Lab’s by-election record has been mediocre – politicalbetting.com

MoonRabbit said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

MoonRabbit said:

Anabobazina said:

kle4 said:

ydoethur said:

Anabobazina said:

FPT

We have reached a whole new world of plonkerdom on PB when Professor Richard Dawkins is defined as a Christian.

Yet that is exactly where we are.

Only on PB.

Not quite. It's on a minor, unimportant news site as well:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7136682.stm

The 'Christian country' 'cultural Christian' topic is just tedious because people talk past one another even more than usual politics. It depends what one means - I'd have little trouble as an atheist referring to the country that way, depending what someone was trying to assert.

Pretending that common arguments are 'only on PB' as if unique doesn't help either.

It’s rot though. How can this be a Christian country when the majority of its population disbelieve in the Christian God?

Clue: it isn’t. Hence why even PRIESTS now say it isn’t!

You are saying it is impossible to be agnostic about existence of a God, and a Cultural Christian at the same time? Really?

I think what Dawkins explained in the link Dr Y gave us seemed very plausible. A religion like Christianity isn’t just a philosophical concept, it’s cultural/tribal too.

I’m sure I have read on PB very good stuff about Cultural Folkways in Britain, their relation to the English Civil war, how these same cultural behaviours travelled to the United States and played role in their Civil War too.

Christianity without Christ is sophistical crap.

But being without that philosophical element only allows examples, like Anabob, a perfect example, to, yes, get away with saying they are not strictly a Christian, but by being so culturally Christian they cannot get away with saying they “are in no way Christian, not even a teeny weeny bit.”

They do need concede this fact.

If they introduced payment by tapping instead of the collection bowl he'd be there like a shot.

Pulpstar said:

viewcode said:

HYUFD said:

Leon said:

HYUFD said:

Leon said:

I fear I am the only PB-er who can’t even muster a semi-demi-tumescence about the “mid Bedfordshire by-election”

Maybe but you are unusual, as per the title of this site the average PBer would get excited about a Parish council by election in August in Middle Wallop.

I fear it’s a symptom of a larger problem. British politics, right now, is the politics of decline. How to manage it. How to mitigate it. All Labour offer is a slightly different way of doing this. Ditto the LDs

In that light, it’s hard to get excited by a General Election, let alone “mid Bedfordshire”

Some truth in that, we are heading for a similar period politically as the late 1960s and 1970s

I think @Casino_Royale 's (I think it was him: apols if misattributed) formulation is correct: Starmer will be one-term and things will switch back-and-forth until people understand the problem and come up with solutions, instead of the current sticking-plaster route.

Worst case scenario is Pensionerism dominates UK politics for the next 15-20 years, and because Pensionerism is inherently negative (old people consume, not produce), we don't really come out of the slump until the 2040's

Hold on, I should be collecting my pension in the 2040s.

@viewcode utter bollox Viewcode, I am still high producer and a pensioner. Show any youngster how to do a good days work and produce quality.

Leon said:

Cookie said:

Leon said:

Tho this might be Peak Puritanical Guardian Travel

Walking the length of the Wharfe sounds pleasant enough. Some nice scenery and a few very pleasant towns. And I like Bolton Abbey very much. Happy memories of hearing a child fall into the Wharfe while crossing the surprisingly treacherous stepping stones. Happy because improbably it wasn't my child, and I hadn't brought a change of clothes in case of that eventuality.
Though more pleasant still to cycle it. The Dales are agreeably conducive to cycling, until you reach the end of the dale you're in and have to haul your fat arse over into the next dale.
Though I'd quibble that the Wharfe is Yorkshire's most famous river. Strikes me as no more famous than the Ouse, Don, Nidd, Aire, Calder, Swale, Derwent, Tees or Hull.

I rather like British travel writing, as my MSN feed at work has clearly twigged. I like to read about places I might reasonably go - or, even better, about places I have been, and I can enjoy feeling cheerfully exasperated with the writer who has clearly Got It Wrong.

I like domestic British travel. We still live in a beautiful, historic country, for all our problems

Indeed I am about to set off on a mini UK road trip (expect pics of drinks in woods)

I am just empathising with the poor Guardian travel writers, forbidden to go anywhere exotic. My guess is the more talented ones will simply leave

Hiring a car and wrecking the environment then.

kle4 said:

Interesting that the ousted President of Gabon has made a video appeal in English given its a francophone country. Focused globally rather than at home I guess?

The French language, in toto, is becomig wildly unpopular in much of Francophone Africa, because

1. It is seen as a legacy of colonialism

2. It is viewed as holding Africans back, when the global language is English

Hence Rwanda, Morocco and Algeria all switching to English education, or aiming for that, and others following

Also see here, from a decade back:

"Gabon’s President Ali Ben Bongo announced in October the country will start promoting English as a second language, in addition to the current French in a move that seems to be a growing trend in Francophone West Africa."

https://www.voanews.com/a/francophone-west-Africa-English-language/1545406.html

Can you be a cultural Christian at the same time as being Not A Christian At All?
If so. I am.

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

PB Pop Quiz - Who(m) were the only two UK PMs never ever elected to the House of Commons?

Lord Rosebery (1894-95) would be one.

I would have guessed Lord Bute for the other.

Edit - that said, he was never UK PM, of course (before 1801) so I might be wrong.

Edit edit - the only other possible candidate would I think be Lord Aberdeen (1852-55).

DecrepiterJohnL said:

Leon said:

Andy_JS said:

Leon said:

Dura_Ace said:

Leon said:

Tucker Carlson’s Orban interview is now up to 60 million views

https://x.com/tuckercarlson/status/1696643892253466712?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

Probably only a fraction of these will watch large chunks or the whole thing. But even if it’s just 20% that’s 12 million people

For comparison, he used to get ~4m for his Fox show, and he was the most popular host by far


This is potentially revolutionary for news media

Noteworthy persistence with something nobody gives a fuck about. Two right wing shitbags giving each other one speed hand jobs with eye contact.

I'd rather watch Adrian Chiles interview Lucy Letby.

Perhaps it takes a professional journalist to see the significance of this. Thirty long years at the Knappers' Gazette have taught me to notice: when the media paradigm shifts

The politics are irrelevant here. Carlson may be a dangerous idiot, Orban even more so, whatevs

Twitter has enormous news power. We already know that, it's why lefties get in such a hissy fit about Musk taking over "their" site. But the power has never been exploited before, not in this way, not with a dedicated news programme, with a famous host

Here we are. Tucker Carlson. One deeply political interview with Viktor Orban. 62 million views, and rising

Musk has probably given him the biggest pulpit on earth

This would be major if it was Owen Jones interviewing Hugo Chavez, and not because Chavez is dead

It seems to have received another 400,000 views in just the last 10 minutes.

