Are the SNP too wee, too poor, too stupid to fight an election? – politicalbetting.com

"France riots: Mayor's wife hurt after attack on their home - BBC News"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9G6Q41TWQQ

Meanwhile...

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jul/02/orkney-could-leave-uk-for-norway-as-it-explores-alternative-governance

Quincel said:

DecrepiterJohnL said:

Mexicanpete said:

...

Omnium said:

Mexicanpete said:

...

HYUFD said:

Nigel_Foremain said:

HYUFD said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Luckyguy1983 said:

..

Big_G_NorthWales said:

HYUFD said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Well.

Suella Braverman’s rhetoric about child sexual abuse and grooming gangs has cost her the support of an influential Conservative backer, Steve Baker, in a sign her hardline approach to culture war issues could hamper her chances of becoming Tory leader.

Baker, a Tory MP on the Brexiter right of the party, who is now a Northern Ireland minister, was Braverman’s de facto campaign manager when she stood to succeed Boris Johnson as Conservative leader and prime minister last summer.

While Braverman, now the home secretary, was eliminated in the second round of MPs’ voting, her candidacy was seen as a marker for a possible future contest, one likely if the Conservatives lose the next general election.

However, it is understood Baker has decided he would not back Braverman again because of serious concerns over the way she has approached the issue of so-called grooming gangs.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jul/02/steve-baker-withdraws-support-for-suella-braverman-over-grooming-gangs-rhetoric-says-ally

As Baker will almost certainly lose his marginal Wycombe seat to Labour at the general election I doubt Suella cares.

By the time she likely runs for Tory Leader of the Opposition, Baker will be a very ex MP and not even able to vote in the MP rounds

And that sums up you and the whole sorry story of the right and Johnson as your hero

You are actually celebrating the career end of a conservative mp

Shame on you, and go and join RefUK as that is where you and the ERG truly belong

More than one of your posts of late have celebrated what you believe will be the end of various Tory MPs' careers. Perhaps you should take some of the shame you seem so keen to dish out.

Sadly because of Johnson and your beloved Truss conservative mps across the land are facing a career ending election

The conservative party will only obtain office by moving to the centre ground (one nation conservatives) and marginalising those who have brought it into shame and disrepute

Thatcher won from the right three times, as did Boris on Brexit at least in 2019. On the other side Attlee won for Labour from the left twice. The centre ground isn't the only electable option 100% of the time, even if it is most of the time

Thatcher was closer to the centre than Michael Foot. The Clown was closer to the centre than Mr. Thicky.

Thatcher wasn't closer to the centre than Callaghan in 1979 though and arguably not closer to the centre than Kinnock either in 1987.

By the current Johnsonian/Trussian iteration of the Conservative Party, Thatcher (of whom I was never a fan) would be considered a raging Trot.

Thatcher would have baulked at the idea of Braverman, 30p Lee or Jonathan Gullis anywhere near the levers of Government.

Nothing wrong with Braverman. I think Thatcher would have quite liked her. A decade earning her wings and she'll be ready for middling office. (Braverman's presumption is astonishing)

I suspect she would have been more alarmed by the rise of such a lightweight as Braverman. She probably would have considered Anderson and Gullis to be wholly unserious politicians worthy only of contempt.

Mrs Thatcher would not have had Suella Braverman in her Cabinet for the simple reason she did not promote women. Baroness Young as Leader of the House of Lords was the only (other) woman in the Cabinet in her decade in office, so far as I can see from:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ministers_under_Margaret_Thatcher

This list backs that up.

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

While this is true, it is also true that about a dozen other Tory MPs were women, versus around 350 men.

BartholomewRoberts said:

williamglenn said:

kyf_100 said:

Chris said:

A marvellous story from the BBC illustrating the maxim "Social media make an ass of you and me":
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-66081242

A silly spat that originated with someone posting a picture of Tina Turner and her ex-husband. Someone else implying that meant they thought domestic violence was OK, and the first person concluding that the second person's comment reflected a contemptuous attitude to black and Asian people who didn't share her political views.

Both of them should have something better to do with their time.

Too many tweets make a

(your daily view count has been exceeded, please pay $8 to continue scrolling).

I knew Musk was mad, but I didn't think he was stupid. The average twitter user will scroll six hundred or whatever posts in half an hour (skipping over 95% of them). Never seen someone so intent on Ratnering their own brand.

I don’t think it’s intentional. He wants to stop paying large amounts of money for Google infrastructure but doesn’t have a way to replace it yet.

If you don't want to pay large amounts of money for tech infrastructure, maybe don't operate a large tech firm.

Apparently this is the core of Elon Musk's plan to cut costs on the necessary networking infrastructure.

https://hackaday.com/2022/11/28/nabu-pc-a-1984-z-80-computer-you-can-buy-today/

Incidentally, a couple of things following up earlier comments:

1) Eek said that I would confirm the reason everyone is taught to the test is because the curriculum is overstuffed. It is, but even if it wasn't, the fact that passing exams is prized more highly in our system than knowing the subject would tend to militate against anything other than test cramming.

2) Somebody said we should keep SATs because we need standardised baseline data. I never saw any SATs results as a teacher in a secondary school. Not sure whether that was true for English and Maths, but I think it was. This is because they aren't actually very good at measuring ability - again, they tend to teach how well you've been taught to pass tests. For baseline assessments secondary schools use a variety of cognitive tests which they have to set, and pay for, themselves - Midyis is the one I've used most often, but I've also used the Fisher Family Trust in the past too.

SATs are primary school answers to GCSEs - used to assess school performance against the DfE's expectations, not really useful to the education of children.

