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Could Nikki Haley be the GOP figure to beat Trump? – politicalbetting.com

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  • kjhkjh Posts: 11,678
    edited November 2023

    Dura_Ace said:

    Completely off topic but out with the old, in with the new, my car that I've had since it was new for for over a decade dies today, I'd intended to keep driving it into the ground until I could get an EV, but its reached the point now where its beyond economic repair. I've already spent about £1300 on repairs on it this year alone, and just got quoted over £500 for more repairs.

    What do the thieves want 500 quid to fix?

    Not contesting that it's probably beyond economical repair. Just interested.
    Think 10 times before you get an e v car. There are a multiplicity of reasons not to.
    Hmmm. There are, in particular, cost, range and charging point issues I agree. I was in the same situation as @BartholomewRoberts 6 months ago. If it had been our small car used for short journeys I would definitely have gone for an EV, but it was our large car used for long journeys so avoided the EV for the reasons given.

    We went for a hybrid. I'm not sure of the cost equation as it definitely cost more, but it gets 50 mpg on petrol for a big car and is a lovely drive. The acceleration for such a small engine on a big car is impressive presumably because of the electric motor. However there is a huge lag when you put your foot down.

    Because we keep our cars a long time and I am getting on and because we can afford it, for a change we went for the top of the range and I am enjoying that. Not had that since I had a company car 30 years ago.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 27,995

    I'd love to know the BBC's reasoning on their insane assertion black women were likeliest to die in a medieval plague in London.

    Good afternoon, everyone.

    I believe if you read the relevant news report you will be informed. This tends to be a reliable method for ascertaining information unavailable from the headline alone.
    How many black.people were in London at the time of the plague? 100?
    Loads.

    Have you never seen a Channel 4 costume drama?
  • TazTaz Posts: 14,100
    Dura_Ace said:

    Completely off topic but out with the old, in with the new, my car that I've had since it was new for for over a decade dies today, I'd intended to keep driving it into the ground until I could get an EV, but its reached the point now where its beyond economic repair. I've already spent about £1300 on repairs on it this year alone, and just got quoted over £500 for more repairs.

    So trading it in (for scrap value pretty much) and getting a new car instead. Not electric, but [non-plug in] hybrid at least, so a step in the right direction, even from brand new the depreciation on that vehicle will be less than the cost of repairs on my old one has been. Hopefully trade that in, in a few years time, when EVs are as affordable as petrol vehicles are, but this should get about 70% more mpg than my old car was getting [as hybrid, newer and it was no longer as efficient as it should have been].

    Was hoping to get it to 100k miles at least, but its on 98,205 - so close, but so far away.

    Sometimes these faults happen at the same time; just before Covid, my car had a series of faults that cost me about two grand. It was seven years old. In the three or four years since, I've spent little on it aside from yearly servicing and new tyres. I was tempted to get rid of it then, but am glad I kept it.
    Sometimes faults are so elusive that you're not sure whether to give up on the car. I have a 2012 Fiesta which I bought last year. It drives excellently except that now and then the "spanner" warning appears on the dashboard, putting the car into cautionary limp mode (very slow uphill, max speed 50 mph). After a while (perhaps after it's warmed up) and several stops and starts, the problem usually goes away.The handbook says that means it needs a service, but it's just had one, and the three garages that have looked at it all say essentially the fault could be anything. A Ford main dealer has run tests linked to Ford HQ, and they're baffled too.

    So...do I just cheerfully go on driving, accepting that sometimes I'll drive barely safely (the limp mode can kick in suddenly and get me into trouble on a hill or a roundabout)? Or scrap the car, writing off £5000? Stark choice.
    ECU faults will also set the 'spanner' light on a Zetec.

    So, what causes an intermittent fault on an otherwise healthy ECU? Wiring issue... Check your grounds, battery terminals and alternator.

    After that, it's out with the multimeter to test continuity on everything. Cancel all social engagements for the next six months.
    I am convinced we have an ECU fault on my wife's Audi A3 EV.

    Occasionaly when starting we get a drive system malfunction warning.

    It has been in twice, last time for over a week, and is back today. Still not solved. I hate the fucking car. Fucking money pit (okay it has cost us nothing but we are still paying the PCP cost - her idea not mine, I'd happily drive an old car that costs little but she likes Audi)

    I have no confidence they will be able to sort it again.

    Twats.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 41,903
    edited November 2023
    slade said:

    In The Life Scientific on R4 this morning Sir Mark Berry, a theoretical physicist, realised he was a bit of a rebel when he was told by his nursery to lie down on a camp bed for an afternoon nap - but he refused. The same thing happened to me. Any other PBers?

    One of my very earliest memories, that, the afternoon nap at nursery school. My blanket was blue and it had a little aeroplane stitched onto it.

    I know what you're all thinking. Awww ...
  • SelebianSelebian Posts: 8,584

    Selebian said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    Completely off topic but out with the old, in with the new, my car that I've had since it was new for for over a decade dies today, I'd intended to keep driving it into the ground until I could get an EV, but its reached the point now where its beyond economic repair. I've already spent about £1300 on repairs on it this year alone, and just got quoted over £500 for more repairs.

    What do the thieves want 500 quid to fix?

    Not contesting that it's probably beyond economical repair. Just interested.
    Think 10 times before you get an e v car. There are a multiplicity of reasons not to.
    Potential problems? :wink:
    Risk of fire? Expensive ir uninsurable?
    Second hand value repair costs expensive to buy... the lis is considerable
    Ah. I can understand your restistance to the EV charge. Some of the Elon fanboys are inclined to amp it up a bit, without fully considering all the positives and negatives.
  • StockyStocky Posts: 10,073
    edited November 2023
    Dura_Ace said:

    I would rather ram aquarium gravel into my urethral meatus than drive some of the shitboxes people have admitted to owning, without any apparent shame, in this discussion.

    My first car was a Hillman Avenger.

    I thought it was the dog's back in the day.

    I had a furry dice.
  • Selebian said:

    Sandpit said:

    Taz said:

    Sandpit said:

    Taz said:

    Pro_Rata said:

    I see that the government intends to cut taxes with the “long term savings” enabled by scrapping HS2, giving up on the North of England, and abandoning the manifesto pledge to address social care.

    "Cutting taxes with the long term savings enabled by scrapping HS2".

    But I thought the money was being spent on the national potholes mission and tha bit of tram system delivered in 2014.

    Unless the tax cuts too are stuff like "scrapping the implementation of the pastie tax".
    The sort of smoke and mirrors Gordon Brown would be proud of.
    “Investment” in tax credits will take some topping though. He should never have dumped “Prudence” in 2001.
    Investment, as a term, did a lot of heavy lifting in the early new labour days.

    He was, after all, the man who abolished boom and bust !!!
    He abolished “Tory boom and bust”, yet failed to see the massive boom that was occurring, followed by the massive bust in 2008 - just as he got himself promoted to the top job!
    He was successful in abolishing Tory boom and bust - so far, at least*. Labour boom and bust proved beyond him, though.

    *there's not been any boom, unless I missed it - just bust.
    You have missed several. There are the booms in NHS waiting lists, scandals, division, and the wealth of the richest 1% to start with.
  • theProle said:

    Completely off topic but out with the old, in with the new, my car that I've had since it was new for for over a decade dies today, I'd intended to keep driving it into the ground until I could get an EV, but its reached the point now where its beyond economic repair. I've already spent about £1300 on repairs on it this year alone, and just got quoted over £500 for more repairs.

    So trading it in (for scrap value pretty much) and getting a new car instead. Not electric, but [non-plug in] hybrid at least, so a step in the right direction, even from brand new the depreciation on that vehicle will be less than the cost of repairs on my old one has been. Hopefully trade that in, in a few years time, when EVs are as affordable as petrol vehicles are, but this should get about 70% more mpg than my old car was getting [as hybrid, newer and it was no longer as efficient as it should have been].

    Was hoping to get it to 100k miles at least, but its on 98,205 - so close, but so far away.

    Feel for you if it has died before 100k; you'd hope a modern car would do more than that.
    100k miles is lamentable. Generally there's a few things that need doing when a car gets to around that age, but after that it should be good for another 100k miles.
    Engineering anecdote (via a mechanical engineer colleague). Ford routinely reject parts that are designed to last too long (typically they wanted failure after - 100,000 miles). This differs from Japanese manufacturers.

    I have had many Japanese cars, with very few problems. Anecdote number two is that the AA chaps we encounter with our classic mini (all too often) all say that Japanese are the most reliable.
    100k miles to dead is appallingly poor. I took my 1.3 petrol Yaris from 33k miles/ten years old to 160kmiles/15 years old.
    In that time, it needed three wheel bearings, a handbrake cable, a rear brake adjuster, a front CV joint, and a battery, plus standard service parts (oil, filters, brake pads, tyres...). I sold (still runing fine and with 10months MOT) it to an exporter, and it's probably being bounced round somewhere on Africa now.