His Trump interview was "viewed" by 235 million (we don't know how many actually watched the video, or for how long)

But that can be written off as a unique event, deliberately timed to coincide with the GOP debate (which was watched by 12m, for comparison)

A long, quite intellectual inerview with Viktor Orban is a very different beast, and yet here he is again, slamming it. 64m and rising

Potential game-changer for media

64 million people watching anyone interview Viktor Orban on any platform sounds like too many. It does not pass the sniff test. Does X clip the video for people's feeds then autoplay it, for instance? Hungary has the same population as London and I doubt many Americans would get out of bed for Sadiq Khan, or Londoners.

it is fixed and fake like *ucker

NickPalmer said:

RochdalePioneers said:

eek said:

RochdalePioneers said:

To go back to byelections briefly, there are a three main scenarios:
1. Lab/LD engage in a dick-measuring contest and the Tories win
2. As above only Lab or LD win despite the willy waving
3. One of Lab / LD backs down and the other wins

The general public have shown that they are good at diescerning who the ABC candidate is, and I anticipate that the first proper poll to come out after the GoNads incident will show them the way.

My party (LD) clearly thinks it is winnable. Labour appear to be in the same place. Both with some justification. So the challenge now is what happens if the informal arrangements elsewhere don't happen here...?

Issue for Labour is they can't give the Lib Dems a clear run because there is no other campaign they can focus their troops on...

Which is the only thing Nadine has done as a favour for Rishi - as Labour need to be seen to campaign they could easily spilit the vote and let a Tory sneak through the middle.

Which is actually a decent result for Labour as the seat would likely be a Labour seat (and probably would become one at the next general election) were the Lib Dems not actively campaigning.

There is a blindness / arrogance / stupidity with some Labour activists that their way is the only way. That everyone should vote Labour and therefore all seats could be won. Whats more they point to results like winning Canterbury or Kensington and Chelski as proof of this.

Whilst its true that seats can swing in previously unthinkable ways, you also have to accept that your way is not the only way and that Other People may see things differently. But if Mid Beds voters put us 1st and them 2nd I can't them accepting it. If the Tories then hold the seat that would be blamed on us...

In general voters inclined to vote tactically will do so for the party previously in second place, unless the level of campaigning makes it obvious that they aren't bothering. I don't think it's arrogant to suggest that the LibDems really didn't need to go all out in a seat where their vote in the last two election was 6% and 12% - after all, at the GE, if they designate everywhere where they came second in 2019 as targets, they will be more than busy, without also trying for seats where they came third. In the same spirit, Labour didn't make Somerton and Frome a priority - Labour had 12% there in 2019 and quite rightly didn't make a significant effort in the by-election, just as the LibDems in Selby (on 8.6% in 2019) didn't bother much there.

The problem, which we could all see coming, is that this isn't being fought at the same time as other by-elections, so the unofficial division of attention that happened with Somerton/Selby isn't possible. If the Tories win as a result, it will damage efforts for tactical voting elsewhere, which IMO isn't in anyone's interest but the Conservatives.

Agree with above - except for (perhaps) last sentence.

Because wouldn't yet another Tory by-election win due to oppo vote splitting, as in Uxbridge, but without ULEX factor, underline the need for better strategy re: tactical voting? Among likely GE voters as well as party activists and hacks?

ydoethur said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

PB Pop Quiz - Who(m) were the only two UK PMs never ever elected to the House of Commons?

Lord Rosebery (1894-95) would be one.

I would have guessed Lord Bute for the other.

Edit - that said, he was never UK PM, of course (before 1801) so I might be wrong.

Edit edit - the only other possible candidate would I think be Lord Aberdeen (1852-55).

UK was UK (Pmt) since 1707. Or am I missing something?

williamglenn said:

kle4 said:

Interesting that the ousted President of Gabon has made a video appeal in English given its a francophone country. Focused globally rather than at home I guess?

The BBC have bizarrely subtitled his English with pidgin in this clip.

https://www.bbc.com/pidgin/articles/c98508d1p87o

Not bizarre, but because it is the Pidgin service of the BBC. Like they have French subtitles on the French service.

Luckyguy1983 said:

MoonRabbit said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

MoonRabbit said:

Anabobazina said:

kle4 said:

ydoethur said:

Anabobazina said:

FPT

We have reached a whole new world of plonkerdom on PB when Professor Richard Dawkins is defined as a Christian.

Yet that is exactly where we are.

Only on PB.

Not quite. It's on a minor, unimportant news site as well:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7136682.stm

The 'Christian country' 'cultural Christian' topic is just tedious because people talk past one another even more than usual politics. It depends what one means - I'd have little trouble as an atheist referring to the country that way, depending what someone was trying to assert.

Pretending that common arguments are 'only on PB' as if unique doesn't help either.

It’s rot though. How can this be a Christian country when the majority of its population disbelieve in the Christian God?

Clue: it isn’t. Hence why even PRIESTS now say it isn’t!

You are saying it is impossible to be agnostic about existence of a God, and a Cultural Christian at the same time? Really?

I think what Dawkins explained in the link Dr Y gave us seemed very plausible. A religion like Christianity isn’t just a philosophical concept, it’s cultural/tribal too.

I’m sure I have read on PB very good stuff about Cultural Folkways in Britain, their relation to the English Civil war, how these same cultural behaviours travelled to the United States and played role in their Civil War too.

Christianity without Christ is sophistical crap.

But being without that philosophical element only allows examples, like Anabob, a perfect example, to, yes, get away with saying they are not strictly a Christian, but by being so culturally Christian they cannot get away with saying they “are in no way Christian, not even a teeny weeny bit.”

They do need concede this fact.

If they introduced payment by tapping instead of the collection bowl he'd be there like a shot.

Well, good news! Cannock Church has.

They bought one in the pandemic and can't be bothered to get rid of it.

malcolmg said:

Pulpstar said:

viewcode said:

HYUFD said:

Leon said:

HYUFD said:

Leon said:

I fear I am the only PB-er who can’t even muster a semi-demi-tumescence about the “mid Bedfordshire by-election”

Maybe but you are unusual, as per the title of this site the average PBer would get excited about a Parish council by election in August in Middle Wallop.

I fear it’s a symptom of a larger problem. British politics, right now, is the politics of decline. How to manage it. How to mitigate it. All Labour offer is a slightly different way of doing this. Ditto the LDs

In that light, it’s hard to get excited by a General Election, let alone “mid Bedfordshire”

Some truth in that, we are heading for a similar period politically as the late 1960s and 1970s

I think @Casino_Royale 's (I think it was him: apols if misattributed) formulation is correct: Starmer will be one-term and things will switch back-and-forth until people understand the problem and come up with solutions, instead of the current sticking-plaster route.