That might not matter if the DfE had the slightest understanding of what makes up good education, but they don't.

I would add that Wales' decision to bring back 'National Tests' after scrapping SATs was barmy.

DecrepiterJohnL said:

EPG said:

Quincel said:

DecrepiterJohnL said:

Mexicanpete said:

...

Omnium said:

Mexicanpete said:

...

HYUFD said:

Nigel_Foremain said:

HYUFD said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Luckyguy1983 said:

..

Big_G_NorthWales said:

HYUFD said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Well.

Suella Braverman’s rhetoric about child sexual abuse and grooming gangs has cost her the support of an influential Conservative backer, Steve Baker, in a sign her hardline approach to culture war issues could hamper her chances of becoming Tory leader.

Baker, a Tory MP on the Brexiter right of the party, who is now a Northern Ireland minister, was Braverman’s de facto campaign manager when she stood to succeed Boris Johnson as Conservative leader and prime minister last summer.

While Braverman, now the home secretary, was eliminated in the second round of MPs’ voting, her candidacy was seen as a marker for a possible future contest, one likely if the Conservatives lose the next general election.

However, it is understood Baker has decided he would not back Braverman again because of serious concerns over the way she has approached the issue of so-called grooming gangs.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jul/02/steve-baker-withdraws-support-for-suella-braverman-over-grooming-gangs-rhetoric-says-ally

As Baker will almost certainly lose his marginal Wycombe seat to Labour at the general election I doubt Suella cares.

By the time she likely runs for Tory Leader of the Opposition, Baker will be a very ex MP and not even able to vote in the MP rounds

And that sums up you and the whole sorry story of the right and Johnson as your hero

You are actually celebrating the career end of a conservative mp

Shame on you, and go and join RefUK as that is where you and the ERG truly belong

More than one of your posts of late have celebrated what you believe will be the end of various Tory MPs' careers. Perhaps you should take some of the shame you seem so keen to dish out.

Sadly because of Johnson and your beloved Truss conservative mps across the land are facing a career ending election

The conservative party will only obtain office by moving to the centre ground (one nation conservatives) and marginalising those who have brought it into shame and disrepute

Thatcher won from the right three times, as did Boris on Brexit at least in 2019. On the other side Attlee won for Labour from the left twice. The centre ground isn't the only electable option 100% of the time, even if it is most of the time

Thatcher was closer to the centre than Michael Foot. The Clown was closer to the centre than Mr. Thicky.

Thatcher wasn't closer to the centre than Callaghan in 1979 though and arguably not closer to the centre than Kinnock either in 1987.

By the current Johnsonian/Trussian iteration of the Conservative Party, Thatcher (of whom I was never a fan) would be considered a raging Trot.

Thatcher would have baulked at the idea of Braverman, 30p Lee or Jonathan Gullis anywhere near the levers of Government.

Nothing wrong with Braverman. I think Thatcher would have quite liked her. A decade earning her wings and she'll be ready for middling office. (Braverman's presumption is astonishing)

I suspect she would have been more alarmed by the rise of such a lightweight as Braverman. She probably would have considered Anderson and Gullis to be wholly unserious politicians worthy only of contempt.

Mrs Thatcher would not have had Suella Braverman in her Cabinet for the simple reason she did not promote women. Baroness Young as Leader of the House of Lords was the only (other) woman in the Cabinet in her decade in office, so far as I can see from:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ministers_under_Margaret_Thatcher

This list backs that up.

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

While this is true, it is also true that about a dozen other Tory MPs were women, versus around 350 men.

Yes but John Major found space round the Cabinet table for Virginia Bottomley and Gillian Shephard.

And he served a Currie.

DecrepiterJohnL said:

EPG said:

Quincel said:

DecrepiterJohnL said:

Mexicanpete said:

...

Omnium said:

Mexicanpete said:

...

HYUFD said:

Nigel_Foremain said:

HYUFD said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Luckyguy1983 said:

..

Big_G_NorthWales said:

HYUFD said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Well.

Suella Braverman’s rhetoric about child sexual abuse and grooming gangs has cost her the support of an influential Conservative backer, Steve Baker, in a sign her hardline approach to culture war issues could hamper her chances of becoming Tory leader.

Baker, a Tory MP on the Brexiter right of the party, who is now a Northern Ireland minister, was Braverman’s de facto campaign manager when she stood to succeed Boris Johnson as Conservative leader and prime minister last summer.

While Braverman, now the home secretary, was eliminated in the second round of MPs’ voting, her candidacy was seen as a marker for a possible future contest, one likely if the Conservatives lose the next general election.

However, it is understood Baker has decided he would not back Braverman again because of serious concerns over the way she has approached the issue of so-called grooming gangs.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jul/02/steve-baker-withdraws-support-for-suella-braverman-over-grooming-gangs-rhetoric-says-ally

As Baker will almost certainly lose his marginal Wycombe seat to Labour at the general election I doubt Suella cares.

By the time she likely runs for Tory Leader of the Opposition, Baker will be a very ex MP and not even able to vote in the MP rounds

And that sums up you and the whole sorry story of the right and Johnson as your hero

You are actually celebrating the career end of a conservative mp

Shame on you, and go and join RefUK as that is where you and the ERG truly belong

More than one of your posts of late have celebrated what you believe will be the end of various Tory MPs' careers. Perhaps you should take some of the shame you seem so keen to dish out.

Sadly because of Johnson and your beloved Truss conservative mps across the land are facing a career ending election

The conservative party will only obtain office by moving to the centre ground (one nation conservatives) and marginalising those who have brought it into shame and disrepute

Thatcher won from the right three times, as did Boris on Brexit at least in 2019. On the other side Attlee won for Labour from the left twice. The centre ground isn't the only electable option 100% of the time, even if it is most of the time

Thatcher was closer to the centre than Michael Foot. The Clown was closer to the centre than Mr. Thicky.