    My current £500 Passat came at 129k and is now at 150k. That's had a fan belt, an exhaust and a handbrake motor, and a heater blower, but most of that is because it had been left sitting on a drive without moving for 3 years due to the pandemic. From the way it drives I think it will probably make it to over 200k without any major problems.
    The High Peak Autos Youtube channel has a series "I bought a cheap [insert car model name]" where a used car dealer explains what was wrong and needed to be fixed before he can sell it (or sometimes scrap it).
    https://www.youtube.com/@HighPeakAutos
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,250

    I'd love to know the BBC's reasoning on their insane assertion black women were likeliest to die in a medieval plague in London.

    Good afternoon, everyone.

    I believe if you read the relevant news report you will be informed. This tends to be a reliable method for ascertaining information unavailable from the headline alone.
    How many black.people were in London at the time of the plague? 100?
    Loads.

    Have you never seen a Channel 4 costume drama?
    Actually, these days, just any costume drama.

    And it now looks kind of odd when you see old films populated exclusively with white people.
  • Leon said:

    Taz said:

    Never mind the Covid inquiry:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-67472933

    Black women most likely to die in medieval London plague

    Just when I think the BBC can’t go even more batsh*t….
    Not just the BBC. Who on earth funded this research and have they got money to burn ? I know who carried it out but wonder if they got a grant to undertake it.
    We know that there inequalities in health across ethnicities today. We wish to reduce these. Research on whether similar inequalities existed hundreds of years ago is useful information for understanding the present day situation. Seems like useful research to me.
    Wait, I’ve seen Bridgerton, it says black people were kings and queens. Now it’s not true??
    This is obviously the solution. Shoot a costume drama set in a plague year in which noble savages are all as fit as fiddles while scrofulous whites all die like flies. Then everyone will be happy.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,598

    Carnyx said:

    I'd love to know the BBC's reasoning on their insane assertion black women were likeliest to die in a medieval plague in London.

    Good afternoon, everyone.

    Statistically, I'd have said that they were one of the lowest risk groups, being nowhere near London at that time.
    Plague wasn't mediaeval. Well into the late C17. (And C20 in Essex, Glasgow, etc. though fortunately stamped out in time.). Plague was found notably in maritime ports (to begin with, and right to the end as per Essex, Glasgow etc).

    Bl;ack people historically were also most likely to be found in those ports. Sailors, and so on.

    And diseases are known to vary their impact according to genetic makeup. Smallpox was lethal to Amerindians who were immunologically naive as far as it was concerned, much more so than Old World people. Bubonic plague is IIRC a primarily central asian disease of rodents, so not native to Africa.

    So it's not at all insane a priori. I'd need to see the data, but it's not an unreasonable hypothesis in itself - pending the actual test - that Black people were disproportionately more likely to die than the local natives.

    But there are also socio-economic factors - poor people were less able to escape (health, food, ability to move out to the country).

    Bubonic plague cases still crop up around the world today from time to time - a handful a year. However, with treatment and sanitary conditions having been transformed completely over the years, there's no material risk of an epidemic.
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1298133/pdf/11064697.pdf

    This is interesting, about the Essex outbreaks in the C20. Note the highly active medics. And the ability to intervene.
  • Andy_JS said:

    Andy_JS said:

    John Cleese and Matthew Syed discuss the origins of the word "woke".

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdb3arA_eh8

    Does Cleese conclude that the origin of 'woke' was a backlash against the arguably racist way Manuel was treated in Fawlty Towers?
    Manuel was a European so I don't know how he could have been the victim of racism from Basil who is also European.
    Is this a parody post?
    Que?
  • StockyStocky Posts: 10,073
    Selebian said:

    Selebian said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    Completely off topic but out with the old, in with the new, my car that I've had since it was new for for over a decade dies today, I'd intended to keep driving it into the ground until I could get an EV, but its reached the point now where its beyond economic repair. I've already spent about £1300 on repairs on it this year alone, and just got quoted over £500 for more repairs.

    What do the thieves want 500 quid to fix?

    Not contesting that it's probably beyond economical repair. Just interested.
    Think 10 times before you get an e v car. There are a multiplicity of reasons not to.
    Potential problems? :wink:
    Risk of fire? Expensive ir uninsurable?
    Second hand value repair costs expensive to buy... the lis is considerable
    Ah. I can understand your restistance to the EV charge. Some of the Elon fanboys are inclined to amp it up a bit, without fully considering all the positives and negatives.
    Some of the EV fanboys are inclined to amp it up a bit, without fully considering all the positives and negatives.
  • bigglesbiggles Posts: 5,843
    Selebian said:

    Selebian said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    Completely off topic but out with the old, in with the new, my car that I've had since it was new for for over a decade dies today, I'd intended to keep driving it into the ground until I could get an EV, but its reached the point now where its beyond economic repair. I've already spent about £1300 on repairs on it this year alone, and just got quoted over £500 for more repairs.

    What do the thieves want 500 quid to fix?

    Not contesting that it's probably beyond economical repair. Just interested.
    Think 10 times before you get an e v car. There are a multiplicity of reasons not to.
    Potential problems? :wink:
    Risk of fire? Expensive ir uninsurable?
    Second hand value repair costs expensive to buy... the lis is considerable
    Ah. I can understand your restistance to the EV charge. Some of the Elon fanboys are inclined to amp it up a bit, without fully considering all the positives and negatives.
    That might be current thinking but the technology will volt over that impedance.
  • Northern_AlNorthern_Al Posts: 8,302
    edited November 2023
    Stocky said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    I would rather ram aquarium gravel into my urethral meatus than drive some of the shitboxes people have admitted to owning, without any apparent shame, in this discussion.

    My first car was a Hillman Avenger.

    I thought it was the dog's back in the day.
    Mine was an old Austin Allegro, which after one week became my Austin AllAggro.
  • kjhkjh Posts: 11,678
    Dura_Ace said:

    I would rather ram aquarium gravel into my urethral meatus than drive some of the shitboxes people have admitted to owning, without any apparent shame, in this discussion.

    I don't know what you mean! You will be pleased to know I have finally got over my Panther obsession.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,250
    Only five metropolitan areas increased their share of UK GDP between 2001 and 2020 (ranked in order of relative growth).

    Milton Keynes (0.6% → 0.7%)
    London (25.8 → 29)
    Edinburgh (1.5 → 1.6)
    Bristol (1.5 → 1.6)
    Manchester (4.6 → 4.7)

    (OECD Met area database)
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,114
    Selebian said:

    CatMan said:

    Taz said:

    Never mind the Covid inquiry:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-67472933

    Black women most likely to die in medieval London plague

    Just when I think the BBC can’t go even more batsh*t….
    Not just the BBC. Who on earth funded this research and have they got money to burn ? I know who carried it out but wonder if they got a grant to undertake it.
    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/nov/21/women-with-black-african-ancestry-at-greater-risk-when-plague-hit-london

    I don't see the problem? They analysed some plague victims, and discovered that there were more African remains that showed higher death rates?

    What's so wrong about that?
    Sample size for one.
    Not having read the paper (as far as I can see it's a book chapter and I can only get the abstract) I also wonder whether there's a differential risk of being buried in one of the studied sites - i.e. poorer (inlcuding ethnic minority) victims more likely to end up there? No idea whether that's true.

    On sample size, the abstract suggests the idea is to see whether there is evidence for ethnic minorities in London at that time. You don't need a large sample size to answer that positively. Risk ratios are more problematic, for sure, but I wonder whether the headline is the BBC/others/the museum PR team/one or more of the authors getting overexcited/having an angle. Would be fascinating to read the whole study.

    ETA: Number of times I've read a uni press release and had to phone them up and say "no, our study doesn't show that!" to some bizarre speculation
    I've tried to access the paper but no joy yet. Seems to be in Bioarchaeology International, but I can't see the study.

    I have no issue with the idea of a diverse London in 1348 - it was a major port for a start. I take greater issue with the modern idea of some that every third person in the British Isles at the time was of an ethnic minority. I am pretty sure that is not the case, and certainly not away from the ports etc.

    With this case we have no idea how the people ended up in this location. They could have been travellers on a ship with the plague and then buried here. They could have been owners of a thriving curry house chain in Southwark. The issue is that somewhere, someone is pushing an agenda that the evidence looks like it doesn't support. Now that may be the media people, not the scientists. But it doesn't make it right.
  • kjhkjh Posts: 11,678

    Stocky said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    I would rather ram aquarium gravel into my urethral meatus than drive some of the shitboxes people have admitted to owning, without any apparent shame, in this discussion.

