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The Right has the edge in South Korea – politicalbetting.com

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  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 54,773

    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.
  • SandraMcSandraMc Posts: 723
    edited February 2022
    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.
  • DavidL said:

    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.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 58,970
    Farooq said:

    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
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 13,680

    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.

  • algarkirk said:

    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?)
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 75,288
    .

    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.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 54,773
    edited February 2022
    Mysteries of the world part #375, how can Man U play so many world class and expensive attacking players and look utterly, completely undangerous?

    HA!!! claiming that.
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 26,422
    DavidL said:

    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?
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 54,773
    tlg86 said:

    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.
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    algarkirk said:

    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.
  • Leon said:


    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.
  • kjhkjh Posts: 12,322
    Cookie said:

    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.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 19,910
    Taz said:

    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…
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 26,422
    DavidL said:

    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.
  • Nigelb said:

    .

    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.
  • TheValiantTheValiant Posts: 1,923

    Periodic reminder that history is complicated with a wicked sense of humour.


    I'm not 100% sure Generalplan Ost was going to be better for the Estonians, but I guess we'll never know.
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 13,680
    IshmaelZ said:

    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.

  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 56,022
    edited February 2022
    algarkirk said:

    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.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 72,867
    IshmaelZ said:

    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.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Act_1928
  • 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.


    https://notesonnationalism.substack.com/p/stop-digging
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,923
    edited February 2022

    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.
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    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

    https://adc.bmj.com/content/archdischild/early/2020/06/30/archdischild-2020-319872.full.pdf

    just wow
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,923
    Nigelb said:

    Also, where do we park the radioactive hulks?
    Scotland of course
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    Sandpit said:

    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).
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 22,110
    Fascinating (nested) thread on how Yorkshire has a key position in the global lithium battery supply chain, and could have a larger one.

    Whitehall doesn’t know or care, of course.

    https://twitter.com/thomasforth/status/1492473799828201475?s=21
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 72,867
    malcolmg said:

    Scotland of course
    Two thirds are at Devonport, actually.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,923
    darkage said:

    @Morris_Dancer

    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.
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 13,680
    Sandpit said:

    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.

  • malcolmg said:

    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.

    And two thirds wrong…

    https://www.navylookout.com/project-to-dismantle-ex-royal-navy-nuclear-submarines-inches-forward/
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 13,680
    ydoethur said:

    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.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Act_1928
    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.

  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,923

    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.


    https://notesonnationalism.substack.com/p/stop-digging

    For all thick as pigshit unionists...............

    ‘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?'
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,923

    My notice is 3 months in my current entry level pretty much minimum wage job. I presume it will be much higher in future…
    Dream on
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 30,227

    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.
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    malcolmg said:

    For all thick as pigshit unionists...............

    ‘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.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,824
    edited February 2022
    algarkirk said:

    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.

    So not a "yes" then?
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 22,110
    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…
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,824
    Decent finish from Che Adams. Game on!
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 54,773

    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.
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,281
    edited February 2022
    malcolmg said:

    For all thick as pigshit unionists...............

    ‘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.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 22,110
    malcolmg said:

    For all thick as pigshit unionists...............

    ‘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.
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 26,422
    dixiedean said:

    Decent finish from Che Adams. Game on!

    United are lucky to be level in this game. They are so open in midfield.
  • IshmaelZ said:

    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.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 58,970
    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


    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/11/tiny-vaquita-numbers-less-than-10-can-they-be-saved?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 22,110
    DavidL said:

    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.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 56,022

    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.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 44,617
    edited February 2022

    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.

    https://www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/joining-the-pension-scheme/alpha-or-partnership/

  • LeonLeon Posts: 58,970

    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
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 19,910
    malcolmg said:

    Dream on
    Eh? I don’t want it to be higher.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 44,617
    edited February 2022

    You’re a third right:

    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/
    In other words, about 4 x the Scottish share on population.

