Branagh is one of the most talented actors of our times, but he can't do Poirot and he insists on doing Poirot.
And he can sort-of do humour e.g. Professor Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter which he did passably well. Still not a patch on the brilliant Emma Thompson as Sybill Trelawney though.
He was good in Wallender, not quite as good as Krister Henriksson in the Swedish version but pretty good.
He played the ending of Wallender exceptionally well, I thought.
I saw him on the stage in the 80s with his Shakespeare company and he was one of the most mesmeric talents I have ever seen.
I am a fan of Kenneth Branagh but when I saw him on stage as the lead in Coriolanus at Chichester back in the 90s I wasn't impressed - I thought he underplayed the role.
Branagh is one of the most talented actors of our times, but he can't do Poirot and he insists on doing Poirot.
And he can sort-of do humour e.g. Professor Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter which he did passably well. Still not a patch on the brilliant Emma Thompson as Sybill Trelawney though.
He was good in Wallender, not quite as good as Krister Henriksson in the Swedish version but pretty good.
He played the ending of Wallender exceptionally well, I thought.
I saw him on the stage in the 80s with his Shakespeare company and he was one of the most mesmeric talents I have ever seen.
He was absolutely brilliant in Henry V.
I'd forgotten his performance as Heydrich which was also excellent, captured his ruthless cynicism despite bearing very little physical resemblance.
So you really do believe April is the cruellest month?
I don't actually detest the spring. There are many good things about it. But the end of winter is not one of them. For me the cruellest month is August. The Dead Days as I refer to them. Not even the birds sing very much in August.
August is a time for disconnecting from the hustle. Take two weeks off, turn off the WiFi. Buy a hammock and camp out under the stars. Watch the Perseids burst silently, a white flash of death at the end of a four billion year tumble through space. Sleep in late. Take afternoon Alpine walks to Mayrhofen, or La Dȏle. Sit on a rock in a pine forest in the shade of the drumming sun, and listen to the sibilation of insects. Fall asleep on a lawn with a hat over your face. August has devotees who know how it should be done, and she is rightly worshipped.
Beautifully coloured, but for one thing: you need THREE weeks to truly unwind
I’ve no idea why, but is true. There is a special alchemy which occurs if you escape for at least three weeks. A new relaxed person emerges. A fortnight is almost cruelly short. Not quite long enough for the end to be so far away it isn’t a worry
Why the fuck am I flying home tomorrow. I’m staring at the sunlit Indian Ocean from the verandah of a great British colonial Raj-era hotel. As flunkeys offer me weird free syllabubs that I do not want. Does it get better than that?
It has been delightfully sunny here. Whilst cold, there are hints of spring. That is joyous and touches the soul.
I'd still rather be in SE Asia, although April in Bangkok is hideously hot.
I've found this winter, whilst mild, a drag.
Is the British winter ever NOT a drag?
A ‘drag” seems to be the minimum. A relatively OK winter. Lots of relentlessly grey, dark, overcast weather. But hints of sun and mild, so more tolerable
That’s the British winter at its best. Draggy. Really goes on at least a month too long. Maybe 2 months, What is the fucking point of February?
Far worse are the cold, rainy winters, which chase you indoors even in the brief hours of daylight
Or the occasional fierce snowy winters, which we are not prepared for, and which are fun for 36 hours then horrible
Lockdown 3 was a uniquely hellish combo of all these with extra extra dystopia. No pubs. Nuffink
Oh my lord
Britain is absurdly far north, that's the problem. Without the Gulf Stream it would be virtually uninhabitable. Only 4% of the world's population lives north of London. Less than 1% lives north of the part of Scotland I grew up in. In virtually any inhabited part of the world you will get more sunlight in winter than you do here. I don't find winters in London too bad, but that is probably because I was conditioned during childhood to experience far worse.
Have to say I absolutely love the winter. I love what other people regard as 'bad' weather both being inside looking out and outside actually in it. I subscribe to the old maxim that there is no such thing as bad weather just inappropriate clothing.
This doesn't seem to be just a contrived contrariness on my part either. I seem to suffer from a reverse form of Seasonal Affective Disorder. As the nights start to close in I really come alive. My work output both for proper work and all the hobby projects I do goes through the roof in winter. I easily write 3 or 4 times more than I do in the summer and spend far more time out of doors in the winter. It is a trait I share with both my mother and sister although my Dad absolutely loathed the winter.
Autumn is my favourite season but winter comes a very close second.
I don't think February is so bad. It's starting to get light before 7am and is still light after 5pm, which improves every day. Then there's the Six Nations, ski trips (I accept not for everyone) and things start reopening for half-term. Also I love a cold crisp clear day with the sun out. It gets better still in March with flowers springing up and the return of BST.
I get more depressed by unseasonal cold snaps and incessant rain in April, to be honest. Once Winter has gone I don't like an epilogue.
It's January that is awful as Christmas is over, it's dark, no-one has any money and people insist on making it worse with new years resolutions, going "dry" and eating rabbit food for a month.
The mind is important in this. Christmas comes when it does for a reason. Shortest day period. Make Christmas last, the old fashioned way, for 40 days from Dec 25 to Feb 2 (Candlemas). Eat and drink differently during all that time. By then the crocuses are starting, even here in the grim north of England.
Mentally start spring when you see the first crocuses, and notice each new sign of it until mid June when summer starts.
Long Christmas (forget abstinence January - keep that for Lent); short winter; long spring; make summer last till the end of September; and decide that autumn is the best season of all. Then start again.
Why the fuck am I flying home tomorrow. I’m staring at the sunlit Indian Ocean from the verandah of a great British colonial Raj-era hotel. As flunkeys offer me weird free syllabubs that I do not want. Does it get better than that?
It has been delightfully sunny here. Whilst cold, there are hints of spring. That is joyous and touches the soul.
I'd still rather be in SE Asia, although April in Bangkok is hideously hot.
I've found this winter, whilst mild, a drag.
Is the British winter ever NOT a drag?
A ‘drag” seems to be the minimum. A relatively OK winter. Lots of relentlessly grey, dark, overcast weather. But hints of sun and mild, so more tolerable
That’s the British winter at its best. Draggy. Really goes on at least a month too long. Maybe 2 months, What is the fucking point of February?
Far worse are the cold, rainy winters, which chase you indoors even in the brief hours of daylight
Or the occasional fierce snowy winters, which we are not prepared for, and which are fun for 36 hours then horrible
Lockdown 3 was a uniquely hellish combo of all these with extra extra dystopia. No pubs. Nuffink
Oh my lord
Britain is absurdly far north, that's the problem. Without the Gulf Stream it would be virtually uninhabitable. Only 4% of the world's population lives north of London. Less than 1% lives north of the part of Scotland I grew up in. In virtually any inhabited part of the world you will get more sunlight in winter than you do here. I don't find winters in London too bad, but that is probably because I was conditioned during childhood to experience far worse.
Have to say I absolutely love the winter. I love what other people regard as 'bad' weather both being inside looking out and outside actually in it. I subscribe to the old maxim that there is no such thing as bad weather just inappropriate clothing.
This doesn't seem to be just a contrived contrariness on my part either. I seem to suffer from a reverse form of Seasonal Affective Disorder. As the nights start to close in I really come alive. My work output both for proper work and all the hobby projects I do goes through the roof in winter. I easily write 3 or 4 times more than I do in the summer and spend far more time out of doors in the winter. It is a trait I share with both my mother and sister although my Dad absolutely loathed the winter.
Autumn is my favourite season but winter comes a very close second.
I don't think February is so bad. It's starting to get light before 7am and is still light after 5pm, which improves every day. Then there's the Six Nations, ski trips (I accept not for everyone) and things start reopening for half-term. Also I love a cold crisp clear day with the sun out. It gets better still in March with flowers springing up and the return of BST.
I get more depressed by unseasonal cold snaps and incessant rain in April, to be honest. Once Winter has gone I don't like an epilogue.
It's January that is awful as Christmas is over, it's dark, no-one has any money and people insist on making it worse with new years resolutions, going "dry" and eating rabbit food for a month.
The mind is important in this. Christmas comes when it does for a reason. Shortest day period. Make Christmas last, the old fashioned way, for 40 days from Dec 25 to Feb 2 (Candlemas). Eat and drink differently during all that time. By then the crocuses are starting, even here in the grim north of England.
Mentally start spring when you see the first crocuses, and notice each new sign of it until mid June when summer starts.
Long Christmas (forget abstinence January - keep that for Lent); short winter; long spring; make summer last till the end of September; and decide that autumn is the best season of all. Then start again.
I agree. I'd hate to live in Oz with Christmas time sweltering hot, and then July being cold and grim with Christmas not there to cheer things up. (Am I thinking NZ as well?)
Why do people who quit from senior public sector jobs always seem to qualify for a payout? According to the Mail Dick is expecting to be paid the remainder of her 2 year contract amounting to something close to £500k https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10504449/Cressida-Dick-Sadiq-Khan-war-500-000-payoff-plus-160-000-year-pension.htm She has resigned. She might look to claim that she was constructively dismissed because one of her employers expressed a lack of trust and confidence in her. He might reply for very good reasons and do you want a list?
But it will probably be resolved by a very expensive deal which will be concealed for "confidentialty" reasons. Bah.
The payoff is one thing, she had a contract and the same thing would happen in the private sector.
The most astonishing thing is the pension, rumoured to be over £160k per year. That would be pretty much impossible to buy outside the public sector.
The govt gave her a new contract only a few months ago, when it was clear that they didn't really have any confidence in her. Just a waste of public money.
Small change. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/11/half-of-ppe-procured-by-uk-using-vip-companies-has-not-been-used ...The proportion of unused PPE is significantly higher for contracts processed through the a so-called VIP lane – 59% of the £1.7bn ordered from them – than for other firms awarded contracts through the standard procurement route. Of the £10.4bn committed to non-VIP companies for PPE, 17% or £1.8bn has not been used.
What is the correlation coefficient between % unused PPE and donations to the Tory party?
Who knows, but this is a potential scandal of enormous proportions. At the very least it's massive incompetence, and quite possibly a great deal worse.
Mysteries of the world part #375, how can Man U play so many world class and expensive attacking players and look utterly, completely undangerous?
Which ones are world class?
Ronaldo, arguably the best player of all time, Rashford, Pogba, Sancho, Fernandez, really a line up like that really should not be scoring less than 3 a game.
Why the fuck am I flying home tomorrow. I’m staring at the sunlit Indian Ocean from the verandah of a great British colonial Raj-era hotel. As flunkeys offer me weird free syllabubs that I do not want. Does it get better than that?
It has been delightfully sunny here. Whilst cold, there are hints of spring. That is joyous and touches the soul.
I'd still rather be in SE Asia, although April in Bangkok is hideously hot.
I've found this winter, whilst mild, a drag.
Is the British winter ever NOT a drag?
A ‘drag” seems to be the minimum. A relatively OK winter. Lots of relentlessly grey, dark, overcast weather. But hints of sun and mild, so more tolerable
That’s the British winter at its best. Draggy. Really goes on at least a month too long. Maybe 2 months, What is the fucking point of February?
Far worse are the cold, rainy winters, which chase you indoors even in the brief hours of daylight
Or the occasional fierce snowy winters, which we are not prepared for, and which are fun for 36 hours then horrible
Lockdown 3 was a uniquely hellish combo of all these with extra extra dystopia. No pubs. Nuffink
Oh my lord
Britain is absurdly far north, that's the problem. Without the Gulf Stream it would be virtually uninhabitable. Only 4% of the world's population lives north of London. Less than 1% lives north of the part of Scotland I grew up in. In virtually any inhabited part of the world you will get more sunlight in winter than you do here. I don't find winters in London too bad, but that is probably because I was conditioned during childhood to experience far worse.
Have to say I absolutely love the winter. I love what other people regard as 'bad' weather both being inside looking out and outside actually in it. I subscribe to the old maxim that there is no such thing as bad weather just inappropriate clothing.
This doesn't seem to be just a contrived contrariness on my part either. I seem to suffer from a reverse form of Seasonal Affective Disorder. As the nights start to close in I really come alive. My work output both for proper work and all the hobby projects I do goes through the roof in winter. I easily write 3 or 4 times more than I do in the summer and spend far more time out of doors in the winter. It is a trait I share with both my mother and sister although my Dad absolutely loathed the winter.
Autumn is my favourite season but winter comes a very close second.
I don't think February is so bad. It's starting to get light before 7am and is still light after 5pm, which improves every day. Then there's the Six Nations, ski trips (I accept not for everyone) and things start reopening for half-term. Also I love a cold crisp clear day with the sun out. It gets better still in March with flowers springing up and the return of BST.
I get more depressed by unseasonal cold snaps and incessant rain in April, to be honest. Once Winter has gone I don't like an epilogue.
It's January that is awful as Christmas is over, it's dark, no-one has any money and people insist on making it worse with new years resolutions, going "dry" and eating rabbit food for a month.
The mind is important in this. Christmas comes when it does for a reason. Shortest day period. Make Christmas last, the old fashioned way, for 40 days from Dec 25 to Feb 2 (Candlemas). Eat and drink differently during all that time. By then the crocuses are starting, even here in the grim north of England.