    My first car was a Hillman Avenger.

    I thought it was the dog's back in the day.
    Mine was an old Austin Allegro, which after one week became my Austin AllAggro.
    Austin A40. Had to take the plugs out of the floor panel to let the water out if it rained and had to start it with a starting handle in the winter. Those were the days. I now have not only heated seats (common as muck), but air conditioned seats. Nothing like having cold air blown up your bottom while driving.
  • bigglesbiggles Posts: 5,843
    Carnyx said:

    Carnyx said:

    I'd love to know the BBC's reasoning on their insane assertion black women were likeliest to die in a medieval plague in London.

    Good afternoon, everyone.

    Statistically, I'd have said that they were one of the lowest risk groups, being nowhere near London at that time.
    Plague wasn't mediaeval. Well into the late C17. (And C20 in Essex, Glasgow, etc. though fortunately stamped out in time.). Plague was found notably in maritime ports (to begin with, and right to the end as per Essex, Glasgow etc).

    Bl;ack people historically were also most likely to be found in those ports. Sailors, and so on.

    And diseases are known to vary their impact according to genetic makeup. Smallpox was lethal to Amerindians who were immunologically naive as far as it was concerned, much more so than Old World people. Bubonic plague is IIRC a primarily central asian disease of rodents, so not native to Africa.

    So it's not at all insane a priori. I'd need to see the data, but it's not an unreasonable hypothesis in itself - pending the actual test - that Black people were disproportionately more likely to die than the local natives.

    But there are also socio-economic factors - poor people were less able to escape (health, food, ability to move out to the country).

    Bubonic plague cases still crop up around the world today from time to time - a handful a year. However, with treatment and sanitary conditions having been transformed completely over the years, there's no material risk of an epidemic.
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1298133/pdf/11064697.pdf

    This is interesting, about the Essex outbreaks in the C20. Note the highly active medics. And the ability to intervene.
    Thank you for sharing that. Fascinating.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,114

    I'd love to know the BBC's reasoning on their insane assertion black women were likeliest to die in a medieval plague in London.

    Good afternoon, everyone.

    I believe if you read the relevant news report you will be informed. This tends to be a reliable method for ascertaining information unavailable from the headline alone.
    How many black.people were in London at the time of the plague? 100?
    Depends who you ask. Some would say 500,000. They would be wrong of course.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,114

    I'd love to know the BBC's reasoning on their insane assertion black women were likeliest to die in a medieval plague in London.

    Good afternoon, everyone.

    I believe if you read the relevant news report you will be informed. This tends to be a reliable method for ascertaining information unavailable from the headline alone.
    How many black.people were in London at the time of the plague? 100?
    Loads.

    Have you never seen a Channel 4 costume drama?
    If you believe that actors are playing a role, which is true, then colour shouldn't matter. But if colour doesn't, why should gender? Or age? Or anything.

    I think there is a distinction between something like Wolf Hall, which I think tried very hard to nail authenticity and a Shakespeare play (recalling the kerfuffle about a darker skinned lady playing the French princess! The horror!).

    And yet we still have some who say only a Welshman should play welsh roles, or only someone in a wheelchair should play someone on a wheelchair.

    Acting is acting.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 121,974
    edited November 2023

    Only five metropolitan areas increased their share of UK GDP between 2001 and 2020 (ranked in order of relative growth).

    Milton Keynes (0.6% → 0.7%)
    London (25.8 → 29)
    Edinburgh (1.5 → 1.6)
    Bristol (1.5 → 1.6)
    Manchester (4.6 → 4.7)

    (OECD Met area database)

    So the largest metropolitan areas in the North, Scotland and London and the South all increased their gdp.

    Wales and the Midlands looks the only area whose biggest metropolitan areas didn't
  • Dura_Ace said:

    I would rather ram aquarium gravel into my urethral meatus than drive some of the shitboxes people have admitted to owning, without any apparent shame, in this discussion.

    Ford S-Max... Shitbox or not?
    (I quite like it).
  • kjhkjh Posts: 11,678

    I'd love to know the BBC's reasoning on their insane assertion black women were likeliest to die in a medieval plague in London.

    Good afternoon, everyone.

    I believe if you read the relevant news report you will be informed. This tends to be a reliable method for ascertaining information unavailable from the headline alone.
    How many black.people were in London at the time of the plague? 100?
    Depends who you ask. Some would say 500,000. They would be wrong of course.
    I was fascinated so I looked it up. Wikipedia says around 1750 (some way off datewise) the black population of London was 1 - 3%. I must admit more than I would have guessed.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,006

    Only five metropolitan areas increased their share of UK GDP between 2001 and 2020 (ranked in order of relative growth).

    Milton Keynes (0.6% → 0.7%)
    London (25.8 → 29)
    Edinburgh (1.5 → 1.6)
    Bristol (1.5 → 1.6)
    Manchester (4.6 → 4.7)

    (OECD Met area database)

    Milton Keynes's population has increased a lot. GDP per person may not have increased there.
  • TazTaz Posts: 14,100
    Stocky said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    I would rather ram aquarium gravel into my urethral meatus than drive some of the shitboxes people have admitted to owning, without any apparent shame, in this discussion.

    My first car was a Hillman Avenger.

    I thought it was the dog's back in the day.

    I had a furry dice.
    My first car was an Imp. Loved that car.

    No furry dice.
  • I'd love to know the BBC's reasoning on their insane assertion black women were likeliest to die in a medieval plague in London.

    Good afternoon, everyone.

    I believe if you read the relevant news report you will be informed. This tends to be a reliable method for ascertaining information unavailable from the headline alone.
    How many black.people were in London at the time of the plague? 100?
    Depends who you ask. Some would say 500,000. They would be wrong of course.
    As would those who say 100.....it was 23,772 although of course it depends on where you draw Londons boundaries and if you include those who were passing through or just those with permanent residency......
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 121,974
    Sandpit said:

    .

    Andy_JS said:

    "Monster of the mainstream
    Argentina’s new president Javier Milei embodies the zombie neoliberalism of the 1990s.

    By Quinn Slobodian"

    https://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2023/11/javier-milei-argentina-president-monster-mainstream

    What's his line on the Malvin... ooops, I mean Falklands :lol:
    He’s already compared them to Hong Kong, and said that he expects the British to hand them over!

    I was quite liking the guy until he said that.
    Milei also said "It is clear that the war option is not a solution.


    "What we are proposing is to move towards a solution like the one England had with China over the Hong Kong issue and that in this context the position of the people who live on the islands cannot be ignored.

    "You cannot deny that those people are there. You cannot disregard those human beings.

    "You have to negotiate with Britain and consider the views of the people who live on the islands."

    Which is actually a more moderate position than the current Argentine administration
  • LeonLeon Posts: 54,557
    OK the mosquitoes are fairly persistent
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 27,995
    HYUFD said:

    Only five metropolitan areas increased their share of UK GDP between 2001 and 2020 (ranked in order of relative growth).

    Milton Keynes (0.6% → 0.7%)
    London (25.8 → 29)
    Edinburgh (1.5 → 1.6)
    Bristol (1.5 → 1.6)
    Manchester (4.6 → 4.7)

    (OECD Met area database)

    So the largest metropolitan areas in the North, Scotland and London and the South all increased their gdp.

    Wales and the Midlands looks the only area whose biggest metropolitan areas didn't
    Although technically true, that is Olympic level spinning even by your standards HY.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,139

    Selebian said:

    CatMan said:

    Taz said:

    Never mind the Covid inquiry:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-67472933

    Black women most likely to die in medieval London plague

    Just when I think the BBC can’t go even more batsh*t….
    Not just the BBC. Who on earth funded this research and have they got money to burn ? I know who carried it out but wonder if they got a grant to undertake it.
    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/nov/21/women-with-black-african-ancestry-at-greater-risk-when-plague-hit-london

    I don't see the problem? They analysed some plague victims, and discovered that there were more African remains that showed higher death rates?

    What's so wrong about that?
    Sample size for one.
    Not having read the paper (as far as I can see it's a book chapter and I can only get the abstract) I also wonder whether there's a differential risk of being buried in one of the studied sites - i.e. poorer (inlcuding ethnic minority) victims more likely to end up there? No idea whether that's true.

    On sample size, the abstract suggests the idea is to see whether there is evidence for ethnic minorities in London at that time. You don't need a large sample size to answer that positively. Risk ratios are more problematic, for sure, but I wonder whether the headline is the BBC/others/the museum PR team/one or more of the authors getting overexcited/having an angle. Would be fascinating to read the whole study.