Worst case scenario is Pensionerism dominates UK politics for the next 15-20 years, and because Pensionerism is inherently negative (old people consume, not produce), we don't really come out of the slump until the 2040's

Hold on, I should be collecting my pension in the 2040s.

utter bollox Viewcode, I am still high producer and a pensioner. Show any youngster how to do a good days work and produce quality.

Ahem.

I am sure that you personally are Stakhanovite in your work ethic and an ornament to your profession, but as I said in my later reply, "...The problem is not pensioners as individuals, it's pensioners en masse..."

ydoethur said:

Luckyguy1983 said:

MoonRabbit said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

MoonRabbit said:

Anabobazina said:

kle4 said:

ydoethur said:

Anabobazina said:

FPT

We have reached a whole new world of plonkerdom on PB when Professor Richard Dawkins is defined as a Christian.

Yet that is exactly where we are.

Only on PB.

Not quite. It's on a minor, unimportant news site as well:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7136682.stm

The 'Christian country' 'cultural Christian' topic is just tedious because people talk past one another even more than usual politics. It depends what one means - I'd have little trouble as an atheist referring to the country that way, depending what someone was trying to assert.

Pretending that common arguments are 'only on PB' as if unique doesn't help either.

It’s rot though. How can this be a Christian country when the majority of its population disbelieve in the Christian God?

Clue: it isn’t. Hence why even PRIESTS now say it isn’t!

You are saying it is impossible to be agnostic about existence of a God, and a Cultural Christian at the same time? Really?

I think what Dawkins explained in the link Dr Y gave us seemed very plausible. A religion like Christianity isn’t just a philosophical concept, it’s cultural/tribal too.

I’m sure I have read on PB very good stuff about Cultural Folkways in Britain, their relation to the English Civil war, how these same cultural behaviours travelled to the United States and played role in their Civil War too.

Christianity without Christ is sophistical crap.

But being without that philosophical element only allows examples, like Anabob, a perfect example, to, yes, get away with saying they are not strictly a Christian, but by being so culturally Christian they cannot get away with saying they “are in no way Christian, not even a teeny weeny bit.”

They do need concede this fact.

If they introduced payment by tapping instead of the collection bowl he'd be there like a shot.

Well, good news! Cannock Church has.

They bought one in the pandemic and can't be bothered to get rid of it.

I am sure the bankers are delighted to be getting their tithes of the tithes.

Carnyx said:

ydoethur said:

Luckyguy1983 said:

MoonRabbit said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

MoonRabbit said:

Anabobazina said:

kle4 said:

ydoethur said:

Anabobazina said:

FPT

We have reached a whole new world of plonkerdom on PB when Professor Richard Dawkins is defined as a Christian.

Yet that is exactly where we are.

Only on PB.

Not quite. It's on a minor, unimportant news site as well:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7136682.stm

The 'Christian country' 'cultural Christian' topic is just tedious because people talk past one another even more than usual politics. It depends what one means - I'd have little trouble as an atheist referring to the country that way, depending what someone was trying to assert.

Pretending that common arguments are 'only on PB' as if unique doesn't help either.

It’s rot though. How can this be a Christian country when the majority of its population disbelieve in the Christian God?

Clue: it isn’t. Hence why even PRIESTS now say it isn’t!

You are saying it is impossible to be agnostic about existence of a God, and a Cultural Christian at the same time? Really?

I think what Dawkins explained in the link Dr Y gave us seemed very plausible. A religion like Christianity isn’t just a philosophical concept, it’s cultural/tribal too.

I’m sure I have read on PB very good stuff about Cultural Folkways in Britain, their relation to the English Civil war, how these same cultural behaviours travelled to the United States and played role in their Civil War too.

Christianity without Christ is sophistical crap.

But being without that philosophical element only allows examples, like Anabob, a perfect example, to, yes, get away with saying they are not strictly a Christian, but by being so culturally Christian they cannot get away with saying they “are in no way Christian, not even a teeny weeny bit.”

They do need concede this fact.

If they introduced payment by tapping instead of the collection bowl he'd be there like a shot.

Well, good news! Cannock Church has.

They bought one in the pandemic and can't be bothered to get rid of it.

I've always thought that the weekly collection was hopelessly tax-inefficient, at least where it is for purposes that are legitimate for charity purposes. But maybe they now get the congregation to do Gift Aid now that it is electronic?

Most members of the congregation give by standing order.

But if you give weekly, you can fill out an envelope with a gift aid declaration on it. So it isn't tax inefficient from that point of view.

SandyRentool said:

Tory bright idea of the day: If you don't turn up in court to hear the judge hand down a whole-life term, you will have to spend extra time in prison.

That's why I thought it probably wasn't a great idea when first mooted here.

ydoethur said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

PB Pop Quiz - Who(m) were the only two UK PMs never ever elected to the House of Commons?

Lord Rosebery (1894-95) would be one.

I would have guessed Lord Bute for the other.

Edit - that said, he was never UK PM, of course (before 1801) so I might be wrong.

Edit edit - the only other possible candidate would I think be Lord Aberdeen (1852-55).

Lord Roseberry is correct. And the other, according to my source, was Lord Aberdeen.

HOWEVER, looks like you are also correct re: Earl of Bute. However, note that he was elected as a representative Scottish peer to House of Lords (1707 being operative date for UK without Ireland).

Am re-checking my source to see what's what!

Ah ha . . . source said Aberdeen & Roseberry (sounds like a super-fine soap) were only two non-HoC PMs "in last two centuries" meaning 19th & 20th NOT 18th.

source: A History of British Prime Ministers (Omnibus Edition) Walpole to Cameron by Dick Leonard (2014-15)

Again, apologies for leading you down the primrose path of putrid punditry.

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

ydoethur said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

PB Pop Quiz - Who(m) were the only two UK PMs never ever elected to the House of Commons?

Lord Rosebery (1894-95) would be one.

I would have guessed Lord Bute for the other.

Edit - that said, he was never UK PM, of course (before 1801) so I might be wrong.

Edit edit - the only other possible candidate would I think be Lord Aberdeen (1852-55).

Lord Roseberry is correct. And the other, according to my source, was Lord Aberdeen.

HOWEVER, looks like you are also correct re: Earl of Bute. However, note that he was elected as a representative Scottish peer to House of Lords (1707 being operative date for UK without Ireland).

Am re-checking my source to see what's what!

Ah ha . . . source said Aberdeen & Roseberry (sounds like a super-fine soap) were only two non-HoC PMs "in last two centuries" meaning 19th & 20th NOT 18th.

source: A History of British Prime Ministers (Omnibus Edition) Walpole to Cameron by Dick Leonard (2014-15)

Again, apologies for leading you down the primrose path of putrid punditry.

Looks like the Duke of Newcastle was also a peer from the off, if you're including Great Britain only.

williamglenn said:

Carnyx said:

williamglenn said:

kle4 said:

Interesting that the ousted President of Gabon has made a video appeal in English given its a francophone country. Focused globally rather than at home I guess?