Mentally start spring when you see the first crocuses, and notice each new sign of it until mid June when summer starts.
Long Christmas (forget abstinence January - keep that for Lent); short winter; long spring; make summer last till the end of September; and decide that autumn is the best season of all. Then start again.
Nail Easter down to its earliest possible date (first Sunday on or after 22 March) to kick off spring as soon as poss. Lent then fits in neatly after Candlemas.
Why the fuck am I flying home tomorrow. I’m staring at the sunlit Indian Ocean from the verandah of a great British colonial Raj-era hotel. As flunkeys offer me weird free syllabubs that I do not want. Does it get better than that?
It has been delightfully sunny here. Whilst cold, there are hints of spring. That is joyous and touches the soul.
I'd still rather be in SE Asia, although April in Bangkok is hideously hot.
I've found this winter, whilst mild, a drag.
Is the British winter ever NOT a drag?
A ‘drag” seems to be the minimum. A relatively OK winter. Lots of relentlessly grey, dark, overcast weather. But hints of sun and mild, so more tolerable
That’s the British winter at its best. Draggy. Really goes on at least a month too long. Maybe 2 months, What is the fucking point of February?
Far worse are the cold, rainy winters, which chase you indoors even in the brief hours of daylight
Or the occasional fierce snowy winters, which we are not prepared for, and which are fun for 36 hours then horrible
Lockdown 3 was a uniquely hellish combo of all these with extra extra dystopia. No pubs. Nuffink
Oh my lord
Britain is absurdly far north, that's the problem. Without the Gulf Stream it would be virtually uninhabitable. Only 4% of the world's population lives north of London. Less than 1% lives north of the part of Scotland I grew up in. In virtually any inhabited part of the world you will get more sunlight in winter than you do here. I don't find winters in London too bad, but that is probably because I was conditioned during childhood to experience far worse.
Have to say I absolutely love the winter. I love what other people regard as 'bad' weather both being inside looking out and outside actually in it. I subscribe to the old maxim that there is no such thing as bad weather just inappropriate clothing.
This doesn't seem to be just a contrived contrariness on my part either. I seem to suffer from a reverse form of Seasonal Affective Disorder. As the nights start to close in I really come alive. My work output both for proper work and all the hobby projects I do goes through the roof in winter. I easily write 3 or 4 times more than I do in the summer and spend far more time out of doors in the winter. It is a trait I share with both my mother and sister although my Dad absolutely loathed the winter.
Autumn is my favourite season but winter comes a very close second.
I bet this'll change when your currently oldish bones get that bit older. Or maybe it won't - and I hope it doesn't - but it did with me. I used to like winter too but I feel the cold a lot more now. The idea of doing Dec to Feb somewhere warm has for the first time started to semi appeal.
Do it.
It is joyous. Like being let out of jail unexpectedly
Britain is No Country for Old Men
Also it makes financial sense if you come somewhere cheap like Sri Lanka.
You live in Hampstead. You’re not poor. How much do you spend on heating and warm clothes and decent restaurants to keep yourself cheerful during Dec-Feb?
You can do 6 weeks in Sri Lanka in winter in VERY nice 4-5 star hotels for £60 a day inc great food and decent booze. 45 x 60 = £2700 plus airfare
How much do you spend in Hampstead in the worst 6 weeks of winter?! And in Sri Lanka you’re in a hotel so your cleaning is all free etc. Laundry is pennies. You walk out into tropical evenings. Lovely big moons and wild wild stars. Coconut palms. Fruit bats. Soft sensuous breezes. The odd ginormous storm, then back to the calm blue sea….
Up to now, your posts from foreign climes have been pleasant reportage but have not clome close to tempting me away from a Pennine winter. But those last sentences have hit a spot - expected moons and stars bit. And, you know, weirdly, it occurs to me it could work for me too. It always struck me that life was just for footloose freelancers - but how many days in the last 23 months have I spent in the office? Fewer than ten. Indeed, many of my idle moments over the past two years have beenspent wondering whether I could move to the Lake District. So why not winter in Sri Lanka? Obviously not right now. Kids at school, etc. But in 10 years time, perhaps...
MANY people must now be thinking the same
= “i love London, NYC, Paris, Berlin… Manchester… but do I have to spend winter there? Covid says No”
Only my experience but I find cities to be less affected by the negative aspects of winter than other types of place.
On the other hand they can be dreadful places when its hot.
Why the fuck am I flying home tomorrow. I’m staring at the sunlit Indian Ocean from the verandah of a great British colonial Raj-era hotel. As flunkeys offer me weird free syllabubs that I do not want. Does it get better than that?
It has been delightfully sunny here. Whilst cold, there are hints of spring. That is joyous and touches the soul.
I'd still rather be in SE Asia, although April in Bangkok is hideously hot.
I've found this winter, whilst mild, a drag.
Is the British winter ever NOT a drag?
A ‘drag” seems to be the minimum. A relatively OK winter. Lots of relentlessly grey, dark, overcast weather. But hints of sun and mild, so more tolerable
That’s the British winter at its best. Draggy. Really goes on at least a month too long. Maybe 2 months, What is the fucking point of February?
Far worse are the cold, rainy winters, which chase you indoors even in the brief hours of daylight
Or the occasional fierce snowy winters, which we are not prepared for, and which are fun for 36 hours then horrible
Lockdown 3 was a uniquely hellish combo of all these with extra extra dystopia. No pubs. Nuffink
Oh my lord
Britain is absurdly far north, that's the problem. Without the Gulf Stream it would be virtually uninhabitable. Only 4% of the world's population lives north of London. Less than 1% lives north of the part of Scotland I grew up in. In virtually any inhabited part of the world you will get more sunlight in winter than you do here. I don't find winters in London too bad, but that is probably because I was conditioned during childhood to experience far worse.
Have to say I absolutely love the winter. I love what other people regard as 'bad' weather both being inside looking out and outside actually in it. I subscribe to the old maxim that there is no such thing as bad weather just inappropriate clothing.
This doesn't seem to be just a contrived contrariness on my part either. I seem to suffer from a reverse form of Seasonal Affective Disorder. As the nights start to close in I really come alive. My work output both for proper work and all the hobby projects I do goes through the roof in winter. I easily write 3 or 4 times more than I do in the summer and spend far more time out of doors in the winter. It is a trait I share with both my mother and sister although my Dad absolutely loathed the winter.
Autumn is my favourite season but winter comes a very close second.
I bet this'll change when your currently oldish bones get that bit older. Or maybe it won't - and I hope it doesn't - but it did with me. I used to like winter too but I feel the cold a lot more now. The idea of doing Dec to Feb somewhere warm has for the first time started to semi appeal.
Do it.
It is joyous. Like being let out of jail unexpectedly
Britain is No Country for Old Men
Also it makes financial sense if you come somewhere cheap like Sri Lanka.
You live in Hampstead. You’re not poor. How much do you spend on heating and warm clothes and decent restaurants to keep yourself cheerful during Dec-Feb?
You can do 6 weeks in Sri Lanka in winter in VERY nice 4-5 star hotels for £60 a day inc great food and decent booze. 45 x 60 = £2700 plus airfare
How much do you spend in Hampstead in the worst 6 weeks of winter?! And in Sri Lanka you’re in a hotel so your cleaning is all free etc. Laundry is pennies. You walk out into tropical evenings. Lovely big moons and wild wild stars. Coconut palms. Fruit bats. Soft sensuous breezes. The odd ginormous storm, then back to the calm blue sea….
Up to now, your posts from foreign climes have been pleasant reportage but have not clome close to tempting me away from a Pennine winter. But those last sentences have hit a spot - expected moons and stars bit. And, you know, weirdly, it occurs to me it could work for me too. It always struck me that life was just for footloose freelancers - but how many days in the last 23 months have I spent in the office? Fewer than ten. Indeed, many of my idle moments over the past two years have beenspent wondering whether I could move to the Lake District. So why not winter in Sri Lanka? Obviously not right now. Kids at school, etc. But in 10 years time, perhaps...
Probably best when the kids are at school. They'll fend for themselves ok.
Why do people who quit from senior public sector jobs always seem to qualify for a payout? According to the Mail Dick is expecting to be paid the remainder of her 2 year contract amounting to something close to £500k https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10504449/Cressida-Dick-Sadiq-Khan-war-500-000-payoff-plus-160-000-year-pension.htm She has resigned. She might look to claim that she was constructively dismissed because one of her employers expressed a lack of trust and confidence in her. He might reply for very good reasons and do you want a list?
But it will probably be resolved by a very expensive deal which will be concealed for "confidentialty" reasons. Bah.
Same reason people in the private sector are compensated for "loss of office" (or at least the ones well above my paygrade). Because it is the boss class who write the contracts.
But it is our money she is beiing loaded up with.
Admittedly, in her case, asking her to actually work for it would do more harm than good and we are well shot of her. But could she not be redeployed to some (very) quiet Hamlet somewhere to walk the beat for the next 2 years?
I mean, I appreciate that there is a non negligible risk someone in that Hamlet may get shot whilst going about their business, that several people will be accused of being peodophiles without a shred of credible evidence, that race relations may deterioate to a significant extent and that she would still find ways of bullying people and abusing her position whilst taking positive steps to block any inquiry into her behaviour but its the principle of the thing.
The price of failure and mediocrity when you reach a certain level is a very good pay off. It is not her but the whole system. Sadly it is just us proles who get a month or two in lieu of notice and off you go.
Proles get nothing. It is the upper middle who get a month or two off with full pay. And the top who get a year or twos pay.
Not in any business I’ve worked in that has made redundancies and there have been a few. The proles, like me, always got their notice period paid in full.
Yes but your notice is never 2 years long.
That’s right. 3 months is the maximum I have ever had. Currently 2 months.
My notice is 3 months in my current entry level pretty much minimum wage job. I presume it will be much higher in future…
Mysteries of the world part #375, how can Man U play so many world class and expensive attacking players and look utterly, completely undangerous?
Which ones are world class?
Ronaldo, arguably the best player of all time, Rashford, Pogba, Sancho, Fernandez, really a line up like that really should not be scoring less than 3 a game.
I guess it depends on how you define World Class. I define it as "would get into a World XI (or maybe the bench)".
At his best, De Gea is the best goalkeeper I have ever seen, so I think he counts.
Ronaldo was a yes from 2006-2019, but he's past his best now.
Perhaps Varane is world class, but he has a pretty average partner at centre back.
The rest don't get a look in when compared with what Liverpool and Man City have.
Why do people who quit from senior public sector jobs always seem to qualify for a payout? According to the Mail Dick is expecting to be paid the remainder of her 2 year contract amounting to something close to £500k https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10504449/Cressida-Dick-Sadiq-Khan-war-500-000-payoff-plus-160-000-year-pension.htm She has resigned. She might look to claim that she was constructively dismissed because one of her employers expressed a lack of trust and confidence in her. He might reply for very good reasons and do you want a list?
But it will probably be resolved by a very expensive deal which will be concealed for "confidentialty" reasons. Bah.
The payoff is one thing, she had a contract and the same thing would happen in the private sector.
The most astonishing thing is the pension, rumoured to be over £160k per year. That would be pretty much impossible to buy outside the public sector.
The govt gave her a new contract only a few months ago, when it was clear that they didn't really have any confidence in her. Just a waste of public money.
Small change. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/11/half-of-ppe-procured-by-uk-using-vip-companies-has-not-been-used ...The proportion of unused PPE is significantly higher for contracts processed through the a so-called VIP lane – 59% of the £1.7bn ordered from them – than for other firms awarded contracts through the standard procurement route. Of the £10.4bn committed to non-VIP companies for PPE, 17% or £1.8bn has not been used.
What is the correlation coefficient between % unused PPE and donations to the Tory party?
Who knows, but this is a potential scandal of enormous proportions. At the very least it's massive incompetence, and quite possibly a great deal worse.
Is it actually worse to be governed by kleptocrats rather than incompetents? It would be an interesting experiment to find out, sadly we are run by incompetent kleptocrats.
Why the fuck am I flying home tomorrow. I’m staring at the sunlit Indian Ocean from the verandah of a great British colonial Raj-era hotel. As flunkeys offer me weird free syllabubs that I do not want. Does it get better than that?
It has been delightfully sunny here. Whilst cold, there are hints of spring. That is joyous and touches the soul.
I'd still rather be in SE Asia, although April in Bangkok is hideously hot.
I've found this winter, whilst mild, a drag.
Is the British winter ever NOT a drag?
A ‘drag” seems to be the minimum. A relatively OK winter. Lots of relentlessly grey, dark, overcast weather. But hints of sun and mild, so more tolerable
That’s the British winter at its best. Draggy. Really goes on at least a month too long. Maybe 2 months, What is the fucking point of February?
Far worse are the cold, rainy winters, which chase you indoors even in the brief hours of daylight
Or the occasional fierce snowy winters, which we are not prepared for, and which are fun for 36 hours then horrible
Lockdown 3 was a uniquely hellish combo of all these with extra extra dystopia. No pubs. Nuffink
Oh my lord
Britain is absurdly far north, that's the problem. Without the Gulf Stream it would be virtually uninhabitable. Only 4% of the world's population lives north of London. Less than 1% lives north of the part of Scotland I grew up in. In virtually any inhabited part of the world you will get more sunlight in winter than you do here. I don't find winters in London too bad, but that is probably because I was conditioned during childhood to experience far worse.