Thatcher wasn't closer to the centre than Callaghan in 1979 though and arguably not closer to the centre than Kinnock either in 1987.

By the current Johnsonian/Trussian iteration of the Conservative Party, Thatcher (of whom I was never a fan) would be considered a raging Trot.

Thatcher would have baulked at the idea of Braverman, 30p Lee or Jonathan Gullis anywhere near the levers of Government.

Nothing wrong with Braverman. I think Thatcher would have quite liked her. A decade earning her wings and she'll be ready for middling office. (Braverman's presumption is astonishing)

I suspect she would have been more alarmed by the rise of such a lightweight as Braverman. She probably would have considered Anderson and Gullis to be wholly unserious politicians worthy only of contempt.

Mrs Thatcher would not have had Suella Braverman in her Cabinet for the simple reason she did not promote women. Baroness Young as Leader of the House of Lords was the only (other) woman in the Cabinet in her decade in office, so far as I can see from:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ministers_under_Margaret_Thatcher

This list backs that up.

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

While this is true, it is also true that about a dozen other Tory MPs were women, versus around 350 men.

Yes but John Major found space round the Cabinet table for Virginia Bottomley and Gillian Shephard.

Certainly. But by then, the number of Tory women had roughly doubled, and after then 1992 losses the number of Tory men had dipped. Also, Major was certainly more a person who cared about other people's perceptions and feelings than Thatcher.

williamglenn said:

Joe Biden will pay a two day visit to the UK before the NATO summit.

Meeting President Sunak, presumably.

theakes said:

Ukranians report "Russians advancing on four fronts". Could be ominous news

Four fronts?

Stark_Dawning said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Sunak should honour these three members.

The MCC have suspended 3 members pending an investigation after the incident in the Long Room earlier.

https://twitter.com/GeorgeDobell1/status/1675574324563005441

Just watched it - a bit of booing, a bit of applauding and then a couple of Aussies square up to some grey-haired old duffers in oat-coloured jackets. All rather silly.

Indeed. But I hope Leon and his two pals get their suspension rescinded soon.

Theuniondivvie said:

agingjb2 said:

Presumably Bairstow believed the ball to be dead when he left his ground? Did the wicket keeper think that Bairstow believed the ball to be dead?

The replay I saw seemed to show Carey throwing it almost immediately after he caught it, didn’t seem much think about it.

So "finally settling in the wicket keeper's hands" had not happened. There is no doubt that Bairstow was correctly given out.

Spirit of cricket? Barely present in an Ashes test, but purists might question whether or what the (rather inattentive) Bairstow was trying to accomplish by moving down the pitch - certainly not stealing a run.

TheScreamingEagles said:

LOL.

That is a miss of Ronny Rosenthal proportions....its not like it is hard to find genuinely shocking scenes of violence and destruction from the past few days in France if you are wanting to push a certain narrative.

agingjb2 said:

Theuniondivvie said:

agingjb2 said:

Presumably Bairstow believed the ball to be dead when he left his ground? Did the wicket keeper think that Bairstow believed the ball to be dead?

The replay I saw seemed to show Carey throwing it almost immediately after he caught it, didn’t seem much think about it.

So "finally settling in the wicket keeper's hands" had not happened. There is no doubt that Bairstow was correctly given out.

Spirit of cricket? Barely present in an Ashes test, but purists might question whether or what the (rather inattentive) Bairstow was trying to accomplish by moving down the pitch - certainly not stealing a run.

It was out under the letter of the law. But surely the stumping rule was introduced so that the batsmen can't get the advantage of going down the pitch to a delivery without incurring some risk; it wasn't intended to allow a sneaky a dismissal when the batman wrongly thought the over had been called.

TheScreamingEagles said:

LOL.

Is that one of those tweet things?

Benpointer said:

Stark_Dawning said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Sunak should honour these three members.

The MCC have suspended 3 members pending an investigation after the incident in the Long Room earlier.

https://twitter.com/GeorgeDobell1/status/1675574324563005441

Just watched it - a bit of booing, a bit of applauding and then a couple of Aussies square up to some grey-haired old duffers in oat-coloured jackets. All rather silly.

Indeed. But I hope Leon and his two pals get their suspension rescinded soon.

Looking forward to seeing flares up bottoms on the Long Room balcony. The rot set in today and it can't be long now. Wonder if it's possible to buy flares which emit smoke in MCC colours?

Carnyx said:

Benpointer said:

Stark_Dawning said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Sunak should honour these three members.

The MCC have suspended 3 members pending an investigation after the incident in the Long Room earlier.

https://twitter.com/GeorgeDobell1/status/1675574324563005441

Just watched it - a bit of booing, a bit of applauding and then a couple of Aussies square up to some grey-haired old duffers in oat-coloured jackets. All rather silly.

Indeed. But I hope Leon and his two pals get their suspension rescinded soon.

Looking forward to seeing flares up bottoms on the Long Room balcony. The rot set in today and it can't be long now. Wonder if it's possible to buy flares which emit smoke in MCC colours?

There was a Scottish guy behind us, in the Compton stand, who was a wild England supporter

I've encountered these Scots before. Passionately pro-England

I guess it must be a dilemma. Support a Scotland team that will never win anything or go anywhere, or support England as "the British" team and then see some real glory

I have a good Welsh friend who loudly supports England at cricket, which is obviously more acceptable (it is the England and Wales cricket board, and there is no "Wales" team) however it is still feels a little jarring, when he loathes England at rugby

Carnyx said:

Benpointer said:

MattW said:

Malmesbury said:

MattW said:

Hmmm. Parking at Richmond Bridge. Apparently a regular occurrence.