The BBC have bizarrely subtitled his English with pidgin in this clip.

https://www.bbc.com/pidgin/articles/c98508d1p87o

Not bizarre, but because it is the Pidgin service of the BBC. Like they have French subtitles on the French service.

It's the equivalent of subtitling a Texan speaking standard English and adding in a load of howdy doodies.

Nice to see you have such respect for a sister language. Would a Frenchman make fun of Italian? I think not.

ydoethur said:

SandyRentool said:

Tory bright idea of the day: If you don't turn up in court to hear the judge hand down a whole-life term, you will have to spend extra time in prison.

That's why I thought it probably wasn't a great idea when first mooted here.

Just don't tell them in advance.

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

Re: the Mid-Beds "Independent" he is a member of Gina Miller's True and Fair Party.

No. There is a guy, Alan Victor, who stood as an independent at the last general who is intending to stand this time for the True and Fair Party. But he's not the independent everyone's talking about, which is Gareth Mackey, Chair of Central Bedfordshire Council.

dixiedean said:

Rishi to ban machetes and "zombie knives".
Another issue swiftly and efficiently dealt with then.

Zombie knives were banned by the Offensive Weapons Act 2019. But, you know, if they're banned twice, that will work better.

SandyRentool said:

Just like Dara Ó Briain, I am a Catholic Atheist.

While one can reject the notion of a god, and consider it as being a load of old bollocks, it is harder to divorce oneself from one's upbringing.

Which is (at least IMHO) way different from advocating so-called Cultural Christianity as a ideological/political doctrine.

ydoethur said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

PB Pop Quiz - Who(m) were the only two UK PMs never ever elected to the House of Commons?

Lord Rosebery (1894-95) would be one.

I would have guessed Lord Bute for the other.

Edit - that said, he was never UK PM, of course (before 1801) so I might be wrong.

Edit edit - the only other possible candidate would I think be Lord Aberdeen (1852-55).

Technically Alec Douglas-Home.

He started his Ministry on 19 October 1963, renounced(?) his Earldom on 23 October 1963, was elected to the HoC on 8 November 1963 but did not take his seat until 12 November 1963 when Parliament came back from holibobs.

• 1963-10-19 to 1963-10-22: Prime Minster Y, HoL Y, HoC N
  
• 1963-10-23 to 1963-11-07: Prime Minster Y, HoL N, HoC N
  
• 1963-11-08 to 1963-11-11: Prime Minster Y, HoL N, HoC Y (technically)
  
• 1963-11-12 to 1964-10-16: Prime Minster Y, HoL N, HoC Y (actual)
  
• 1964-10-17 to 1974-09-20: Prime Minster N, HoL N, HoC Y (actual)
  

malcolmg said:

Pulpstar said:

viewcode said:

HYUFD said:

Leon said:

HYUFD said:

Leon said:

I fear I am the only PB-er who can’t even muster a semi-demi-tumescence about the “mid Bedfordshire by-election”

Maybe but you are unusual, as per the title of this site the average PBer would get excited about a Parish council by election in August in Middle Wallop.

I fear it’s a symptom of a larger problem. British politics, right now, is the politics of decline. How to manage it. How to mitigate it. All Labour offer is a slightly different way of doing this. Ditto the LDs

In that light, it’s hard to get excited by a General Election, let alone “mid Bedfordshire”

Some truth in that, we are heading for a similar period politically as the late 1960s and 1970s

I think @Casino_Royale 's (I think it was him: apols if misattributed) formulation is correct: Starmer will be one-term and things will switch back-and-forth until people understand the problem and come up with solutions, instead of the current sticking-plaster route.

Worst case scenario is Pensionerism dominates UK politics for the next 15-20 years, and because Pensionerism is inherently negative (old people consume, not produce), we don't really come out of the slump until the 2040's

Hold on, I should be collecting my pension in the 2040s.

@viewcode utter bollox Viewcode, I am still high producer and a pensioner. Show any youngster how to do a good days work and produce quality.

Good at producing piss and wind, just not always when you mean to.

williamglenn said:

Carnyx said:

williamglenn said:

Carnyx said:

williamglenn said:

kle4 said:

Interesting that the ousted President of Gabon has made a video appeal in English given its a francophone country. Focused globally rather than at home I guess?

The BBC have bizarrely subtitled his English with pidgin in this clip.

https://www.bbc.com/pidgin/articles/c98508d1p87o

Not bizarre, but because it is the Pidgin service of the BBC. Like they have French subtitles on the French service.

It's the equivalent of subtitling a Texan speaking standard English and adding in a load of howdy doodies.

Nice to see you have such respect for a sister language. Would a Frenchman make fun of Italian? I think not.

Would he make fun of Quebecois? Most definitely, but it would be very patronising to translate Justin Trudeau into Quebec dialect from standard French.

Except that the logic of the BBC p[idgin site is that there is a significant portion of African people who understand that much better than standard English/RP.

ydoethur said:

Carnyx said:

ydoethur said:

Luckyguy1983 said:

MoonRabbit said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

MoonRabbit said:

Anabobazina said:

kle4 said:

ydoethur said:

Anabobazina said:

FPT

We have reached a whole new world of plonkerdom on PB when Professor Richard Dawkins is defined as a Christian.

Yet that is exactly where we are.

Only on PB.

Not quite. It's on a minor, unimportant news site as well:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7136682.stm

The 'Christian country' 'cultural Christian' topic is just tedious because people talk past one another even more than usual politics. It depends what one means - I'd have little trouble as an atheist referring to the country that way, depending what someone was trying to assert.

Pretending that common arguments are 'only on PB' as if unique doesn't help either.

It’s rot though. How can this be a Christian country when the majority of its population disbelieve in the Christian God?

Clue: it isn’t. Hence why even PRIESTS now say it isn’t!

You are saying it is impossible to be agnostic about existence of a God, and a Cultural Christian at the same time? Really?

I think what Dawkins explained in the link Dr Y gave us seemed very plausible. A religion like Christianity isn’t just a philosophical concept, it’s cultural/tribal too.

I’m sure I have read on PB very good stuff about Cultural Folkways in Britain, their relation to the English Civil war, how these same cultural behaviours travelled to the United States and played role in their Civil War too.

Christianity without Christ is sophistical crap.

But being without that philosophical element only allows examples, like Anabob, a perfect example, to, yes, get away with saying they are not strictly a Christian, but by being so culturally Christian they cannot get away with saying they “are in no way Christian, not even a teeny weeny bit.”

They do need concede this fact.

If they introduced payment by tapping instead of the collection bowl he'd be there like a shot.

Well, good news! Cannock Church has.

They bought one in the pandemic and can't be bothered to get rid of it.