Have to say I absolutely love the winter. I love what other people regard as 'bad' weather both being inside looking out and outside actually in it. I subscribe to the old maxim that there is no such thing as bad weather just inappropriate clothing.
This doesn't seem to be just a contrived contrariness on my part either. I seem to suffer from a reverse form of Seasonal Affective Disorder. As the nights start to close in I really come alive. My work output both for proper work and all the hobby projects I do goes through the roof in winter. I easily write 3 or 4 times more than I do in the summer and spend far more time out of doors in the winter. It is a trait I share with both my mother and sister although my Dad absolutely loathed the winter.
Autumn is my favourite season but winter comes a very close second.
I don't think February is so bad. It's starting to get light before 7am and is still light after 5pm, which improves every day. Then there's the Six Nations, ski trips (I accept not for everyone) and things start reopening for half-term. Also I love a cold crisp clear day with the sun out. It gets better still in March with flowers springing up and the return of BST.
I get more depressed by unseasonal cold snaps and incessant rain in April, to be honest. Once Winter has gone I don't like an epilogue.
It's January that is awful as Christmas is over, it's dark, no-one has any money and people insist on making it worse with new years resolutions, going "dry" and eating rabbit food for a month.
The mind is important in this. Christmas comes when it does for a reason. Shortest day period. Make Christmas last, the old fashioned way, for 40 days from Dec 25 to Feb 2 (Candlemas). Eat and drink differently during all that time. By then the crocuses are starting, even here in the grim north of England.
Mentally start spring when you see the first crocuses, and notice each new sign of it until mid June when summer starts.
Long Christmas (forget abstinence January - keep that for Lent); short winter; long spring; make summer last till the end of September; and decide that autumn is the best season of all. Then start again.
Nail Easter down to its earliest possible date (first Sunday on or after 22 March) to kick off spring as soon as poss. Lent then fits in neatly after Candlemas.
Sympathise but disagree. To do this would play around with the moon, which is entitled to consideration. The fact that Easter can fall on any day from 22 March to 25 April adds variety and spice to life, while annoying boring people who like predictability and uniformity. Add to that that 22 March and 25 April only happen every couple of centuries for maths reasons (its roughly a 1 in 28x7 chance), and there is even more fun.
The formula, if there is anyone on PB who didn't know is: Easter is the Sunday following the full moon occurring on or after 21 March.
Why the fuck am I flying home tomorrow. I’m staring at the sunlit Indian Ocean from the verandah of a great British colonial Raj-era hotel. As flunkeys offer me weird free syllabubs that I do not want. Does it get better than that?
It has been delightfully sunny here. Whilst cold, there are hints of spring. That is joyous and touches the soul.
I'd still rather be in SE Asia, although April in Bangkok is hideously hot.
I've found this winter, whilst mild, a drag.
Is the British winter ever NOT a drag?
A ‘drag” seems to be the minimum. A relatively OK winter. Lots of relentlessly grey, dark, overcast weather. But hints of sun and mild, so more tolerable
That’s the British winter at its best. Draggy. Really goes on at least a month too long. Maybe 2 months, What is the fucking point of February?
Far worse are the cold, rainy winters, which chase you indoors even in the brief hours of daylight
Or the occasional fierce snowy winters, which we are not prepared for, and which are fun for 36 hours then horrible
Lockdown 3 was a uniquely hellish combo of all these with extra extra dystopia. No pubs. Nuffink
Oh my lord
Britain is absurdly far north, that's the problem. Without the Gulf Stream it would be virtually uninhabitable. Only 4% of the world's population lives north of London. Less than 1% lives north of the part of Scotland I grew up in. In virtually any inhabited part of the world you will get more sunlight in winter than you do here. I don't find winters in London too bad, but that is probably because I was conditioned during childhood to experience far worse.
Have to say I absolutely love the winter. I love what other people regard as 'bad' weather both being inside looking out and outside actually in it. I subscribe to the old maxim that there is no such thing as bad weather just inappropriate clothing.
This doesn't seem to be just a contrived contrariness on my part either. I seem to suffer from a reverse form of Seasonal Affective Disorder. As the nights start to close in I really come alive. My work output both for proper work and all the hobby projects I do goes through the roof in winter. I easily write 3 or 4 times more than I do in the summer and spend far more time out of doors in the winter. It is a trait I share with both my mother and sister although my Dad absolutely loathed the winter.
Autumn is my favourite season but winter comes a very close second.
I don't think February is so bad. It's starting to get light before 7am and is still light after 5pm, which improves every day. Then there's the Six Nations, ski trips (I accept not for everyone) and things start reopening for half-term. Also I love a cold crisp clear day with the sun out. It gets better still in March with flowers springing up and the return of BST.
I get more depressed by unseasonal cold snaps and incessant rain in April, to be honest. Once Winter has gone I don't like an epilogue.
It's January that is awful as Christmas is over, it's dark, no-one has any money and people insist on making it worse with new years resolutions, going "dry" and eating rabbit food for a month.
The mind is important in this. Christmas comes when it does for a reason. Shortest day period. Make Christmas last, the old fashioned way, for 40 days from Dec 25 to Feb 2 (Candlemas). Eat and drink differently during all that time. By then the crocuses are starting, even here in the grim north of England.
Mentally start spring when you see the first crocuses, and notice each new sign of it until mid June when summer starts.
Long Christmas (forget abstinence January - keep that for Lent); short winter; long spring; make summer last till the end of September; and decide that autumn is the best season of all. Then start again.
Nail Easter down to its earliest possible date (first Sunday on or after 22 March) to kick off spring as soon as poss. Lent then fits in neatly after Candlemas.
Sympathise but disagree. To do this would play around with the moon, which is entitled to consideration. The fact that Easter can fall on any day from 22 March to 25 April adds variety and spice to life, while annoying boring people who like predictability and uniformity. Add to that that 22 March and 25 April only happen every couple of centuries for maths reasons (its roughly a 1 in 28x7 chance), and there is even more fun.
The formula, if there is anyone on PB who didn't know is: Easter is the Sunday following the full moon occurring on or after 21 March.
Yes, the Sunday after the full moon after the Equinox. I do sometimes wonder how we ended up with that formula.
I am currently living in a country where we use the Islamic calendar - which is based on the lunar cycle and is about 13 days shorter than the regular Gregorian calendar. They also insist on actually sighting the new moon after sunset every month, with scholars going up mountains with telescopes - something that means you hear an announcement at 8pm or 9pm, that the following day is a public holiday. The next country might take the holiday the day afterwards, if they don’t see the new moon.
My wife’s home country follows the Orthodox calendar, based on the Julian Calandar. They celebrate Christmas Day on the 6th Jan, and New Year a week later.
Why the fuck am I flying home tomorrow. I’m staring at the sunlit Indian Ocean from the verandah of a great British colonial Raj-era hotel. As flunkeys offer me weird free syllabubs that I do not want. Does it get better than that?
It has been delightfully sunny here. Whilst cold, there are hints of spring. That is joyous and touches the soul.
I'd still rather be in SE Asia, although April in Bangkok is hideously hot.
I've found this winter, whilst mild, a drag.
Is the British winter ever NOT a drag?
A ‘drag” seems to be the minimum. A relatively OK winter. Lots of relentlessly grey, dark, overcast weather. But hints of sun and mild, so more tolerable
That’s the British winter at its best. Draggy. Really goes on at least a month too long. Maybe 2 months, What is the fucking point of February?
Far worse are the cold, rainy winters, which chase you indoors even in the brief hours of daylight
Or the occasional fierce snowy winters, which we are not prepared for, and which are fun for 36 hours then horrible
Lockdown 3 was a uniquely hellish combo of all these with extra extra dystopia. No pubs. Nuffink
Oh my lord
Britain is absurdly far north, that's the problem. Without the Gulf Stream it would be virtually uninhabitable. Only 4% of the world's population lives north of London. Less than 1% lives north of the part of Scotland I grew up in. In virtually any inhabited part of the world you will get more sunlight in winter than you do here. I don't find winters in London too bad, but that is probably because I was conditioned during childhood to experience far worse.
Have to say I absolutely love the winter. I love what other people regard as 'bad' weather both being inside looking out and outside actually in it. I subscribe to the old maxim that there is no such thing as bad weather just inappropriate clothing.
This doesn't seem to be just a contrived contrariness on my part either. I seem to suffer from a reverse form of Seasonal Affective Disorder. As the nights start to close in I really come alive. My work output both for proper work and all the hobby projects I do goes through the roof in winter. I easily write 3 or 4 times more than I do in the summer and spend far more time out of doors in the winter. It is a trait I share with both my mother and sister although my Dad absolutely loathed the winter.
Autumn is my favourite season but winter comes a very close second.
I don't think February is so bad. It's starting to get light before 7am and is still light after 5pm, which improves every day. Then there's the Six Nations, ski trips (I accept not for everyone) and things start reopening for half-term. Also I love a cold crisp clear day with the sun out. It gets better still in March with flowers springing up and the return of BST.
I get more depressed by unseasonal cold snaps and incessant rain in April, to be honest. Once Winter has gone I don't like an epilogue.
It's January that is awful as Christmas is over, it's dark, no-one has any money and people insist on making it worse with new years resolutions, going "dry" and eating rabbit food for a month.
The mind is important in this. Christmas comes when it does for a reason. Shortest day period. Make Christmas last, the old fashioned way, for 40 days from Dec 25 to Feb 2 (Candlemas). Eat and drink differently during all that time. By then the crocuses are starting, even here in the grim north of England.
Mentally start spring when you see the first crocuses, and notice each new sign of it until mid June when summer starts.
Long Christmas (forget abstinence January - keep that for Lent); short winter; long spring; make summer last till the end of September; and decide that autumn is the best season of all. Then start again.
Nail Easter down to its earliest possible date (first Sunday on or after 22 March) to kick off spring as soon as poss. Lent then fits in neatly after Candlemas.
The Easter Act 1928 actually fixed it as the Sunday after the second Saturday of April. That would fix it within a week, but it would be towards the end rather than the beginning of the current window.
Famously Denis Healey’s first rule of holes was: when you are in one, stop digging. His second rule is just as important: when you finally stop digging, you’re still in a hole.
After nearly two weeks where, on the issue of pensions, the SNP simply could not be persuaded to stop digging, it is worth looking at how deep a hole they are now in.
Why the fuck am I flying home tomorrow. I’m staring at the sunlit Indian Ocean from the verandah of a great British colonial Raj-era hotel. As flunkeys offer me weird free syllabubs that I do not want. Does it get better than that?
It has been delightfully sunny here. Whilst cold, there are hints of spring. That is joyous and touches the soul.
I'd still rather be in SE Asia, although April in Bangkok is hideously hot.
I've found this winter, whilst mild, a drag.
Is the British winter ever NOT a drag?
A ‘drag” seems to be the minimum. A relatively OK winter. Lots of relentlessly grey, dark, overcast weather. But hints of sun and mild, so more tolerable
That’s the British winter at its best. Draggy. Really goes on at least a month too long. Maybe 2 months, What is the fucking point of February?
Far worse are the cold, rainy winters, which chase you indoors even in the brief hours of daylight
Or the occasional fierce snowy winters, which we are not prepared for, and which are fun for 36 hours then horrible
Lockdown 3 was a uniquely hellish combo of all these with extra extra dystopia. No pubs. Nuffink
Oh my lord
Britain is absurdly far north, that's the problem. Without the Gulf Stream it would be virtually uninhabitable. Only 4% of the world's population lives north of London. Less than 1% lives north of the part of Scotland I grew up in. In virtually any inhabited part of the world you will get more sunlight in winter than you do here. I don't find winters in London too bad, but that is probably because I was conditioned during childhood to experience far worse.
Have to say I absolutely love the winter. I love what other people regard as 'bad' weather both being inside looking out and outside actually in it. I subscribe to the old maxim that there is no such thing as bad weather just inappropriate clothing.
This doesn't seem to be just a contrived contrariness on my part either. I seem to suffer from a reverse form of Seasonal Affective Disorder. As the nights start to close in I really come alive. My work output both for proper work and all the hobby projects I do goes through the roof in winter. I easily write 3 or 4 times more than I do in the summer and spend far more time out of doors in the winter. It is a trait I share with both my mother and sister although my Dad absolutely loathed the winter.
Autumn is my favourite season but winter comes a very close second.
I bet this'll change when your currently oldish bones get that bit older. Or maybe it won't - and I hope it doesn't - but it did with me. I used to like winter too but I feel the cold a lot more now. The idea of doing Dec to Feb somewhere warm has for the first time started to semi appeal.
I could easily do a swap with our Thai daughter-in-law. I would love to spend the winter there, especially Late November > End January. However she really likes the idea of snow, as do the grandchildren. So far anyway. However they only get a couple of weeks in any given year and I suspect the novelty would soon wear off. And Bangkok's too warm for Mrs C, most of the time. So I reckon about a month is all I'm likely to get.
