Punters think there will be a Johnson VONC but he’ll win it – politicalbetting.com
Comments
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It took you EIGHT HOURS to get there.Cookie said:
Very nice. But also inconveniently far from Manchester, which is a factor when choosing a holiday.Gardenwalker said:Here’s my “home” beach.
No bugger on it, comme d’habitude.
Even in peak season, Cornwall really isn't crowded. Look at that picture I posted. Now that was when we first got there, and others arrived, but it never came close to crowded.
Granted, some beaches - Polzeath, say - are always busy. But most aren't.
Not as quiet as NZ, of course. But at least few other people on the beach are part of the fun. Friends to make, and so forth.
You could be accompanying Leon on an accordion in Tbilisi in that time.0 -
Sounds more like Easter.IshmaelZ said:
I haven't. Christmas movie, is it?state_go_away said:
yes ever heard of the film- Passed Away Hard 9IshmaelZ said:
Also, the English for "die" is "die." Not fucking pass.Leon said:
Can we not fucking speculate on the imminent death of Her Maj on the literal day of her jubilee. Thanks. TraitorCorrectHorseBattery said:NEW: The Queen has experienced some discomfort today & has concluded with “great reluctance” that she will not attend tomorrow’s National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral.
The Queen is said to be looking forward to participating in tonight’s Beacon lighting event
She'll be passing by the end of the year0 -
Going back to an earlier discussion: Here's an observation on how acceptable language has changed. My two favorite American political novels are "All the King's Men" and "The Last Hurrah". (The first is more powerfully written; the second is still useful in understanding American politics. I honestly think I can predict about 75 percent of what Nancy Pelosi will do, just from reading it.)
Both contain the "n" word, though just once in the second. Neither contain the "c" word or the "f" word so common at this site, nor even any euphemisms for them.1 -
But it has TUATARAS and KAKAPOS.Leon said:
I’d love to go to NZ. I hear the landscapes are spectacular and I have major traveler friends who rave about itGardenwalker said:
Yeh we don’t have any of those.Leon said:Gardenwalker said:Cornwall is like a very small, overcrowded NZ.
Unless New Zealand can boast exquisite thatched villages, medieval churches, grand aristocratic estates, ancient monasteries, tiny river valleys adorned with 14th century pubs, mystical stone circles, haunted castles, and UNESCO listed ruins of a 5000 year old industry which changed the world - which I tend to doubt - then this is fucking bollocks
But we do have weird-as-fuck wildlife, lakes inhabited by Māori water-monsters (taniwha) and fucking hobbits.
And better wine, too.
But it ain’t Cornwall. And nor is Cornwall NZ.
The mix of history and landscape and people and seascape is what makes Cornwall special, and NZ does not have the history and people
But of course NZ has glaciers and Alps and wonderful lakes and Cornwall has none of that. So, a fairly poor comparison0 -
Does anyone else use Twitter as a virtual scrapbook? - whenever i go some place with work or for pleasure I follow the twitter site - quite nostalgic to look at occasionallyMattW said:Interesting to note that Mick Fealty has decided to leave Twitter after 15 years, explaining his reasons here:
https://sluggerotoole.com/2022/06/01/why-im-leaving-twitter-fifteen-years-after-i-first-jumped-into-an-unending-stream-of-news-and-tat/0 -
Great update @Cookie! If it wasn’t for the fact that it was the UK, it could have been a @Leon post.Cookie said:Update from Cornwall: today was the day we admitted defeat. We cannot cram everything we want to do here into a week, and aren't going to try: we'll come back next year.
So we didn't go to Kynance Cove, instead - because, if you're middle class parents holidaying in the school holidays and love anywhere south of, ooh, Preston, one of the advantages of Cornwall is that there will inevitably be friends here at the same time - we took advantage of the presence some friends who have daughters the same age as our oldest and youngest, whom we met at Holywell Bay.
Now I've not ticked off all of the best beaches in the world, but I have been to Miami Beach. And in almost all respects, Holywell Bay is better. Soft sand, almost devoid of seaweed, gently caresses your feet, shelving gently away below and impossibly azure sea. And the setting! Look out to sea at those little islands rising steeply out of the bay and you could be in the South Pacific. And also, you've got what you really need on a beach: tide, and a stream, which are what differentiate a proper beach from just an area of sand next to some water.
The only respect in which Miami Beach or any of those other fancy dan beaches beat Holywell Bay - and I concede it is not a trivial one - is the water temperature. It was a perfect, cloudless day, but even so, the water didn't really get above uncomfortably cold. I am a relatively Hardy swimmer, but even so I blanched at it. There were some swimmers and surfers, mostly wetsuits, but it was not thronging. I suspect the Cornish Atlantic really takes until August to warm up to a reasonable temperature.
Still, though, an idyllic day. Kids played happily and explored for about five hours without any signs of getting bored. As, actually, did I.1 -
Got a new motor, John. A Deere. John Deere:
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Are they still making it up as they go along? I got the impression with Series 1 that they had a script conference every Monday morning and asked each other 'How on earth' (I'll spare you the effing and blinding) 'do we get out of this?'NickPalmer said:
Yes, that's the subtitles, not in the original Danish (see discussion downthread).kinabalu said:Watching Borgen anyway. Great to have it back but rather too much effing and blinding for my taste. Why oh why? ...
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COOL!TimT said:Got a new motor, John. A Deere. John Deere:
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Also, that photo of a truly magnificent beach in NZ is notably lacking in…… anything else. Like pubs, cafes, maybe an interesting old village with a quaint church, an old Manor House with a mad new owner, some kids with a pop up lobster shack, a seafood restaurant or two, a chippy, a convenient Tesco Extra, a Roman bridge, a vulgar but cheerful boozer, I’m on about pubs againCookie said:
Very nice. But also inconveniently far from Manchester, which is a factor when choosing a holiday.Gardenwalker said:Here’s my “home” beach.
No bugger on it, comme d’habitude.
Even in peak season, Cornwall really isn't crowded. Look at that picture I posted. Now that was when we first got there, and others arrived, but it never came close to crowded.
Granted, some beaches - Polzeath, say - are always busy. But most aren't.
Not as quiet as NZ, of course. But at least few other people on the beach are part of the fun. Friends to make, and so forth.
This is the problem I have often encountered in Australia. Where I have been many times. And i am fairly sure NZ is similar
You find this extraordinary beach after a hike - deserted and glorious in the sun - and you think, Wow, what a brilliant place, let’s have a beer at the nearest pub and stare at the view
And then you go on Google maps and you find there is nothing of that sort for 4,398 miles. Absolutely nothing at all
In Cornwall the nearest pub is no more than 1.2 miles away. Anywhere
We are incredibly lucky in Europe that we have been so densely settled and civilised for so long1 -
Biden to resettle refugees coming through Mexico to Rwanda, er I mean Spain:
https://www.axios.com/2022/06/02/biden-summit-americas-spain-canada-immigration-refugees
I don’t imagine that some of the democratic base will like that.0 -
Really? I thought it was a well-understood term in the States? Admittedly a little obsolescent.TimT said:0 -
Depressing view from Larry Elliott in the Guardian:
"Russia is winning the economic war"
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jun/02/russia-economic-war-ukraine-food-fuel-price-vladimir-putin0 -
Well I'm not sure I could. Manchester Airport hasn't done well in that respect of late.Gardenwalker said:
It took you EIGHT HOURS to get there.Cookie said:
Very nice. But also inconveniently far from Manchester, which is a factor when choosing a holiday.Gardenwalker said:Here’s my “home” beach.
No bugger on it, comme d’habitude.
Even in peak season, Cornwall really isn't crowded. Look at that picture I posted. Now that was when we first got there, and others arrived, but it never came close to crowded.
Granted, some beaches - Polzeath, say - are always busy. But most aren't.
Not as quiet as NZ, of course. But at least few other people on the beach are part of the fun. Friends to make, and so forth.
You could be accompanying Leon on an accordion in Tbilisi in that time.
But even if I could - well, I'd enjoy myself, I'm sure, but I don't think Georgia would be as successful a family holiday as Cornwall. For me - for my family - I don't think anywhere in Europe would be.
And I'm sure NZ is grand - if you offered me a free family holiday to NZ right now I'd take it gladly and enthusiastically - but it takes 24 hours and thousands and thousands of pounds to get there.0 -
No, it must be Thursday or Friday because we haven't lost the Test Match yet.state_go_away said:anyone else thinks it Saturday night?
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I've heard Leon can't stand the Cornish.Fairliered said:
Great update @Cookie! If it wasn’t for the fact that it was the UK, it could have been a @Leon post.Cookie said:Update from Cornwall: today was the day we admitted defeat. We cannot cram everything we want to do here into a week, and aren't going to try: we'll come back next year.
