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The Tories look set to lose both June 23rd by-elections – politicalbetting.com

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  • StereodogStereodog Posts: 828
    Foxy said:

    What, like at the Wembley Euro Final?
    It's worse than that
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 14,277
    Farooq said:

    Republic. Now.

    Obviously. Tomorrow is too late.


  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 62,135
    Farooq said:

    Republic. Now.

    Dick.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,405

    For those of us on Netflix, I see Borgen is back! A glimpse of a healthier political world.

    Not selling it as captivating drama there!

    But I did enjoy it back in the day.
  • kjhkjh Posts: 12,477
    Aggghhhh Easyjet flight cancelled. Still time to reorganise and it is the return flight.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,566
    Foxy said:

    Well, not really. There is no danger to the Olympics, because policing of football matches has always been more difficult and aggressive than other sporting events. Football fans have a reputation, one that crosses borders and has endured through modern times.

    In the UK crowds have become more middle class and family oriented, in part because of the costs involved, but the Ultras are usually working class men. Supporting a football team is a semi-authorised outlet for aggression, as we see every week in chants, verbal abuse and now social media abuse. It is all part of the atmosphere at big matches. There are few other places where you can shout insults at people in public.

    It isn't surprising that it overspills the boundaries to violence at times. It is a difficult situation to police, and it does seem as if the reputation of Liverpool fans caused rather an overreaction by the French Police and SdF management. What looks like exuberent to fans can look potentially riotous to police.



    What a farcically pointless misinformed comment. Like a 3 year old trying to explain compound interest

  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 76,440
    Nigelb said:

    Uighur leaders are not at all happy with the recent UN visit to China.

    Opinion The U.N. human rights chief has failed us, our families — and the world
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/06/01/uyghurs-michelle-bachelet-china-visit-failure/

    Anne Applebaum warned of China’s long march through the institutions of international order a couple of years back.
    https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/11/trump-who-withdrawal-china/616475/

    China plays a much subtler and long term game than Putin’s Russia. It is no less brutal.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,405
    edited June 2022
    Foxy said:

    Nah, enjoy the day off. Bread and Circuses. Bread is a bit pricy, so enjoy the Circus.

    Yes, all the pagentry and deference is archaic guff, but a day off in the sunshine imakes it worth raising a glass to the grumpy old dear.
    And has little meaningful impact on how we are actually run by the elected anyway. Adds a bit of charming absurdity to the political culture.

    Logically our rhetoric on rights and equality should mean we're all republics, but I think the British middle still works pretty well. I'd just prefer some tweaks to have a more proportional voting system, simplify local government and revamp the Lords.
  • kjhkjh Posts: 12,477
    Nigelb said:

    An honour I applaud.

    Pianist Stephen Hough has been knighted by Queen Elizabeth—the first British-born concert pianist to receive this honor in more than 40 years.
    https://twitter.com/tedgioia/status/1532221288319680512

    Nobody should get honours except for bravery and voluntary work and the hierarchy should have nothing to with your status but with what you did.

    Well that is my view anyway.

    And I have to say that was what really turned me off re Alan Clarke's diary extract the other day. His priority seemed to be getting a knighthood, elevation to the Lords and becoming a Privy Councillor. Nothing else mattered as much.
  • Daveyboy1961Daveyboy1961 Posts: 4,475
    MattW said:

    When I was living in London in the period around 2000, 3 bed semis in decent streets in Stratford for £70k or so were one hot tip from the London Property Guide.
    When I lived in Slough, briefly, in 1989 I noticed 3 bed semis on the market for about 90000.

    When we bought our first house in 1991 it cost 80000.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,405
    Dura_Ace said:

    Obviously. Tomorrow is too late.


    Bit early for bonfire night effigies isnt it?
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 51,106
    MattW said:

    TBH I think you are underplaying that.

    AIUI and judging by video evidence the police "overreacted" when there was nothing to react to. The alleged protagonist largely did not exist.
    I suspect so, but reputations do endure. Remember England fans smashing up Marseille?

    https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/international/euro-2016-england-fans-must-look-at-themselves-after-marseille-violence-their-conduct-is-an-embarrassment-a7077911.html
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,901
    MattW said:

    When I was living in London in the period around 2000, 3 bed semis in decent streets in Stratford for £70k or so were one hot tip from the London Property Guide.
    Yes. So it isn't quite as simple as they built it in the wrong part of the City.
    It's something else.
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 16,390
    Foxy said:

    Nah, enjoy the day off. Bread and Circuses. Bread is a bit pricy, so enjoy the Circus.

