of the political and cultural warp and weft.

I don't know why he changed = perhaps the fame and the fortune, perhaps the zeitgeist, who can say? I can only hope he's enjoying life now though I will admit he seemed to have had plenty of life in his time.

rcs1000 said:

stodge said:

maaarsh said:

<

It's been 12 months so far and every colleague survey I've seen says the opposite.

But no reason it wouldn't reverse if people really demanded it - the office space is good for nothing but offices, or residential conversion after a lengthy planning process, so there'll be plenty of spare capacity for any business that wants it.

Yes, this old kite flying "everyone will go back to the office" nonsense.

My company is giving up its offices and will hire space as and when needed - there's plenty of meeting rooms of all shapes and sizes for hire out there.

No one is saying the office in general is dead - simply the antiquated notion of banks of desks and workers treated like battery hens. The future is collaborative space, networking, hybrid meetings and the like. Some will doubtless moan and gripe about the lack of social activity and the like but it's the future and very soon it's going to be the present.

We're going to be hybrid.

Most people are expected to be in the office a day or two a week. Hot desks, good meeting rooms, great video conferencing equipment.

We'll probably also organise 4-5 get togethers each year in a hotel or equivalent.

FFS all my pleasure at being a self employed flint knapper - hah, I don't have to go to an office, get to work you commuting peons - is going to be ruined. Plus the no-longer-office-drones will still get sick pay, pension, holiday leave, company car, and an Xmas party, whereas I get none of these

This is quite a serious point. People become self employed precisely so they can work from home, they forsake all these benefits for the freedoms. If EVERYONE can work from home, why be self employed, and lose out on all the perks of a proper job? It will be much less tempting

We are making hasty decisions which will transform the economy, in huge ways. Maybe it is unstoppable. It is certainly unnerving

TheScreamingEagles said:

I've been in the same carriage of the London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly train as Angela Rayner, she didn't seem overly tall.

She travels first class?

SandyRentool said:

As we've been discussing Angela Rayner down thread, I guess it's time for me to disclose that she featured in a dream I had a couple of weeks ago.

Probably best that I don't provide details.

It's OK, I'm not THAT desperate

stodge said:

Leon said:

I remember the harrowing day the great SeanT left us, refusing to continue his scintillating commentary despite many pleas from the Smithsons. It was like the felling of a mighty redwood in California. No, it was worse, it was like the snuffing out of a giant star, Betelgeuse extinguished: in our lifetimes

I readily confess, I wept. I was just a lurker, but I sobbed like a babe in arms

Anyway, that day he left, I remember him admitting that his book, that one there, has sold a million copies worldwide, so he probably won't mind a few bargain book bins in the Lakes

To be honest, his best days were well behind him.

When he was first on PB, in the mid 2000s, he was genuinely witty and ascerbic with more than a touch of dry humour and it was a pleasure to get a verbal mauling from him but over time he became just another anti-Left bore, more a provocateur ever more desperate to get a response from the gullible than an interesting observer of the political and cultural warp and weft.

I don't know why he changed = perhaps the fame and the fortune, perhaps the zeitgeist, who can say? I can only hope he's enjoying life now though I will admit he seemed to have had plenty of life in his time.

Yes, I agree, it was time for him to go, even if the sight of his departure was, to many of us, like Churchill's funeral: one sensed the metaphorical cranes of Docklands lowered to honour him, as the floating bier of his timeless wit, the catafalque of his own reverberating oratory, passed inevitably down the rolling Thames, and on, ever on, onwards beyond Gallions Reach

We shall not see the like again, not in our evemore thrifty years on earth

Anabobazina said:

PB Pub Watch

Been down the pub again tonight. Very inventive what this particular place did with its beer garden. A lovely tent/sail/marquee thing with gas burners plus a futurist bubble pod for posh dinners.

Pretty busy, walked in, scanned the NHS QR voluntarily because nobody asked. Nobody wearing masks other than the waiting staff. A mix of scruffy cyclists like me, a bunch of beer drinking geezers and some dressed-up girls having al fresco birthday drinks. A very pleasant experience.

Barman told me they’ll keep the set up beyond 17 May: have expanded their garden on to the pavements and the council have turned a blind eye. Meanwhile, everyone loves the smart tent.

Could have been a bit warmer, but one can’t control the weather.

8/10.

I counted 5 hardy individuals sat outside our local this evening, wrapped up in their big coats.

Not exactly al fresco weather today.

IshmaelZ said:

Mexicanpete said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

I've been in the same carriage of the London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly train as Angela Rayner, she didn't seem overly tall.

She travels first class?