So we didn't go to Kynance Cove, instead - because, if you're middle class parents holidaying in the school holidays and love anywhere south of, ooh, Preston, one of the advantages of Cornwall is that there will inevitably be friends here at the same time - we took advantage of the presence some friends who have daughters the same age as our oldest and youngest, whom we met at Holywell Bay.
Now I've not ticked off all of the best beaches in the world, but I have been to Miami Beach. And in almost all respects, Holywell Bay is better. Soft sand, almost devoid of seaweed, gently caresses your feet, shelving gently away below and impossibly azure sea. And the setting! Look out to sea at those little islands rising steeply out of the bay and you could be in the South Pacific. And also, you've got what you really need on a beach: tide, and a stream, which are what differentiate a proper beach from just an area of sand next to some water.
The only respect in which Miami Beach or any of those other fancy dan beaches beat Holywell Bay - and I concede it is not a trivial one - is the water temperature. It was a perfect, cloudless day, but even so, the water didn't really get above uncomfortably cold. I am a relatively Hardy swimmer, but even so I blanched at it. There were some swimmers and surfers, mostly wetsuits, but it was not thronging. I suspect the Cornish Atlantic really takes until August to warm up to a reasonable temperature.
Still, though, an idyllic day. Kids played happily and explored for about five hours without any signs of getting bored. As, actually, did I.0 -
At least we don't have to read Seamus Milne in Guardian anymore thanks to Corbyn giving him a job as press guru.Benpointer said:Depressing view from Larry Elliott in the Guardian:
"Russia is winning the economic war"
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jun/02/russia-economic-war-ukraine-food-fuel-price-vladimir-putin
God knows what tripe he would be spouting about Putin's Russia.
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More prosaically than other travellers, I've been asked if I'd like to go to Ludlow for a few days. I don't know it. Is that an invitation I should a) accept, or b) decline? Thanks.
PS - not interested in how beautiful the women are, as I shall be accompanied by my own.0 -
Founder and Editor of Slugger O Toole, which he set up amongst debates about the peace process.Andy_JS said:
Never heard of him.MattW said:Interesting to note that Mick Fealty has decided to leave Twitter after 15 years, explaining his reasons here:
https://sluggerotoole.com/2022/06/01/why-im-leaving-twitter-fifteen-years-after-i-first-jumped-into-an-unending-stream-of-news-and-tat/
Perhaps the most influential and distinguished UK-based political blog in its own community (NI). Nothing anywhere else in the UK has come close imo.
Slugger's 20th anniversary is this Sunday. It was set up to focus on NI politics and culture, and beyond as appropriate.
Worth a look.3 -
My beach is about 45 minutes from Auckland downtown. It’s on the other side of a range of hills populated by assorted artists, lesbian potters, maori mystics etc. It’s one of about a dozen such beaches along this stretch of coast. The Piano was filmed next door.Leon said:
Also, that photo of a truly magnificent beach in NZ is notably lacking in…… anything else. Like pubs, cafes, maybe an interesting old village with a quaint church, an old Manor House with a mad new owner, some kids with a pop up lobster shack, a seafood restaurant or two, a chippy, a convenient Tesco Extra, a Roman bridge, a vulgar but cheerful boozer, I’m on about pubs againCookie said:
Very nice. But also inconveniently far from Manchester, which is a factor when choosing a holiday.Gardenwalker said:Here’s my “home” beach.
No bugger on it, comme d’habitude.
Even in peak season, Cornwall really isn't crowded. Look at that picture I posted. Now that was when we first got there, and others arrived, but it never came close to crowded.
Granted, some beaches - Polzeath, say - are always busy. But most aren't.
Not as quiet as NZ, of course. But at least few other people on the beach are part of the fun. Friends to make, and so forth.
This is the problem I have often encountered in Australia. Where I have been many times. And i am fairly sure NZ is similar
You find this extraordinary beach after a hike - deserted and glorious in the sun - and you think, Wow, what a brilliant place, let’s have a beer at the nearest pub and stare at the view
And then you go on Google maps and you find there is nothing of that sort for 4,398 miles. Absolutely nothing at all
In Cornwall the nearest pub is no more than 1.2 miles away. Anywhere
We are incredibly lucky in Europe that we have been so densely settled and civilised for so long
No tin mining though, true.0 -
Cornish Camel Valley wines are very good!Gardenwalker said:
Yeh we don’t have any of those.Leon said:Gardenwalker said:Cornwall is like a very small, overcrowded NZ.
Unless New Zealand can boast exquisite thatched villages, medieval churches, grand aristocratic estates, ancient monasteries, tiny river valleys adorned with 14th century pubs, mystical stone circles, haunted castles, and UNESCO listed ruins of a 5000 year old industry which changed the world - which I tend to doubt - then this is fucking bollocks
But we do have weird-as-fuck wildlife, lakes inhabited by Māori water-monsters (taniwha) and fucking hobbits.
And better wine, too.0 -
Oh god, definitely ACCEPTNorthern_Al said:More prosaically than other travellers, I've been asked if I'd like to go to Ludlow for a few days. I don't know it. Is that an invitation I should a) accept, or b) decline? Thanks.
The countryside is truly glorious and pretty little Ludlow is like this mini gastronomic heaven. You can have brilliant walks (with brilliant churches and castles and villages if that’s your thing) then brilliant dinners that you’ve earned
Honestly, it’s excellent. Go3 -
Take a look at Waugh's Scoop.Jim_Miller said:Going back to an earlier discussion: Here's an observation on how acceptable language has changed. My two favorite American political novels are "All the King's Men" and "The Last Hurrah". (The first is more powerfully written; the second is still useful in understanding American politics. I honestly think I can predict about 75 percent of what Nancy Pelosi will do, just from reading it.)
Both contain the "n" word, though just once in the second. Neither contain the "c" word or the "f" word so common at this site, nor even any euphemisms for them.
Blimey.
I cannot believe he has not been so cancelled.
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@Leon - on the subject touched on earlier of 12 year old daughters, happy to report that mine is currently tearing around outside with her sisters and two boys she appears to jave just met playing some variant on tig (or tag, or it, depending on where you're from). She has a massive smile on her face and is looking utterly unselfconscious. She hasn't wholly left childhood behind quite yet!0
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Not many American adults know what a Tory is. (A few older ones would remember that the US once had a Whig Party.)
Which is too bad, because it ruins the joke about the chicken during the American Revolution. It was a counter-agent, so naurally the Americans nicknamed it "Chicken Cacciatore".1 -
It's a really nice town in fantastic countryside. Go for it.Northern_Al said:More prosaically than other travellers, I've been asked if I'd like to go to Ludlow for a few days. I don't know it. Is that an invitation I should a) accept, or b) decline? Thanks.
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Seems quite a strong plot line this time - I agree the original was a bit "what does a nice liberal do next?"Alphabet_Soup said:
Are they still making it up as they go along? I got the impression with Series 1 that they had a script conference every Monday morning and asked each other 'How on earth' (I'll spare you the effing and blinding) 'do we get out of this?'NickPalmer said:
Yes, that's the subtitles, not in the original Danish (see discussion downthread).kinabalu said:Watching Borgen anyway. Great to have it back but rather too much effing and blinding for my taste. Why oh why? ...
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Anyone have a map of where all the beacons are being lit? I read something about the RICS having an "anchor chain" of beacons but couldn't find any information about where those are.0
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Thanks - appreciated. We like good food.Leon said:
Oh god, definitely ACCEPTNorthern_Al said:More prosaically than other travellers, I've been asked if I'd like to go to Ludlow for a few days. I don't know it. Is that an invitation I should a) accept, or b) decline? Thanks.
The countryside is truly glorious and pretty little Ludlow is like this mini gastronomic heaven. You can have brilliant walks (with brilliant churches and castles and villages if that’s your thing) then brilliant dinners that you’ve earned
Honestly, it’s excellent. Go0 -
What he said. It's well worth a visit.Leon said:
Oh god, definitely ACCEPTNorthern_Al said:More prosaically than other travellers, I've been asked if I'd like to go to Ludlow for a few days. I don't know it. Is that an invitation I should a) accept, or b) decline? Thanks.
The countryside is truly glorious and pretty little Ludlow is like this mini gastronomic heaven. You can have brilliant walks (with brilliant churches and castles and villages if that’s your thing) then brilliant dinners that you’ve earned
Honestly, it’s excellent. Go
If you like hill walking the Clee Hills are outstanding walking country with stunning views.
If you like heritage, Stokesay, Ludlow Castle, Berrington Hall are all easy to get to.
Plenty of places to eat.