    Yes, all the pagentry and deference is archaic guff, but a day off in the sunshine imakes it worth raising a glass to the grumpy old dear.
    I had a nice cup of tea in my Harry and Meghan mug to celebrate.
  • Daveyboy1961Daveyboy1961 Posts: 4,475

    When I lived in Slough, briefly, in 1989 I noticed 3 bed semis on the market for about 90000.

    When we bought our first house in 1991 it cost 80000.
    In maidenhead.
  • theakestheakes Posts: 958
    North East Cambridgeshire, KIngs Lynn area, (Clement Freud) and Ripon, June / July 73?
    Then at the party conference that year they hit 30+%!
  • MattWMattW Posts: 26,515
    Dura_Ace said:

    Obviously. Tomorrow is too late.


    Are these a thing? We have one:

  • theakestheakes Posts: 958
    On trhe basis of the betting odds Wakefield Labour by 10,000 , Tiverton Lib Dem 10 -15,000!"!!!
    Surely not.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 26,515
    edited June 2022

    Dick.
    There's a thought - Richard Burgon as elected Head of State.

    Hmmm.

    Have a good day, all.
  • JohnOJohnO Posts: 4,306
    Dura_Ace said:

    Obviously. Tomorrow is too late.


    Goodness, your Ukranian girls are talented.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,901
    Nigelb said:

    Anne Applebaum warned of China’s long march through the institutions of international order a couple of years back.
    https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/11/trump-who-withdrawal-china/616475/

    China plays a much subtler and long term game than Putin’s Russia. It is no less brutal.
    It's got the economy (not based on primary industries, but value added too) to back it up as well.
    Nonetheless. It remains rational for the time being also, for which we must give thanks.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,405
    kjh said:

    Nobody should get honours except for bravery and voluntary work and the hierarchy should have nothing to with your status but with what you did.

    Well that is my view anyway.

    And I have to say that was what really turned me off re Alan Clarke's diary extract the other day. His priority seemed to be getting a knighthood, elevation to the Lords and becoming a Privy Councillor. Nothing else mattered as much.
    I'm sanguine about honours as its harmless (though people still shouldn't be able to buy them through donations). Peerages is another matter as they have actual authority as a result.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,405

    I had a nice cup of tea in my Harry and Meghan mug to celebrate.
    Love it. I'd hope that stuff fetches a decent price now but they probably produced way too much from the Chinese factory and there's warehouses full of leftovers.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,566
    Dura_Ace said:

    Obviously. Tomorrow is too late.


    I’m afraid the endearing ineptitude of that makes me more of a monarchist
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 19,148
    Farooq said:

    That... is not an argument for a republic, that's an invitation to arson.
    You touch another crocheter's or knitter's work with malign intent and you will have me to answer to.

    Some things are more important than constitutional politics.
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 10,061
    All over the nation they are knitting the Queen. A curiously British nonsense.
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 16,390
    MattW said:

    When I was living in London in the period around 2000, 3 bed semis in decent streets in Stratford for £70k or so were one hot tip from the London Property Guide.
    I reckon Catford might be the next gentrification target. I went out for a drink and a meal with a mate there last night. It's really quite ropey but has excellent transport links into central London with two train stations side by side. There's a bizarrely good and cheap Italian restaurant there too - two pizzas, two deserts and a nice bottle of Primitivo for a bit over £50. Catford is the new Peckham - you heard it here first.
  • Northern_AlNorthern_Al Posts: 8,765
    Dura_Ace said:

    Obviously. Tomorrow is too late.


    Designed and made by Nadine Dorries apparently, in her role as Culture Secretary.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 51,106
    Leon said:

    What a farcically pointless misinformed comment. Like a 3 year old trying to explain compound interest

    I have been to about 25 football matches a year for the last couple of decades, so have a fair amount of direct observation.