    ETA: Number of times I've read a uni press release and had to phone them up and say "no, our study doesn't show that!" to some bizarre speculation
    I've tried to access the paper but no joy yet. Seems to be in Bioarchaeology International, but I can't see the study.

    I have no issue with the idea of a diverse London in 1348 - it was a major port for a start. I take greater issue with the modern idea of some that every third person in the British Isles at the time was of an ethnic minority. I am pretty sure that is not the case, and certainly not away from the ports etc.

    With this case we have no idea how the people ended up in this location. They could have been travellers on a ship with the plague and then buried here. They could have been owners of a thriving curry house chain in Southwark. The issue is that somewhere, someone is pushing an agenda that the evidence looks like it doesn't support. Now that may be the media people, not the scientists. But it doesn't make it right.
    I'm from Derbyshire originally, and many moons ago, Radio 4 had a program about a village near the Peaks which was known as the 'black' village, because many people there had swarthy skin. This lasted until the 19th century. It sounds ridiculous at first, but the story was that Moorish-style masons and carpenters were brought over to work on cathedrals - especially Lichfield - and when they'd done their work, they needed somewhere to stay. They were put out of sight, out of mind, in what was essentially the middle of nowhere. ISTR there was documentary evidence for this.

    The program did some tests, and there was no DNA indications of this amongst 'old' village families; then again, that's a lot of generation, and lots of people moving in over the last couple of hundred years.

    In Ashbourne however, there is (or was) famously the 'Black Mans Head', a name that apparently dates back to at least 1676.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-52976741
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,250
    edited November 2023
    HYUFD said:

    Only five metropolitan areas increased their share of UK GDP between 2001 and 2020 (ranked in order of relative growth).

    Milton Keynes (0.6% → 0.7%)
    London (25.8 → 29)
    Edinburgh (1.5 → 1.6)
    Bristol (1.5 → 1.6)
    Manchester (4.6 → 4.7)

    (OECD Met area database)

    So the largest metropolitan areas in the North, Scotland and London and the South all increased their gdp.

    Wales and the Midlands looks the only area whose biggest metropolitan areas didn't
    Edinburgh is not the biggest metro area in Scotland, and I don’t think Bristol is the biggest metro area in the South ex-London, at least if you go by the ONS.

    Given relative size, the picture above is simply one of London continuing to extend its lead and domination of the UK economy.
  • bigglesbiggles Posts: 5,843

    I'd love to know the BBC's reasoning on their insane assertion black women were likeliest to die in a medieval plague in London.

    Good afternoon, everyone.

    I believe if you read the relevant news report you will be informed. This tends to be a reliable method for ascertaining information unavailable from the headline alone.
    How many black.people were in London at the time of the plague? 100?
    Depends who you ask. Some would say 500,000. They would be wrong of course.
    As would those who say 100.....it was 23,772 although of course it depends on where you draw Londons boundaries and if you include those who were passing through or just those with permanent residency......
    Given the trade and other links with North Africa we were forging, I thought it might be a decent number by that’s intriguingly high. Suggests most Londoners could have seen them out and about.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 54,557

    Selebian said:

    CatMan said:

    Taz said:

    Never mind the Covid inquiry:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-67472933

    Black women most likely to die in medieval London plague

    Just when I think the BBC can’t go even more batsh*t….
    Not just the BBC. Who on earth funded this research and have they got money to burn ? I know who carried it out but wonder if they got a grant to undertake it.
    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/nov/21/women-with-black-african-ancestry-at-greater-risk-when-plague-hit-london

    I don't see the problem? They analysed some plague victims, and discovered that there were more African remains that showed higher death rates?

    What's so wrong about that?
    Sample size for one.
    Not having read the paper (as far as I can see it's a book chapter and I can only get the abstract) I also wonder whether there's a differential risk of being buried in one of the studied sites - i.e. poorer (inlcuding ethnic minority) victims more likely to end up there? No idea whether that's true.

    On sample size, the abstract suggests the idea is to see whether there is evidence for ethnic minorities in London at that time. You don't need a large sample size to answer that positively. Risk ratios are more problematic, for sure, but I wonder whether the headline is the BBC/others/the museum PR team/one or more of the authors getting overexcited/having an angle. Would be fascinating to read the whole study.

    ETA: Number of times I've read a uni press release and had to phone them up and say "no, our study doesn't show that!" to some bizarre speculation
    I've tried to access the paper but no joy yet. Seems to be in Bioarchaeology International, but I can't see the study.

    I have no issue with the idea of a diverse London in 1348 - it was a major port for a start. I take greater issue with the modern idea of some that every third person in the British Isles at the time was of an ethnic minority. I am pretty sure that is not the case, and certainly not away from the ports etc.

    With this case we have no idea how the people ended up in this location. They could have been travellers on a ship with the plague and then buried here. They could have been owners of a thriving curry house chain in Southwark. The issue is that somewhere, someone is pushing an agenda that the evidence looks like it doesn't support. Now that may be the media people, not the scientists. But it doesn't make it right.
    Also if there were black people in London in the 14th century (highly likely) I suggest it is very possible they were slaves brought by Arab/Ottoman boats. The Brits weren’t slaving black people in the 14th century, the Muslim world certainly was

    But that doesn’t fit, does it? With white people being awful?
  • biggles said:

    I'd love to know the BBC's reasoning on their insane assertion black women were likeliest to die in a medieval plague in London.

    Good afternoon, everyone.

    I believe if you read the relevant news report you will be informed. This tends to be a reliable method for ascertaining information unavailable from the headline alone.
    How many black.people were in London at the time of the plague? 100?
    Depends who you ask. Some would say 500,000. They would be wrong of course.
    As would those who say 100.....it was 23,772 although of course it depends on where you draw Londons boundaries and if you include those who were passing through or just those with permanent residency......
    Given the trade and other links with North Africa we were forging, I thought it might be a decent number by that’s intriguingly high. Suggests most Londoners could have seen them out and about.
    It's not meant to be a serious number at all.....

    It is obviously unknowable, and even if we did know, we would all argue about what constitutes London, black, and residents anyway.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 27,995
    HYUFD said:

    Sandpit said:

    .

    Andy_JS said:

    "Monster of the mainstream
    Argentina’s new president Javier Milei embodies the zombie neoliberalism of the 1990s.

    By Quinn Slobodian"

    https://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2023/11/javier-milei-argentina-president-monster-mainstream

    What's his line on the Malvin... ooops, I mean Falklands :lol:
    He’s already compared them to Hong Kong, and said that he expects the British to hand them over!

    I was quite liking the guy until he said that.
    Milei also said "It is clear that the war option is not a solution.


    "What we are proposing is to move towards a solution like the one England had with China over the Hong Kong issue and that in this context the position of the people who live on the islands cannot be ignored.

    "You cannot deny that those people are there. You cannot disregard those human beings.

    "You have to negotiate with Britain and consider the views of the people who live on the islands."

    Which is actually a more moderate position than the current Argentine administration
    A victorious war with Argentina could be a real tonic for Rishi. Although some reports suggest we no longer have the resource wherewithal to launch such a recovery 40 years on.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,250
    kjh said:

    I'd love to know the BBC's reasoning on their insane assertion black women were likeliest to die in a medieval plague in London.

    Good afternoon, everyone.

    I believe if you read the relevant news report you will be informed. This tends to be a reliable method for ascertaining information unavailable from the headline alone.
    How many black.people were in London at the time of the plague? 100?
    Depends who you ask. Some would say 500,000. They would be wrong of course.
    I was fascinated so I looked it up. Wikipedia says around 1750 (some way off datewise) the black population of London was 1 - 3%. I must admit more than I would have guessed.
    I wonder how firmly founded that estimate is.

    It shouldn’t matter, of course, but there’s a palpable ambition to retrocon multiculturalism into historic Britain.

    In fact, one would want to assume there has indeed always been multiculturalism, albeit replace Bengalis and Poles with Flemings, Huguenots, and peoples emerging from peripheral zones, especially Ireland, but also Wales, Cornwall, the Fen Country, Forest of Dean etc.
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,625
    I see Chris Whitty just told the Covid enquiry that he would have preferred Jeremy Corbyn as PM rather than Boris during Covid.

    Lol
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,139

    I see Chris Whitty just told the Covid enquiry that he would have preferred Jeremy Corbyn as PM rather than Boris during Covid.

    Lol

    A classic case of 'the grass is always greener'.

    Has your hero said yet whether he had the vaccine?
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,250
    According to the skull analysis, 9/49 plague victims were “African”, so black presence in medieval London was broadly similar to 2024.

    Yep, makes sense.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 27,995

    I see Chris Whitty just told the Covid enquiry that he would have preferred Jeremy Corbyn as PM rather than Boris during Covid.

    Lol

    A classic case of 'the grass is always greener'.