Standing up?

No, she was sat down for the most of the journey.

Theuniondivvie said:

Gardenwalker said:

Leon said:

rcs1000 said:

I told my wife the "my grandfather died in Auschwitz" joke last night.

She was not impressed.

It is, nonetheless, a brilliant joke. Subverting expectations and exploding taboos in two perfect lines

When I first saw it on a TV show the crowd was in shocked silence for about 3 seconds, then they roared with intense laughter

Got to be used in the right context tho. After someone has just been off-colour about the Holocaust you put on your appalled face - then go for it

I lived in this country for a year when I was 14/15.

One evening, on late night TV, I discovered Jerry Sadowitz.

Oh my god. I nearly died laughing.

Whatever happened to him?

I once almost sold him a bowler hat, didn't fit unfortunately, would have been a proud moment. I'd even have give him a discount ffs! He's fantastic live.

I completely missed the major revelation in this comment

You used to sell..... hats?!

SandyRentool said:

As we've been discussing Angela Rayner down thread, I guess it's time for me to disclose that she featured in a dream I had a couple of weeks ago.

Probably best that I don't provide details.

Did it involve her calling Tories scum while they licked her Doc Martens?

rcs1000 said:

FF43 said:

rcs1000 said:

Paristonda said:

France has opened up vaccinations to any adults obese (BMI 30+) following several days of pressure to widen the criteria with all the unused slots. I’m just under that limit after months of dieting this winter so it’s somewhat frustrating. I’ve decided to book an appointment for a week from now and gain a kilo in the meantime to put me over (I’m 30 so could be waiting months otherwise).

I know the story is that France has loads of unused appointments, but if you look at "proportion of doses received that have been administered", then they are ahead of almost every other EU country:

            Rcvd        Administered    % used
France      22,335      19,644          88%
Germany     29,645      25,489          86%
Poland      12,901      10,986          85%
Sweden      3,632       3,017           83%
Italy       22,795      18,722          82%
Netherlands 6,357       5,176           81%

Which is exactly the opposite of what you'd expect if they were struggling to find people to vaccinate.

France is also above the EU average for vaccinations (26.7% at least one dose vs 26.5%). The real laggards are Latvia and Greece.

Edit to add: all the numbers are in thousands. So, 22,335 means 22.335 million

As a general comment, I don't think % of deliveries administered is a particularly useful figure for determining whether a vaccination programme is successful. There could be valid distribution reasons why the figure was higher or lower. eg time to get from distribution centre to vaccination point, stickiness of deliveries, holding back second doses, the way deliveries may be recorded in advance while vaccinations are recorded in arrears.

The better measure I think is whether the % figure is trending down, indicating supply overtaking demand, which I think is happening in the US now.

In the US, the percentage unused has been pretty accurate at foretelling a slowdown. Mississippi and Alabama (for example) have only used a little over 60% of the doses they've recieved.

Hmm, yes. % vaccinated seems to be a good indicator of which states vote Republican and which Democrat

Hah!

The grandfather-Auschwitz joke is ultimately attributed to.... Bernard Manning

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/3634157/Say-no-to-gallows-humour.html


That sounds about right, it has exactly his spartan, two line delivery, punch punch. Manning was Russian-Jewish, of course


The article also has this excellent off-colour joke from Jimmy Carr


'Carr has a much better joke about gypsies, or rather about prejudice against Romany culture. "When people say: 'These travelling people, we've got to move them on,' I say: 'Isn't that playing into their hands?' '

Theuniondivvie said:

SandyRentool said:

As we've been discussing Angela Rayner down thread, I guess it's time for me to disclose that she featured in a dream I had a couple of weeks ago.

Probably best that I don't provide details.

Did it involve her calling Tories scum while they licked her Doc Martens?

Works for me...

.

Leon said:

stodge said:

Sunil_Prasannan said:

Leon said:

How do you embed photos in PB comments? Anyone?

Like this:

I remember seeing a whole batch of those in the bargain book bin at Smith's at Lakeside one day.

10p per copy but not getting any takers even at that price.

I remember the harrowing day the great SeanT left us, refusing to continue his scintillating commentary despite many pleas from the Smithsons. It was like the felling of a mighty redwood in California. No, it was worse, it was like the snuffing out of a giant star, Betelgeuse extinguished: in our lifetimes

I readily confess, I wept. I was just a lurker, but I sobbed like a babe in arms

Anyway, that day he left, I remember him admitting that his book, that one there, has sold a million copies worldwide, so he probably won't mind a few bargain book bins in the Lakes

So quite a few great trees felled in vain, then ?