I've always thought that the weekly collection was hopelessly tax-inefficient, at least where it is for purposes that are legitimate for charity purposes. But maybe they now get the congregation to do Gift Aid now that it is electronic?

Most members of the congregation give by standing order.

But if you give weekly, you can fill out an envelope with a gift aid declaration on it. So it isn't tax inefficient from that point of view.

There is also the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (GASDS) that provides gift aid on small donations up to £8000...

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

NickPalmer said:

RochdalePioneers said:

eek said:

RochdalePioneers said:

To go back to byelections briefly, there are a three main scenarios:
1. Lab/LD engage in a dick-measuring contest and the Tories win
2. As above only Lab or LD win despite the willy waving
3. One of Lab / LD backs down and the other wins

The general public have shown that they are good at diescerning who the ABC candidate is, and I anticipate that the first proper poll to come out after the GoNads incident will show them the way.

My party (LD) clearly thinks it is winnable. Labour appear to be in the same place. Both with some justification. So the challenge now is what happens if the informal arrangements elsewhere don't happen here...?

Issue for Labour is they can't give the Lib Dems a clear run because there is no other campaign they can focus their troops on...

Which is the only thing Nadine has done as a favour for Rishi - as Labour need to be seen to campaign they could easily spilit the vote and let a Tory sneak through the middle.

Which is actually a decent result for Labour as the seat would likely be a Labour seat (and probably would become one at the next general election) were the Lib Dems not actively campaigning.

There is a blindness / arrogance / stupidity with some Labour activists that their way is the only way. That everyone should vote Labour and therefore all seats could be won. Whats more they point to results like winning Canterbury or Kensington and Chelski as proof of this.

Whilst its true that seats can swing in previously unthinkable ways, you also have to accept that your way is not the only way and that Other People may see things differently. But if Mid Beds voters put us 1st and them 2nd I can't them accepting it. If the Tories then hold the seat that would be blamed on us...

In general voters inclined to vote tactically will do so for the party previously in second place, unless the level of campaigning makes it obvious that they aren't bothering. I don't think it's arrogant to suggest that the LibDems really didn't need to go all out in a seat where their vote in the last two election was 6% and 12% - after all, at the GE, if they designate everywhere where they came second in 2019 as targets, they will be more than busy, without also trying for seats where they came third. In the same spirit, Labour didn't make Somerton and Frome a priority - Labour had 12% there in 2019 and quite rightly didn't make a significant effort in the by-election, just as the LibDems in Selby (on 8.6% in 2019) didn't bother much there.

The problem, which we could all see coming, is that this isn't being fought at the same time as other by-elections, so the unofficial division of attention that happened with Somerton/Selby isn't possible. If the Tories win as a result, it will damage efforts for tactical voting elsewhere, which IMO isn't in anyone's interest but the Conservatives.

Agree with above - except for (perhaps) last sentence.

Because wouldn't yet another Tory by-election win due to oppo vote splitting, as in Uxbridge, but without ULEX factor, underline the need for better strategy re: tactical voting? Among likely GE voters as well as party activists and hacks?

The problem is that tactical voting only works if there is the sort of tacit restraint that we saw in Somerton and Selby. If one the alternatives go for everywhere hell for leather, then (a) it creates bad feeling and reluctance to support them even when they really are the obvious alternative and (b) it makes it genuinely hard to work out who the tactical voter should support.

I do see it's hard to resist when there's only one by-election running, but it's a pity.

dixiedean said:

Rishi to ban machetes and "zombie knives".
Another issue swiftly and efficiently dealt with then.

Given the Tory parties history of backstabbing their leaders who can blame him?

Carnyx said:

williamglenn said:

Carnyx said:

williamglenn said:

Carnyx said:

williamglenn said:

kle4 said:

Interesting that the ousted President of Gabon has made a video appeal in English given its a francophone country. Focused globally rather than at home I guess?

The BBC have bizarrely subtitled his English with pidgin in this clip.

https://www.bbc.com/pidgin/articles/c98508d1p87o

Not bizarre, but because it is the Pidgin service of the BBC. Like they have French subtitles on the French service.

It's the equivalent of subtitling a Texan speaking standard English and adding in a load of howdy doodies.

Nice to see you have such respect for a sister language. Would a Frenchman make fun of Italian? I think not.

Would he make fun of Quebecois? Most definitely, but it would be very patronising to translate Justin Trudeau into Quebec dialect from standard French.

Except that the logic of the BBC p[idgin site is that there is a significant portion of African people who understand that much better than standard English/RP.

As a spoken language, yes, but it's perverse to translate it backwards into an artificial written form that can only be understood if you know how to read standard English. Why use a phonetic spelling of 'country' while leaving more complex words untouched?

Im add say dis move dey down to "irresponsible, unpredictable governance wey don continue to worsen social cohesion and risk dey say e fit lead di kontri into chaos".

dixiedean said:

Rishi to ban machetes and "zombie knives".
Another issue swiftly and efficiently dealt with then.

It is the zombie government we need rid of.

...

williamglenn said:

Carnyx said:

williamglenn said:

Carnyx said:

williamglenn said:

Carnyx said:

williamglenn said:

kle4 said:

Interesting that the ousted President of Gabon has made a video appeal in English given its a francophone country. Focused globally rather than at home I guess?

The BBC have bizarrely subtitled his English with pidgin in this clip.

https://www.bbc.com/pidgin/articles/c98508d1p87o

Not bizarre, but because it is the Pidgin service of the BBC. Like they have French subtitles on the French service.

It's the equivalent of subtitling a Texan speaking standard English and adding in a load of howdy doodies.

Nice to see you have such respect for a sister language. Would a Frenchman make fun of Italian? I think not.

Would he make fun of Quebecois? Most definitely, but it would be very patronising to translate Justin Trudeau into Quebec dialect from standard French.

Except that the logic of the BBC p[idgin site is that there is a significant portion of African people who understand that much better than standard English/RP.

As a spoken language, yes, but it's perverse to translate it backwards into an artificial written form that can only be understood if you know how to read standard English. Why use a phonetic spelling of 'country' while leaving more complex words untouched?

Im add say dis move dey down to "irresponsible, unpredictable governance wey don continue to worsen social cohesion and risk dey say e fit lead di kontri into chaos".

That's dreadful. Surely there's a pidgin way to convey irresponsible/unpredictable governance? 'Hanky Panky by di big boss-men' or something?

Flanner said:

dixiedean said:

ydoethur said:

Carnyx said:

ydoethur said:

Luckyguy1983 said:

MoonRabbit said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

MoonRabbit said:

Anabobazina said:

kle4 said:

ydoethur said:

Anabobazina said:

FPT

We have reached a whole new world of plonkerdom on PB when Professor Richard Dawkins is defined as a Christian.