Attended by EIGHT fire engines. And a fire boat.

Do they, or their insurance company get sent an invoice? If they hit a lamp post their insurance would pay.

They really should put some bollards in there to stop the twats parking there.

Had the numbskulls trying to camp on the rowing club boat ramp on Saturday. They actually got upset when we marched the boats down the ramp - ‘cause of the layout, taking an eight down does a nice sweep of the morons…

Surprisingly it doesn't seem to be a BMW or an Audi. or a Landrover.

Looks like school-run parking to me. Dropping a kid off at Richmond-under-the-bridge School?

The pub at Bosham is another good place. You'd think the drivers might be suspicious when they see the self-acting scupper flaps on the adjacent garden walls.

https://www.google.com/maps/@50.8284815,-0.8579255,3a,75y,288.56h,81.52t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sTMM4Sfsjupa2nePaQnym_A!2e0!5s20090601T000000!7i13312!8i6656?entry=ttu

We were at Blakeney this week:

https://www.google.com/maps/@52.9560285,1.0176037,3a,75y,2.85h,87.23t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sk9pNPmXIABRunxxCFDBTmA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?entry=ttu

At least they give you a warning:

"Alien" is on ITV4. It's 44 years old. It looks like it was filmed yesterday. Given the proliferation of color correction and bad CGI in modern films, it looks better than if it was filmed yesterday.

John Hurt has just spotted something moving in an egg. The petals have just opened. I wonder what happens ne[transmission interrupted]

viewcode said:

"Alien" is on ITV4. It's 44 years old. It looks like it was filmed yesterday. Given the proliferation of color correction and bad CGI in modern films, it looks better than if it was filmed yesterday.

John Hurt has just spotted something moving in an egg. The petals have just opened. I wonder what happens ne[transmission interrupted]

Thanks to Ridley Scott: the director of Alien

He apparently did about 3,459 retakes of one scene in his first movie, the Duellists, so he could aesthetically capture the sun flashing off one of the pistols

viewcode said:

"Alien" is on ITV4. It's 44 years old. It looks like it was filmed yesterday. Given the proliferation of color correction and bad CGI in modern films, it looks better than if it was filmed yesterday.

John Hurt has just spotted something moving in an egg. The petals have just opened. I wonder what happens ne[transmission interrupted]

Amazing film. The atmosphere set is remarkable.

Cyclefree said:

Better than endless bloody cricket.

No, it's not

Today is the midpoint day.
Day 183 of 365.
We are closer to 2024 now as to 2022.

Leon said:

Carnyx said:

Leon said:

Carnyx said:

Benpointer said:

Stark_Dawning said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Sunak should honour these three members.

The MCC have suspended 3 members pending an investigation after the incident in the Long Room earlier.

https://twitter.com/GeorgeDobell1/status/1675574324563005441

Just watched it - a bit of booing, a bit of applauding and then a couple of Aussies square up to some grey-haired old duffers in oat-coloured jackets. All rather silly.

Indeed. But I hope Leon and his two pals get their suspension rescinded soon.

Looking forward to seeing flares up bottoms on the Long Room balcony. The rot set in today and it can't be long now. Wonder if it's possible to buy flares which emit smoke in MCC colours?

There was a Scottish guy behind us, in the Compton stand, who was a wild England supporter

I've encountered these Scots before. Passionately pro-England

I guess it must be a dilemma. Support a Scotland team that will never win anything or go anywhere, or support England as "the British" team and then see some real glory

I have a good Welsh friend who loudly supports England at cricket, which is obviously more acceptable (it is the England and Wales cricket board, and there is no "Wales" team) however it is still feels a little jarring, when he loathes England at rugby

Those folk have obviously not grasped the true essence of detachment from worldly concerns which following the Scotland football team induces, as does coarse fishing and the making of models of HMS Victory true in every rope. It's not as if the England [edit] cricket team won anything this weekend, in contrast to the Scotland team.

So it is the same as the footbal? Fervently ignore ACTUAL WORLD CUPS WON BY ENGLAND

I genuinely feel sympathy, and it is also insightful of Nat thinking. The inferiority complex is basically written into the DNA of the UK. and is unavoidable: England will always be better at everything (simply by being bigger, richer, older and nobler) the only way to cope is to break up the Union, however self harming it is, or consistently shout "turnip" like MalcolmG

Or you don't really suffer any of this. There was a cricket team in my home town made up of farming locals, so it's not completely unknown. My instinct is always to get involved with stuff that other people are excited by, so I watched the last few overs (?) of the cricket today and didn't really get it. There was one game a while back where the ball randomly bounced off a bat and went for a 4? That was cool.

viewcode said:

"Alien" is on ITV4. It's 44 years old. It looks like it was filmed yesterday. Given the proliferation of color correction and bad CGI in modern films, it looks better than if it was filmed yesterday.

John Hurt has just spotted something moving in an egg. The petals have just opened. I wonder what happens ne[transmission interrupted]

Switch over to ITV1 at 10:15.

They are showing Die Hard at the correct time of the year.

Later on this month is the 35th anniversary of the release of Die Hard.

Leon said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

Leon said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

Leon said:

noneoftheabove said:

Leon said:

Is Ben stokes the greatest all round cricketer ever? I’d say yes. That was certainly the best innings of Test cricket I’ve ever personally witnessed. He’s phenomenal

Most devastating all round cricketer ever? Probably
Greatest? Not really

I guess Gary Sobers sets quite a high bar, so you might be right. I am feeling quite emosh

Stokes is the most exciting player I’ve ever seen. That is for sure

Jack Kallis enters the chat....better Test averages, better ODI averages....far more runs, far more wickets in both forms of the game.