OKC, she gets two weeks more snow than we see up here in Ayrshire nowadays. Wet and windy is the norm or winter now, used to be shedloads of snow and frosty days when I was a boy.
Ten children (six boys, four girls; mean age 192 days, range 17 to 401 days) with suspected AHT [abusive head trauma] were seen [at GOSH] during this time [Mar-Apr 2020] in comparison with a mean of 0.67 cases per month in the same period over the previous 3 years. This equates to a 1493% increase in cases of AHT
Morning all, let's hope the world hasn't turned to cinders this time next week, so we can all discuss HYUFD 's threshold for finally withdrawing support for Boris, rather than dusting off 1950's "Protect and Survive" manuals.
Somewhat more realistically, any military movement against centres of population in Ukraine would be a catastrophe.
Funny how the No1 target in the United Kingdom is just outside Glasgow. Very odd that they didn’t locate the 200 nuclear warheads in southern England. I wonder why?
Geology? Access to the North Atlantic? Employment opportunities for the locals?
Odd how the Nats ignore that where we actually manufacture the nukes is 50 miles from London.....but that doesn't fit the victim narrative.
Why the fuck am I flying home tomorrow. I’m staring at the sunlit Indian Ocean from the verandah of a great British colonial Raj-era hotel. As flunkeys offer me weird free syllabubs that I do not want. Does it get better than that?
It has been delightfully sunny here. Whilst cold, there are hints of spring. That is joyous and touches the soul.
I'd still rather be in SE Asia, although April in Bangkok is hideously hot.
I've found this winter, whilst mild, a drag.
Is the British winter ever NOT a drag?
A ‘drag” seems to be the minimum. A relatively OK winter. Lots of relentlessly grey, dark, overcast weather. But hints of sun and mild, so more tolerable
That’s the British winter at its best. Draggy. Really goes on at least a month too long. Maybe 2 months, What is the fucking point of February?
Far worse are the cold, rainy winters, which chase you indoors even in the brief hours of daylight
Or the occasional fierce snowy winters, which we are not prepared for, and which are fun for 36 hours then horrible
Lockdown 3 was a uniquely hellish combo of all these with extra extra dystopia. No pubs. Nuffink
Oh my lord
Britain is absurdly far north, that's the problem. Without the Gulf Stream it would be virtually uninhabitable. Only 4% of the world's population lives north of London. Less than 1% lives north of the part of Scotland I grew up in. In virtually any inhabited part of the world you will get more sunlight in winter than you do here. I don't find winters in London too bad, but that is probably because I was conditioned during childhood to experience far worse.
Have to say I absolutely love the winter. I love what other people regard as 'bad' weather both being inside looking out and outside actually in it. I subscribe to the old maxim that there is no such thing as bad weather just inappropriate clothing.
This doesn't seem to be just a contrived contrariness on my part either. I seem to suffer from a reverse form of Seasonal Affective Disorder. As the nights start to close in I really come alive. My work output both for proper work and all the hobby projects I do goes through the roof in winter. I easily write 3 or 4 times more than I do in the summer and spend far more time out of doors in the winter. It is a trait I share with both my mother and sister although my Dad absolutely loathed the winter.
Autumn is my favourite season but winter comes a very close second.
I don't think February is so bad. It's starting to get light before 7am and is still light after 5pm, which improves every day. Then there's the Six Nations, ski trips (I accept not for everyone) and things start reopening for half-term. Also I love a cold crisp clear day with the sun out. It gets better still in March with flowers springing up and the return of BST.
I get more depressed by unseasonal cold snaps and incessant rain in April, to be honest. Once Winter has gone I don't like an epilogue.
It's January that is awful as Christmas is over, it's dark, no-one has any money and people insist on making it worse with new years resolutions, going "dry" and eating rabbit food for a month.
The mind is important in this. Christmas comes when it does for a reason. Shortest day period. Make Christmas last, the old fashioned way, for 40 days from Dec 25 to Feb 2 (Candlemas). Eat and drink differently during all that time. By then the crocuses are starting, even here in the grim north of England.
Mentally start spring when you see the first crocuses, and notice each new sign of it until mid June when summer starts.
Long Christmas (forget abstinence January - keep that for Lent); short winter; long spring; make summer last till the end of September; and decide that autumn is the best season of all. Then start again.
Nail Easter down to its earliest possible date (first Sunday on or after 22 March) to kick off spring as soon as poss. Lent then fits in neatly after Candlemas.
Sympathise but disagree. To do this would play around with the moon, which is entitled to consideration. The fact that Easter can fall on any day from 22 March to 25 April adds variety and spice to life, while annoying boring people who like predictability and uniformity. Add to that that 22 March and 25 April only happen every couple of centuries for maths reasons (its roughly a 1 in 28x7 chance), and there is even more fun.
The formula, if there is anyone on PB who didn't know is: Easter is the Sunday following the full moon occurring on or after 21 March.
Yes, the Sunday after the full moon after the Equinox. I do sometimes wonder how we ended up with that formula.
I am currently living in a country where we use the Islamic calendar - which is based on the lunar cycle and is about 13 days shorter than the regular Gregorian calendar. They also insist on actually sighting the new moon after sunset every month, with scholars going up mountains with telescopes - something that means you hear an announcement at 8pm or 9pm, that the following day is a public holiday. The next country might take the holiday the day afterwards, if they don’t see the new moon.
My wife’s home country follows the Orthodox calendar, based on the Julian Calandar. They celebrate Christmas Day on the 6th Jan, and New Year a week later.
There is some very serious scholarship on whether in an emergency the testimony of a woman on the appearance of the new moon can ever be acceptable.
Saw Branagh (then with Thompson) in Much Ado about Nothing - played as a jolly romp. Then saw Mark Rylance also acting and directing bring a whole new sinister aspect to the play. Branagh can be a very good actor and a pretty good director, it’s just when he tries to do both - especially when he is starring that things can be less good. I did enjoy one of his early acting/directing outings - “Dead Again” - but there the star was the plot (as it should be in DOTN).
Morning all, let's hope the world hasn't turned to cinders this time next week, so we can all discuss HYUFD 's threshold for finally withdrawing support for Boris, rather than dusting off 1950's "Protect and Survive" manuals.
Somewhat more realistically, any military movement against centres of population in Ukraine would be a catastrophe.
Funny how the No1 target in the United Kingdom is just outside Glasgow. Very odd that they didn’t locate the 200 nuclear warheads in southern England. I wonder why?
Geology? Access to the North Atlantic? Employment opportunities for the locals?
Odd how the Nats ignore that where we actually manufacture the nukes is 50 miles from London.....but that doesn't fit the victim narrative.
May be buying a laptop in the near future. Any recommendations on where to buy from? (Obviously I could just get one from Amazon but I don't buy this sort of thing often and I imagine there are decent alternatives).
Edited extra bit: I have to go now, but thanks in advance to anyone who replies (I'll check them later) or sends me a message.
My advice is choose the laptop first then work out where to buy it from.
I've had several Microsoft surface laptops which I think are very good, as long as you use chrome and not microsoft edge as a web browser.
I've found Currys to be ok as you can go to an actual shop for them to look at it if something goes inexplicably wrong (but only if you buy it from the store, not online). That way you avoid the hassle and confusion of having to ship it back to whoever you bought it from if you want to return it.
I always buy Lenovo Thinkpads on ebay with a 1 year warranty, you get a refurbished high end laptop for less than you would pay for the consumer one as new. Never had any issues.
Why the fuck am I flying home tomorrow. I’m staring at the sunlit Indian Ocean from the verandah of a great British colonial Raj-era hotel. As flunkeys offer me weird free syllabubs that I do not want. Does it get better than that?
It has been delightfully sunny here. Whilst cold, there are hints of spring. That is joyous and touches the soul.
I'd still rather be in SE Asia, although April in Bangkok is hideously hot.
I've found this winter, whilst mild, a drag.
Is the British winter ever NOT a drag?
A ‘drag” seems to be the minimum. A relatively OK winter. Lots of relentlessly grey, dark, overcast weather. But hints of sun and mild, so more tolerable
That’s the British winter at its best. Draggy. Really goes on at least a month too long. Maybe 2 months, What is the fucking point of February?
Far worse are the cold, rainy winters, which chase you indoors even in the brief hours of daylight
Or the occasional fierce snowy winters, which we are not prepared for, and which are fun for 36 hours then horrible
Lockdown 3 was a uniquely hellish combo of all these with extra extra dystopia. No pubs. Nuffink
Oh my lord
Britain is absurdly far north, that's the problem. Without the Gulf Stream it would be virtually uninhabitable. Only 4% of the world's population lives north of London. Less than 1% lives north of the part of Scotland I grew up in. In virtually any inhabited part of the world you will get more sunlight in winter than you do here. I don't find winters in London too bad, but that is probably because I was conditioned during childhood to experience far worse.
Have to say I absolutely love the winter. I love what other people regard as 'bad' weather both being inside looking out and outside actually in it. I subscribe to the old maxim that there is no such thing as bad weather just inappropriate clothing.
This doesn't seem to be just a contrived contrariness on my part either. I seem to suffer from a reverse form of Seasonal Affective Disorder. As the nights start to close in I really come alive. My work output both for proper work and all the hobby projects I do goes through the roof in winter. I easily write 3 or 4 times more than I do in the summer and spend far more time out of doors in the winter. It is a trait I share with both my mother and sister although my Dad absolutely loathed the winter.
Autumn is my favourite season but winter comes a very close second.
I don't think February is so bad. It's starting to get light before 7am and is still light after 5pm, which improves every day. Then there's the Six Nations, ski trips (I accept not for everyone) and things start reopening for half-term. Also I love a cold crisp clear day with the sun out. It gets better still in March with flowers springing up and the return of BST.
I get more depressed by unseasonal cold snaps and incessant rain in April, to be honest. Once Winter has gone I don't like an epilogue.
It's January that is awful as Christmas is over, it's dark, no-one has any money and people insist on making it worse with new years resolutions, going "dry" and eating rabbit food for a month.
The mind is important in this. Christmas comes when it does for a reason. Shortest day period. Make Christmas last, the old fashioned way, for 40 days from Dec 25 to Feb 2 (Candlemas). Eat and drink differently during all that time. By then the crocuses are starting, even here in the grim north of England.
Mentally start spring when you see the first crocuses, and notice each new sign of it until mid June when summer starts.
Long Christmas (forget abstinence January - keep that for Lent); short winter; long spring; make summer last till the end of September; and decide that autumn is the best season of all. Then start again.
Nail Easter down to its earliest possible date (first Sunday on or after 22 March) to kick off spring as soon as poss. Lent then fits in neatly after Candlemas.
Sympathise but disagree. To do this would play around with the moon, which is entitled to consideration. The fact that Easter can fall on any day from 22 March to 25 April adds variety and spice to life, while annoying boring people who like predictability and uniformity. Add to that that 22 March and 25 April only happen every couple of centuries for maths reasons (its roughly a 1 in 28x7 chance), and there is even more fun.
The formula, if there is anyone on PB who didn't know is: Easter is the Sunday following the full moon occurring on or after 21 March.
Yes, the Sunday after the full moon after the Equinox. I do sometimes wonder how we ended up with that formula.
I am currently living in a country where we use the Islamic calendar - which is based on the lunar cycle and is about 13 days shorter than the regular Gregorian calendar. They also insist on actually sighting the new moon after sunset every month, with scholars going up the mountain with a telescope - something that means you hear an announcement at 8pm or 9pm, that the following day is a public holiday.
My wife’s home country follows the Orthodox calendar, based on the Julian Calandar. They celebrate Christmas Day on the 6th Jan, and New Year a week later.
The formula - which took centuries to agree on, and actually still isn't universal, relates to the Passover, 15 Nisan, the first month of spring, at which season Jesus died (confusion reigns over exactly which day as the gospels don't quite agree), which is governed by the full moon, being in the middle of a month commencing with the new moon.
So Easter has to be a Sunday (to mark the day) and has to be after the Passover (to mark the historic time sequence) and its full moon. The fixed point is the spring equinox.
Morning all, let's hope the world hasn't turned to cinders this time next week, so we can all discuss HYUFD 's threshold for finally withdrawing support for Boris, rather than dusting off 1950's "Protect and Survive" manuals.
Somewhat more realistically, any military movement against centres of population in Ukraine would be a catastrophe.
Funny how the No1 target in the United Kingdom is just outside Glasgow. Very odd that they didn’t locate the 200 nuclear warheads in southern England. I wonder why?
Geology? Access to the North Atlantic? Employment opportunities for the locals?
Odd how the Nats ignore that where we actually manufacture the nukes is 50 miles from London.....but that doesn't fit the victim narrative.
Also, where do we park the radioactive hulks?
Scotland of course
You’re a third right:
There are currently 21 former Royal Navy nuclear submarines awaiting disposal, 7 in Rosyth and 14 in Devonport.
Why the fuck am I flying home tomorrow. I’m staring at the sunlit Indian Ocean from the verandah of a great British colonial Raj-era hotel. As flunkeys offer me weird free syllabubs that I do not want. Does it get better than that?
It has been delightfully sunny here. Whilst cold, there are hints of spring. That is joyous and touches the soul.