    I was at the World Cup in St Petersburg and Moscow in 2018 too. The Russians ran it very well, no issues with crowd control or policing at all. Perhaps the CL final should have stayed in StP.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 34,523

    In maidenhead.
    Our first home, in 1962 just outside Rochdale, was a rented flat over a corner shop. One bed, toilet a step away from the back door. £2 per week, inclusive.
    Lovely views up towards the Pennines.
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 10,061
    theakes said:

    On trhe basis of the betting odds Wakefield Labour by 10,000 , Tiverton Lib Dem 10 -15,000!"!!!
    Surely not.

    15,000 is more likely to be the winning vote total, with Tories on ca 10k
  • TomsToms Posts: 2,478
    Carnyx said:

    I read it as DA getting the wagon ready for sale. Disbelief is proverbially suspended in all sorts of ways in the second-hand horse, and horseless carriage, market.
    umm, yes the 2nd law still applies, but maybe you're right. I'm, errrr, a bit rusty on the topic, having sold my only car---Morse Traveler, utterly rotten but otherwise easy to work on and hand-cranked ( I ran it on a dud battery for six months)---in 1973.

    Ah freedom from bureaucracy and freedom to use my limbs.
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,281
    For those who missed

    For those of us on Netflix, I see Borgen is back! A glimpse of a healthier political world.

    As in, “fictional”.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 56,022
    edited June 2022
    dixiedean said:

    And here I am. :)
    I fear they are above my pay grade, but.
    Firstly. They are fair criticisms. There hasn't been a great deal of the "vision thing" so far. So I'll have a go from my point of view.
    "Seek to reset UK capitalism?"
    I don't think that's the governments job. That's capitalists' job. The issue is the consumer. In areas the government has some control.
    Too often they've been ignored and made to feel confused by the sheer complexity of it all. Look at energy companies. Public transport. Everything is getting more expensive. And, in many cases, the service is getting worse.
    Labour needs to be the Party of the consumer champion.
    Globalisation is a red herring I think. You don't get anywhere restricting international trade. It's a lose lose. Many of the issues of the Red Wall would be eased if public services weren't in such a dire state. The Tories response is to issue diktats based on the Daily Mail, and flap about for "efficiency savings."
    All the while the delivery gets worse. You can't see a GP, get a passport on time, a driving licence or test. Trains cost a fortune and buses don't exist outside London. The police force? Well. Less said.
    No one ever seems to start from the question What is the point of it? Buses as an example. What are they for? What should the police be doing? Ask the people who use them. And work from there, with the folk who deliver it, to answer how we get there. And give them the tools to achieve it. It's all tinkering at the moment. Penny pinching and lack of strategic thinking. So. Party of delivery in public services.
    The problem is, that the Labour Party, and the Labour movement in general, is now a creature of the people who work in public services, rather than the end user.

    Public services are now increasing run for the benefit of their own staff, how will Labour turn that around when under pressure from their own member Unions?
  • eristdooferistdoof Posts: 5,076
    kle4 said:

    It's an odd thing, but surprisingly often we're quite bad at things we think we're good at and quite good at things we think we're bad at.
    Kind of related: I spoke once to a German student who spent 2 years, GCSE and the A-S-level year, in the UK. When I asked her about the comparision between Britisch and German schools she said that the syllabus has notably less content in England but the quality of teaching is much higher than in Germany. (I assume this is because of the rigourous pestering by Ofsted).

    I reckon most Brits would think it the other way round, the sylabus is good but the teaching is poor.
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 10,061
    Foxy said:

    Surely you should be in favour of the creative use of dyed wool?
    Thats very true. Knit on Britons! Knit one, pearl one, drop one, curl one.
    Bucket!
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,566
    Foxy said:

    I have been to about 25 football matches a year for the last couple of decades, so have a fair amount of direct observation.

    I was at the World Cup in St Petersburg and Moscow in 2018 too. The Russians ran it very well, no issues with crowd control or policing at all. Perhaps the CL final should have stayed in StP.
    This has got fuck all to do with football per se and a lot more to do with the ethnic minorities in St Denis and French attitudes to them, accusatory and exculpatory by turns, AND their animosity to the French states, AND the particular history of brutal French policing, AND the history of terrorism at St Denis causing very specific crowd problems, and so on and so forth

    Not for the first time, you don’t know what the fuck you are talking about, you stupid, myopic, bum-faced, wobble-bottomed, morally narcissistic old quack, so shut the fuck up or I shall be forced into rudeness

  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 51,106
    MattW said:

    Are these a thing? We have one:


    Yep. Knitted Royalty everywhere, Thousands of em...