He wasn't so much an all-rounder in the sense of well he can bat quite well and bowl quite well, he was a genuine elite batter, while at the same time first change fast bowler for SA and could have been picked for that alone...and on top of all of that, he managed to keep that up until 37 years of age.

The way the game has fragmented, I doubt we will see a player ever do what Kallis did again.

I doubt any of us will see the likes of Stokes again, either

Top ten all time cricketer, for sure. Not just batsman or bowler or all rounder. Just "cricketer"

We have been lucky to witness it - even luckier that he's playing for England!

I saw Botham in his prime and Stokes is even more entertaining, talismanic and exhilarating

I am sure at the time of Botham, people said they would never see that again. Then we had Flintoff and now Stokes. Stokes raw numbers aren't that impressive, it is the heroics at crucial times. The special superman powers he has in those special moments.

The game obviously has changed, I would also argue that Botham faced better bowling attacks in test cricket. The West Indies and Australia attacks were as fast if not faster than anything today, on shittier pitches and yet Botham's batting average is only a couple of runs less than Stokes and he was a much better bowler.

Nobody these days has an attack of 90+ mph x 4, who went flat out game in, game out, which is what West Indies had.

But Stokes DOES those special moments

Like, today, when he smashed that massive six, going from 82, to 88, and then he hit another, immedately after, going to 94, and the whole ground drew breath and all we could think was, like: surely not, surely he can't do this, a third consecutive six to get to the hundred?

And this in the last day of an Ashes match at Lords?

And yet, that's what he did. The third six = a century

At his best he does these cartoon superhero feats, which leave you stupefied, and the stats don't quite capture that. I'd actually be interested to know how many test cricketers have ever reached 100 with 3 consecutive sixes. Possibly never done before in an Ashes series?

If you check the list of most sixes in a test innings, Stokes has 4 entries out of the top 40.

No one else has more than 2.

So fairly exceptional.

Leon said:

Eabhal said:

Leon said:

Carnyx said:

Leon said:

Carnyx said:

Benpointer said:

Stark_Dawning said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Sunak should honour these three members.

The MCC have suspended 3 members pending an investigation after the incident in the Long Room earlier.

https://twitter.com/GeorgeDobell1/status/1675574324563005441

Just watched it - a bit of booing, a bit of applauding and then a couple of Aussies square up to some grey-haired old duffers in oat-coloured jackets. All rather silly.

Indeed. But I hope Leon and his two pals get their suspension rescinded soon.

Looking forward to seeing flares up bottoms on the Long Room balcony. The rot set in today and it can't be long now. Wonder if it's possible to buy flares which emit smoke in MCC colours?

There was a Scottish guy behind us, in the Compton stand, who was a wild England supporter

I've encountered these Scots before. Passionately pro-England

I guess it must be a dilemma. Support a Scotland team that will never win anything or go anywhere, or support England as "the British" team and then see some real glory

I have a good Welsh friend who loudly supports England at cricket, which is obviously more acceptable (it is the England and Wales cricket board, and there is no "Wales" team) however it is still feels a little jarring, when he loathes England at rugby

Those folk have obviously not grasped the true essence of detachment from worldly concerns which following the Scotland football team induces, as does coarse fishing and the making of models of HMS Victory true in every rope. It's not as if the England [edit] cricket team won anything this weekend, in contrast to the Scotland team.

So it is the same as the footbal? Fervently ignore ACTUAL WORLD CUPS WON BY ENGLAND

I genuinely feel sympathy, and it is also insightful of Nat thinking. The inferiority complex is basically written into the DNA of the UK. and is unavoidable: England will always be better at everything (simply by being bigger, richer, older and nobler) the only way to cope is to break up the Union, however self harming it is, or consistently shout "turnip" like MalcolmG

Or you don't really suffer any of this. There was a cricket team in my home town made up of farming locals, so it's not completely unknown. My instinct is always to get involved with stuff that other people are excited by, so I watched the last few overs (?) of the cricket today and didn't really get it. There was one game a while back where the ball randomly bounced off a bat and went for a 4? That was cool.

Yes, of course, of course

Cricket? Overs? What are they? Oh yes, just a thing. A 4? What's that?

I genuinely have no idea haha. Why would I? Have to look it up on wikipedia.

Malmesbury said:

glw said:

Malmesbury said:

MattW said:

Hmmm. Parking at Richmond Bridge. Apparently a regular occurrence.

Attended by EIGHT fire engines. And a fire boat.

Do they, or their insurance company get sent an invoice? If they hit a lamp post their insurance would pay.

They really should put some bollards in there to stop the twats parking there.

Had the numbskulls trying to camp on the rowing club boat ramp on Saturday. They actually got upset when we marched the boats down the ramp - ‘cause of the layout, taking an eight down does a nice sweep of the morons…

People have been parking there and getting their cars flooded as long as I can remember. I think the locals quite enjoy the spectacle. A lot of people don't realise that the Thames is tidal all the way to Teddington Lock.

White Swan, Riverside, Twickenham is fun for visitors who haven’t seen a tidal river.

For those who haven’t been there - the beer garden floods pretty much every tide. People sit on tables and get table service by staff in wellies.

Counterintuitively it's White Cross, not White Swan. The usual lament from unexpectedly ex-motorists is "I wasn't expecting a spring tide in mid-summer".

dixiedean said:

Cricket sure beats cars going round and round the same bit of road for 2 hours before the guy in the fastest car wins.