And if you just like sitting around admiring the view, there's plenty of good ones to choose.1 -
Piha? Across the Waitakere hills? Classic. When I worked in Auckland that was about the first place I went when I bought a car. One of my NZ girlfriends had a relative with a house out that way. Stunning, but remote, although I guess only 45 minutes from the city.Gardenwalker said:
My beach is about 45 minutes from Auckland downtown. It’s on the other side of a range of hills populated by assorted artists, lesbian potters, maori mystics etc. It’s one of about a dozen such beaches along this stretch of coast. The Piano was filmed next door.Leon said:
Also, that photo of a truly magnificent beach in NZ is notably lacking in…… anything else. Like pubs, cafes, maybe an interesting old village with a quaint church, an old Manor House with a mad new owner, some kids with a pop up lobster shack, a seafood restaurant or two, a chippy, a convenient Tesco Extra, a Roman bridge, a vulgar but cheerful boozer, I’m on about pubs againCookie said:
Very nice. But also inconveniently far from Manchester, which is a factor when choosing a holiday.Gardenwalker said:Here’s my “home” beach.
No bugger on it, comme d’habitude.
Even in peak season, Cornwall really isn't crowded. Look at that picture I posted. Now that was when we first got there, and others arrived, but it never came close to crowded.
Granted, some beaches - Polzeath, say - are always busy. But most aren't.
Not as quiet as NZ, of course. But at least few other people on the beach are part of the fun. Friends to make, and so forth.
This is the problem I have often encountered in Australia. Where I have been many times. And i am fairly sure NZ is similar
You find this extraordinary beach after a hike - deserted and glorious in the sun - and you think, Wow, what a brilliant place, let’s have a beer at the nearest pub and stare at the view
And then you go on Google maps and you find there is nothing of that sort for 4,398 miles. Absolutely nothing at all
In Cornwall the nearest pub is no more than 1.2 miles away. Anywhere
We are incredibly lucky in Europe that we have been so densely settled and civilised for so long
No tin mining though, true.0 -
Sure, but if 8 hours is your limit, pretty much all of Europe is in your compass.Cookie said:
Well I'm not sure I could. Manchester Airport hasn't done well in that respect of late.Gardenwalker said:
It took you EIGHT HOURS to get there.Cookie said:
Very nice. But also inconveniently far from Manchester, which is a factor when choosing a holiday.Gardenwalker said:Here’s my “home” beach.
No bugger on it, comme d’habitude.
Even in peak season, Cornwall really isn't crowded. Look at that picture I posted. Now that was when we first got there, and others arrived, but it never came close to crowded.
Granted, some beaches - Polzeath, say - are always busy. But most aren't.
Not as quiet as NZ, of course. But at least few other people on the beach are part of the fun. Friends to make, and so forth.
You could be accompanying Leon on an accordion in Tbilisi in that time.
But even if I could - well, I'd enjoy myself, I'm sure, but I don't think Georgia would be as successful a family holiday as Cornwall. For me - for my family - I don't think anywhere in Europe would be.
And I'm sure NZ is grand - if you offered me a free family holiday to NZ right now I'd take it gladly and enthusiastically - but it takes 24 hours and thousands and thousands of pounds to get there.
Cornwall is v nice (and good to see you got to Portscatho, which is where we stay) but I just think it’s a tad overrated.0 -
OK off out to see the beacon lit on Gibbet Hill.0
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I often feel that way about the Scottish Highlands. They are sublime, extraordinary. But while they fill me with awe, they don't fill me quite with the same joy as, say, the Lake District or the Yorkshire Dales - mainly because you're never more than an hour's walk from the pub.Leon said:
Also, that photo of a truly magnificent beach in NZ is notably lacking in…… anything else. Like pubs, cafes, maybe an interesting old village with a quaint church, an old Manor House with a mad new owner, some kids with a pop up lobster shack, a seafood restaurant or two, a chippy, a convenient Tesco Extra, a Roman bridge, a vulgar but cheerful boozer, I’m on about pubs againCookie said:
Very nice. But also inconveniently far from Manchester, which is a factor when choosing a holiday.Gardenwalker said:Here’s my “home” beach.
No bugger on it, comme d’habitude.
Even in peak season, Cornwall really isn't crowded. Look at that picture I posted. Now that was when we first got there, and others arrived, but it never came close to crowded.
Granted, some beaches - Polzeath, say - are always busy. But most aren't.
Not as quiet as NZ, of course. But at least few other people on the beach are part of the fun. Friends to make, and so forth.
This is the problem I have often encountered in Australia. Where I have been many times. And i am fairly sure NZ is similar
You find this extraordinary beach after a hike - deserted and glorious in the sun - and you think, Wow, what a brilliant place, let’s have a beer at the nearest pub and stare at the view
And then you go on Google maps and you find there is nothing of that sort for 4,398 miles. Absolutely nothing at all
In Cornwall the nearest pub is no more than 1.2 miles away. Anywhere
We are incredibly lucky in Europe that we have been so densely settled and civilised for so long
Of course, this may also be a factor of what feels like home and what doesn't - and on that basis I am quite happy to concede that Gardenwalker may be stirred to joy by NZ in exactly the way I am by my own home landscapes.0 -
Mine is Bethell’s; Piha is next door.turbotubbs said:
Piha? Across the Waitakere hills? Classic. When I worked in Auckland that was about the first place I went when I bought a car. One of my NZ girlfriends had a relative with a house out that way. Stunning, but remote, although I guess only 45 minutes from the city.Gardenwalker said:
My beach is about 45 minutes from Auckland downtown. It’s on the other side of a range of hills populated by assorted artists, lesbian potters, maori mystics etc. It’s one of about a dozen such beaches along this stretch of coast. The Piano was filmed next door.Leon said:
Also, that photo of a truly magnificent beach in NZ is notably lacking in…… anything else. Like pubs, cafes, maybe an interesting old village with a quaint church, an old Manor House with a mad new owner, some kids with a pop up lobster shack, a seafood restaurant or two, a chippy, a convenient Tesco Extra, a Roman bridge, a vulgar but cheerful boozer, I’m on about pubs againCookie said:
Very nice. But also inconveniently far from Manchester, which is a factor when choosing a holiday.Gardenwalker said:Here’s my “home” beach.
No bugger on it, comme d’habitude.
Even in peak season, Cornwall really isn't crowded. Look at that picture I posted. Now that was when we first got there, and others arrived, but it never came close to crowded.
Granted, some beaches - Polzeath, say - are always busy. But most aren't.
Not as quiet as NZ, of course. But at least few other people on the beach are part of the fun. Friends to make, and so forth.
This is the problem I have often encountered in Australia. Where I have been many times. And i am fairly sure NZ is similar
You find this extraordinary beach after a hike - deserted and glorious in the sun - and you think, Wow, what a brilliant place, let’s have a beer at the nearest pub and stare at the view
And then you go on Google maps and you find there is nothing of that sort for 4,398 miles. Absolutely nothing at all
In Cornwall the nearest pub is no more than 1.2 miles away. Anywhere
We are incredibly lucky in Europe that we have been so densely settled and civilised for so long
No tin mining though, true.
The Waitakeres are an exhilarating, mystical, and sometimes spooky place to which I hope to semi-retire at some stage.
Thankfully property is not too expensive because the terrain is too hilly and the climate a bit wet for global plutes.1 -
Ah, enjoy, Mine are in mid teens and moody. But I love’ em and we still have a lot of fun, it’s just different now (and in some ways better, as I said - they have learned, I hope, that I can be modestly amusing even if I disappear a fair amount)Cookie said:@Leon - on the subject touched on earlier of 12 year old daughters, happy to report that mine is currently tearing around outside with her sisters and two boys she appears to jave just met playing some variant on tig (or tag, or it, depending on where you're from). She has a massive smile on her face and is looking utterly unselfconscious. She hasn't wholly left childhood behind quite yet!
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2nd fav according to BFTheuniondivvie said:0 -
Jammy sod. Go.Northern_Al said:More prosaically than other travellers, I've been asked if I'd like to go to Ludlow for a few days. I don't know it. Is that an invitation I should a) accept, or b) decline? Thanks.
PS - not interested in how beautiful the women are, as I shall be accompanied by my own.1 -
Saw this earlier - it seems to think economic actions were supposed to immediately bring Russia to its knees and end the war to boot, which seems improbable as a prediction.Benpointer said:Depressing view from Larry Elliott in the Guardian:
"Russia is winning the economic war"
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jun/02/russia-economic-war-ukraine-food-fuel-price-vladimir-putin0 -
Saw this at a local history museum upstate, which amused me enough to take a photo.Jim_Miller said:Not many American adults know what a Tory is. (A few older ones would remember that the US once had a Whig Party.)
Which is too bad, because it ruins the joke about the chicken during the American Revolution. It was a counter-agent, so naurally the Americans nicknamed it "Chicken Cacciatore".