    Has your hero said yet whether he had the vaccine?
    I don't often agree with BJO when it comes to Corbyn, but in this instance he is correct. Your boy was quite possibly the most unsuitable candidate for pandemic PM anywhere on these islands. Corbyn may have been second most unsuitable.
  • According to the skull analysis, 9/49 plague victims were “African”, so black presence in medieval London was broadly similar to 2024.

    Yep, makes sense.

    No. The whole point is that Black victims are overrepresented in the deaths column because they were not as common in medieval London.
  • FishingFishing Posts: 4,921
    kjh said:

    I'd love to know the BBC's reasoning on their insane assertion black women were likeliest to die in a medieval plague in London.

    Good afternoon, everyone.

    I believe if you read the relevant news report you will be informed. This tends to be a reliable method for ascertaining information unavailable from the headline alone.
    How many black.people were in London at the time of the plague? 100?
    Depends who you ask. Some would say 500,000. They would be wrong of course.
    I was fascinated so I looked it up. Wikipedia says around 1750 (some way off datewise) the black population of London was 1 - 3%. I must admit more than I would have guessed.
    Maybe they are including nightsoil boys and chimney sweeps?
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,250

    According to the skull analysis, 9/49 plague victims were “African”, so black presence in medieval London was broadly similar to 2024.

    Yep, makes sense.

    No. The whole point is that Black victims are overrepresented in the deaths column because they were not as common in medieval London.
    Actually, there are two conclusions that are being drawn, at least in media reporting. The first is that these discoveries should not be surprising because Britain has always been diverse, the second is the point you are making.
  • isamisam Posts: 41,118

    I see Chris Whitty just told the Covid enquiry that he would have preferred Jeremy Corbyn as PM rather than Boris during Covid.

    Lol

    A classic case of 'the grass is always greener'.

    Has your hero said yet whether he had the vaccine?
    I read what Chris Whitty said earlier, and it wasn’t that he’d have preferred Corbyn at all. Unless they’ve revisited it and he’s said that.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,139

    I see Chris Whitty just told the Covid enquiry that he would have preferred Jeremy Corbyn as PM rather than Boris during Covid.

    Lol

    A classic case of 'the grass is always greener'.

    Has your hero said yet whether he had the vaccine?
    I don't often agree with BJO when it comes to Corbyn, but in this instance he is correct. Your boy was quite possibly the most unsuitable candidate for pandemic PM anywhere on these islands. Corbyn may have been second most unsuitable.
    "my boy"?

    "my boy"???

    I think you're severely off-piste if you think I was in any way a Boris fan. You should go back to when Boris was MoL and see all my comments about his unsuitability to high office!

    The vaccine point is important. We needed people to get the jab in their arms, and to their credit, the government did it - and without queue jumping - remember how some politicians in their countries queue-jumped? A PM refusing to say whether he had got the jab would have been *extremely* unhelpful. It's bad enough for an MP of his prominence to do so.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,307

    Dura_Ace said:

    I would rather ram aquarium gravel into my urethral meatus than drive some of the shitboxes people have admitted to owning, without any apparent shame, in this discussion.

    A car is a car. Its a tool to do a job. If you want a race car buy won, but if you want to get to work and back by something sensible for THAT job.
    Very few of them appear to do that job, TBF. Most PBers' cars don't work. I know this because I read about their malfunctioning almost everyday on PB.

    Many are even incapable of driving at 20mph, apparently their engines fail when asked to do so.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 49,411
    Selebian said:

    Selebian said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    Completely off topic but out with the old, in with the new, my car that I've had since it was new for for over a decade dies today, I'd intended to keep driving it into the ground until I could get an EV, but its reached the point now where its beyond economic repair. I've already spent about £1300 on repairs on it this year alone, and just got quoted over £500 for more repairs.

    What do the thieves want 500 quid to fix?

    Not contesting that it's probably beyond economical repair. Just interested.
    Think 10 times before you get an e v car. There are a multiplicity of reasons not to.
    Potential problems? :wink:
    Risk of fire? Expensive ir uninsurable?
    Second hand value repair costs expensive to buy... the lis is considerable
    Ah. I can understand your restistance to the EV charge. Some of the Elon fanboys are inclined to amp it up a bit, without fully considering all the positives and negatives.
    The risk of fire in an EV is vastly lower than an ICE - based on real world data in multiple countries.

    This is because the manufacturers of modern EVs spent a lot of time and money reducing the risk of fire.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 12,660

    HYUFD said:

    Sandpit said:

    .

    Andy_JS said:

    "Monster of the mainstream
    Argentina’s new president Javier Milei embodies the zombie neoliberalism of the 1990s.

    By Quinn Slobodian"

    https://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2023/11/javier-milei-argentina-president-monster-mainstream

    What's his line on the Malvin... ooops, I mean Falklands :lol:
    He’s already compared them to Hong Kong, and said that he expects the British to hand them over!

    I was quite liking the guy until he said that.
    Milei also said "It is clear that the war option is not a solution.


    "What we are proposing is to move towards a solution like the one England had with China over the Hong Kong issue and that in this context the position of the people who live on the islands cannot be ignored.

    "You cannot deny that those people are there. You cannot disregard those human beings.

    "You have to negotiate with Britain and consider the views of the people who live on the islands."

    Which is actually a more moderate position than the current Argentine administration
    A victorious war with Argentina could be a real tonic for Rishi. Although some reports suggest we no longer have the resource wherewithal to launch such a recovery 40 years on.
    Milei appears to be the least Malvinas-obsessed and almost borderline Anglophilic Argentinian leader for decades. Which admittedly is rather difficult to process, knowing he's a batshit reactionary but also non militarist. I suppose it's similar to Trump's apparent dovish approach to American foreign affairs. Reactionary libertarian pacifism.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,598
    edited November 2023

    Selebian said:

    CatMan said:

    Taz said:

    Never mind the Covid inquiry:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-67472933

    Black women most likely to die in medieval London plague

    Just when I think the BBC can’t go even more batsh*t….
    Not just the BBC. Who on earth funded this research and have they got money to burn ? I know who carried it out but wonder if they got a grant to undertake it.
    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/nov/21/women-with-black-african-ancestry-at-greater-risk-when-plague-hit-london

    I don't see the problem? They analysed some plague victims, and discovered that there were more African remains that showed higher death rates?

    What's so wrong about that?
    Sample size for one.
    Not having read the paper (as far as I can see it's a book chapter and I can only get the abstract) I also wonder whether there's a differential risk of being buried in one of the studied sites - i.e. poorer (inlcuding ethnic minority) victims more likely to end up there? No idea whether that's true.

    On sample size, the abstract suggests the idea is to see whether there is evidence for ethnic minorities in London at that time. You don't need a large sample size to answer that positively. Risk ratios are more problematic, for sure, but I wonder whether the headline is the BBC/others/the museum PR team/one or more of the authors getting overexcited/having an angle. Would be fascinating to read the whole study.

    ETA: Number of times I've read a uni press release and had to phone them up and say "no, our study doesn't show that!" to some bizarre speculation
    I've tried to access the paper but no joy yet. Seems to be in Bioarchaeology International, but I can't see the study.

    I have no issue with the idea of a diverse London in 1348 - it was a major port for a start. I take greater issue with the modern idea of some that every third person in the British Isles at the time was of an ethnic minority. I am pretty sure that is not the case, and certainly not away from the ports etc.

    With this case we have no idea how the people ended up in this location. They could have been travellers on a ship with the plague and then buried here. They could have been owners of a thriving curry house chain in Southwark. The issue is that somewhere, someone is pushing an agenda that the evidence looks like it doesn't support. Now that may be the media people, not the scientists. But it doesn't make it right.
    I'm from Derbyshire originally, and many moons ago, Radio 4 had a program about a village near the Peaks which was known as the 'black' village, because many people there had swarthy skin. This lasted until the 19th century. It sounds ridiculous at first, but the story was that Moorish-style masons and carpenters were brought over to work on cathedrals - especially Lichfield - and when they'd done their work, they needed somewhere to stay. They were put out of sight, out of mind, in what was essentially the middle of nowhere. ISTR there was documentary evidence for this.

    The program did some tests, and there was no DNA indications of this amongst 'old' village families; then again, that's a lot of generation, and lots of people moving in over the last couple of hundred years.

    In Ashbourne however, there is (or was) famously the 'Black Mans Head', a name that apparently dates back to at least 1676.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-52976741
    Ignore - getting my pubs muddled.
  • Selebian said:

    CatMan said:

    Taz said:

    Never mind the Covid inquiry:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-67472933

    Black women most likely to die in medieval London plague

    Just when I think the BBC can’t go even more batsh*t….
    Not just the BBC. Who on earth funded this research and have they got money to burn ? I know who carried it out but wonder if they got a grant to undertake it.
    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/nov/21/women-with-black-african-ancestry-at-greater-risk-when-plague-hit-london

    I don't see the problem? They analysed some plague victims, and discovered that there were more African remains that showed higher death rates?