I'd still rather be in SE Asia, although April in Bangkok is hideously hot.
I've found this winter, whilst mild, a drag.
Is the British winter ever NOT a drag?
A ‘drag” seems to be the minimum. A relatively OK winter. Lots of relentlessly grey, dark, overcast weather. But hints of sun and mild, so more tolerable
That’s the British winter at its best. Draggy. Really goes on at least a month too long. Maybe 2 months, What is the fucking point of February?
Far worse are the cold, rainy winters, which chase you indoors even in the brief hours of daylight
Or the occasional fierce snowy winters, which we are not prepared for, and which are fun for 36 hours then horrible
Lockdown 3 was a uniquely hellish combo of all these with extra extra dystopia. No pubs. Nuffink
Oh my lord
Britain is absurdly far north, that's the problem. Without the Gulf Stream it would be virtually uninhabitable. Only 4% of the world's population lives north of London. Less than 1% lives north of the part of Scotland I grew up in. In virtually any inhabited part of the world you will get more sunlight in winter than you do here. I don't find winters in London too bad, but that is probably because I was conditioned during childhood to experience far worse.
Have to say I absolutely love the winter. I love what other people regard as 'bad' weather both being inside looking out and outside actually in it. I subscribe to the old maxim that there is no such thing as bad weather just inappropriate clothing.
This doesn't seem to be just a contrived contrariness on my part either. I seem to suffer from a reverse form of Seasonal Affective Disorder. As the nights start to close in I really come alive. My work output both for proper work and all the hobby projects I do goes through the roof in winter. I easily write 3 or 4 times more than I do in the summer and spend far more time out of doors in the winter. It is a trait I share with both my mother and sister although my Dad absolutely loathed the winter.
Autumn is my favourite season but winter comes a very close second.
I don't think February is so bad. It's starting to get light before 7am and is still light after 5pm, which improves every day. Then there's the Six Nations, ski trips (I accept not for everyone) and things start reopening for half-term. Also I love a cold crisp clear day with the sun out. It gets better still in March with flowers springing up and the return of BST.
I get more depressed by unseasonal cold snaps and incessant rain in April, to be honest. Once Winter has gone I don't like an epilogue.
It's January that is awful as Christmas is over, it's dark, no-one has any money and people insist on making it worse with new years resolutions, going "dry" and eating rabbit food for a month.
The mind is important in this. Christmas comes when it does for a reason. Shortest day period. Make Christmas last, the old fashioned way, for 40 days from Dec 25 to Feb 2 (Candlemas). Eat and drink differently during all that time. By then the crocuses are starting, even here in the grim north of England.
Mentally start spring when you see the first crocuses, and notice each new sign of it until mid June when summer starts.
Long Christmas (forget abstinence January - keep that for Lent); short winter; long spring; make summer last till the end of September; and decide that autumn is the best season of all. Then start again.
Nail Easter down to its earliest possible date (first Sunday on or after 22 March) to kick off spring as soon as poss. Lent then fits in neatly after Candlemas.
The Easter Act 1928 actually fixed it as the Sunday after the second Saturday of April. That would fix it within a week, but it would be towards the end rather than the beginning of the current window.
The Easter Act requires ecumenical agreement to come into effect. It will soon be 100 years old. If anyone offers odds on this (!!), bet the farm on it not happening.
Famously Denis Healey’s first rule of holes was: when you are in one, stop digging. His second rule is just as important: when you finally stop digging, you’re still in a hole.
After nearly two weeks where, on the issue of pensions, the SNP simply could not be persuaded to stop digging, it is worth looking at how deep a hole they are now in.
‘If an independent country such as Iceland, with a population only marginally bigger than Ayrshire, can manage pensions, currency, health, education & international relations, why on earth would anyone conclude that Scotland couldn’t?'
Why do people who quit from senior public sector jobs always seem to qualify for a payout? According to the Mail Dick is expecting to be paid the remainder of her 2 year contract amounting to something close to £500k https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10504449/Cressida-Dick-Sadiq-Khan-war-500-000-payoff-plus-160-000-year-pension.htm She has resigned. She might look to claim that she was constructively dismissed because one of her employers expressed a lack of trust and confidence in her. He might reply for very good reasons and do you want a list?
But it will probably be resolved by a very expensive deal which will be concealed for "confidentialty" reasons. Bah.
Same reason people in the private sector are compensated for "loss of office" (or at least the ones well above my paygrade). Because it is the boss class who write the contracts.
But it is our money she is beiing loaded up with.
Admittedly, in her case, asking her to actually work for it would do more harm than good and we are well shot of her. But could she not be redeployed to some (very) quiet Hamlet somewhere to walk the beat for the next 2 years?
I mean, I appreciate that there is a non negligible risk someone in that Hamlet may get shot whilst going about their business, that several people will be accused of being peodophiles without a shred of credible evidence, that race relations may deterioate to a significant extent and that she would still find ways of bullying people and abusing her position whilst taking positive steps to block any inquiry into her behaviour but its the principle of the thing.
The price of failure and mediocrity when you reach a certain level is a very good pay off. It is not her but the whole system. Sadly it is just us proles who get a month or two in lieu of notice and off you go.
Proles get nothing. It is the upper middle who get a month or two off with full pay. And the top who get a year or twos pay.
Not in any business I’ve worked in that has made redundancies and there have been a few. The proles, like me, always got their notice period paid in full.
Yes but your notice is never 2 years long.
That’s right. 3 months is the maximum I have ever had. Currently 2 months.
My notice is 3 months in my current entry level pretty much minimum wage job. I presume it will be much higher in future…
Why the fuck am I flying home tomorrow. I’m staring at the sunlit Indian Ocean from the verandah of a great British colonial Raj-era hotel. As flunkeys offer me weird free syllabubs that I do not want. Does it get better than that?
It has been delightfully sunny here. Whilst cold, there are hints of spring. That is joyous and touches the soul.
I'd still rather be in SE Asia, although April in Bangkok is hideously hot.
I've found this winter, whilst mild, a drag.
Is the British winter ever NOT a drag?
A ‘drag” seems to be the minimum. A relatively OK winter. Lots of relentlessly grey, dark, overcast weather. But hints of sun and mild, so more tolerable
That’s the British winter at its best. Draggy. Really goes on at least a month too long. Maybe 2 months, What is the fucking point of February?
Far worse are the cold, rainy winters, which chase you indoors even in the brief hours of daylight
Or the occasional fierce snowy winters, which we are not prepared for, and which are fun for 36 hours then horrible
Lockdown 3 was a uniquely hellish combo of all these with extra extra dystopia. No pubs. Nuffink
Oh my lord
Britain is absurdly far north, that's the problem. Without the Gulf Stream it would be virtually uninhabitable. Only 4% of the world's population lives north of London. Less than 1% lives north of the part of Scotland I grew up in. In virtually any inhabited part of the world you will get more sunlight in winter than you do here. I don't find winters in London too bad, but that is probably because I was conditioned during childhood to experience far worse.
I like it. You can keep a block of butter out of the fridge.
Famously Denis Healey’s first rule of holes was: when you are in one, stop digging. His second rule is just as important: when you finally stop digging, you’re still in a hole.
After nearly two weeks where, on the issue of pensions, the SNP simply could not be persuaded to stop digging, it is worth looking at how deep a hole they are now in.
‘If an independent country such as Iceland, with a population only marginally bigger than Ayrshire, can manage pensions, currency, health, education & international relations, why on earth would anyone conclude that Scotland couldn’t?'
Quite
I don't know what the answer is, but there are several possibilities. This pile on is Johnsonism at its worst; it is up there with Starmer/Savile and lies on buses.
Why the fuck am I flying home tomorrow. I’m staring at the sunlit Indian Ocean from the verandah of a great British colonial Raj-era hotel. As flunkeys offer me weird free syllabubs that I do not want. Does it get better than that?
It has been delightfully sunny here. Whilst cold, there are hints of spring. That is joyous and touches the soul.
I'd still rather be in SE Asia, although April in Bangkok is hideously hot.
I've found this winter, whilst mild, a drag.
Is the British winter ever NOT a drag?
A ‘drag” seems to be the minimum. A relatively OK winter. Lots of relentlessly grey, dark, overcast weather. But hints of sun and mild, so more tolerable
That’s the British winter at its best. Draggy. Really goes on at least a month too long. Maybe 2 months, What is the fucking point of February?
Far worse are the cold, rainy winters, which chase you indoors even in the brief hours of daylight
Or the occasional fierce snowy winters, which we are not prepared for, and which are fun for 36 hours then horrible
Lockdown 3 was a uniquely hellish combo of all these with extra extra dystopia. No pubs. Nuffink
Oh my lord
Britain is absurdly far north, that's the problem. Without the Gulf Stream it would be virtually uninhabitable. Only 4% of the world's population lives north of London. Less than 1% lives north of the part of Scotland I grew up in. In virtually any inhabited part of the world you will get more sunlight in winter than you do here. I don't find winters in London too bad, but that is probably because I was conditioned during childhood to experience far worse.
Have to say I absolutely love the winter. I love what other people regard as 'bad' weather both being inside looking out and outside actually in it. I subscribe to the old maxim that there is no such thing as bad weather just inappropriate clothing.
This doesn't seem to be just a contrived contrariness on my part either. I seem to suffer from a reverse form of Seasonal Affective Disorder. As the nights start to close in I really come alive. My work output both for proper work and all the hobby projects I do goes through the roof in winter. I easily write 3 or 4 times more than I do in the summer and spend far more time out of doors in the winter. It is a trait I share with both my mother and sister although my Dad absolutely loathed the winter.
Autumn is my favourite season but winter comes a very close second.
I don't think February is so bad. It's starting to get light before 7am and is still light after 5pm, which improves every day. Then there's the Six Nations, ski trips (I accept not for everyone) and things start reopening for half-term. Also I love a cold crisp clear day with the sun out. It gets better still in March with flowers springing up and the return of BST.
I get more depressed by unseasonal cold snaps and incessant rain in April, to be honest. Once Winter has gone I don't like an epilogue.
It's January that is awful as Christmas is over, it's dark, no-one has any money and people insist on making it worse with new years resolutions, going "dry" and eating rabbit food for a month.
The mind is important in this. Christmas comes when it does for a reason. Shortest day period. Make Christmas last, the old fashioned way, for 40 days from Dec 25 to Feb 2 (Candlemas). Eat and drink differently during all that time. By then the crocuses are starting, even here in the grim north of England.
Mentally start spring when you see the first crocuses, and notice each new sign of it until mid June when summer starts.
Long Christmas (forget abstinence January - keep that for Lent); short winter; long spring; make summer last till the end of September; and decide that autumn is the best season of all. Then start again.
Nail Easter down to its earliest possible date (first Sunday on or after 22 March) to kick off spring as soon as poss. Lent then fits in neatly after Candlemas.
The Easter Act 1928 actually fixed it as the Sunday after the second Saturday of April. That would fix it within a week, but it would be towards the end rather than the beginning of the current window.
The Easter Act requires ecumenical agreement to come into effect. It will soon be 100 years old. If anyone offers odds on this (!!), bet the farm on it not happening.
Famously Denis Healey’s first rule of holes was: when you are in one, stop digging. His second rule is just as important: when you finally stop digging, you’re still in a hole.
After nearly two weeks where, on the issue of pensions, the SNP simply could not be persuaded to stop digging, it is worth looking at how deep a hole they are now in.
‘If an independent country such as Iceland, with a population only marginally bigger than Ayrshire, can manage pensions, currency, health, education & international relations, why on earth would anyone conclude that Scotland couldn’t?'
And a good afternoon to you too - though I note you don’t address the issues raised and instead attack a straw man.
To put your mind at rest: No one does. Just the SNP don’t seem to want to fess up how much it will cost so have taken to lying about it.
Famously Denis Healey’s first rule of holes was: when you are in one, stop digging. His second rule is just as important: when you finally stop digging, you’re still in a hole.
After nearly two weeks where, on the issue of pensions, the SNP simply could not be persuaded to stop digging, it is worth looking at how deep a hole they are now in.
‘If an independent country such as Iceland, with a population only marginally bigger than Ayrshire, can manage pensions, currency, health, education & international relations, why on earth would anyone conclude that Scotland couldn’t?'
I don’t think anyone is concluding that. It’s a straw man.
It’s just that there would be a very painful fiscal adjustment for Scotland, which would take 10-20 years to work through.
It would also, ceteris paribas, create a long term dampener on growth due to the introduction of friction with Scotland’s largest trading partner.
Famously Denis Healey’s first rule of holes was: when you are in one, stop digging. His second rule is just as important: when you finally stop digging, you’re still in a hole.
After nearly two weeks where, on the issue of pensions, the SNP simply could not be persuaded to stop digging, it is worth looking at how deep a hole they are now in.
‘If an independent country such as Iceland, with a population only marginally bigger than Ayrshire, can manage pensions, currency, health, education & international relations, why on earth would anyone conclude that Scotland couldn’t?'
Quite
I don't know what the answer is, but there are several possibilities. This pile on is Johnsonism at its worst; it is up there with Starmer/Savile and lies on buses.
The ordnance locker has been somewhat denuded since the last unpleasantness, it's evident that the new strategy (forced by circumstances) is to make bigger bangs with less ammunition.