Yet that is exactly where we are.

Only on PB.

Not quite. It's on a minor, unimportant news site as well:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7136682.stm

The 'Christian country' 'cultural Christian' topic is just tedious because people talk past one another even more than usual politics. It depends what one means - I'd have little trouble as an atheist referring to the country that way, depending what someone was trying to assert.

Pretending that common arguments are 'only on PB' as if unique doesn't help either.

It’s rot though. How can this be a Christian country when the majority of its population disbelieve in the Christian God?

Clue: it isn’t. Hence why even PRIESTS now say it isn’t!

You are saying it is impossible to be agnostic about existence of a God, and a Cultural Christian at the same time? Really?

I think what Dawkins explained in the link Dr Y gave us seemed very plausible. A religion like Christianity isn’t just a philosophical concept, it’s cultural/tribal too.

I’m sure I have read on PB very good stuff about Cultural Folkways in Britain, their relation to the English Civil war, how these same cultural behaviours travelled to the United States and played role in their Civil War too.

Christianity without Christ is sophistical crap.

But being without that philosophical element only allows examples, like Anabob, a perfect example, to, yes, get away with saying they are not strictly a Christian, but by being so culturally Christian they cannot get away with saying they “are in no way Christian, not even a teeny weeny bit.”

They do need concede this fact.

If they introduced payment by tapping instead of the collection bowl he'd be there like a shot.

Well, good news! Cannock Church has.

They bought one in the pandemic and can't be bothered to get rid of it.

I've always thought that the weekly collection was hopelessly tax-inefficient, at least where it is for purposes that are legitimate for charity purposes. But maybe they now get the congregation to do Gift Aid now that it is electronic?

Most members of the congregation give by standing order.

But if you give weekly, you can fill out an envelope with a gift aid declaration on it. So it isn't tax inefficient from that point of view.

Does the RC Church do the same?
But with standing, kneeling, sitting, kneeling, sitting, Standing Orders?

70% of donations to GWD Donation Stations in the UK are Gift Aided. (https://gwd.team/) The only reason my Catholic church doesn't use the technology is that it's located inconveniently for online transaction approval.

Bizarrely: at the Coronation celebration at our local Anglican cathedral, almost no-one could contribute to the door collection because we - most of us routinely church-going - didn't have cash with us, assuming we'd be able to contribute by card.

I am surprised to find an Anglican cathedral that doesn't take cards. Most of them do in their shops and cafes.

Depends a bit of course on which cathedral it was. If it was a non-touristy one like Derby or Blackburn it would make more sense than if it were, say, York Minster.

bondegezou said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

Re: the Mid-Beds "Independent" he is a member of Gina Miller's True and Fair Party.

No. There is a guy, Alan Victor, who stood as an independent at the last general who is intending to stand this time for the True and Fair Party. But he's not the independent everyone's talking about, which is Gareth Mackey, Chair of Central Bedfordshire Council.

Yes, already registered my mea culpa re: my mistake.

dixiedean said:

ydoethur said:

Carnyx said:

ydoethur said:

Luckyguy1983 said:

MoonRabbit said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

MoonRabbit said:

Anabobazina said:

kle4 said:

ydoethur said:

Anabobazina said:

FPT

We have reached a whole new world of plonkerdom on PB when Professor Richard Dawkins is defined as a Christian.

Yet that is exactly where we are.

Only on PB.

Not quite. It's on a minor, unimportant news site as well:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7136682.stm

The 'Christian country' 'cultural Christian' topic is just tedious because people talk past one another even more than usual politics. It depends what one means - I'd have little trouble as an atheist referring to the country that way, depending what someone was trying to assert.

Pretending that common arguments are 'only on PB' as if unique doesn't help either.

It’s rot though. How can this be a Christian country when the majority of its population disbelieve in the Christian God?

Clue: it isn’t. Hence why even PRIESTS now say it isn’t!

You are saying it is impossible to be agnostic about existence of a God, and a Cultural Christian at the same time? Really?

I think what Dawkins explained in the link Dr Y gave us seemed very plausible. A religion like Christianity isn’t just a philosophical concept, it’s cultural/tribal too.

I’m sure I have read on PB very good stuff about Cultural Folkways in Britain, their relation to the English Civil war, how these same cultural behaviours travelled to the United States and played role in their Civil War too.

Christianity without Christ is sophistical crap.

But being without that philosophical element only allows examples, like Anabob, a perfect example, to, yes, get away with saying they are not strictly a Christian, but by being so culturally Christian they cannot get away with saying they “are in no way Christian, not even a teeny weeny bit.”

They do need concede this fact.

If they introduced payment by tapping instead of the collection bowl he'd be there like a shot.

Well, good news! Cannock Church has.

They bought one in the pandemic and can't be bothered to get rid of it.

I've always thought that the weekly collection was hopelessly tax-inefficient, at least where it is for purposes that are legitimate for charity purposes. But maybe they now get the congregation to do Gift Aid now that it is electronic?

Most members of the congregation give by standing order.

But if you give weekly, you can fill out an envelope with a gift aid declaration on it. So it isn't tax inefficient from that point of view.

Does the RC Church do the same?
But with standing, kneeling, sitting, kneeling, sitting, Standing Orders?

You missed out the genuflection. That's the best bit.

OnlyLivingBoy said:

dixiedean said:

Rishi to ban machetes and "zombie knives".
Another issue swiftly and efficiently dealt with then.

How do you define a machete? I've got a kukri that I use for gardening (yes I did get it in Nepal during my gap yah). Will this be illegal? Cos no way am I handing it in.

Depends which side of the border, no?

bondegezou said:

dixiedean said:

Rishi to ban machetes and "zombie knives".
Another issue swiftly and efficiently dealt with then.

Zombie knives were banned by the Offensive Weapons Act 2019. But, you know, if they're banned twice, that will work better.

Rishi should ban stabbing people. That would fix it.

ydoethur said:

Carnyx said:

ydoethur said:

Flatlander said:

dixiedean said:

Rishi to ban machetes and "zombie knives".
Another issue swiftly and efficiently dealt with then.

My garage full of lethal weaponry will have to be turned in.

Not sure what I'll use to do scrub and tree management, though.

My, shetty treatment.

It does remind me of the time (pre-2010) when Slab wanted to bting in laws meaning compulsory prison for nayone carrying a knife in public. It wasn't at all clear, certainly in even quality newspapers, how I would be able to buy a kitchen knife in John Lewis or Lakeland and bring it home ...

Easy.

Say it was a steak knife, and you were a steak holder.

Because New Labour was obsessed with steak holders.

The awful and unchangeable truth is that anyone with a mind to can kill with objects, including knives, that can be lawfully possessed by anyone.

