The copper switch off and forcing everyone onto digital voice is going to be an absolute disaster, a scandal waiting to unfold.
Ofcom have manifestly failed in their duty to protect the public. Before Openreach were allowed to do it, they should have mandated bolstering the mobile networks and requiring backup power in the case of a power cut. On the current trajectory people are going to be left cut off.
Copper switch off?
Defund the Police have got their ambition have they?
Excuse me, POTS switch off but I hope what I was trying to say was clear. Going forward all telephony will run over the FTTC/G.Fast/FTTP network, essentially via VOIP.
The villains in Moscow look like calm professional soldiers, well versed in using guns
Which supports several different theses. Chechen soldiers angry at Putin? Islamists who want payback for Syria? Hired assassins doing a false flag?
Playing devil's advocate: what expertise do you have to know the difference between 'calm professional soldiers, well versed in using guns', and some yokels who have been playing with AK-47s in the backwoods?
Soldiering is about more than firing guns; terrorism is sadly much simpler. But soldiers can be terrorists (see events passim).
Sadly, I’m basing this opinion on the many hundreds of videos I’ve now watched - as we have all watched - of solders and terrorists and mass shooters in action
There is a certain type that you can spot. They do it methodically and calmly, they don’t shout or rant, they barely break a sweat. They don’t run anywhere: they maybe jog; there is zero emotion
It looks “professional”, it certainly looks like they have shot people before
So my guess would be soldiers more likely than religious militants
But yes, it’s just a guess from an amateur on a balcony in a jungle in Colombia
I haven't, why on God's green earth would I? I don't need that in my brain thanks.
Because it’s impossible to avoid? If you’ve managed to never watch a video or murder or shooting or terrorism in the last 20 years of social media and universal camera phones then bravo, that’s impressive
It's pretty easy if you not a ghoul.
It’s quite amazing how many PBers refuse to watch news that is upsetting and are instead content to have it gently described to them as they suck their thumbs in the corner of the nursery
I've seen quite a few disturbing videos due to following people for news about the Ukraine War, but a few times what had been shared has had to be retracted as not genuine. Faked in some way, not at the time or place claimed, etc.
Even watching harrowing footage is not a guarantee of access to the raw facts. You still have to trust your source and the provenance of the footage.
It’s a bloody stupid argument, and neither side is right in insisting that they’re right to the exclusion of the other.
But a video of an alleged shooting, where the poster says it is of A shooting B, can be very misleading. Is it of a real shooting, or of the even t described? Is A the perpetrator, and the victim B, or actually vice versa? This is something we see in the current Ukraine war, where the same picture has been shown by both sides, and I, as a non-expert, have little idea if it is a Ukrainian T72 tank or a Russian one. In fact, the people who posted it probably do not, either.
It is why you need other trusted sources - and even they can get it wrong. If they get it wrong frequently, they should not be trusted...
Indeed, just as you get videos or images going viral which turn out to be from unrelated events years before.
Lets face it, nobody goes around looking at gory images because they want to get to the truth.
We can have such interesting, and often long, almost entirely text-based discussions on this site, precisely because such imagery is not required.
By and large we all operate with the same field of facts. Where we disagree normally comes down to personal opinions on those facts due to having differing morals, priorities, thoughts, logic, interpretations, concerns, preferences etc
I can have wildly differing views on someone else, on the same issue, while recognising their facts because my priorities are not theirs and vice-versa.
But you only get the facts - as best as they can be pieced together - as to what happened on October 7 because someone else who has a backbone, unlike you, has sat down and watched the video of the atrocities. The Israeli government specifically pieced together a montage of these videos - from cctv, GoPro, etc - so people - journalists etc - could watch what Hamas did and then form their own judgments - and then tell quivering saps like you what they saw and what Hamas did
So the imagery IS required if you are going to have your “text based discussions”. Or you have nothing to talk about. You just get it second hand, that’s the only difference; you rely on someone else’s opinion to form your own opinion, which just makes you more ignorant, rather than some ascetic saint who abhors depravity
No I don't rely on anyone else's opinion, I listen to the facts, which are the same facts others have, then I make my own opinion.
Yes some sad soul has to look at the images, and they do, and they're paid appropriately for it. Just like surgeons need to see things and other people need to see things too.
My wife has kept people on end of life company and held the hand of multiple people as they draw their last breath and die, its not something I would like to do and I don't need to watch videos of it happening or anything more gory to know its happened.
Our debates don't primarily come from having differing facts, they come from having differing opinions and priorities none of which is addressed by hunting out snuff videos.
Hoping the people who were trolling about the Princess of Wales in a hump about her marriage being the reason she was out of the public eye etc are delighted with the news.
But it sounds like she had an operation to remove a lump. They thought it was benign but are not sure any more so are giving her chemo to catch any secondary metastases
It would have been very helpful if they'd been open from the start as to:
i. what the major surgery was, and ii. what the type of cancer is.