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Does he have any support among MPs do we know? As he seems to come up a lot but I can never remember a thing about him or why he would be the answer to their problems.Theuniondivvie said:
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I'm far from sure that's accurate, and seems to be an example of reverse-justification - starting with the desired ends - "we must do a deal!" and trying to justify it. And in the process makes himself an appeaser of fascism.Benpointer said:Depressing view from Larry Elliott in the Guardian:
"Russia is winning the economic war"
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jun/02/russia-economic-war-ukraine-food-fuel-price-vladimir-putin
For an example of how sanctions are working in the medium and long term, see: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/06/everything-is-gone-russian-business-hit-hard-by-tech-sanctions/2 -
I'm glad to hear that experience, my niece has gone from terrible two directly into threenager. She's still great fun and very cute, but I can't imagine it with Jen, she's so peaceful, barely cries, just very chill. I await my punishment for the next 5 years now!Casino_Royale said:
I don't know what will happen with my daughter (now three) in her teenage years but all the horror stories I heard about babies, the terrible-twos and a threenager have turned out not to be true.Leon said:
Yes, it’s an unspoken sadness of parentingCookie said:
I am at that moment that you refer to upthread - the start of teenagerdom - with my eldest. It is painful, and repeatedly saddening. The world's weight is on her shoulders. She is no longer carefree, nor does she want to be.Leon said:
For me it was the other way around. I’m serious. A deep period of mistrust gave way to “actually dad’s quite fun, if a bit unreliable”kinabalu said:
What about the moment when they realize you're not superman you're just a bloke and quite a dodgy one too?Leon said:
No, not for me. Tho that is a sweet moment: putting them to bedIshmaelZ said:
And it is the easiest, most rewarding thing in the whole of parenthood.CorrectHorseBattery said:https://twitter.com/marinapurkiss/status/1532312890451144704
Johnson has clearly never put his son to bed in his life
You know the worst bit? Realising that you are never again going to pick them up off the sofa and carry them up to bed *without waking them.*
For me, the terrible moment comes somewhere around 10-12 - and is in fact a sequence of moments - when they lose that perfect innocent childish unselfawareness, and the adult begins to emerge. They look at a toy, or a doll, or their favourite book - and they thrust it away. They do not need help to get to sleep. The door is shut. You hear the first troubled sigh of teenagerdom, which lies just ahead
I found it piercing, and quite saddening, but unavoidable of course, and something comes along to replace it. Sort of
Or hasn't that happened yet?
That was a GOOD moment
And then, as today, I look at her in a moment of joy, and cry actual tears of pride and awe. Quite apart from all of her more important qualities, she is just so astonishingly beautiful.
If only she would realise it, at least a bit.
You fall in love with this person. Your child. And then they change. Profoundly. More than any spouse might change
The experience is not unlike grief, to my mind. And it seems near universal if you dig deep enough
And then they often move away…and seem to forget all about you. This is of course what you want to a certain extent
But it’s hard for the parent
I’m not at the moving away stage yet but I can see the sadness in friends to whom it has already happened
I also see many children who continue to have close relationships with their parents into adulthood, although that of course changes in nature, so we will roll with the punches and hope to come out ok the other side.1 -
Off topic, but I was astounded to learn that in 2017 only one former Scottish Lab MP stood again after having lost their seats previously. Given how many there were, and how many LDs refought 2017, that was a surprise.0
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I have just joined the party so I can vote for the next leader. (I also voted in the last Labour election). I will be voting for whoever clamps down on low skill migrants. Theresa May did a great job on non-EU migration but they are opening up the floodgates again to replace lost EU migration. They need to seriously up the earnings thresholds for both work and family.Theuniondivvie said:0 -
Thanks - will take a look - I hope you're right!JosiasJessop said:
I'm far from sure that's accurate, and seems to be an example of reverse-justification - starting with the desired ends - "we must do a deal!" and trying to justify it. And in the process makes himself an appeaser of fascism.Benpointer said:Depressing view from Larry Elliott in the Guardian:
"Russia is winning the economic war"
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jun/02/russia-economic-war-ukraine-food-fuel-price-vladimir-putin
For an example of how sanctions are working in the medium and long term, see: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/06/everything-is-gone-russian-business-hit-hard-by-tech-sanctions/0 -
"When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.”Leon said:
Ah, enjoy, Mine are in mid teens and moody. But I love’ em and we still have a lot of fun, it’s just different now (and in some ways better, as I said - they have learned, I hope, that I can be modestly amusing even if I disappear a fair amount)Cookie said:@Leon - on the subject touched on earlier of 12 year old daughters, happy to report that mine is currently tearing around outside with her sisters and two boys she appears to jave just met playing some variant on tig (or tag, or it, depending on where you're from). She has a massive smile on her face and is looking utterly unselfconscious. She hasn't wholly left childhood behind quite yet!
3 -
Just turned on the BBC to see a bloke who served on HMY Britannia being asked "when was the last time you met the Queen?"
"Well, just a few days before she was decommissioned - err, the yacht was decommissioned"...0 -
Yes, I think the "n" word has become so synonymous with vicious racism that it's almost like using a Nazi insult for Jews, unless used ironically by black people. But generally language has coarsened - maybe a subtle effect of social media, as you're less likely to move only in "polite" circles.Jim_Miller said:Going back to an earlier discussion: Here's an observation on how acceptable language has changed. My two favorite American political novels are "All the King's Men" and "The Last Hurrah". (The first is more powerfully written; the second is still useful in understanding American politics. I honestly think I can predict about 75 percent of what Nancy Pelosi will do, just from reading it.)
Both contain the "n" word, though just once in the second. Neither contain the "c" word or the "f" word so common at this site, nor even any euphemisms for them.
I loved All the King's Men (the film isn't bad either - have you seen it?). Don't know The Last Hurrah - if you recommend it I might try it.0 -
rottenburough said:
Take a look at Waugh's Scoop.
Good example. A prudent teacher wouldn't assign it in an American high school class, nor even a college class -- though it is a wonderful novel.
Blimey.
I cannot believe he has not been so cancelled.
(It may have given me a distorted picture of journalism in the UK.)0 -
Having read it, his analysis seems quite peculiar. He's going out of his way imo to see half-empty glasses.Benpointer said:Depressing view from Larry Elliott in the Guardian:
"Russia is winning the economic war"
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jun/02/russia-economic-war-ukraine-food-fuel-price-vladimir-putin
What do you think?0 -
Incidentally, for anyone into civil engineering, an animation on how HS2's Colne Viaduct is being built:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR6Ps_SfRZY1 -
Good example. A prudent teacher wouldn't assign it in an American high school class, nor even a college class -- though it is a wonderful novel.Jim_Miller said:rottenburough said:
Take a look at Waugh's Scoop.
Blimey.
I cannot believe he has not been so cancelled.
(It may have given me a distorted picture of journalism in the UK.)
Through the plashy fen passes the questing vole ...0 -
Good example. A prudent teacher wouldn't assign it in an American high school class, nor even a college class -- though it is a wonderful novel.Jim_Miller said:rottenburough said:
Take a look at Waugh's Scoop.
Blimey.
I cannot believe he has not been so cancelled.
(It may have given me a distorted picture of journalism in the UK.)
Unsurprising.MattW said:
Having read it, his analysis seems quite peculiar.Benpointer said:Depressing view from Larry Elliott in the Guardian:
"Russia is winning the economic war"
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jun/02/russia-economic-war-ukraine-food-fuel-price-vladimir-putin
He’s one of those consistently wrong people, I believe he was pro-Brexit too.0 -
Speaking as a Cornishman, I tend to agree. I’m not sure why Brits like Cookie rave QUITE so much about Cornwall as a holiday destination. The weather is just too unreliable, and it is too busy in school holsGardenwalker said:
Sure, but if 8 hours is your limit, pretty much all of Europe is in your compass.Cookie said:
Well I'm not sure I could. Manchester Airport hasn't done well in that respect of late.Gardenwalker said:
It took you EIGHT HOURS to get there.Cookie said:
Very nice. But also inconveniently far from Manchester, which is a factor when choosing a holiday.Gardenwalker said:Here’s my “home” beach.
No bugger on it, comme d’habitude.
Even in peak season, Cornwall really isn't crowded. Look at that picture I posted. Now that was when we first got there, and others arrived, but it never came close to crowded.
Granted, some beaches - Polzeath, say - are always busy. But most aren't.
Not as quiet as NZ, of course. But at least few other people on the beach are part of the fun. Friends to make, and so forth.
You could be accompanying Leon on an accordion in Tbilisi in that time.
But even if I could - well, I'd enjoy myself, I'm sure, but I don't think Georgia would be as successful a family holiday as Cornwall. For me - for my family - I don't think anywhere in Europe would be.
And I'm sure NZ is grand - if you offered me a free family holiday to NZ right now I'd take it gladly and enthusiastically - but it takes 24 hours and thousands and thousands of pounds to get there.
Cornwall is v nice (and good to see you got to Portscatho, which is where we stay) but I just think it’s a tad overrated.