Leon said:

Tucker Carlson’s Orban interview is now up to 60 million views

https://x.com/tuckercarlson/status/1696643892253466712?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

Probably only a fraction of these will watch large chunks or the whole thing. But even if it’s just 20% that’s 12 million people

For comparison, he used to get ~4m for his Fox show, and he was the most popular host by far


This is potentially revolutionary for news media

To be clear, Orbán is on the side of Putin's thugs and fascism, and is opposed to democracy that Zelenskyy does represent, with the usual imperfections.

Which raises the question why Hungary is a member of, and benefits from, the EU and NATO when democracy is a fundamental requirement of both organisations.

Liberals can be very naive towards those out to destroy what they represent. Accommodation will kill them in this case, as happened in Europe in the 1930s.

Sean_F said:

Leon said:

Also Mali, just two months ago


"In a historic move, Mali has recently passed a new constitution that signifies a significant shift in the linguistic landscape of the country. With overwhelming support from its citizens, Mali has officially dropped French as its official language. The decision, which was ratified on June 18, is set to have wide-ranging implications for the nation, its people, and its identity."

https://africanvibes.com/mali-embraces-english-as-official-language/?utm_content=cmp-true

Britain may be a tottering old dump, covered in poo, but our language bestrides the world! Go, English!

I wonder if the French will be planning counter-coups, in these countries.

With Islamists slugging it out against Russia and Wagner to replace France, it is all a bit complicated.

Breaking - AP (via Seattle Times) - Judge enters default judgment against Giuliani in defamation lawsuit from Georgia election workers

A federal judge entered a default judgment Wednesday against Rudy Giuliani in a defamation lawsuit brought by two Georgia election workers who say they were falsely accused of participating in fraud during the 2020 presidential election.

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell also ordered Giuliani to pay more than $130,000 in lawyers’ fees and other costs for shirking his duty to turn over information requested by election workers Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea’ ArShaye Moss, as part of their lawsuit.

Their lawsuit from December 2021 accused Giuliani, one of Donald Trump’s lawyers and a confidant of the former Republican president, of defaming them by falsely stating that they had engaged in fraud while counting ballots at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

“Donning a cloak of victimization may play well on a public stage to certain audiences, but in a court of law this performance has served only to subvert the normal process of discovery in a straight-forward defamation case, with the concomitant necessity of repeated court intervention,” Howell wrote. . . .

FF43 said:

Leon said:

Tucker Carlson’s Orban interview is now up to 60 million views

https://x.com/tuckercarlson/status/1696643892253466712?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

Probably only a fraction of these will watch large chunks or the whole thing. But even if it’s just 20% that’s 12 million people

For comparison, he used to get ~4m for his Fox show, and he was the most popular host by far


This is potentially revolutionary for news media

To be clear, Orbán is on the side of Putin's thugs and fascism, and is opposed to democracy that Zelenskyy does represent, with the usual imperfections.

Which raises the question why Hungary is a member of, and benefits from, the EU and NATO when democracy is a fundamental requirement of both organisations.

Liberals can be very naive towards those out to destroy what they represent. Accommodation will kill them in this case, as happened in Europe in the 1930s.

It's a good thing that Poland is hostile towards Russia.

DecrepiterJohnL said:

Sean_F said:

Leon said:

Also Mali, just two months ago


"In a historic move, Mali has recently passed a new constitution that signifies a significant shift in the linguistic landscape of the country. With overwhelming support from its citizens, Mali has officially dropped French as its official language. The decision, which was ratified on June 18, is set to have wide-ranging implications for the nation, its people, and its identity."

https://africanvibes.com/mali-embraces-english-as-official-language/?utm_content=cmp-true

Britain may be a tottering old dump, covered in poo, but our language bestrides the world! Go, English!

I wonder if the French will be planning counter-coups, in these countries.

With Islamists slugging it out against Russia and Wagner to replace France, it is all a bit complicated.

Nah, sit back buy popcorn and sell ammo

ydoethur said:

algarkirk said:

ydoethur said:

Carnyx said:

ydoethur said:

Flatlander said:

dixiedean said:

Rishi to ban machetes and "zombie knives".
Another issue swiftly and efficiently dealt with then.

My garage full of lethal weaponry will have to be turned in.

Not sure what I'll use to do scrub and tree management, though.

My, shetty treatment.

It does remind me of the time (pre-2010) when Slab wanted to bting in laws meaning compulsory prison for nayone carrying a knife in public. It wasn't at all clear, certainly in even quality newspapers, how I would be able to buy a kitchen knife in John Lewis or Lakeland and bring it home ...

Easy.

Say it was a steak knife, and you were a steak holder.

Because New Labour was obsessed with steak holders.

The awful and unchangeable truth is that anyone with a mind to can kill with objects, including knives, that can be lawfully possessed by anyone.

I remember the Duke of Edinburgh, with his customary tact and charm, commented on the Dunblane gun control proposals, 'so when some nutter jumps into a classroom and batters a lot of children to death with a cricket bat, you will ban cricket?'

He was of course quite correct on the substance.

However, there are fewer justifications for owning a handgun than a cricket bat.

You can probably kill 5-10 people+ with a handgun if really motivated to before being stopped however, whereas with a cricket bat while you might be able to kill 1 person if in a group others could quickly take it off you. Same for a knife as a bat, though some knives can produce more serious injuries than others and those are the ones Sunak is seeking to ban

Malmesbury said:

Sean_F said:

FF43 said:

Leon said:

Tucker Carlson’s Orban interview is now up to 60 million views

https://x.com/tuckercarlson/status/1696643892253466712?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

Probably only a fraction of these will watch large chunks or the whole thing. But even if it’s just 20% that’s 12 million people

For comparison, he used to get ~4m for his Fox show, and he was the most popular host by far


This is potentially revolutionary for news media

To be clear, Orbán is on the side of Putin's thugs and fascism, and is opposed to democracy that Zelenskyy does represent, with the usual imperfections.

Which raises the question why Hungary is a member of, and benefits from, the EU and NATO when democracy is a fundamental requirement of both organisations.

Liberals can be very naive towards those out to destroy what they represent. Accommodation will kill them in this case, as happened in Europe in the 1930s.

It's a good thing that Poland is hostile towards Russia.

It is interesting how in a swathe of countries in the area, people all the way to the ultra-nationalists has given up on irredentism and want to end the historic enmities. This comes directly from an analysis that together they can stand against Russia, divided they will be picked off. And that together, they will be taken more seriously by the rest of Europe.

Orban's Hungary has NOT exactly "given up on irredentism" in Transcarpathia, which from Hungarian point of view is Ciscarpathia.

To name just one region formerly under the crooked Crown of St. Stephen.

Carnyx said:

SandyRentool said:

dixiedean said:

ydoethur said:

Carnyx said:

ydoethur said:

Luckyguy1983 said:

MoonRabbit said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

MoonRabbit said:

Anabobazina said:

kle4 said:

ydoethur said:

Anabobazina said:

FPT

We have reached a whole new world of plonkerdom on PB when Professor Richard Dawkins is defined as a Christian.