  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,901
    edited June 2022

    I reckon Catford might be the next gentrification target. I went out for a drink and a meal with a mate there last night. It's really quite ropey but has excellent transport links into central London with two train stations side by side. There's a bizarrely good and cheap Italian restaurant there too - two pizzas, two deserts and a nice bottle of Primitivo for a bit over £50. Catford is the new Peckham - you heard it here first.
    Really? Had some mates in Catford in the 90's. We always thought it had an unusual air of respectable, dull suburbia for Central London.
    Either it's gone downhill, or the rest of London has exploded in wealth. Probably the latter.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,566
    Foxy said:


    Yep. Knitted Royalty everywhere, Thousands of em...


    it is indeed a thing. I profoundly approve


    Platinum Jubilee: Holmes Chapel welcomes knitted Queen https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-61646243
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,281
    It's really telling that the only argument supporters can summon up to defend Johnson are that the alternatives might be worse. Not one positive reason for keeping him.

    https://twitter.com/Samfr/status/1532289597375496192

  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 10,061
    Foxy said:


    Yep. Knitted Royalty everywhere, Thousands of em...


    Fucking hell that beefeater is out of shape. Looks like Big Daddy in his heel persona The Guardsman
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 51,106
    Leon said:

    This has got fuck all to do with football per se and a lot more to do with the ethnic minorities in St Denis and French attitudes to them, accusatory and exculpatory by turns, AND their animosity to the French states, AND the particular history of brutal French policing, AND the history of terrorism at St Denis causing very specific crowd problems, and so on and so forth

    Not for the first time, you don’t know what the fuck you are talking about, you stupid, myopic, bum-faced, wobble-bottomed, morally narcissistic old quack, so shut the fuck up or I shall be forced into rudeness

    Yes the problem is them darkies again isn't it?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,318

    It's really telling that the only argument supporters can summon up to defend Johnson are that the alternatives might be worse. Not one positive reason for keeping him.

    https://twitter.com/Samfr/status/1532289597375496192

    If the alternatives to Johnson are worse than a self-confessed criminal who is accused of financial impropriety, subverted disciplinary proceedings and misled the House, all that proves is the Tories are unfit for government.
  • TomsToms Posts: 2,478
    Toms said:

    umm, yes the 2nd law still applies, but maybe you're right. I'm, errrr, a bit rusty on the topic, having sold my only car---Morse Traveler, utterly rotten but otherwise easy to work on and hand-cranked ( I ran it on a dud battery for six months)---in 1973.

    Ah freedom from bureaucracy and freedom to use my limbs.
    Hmmm. I guess that shoulda been "Morris Traveler" ? Anyway I'm out-uv-it.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,650

    I reckon Catford might be the next gentrification target. I went out for a drink and a meal with a mate there last night. It's really quite ropey but has excellent transport links into central London with two train stations side by side. There's a bizarrely good and cheap Italian restaurant there too - two pizzas, two deserts and a nice bottle of Primitivo for a bit over £50. Catford is the new Peckham - you heard it here first.
    I once lived near there. I remember it for that cat statue and the dog track - my last visit to which left me with itchy skin for a few days. Think it's closed now, sadly, which maybe does point to gentrification. You probably shouldn't have a dog track if you want to gentrify.
  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 5,542

    I've never experienced (or even seen) violence at any rugby match I've been to.

    It starts and ends with banter.
    You haven’t been watching what happens on the pitch, then!
  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 5,542
    Stereodog said:

    I'm at Trooping the Colour and it's complete and utter chaos. We're in a massive queue for ticket holders and there are just swarms of unticketed people swarming down Great George Street swamping the queue. No barriers, marshals or any form of crowd control. Loads of elderly veterans getting swamped and jostled. I thought we were supposed to be good at this kind of thing.