A tiny little porpoise going extinct via a combination of horrible Mexican drug cartels and stupid Chinese voodoo medicine. How horribly illustrative of the times
The issue with British winters is not the temperature, it is the lack of sunlight.
The table for sunlight hours on wiki is quite illuminating, and explains why I never enjoyed a single English winter in twenty years living there…
Go to work in the dark, and come back from work in the dark, for three or four months straight. Really used to get me every winter.
UK is much further north than we think, and the weather is relatively mild because of the jet stream. Glasgow is further north than Moscow, as is Berwick.
Yes I know she is resigning and if it is in the contract then it is in the contract. Unfair as it is and it is not right. But won’t change.
The view on here seems to be that if you contribute to your pension via an in-house scheme and then you are dismissed from your post, you forfeit any benefits accrued into a scheme into which you paid?
It's not true of all public sector pension schemes but certainly for local Government (and I believe civil service though I may be wrong) both employee and employer make contributions into the scheme. Recently, the level of employee contributions has been rising and for those higher up the salary level, the amount added each month is considerable (though as a proportion of salary not so much).
The more the higher paid staff put in, the more it's affordable for those further down the food chain but everyone is contributing up to 7.5% of salary each month and for those higher up, even more.
I don't think you can lose your accrued pension entitlement whatever goes on. iirc it is pension law that the accrued benefits are locked in. I think that is right, but happy to be corrected.
The assumption has to be that the employee has worked satisfactorily till the time of resignation or dismissal, as a fundamental element of the contract. If the employer has been so incompetent as to allow someone to carry on when unsatisfactory for a significant period, then good luck in the resulting tribunal trying to reclaim the pension for the 'unsatisfactory' period. What I am not sure about is if someone is suspended with, and without, pay - in the former case then that would include pension entitlement and deductions, and in the latter, not, I assume?
Also pubvlic sector schemes have changed so much over the last 2-3 decades, now defined contrib for new persons usually, that most people in service for a couple of decades will effectively have a mixture of schemes depending on their times of service and personal preference. That has to be borne in mind as well.
Plus there is or was usually a minimum period of service before one can become a full member of the scheme - maybe 2 years. So if one is dismissed during that period, or resigns, one justr gets one's contribs back (or not at all if one has opted for a standalone scheme with a private supplier, I assume).
The new Civil Service pension scheme is not defined contrib, it is career average revalued rather than final salary. Can't speak for other public sector schemes but I presume I would have heard if they had gone DC.
I have never been a fan of removing accrued pension rights, even in cases of gross misconduct. Which can be as inoccuous as calling your boss a twat. It would have to be something completely egregious such as embezzlement from the employer in my view, or eg a policeman engaging in serious illegality.
That puzzled me so I checked back - yes, my memory was off. There is a career average DB scheme, the older schemes soon to be closed down completely except for preserved accrued rights, but there is also a DC scheme, though you are right, in the sense that the latter is not compulsory. There is a third option as well of opting out and presumably going private.
Why do people who quit from senior public sector jobs always seem to qualify for a payout? According to the Mail Dick is expecting to be paid the remainder of her 2 year contract amounting to something close to £500k https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10504449/Cressida-Dick-Sadiq-Khan-war-500-000-payoff-plus-160-000-year-pension.htm She has resigned. She might look to claim that she was constructively dismissed because one of her employers expressed a lack of trust and confidence in her. He might reply for very good reasons and do you want a list?
But it will probably be resolved by a very expensive deal which will be concealed for "confidentialty" reasons. Bah.
Same reason people in the private sector are compensated for "loss of office" (or at least the ones well above my paygrade). Because it is the boss class who write the contracts.
But it is our money she is beiing loaded up with.
Admittedly, in her case, asking her to actually work for it would do more harm than good and we are well shot of her. But could she not be redeployed to some (very) quiet Hamlet somewhere to walk the beat for the next 2 years?
I mean, I appreciate that there is a non negligible risk someone in that Hamlet may get shot whilst going about their business, that several people will be accused of being peodophiles without a shred of credible evidence, that race relations may deterioate to a significant extent and that she would still find ways of bullying people and abusing her position whilst taking positive steps to block any inquiry into her behaviour but its the principle of the thing.
The price of failure and mediocrity when you reach a certain level is a very good pay off. It is not her but the whole system. Sadly it is just us proles who get a month or two in lieu of notice and off you go.
Proles get nothing. It is the upper middle who get a month or two off with full pay. And the top who get a year or twos pay.
Not in any business I’ve worked in that has made redundancies and there have been a few. The proles, like me, always got their notice period paid in full.
Yes but your notice is never 2 years long.
That’s right. 3 months is the maximum I have ever had. Currently 2 months.
My notice is 3 months in my current entry level pretty much minimum wage job. I presume it will be much higher in future…
Morning all, let's hope the world hasn't turned to cinders this time next week, so we can all discuss HYUFD 's threshold for finally withdrawing support for Boris, rather than dusting off 1950's "Protect and Survive" manuals.
Somewhat more realistically, any military movement against centres of population in Ukraine would be a catastrophe.
Funny how the No1 target in the United Kingdom is just outside Glasgow. Very odd that they didn’t locate the 200 nuclear warheads in southern England. I wonder why?
Geology? Access to the North Atlantic? Employment opportunities for the locals?
Odd how the Nats ignore that where we actually manufacture the nukes is 50 miles from London.....but that doesn't fit the victim narrative.
Also, where do we park the radioactive hulks?
Scotland of course
You’re a third right:
There are currently 21 former Royal Navy nuclear submarines awaiting disposal, 7 in Rosyth and 14 in Devonport.
Morning all, let's hope the world hasn't turned to cinders this time next week, so we can all discuss HYUFD 's threshold for finally withdrawing support for Boris, rather than dusting off 1950's "Protect and Survive" manuals.
Somewhat more realistically, any military movement against centres of population in Ukraine would be a catastrophe.
Funny how the No1 target in the United Kingdom is just outside Glasgow. Very odd that they didn’t locate the 200 nuclear warheads in southern England. I wonder why?
Geology? Access to the North Atlantic? Employment opportunities for the locals?
Odd how the Nats ignore that where we actually manufacture the nukes is 50 miles from London.....but that doesn't fit the victim narrative.
The issue with British winters is not the temperature, it is the lack of sunlight.
The table for sunlight hours on wiki is quite illuminating, and explains why I never enjoyed a single English winter in twenty years living there…
Go to work in the dark, and come back from work in the dark, for three or four months straight. Really used to get me every winter.
UK is much further north than we think, and the weather is relatively mild because of the jet stream. Glasgow is further north than Moscow, as is Berwick.
Glasgow is further north than Moscow by about 10k, hardly mind blowing. I think I'll take our winters over theirs.
Morning all, let's hope the world hasn't turned to cinders this time next week, so we can all discuss HYUFD 's threshold for finally withdrawing support for Boris, rather than dusting off 1950's "Protect and Survive" manuals.
Somewhat more realistically, any military movement against centres of population in Ukraine would be a catastrophe.
Funny how the No1 target in the United Kingdom is just outside Glasgow. Very odd that they didn’t locate the 200 nuclear warheads in southern England. I wonder why?
Geology? Access to the North Atlantic? Employment opportunities for the locals?
Odd how the Nats ignore that where we actually manufacture the nukes is 50 miles from London.....but that doesn't fit the victim narrative.
Also, where do we park the radioactive hulks?
Scotland of course
You’re a third right:
There are currently 21 former Royal Navy nuclear submarines awaiting disposal, 7 in Rosyth and 14 in Devonport.
The issue with British winters is not the temperature, it is the lack of sunlight.
The table for sunlight hours on wiki is quite illuminating, and explains why I never enjoyed a single English winter in twenty years living there…
My daughter suffers from SAD. It is cumulative and this time of year is the worst. She is currently in Cyprus and it genuinely is for medical reasons.
I am happy she has a found a way through. I don’t really want to spend another Q1 in the UK.
OTOH I would never want to spend a Q1 in NYC. The bitter, sometimes deadly cold grinds you down, the same way the darkness depresses you in the UK
They've got cars big as bars They've got rivers of gold But the wind goes right through you It's no place for the old
It’s actually great, though. The quality of light is brilliant and the air smells fresh despite what must be atrocious pollution from the oversized cars.
I’ve taken the kids to school every day since Jan 4 across Central Park; I think minus 8 was probably the lowest. You just need to dress properly.
Morning all, let's hope the world hasn't turned to cinders this time next week, so we can all discuss HYUFD 's threshold for finally withdrawing support for Boris, rather than dusting off 1950's "Protect and Survive" manuals.
Somewhat more realistically, any military movement against centres of population in Ukraine would be a catastrophe.
Funny how the No1 target in the United Kingdom is just outside Glasgow. Very odd that they didn’t locate the 200 nuclear warheads in southern England. I wonder why?
Geology? Access to the North Atlantic? Employment opportunities for the locals?
Odd how the Nats ignore that where we actually manufacture the nukes is 50 miles from London.....but that doesn't fit the victim narrative.
Also, where do we park the radioactive hulks?
Scotland of course
You’re a third right:
There are currently 21 former Royal Navy nuclear submarines awaiting disposal, 7 in Rosyth and 14 in Devonport.
The issue with British winters is not the temperature, it is the lack of sunlight.
The table for sunlight hours on wiki is quite illuminating, and explains why I never enjoyed a single English winter in twenty years living there…
My daughter suffers from SAD. It is cumulative and this time of year is the worst. She is currently in Cyprus and it genuinely is for medical reasons.
I am happy she has a found a way through. I don’t really want to spend another Q1 in the UK.
OTOH I would never want to spend a Q1 in NYC. The bitter, sometimes deadly cold grinds you down, the same way the darkness depresses you in the UK
They've got cars big as bars They've got rivers of gold But the wind goes right through you It's no place for the old
It’s actually great, though. The quality of light is brilliant and the air smells fresh despite what must be atrocious pollution from the oversized cars.
I’ve taken the kids to school every day since Jan 4 across Central Park; I think minus 8 was probably the lowest. You just need to dress properly.
I’m dreading the summer, though.
Good for you, but not for me. I hate the cold, possibly more than the dark
I love tropical climates, basically. I would ideally do six months in Sri Lanka/Thailand etc (in their dry season) then the other six spring summer months in Europe, mostly London and the UK with some side trips to the Med
Morning all, let's hope the world hasn't turned to cinders this time next week, so we can all discuss HYUFD 's threshold for finally withdrawing support for Boris, rather than dusting off 1950's "Protect and Survive" manuals.
Somewhat more realistically, any military movement against centres of population in Ukraine would be a catastrophe.
Funny how the No1 target in the United Kingdom is just outside Glasgow. Very odd that they didn’t locate the 200 nuclear warheads in southern England. I wonder why?
Geology? Access to the North Atlantic? Employment opportunities for the locals?
Odd how the Nats ignore that where we actually manufacture the nukes is 50 miles from London.....but that doesn't fit the victim narrative.
Also, where do we park the radioactive hulks?
Scotland of course
You’re a third right:
There are currently 21 former Royal Navy nuclear submarines awaiting disposal, 7 in Rosyth and 14 in Devonport.
“ As @MoonRabbit has returned with the quality racing selections “
One of my hunches hasn’t even been seen for eighteen months. They must have forgot they had him.
The theme of my post was, if you get on a horse there is danger of falling off! 🤣
@stodge Agree that it is not the best of racing today but have put on more cash than usual, I am hoping for return to form of Nicholl's horses so have gone with following. Treble Bravemansgame 13:15 Newbury Clan Des Obeaux 14:25 Newbury Corey's Courage 12:50 Uttoxeter
Double and singles Bravemansgame 13:15 Newbury Clan Des Obeaux 14:25 Newbury
The worst place I've ever been in winter has been NY. Closely followed by Florence and Zürich
Bitterly cold each time, with the sort of cold that gets into your bones and stays there. Absolutely ghastly.
I've spent 2 winters in the Lakes and have rather enjoyed them. Sure there are bad days - but there are far more good days when the sky is bright and the light over the sea astonishing. I like looking at weather and when the landscape is as glorious as it is, it's a joy. Plus I have a wonderfully warm fire to snuggle in front of.
This winter has been quite balmy really. The weather on a recent walk .....
Morning all, let's hope the world hasn't turned to cinders this time next week, so we can all discuss HYUFD 's threshold for finally withdrawing support for Boris, rather than dusting off 1950's "Protect and Survive" manuals.
Somewhat more realistically, any military movement against centres of population in Ukraine would be a catastrophe.
Funny how the No1 target in the United Kingdom is just outside Glasgow. Very odd that they didn’t locate the 200 nuclear warheads in southern England. I wonder why?
Geology? Access to the North Atlantic? Employment opportunities for the locals?
Odd how the Nats ignore that where we actually manufacture the nukes is 50 miles from London.....but that doesn't fit the victim narrative.
Also, where do we park the radioactive hulks?
Scotland of course
You’re a third right:
There are currently 21 former Royal Navy nuclear submarines awaiting disposal, 7 in Rosyth and 14 in Devonport.
In other words, about 4 x the Scottish share on population.