    What's so wrong about that?
    Sample size for one.
    Not having read the paper (as far as I can see it's a book chapter and I can only get the abstract) I also wonder whether there's a differential risk of being buried in one of the studied sites - i.e. poorer (inlcuding ethnic minority) victims more likely to end up there? No idea whether that's true.

    On sample size, the abstract suggests the idea is to see whether there is evidence for ethnic minorities in London at that time. You don't need a large sample size to answer that positively. Risk ratios are more problematic, for sure, but I wonder whether the headline is the BBC/others/the museum PR team/one or more of the authors getting overexcited/having an angle. Would be fascinating to read the whole study.

    ETA: Number of times I've read a uni press release and had to phone them up and say "no, our study doesn't show that!" to some bizarre speculation
    I've tried to access the paper but no joy yet. Seems to be in Bioarchaeology International, but I can't see the study.

    I have no issue with the idea of a diverse London in 1348 - it was a major port for a start. I take greater issue with the modern idea of some that every third person in the British Isles at the time was of an ethnic minority. I am pretty sure that is not the case, and certainly not away from the ports etc.

    With this case we have no idea how the people ended up in this location. They could have been travellers on a ship with the plague and then buried here. They could have been owners of a thriving curry house chain in Southwark. The issue is that somewhere, someone is pushing an agenda that the evidence looks like it doesn't support. Now that may be the media people, not the scientists. But it doesn't make it right.
    I'm from Derbyshire originally, and many moons ago, Radio 4 had a program about a village near the Peaks which was known as the 'black' village, because many people there had swarthy skin. This lasted until the 19th century. It sounds ridiculous at first, but the story was that Moorish-style masons and carpenters were brought over to work on cathedrals - especially Lichfield - and when they'd done their work, they needed somewhere to stay. They were put out of sight, out of mind, in what was essentially the middle of nowhere. ISTR there was documentary evidence for this.

    The program did some tests, and there was no DNA indications of this amongst 'old' village families; then again, that's a lot of generation, and lots of people moving in over the last couple of hundred years.

    In Ashbourne however, there is (or was) famously the 'Black Mans Head', a name that apparently dates back to at least 1676.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-52976741
    Why does it sound ridiculous?
  • glwglw Posts: 9,855
    slade said:

    In The Life Scientific on R4 this morning Sir Mark Berry, a theoretical physicist, realised he was a bit of a rebel when he was told by his nursery to lie down on a camp bed for an afternoon nap - but he refused. The same thing happened to me. Any other PBers?

    When I was at nursery if you were naughty you weren't allowed to have the rancid milk children were given to drink and instead you were given orange squash. I think I managed to avoid that milk most days.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 13,677

    HYUFD said:

    Sandpit said:

    .

    Andy_JS said:

    "Monster of the mainstream
    Argentina’s new president Javier Milei embodies the zombie neoliberalism of the 1990s.

    By Quinn Slobodian"

    https://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2023/11/javier-milei-argentina-president-monster-mainstream

    What's his line on the Malvin... ooops, I mean Falklands :lol:
    He’s already compared them to Hong Kong, and said that he expects the British to hand them over!

    I was quite liking the guy until he said that.
    Milei also said "It is clear that the war option is not a solution.


    "What we are proposing is to move towards a solution like the one England had with China over the Hong Kong issue and that in this context the position of the people who live on the islands cannot be ignored.

    "You cannot deny that those people are there. You cannot disregard those human beings.

    "You have to negotiate with Britain and consider the views of the people who live on the islands."

    Which is actually a more moderate position than the current Argentine administration
    A victorious war with Argentina could be a real tonic for Rishi. Although some reports suggest we no longer have the resource wherewithal to launch such a recovery 40 years on.
    It would certainly be a lot more difficult to do another Op Corporate and we only just won in 1982.

    Unluckily, or perhaps luckily, for sunak.xlsx it'll probably happen when starmer.pptx is PM. Argentina will want to wait until they get those WAR WINNING F-16AMs that Biden made Denmark sell them.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 21,647
    Andy_JS said:

    John Cleese and Matthew Syed discuss the origins of the word "woke".

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdb3arA_eh8

    Perhaps a dictionary would be more helpful?
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,139
    Dura_Ace said:

    HYUFD said:

    Sandpit said:

    .

    Andy_JS said:

    "Monster of the mainstream
    Argentina’s new president Javier Milei embodies the zombie neoliberalism of the 1990s.

    By Quinn Slobodian"

    https://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2023/11/javier-milei-argentina-president-monster-mainstream

    What's his line on the Malvin... ooops, I mean Falklands :lol:
    He’s already compared them to Hong Kong, and said that he expects the British to hand them over!

    I was quite liking the guy until he said that.
    Milei also said "It is clear that the war option is not a solution.


    "What we are proposing is to move towards a solution like the one England had with China over the Hong Kong issue and that in this context the position of the people who live on the islands cannot be ignored.

    "You cannot deny that those people are there. You cannot disregard those human beings.

    "You have to negotiate with Britain and consider the views of the people who live on the islands."

    Which is actually a more moderate position than the current Argentine administration
    A victorious war with Argentina could be a real tonic for Rishi. Although some reports suggest we no longer have the resource wherewithal to launch such a recovery 40 years on.
    It would certainly be a lot more difficult to do another Op Corporate and we only just won in 1982.

    Unluckily, or perhaps luckily, for sunak.xlsx it'll probably happen when starmer.pptx is PM. Argentina will want to wait until they get those WAR WINNING F-16AMs that Biden made Denmark sell them.
    Do Argentina have anywhere near the capability to do what they did in 1982? AIUI their navy and air force are not in the best condition.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,139

    Selebian said:

    CatMan said:

    Taz said:

    Never mind the Covid inquiry:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-67472933

    Black women most likely to die in medieval London plague

    Just when I think the BBC can’t go even more batsh*t….
    Not just the BBC. Who on earth funded this research and have they got money to burn ? I know who carried it out but wonder if they got a grant to undertake it.
    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/nov/21/women-with-black-african-ancestry-at-greater-risk-when-plague-hit-london

    I don't see the problem? They analysed some plague victims, and discovered that there were more African remains that showed higher death rates?

    What's so wrong about that?
    Sample size for one.
    Not having read the paper (as far as I can see it's a book chapter and I can only get the abstract) I also wonder whether there's a differential risk of being buried in one of the studied sites - i.e. poorer (inlcuding ethnic minority) victims more likely to end up there? No idea whether that's true.

    On sample size, the abstract suggests the idea is to see whether there is evidence for ethnic minorities in London at that time. You don't need a large sample size to answer that positively. Risk ratios are more problematic, for sure, but I wonder whether the headline is the BBC/others/the museum PR team/one or more of the authors getting overexcited/having an angle. Would be fascinating to read the whole study.

    ETA: Number of times I've read a uni press release and had to phone them up and say "no, our study doesn't show that!" to some bizarre speculation
    I've tried to access the paper but no joy yet. Seems to be in Bioarchaeology International, but I can't see the study.

    I have no issue with the idea of a diverse London in 1348 - it was a major port for a start. I take greater issue with the modern idea of some that every third person in the British Isles at the time was of an ethnic minority. I am pretty sure that is not the case, and certainly not away from the ports etc.

    With this case we have no idea how the people ended up in this location. They could have been travellers on a ship with the plague and then buried here. They could have been owners of a thriving curry house chain in Southwark. The issue is that somewhere, someone is pushing an agenda that the evidence looks like it doesn't support. Now that may be the media people, not the scientists. But it doesn't make it right.
    I'm from Derbyshire originally, and many moons ago, Radio 4 had a program about a village near the Peaks which was known as the 'black' village, because many people there had swarthy skin. This lasted until the 19th century. It sounds ridiculous at first, but the story was that Moorish-style masons and carpenters were brought over to work on cathedrals - especially Lichfield - and when they'd done their work, they needed somewhere to stay. They were put out of sight, out of mind, in what was essentially the middle of nowhere. ISTR there was documentary evidence for this.

    The program did some tests, and there was no DNA indications of this amongst 'old' village families; then again, that's a lot of generation, and lots of people moving in over the last couple of hundred years.

    In Ashbourne however, there is (or was) famously the 'Black Mans Head', a name that apparently dates back to at least 1676.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-52976741
    Why does it sound ridiculous?
    If did *at first*. As the program went on, it kinda started making sense. Annoyingly, I cannot remember which village it was - I think it was one to the west or northwest of Ashbourne, but might be wrong.