    Due to staff shortages, crowd control has been subcontracted to the French.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,566
    Farooq said:

    I'm no legal expert, but I'm pretty sure it's treason to talk like that on This Of All Days.
    Shouldn't you be eating imperial vanilla iced slices round a plyboard table in the drizzle?
    Bit difficult in sunny Tbiiisi. But you have a point. Maybe I should have a glass of Saperavi on my terrace?

    i must say the Mall looks pretty splendid from this distance, with all the scrambled eggs on the guardly shoulders on the horses in the sun,..

    is there a moment which is Actual Jubilee? Like, when we can say: this is it. This is when they put the crown on her head, a billion years ago. Like 11am on November 11?
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 19,148
    edited June 2022
    Farooq said:

    Purely for research purposes, and and definitely nothing to do with these here garden shears, do you know where that purled abortion actually is?
    Foxy's neck of the woods. A reason for Leon to visit Leicester.

    52.575686,-1.110499

    It's crochet though. Not a purl stitch to be seen.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,318
    Fucking hell, another one:

    Oklahoma hospital shooting: Four killed and multiple injured
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-61669873
  • Peter_the_PunterPeter_the_Punter Posts: 14,625
    kinabalu said:

    I once lived near there. I remember it for that cat statue and the dog track - my last visit to which left me with itchy skin for a few days. Think it's closed now, sadly, which maybe does point to gentrification. You probably shouldn't have a dog track if you want to gentrify.
    Good point.

    They got rid of the dog tracks at Hackney Wick and Clapton just before gentrification began.
  • No_Offence_AlanNo_Offence_Alan Posts: 4,955
    MattW said:

    Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo. They haven't.

    Here's my wordle. Octordle takes too long.

    Wordle 348 3/6

    ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩
    🟨🟨⬜🟨⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    Today's Worldle is trivially easy.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,650
    So, the Jube is here and the weather playing ball. Turns out the road next to us is having a 'street party'. Found this out just yesterday. I was pretty mortified at first but I guess no harm. Might show my face briefly.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,318

    Today's Worldle is trivially easy.
    Unlike 'bayou' the other day, which was a word I'd never even heard of.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 30,032

    15,000 is more likely to be the winning vote total, with Tories on ca 10k
    There is one known unknown which is the Conservatives might vonc Boris between the jubilee and the by-elections.
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 10,061
    Can we eat or penetrate swans today?
    Asking for a friend. And a pervert.
  • Peter_the_PunterPeter_the_Punter Posts: 14,625
    ydoethur said:

    Fucking hell, another one:

    Oklahoma hospital shooting: Four killed and multiple injured
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-61669873

    The extraordinary thing is that so many people appear mystified as to why it happens.

    Shootings of any kind are rare in this country. So are guns. Handguns are virtually non-existent, owners of rifles are subject to careful vetting, and you can forget all about assault weapons.

    This isn't rocket science.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 62,135
    Leon said:

    I’m afraid the endearing ineptitude of that makes me more of a monarchist
    Republicans always get their timing, tone and arguments wrong. Always wrong.

    They will try again at the next coronation, and lose then too.

    They will always lose.
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 10,061

    There is one known unknown which is the Conservatives might vonc Boris between the jubilee and the by-elections.
    Yes. And that might make it a nipper
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,318

    The extraordinary thing is that so many people appear mystified as to why it happens.

    Shootings of any kind are rare in this country. So are guns. Handguns are virtually non-existent, owners of rifles are subject to careful vetting, and you can forget all about assault weapons.

    This isn't rocket science.
    This nails it:

    https://www.theonion.com/no-way-to-prevent-this-says-only-nation-where-this-r-1819576527
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,650

    Good point.

    They got rid of the dog tracks at Hackney Wick and Clapton just before gentrification began.
    And Walthamstow - the Royal Ascot of greyhound racing. No fleas there.

    I used to go to the dogs quite regularly in my 20s and 30s.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 14,819
    kinabalu said:

    I once lived near there. I remember it for that cat statue and the dog track - my last visit to which left me with itchy skin for a few days. Think it's closed now, sadly, which maybe does point to gentrification. You probably shouldn't have a dog track if you want to gentrify.
    Bit too suburban to be the new Peckham I think. But it has solid Edwardian housing stock and decent rail links. More like the new Walthamstow or new Balham.