Cornwall is actually, to my mind, better as a place to live than to holiday
Safe, sometimes beautiful, mild, low crime, friendly, really nice food now, nice people, lots of culture and history, great pubs, pretty towns and villages, sufficiently far from London that it has a vivid life of its own, and unexpectedly varied - the difference between a north coast village like Zennor and a south coast valley like the Helford - a couple of dozen miles away - is astonishing
But if I had just two weeks precious summer holiday with my family, I would not go to often-rainy Cornwall0 -
NickPalmer - I would definitely recommend "The Last Hurrah" -- but then I am a poltical junkie. The movie isn't bad, either. (I did, just recently, see "All the King's Men" and thought it was an interesting, but flawed, adaption of the novel.)1
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London is buzzing tonight. Just left a party at Hackney Wick. London in June at the Jubilee weekend is a special place to be. Nowhere quite like it. We’re lucky to have London.1
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Good example. A prudent teacher wouldn't assign it in an American high school class, nor even a college class -- though it is a wonderful novel.Jim_Miller said:rottenburough said:
Take a look at Waugh's Scoop.
Blimey.
I cannot believe he has not been so cancelled.
(It may have given me a distorted picture of journalism in the UK.)
Read it in the mid 70s. Never thought I'd go to Djibouti when I read it (for some reason I assumed that the fictional nation of Ishmaelia was Djibouti), but less then 8 years later I was stepping off a plane there.
I thought it was a great read, but frankly, I cannot remember much about it other than the journalists made up their war reporting from the hotel bar.0 -
Beauty is basically health. Multi-generational good nutrition (and current good nutrition) leads to well developed bone structure, good teeth, healthy hair, brows and lashes. Good skin.Leon said:
Absolutely not.Andy_JS said:Is it true that Anglo-Saxons are the least attractive ethnic group?
Pope Gregory the Great famously said, of the Anglo Saxon slaves in a Rome market, when told they were “Angles” - “not Angles, but angels!” - because they were so blonde and well built and beautiful. It is supposedly one reason he sent Saint Augustine to convert the British Isles
Sadly the Brits have got fat, like so many other nationalities
Then you have racial characteristics, which make some forms of beauty starkly different. For example, the aboriginal people of Australia don't typically conform to Western ideals of beauty, but it's a function of their adaptation to living in Australia.
In Britain we're a very mixed bag racially (even the 'indigenous' white population is a mixture of German, French, Celtic etc.), which is cool, but there's an issue with the national diet being lacking that does affect teeth imo. It's the same in most Western countries, but here it's been going on for longer.0 -
I had no idea we had such flagrant hipsters on this board.Jonathan said:London is buzzing tonight. Just left a party at Hackney Wick. London in June at the Jubilee weekend is a special place to be. Nowhere quite like it. We’re lucky to have London.
2 -
It is the usual appeaser nonsense. The Rouble is a potemkin currency right now. It has kept its value due to oil prices and surging central bank interest rates. Both those things are throttling the non-hydrocarbon economy. Russia cannot tolerate for 12 months plus.MattW said:
Having read it, his analysis seems quite peculiar. He's going out of his way imo to see half-empty glasses.Benpointer said:Depressing view from Larry Elliott in the Guardian:
"Russia is winning the economic war"
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jun/02/russia-economic-war-ukraine-food-fuel-price-vladimir-putin
What do you think?1 -
Obviously I think you are wrong, dead wrong about immigration.Aslan said:
I have just joined the party so I can vote for the next leader. (I also voted in the last Labour election). I will be voting for whoever clamps down on low skill migrants. Theresa May did a great job on non-EU migration but they are opening up the floodgates again to replace lost EU migration. They need to seriously up the earnings thresholds for both work and family.Theuniondivvie said:
But it is indeed bat-shit that flower arrangers et al are now allowed in under our “new improved” immigration measures.
I’m willing to bet anyone that there is no quantifiable difference in skill between our former European influx, and the new crowd who tend to come from Nigeria, the Philippines, and the Indian sub-continent.0 -
Blessing in disguise.Jim_Miller said:Not many American adults know what a Tory is. (A few older ones would remember that the US once had a Whig Party.)
Which is too bad, because it ruins the joke about the chicken during the American Revolution. It was a counter-agent, so naurally the Americans nicknamed it "Chicken Cacciatore".0 -
Yes. The fact that the industrial revolution started in Britain has brought many benefits, it gave us the biggest empire in history and made us the richest country on earth for more than a century, and it is the reason the world speaks English now (which is a huge convenience we take for granted)Luckyguy1983 said:
Beauty is basically health. Multi-generational good nutrition (and current good nutrition) leads to well developed bone structure, good teeth, healthy hair, brows and lashes. Good skin.Leon said:
Absolutely not.Andy_JS said:Is it true that Anglo-Saxons are the least attractive ethnic group?
Pope Gregory the Great famously said, of the Anglo Saxon slaves in a Rome market, when told they were “Angles” - “not Angles, but angels!” - because they were so blonde and well built and beautiful. It is supposedly one reason he sent Saint Augustine to convert the British Isles
Sadly the Brits have got fat, like so many other nationalities
Then you have racial characteristics, which make some forms of beauty starkly different. For example, the aboriginal people of Australia don't typically conform to Western ideals of beauty, but it's a function of their adaptation to living in Australia.
In Britain we're a very mixed bag racially (even the 'indigenous' white population is a mixture of German, French, Celtic etc.), which is cool, but there's an issue with the national diet being lacking that does affect teeth imo. It's the same in most Western countries, but here it's been going on for longer.
But it has also had baleful consequences for us. One is the ruination of so many British landscapes, another is bad British food (thankfully now being fixed), related to that is bad British health, esp teeth0 -
There is a noticeable 'a deal will be done' mindset going on here.MattW said:
Having read it, his analysis seems quite peculiar. He's going out of his way imo to see half-empty glasses.Benpointer said:Depressing view from Larry Elliott in the Guardian:
"Russia is winning the economic war"
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jun/02/russia-economic-war-ukraine-food-fuel-price-vladimir-putin
What do you think?
It is a bit like Brexit. Everyone keeps saying 'a deal will be done', etc etc.
I am sceptical.
Bit, if you look at Putin's regime, its fucked. Its a bunch of old men. There's no succession planning. He is quite happy to just grind through tens of thousands of men, indefinetly. Because ultimately that is what dictators do.
At present it is impoverished military contractors, but they don't go on indefinetly, and they will need to move on to conscripts.
If you look at Putins rule, things go bad when there are monumental errors, like the sinking of the Kursk.
The war in Ukraine will become one such error.
... eventually people in Russia won't go along with it.
Any 'deal' with Russia ultimately shores up his regime and rule; it isn't a good idea.
2 -
I think that isn't quite true, because the flower arrangers need to earn 26k a year. That's way too low, but it is still a long way above Romanian beggars and Bulgarian strawberry pickers.Gardenwalker said:
Obviously I think you are wrong, dead wrong about immigration.Aslan said:
I have just joined the party so I can vote for the next leader. (I also voted in the last Labour election). I will be voting for whoever clamps down on low skill migrants. Theresa May did a great job on non-EU migration but they are opening up the floodgates again to replace lost EU migration. They need to seriously up the earnings thresholds for both work and family.Theuniondivvie said:
But it is indeed bat-shit that flower arrangers et al are now allowed in under our “new improved” immigration measures.
I’m willing to bet anyone that there is no quantifiable difference in skill between our former European influx, and the new crowd who tend to come from Nigeria, the Philippines, and the Indian sub-continent.0 -
The best places for summer holidays with children are reliably sunny and warm, but rarely too hot, with plenty to do and reasonably affordable, with some scenic variety and seasonal events to go to.