You saw this I presume?
Ukraine REALLY regrets its unilateral disarmament
“Don’t give up your missiles!”
The SNP/CND position is about to take a serious hit
What % drop in SNP/Indy support in polling are you predicting?
None
I don’t think it will drop at all. But every one of these stories - pensions, borders, now nukes - is slowly but surely rusting away the good ship HMS Indy, invisibly, below the waterline, and one day she will suddenly and alarmingly tilt towards the beckoning depths
Famously Denis Healey’s first rule of holes was: when you are in one, stop digging. His second rule is just as important: when you finally stop digging, you’re still in a hole.
After nearly two weeks where, on the issue of pensions, the SNP simply could not be persuaded to stop digging, it is worth looking at how deep a hole they are now in.
‘If an independent country such as Iceland, with a population only marginally bigger than Ayrshire, can manage pensions, currency, health, education & international relations, why on earth would anyone conclude that Scotland couldn’t?'
I don’t think anyone is concluding that. It’s a straw man.
It’s just that there would be a very painful fiscal adjustment for Scotland, which would take 10-20 years to work through.
It would also, ceteris paribas, create a long term dampener on growth due to the introduction of friction with Scotland’s largest trading partner.
Quite. It's like pretty much anything else in public policy that's going to cost a lot of money. An awful lot of people think it's a brilliant idea, just so long as they aren't expected to pay for it.
Famously Denis Healey’s first rule of holes was: when you are in one, stop digging. His second rule is just as important: when you finally stop digging, you’re still in a hole.
After nearly two weeks where, on the issue of pensions, the SNP simply could not be persuaded to stop digging, it is worth looking at how deep a hole they are now in.
‘If an independent country such as Iceland, with a population only marginally bigger than Ayrshire, can manage pensions, currency, health, education & international relations, why on earth would anyone conclude that Scotland couldn’t?'
Iceland has a higher gdp per capita than Scotland and is in NATO as well as the EEA
Morning all, let's hope the world hasn't turned to cinders this time next week, so we can all discuss HYUFD 's threshold for finally withdrawing support for Boris, rather than dusting off 1950's "Protect and Survive" manuals.
Somewhat more realistically, any military movement against centres of population in Ukraine would be a catastrophe.
Funny how the No1 target in the United Kingdom is just outside Glasgow. Very odd that they didn’t locate the 200 nuclear warheads in southern England. I wonder why?
Geology? Access to the North Atlantic? Employment opportunities for the locals?
Odd how the Nats ignore that where we actually manufacture the nukes is 50 miles from London.....but that doesn't fit the victim narrative.
Also, where do we park the radioactive hulks?
Scotland of course
You’re a third right:
There are currently 21 former Royal Navy nuclear submarines awaiting disposal, 7 in Rosyth and 14 in Devonport.
In other words, about 4 x the Scottish share on population....
Yes, but the boats in Scotland have had their fuel removed. And the rest of the contaminated waste when they are fully dismantled will almost certainly not remain in Scotland.
Morning all, let's hope the world hasn't turned to cinders this time next week, so we can all discuss HYUFD 's threshold for finally withdrawing support for Boris, rather than dusting off 1950's "Protect and Survive" manuals.
Somewhat more realistically, any military movement against centres of population in Ukraine would be a catastrophe.
Funny how the No1 target in the United Kingdom is just outside Glasgow. Very odd that they didn’t locate the 200 nuclear warheads in southern England. I wonder why?
Geology? Access to the North Atlantic? Employment opportunities for the locals?
Odd how the Nats ignore that where we actually manufacture the nukes is 50 miles from London.....but that doesn't fit the victim narrative.
Also, where do we park the radioactive hulks?
Scotland of course
You’re a third right:
There are currently 21 former Royal Navy nuclear submarines awaiting disposal, 7 in Rosyth and 14 in Devonport.
In other words, about 4 x the Scottish share on population.
You saw this I presume?
Ukraine REALLY regrets its unilateral disarmament
“Don’t give up your missiles!”
The SNP/CND position is about to take a serious hit
Yes, Ukraine only disarmed because the UK and US promised to look after them if they did. They’re not NATO members, but we made a specific promise to look after Ukraine. It’s known as the Budapest Memorandum, and was signed in 1994. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budapest_Memorandum_on_Security_Assurances
Periodic reminder that history is complicated with a wicked sense of humour.
There is this interesting war film on Amazon Prime, with Estonians fighting on the side of both Germany, and the Red Army, and the various dilemmas involved:
Morning all, let's hope the world hasn't turned to cinders this time next week, so we can all discuss HYUFD 's threshold for finally withdrawing support for Boris, rather than dusting off 1950's "Protect and Survive" manuals.
Somewhat more realistically, any military movement against centres of population in Ukraine would be a catastrophe.
Funny how the No1 target in the United Kingdom is just outside Glasgow. Very odd that they didn’t locate the 200 nuclear warheads in southern England. I wonder why?
Geology? Access to the North Atlantic? Employment opportunities for the locals?
Odd how the Nats ignore that where we actually manufacture the nukes is 50 miles from London.....but that doesn't fit the victim narrative.
Also, where do we park the radioactive hulks?
Scotland of course
You’re a third right:
There are currently 21 former Royal Navy nuclear submarines awaiting disposal, 7 in Rosyth and 14 in Devonport.
The worst place I've ever been in winter has been NY. Closely followed by Florence and Zürich
Bitterly cold each time, with the sort of cold that gets into your bones and stays there. Absolutely ghastly.
I've spent 2 winters in the Lakes and have rather enjoyed them. Sure there are bad days - but there are far more good days when the sky is bright and the light over the sea astonishing. I like looking at weather and when the landscape is as glorious as it is, it's a joy. Plus I have a wonderfully warm fire to snuggle in front of.
This winter has been quite balmy really. The weather on a recent walk .....
Chicago is something else in winter. It gets insane temperature changes from the Great Lakes. I was there in late March when it went from a balmy 23C to about -10C in 36 hours, and there was an ice storm. The wind was crippling and lethal. A terrible place to be old
It is no surprise so many Americans are moving south from the frigid rustbelt. There is no saving Detroit
United are lucky to be level in this game. They are so open in midfield.
Who needs a lack of sunlight to get you depressed when you can follow Man U?
United are playing 4-1-5. Arsenal used to do that and it never works when up against a half decent team.
I think that they are playing more 1-1-1 de Gea, McTominay and Rashford.
Rashford hooked...
Yep, 2 of our best 3 players taken off. I hope Henderson is warming up. Still no clear structure or shape. The Ralf experiment really has not worked. This has not been any better than OGS, worse in some ways.
The issue with British winters is not the temperature, it is the lack of sunlight.
The table for sunlight hours on wiki is quite illuminating, and explains why I never enjoyed a single English winter in twenty years living there…
My daughter suffers from SAD. It is cumulative and this time of year is the worst. She is currently in Cyprus and it genuinely is for medical reasons.
I am happy she has a found a way through. I don’t really want to spend another Q1 in the UK.
OTOH I would never want to spend a Q1 in NYC. The bitter, sometimes deadly cold grinds you down, the same way the darkness depresses you in the UK
They've got cars big as bars They've got rivers of gold But the wind goes right through you It's no place for the old
It’s actually great, though. The quality of light is brilliant and the air smells fresh despite what must be atrocious pollution from the oversized cars.
I’ve taken the kids to school every day since Jan 4 across Central Park; I think minus 8 was probably the lowest. You just need to dress properly.
I’m dreading the summer, though.
Good for you, but not for me. I hate the cold, possibly more than the dark
I love tropical climates, basically. I would ideally do six months in Sri Lanka/Thailand etc (in their dry season) then the other six spring summer months in Europe, mostly London and the UK with some side trips to the Med
I wilt in the heat.
I was v v v v lucky to grow up in Auckland, New Zealand which basically never goes below zero or above 30.
It’s a bit humid, but otherwise I’d challenge anyone to find a better climate on earth.
My ideal is basically
Q1, NZ Q2, London (well, NYC these days) Q3, Normandy or something Q4, London again.
Morning all, let's hope the world hasn't turned to cinders this time next week, so we can all discuss HYUFD 's threshold for finally withdrawing support for Boris, rather than dusting off 1950's "Protect and Survive" manuals.
Somewhat more realistically, any military movement against centres of population in Ukraine would be a catastrophe.
Funny how the No1 target in the United Kingdom is just outside Glasgow. Very odd that they didn’t locate the 200 nuclear warheads in southern England. I wonder why?
Geology? Access to the North Atlantic? Employment opportunities for the locals?
Odd how the Nats ignore that where we actually manufacture the nukes is 50 miles from London.....but that doesn't fit the victim narrative.
Also, where do we park the radioactive hulks?
Scotland of course
You’re a third right:
There are currently 21 former Royal Navy nuclear submarines awaiting disposal, 7 in Rosyth and 14 in Devonport.
Morning all, let's hope the world hasn't turned to cinders this time next week, so we can all discuss HYUFD 's threshold for finally withdrawing support for Boris, rather than dusting off 1950's "Protect and Survive" manuals.
Somewhat more realistically, any military movement against centres of population in Ukraine would be a catastrophe.
Funny how the No1 target in the United Kingdom is just outside Glasgow. Very odd that they didn’t locate the 200 nuclear warheads in southern England. I wonder why?
Geology? Access to the North Atlantic? Employment opportunities for the locals?
Odd how the Nats ignore that where we actually manufacture the nukes is 50 miles from London.....but that doesn't fit the victim narrative.
Also, where do we park the radioactive hulks?
Scotland of course
You’re a third right:
There are currently 21 former Royal Navy nuclear submarines awaiting disposal, 7 in Rosyth and 14 in Devonport.
In other words, about 4 x the Scottish share on population.
You saw this I presume?
Ukraine REALLY regrets its unilateral disarmament
“Don’t give up your missiles!”
The SNP/CND position is about to take a serious hit
What % drop in SNP/Indy support in polling are you predicting?
None
I don’t think it will drop at all. But every one of these stories - pensions, borders, now nukes - is slowly but surely rusting away the good ship HMS Indy, invisibly, below the waterline, and one day she will suddenly and alarmingly tilt towards the beckoning depths
Yer a great lad for discerning the old confirmation bias, except in one striking area.
Periodic reminder that history is complicated with a wicked sense of humour.
There is this interesting war film on Amazon Prime, with Estonians fighting on the side of both Germany, and the Red Army, and the various dilemmas involved:
Have you read Snyder's The Reconstruction of Nations ? Quite eye opening about the prejudices you carry about what constitutes a nation state, and how they come about.
The issue with British winters is not the temperature, it is the lack of sunlight.
The table for sunlight hours on wiki is quite illuminating, and explains why I never enjoyed a single English winter in twenty years living there…
My daughter suffers from SAD. It is cumulative and this time of year is the worst. She is currently in Cyprus and it genuinely is for medical reasons.
I am happy she has a found a way through. I don’t really want to spend another Q1 in the UK.
OTOH I would never want to spend a Q1 in NYC. The bitter, sometimes deadly cold grinds you down, the same way the darkness depresses you in the UK
They've got cars big as bars They've got rivers of gold But the wind goes right through you It's no place for the old
It’s actually great, though. The quality of light is brilliant and the air smells fresh despite what must be atrocious pollution from the oversized cars.
I’ve taken the kids to school every day since Jan 4 across Central Park; I think minus 8 was probably the lowest. You just need to dress properly.
I’m dreading the summer, though.
Good for you, but not for me. I hate the cold, possibly more than the dark
I love tropical climates, basically. I would ideally do six months in Sri Lanka/Thailand etc (in their dry season) then the other six spring summer months in Europe, mostly London and the UK with some side trips to the Med
Agreed. Sadly no one is prepared to pay me for international flint knapping.
Periodic reminder that history is complicated with a wicked sense of humour.
There is this interesting war film on Amazon Prime, with Estonians fighting on the side of both Germany, and the Red Army, and the various dilemmas involved:
The worst place I've ever been in winter has been NY. Closely followed by Florence and Zürich
Bitterly cold each time, with the sort of cold that gets into your bones and stays there. Absolutely ghastly.
I've spent 2 winters in the Lakes and have rather enjoyed them. Sure there are bad days - but there are far more good days when the sky is bright and the light over the sea astonishing. I like looking at weather and when the landscape is as glorious as it is, it's a joy. Plus I have a wonderfully warm fire to snuggle in front of.
This winter has been quite balmy really. The weather on a recent walk .....
British winters aren't so bad. We don't really get that much bad weather. I agree though with @Gardenwalker though about the darkness. It is depressing commuting back and forwards in the dark and being without natural light all day.
A blustery 2 hour walk with the pooch today was just the ticket to blow away a few cobwebs.
The other pleasures of a British weather, the football season and indoor hospitality are back. It was a bit bleak without them last year, though it was one or the other of these that flattened me for a week with covid.
I have lived in Australia, New Zealand, and the USA, and do prefer a temperate marine climate to actually live and work in. Tropics and sub-tropics are fine to holiday in, but only because you can do very little else but sit around.
United are lucky to be level in this game. They are so open in midfield.
Who needs a lack of sunlight to get you depressed when you can follow Man U?