    I think the bearded hipster threshold will stay along the Hither Green/ Ladywell/Crofton Park/Nunhead demarcation line. Beyond that they don’t thrive.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 26,515

    He does seem to be a sort of digital enabler, hooking google up with various businesses.
    I looked at this some time ago. This is a skeptical evaluation.

    AIUI it grew off the back of the Apprenticeship Levy, the training tax imposed by the Govt on all larger employers, raising several billion a year, and provides a link for potential staff and all those companies who have paid the tax and get can part of it back if they spend it on training.

    So an apprentice -> employer link was required. It really imo functioned at that time as an outsourced part of the Apprenticeship offering.

    Unless they diversify the model is fragile. So I think the £700m value is a touch hypothetical.

    It's dependent on a temporary govt policy and could go pop if the next govt change tack, so he needs to diversify or get money out before the Apprenticeship Levy dependent cash firehose vanishes.

    It somewhat reminds me of a Training Provider or several under New Labour who got government contracts to train unemployed people and got rich, then an honour and faded. I recall one that was based in Sheffield, but not the name.

    He now has money from tax-subsidised rises in high end London property prices.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,901
    ydoethur said:

    Fucking hell, another one:

    Oklahoma hospital shooting: Four killed and multiple injured
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-61669873

    I can't think of anything worse than shooting up an Elementary School.
    Hold my beer I've had an idea.
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    edited June 2022
    ydoethur said:

    Unlike 'bayou' the other day, which was a word I'd never even heard of.
    I don't know what one is, but they do crop up in songs quite a lot: born on the B, Blue b, etc. Not to mention Jambalaya.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 62,135

    All over the nation they are knitting the Queen. A curiously British nonsense.

    And that's what makes Britain such a splendid place.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 14,819

    Today's Worldle is trivially easy.
    My pattern was identical. Are your first words something certain people are allergic to and somewhere people live?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,318
    IshmaelZ said:

    I don't know what one is, but they do crop up in songs quite a lot: born on the B, Blue b, etc. Not to mention Jambalaya.
    It's a word in the American south for 'marshy river branch,' apparently.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayou
  • No_Offence_AlanNo_Offence_Alan Posts: 4,955

    For those of us on Netflix, I see Borgen is back! A glimpse of a healthier political world.

    Stranger Things is back too, which is more my cup of tea.
    Great 80s soundtrack.
    Interesting that in the 80s the Russians were the bad guys, and they are again now in 2022.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 51,106
    Leon said:

    Bit difficult in sunny Tbiiisi. But you have a point. Maybe I should have a glass of Saperavi on my terrace?

    i must say the Mall looks pretty splendid from this distance, with all the scrambled eggs on the guardly shoulders on the horses in the sun,..

    is there a moment which is Actual Jubilee? Like, when we can say: this is it. This is when they put the crown on her head, a billion years ago. Like 11am on November 11?
    The coronation was 2 June, but 1953, so 69 years today. Has someone miscounted 🤔
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 34,523

    Today's Worldle is trivially easy.
    Yesterday's was the first I've failed on for ages.
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 24,200
    Foxy said:

    I have been to about 25 football matches a year for the last couple of decades, so have a fair amount of direct observation.

    I was at the World Cup in St Petersburg and Moscow in 2018 too. The Russians ran it very well, no issues with crowd control or policing at all. Perhaps the CL final should have stayed in StP.
    England Russia in Marseilles 2016 was probably part of the reason for that. Our hooligans, and others, got a severe warning as to what could happen and stayed away or adapted their behaviour.
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 10,061

    Yesterday's was the first I've failed on for ages.
    Its almost impossible to fail at wordle. Thats like not reaching the sand in long jump
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 51,106
    edited June 2022

    Foxy's neck of the woods. A reason for Leon to visit Leicester.

    52.575686,-1.110499

    It's crochet though. Not a purl stitch to be seen.
    South Wigston, outside the Co-op, I see. Just a few miles for me.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 26,515
    Foxy said:

    The coronation was 2 June, but 1953, so 69 years today. Has someone miscounted 🤔
    The succession happens when the prevous one pops clogs so yes - you :smile:
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,318
    Foxy said:

    The coronation was 2 June, but 1953, so 69 years today. Has someone miscounted 🤔
    No, it's just nobody wanted a bank holiday in the middle of February. Better to hold it in the summer and have a nice jolly.
  • kjhkjh Posts: 12,477
    Tips on what to see in Lisbon please - 2 and a bit days

    Tips on what to see in Faro please - 3 hours, near train station

    Cheers all.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,566

    Republicans always get their timing, tone and arguments wrong. Always wrong.