    Incidentally, I used to know a fair few people in that area, and have some extended family in the area. :)
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,006
    "Matt Goodwin
    @GoodwinMJ
    I find this rather sad. I'm not sure the BBC even realises how much it is damaging it's own brand now.
    Quote

    BBC News (UK)
    @BBCNews
    8h
    Black women most likely to die in medieval London plague https://bbc.in/40Nh5kG"

    https://twitter.com/GoodwinMJ/status/1726953553976328533
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 81,347
    edited November 2023
    Andy_JS said:

    John Cleese and Matthew Syed discuss the origins of the word "woke".

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdb3arA_eh8

    So the term has been culturally appropriated....
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 21,647
    Andy_JS said:

    John Cleese and Matthew Syed discuss the origins of the word "woke".

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdb3arA_eh8

    Michael McIntyre and Allan DeBotton discuss the origins of the word "liberal"
    Victoria Wood and Edward de Bono discuss the origins of the word "neoconservative"
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 121,974

    Dura_Ace said:

    HYUFD said:

    Sandpit said:

    .

    Andy_JS said:

    "Monster of the mainstream
    Argentina’s new president Javier Milei embodies the zombie neoliberalism of the 1990s.

    By Quinn Slobodian"

    https://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2023/11/javier-milei-argentina-president-monster-mainstream

    What's his line on the Malvin... ooops, I mean Falklands :lol:
    He’s already compared them to Hong Kong, and said that he expects the British to hand them over!

    I was quite liking the guy until he said that.
    Milei also said "It is clear that the war option is not a solution.


    "What we are proposing is to move towards a solution like the one England had with China over the Hong Kong issue and that in this context the position of the people who live on the islands cannot be ignored.

    "You cannot deny that those people are there. You cannot disregard those human beings.

    "You have to negotiate with Britain and consider the views of the people who live on the islands."

    Which is actually a more moderate position than the current Argentine administration
    A victorious war with Argentina could be a real tonic for Rishi. Although some reports suggest we no longer have the resource wherewithal to launch such a recovery 40 years on.
    It would certainly be a lot more difficult to do another Op Corporate and we only just won in 1982.

    Unluckily, or perhaps luckily, for sunak.xlsx it'll probably happen when starmer.pptx is PM. Argentina will want to wait until they get those WAR WINNING F-16AMs that Biden made Denmark sell them.
    Do Argentina have anywhere near the capability to do what they did in 1982? AIUI their navy and air force are not in the best condition.
    The Argentine military is much weaker than 1982 and any PM who lost the Falklands would of course lose the next election by a landslide so defending them is non negotiable for Starmer or Sunak.

    Won't happen anyway, Milei is actually more moderate on the issue than his predecessor and has said he opposes war over the islands and wants a negotiated settlement
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 121,974

    HYUFD said:

    Only five metropolitan areas increased their share of UK GDP between 2001 and 2020 (ranked in order of relative growth).

    Milton Keynes (0.6% → 0.7%)
    London (25.8 → 29)
    Edinburgh (1.5 → 1.6)
    Bristol (1.5 → 1.6)
    Manchester (4.6 → 4.7)

    (OECD Met area database)

    So the largest metropolitan areas in the North, Scotland and London and the South all increased their gdp.

    Wales and the Midlands looks the only area whose biggest metropolitan areas didn't
    Edinburgh is not the biggest metro area in Scotland, and I don’t think Bristol is the biggest metro area in the South ex-London, at least if you go by the ONS.

    Given relative size, the picture above is simply one of London continuing to extend its lead and domination of the UK economy.
    London is the biggest metro area in the SE and East including commuter belt, Bristol the biggest in SW.

    Edinburgh is Scotland's capital and centre of Scottish financial services, law etc and also growing. Manchester the biggest northern metropolitan area and growing as well
  • ChrisChris Posts: 11,705
    HYUFD said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    HYUFD said:

    Sandpit said:

    .

    Andy_JS said:

    "Monster of the mainstream
    Argentina’s new president Javier Milei embodies the zombie neoliberalism of the 1990s.

    By Quinn Slobodian"

    https://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2023/11/javier-milei-argentina-president-monster-mainstream

    What's his line on the Malvin... ooops, I mean Falklands :lol:
    He’s already compared them to Hong Kong, and said that he expects the British to hand them over!

    I was quite liking the guy until he said that.
    Milei also said "It is clear that the war option is not a solution.


    "What we are proposing is to move towards a solution like the one England had with China over the Hong Kong issue and that in this context the position of the people who live on the islands cannot be ignored.

    "You cannot deny that those people are there. You cannot disregard those human beings.

    "You have to negotiate with Britain and consider the views of the people who live on the islands."

    Which is actually a more moderate position than the current Argentine administration
    A victorious war with Argentina could be a real tonic for Rishi. Although some reports suggest we no longer have the resource wherewithal to launch such a recovery 40 years on.
    It would certainly be a lot more difficult to do another Op Corporate and we only just won in 1982.

    Unluckily, or perhaps luckily, for sunak.xlsx it'll probably happen when starmer.pptx is PM. Argentina will want to wait until they get those WAR WINNING F-16AMs that Biden made Denmark sell them.
    Do Argentina have anywhere near the capability to do what they did in 1982? AIUI their navy and air force are not in the best condition.
    The Argentine military is much weaker than 1982 and any PM who lost the Falklands would of course lose the next election by a landslide so defending them is non negotiable for Starmer or Sunak.

    Won't happen anyway, Milei is actually more moderate on the issue than his predecessor and has said he opposes war over the islands and wants a negotiated settlement
    Given your almost unblemished record of being wrong about everything, you have me worried now.
  • Selebian said:

    Selebian said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    Completely off topic but out with the old, in with the new, my car that I've had since it was new for for over a decade dies today, I'd intended to keep driving it into the ground until I could get an EV, but its reached the point now where its beyond economic repair. I've already spent about £1300 on repairs on it this year alone, and just got quoted over £500 for more repairs.

    What do the thieves want 500 quid to fix?

    Not contesting that it's probably beyond economical repair. Just interested.
    Think 10 times before you get an e v car. There are a multiplicity of reasons not to.
    Potential problems? :wink:
    Risk of fire? Expensive ir uninsurable?
    Second hand value repair costs expensive to buy... the lis is considerable
    Ah. I can understand your restistance to the EV charge. Some of the Elon fanboys are inclined to amp it up a bit, without fully considering all the positives and negatives.
    I have a Golf GTE and 90% of my driving is electric.
    I'm looking forward to getting an EV but I generally buy 2 or 3 year old cars, so will wait a bit longer.
    I like smallish cars, so If I had to buy now I'd look at an MG4 or BYD Dolphin if buying new or a Peugeot E-208 secondhand. Alternatively buy a 2nd hand hybrid.
    EVs are less likely to catch fire than ICE cars (especially if using Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries) and the total cost of ownership is already cheaper. Pretty soon the up front new cost will also be cheaper.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 27,995
    Dura_Ace said:

    HYUFD said:

    Sandpit said:

    .

    Andy_JS said:

    "Monster of the mainstream
    Argentina’s new president Javier Milei embodies the zombie neoliberalism of the 1990s.

    By Quinn Slobodian"

    https://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2023/11/javier-milei-argentina-president-monster-mainstream

    What's his line on the Malvin... ooops, I mean Falklands :lol:
    He’s already compared them to Hong Kong, and said that he expects the British to hand them over!

    I was quite liking the guy until he said that.
    Milei also said "It is clear that the war option is not a solution.


    "What we are proposing is to move towards a solution like the one England had with China over the Hong Kong issue and that in this context the position of the people who live on the islands cannot be ignored.

    "You cannot deny that those people are there. You cannot disregard those human beings.

    "You have to negotiate with Britain and consider the views of the people who live on the islands."

    Which is actually a more moderate position than the current Argentine administration
    A victorious war with Argentina could be a real tonic for Rishi. Although some reports suggest we no longer have the resource wherewithal to launch such a recovery 40 years on.
    It would certainly be a lot more difficult to do another Op Corporate and we only just won in 1982.

    Unluckily, or perhaps luckily, for sunak.xlsx it'll probably happen when starmer.pptx is PM. Argentina will want to wait until they get those WAR WINNING F-16AMs that Biden made Denmark sell them.
    I had friends who were stationed in the Falklands just post the war and the story the more sanguine characters told was had Argentina held their nerve for another 24 hours we might have surrendered first because we would have been clean out of ammo.