Cricket's still the most boring "sport" in the world.

Leon said:

Absolutely ridiculously lame, simplistic, Woke reporting on the French riots on BBC

Jeez :old skool media is fucked

The regular media was pretty hopeless reporting the attempted coup in Russia. Hamstrung by not having reporters on the ground, and being unwilling to report stuff from social media without confirming it in some other way. They were hours behind what was being said on Twitter, Reddit etc.

When something big is happening RIGHT NOW, does anyone even bother turning the TV on anymore?

TheScreamingEagles said:

viewcode said:

"Alien" is on ITV4. It's 44 years old. It looks like it was filmed yesterday. Given the proliferation of color correction and bad CGI in modern films, it looks better than if it was filmed yesterday.

John Hurt has just spotted something moving in an egg. The petals have just opened. I wonder what happens ne[transmission interrupted]

Switch over to ITV1 at 10:15.

They are showing Die Hard at the correct time of the year.

Later on this month is the 35th anniversary of the release of Die Hard.

It's still a Christmas film, according to the movie's screenwriter Stephen E. De Souza.

https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/die-hard-christmas-movie-screenwriter-steven-e-de-souza-1201911181/

Sunil_Prasannan said:

dixiedean said:

Cricket sure beats cars going round and round the same bit of road for 2 hours before the guy in the fastest car wins.

Cricket's still the most boring "sport" in the world.

The cricket 'authorities' obviously agree with you because they're trying to make it as short as possible.

.

Leon said:

viewcode said:

"Alien" is on ITV4. It's 44 years old. It looks like it was filmed yesterday. Given the proliferation of color correction and bad CGI in modern films, it looks better than if it was filmed yesterday.

John Hurt has just spotted something moving in an egg. The petals have just opened. I wonder what happens ne[transmission interrupted]

Thanks to Ridley Scott: the director of Alien

He apparently did about 3,459 retakes of one scene in his first movie, the Duellists, so he could aesthetically capture the sun flashing off one of the pistols

Bonkers movie, but in a good way.

Leon said:

Carnyx said:

Leon said:

Carnyx said:

Benpointer said:

Stark_Dawning said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Sunak should honour these three members.

The MCC have suspended 3 members pending an investigation after the incident in the Long Room earlier.

https://twitter.com/GeorgeDobell1/status/1675574324563005441

Just watched it - a bit of booing, a bit of applauding and then a couple of Aussies square up to some grey-haired old duffers in oat-coloured jackets. All rather silly.

Indeed. But I hope Leon and his two pals get their suspension rescinded soon.

Looking forward to seeing flares up bottoms on the Long Room balcony. The rot set in today and it can't be long now. Wonder if it's possible to buy flares which emit smoke in MCC colours?

There was a Scottish guy behind us, in the Compton stand, who was a wild England supporter

I've encountered these Scots before. Passionately pro-England

I guess it must be a dilemma. Support a Scotland team that will never win anything or go anywhere, or support England as "the British" team and then see some real glory

I have a good Welsh friend who loudly supports England at cricket, which is obviously more acceptable (it is the England and Wales cricket board, and there is no "Wales" team) however it is still feels a little jarring, when he loathes England at rugby

Those folk have obviously not grasped the true essence of detachment from worldly concerns which following the Scotland football team induces, as does coarse fishing and the making of models of HMS Victory true in every rope. It's not as if the England [edit] cricket team won anything this weekend, in contrast to the Scotland team.

So it is the same as the footbal? Fervently ignore ACTUAL WORLD CUPS WON BY ENGLAND

I genuinely feel sympathy, and it is also insightful of Nat thinking. The inferiority complex is basically written into the DNA of the UK. and is unavoidable: England will always be better at everything (simply by being bigger, richer, older and nobler) the only way to cope is to break up the Union, however self harming it is, or consistently shout "turnip" like MalcolmG

What inferiority?

TheScreamingEagles said:

viewcode said:

"Alien" is on ITV4. It's 44 years old. It looks like it was filmed yesterday. Given the proliferation of color correction and bad CGI in modern films, it looks better than if it was filmed yesterday.

John Hurt has just spotted something moving in an egg. The petals have just opened. I wonder what happens ne[transmission interrupted]

Switch over to ITV1 at 10:15.

Coincidentally, that's about the time it bursts from Hurt's chest...

Mexicanpete said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

viewcode said:

"Alien" is on ITV4. It's 44 years old. It looks like it was filmed yesterday. Given the proliferation of color correction and bad CGI in modern films, it looks better than if it was filmed yesterday.

John Hurt has just spotted something moving in an egg. The petals have just opened. I wonder what happens ne[transmission interrupted]

Switch over to ITV1 at 10:15.

They are showing Die Hard at the correct time of the year.

Later on this month is the 35th anniversary of the release of Die Hard.

Is it Christmas already?

Oh, the weather outside is frightful...

TheScreamingEagles said:

Sunil_Prasannan said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

viewcode said:

"Alien" is on ITV4. It's 44 years old. It looks like it was filmed yesterday. Given the proliferation of color correction and bad CGI in modern films, it looks better than if it was filmed yesterday.

John Hurt has just spotted something moving in an egg. The petals have just opened. I wonder what happens ne[transmission interrupted]

Switch over to ITV1 at 10:15.

They are showing Die Hard at the correct time of the year.

Later on this month is the 35th anniversary of the release of Die Hard.

It's still a Christmas film, according to the movie's screenwriter Stephen E. De Souza.

https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/die-hard-christmas-movie-screenwriter-steven-e-de-souza-1201911181/

And I describe myself as a modest working class guy.