We almost never go to anywhere that ticks those boxes though we are trying Corsica this year. Usually we spend our holidays in our place in the Maconnais which is unreliably sunny, often too hot and occasionally too wet, with scenic variety but few seasonal events and nothing much for children. And, as discovered this evening, a hornet’s nest in the garden.0 -
..0
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It is the typical, disastrously-wrong realpolitik view of the world - that national interests are all that matter. And only those of the major players, even. It misses the point entirely that there is a Ukraine, and a Ukraine that is showing a lot of agency. Or that, without liberal democracy, the global economy - let alone the domestic economies of Western democracies - would not be anywhere near as strong and hence that abstract ideal might be something worth fighting for - indeed, might be the West's duty bound contribution to the fight - at the expense of some short- to medium-term economic pain.Aslan said:
It is the usual appeaser nonsense. The Rouble is a potemkin currency right now. It has kept its value due to oil prices and surging central bank interest rates. Both those things are throttling the non-hydrocarbon economy. Russia cannot tolerate for 12 months plus.MattW said:
Having read it, his analysis seems quite peculiar. He's going out of his way imo to see half-empty glasses.Benpointer said:Depressing view from Larry Elliott in the Guardian:
"Russia is winning the economic war"
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jun/02/russia-economic-war-ukraine-food-fuel-price-vladimir-putin
What do you think?5 -
Of course the other chunk of migration that needs to be addressed is family migration. After slowing under May it is ramping up again, especially arranged marriages from the subcontinent. We should limit married visas to the same basis as unmarried spouse visas. You have to have a two year relationship first. That stops it being exploited by webs of family marriage planning (often cousin marriage) to get people over here.0
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Hear, hear.TimT said:
It is the typical, disastrously-wrong realpolitik view of the world - that national interests are all that matter. And only those of the major players, even. It misses the point entirely that there is a Ukraine, and a Ukraine that is showing a lot of agency. Or that, without liberal democracy, the global economy - let alone the domestic economies of Western democracies - would not be anywhere near as strong and hence that abstract ideal might be something worth fighting for - indeed, might be the West's duty bound contribution to the fight - at the expense of some short- to medium-term economic pain.Aslan said:
It is the usual appeaser nonsense. The Rouble is a potemkin currency right now. It has kept its value due to oil prices and surging central bank interest rates. Both those things are throttling the non-hydrocarbon economy. Russia cannot tolerate for 12 months plus.MattW said:
Having read it, his analysis seems quite peculiar. He's going out of his way imo to see half-empty glasses.Benpointer said:Depressing view from Larry Elliott in the Guardian:
"Russia is winning the economic war"
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jun/02/russia-economic-war-ukraine-food-fuel-price-vladimir-putin
What do you think?0 -
I don’t think that’s the right comparison though. Agricultural workers, and beggars, were not representative migrants.Aslan said:
I think that isn't quite true, because the flower arrangers need to earn 26k a year. That's way too low, but it is still a long way above Romanian beggars and Bulgarian strawberry pickers.Gardenwalker said:
Obviously I think you are wrong, dead wrong about immigration.Aslan said:
I have just joined the party so I can vote for the next leader. (I also voted in the last Labour election). I will be voting for whoever clamps down on low skill migrants. Theresa May did a great job on non-EU migration but they are opening up the floodgates again to replace lost EU migration. They need to seriously up the earnings thresholds for both work and family.Theuniondivvie said:
But it is indeed bat-shit that flower arrangers et al are now allowed in under our “new improved” immigration measures.
I’m willing to bet anyone that there is no quantifiable difference in skill between our former European influx, and the new crowd who tend to come from Nigeria, the Philippines, and the Indian sub-continent.
In practice, a lot of EU migrants were university graduates from places like Italy, Spain etc who couldn’t get a job in their home countries.
They then picked up casual jobs - coffee shop or care work - but worked up the ladder from there with a mixture of hard work and smarts.
But we told them to fuck off, so that’s that.2 -
Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson wrote a fine tribute to the lady being celebrated today:
My fellow citizens of a more pragmatic bent should be impressed by 70 years of doing a hard thing well. Elizabeth has shown the unfailing dignity, stable judgment and spiritual gravity that befit the Queen of England and Defender of the Faith. Her reign has been an admirable example of “a long obedience in the same direction.” That is worth at least one huzzah.
(Links omitted.)
. . .
The Germans are wonderful people and staunch allies. But hearing a band strike up “Deutschland Über Alles” caused the hair to rise on the back of my neck. In contrast, hearing “God Save the Queen” during a state visit brought stirrings of ancient loyalty and the feeling of arriving home.
source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/06/02/queen-elizabeth-jubilee-american-british-historical-connection/
Gerson is an evangelical, and a former speechwriter for George W. Bush.1 -
We’re also getting a significant influx from Hong Kong because XiGardenwalker said:
Obviously I think you are wrong, dead wrong about immigration.Aslan said:
I have just joined the party so I can vote for the next leader. (I also voted in the last Labour election). I will be voting for whoever clamps down on low skill migrants. Theresa May did a great job on non-EU migration but they are opening up the floodgates again to replace lost EU migration. They need to seriously up the earnings thresholds for both work and family.Theuniondivvie said:
But it is indeed bat-shit that flower arrangers et al are now allowed in under our “new improved” immigration measures.
I’m willing to bet anyone that there is no quantifiable difference in skill between our former European influx, and the new crowd who tend to come from Nigeria, the Philippines, and the Indian sub-continent.
100,000 in the last year
They are more than welcome. I can’t think of better immigrants than smart, non-criminal, freedom loving, hardworking Hong Kongers. I hope a million move here0 -
No, we didn't.Gardenwalker said:
I don’t think that’s the right comparison though. Agricultural workers, and beggars, were not representative migrants.Aslan said:
I think that isn't quite true, because the flower arrangers need to earn 26k a year. That's way too low, but it is still a long way above Romanian beggars and Bulgarian strawberry pickers.Gardenwalker said:
Obviously I think you are wrong, dead wrong about immigration.Aslan said:
I have just joined the party so I can vote for the next leader. (I also voted in the last Labour election). I will be voting for whoever clamps down on low skill migrants. Theresa May did a great job on non-EU migration but they are opening up the floodgates again to replace lost EU migration. They need to seriously up the earnings thresholds for both work and family.Theuniondivvie said:
But it is indeed bat-shit that flower arrangers et al are now allowed in under our “new improved” immigration measures.
I’m willing to bet anyone that there is no quantifiable difference in skill between our former European influx, and the new crowd who tend to come from Nigeria, the Philippines, and the Indian sub-continent.
In practice, a lot of EU migrants were university graduates from places like Italy, Spain etc who couldn’t get a job in their home countries.
They then picked up casual jobs - coffee shop or care work - but worked up the ladder from there with a mixture of hard work and smarts.
But we told them to fuck off, so that’s that.2 -
OK, I've ordered it - £4.15 from Abe Books (vs £9 from Amazon). Agree about the movie (are we talking about the 1949 one? I see there's been a remake with Sean Penn). But it's perhaps interesting that when I first saw it I was very young (12?) and thought the populist anti-hero modelled on Huey Long was immensely thrilling as he bellowed to his army of "hicks" and rather overlooked his flaws - maybe some Trump fans feel the same sort of visceral appeal.Jim_Miller said:NickPalmer - I would definitely recommend "The Last Hurrah" -- but then I am a poltical junkie. The movie isn't bad, either. (I did, just recently, see "All the King's Men" and thought it was an interesting, but flawed, adaption of the novel.)
0 -
We need to hang in there and be patient. His regime is buggered. But I’m starting to see more and more of the “Russia is winning” crap. And more of the 19th century nonsense that believes every war is a great power proxy war.darkage said:
There is a noticeable 'a deal will be done' mindset going on here.MattW said:
Having read it, his analysis seems quite peculiar. He's going out of his way imo to see half-empty glasses.Benpointer said:Depressing view from Larry Elliott in the Guardian:
"Russia is winning the economic war"
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jun/02/russia-economic-war-ukraine-food-fuel-price-vladimir-putin
What do you think?
It is a bit like Brexit. Everyone keeps saying 'a deal will be done', etc etc.
I am sceptical.
Bit, if you look at Putin's regime, its fucked. Its a bunch of old men. There's no succession planning. He is quite happy to just grind through tens of thousands of men, indefinetly. Because ultimately that is what dictators do.
At present it is impoverished military contractors, but they don't go on indefinetly, and they will need to move on to conscripts.
If you look at Putins rule, things go bad when there are monumental errors, like the sinking of the Kursk.
The war in Ukraine will become one such error.
... eventually people in Russia won't go along with it.
Any 'deal' with Russia ultimately shores up his regime and rule; it isn't a good idea.
How can a country win when it is cut off economically, politically and culturally from the rest of the world? It can’t - see Venezuela, Iran, N Korea, for that matter see a few countries that did it to themselves without the need for sanctions, like Argentina or Albania. Look even at the trade damage Britain has done to itself from a modest enough realignment of arrangements since Brexit. Doesn’t mean Russia won’t continue to be an irritation, but the goal must be to contain and suppress its destructive power for years, or decades, until someone there sees fit to enter the post-imperial world.2 -
Corsica can be insanely expensive tho. And the locals are outrageously rudeTimS said:The best places for summer holidays with children are reliably sunny and warm, but rarely too hot, with plenty to do and reasonably affordable, with some scenic variety and seasonal events to go to.
We almost never go to anywhere that ticks those boxes though we are trying Corsica this year. Usually we spend our holidays in our place in the Maconnais which is unreliably sunny, often too hot and occasionally too wet, with scenic variety but few seasonal events and nothing much for children. And, as discovered this evening, a hornet’s nest in the garden.
I’m trying to think of somewhere that ticks your boxes. I’d say northern mainland Greece or northwestern Turkey
Or perhaps northern Portugal?0 -
@Jim_Miller - could you please be so kind as to not use the blockquote tag for text excerpts from elsewhere? I'm sure you've noticed in this thread that it breaks the quote function when people reply.0
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Northern Portugal - according to the website “Weatherspark” has a climate “most similar to” the North Island of NZ…Leon said:
Corsica can be insanely expensive tho. And the locals are outrageously rudeTimS said:The best places for summer holidays with children are reliably sunny and warm, but rarely too hot, with plenty to do and reasonably affordable, with some scenic variety and seasonal events to go to.