    Apocryphal or correct, I do not know.
  • Northern_AlNorthern_Al Posts: 8,302
    Andy_JS said:

    "Matt Goodwin
    @GoodwinMJ
    I find this rather sad. I'm not sure the BBC even realises how much it is damaging it's own brand now.
    Quote

    BBC News (UK)
    @BBCNews
    8h
    Black women most likely to die in medieval London plague https://bbc.in/40Nh5kG"

    https://twitter.com/GoodwinMJ/status/1726953553976328533

    Goodwin's brand is damaged because of his ignorance of accurate apostrophe use.

    And anyway, it's not the BBC, it's some Museum academic(s).
  • glwglw Posts: 9,855

    According to the skull analysis, 9/49 plague victims were “African”, so black presence in medieval London was broadly similar to 2024.

    Yep, makes sense.

    According to Wikipedia the UK non-white population was around 1 in 1,000 as recently as 1951 (estimated from the census returns somehow).

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demography_of_the_United_Kingdom#Ethnic_demographic_breakdown
  • NEW THREAD

  • CatManCatMan Posts: 3,043
    This thread has been buried in a London Plague Pit with absolutely no black people
  • viewcode said:

    Andy_JS said:

    John Cleese and Matthew Syed discuss the origins of the word "woke".

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdb3arA_eh8

    Perhaps a dictionary would be more helpful?
    It is probably the most useless word in the English language as it has so many, and often contradictory, definitions. Completely pointless using it to communicate, especially with anyone you might disagree with on "woke" issues.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,598
    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Only five metropolitan areas increased their share of UK GDP between 2001 and 2020 (ranked in order of relative growth).

    Milton Keynes (0.6% → 0.7%)
    London (25.8 → 29)
    Edinburgh (1.5 → 1.6)
    Bristol (1.5 → 1.6)
    Manchester (4.6 → 4.7)

    (OECD Met area database)

    So the largest metropolitan areas in the North, Scotland and London and the South all increased their gdp.

    Wales and the Midlands looks the only area whose biggest metropolitan areas didn't
    Edinburgh is not the biggest metro area in Scotland, and I don’t think Bristol is the biggest metro area in the South ex-London, at least if you go by the ONS.

    Given relative size, the picture above is simply one of London continuing to extend its lead and domination of the UK economy.
    London is the biggest metro area in the SE and East including commuter belt, Bristol the biggest in SW.

    Edinburgh is Scotland's capital and centre of Scottish financial services, law etc and also growing. Manchester the biggest northern metropolitan area and growing as well
    You said

    "the largest metropolitan areas in ... Scotland"

    You'd promise someone beef steak for dinner and serve kangaroo's bunghole instead and claim that was what you said all along.
  • SelebianSelebian Posts: 8,584

    Selebian said:

    Selebian said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    Completely off topic but out with the old, in with the new, my car that I've had since it was new for for over a decade dies today, I'd intended to keep driving it into the ground until I could get an EV, but its reached the point now where its beyond economic repair. I've already spent about £1300 on repairs on it this year alone, and just got quoted over £500 for more repairs.

    What do the thieves want 500 quid to fix?

    Not contesting that it's probably beyond economical repair. Just interested.
    Think 10 times before you get an e v car. There are a multiplicity of reasons not to.
    Potential problems? :wink:
    Risk of fire? Expensive ir uninsurable?
    Second hand value repair costs expensive to buy... the lis is considerable
    Ah. I can understand your restistance to the EV charge. Some of the Elon fanboys are inclined to amp it up a bit, without fully considering all the positives and negatives.
    It's okay if you've got somewhere to plug it in at ohm
    Damn. I was looking for a way to get ohm in there :disappointed:
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 37,068

    Taz said:

    Never mind the Covid inquiry:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-67472933

    Black women most likely to die in medieval London plague

    Just when I think the BBC can’t go even more batsh*t….
    Not just the BBC. Who on earth funded this research and have they got money to burn ? I know who carried it out but wonder if they got a grant to undertake it.
    We know that there inequalities in health across ethnicities today. We wish to reduce these. Research on whether similar inequalities existed hundreds of years ago is useful information for understanding the present day situation. Seems like useful research to me.
    Please explain how the finding that “many women of colour would have worked in domestic service and experienced race and sex-based discrimination” helps understand the present day situation.
    Unless you were lucky enough to work in the royal household (where servants got paid leave to visit their families at Christmas, and paid leave to have children), or in the household of a very rich lord, like the Duke of Lancaster, the lot of a domestic servant in the 14th century was ... not great. Whether or not you were black (and the numbers would have been minute) would not have made the slightest difference.
  • Andy_CookeAndy_Cooke Posts: 4,980
    Selebian said:

    Selebian said:

    Selebian said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    Completely off topic but out with the old, in with the new, my car that I've had since it was new for for over a decade dies today, I'd intended to keep driving it into the ground until I could get an EV, but its reached the point now where its beyond economic repair. I've already spent about £1300 on repairs on it this year alone, and just got quoted over £500 for more repairs.

    What do the thieves want 500 quid to fix?

    Not contesting that it's probably beyond economical repair. Just interested.
    Think 10 times before you get an e v car. There are a multiplicity of reasons not to.
    Potential problems? :wink:
    Risk of fire? Expensive ir uninsurable?
    Second hand value repair costs expensive to buy... the lis is considerable
    Ah. I can understand your restistance to the EV charge. Some of the Elon fanboys are inclined to amp it up a bit, without fully considering all the positives and negatives.
    It's okay if you've got somewhere to plug it in at ohm
    Damn. I was looking for a way to get ohm in there :disappointed:
    You just need to do your ohm-work
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,250
    glw said:

    According to the skull analysis, 9/49 plague victims were “African”, so black presence in medieval London was broadly similar to 2024.

    Yep, makes sense.

    According to Wikipedia the UK non-white population was around 1 in 1,000 as recently as 1951 (estimated from the census returns somehow).

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demography_of_the_United_Kingdom#Ethnic_demographic_breakdown
    Including my grandmother!
    That number seems low.
  • bigglesbiggles Posts: 5,843
    edited November 2023

    biggles said:

    I'd love to know the BBC's reasoning on their insane assertion black women were likeliest to die in a medieval plague in London.

    Good afternoon, everyone.

    I believe if you read the relevant news report you will be informed. This tends to be a reliable method for ascertaining information unavailable from the headline alone.
    How many black.people were in London at the time of the plague? 100?
    Depends who you ask. Some would say 500,000. They would be wrong of course.
    As would those who say 100.....it was 23,772 although of course it depends on where you draw Londons boundaries and if you include those who were passing through or just those with permanent residency......
    Given the trade and other links with North Africa we were forging, I thought it might be a decent number by that’s intriguingly high. Suggests most Londoners could have seen them out and about.
    It's not meant to be a serious number at all.....

    It is obviously unknowable, and even if we did know, we would all argue about what constitutes London, black, and residents anyway.
    Heh. Not for the first time I look like an idiot for going too soon. The post about yours (or one of them) had a rough % and I assumed you’d done the maths I couldn’t be bothered to!
  • ChrisChris Posts: 11,705
    edited November 2023
    biggles said:

    biggles said:

    I'd love to know the BBC's reasoning on their insane assertion black women were likeliest to die in a medieval plague in London.

    Good afternoon, everyone.

    I believe if you read the relevant news report you will be informed. This tends to be a reliable method for ascertaining information unavailable from the headline alone.
    How many black.people were in London at the time of the plague? 100?
    Depends who you ask. Some would say 500,000. They would be wrong of course.
    As would those who say 100.....it was 23,772 although of course it depends on where you draw Londons boundaries and if you include those who were passing through or just those with permanent residency......
    Given the trade and other links with North Africa we were forging, I thought it might be a decent number by that’s intriguingly high. Suggests most Londoners could have seen them out and about.
    It's not meant to be a serious number at all.....

    It is obviously unknowable, and even if we did know, we would all argue about what constitutes London, black, and residents anyway.
    Heh. Not for the first time I look like an idiot for going too soon. The post about yours (or one of them) had a rough % and I assumed you’d done the maths I couldn’t be bothered to!
    I would be a bit sceptical about the whole study. According to a more informative report in the Guardian, they found 9/49 plague victims with apparently African heritage, compared with 8/96 non-plague burials.
    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/nov/21/women-with-black-african-ancestry-at-greater-risk-when-plague-hit-london

    Firstly, that difference between races doesn't appear to be statistically significant. (And if that's not significant, it would make even less sense to reach a conclusion about black women.) Secondly, there is a reference to a previous study using similar methodology, in which they found 12% (5/41) from one of these cemeteries classified as of Asian or partly Asian ancestry (or between the two). But they concluded these were false positives. That seems to raise a pretty large question about the methodology.
    https://www.medievalists.net/2019/09/black-death-burials-reveal-the-diversity-of-londons-medieval-population/
This discussion has been closed.