    They will try again at the next coronation, and lose then too.

    They will always lose.
    Yep

    The genius of a monarchy is its predictably human unpredictability. So it has inherent drama, like a soap opera, and we are all addicted, even when it takes a dark turn

    So you get periods when it’s awful, ugh, Prince Andrew is a fiddler, yuk, and the Queen is nearly dead, oh no, and then suddenly you get a birth or a birthday or a wedding and then Yay, look, the Mall is lovely in the sun! - it reminds me of having a baby which is exactly like Brexit, no, it’s like bringing up a baby - you have periods when it is all nappies and what the F and then you get the first smile or the first word and happiness is unconfined

    Except for the churlish, joyless republicans, but then I suspect they get a secret surly joy out of being churlish and joyless, so it’s all good

  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 44,025
    Stereodog said:

    I'm at Trooping the Colour and it's complete and utter chaos. We're in a massive queue for ticket holders and there are just swarms of unticketed people swarming down Great George Street swamping the queue. No barriers, marshals or any form of crowd control. Loads of elderly veterans getting swamped and jostled. I thought we were supposed to be good at this kind of thing.

    Are the French organising it then
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 34,523
    kinabalu said:

    And Walthamstow - the Royal Ascot of greyhound racing. No fleas there.

    I used to go to the dogs quite regularly in my 20s and 30s.
    I used to go Southend track OUAT. Quite enjoy dog racing, provided one realises it can be just a tiny bit iffy!
  • No_Offence_AlanNo_Offence_Alan Posts: 4,955
    TimS said:

    My pattern was identical. Are your first words something certain people are allergic to and somewhere people live?
    No, WorLdle, with an extra "L".
    You are shown the silhouette of a country or territory, and have to guess which one it is.
    If you guess wrong you are shown a distance and an arrow pointing towards where the actual answer is.
    6 attempts allowed. Only Anguilla has defeated me so far.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 44,617
    edited June 2022
    kle4 said:

    Bit early for bonfire night effigies isnt it?
    Is that photo taken in Lewes?

    All rather imperial today, stuck in the century before last. Or (almost) a millennium ago. Empire this, Victoria that, some mediaeval king's ladyfriend's lingerie next.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 14,819
    ydoethur said:

    It's a word in the American south for 'marshy river branch,' apparently.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayou
    “I’m going back someday, come what may, to Blue Bayou”. Roy Orbison.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 30,032
    MattW said:

    I looked at this some time ago. This is a skeptical evaluation.

    AIUI it grew off the back of the Apprenticeship Levy, the training tax imposed by the Govt on all larger employers, raising several billion a year, and provides a link for potential staff and all those companies who have paid the tax and get can part of it back if they spend it on training.

    So an apprentice -> employer link was required. It really imo functioned at that time as an outsourced part of the Apprenticeship offering.

    Unless they diversify the model is fragile. So I think the £700m value is a touch hypothetical.

    It's dependent on a temporary govt policy and could go pop if the next govt change tack, so he needs to diversify or get money out before the Apprenticeship Levy dependent cash firehose vanishes.

    It somewhat reminds me of a Training Provider or several under New Labour who got government contracts to train unemployed people and got rich, then an honour and faded. I recall one that was based in Sheffield, but not the name.