We almost never go to anywhere that ticks those boxes though we are trying Corsica this year. Usually we spend our holidays in our place in the Maconnais which is unreliably sunny, often too hot and occasionally too wet, with scenic variety but few seasonal events and nothing much for children. And, as discovered this evening, a hornet’s nest in the garden.
I’m trying to think of somewhere that ticks your boxes. I’d say northern mainland Greece or northwestern Turkey
Or perhaps northern Portugal?0 -
We did. So they have.Applicant said:
No, we didn't.Gardenwalker said:
I don’t think that’s the right comparison though. Agricultural workers, and beggars, were not representative migrants.Aslan said:
I think that isn't quite true, because the flower arrangers need to earn 26k a year. That's way too low, but it is still a long way above Romanian beggars and Bulgarian strawberry pickers.Gardenwalker said:
Obviously I think you are wrong, dead wrong about immigration.Aslan said:
I have just joined the party so I can vote for the next leader. (I also voted in the last Labour election). I will be voting for whoever clamps down on low skill migrants. Theresa May did a great job on non-EU migration but they are opening up the floodgates again to replace lost EU migration. They need to seriously up the earnings thresholds for both work and family.Theuniondivvie said:
But it is indeed bat-shit that flower arrangers et al are now allowed in under our “new improved” immigration measures.
I’m willing to bet anyone that there is no quantifiable difference in skill between our former European influx, and the new crowd who tend to come from Nigeria, the Philippines, and the Indian sub-continent.
In practice, a lot of EU migrants were university graduates from places like Italy, Spain etc who couldn’t get a job in their home countries.
They then picked up casual jobs - coffee shop or care work - but worked up the ladder from there with a mixture of hard work and smarts.
But we told them to fuck off, so that’s that.0 -
.
We didn't and they mostly haven't.Gardenwalker said:
We did. So they have.Applicant said:
No, we didn't.Gardenwalker said:
I don’t think that’s the right comparison though. Agricultural workers, and beggars, were not representative migrants.Aslan said:
I think that isn't quite true, because the flower arrangers need to earn 26k a year. That's way too low, but it is still a long way above Romanian beggars and Bulgarian strawberry pickers.Gardenwalker said:
Obviously I think you are wrong, dead wrong about immigration.Aslan said:
I have just joined the party so I can vote for the next leader. (I also voted in the last Labour election). I will be voting for whoever clamps down on low skill migrants. Theresa May did a great job on non-EU migration but they are opening up the floodgates again to replace lost EU migration. They need to seriously up the earnings thresholds for both work and family.Theuniondivvie said:
But it is indeed bat-shit that flower arrangers et al are now allowed in under our “new improved” immigration measures.
I’m willing to bet anyone that there is no quantifiable difference in skill between our former European influx, and the new crowd who tend to come from Nigeria, the Philippines, and the Indian sub-continent.
In practice, a lot of EU migrants were university graduates from places like Italy, Spain etc who couldn’t get a job in their home countries.
They then picked up casual jobs - coffee shop or care work - but worked up the ladder from there with a mixture of hard work and smarts.
But we told them to fuck off, so that’s that.
Unless "we" means a few bitter Remainers who talked so much bollocks that they were eventually believed by a few of their "friends".1 -
I missed the part of the Brexit legislation about telling EU nationals to fuck off. There were a few reported incidents of abuse, and at least one murder that subsequently proved not to be about Brexit, but I really don’t think we told people to fuck off.Gardenwalker said:
We did. So they have.Applicant said:
No, we didn't.Gardenwalker said:
I don’t think that’s the right comparison though. Agricultural workers, and beggars, were not representative migrants.Aslan said:
I think that isn't quite true, because the flower arrangers need to earn 26k a year. That's way too low, but it is still a long way above Romanian beggars and Bulgarian strawberry pickers.Gardenwalker said:
Obviously I think you are wrong, dead wrong about immigration.Aslan said:
I have just joined the party so I can vote for the next leader. (I also voted in the last Labour election). I will be voting for whoever clamps down on low skill migrants. Theresa May did a great job on non-EU migration but they are opening up the floodgates again to replace lost EU migration. They need to seriously up the earnings thresholds for both work and family.Theuniondivvie said:
But it is indeed bat-shit that flower arrangers et al are now allowed in under our “new improved” immigration measures.
I’m willing to bet anyone that there is no quantifiable difference in skill between our former European influx, and the new crowd who tend to come from Nigeria, the Philippines, and the Indian sub-continent.
In practice, a lot of EU migrants were university graduates from places like Italy, Spain etc who couldn’t get a job in their home countries.
They then picked up casual jobs - coffee shop or care work - but worked up the ladder from there with a mixture of hard work and smarts.
But we told them to fuck off, so that’s that.0 -
Looks like I might have a chance to ask questions to Professor Luke O'Neill this weekend - one of the top talking heads about Covid in Ireland.
Anyone have any particularly pressing questions they think I should ask?0 -
NickPalmer - The 1949 film, which happened to be on an old movie sub-channel (Movies!) that I occasionally watch.
If you want a less dramatic discussion of Huey Long, You might want to look at the Louisiana chapter of V. O. Key's classic, "Southern Politics in State and Nation".1 -
Banning consanguineous marriages would be a good start.Aslan said:Of course the other chunk of migration that needs to be addressed is family migration. After slowing under May it is ramping up again, especially arranged marriages from the subcontinent. We should limit married visas to the same basis as unmarried spouse visas. You have to have a two year relationship first. That stops it being exploited by webs of family marriage planning (often cousin marriage) to get people over here.
0 -
Any plan on renewing appeal with ‘Waitrose Woman’ voters that doesn’t start with “Of course, Johnson has to go” is worthless. Think you can turn round your party’s appeal with voters who hate your leader? Jez and Ed’s advisors would like a word once they’ve finished laughing.
https://twitter.com/robfordmancs/status/15324414271494799360 -
Applicant - Will do. I had not noticed that. Remind me, if I forget.0
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I think you are being woefully naive here.turbotubbs said:
I missed the part of the Brexit legislation about telling EU nationals to fuck off. There were a few reported incidents of abuse, and at least one murder that subsequently proved not to be about Brexit, but I really don’t think we told people to fuck off.Gardenwalker said:
We did. So they have.Applicant said:
No, we didn't.Gardenwalker said:
I don’t think that’s the right comparison though. Agricultural workers, and beggars, were not representative migrants.Aslan said:
I think that isn't quite true, because the flower arrangers need to earn 26k a year. That's way too low, but it is still a long way above Romanian beggars and Bulgarian strawberry pickers.Gardenwalker said:
Obviously I think you are wrong, dead wrong about immigration.Aslan said:
I have just joined the party so I can vote for the next leader. (I also voted in the last Labour election). I will be voting for whoever clamps down on low skill migrants. Theresa May did a great job on non-EU migration but they are opening up the floodgates again to replace lost EU migration. They need to seriously up the earnings thresholds for both work and family.Theuniondivvie said:
But it is indeed bat-shit that flower arrangers et al are now allowed in under our “new improved” immigration measures.
I’m willing to bet anyone that there is no quantifiable difference in skill between our former European influx, and the new crowd who tend to come from Nigeria, the Philippines, and the Indian sub-continent.
In practice, a lot of EU migrants were university graduates from places like Italy, Spain etc who couldn’t get a job in their home countries.
They then picked up casual jobs - coffee shop or care work - but worked up the ladder from there with a mixture of hard work and smarts.
But we told them to fuck off, so that’s that.
Brexit took place in a cantankerous spirit of narrow-mindedness which started with Farage’s posters and culminated in tabloid campaigns against the judiciary. Hitherto serious politicos made comments about “starving Ireland” or “going to war with Spain”.
Jeremy Hunt likened the EU to a Soviet gulag.
Perhaps there is some polling on how EU, and indeed even non-EU migrants experienced the ensuing culture war.1 -
Yes, the challenge is guaranteed warm and sunny but not hot. Generally requires sea breezes or altitude, but with culture too - which rules out some obvious islandy choices.Leon said:
Corsica can be insanely expensive tho. And the locals are outrageously rudeTimS said:The best places for summer holidays with children are reliably sunny and warm, but rarely too hot, with plenty to do and reasonably affordable, with some scenic variety and seasonal events to go to.
We almost never go to anywhere that ticks those boxes though we are trying Corsica this year. Usually we spend our holidays in our place in the Maconnais which is unreliably sunny, often too hot and occasionally too wet, with scenic variety but few seasonal events and nothing much for children. And, as discovered this evening, a hornet’s nest in the garden.