Doesn’t make it true.

It...it's not true???? ☹️

Farooq said:

glw said:

Leon said:

Absolutely ridiculously lame, simplistic, Woke reporting on the French riots on BBC

Jeez :old skool media is fucked

The regular media was pretty hopeless reporting the attempted coup in Russia. Hamstrung by not having reporters on the ground, and being unwilling to report stuff from social media without confirming it in some other way. They were hours behind what was being said on Twitter, Reddit etc.

When something big is happening RIGHT NOW, does anyone even bother turning the TV on anymore?

You're saying this as if it's a bad thing.
Reporting what some prat writes on Twitter as fact would quickly lead to whatever trust they have among the public evaporating.

Social media is for breathless reportage of what might be happening. Proper media is for more sensible reporting of something that did happen.


If broadcast media is resisting reporting anonymous speculation as fact, good.

"Proper media is for more sensible reporting of something that did happen."

But they don't do that either. They are just pitifully slow, and when they do report, it is with lazy bias and a lack of nous

viewcode said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

viewcode said:

"Alien" is on ITV4. It's 44 years old. It looks like it was filmed yesterday. Given the proliferation of color correction and bad CGI in modern films, it looks better than if it was filmed yesterday.

John Hurt has just spotted something moving in an egg. The petals have just opened. I wonder what happens ne[transmission interrupted]

Switch over to ITV1 at 10:15.

Coincidentally, that's about the time it bursts from Hurt's chest...

10:22 Harry Dean Stanton has gone to look for the cat. Water drips onto his face. He looks up...

Leon said:

"Proper media is for more sensible reporting of something that did happen."

But they don't do that either. They are just pitifully slow, and when they do report, it is with lazy bias and a lack of nous

Exactly, they sit in this awkward middle ground of being neither quick enough to tell you what is happening now, or slow enough to dispense with immediacy and take a considered view after the fact.

It's really a very difficult problem for news channels and news shows. Probably they should spend less on news, and more on documentaries.

I honestly think news reporting was a lot better when there was less of it, and the main news show was late in the day, and often bookended with current affairs documentaries.

Carnyx said:

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jul/02/boil-in-the-bag-environmentally-friendly-funerals-arrive-in-uk-resomation-acquamation

Basically making soap and pouring down the drain. *Resolves never to drink recycled London water again*

viewcode said:

viewcode said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

viewcode said:

"Alien" is on ITV4. It's 44 years old. It looks like it was filmed yesterday. Given the proliferation of color correction and bad CGI in modern films, it looks better than if it was filmed yesterday.

John Hurt has just spotted something moving in an egg. The petals have just opened. I wonder what happens ne[transmission interrupted]

Switch over to ITV1 at 10:15.

Coincidentally, that's about the time it bursts from Hurt's chest...

10:22 Harry Dean Stanton has gone to look for the cat. Water drips onto his face. He looks up...

Is that, er, recycled water?

glw said:

Leon said:

"Proper media is for more sensible reporting of something that did happen."

But they don't do that either. They are just pitifully slow, and when they do report, it is with lazy bias and a lack of nous

Exactly, they sit in this awkward middle ground of being neither quick enough to tell you what is happening now, or slow enough to dispense with immediacy and take a considered view after the fact.

It's really a very difficult problem for news channels and news shows. Probably they should spend less on news, and more on documentaries.

I honestly think news reporting was a lot better when there was less of it, and the main news show was late in the day, and often bookended with current affairs documentaries.

Yes, I entirely agree

Their job in reporting "news" in the moment is over. Social media does it so much faster. albeit with flaws. But nothing can match its instant speed

Legacy news needs to move to slower and considered analysis, or indeed political polemics (which should be allowed on all sides in a healthy polity)

Looks like the French Riots are deinitely not "over"

Lyon burns as we speak

bondegezou said:

RochdalePioneers said:

Meanwhile...

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jul/02/orkney-could-leave-uk-for-norway-as-it-explores-alternative-governance

Any Scottish independence referendum should give Orkney and the Shetlands an escape clause.

As in, escape to Norway?

Carnyx said:

Leon said:

Carnyx said:

Leon said:

Carnyx said:

Benpointer said:

Stark_Dawning said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Sunak should honour these three members.

The MCC have suspended 3 members pending an investigation after the incident in the Long Room earlier.

https://twitter.com/GeorgeDobell1/status/1675574324563005441

Just watched it - a bit of booing, a bit of applauding and then a couple of Aussies square up to some grey-haired old duffers in oat-coloured jackets. All rather silly.

Indeed. But I hope Leon and his two pals get their suspension rescinded soon.

Looking forward to seeing flares up bottoms on the Long Room balcony. The rot set in today and it can't be long now. Wonder if it's possible to buy flares which emit smoke in MCC colours?

There was a Scottish guy behind us, in the Compton stand, who was a wild England supporter

I've encountered these Scots before. Passionately pro-England

I guess it must be a dilemma. Support a Scotland team that will never win anything or go anywhere, or support England as "the British" team and then see some real glory

I have a good Welsh friend who loudly supports England at cricket, which is obviously more acceptable (it is the England and Wales cricket board, and there is no "Wales" team) however it is still feels a little jarring, when he loathes England at rugby

Those folk have obviously not grasped the true essence of detachment from worldly concerns which following the Scotland football team induces, as does coarse fishing and the making of models of HMS Victory true in every rope. It's not as if the England [edit] cricket team won anything this weekend, in contrast to the Scotland team.