    He now has money from tax-subsidised rises in high end London property prices.
    This is an entrepreneurial thing, chasing subsidies from government initiatives. And maybe the government would say that is the point of them, or at least a fraction of the point.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,901
    ydoethur said:

    It's a word in the American south for 'marshy river branch,' apparently.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayou
    And one I am surprised a well read person hasn't heard of.
    Mind you. As I age I'm finding what folk know and don't know increasingly perplexing.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 44,025
    Farooq said:

    Republic and more bank holidays. Now.
    Hear Hear
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,405
    IshmaelZ said:

    I don't know what one is, but they do crop up in songs quite a lot: born on the B, Blue b, etc. Not to mention Jambalaya.
    I've heard of it context of New Orleans and alligators, so I presume it is basically swampland.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,566
    ydoethur said:

    Fucking hell, another one:

    Oklahoma hospital shooting: Four killed and multiple injured
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-61669873


    What’s the problem? All they have to do it Arm The Patients. Maybe even give a couple of guns to the dead
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 10,061
    Leon said:

    Yep

    The genius of a monarchy is its predictably human unpredictability. So it has inherent drama, like a soap opera, and we are all addicted, even when it takes a dark turn

    So you get periods when it’s awful, ugh, Prince Andrew is a fiddler, yuk, and the Queen is nearly dead, oh no, and then suddenly you get a birth or a birthday or a wedding and then Yay, look, the Mall is lovely in the sun! - it reminds me of having a baby which is exactly like Brexit, no, it’s like bringing up a baby - you have periods when it is all nappies and what the F and then you get the first smile or the first word and happiness is unconfined

    Except for the churlish, joyless republicans, but then I suspect they get a secret surly joy out of being churlish and joyless, so it’s all good

    Pride, misty eyed patriotism, bemusement, hatred, vitriol, boredom, irrelevance, pageant and swans in equal measure
  • FrankBoothFrankBooth Posts: 10,022
    kinabalu said:

    So, the Jube is here and the weather playing ball. Turns out the road next to us is having a 'street party'. Found this out just yesterday. I was pretty mortified at first but I guess no harm. Might show my face briefly.

    Anything that gets people socialising with their neighbours sounds good to me. And if you're mortified I have some worrying news for you. There are far worse things going on in the world.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 14,819

    No, WorLdle, with an extra "L".
    You are shown the silhouette of a country or territory, and have to guess which one it is.
    If you guess wrong you are shown a distance and an arrow pointing towards where the actual answer is.
    6 attempts allowed. Only Anguilla has defeated me so far.
    Oh that, yes. I play worldle too, with the children. Tradle is the best though. Richer and more complex information.

    My question was about the previous post about wordle so I was responding to the wrong one.
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    dixiedean said:

    And one I am surprised a well read person hasn't heard of.
    Mind you. As I age I'm finding what folk know and don't know increasingly perplexing.
    of course I've heard of it, I bloody love CCR, and had it down as some kind of geographical feature. Just never bothered to narrow it down beyond that.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 62,135
    Farooq said:

    I believe in taking my thoughts straight to the enemy's stronghold, not just sniping opportunistically when the bootlickers are lost in the forest of trying explain away Andrew's sweaty, wandering hands.

    This republican stands by his principles in any weather.
    Yes.

    You're the guy who charges straight at the machine gun nest across 400 yards of no man's land in full view, in the middle of the day, dressed in bright orange whilst carrying a pompous placard and an unloaded antique pistol.

    We feel so sorry for you we don't even shoot you.

    We just laugh at you as you flounder in the mud half-day across and wait for you to go home again.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 44,025
    Leon said:

    Yep

    The genius of a monarchy is its predictably human unpredictability. So it has inherent drama, like a soap opera, and we are all addicted, even when it takes a dark turn

    So you get periods when it’s awful, ugh, Prince Andrew is a fiddler, yuk, and the Queen is nearly dead, oh no, and then suddenly you get a birth or a birthday or a wedding and then Yay, look, the Mall is lovely in the sun! - it reminds me of having a baby which is exactly like Brexit, no, it’s like bringing up a baby - you have periods when it is all nappies and what the F and then you get the first smile or the first word and happiness is unconfined

    Except for the churlish, joyless republicans, but then I suspect they get a secret surly joy out of being churlish and joyless, so it’s all good

    Joyless my arse , you slaver over a bunch of grifters, crooked, sexual deviants , ne'er do wells etc. A pox on your Royals.
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 10,061

    I oppose the Royal Family on principle but I have no interest in seeing them removed.

    I have always believed that we should do things that reduce inequality, increase opportunity and create a better society for all. Removing the Royal Family achieves none of those things.

    I will enjoy my extra bank holidays with pleasure, thanks Queenie.

    A practical horse speaks.
    I tend to agree.
This discussion has been closed.