Yet that is exactly where we are.

Only on PB.

Not quite. It's on a minor, unimportant news site as well:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7136682.stm

The 'Christian country' 'cultural Christian' topic is just tedious because people talk past one another even more than usual politics. It depends what one means - I'd have little trouble as an atheist referring to the country that way, depending what someone was trying to assert.

Pretending that common arguments are 'only on PB' as if unique doesn't help either.

It’s rot though. How can this be a Christian country when the majority of its population disbelieve in the Christian God?

Clue: it isn’t. Hence why even PRIESTS now say it isn’t!

You are saying it is impossible to be agnostic about existence of a God, and a Cultural Christian at the same time? Really?

I think what Dawkins explained in the link Dr Y gave us seemed very plausible. A religion like Christianity isn’t just a philosophical concept, it’s cultural/tribal too.

I’m sure I have read on PB very good stuff about Cultural Folkways in Britain, their relation to the English Civil war, how these same cultural behaviours travelled to the United States and played role in their Civil War too.

Christianity without Christ is sophistical crap.

But being without that philosophical element only allows examples, like Anabob, a perfect example, to, yes, get away with saying they are not strictly a Christian, but by being so culturally Christian they cannot get away with saying they “are in no way Christian, not even a teeny weeny bit.”

They do need concede this fact.

If they introduced payment by tapping instead of the collection bowl he'd be there like a shot.

Well, good news! Cannock Church has.

They bought one in the pandemic and can't be bothered to get rid of it.

I've always thought that the weekly collection was hopelessly tax-inefficient, at least where it is for purposes that are legitimate for charity purposes. But maybe they now get the congregation to do Gift Aid now that it is electronic?

Most members of the congregation give by standing order.

But if you give weekly, you can fill out an envelope with a gift aid declaration on it. So it isn't tax inefficient from that point of view.

Does the RC Church do the same?
But with standing, kneeling, sitting, kneeling, sitting, Standing Orders?

You missed out the genuflection. That's the best bit.

What's the difference with kneeling?

Kneeling is both knees.

Genuflection is just the one, and very briefly. A bit of a "blink and you'll miss it" version of "taking the knee".

HYUFD said:

ydoethur said:

algarkirk said:

ydoethur said:

Carnyx said:

ydoethur said:

Flatlander said:

dixiedean said:

Rishi to ban machetes and "zombie knives".
Another issue swiftly and efficiently dealt with then.

My garage full of lethal weaponry will have to be turned in.

Not sure what I'll use to do scrub and tree management, though.

My, shetty treatment.

It does remind me of the time (pre-2010) when Slab wanted to bting in laws meaning compulsory prison for nayone carrying a knife in public. It wasn't at all clear, certainly in even quality newspapers, how I would be able to buy a kitchen knife in John Lewis or Lakeland and bring it home ...

Easy.

Say it was a steak knife, and you were a steak holder.

Because New Labour was obsessed with steak holders.

The awful and unchangeable truth is that anyone with a mind to can kill with objects, including knives, that can be lawfully possessed by anyone.

I remember the Duke of Edinburgh, with his customary tact and charm, commented on the Dunblane gun control proposals, 'so when some nutter jumps into a classroom and batters a lot of children to death with a cricket bat, you will ban cricket?'

He was of course quite correct on the substance.

However, there are fewer justifications for owning a handgun than a cricket bat.

You can probably kill 5-10 people+ with a handgun if really motivated to before being stopped however, whereas with a cricket bat while you might be able to kill 1 person if in a group others could quickly take it off you. Same for a knife as a bat, though some knives can produce more serious injuries than others and those are the ones Sunak is seeking to ban

But police ... courts ... prisons ...

@FF43, @Leon, @Sean_F, @SeaShantyIrish2

Regarding Orban

You may be interested in the following two books:

• Twilight of Democracy: The Failure of Politics and the Parting of Friends (2021), see https://www.waterstones.com/book/twilight-of-democracy/anne-applebaum/9780141991672
  
• How to Rig an Election (2019), see https://www.waterstones.com/book/how-to-rig-an-election/nic-cheeseman/brian-klaas/9780300246650
  

The former details what Orban is doing, the latter details the logistics of election engineering

Carnyx said:

HYUFD said:

ydoethur said:

algarkirk said:

ydoethur said:

Carnyx said:

ydoethur said:

Flatlander said:

dixiedean said:

Rishi to ban machetes and "zombie knives".
Another issue swiftly and efficiently dealt with then.

My garage full of lethal weaponry will have to be turned in.

Not sure what I'll use to do scrub and tree management, though.

My, shetty treatment.

It does remind me of the time (pre-2010) when Slab wanted to bting in laws meaning compulsory prison for nayone carrying a knife in public. It wasn't at all clear, certainly in even quality newspapers, how I would be able to buy a kitchen knife in John Lewis or Lakeland and bring it home ...

Easy.

Say it was a steak knife, and you were a steak holder.

Because New Labour was obsessed with steak holders.

The awful and unchangeable truth is that anyone with a mind to can kill with objects, including knives, that can be lawfully possessed by anyone.

I remember the Duke of Edinburgh, with his customary tact and charm, commented on the Dunblane gun control proposals, 'so when some nutter jumps into a classroom and batters a lot of children to death with a cricket bat, you will ban cricket?'

He was of course quite correct on the substance.

However, there are fewer justifications for owning a handgun than a cricket bat.

You can probably kill 5-10 people+ with a handgun if really motivated to before being stopped however, whereas with a cricket bat while you might be able to kill 1 person if in a group others could quickly take it off you. Same for a knife as a bat, though some knives can produce more serious injuries than others and those are the ones Sunak is seeking to ban

But police ... courts ... prisons ...

Unless the police are in the immediate vicinity it takes them a while to arrive

SandyRentool said:

HYUFD said:

ydoethur said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

PB Pop Quiz - Who(m) were the only two UK PMs never ever elected to the House of Commons?

Lord Rosebery (1894-95) would be one.

I would have guessed Lord Bute for the other.

Edit - that said, he was never UK PM, of course (before 1801) so I might be wrong.

Edit edit - the only other possible candidate would I think be Lord Aberdeen (1852-55).

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, Lord Salisbury was an MP for Stamford from 1853-1868 when his father died and he became Marquess of Salisbury.

At that point he entered the Lords from where he became PM from 1885-1892 and then again from 1895-1902.

He was the last PM to hold the office fully from the Lords rather than the Commons

"...was an MP for Stamford from 1853-1868 when his father died..."

A very slow and drawn-out departure.

Old boy was selfishly clinging to his heir's furniture and other inheritance.