So it is the same as the footbal? Fervently ignore ACTUAL WORLD CUPS WON BY ENGLAND

I genuinely feel sympathy, and it is also insightful of Nat thinking. The inferiority complex is basically written into the DNA of the UK. and is unavoidable: England will always be better at everything (simply by being bigger, richer, older and nobler) the only way to cope is to break up the Union, however self harming it is, or consistently shout "turnip" like MalcolmG

What inferiority?

I believe superiority involves finding validation for one's flabby, pot bellied existence in the performance of superfit young sportsmen whom one couldn't possibly hope to match, even in one's prime.
For some folk anyway.

..

bondegezou said:

solarflare said:

bondegezou said:

RochdalePioneers said:

Meanwhile...

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jul/02/orkney-could-leave-uk-for-norway-as-it-explores-alternative-governance

Any Scottish independence referendum should give Orkney and the Shetlands an escape clause.

As in, escape to Norway?

Many in Scotland complained of being dragged out of the EU against their will. Likewise, the people of O&S should not be dragged out of the UK against their will, should Scotland vote for independence. In that eventuality, they should be given the option to stay in the UK or to chart another path separate to the rest of Scotland.

Who's going to be doing the giving?

Theuniondivvie said:

Carnyx said:

Leon said:

Carnyx said:

Leon said:

Carnyx said:

Benpointer said:

Stark_Dawning said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Sunak should honour these three members.

The MCC have suspended 3 members pending an investigation after the incident in the Long Room earlier.

https://twitter.com/GeorgeDobell1/status/1675574324563005441

Just watched it - a bit of booing, a bit of applauding and then a couple of Aussies square up to some grey-haired old duffers in oat-coloured jackets. All rather silly.

Indeed. But I hope Leon and his two pals get their suspension rescinded soon.

Looking forward to seeing flares up bottoms on the Long Room balcony. The rot set in today and it can't be long now. Wonder if it's possible to buy flares which emit smoke in MCC colours?

There was a Scottish guy behind us, in the Compton stand, who was a wild England supporter

I've encountered these Scots before. Passionately pro-England

I guess it must be a dilemma. Support a Scotland team that will never win anything or go anywhere, or support England as "the British" team and then see some real glory

I have a good Welsh friend who loudly supports England at cricket, which is obviously more acceptable (it is the England and Wales cricket board, and there is no "Wales" team) however it is still feels a little jarring, when he loathes England at rugby

Those folk have obviously not grasped the true essence of detachment from worldly concerns which following the Scotland football team induces, as does coarse fishing and the making of models of HMS Victory true in every rope. It's not as if the England [edit] cricket team won anything this weekend, in contrast to the Scotland team.

So it is the same as the footbal? Fervently ignore ACTUAL WORLD CUPS WON BY ENGLAND

I genuinely feel sympathy, and it is also insightful of Nat thinking. The inferiority complex is basically written into the DNA of the UK. and is unavoidable: England will always be better at everything (simply by being bigger, richer, older and nobler) the only way to cope is to break up the Union, however self harming it is, or consistently shout "turnip" like MalcolmG

What inferiority?

I believe superiority involves finding validation for one's flabby, pot bellied existence in the performance of superfit young sportsmen whom one couldn't possibly hope to match, even in one's prime.
For some folk anyway.

Is that why you had a weird tartan orgasm when Scotland beat Norway, two weeks ago?

viewcode said:

viewcode said:

viewcode said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

viewcode said:

"Alien" is on ITV4. It's 44 years old. It looks like it was filmed yesterday. Given the proliferation of color correction and bad CGI in modern films, it looks better than if it was filmed yesterday.

John Hurt has just spotted something moving in an egg. The petals have just opened. I wonder what happens ne[transmission interrupted]

Switch over to ITV1 at 10:15.

Coincidentally, that's about the time it bursts from Hurt's chest...

10:22 Harry Dean Stanton has gone to look for the cat. Water drips onto his face. He looks up...

10:33 Tom Skerritt enters the duct. Veronica Cartwright tracks him with a machine and they all listen in. Beep-beep, beep-beep. She gets confused and panicky. Beep-beep. He gets disorientated. Beep-beep. He turns around...

10:42: Sigourney Weaver enters the computer room with many blinky lights.She interrogates the computer and discovers Ian Holm is acting on secret orders. She leans back and he's in the room. She tries to leave but he blocks her exit. A trail of white not-sweat seeps down his temple...

Leon said:

Looks like the French Riots are deinitely not "over"

Lyon burns as we speak

Well the 2005 ones went for 3 weeks. I presume they only stopped because the rioters were due vacation time, as per French union rules.

viewcode said:

viewcode said:

viewcode said:

viewcode said:

viewcode said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

viewcode said:

"Alien" is on ITV4. It's 44 years old. It looks like it was filmed yesterday. Given the proliferation of color correction and bad CGI in modern films, it looks better than if it was filmed yesterday.

John Hurt has just spotted something moving in an egg. The petals have just opened. I wonder what happens ne[transmission interrupted]

Switch over to ITV1 at 10:15.

Coincidentally, that's about the time it bursts from Hurt's chest...

10:22 Harry Dean Stanton has gone to look for the cat. Water drips onto his face. He looks up...

10:33 Tom Skerritt enters the duct. Veronica Cartwright tracks him with a machine and they all listen in. Beep-beep, beep-beep. She gets confused and panicky. Beep-beep. He gets disorientated. Beep-beep. He turns around...

10:42: Sigourney Weaver enters the computer room with many blinky lights.She interrogates the computer and discovers Ian Holm is acting on secret orders. She leans back and he's in the room. She tries to leave but he blocks her exit. A trail of white not-sweat seeps down his temple...

10:47 "Bring back the life form. Priority One. All other priorities rescinded..."

"There is an explanation for this, you know!"