I’m trying to think of somewhere that ticks your boxes. I’d say northern mainland Greece or northwestern Turkey
Or perhaps northern Portugal?0 -
The cinqueterra?TimS said:
Yes, the challenge is guaranteed warm and sunny but not hot. Generally requires sea breezes or altitude, but with culture too - which rules out some obvious islandy choices.Leon said:
Corsica can be insanely expensive tho. And the locals are outrageously rudeTimS said:The best places for summer holidays with children are reliably sunny and warm, but rarely too hot, with plenty to do and reasonably affordable, with some scenic variety and seasonal events to go to.
We almost never go to anywhere that ticks those boxes though we are trying Corsica this year. Usually we spend our holidays in our place in the Maconnais which is unreliably sunny, often too hot and occasionally too wet, with scenic variety but few seasonal events and nothing much for children. And, as discovered this evening, a hornet’s nest in the garden.
I’m trying to think of somewhere that ticks your boxes. I’d say northern mainland Greece or northwestern Turkey
Or perhaps northern Portugal?0 -
Well I love the place because it's where we come on holiday - or have done since we were a family of five. That tends to make you feel warmly towards a place.Leon said:
Speaking as a Cornishman, I tend to agree. I’m not sure why Brits like Cookie rave QUITE so much about Cornwall as a holiday destination. The weather is just too unreliable, and it is too busy in school holsGardenwalker said:
Sure, but if 8 hours is your limit, pretty much all of Europe is in your compass.Cookie said:
Well I'm not sure I could. Manchester Airport hasn't done well in that respect of late.Gardenwalker said:
It took you EIGHT HOURS to get there.Cookie said:
Very nice. But also inconveniently far from Manchester, which is a factor when choosing a holiday.Gardenwalker said:Here’s my “home” beach.
No bugger on it, comme d’habitude.
Even in peak season, Cornwall really isn't crowded. Look at that picture I posted. Now that was when we first got there, and others arrived, but it never came close to crowded.
Granted, some beaches - Polzeath, say - are always busy. But most aren't.
Not as quiet as NZ, of course. But at least few other people on the beach are part of the fun. Friends to make, and so forth.
You could be accompanying Leon on an accordion in Tbilisi in that time.
But even if I could - well, I'd enjoy myself, I'm sure, but I don't think Georgia would be as successful a family holiday as Cornwall. For me - for my family - I don't think anywhere in Europe would be.
And I'm sure NZ is grand - if you offered me a free family holiday to NZ right now I'd take it gladly and enthusiastically - but it takes 24 hours and thousands and thousands of pounds to get there.
Cornwall is v nice (and good to see you got to Portscatho, which is where we stay) but I just think it’s a tad overrated.
Cornwall is actually, to my mind, better as a place to live than to holiday
Safe, sometimes beautiful, mild, low crime, friendly, really nice food now, nice people, lots of culture and history, great pubs, pretty towns and villages, sufficiently far from London that it has a vivid life of its own, and unexpectedly varied - the difference between a north coast village like Zennor and a south coast valley like the Helford - a couple of dozen miles away - is astonishing
But if I had just two weeks precious summer holiday with my family, I would not go to often-rainy Cornwall
But emotion aside, it's a balancing act, same as anything else. Take into account how you feel about a place, but also cost, things to do, weather, stress involved, all sorts of other things. And abroad in the school holidays is expensive, and abroad with a young family is stressful.
Weather ranks relatively low for us. Neither wife nor oldest daughter do at all well in the heat. Nor me, to be honest. And we're from Manchester, we can deal with rain. Take weather out of the equation and it's hard for anywhere else to compete.
To me, Cornwall seems the perfect family holiday destination, though has never ranked particularly high on my list of places to live. It's a long way from anywhere of any size. Possibly this merely reflects my own life: I've always lived close to big cities so that's just how I see life working.0 -
Look at Epirus, where i have just been. You’ve got sea, mountains, and TONS of culture. Also beautiful beaches and good food. Reliable sunny weather but cooled by the Med. Avoid Parga which is really really pretty but super touristy. Or if you go expect tourists everywhereTimS said:
Yes, the challenge is guaranteed warm and sunny but not hot. Generally requires sea breezes or altitude, but with culture too - which rules out some obvious islandy choices.Leon said:
Corsica can be insanely expensive tho. And the locals are outrageously rudeTimS said:The best places for summer holidays with children are reliably sunny and warm, but rarely too hot, with plenty to do and reasonably affordable, with some scenic variety and seasonal events to go to.
We almost never go to anywhere that ticks those boxes though we are trying Corsica this year. Usually we spend our holidays in our place in the Maconnais which is unreliably sunny, often too hot and occasionally too wet, with scenic variety but few seasonal events and nothing much for children. And, as discovered this evening, a hornet’s nest in the garden.
I’m trying to think of somewhere that ticks your boxes. I’d say northern mainland Greece or northwestern Turkey
Or perhaps northern Portugal?
You can fly direct to Preveza (really nice) from the UK, and hire a car there0 -
Absurd. Overrun with touristsGardenwalker said:
The cinqueterra?TimS said:
Yes, the challenge is guaranteed warm and sunny but not hot. Generally requires sea breezes or altitude, but with culture too - which rules out some obvious islandy choices.Leon said:
Corsica can be insanely expensive tho. And the locals are outrageously rudeTimS said:The best places for summer holidays with children are reliably sunny and warm, but rarely too hot, with plenty to do and reasonably affordable, with some scenic variety and seasonal events to go to.
We almost never go to anywhere that ticks those boxes though we are trying Corsica this year. Usually we spend our holidays in our place in the Maconnais which is unreliably sunny, often too hot and occasionally too wet, with scenic variety but few seasonal events and nothing much for children. And, as discovered this evening, a hornet’s nest in the garden.
I’m trying to think of somewhere that ticks your boxes. I’d say northern mainland Greece or northwestern Turkey
Or perhaps northern Portugal?0 -
It wasn't just one sided though. I seem to remember the Taoiseach making some comments about cutting the UK off from any flights.Gardenwalker said:
I think you are being woefully naive here.turbotubbs said:
I missed the part of the Brexit legislation about telling EU nationals to fuck off. There were a few reported incidents of abuse, and at least one murder that subsequently proved not to be about Brexit, but I really don’t think we told people to fuck off.Gardenwalker said:
We did. So they have.Applicant said:
No, we didn't.Gardenwalker said:
I don’t think that’s the right comparison though. Agricultural workers, and beggars, were not representative migrants.Aslan said:
I think that isn't quite true, because the flower arrangers need to earn 26k a year. That's way too low, but it is still a long way above Romanian beggars and Bulgarian strawberry pickers.Gardenwalker said:
Obviously I think you are wrong, dead wrong about immigration.Aslan said:
I have just joined the party so I can vote for the next leader. (I also voted in the last Labour election). I will be voting for whoever clamps down on low skill migrants. Theresa May did a great job on non-EU migration but they are opening up the floodgates again to replace lost EU migration. They need to seriously up the earnings thresholds for both work and family.Theuniondivvie said:
But it is indeed bat-shit that flower arrangers et al are now allowed in under our “new improved” immigration measures.
I’m willing to bet anyone that there is no quantifiable difference in skill between our former European influx, and the new crowd who tend to come from Nigeria, the Philippines, and the Indian sub-continent.
In practice, a lot of EU migrants were university graduates from places like Italy, Spain etc who couldn’t get a job in their home countries.
They then picked up casual jobs - coffee shop or care work - but worked up the ladder from there with a mixture of hard work and smarts.
But we told them to fuck off, so that’s that.
Brexit took place in a cantankerous spirit of narrow-mindedness which started with Farage’s posters and culminated in tabloid campaigns against the judiciary. Hitherto serious politicos made comments about “starving Ireland” or “going to war with Spain”.
Jeremy Hunt likened the EU to a Soviet gulag.
Perhaps there is some polling on how EU, and indeed even non-EU migrants experienced the ensuing culture war.0 -
Adriatic, then. Split, etc.Leon said:
Absurd. Overrun with touristsGardenwalker said:
The cinqueterra?TimS said:
Yes, the challenge is guaranteed warm and sunny but not hot. Generally requires sea breezes or altitude, but with culture too - which rules out some obvious islandy choices.Leon said:
Corsica can be insanely expensive tho. And the locals are outrageously rudeTimS said:The best places for summer holidays with children are reliably sunny and warm, but rarely too hot, with plenty to do and reasonably affordable, with some scenic variety and seasonal events to go to.
We almost never go to anywhere that ticks those boxes though we are trying Corsica this year. Usually we spend our holidays in our place in the Maconnais which is unreliably sunny, often too hot and occasionally too wet, with scenic variety but few seasonal events and nothing much for children. And, as discovered this evening, a hornet’s nest in the garden.
I’m trying to think of somewhere that ticks your boxes. I’d say northern mainland Greece or northwestern Turkey
Or perhaps northern Portugal?0