    And the other reason is that the RN has almost completely withdrawn from Scotland, with the closure of Rosyth.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 75,288
    malcolmg said:

    Scotland of course
    Two thirds in Devonport.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 54,773
    tlg86 said:

    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?
  • Sandpit said:

    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.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 58,970
    edited February 2022
    Carnyx said:

    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




  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 26,422
    DavidL said:

    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.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 22,110
    Leon said:

    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.
  • PensfoldPensfold Posts: 191
    Why does anyone think the Met culture is any different from the culture of the same socio economic group outside the Met?
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 54,773
    tlg86 said:

    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.
  • Leon said:

    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?
  • LeonLeon Posts: 58,970

    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

  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 22,110

    What % drop in SNP/Indy support in polling are you predicting?
    He’s right, though, whatever polling says.
  • MoonRabbitMoonRabbit Posts: 13,968
    malcolmg said:

    @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

    Good Luck to everyone
    Malc amongst winners again, bravely coasting in 3 1/2 lengths 👍🏻
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,562
    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 .....
  • LeonLeon Posts: 58,970

    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
  • pigeonpigeon Posts: 5,173

    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.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 126,333
    malcolmg said:

    For all thick as pigshit unionists...............

    ‘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
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 26,422
    DavidL said:

    I think that they are playing more 1-1-1 de Gea, McTominay and Rashford.
    Rashford hooked...
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 75,288
    Carnyx said:

    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.

  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 56,022
    Leon said:

    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
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 50,455

    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:

    JustWatch https://click.justwatch.com/a?r=https://justwatch.com/uk/movie/1944?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android
  • He’s right, though, whatever polling says.
    Fascinating to see the birth of the the new unilateral nuclear armament movement; 9ish countries down, gotta get that campaign going in the other 186.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 58,970
    Cyclefree said:

    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
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 54,773
    tlg86 said:

    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.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 22,110
    edited February 2022
    Leon said:

    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.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 60,286

    Fascinating to see the birth of the the new unilateral nuclear armament movement; 9ish countries down, gotta get that campaign going in the other 186.
    Aren’t a good chunk of those covered by NATO?
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 42,986
    edited February 2022
    Leon said:

    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.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 75,288
    Foxy said:

    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:

    JustWatch https://click.justwatch.com/a?r=https://justwatch.com/uk/movie/1944?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android
    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.
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 26,422
    How the **** is Harry Maguire anywhere near the England team?
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 75,288
    edited February 2022
    Leon said:

    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.
  • Foxy said:

    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:

    JustWatch https://click.justwatch.com/a?r=https://justwatch.com/uk/movie/1944?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android
    Yep, I watched it recently (I thought it was Netflix but maybe it was Prime, I lose track), pretty decent I thought.

    On the divvie historical accuracy of hardware rating it got 9.5.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 50,455
    Cyclefree said:

    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.
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 30,227
    edited February 2022
    Test
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 50,455
    DavidL said:

    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.
  • darkagedarkage Posts: 5,398
    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.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 22,110
    Chris Bryant damns ten years of Tory appeasement of Russia.

    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).
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 50,455
    Nigelb said:

    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.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 54,773
    tlg86 said:

    How the **** is Harry Maguire anywhere near the England team?

    How is he getting a game ahead of Bailly, Lingard, Jones, my gran?
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 26,422
    United's PL record this season:

    OGS: 12 games played, 20 points
    Rangnick: 12 games played, 20 points
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 50,455

    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.
  • ApplicantApplicant Posts: 3,379

    Chris Bryant damns ten years of Tory appeasement of Russia.

    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).

    Is that the same Chris Bryant who fought two general elections for Jeremy Corbyn, or a different one?
  • ApplicantApplicant Posts: 3,379
    DavidL said:

    How is he getting a game ahead of Bailly, Lingard, Jones, my gran?
    Well, he came closer than anyone else to scoring a winner.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 50,841

    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…

    Hearing that this January was the sunniest on record brings home how bad it usually is
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 72,867
    darkage said:

    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.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 22,110
    Applicant said:

    Is that the same Chris Bryant who fought two general elections for Jeremy Corbyn, or a different one?
    Is that all you’ve got?
    Pathetic.
  • StillWatersStillWaters Posts: 9,364
    IshmaelZ said:

    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
  • DavidL said:

    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…
  • DavidL said:

    How is he getting a game ahead of Bailly, Lingard, Jones, my gran?
    Maguire is not fit to wear either shirt but then neither is Shaw and several others

    Huge task in front of new manager
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 30,227

    Chris Bryant damns ten years of Tory appeasement of Russia.

    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).

    You seem to be suggesting that your stance has been vindicated somehow, but I don't see in what way?
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 50,455

    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.
This discussion has been closed.