United are playing 4-1-5. Arsenal used to do that and it never works when up against a half decent team.
I think that they are playing more 1-1-1 de Gea, McTominay and Rashford.
Rashford hooked...
Yep, 2 of our best 3 players taken off. I hope Henderson is warming up. Still no clear structure or shape. The Ralf experiment really has not worked. This has not been any better than OGS, worse in some ways.
Please put in a bid for Rogers. He would do well for a couple of seasons before wearing off.
Regarding winter in the UK - it is better inland than on the coast. Getting battered by gales and heavy rain just makes life miserable from November to February. The flipside is the rest of the year is a big improvement, having got through the winter makes you appreciate it more.
It must be about a year since I argued, against a swarm of Brexiters on here, that Russia was a more important threat to the UK than China. (At that stage joining the TPP was the great white hope).
Periodic reminder that history is complicated with a wicked sense of humour.
There is this interesting war film on Amazon Prime, with Estonians fighting on the side of both Germany, and the Red Army, and the various dilemmas involved:
Have you read Snyder's The Reconstruction of Nations ? Quite eye opening about the prejudices you carry about what constitutes a nation state, and how they come about.
I have liked his other books, shall look that one out.
We live in a country with long established borders (NI perhaps excepted) and it is quite different to Eastern and central Europe where borders have been much more fluid and contested over the centuries.
The issue with British winters is not the temperature, it is the lack of sunlight.
The table for sunlight hours on wiki is quite illuminating, and explains why I never enjoyed a single English winter in twenty years living there…
My daughter suffers from SAD. It is cumulative and this time of year is the worst. She is currently in Cyprus and it genuinely is for medical reasons.
I am happy she has a found a way through. I don’t really want to spend another Q1 in the UK.
OTOH I would never want to spend a Q1 in NYC. The bitter, sometimes deadly cold grinds you down, the same way the darkness depresses you in the UK
They've got cars big as bars They've got rivers of gold But the wind goes right through you It's no place for the old
It’s actually great, though. The quality of light is brilliant and the air smells fresh despite what must be atrocious pollution from the oversized cars.
I’ve taken the kids to school every day since Jan 4 across Central Park; I think minus 8 was probably the lowest. You just need to dress properly.
I’m dreading the summer, though.
Good for you, but not for me. I hate the cold, possibly more than the dark
I love tropical climates, basically. I would ideally do six months in Sri Lanka/Thailand etc (in their dry season) then the other six spring summer months in Europe, mostly London and the UK with some side trips to the Med
I wilt in the heat.
I was v v v v lucky to grow up in Auckland, New Zealand which basically never goes below zero or above 30.
It’s a bit humid, but otherwise I’d challenge anyone to find a better climate on earth.
My ideal is basically
Q1, NZ Q2, London (well, NYC these days) Q3, Normandy or something Q4, London again.
I lived in Christchurch, and it had a much nicer climate than Auckland or Wellington. Kiwis rate Nelson, Napier or Bay of Plenty better, but rather small towns for me.
Of course Christchurch lost a lot in the Earthquake since I was there.
It must be about a year since I argued, against a swarm of Brexiters on here, that Russia was a more important threat to the UK than China. (At that stage joining the TPP was the great white hope).
Is that the same Chris Bryant who fought two general elections for Jeremy Corbyn, or a different one?
Regarding winter in the UK - it is better inland than on the coast. Getting battered by gales and heavy rain just makes life miserable from November to February. The flipside is the rest of the year is a big improvement, having got through the winter makes you appreciate it more.
I used to quite enjoy the gales and heavy rain when I lived in Aber.
That said, I was quite a bit younger then.
And whatever the weather, the view from my office in Hugh Owen Building was always stunning. Either a melancholic grandeur with the wind and rain, or a perfect azure sky and sea, and when I was working late (which I often did) the sunsets were just something else.
It must be about a year since I argued, against a swarm of Brexiters on here, that Russia was a more important threat to the UK than China. (At that stage joining the TPP was the great white hope).
Is that the same Chris Bryant who fought two general elections for Jeremy Corbyn, or a different one?
Famously Denis Healey’s first rule of holes was: when you are in one, stop digging. His second rule is just as important: when you finally stop digging, you’re still in a hole.
After nearly two weeks where, on the issue of pensions, the SNP simply could not be persuaded to stop digging, it is worth looking at how deep a hole they are now in.
‘If an independent country such as Iceland, with a population only marginally bigger than Ayrshire, can manage pensions, currency, health, education & international relations, why on earth would anyone conclude that Scotland couldn’t?'
Quite
I don't know what the answer is, but there are several possibilities. This pile on is Johnsonism at its worst; it is up there with Starmer/Savile and lies on buses.
Of course Scotland can. But they need to accept that the transition is complicated and disruptive and they won’t get free handouts from the rUK
How the **** is Harry Maguire anywhere near the England team?
How is he getting a game ahead of Bailly, Lingard, Jones, my gran?
Maguire and Andrew Robertson were part of the mighty back four in Hull City’s magnificent, relegation 2016-17 season… saw the when we beat Liverpool 2-0… it’s instructive that one has ended up at Liverpool, and is world class, the other one…
It must be about a year since I argued, against a swarm of Brexiters on here, that Russia was a more important threat to the UK than China. (At that stage joining the TPP was the great white hope).
You seem to be suggesting that your stance has been vindicated somehow, but I don't see in what way?
How the **** is Harry Maguire anywhere near the England team?
How is he getting a game ahead of Bailly, Lingard, Jones, my gran?
Maguire and Andrew Robertson were part of the mighty back four in Hull City’s magnificent, relegation 2016-17 season… saw the when we beat Liverpool 2-0… it’s instructive that one has ended up at Liverpool, and is world class, the other one…
Maguire was great for 2 years at Leicester, and England was a lot better with him in 2018 and 2020. He is a good player, though not without faults. He played a lot better with Ndidi in front of him for example.
No footballer is without fault, Ronaldo rarely tracks back or tackles for example, the key is to blend the team to build on their strengths and compensate for their vulnerabilities.
Comments
I’ve no idea why, but is true. There is a special alchemy which occurs if you escape for at least three weeks. A new relaxed person emerges. A fortnight is almost cruelly short. Not quite long enough for the end to be so far away it isn’t a worry
Mentally start spring when you see the first crocuses, and notice each new sign of it until mid June when summer starts.
Long Christmas (forget abstinence January - keep that for Lent); short winter; long spring; make summer last till the end of September; and decide that autumn is the best season of all. Then start again.
At the very least it's massive incompetence, and quite possibly a great deal worse.
HA!!! claiming that.
On the other hand they can be dreadful places when its hot.
At his best, De Gea is the best goalkeeper I have ever seen, so I think he counts.
Ronaldo was a yes from 2006-2019, but he's past his best now.
Perhaps Varane is world class, but he has a pretty average partner at centre back.
The rest don't get a look in when compared with what Liverpool and Man City have.
The formula, if there is anyone on PB who didn't know is: Easter is the Sunday following the full moon occurring on or after 21 March.
I am currently living in a country where we use the Islamic calendar - which is based on the lunar cycle and is about 13 days shorter than the regular Gregorian calendar. They also insist on actually sighting the new moon after sunset every month, with scholars going up mountains with telescopes - something that means you hear an announcement at 8pm or 9pm, that the following day is a public holiday. The next country might take the holiday the day afterwards, if they don’t see the new moon.
My wife’s home country follows the Orthodox calendar, based on the Julian Calandar. They celebrate Christmas Day on the 6th Jan, and New Year a week later.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Act_1928
After nearly two weeks where, on the issue of pensions, the SNP simply could not be persuaded to stop digging, it is worth looking at how deep a hole they are now in.
https://notesonnationalism.substack.com/p/stop-digging
age 192 days, range 17 to 401 days) with
suspected AHT [abusive head trauma] were seen [at GOSH] during this time [Mar-Apr 2020]
in comparison with a mean of 0.67 cases
per month in the same period over the
previous 3 years. This equates to a 1493%
increase in cases of AHT
https://adc.bmj.com/content/archdischild/early/2020/06/30/archdischild-2020-319872.full.pdf
just wow
Whitehall doesn’t know or care, of course.
https://twitter.com/thomasforth/status/1492473799828201475?s=21
So Easter has to be a Sunday (to mark the day) and has to be after the Passover (to mark the historic time sequence) and its full moon. The fixed point is the spring equinox.
There are currently 21 former Royal Navy nuclear submarines awaiting disposal, 7 in Rosyth and 14 in Devonport.
And two thirds wrong…
https://www.navylookout.com/project-to-dismantle-ex-royal-navy-nuclear-submarines-inches-forward/
‘If an independent country such as Iceland, with a population only marginally bigger than Ayrshire, can manage pensions, currency, health, education & international relations, why on earth would anyone conclude that Scotland couldn’t?'
I don't know what the answer is, but there are several possibilities. This pile on is Johnsonism at its worst; it is up there with Starmer/Savile and lies on buses.
The table for sunlight hours on wiki is quite illuminating, and explains why I never enjoyed a single English winter in twenty years living there…
To put your mind at rest: No one does. Just the SNP don’t seem to want to fess up how much it will cost so have taken to lying about it.
It’s just that there would be a very painful fiscal adjustment for Scotland, which would take 10-20 years to work through.
It would also, ceteris paribas, create a long term dampener on growth due to the introduction of friction with Scotland’s largest trading partner.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/11/tiny-vaquita-numbers-less-than-10-can-they-be-saved?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
I don’t really want to spend another Q1 in the UK.
UK is much further north than we think, and the weather is relatively mild because of the jet stream. Glasgow is further north than Moscow, as is Berwick.
https://www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/joining-the-pension-scheme/alpha-or-partnership/
They've got cars big as bars
They've got rivers of gold
But the wind goes right through you
It's no place for the old
And the other reason is that the RN has almost completely withdrawn from Scotland, with the closure of Rosyth.
Ukraine REALLY regrets its unilateral disarmament
“Don’t give up your missiles!”
The SNP/CND position is about to take a serious hit
The quality of light is brilliant and the air smells fresh despite what must be atrocious pollution from the oversized cars.
I’ve taken the kids to school every day since Jan 4 across Central Park; I think minus 8 was probably the lowest. You just need to dress properly.
I’m dreading the summer, though.
I love tropical climates, basically. I would ideally do six months in Sri Lanka/Thailand etc (in their dry season) then the other six spring summer months in Europe, mostly London and the UK with some side trips to the Med
Bitterly cold each time, with the sort of cold that gets into your bones and stays there. Absolutely ghastly.
I've spent 2 winters in the Lakes and have rather enjoyed them. Sure there are bad days - but there are far more good days when the sky is bright and the light over the sea astonishing. I like looking at weather and when the landscape is as glorious as it is, it's a joy. Plus I have a wonderfully warm fire to snuggle in front of.
This winter has been quite balmy really. The weather on a recent walk .....
I don’t think it will drop at all. But every one of these stories - pensions, borders, now nukes - is slowly but surely rusting away the good ship HMS Indy, invisibly, below the waterline, and one day she will suddenly and alarmingly tilt towards the beckoning depths
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budapest_Memorandum_on_Security_Assurances
JustWatch https://click.justwatch.com/a?r=https://justwatch.com/uk/movie/1944?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android
It is no surprise so many Americans are moving south from the frigid rustbelt. There is no saving Detroit
I was v v v v lucky to grow up in Auckland, New Zealand which basically never goes below zero or above 30.
It’s a bit humid, but otherwise I’d challenge anyone to find a better climate on earth.
My ideal is basically
Q1, NZ
Q2, London (well, NYC these days)
Q3, Normandy or something
Q4, London again.
Quite eye opening about the prejudices you carry about what constitutes a nation state, and how they come about.
Sadly no one is prepared to pay me for international flint knapping.
On the divvie historical accuracy of hardware rating it got 9.5.
A blustery 2 hour walk with the pooch today was just the ticket to blow away a few cobwebs.
The other pleasures of a British weather, the football season and indoor hospitality are back. It was a bit bleak without them last year, though it was one or the other of these that flattened me for a week with covid.
I have lived in Australia, New Zealand, and the USA, and do prefer a temperate marine climate to actually live and work in. Tropics and sub-tropics are fine to holiday in, but only because you can do very little else but sit around.
https://twitter.com/rhonddabryant/status/1492484248875712515?s=21
It must be about a year since I argued, against a swarm of Brexiters on here, that Russia was a more important threat to the UK than China.
(At that stage joining the TPP was the great white hope).
We live in a country with long established borders (NI perhaps excepted) and it is quite different to Eastern and central Europe where borders have been much more fluid and contested over the centuries.
OGS: 12 games played, 20 points
Rangnick: 12 games played, 20 points
Of course Christchurch lost a lot in the Earthquake since I was there.
That said, I was quite a bit younger then.
And whatever the weather, the view from my office in Hugh Owen Building was always stunning. Either a melancholic grandeur with the wind and rain, or a perfect azure sky and sea, and when I was working late (which I often did) the sunsets were just something else.
Pathetic.
Huge task in front of new manager
No footballer is without fault, Ronaldo rarely tracks back or tackles for example, the key is to blend the team to build on their strengths and compensate for their vulnerabilities.