Neither of these need be particularly personal pieces of information - not least because with the royals, the personal is public - but also because sharing potentially difficult health information can help others. Obviously there is the family aspect to consider but to be honest, once something is confirmed, openness is probably the best option there too.
As it is, the speculation will continue.
No, I think it's time we left her well alone.
Watching Sky they keep commenting on leaving her well alone, and then interview experts in cancer and Royal commentators on repeat
Typical media saying one thing and doing the other
So stop watching, maybe?
To be honest it just runs in the background whilst I do other things including posting on here
Maybe it is why I was the first to break the news on here about Kate !!!!
The copper switch off and forcing everyone onto digital voice is going to be an absolute disaster, a scandal waiting to unfold.
Ofcom have manifestly failed in their duty to protect the public. Before Openreach were allowed to do it, they should have mandated bolstering the mobile networks and requiring backup power in the case of a power cut. On the current trajectory people are going to be left cut off.
Copper switch off?
Defund the Police have got their ambition have they?
Excuse me, POTS switch off but I hope what I was trying to say was clear. Going forward all telephony will run over the FTTC/G.Fast/FTTP network, essentially via VOIP.
Yes it was clear, I was joking.
I couldn't give less of a shit about that to be honest. I haven't had a landline in about 15 years. I'd have thought you were in the same box to be honest too.
Senior Russian figures now starting to blame Ukraine and promising revenge.
One has to hope that this one is so blatant that intelligent Russians see right through it and we get another brain drain. As others have commented, this may not be a false flag but Putin will still use it as such. There needs to be a phrase for that. Flag of convenience perhaps.
I think we'll be waiting an awfully long time for the Russian at large to see through Putin's schemes.
I just hope it isn't all being engineered to 'excuse' a chemical, biological or nuclear escalation by Russia in Ukraine.
This stringing things out until the last possible moment isn't working out too well for Con is it?
Not so far, no. I still have recurring nightmare about a late recovery, or more plausibly some terrible Labour gaffe, making a mockery of the current polls though.
The villains in Moscow look like calm professional soldiers, well versed in using guns
Which supports several different theses. Chechen soldiers angry at Putin? Islamists who want payback for Syria? Hired assassins doing a false flag?
Playing devil's advocate: what expertise do you have to know the difference between 'calm professional soldiers, well versed in using guns', and some yokels who have been playing with AK-47s in the backwoods?
Soldiering is about more than firing guns; terrorism is sadly much simpler. But soldiers can be terrorists (see events passim).
Sadly, I’m basing this opinion on the many hundreds of videos I’ve now watched - as we have all watched - of solders and terrorists and mass shooters in action
There is a certain type that you can spot. They do it methodically and calmly, they don’t shout or rant, they barely break a sweat. They don’t run anywhere: they maybe jog; there is zero emotion
It looks “professional”, it certainly looks like they have shot people before
So my guess would be soldiers more likely than religious militants
But yes, it’s just a guess from an amateur on a balcony in a jungle in Colombia
I haven't, why on God's green earth would I? I don't need that in my brain thanks.
Because it’s impossible to avoid? If you’ve managed to never watch a video or murder or shooting or terrorism in the last 20 years of social media and universal camera phones then bravo, that’s impressive
It's pretty easy if you not a ghoul.
It’s quite amazing how many PBers refuse to watch news that is upsetting and are instead content to have it gently described to them as they suck their thumbs in the corner of the nursery
I've seen quite a few disturbing videos due to following people for news about the Ukraine War, but a few times what had been shared has had to be retracted as not genuine. Faked in some way, not at the time or place claimed, etc.
Even watching harrowing footage is not a guarantee of access to the raw facts. You still have to trust your source and the provenance of the footage.
It’s a bloody stupid argument, and neither side is right in insisting that they’re right to the exclusion of the other.
But a video of an alleged shooting, where the poster says it is of A shooting B, can be very misleading. Is it of a real shooting, or of the even t described? Is A the perpetrator, and the victim B, or actually vice versa? This is something we see in the current Ukraine war, where the same picture has been shown by both sides, and I, as a non-expert, have little idea if it is a Ukrainian T72 tank or a Russian one. In fact, the people who posted it probably do not, either.
It is why you need other trusted sources - and even they can get it wrong. If they get it wrong frequently, they should not be trusted...
Indeed, just as you get videos or images going viral which turn out to be from unrelated events years before.
Lets face it, nobody goes around looking at gory images because they want to get to the truth.
We can have such interesting, and often long, almost entirely text-based discussions on this site, precisely because such imagery is not required.
By and large we all operate with the same field of facts. Where we disagree normally comes down to personal opinions on those facts due to having differing morals, priorities, thoughts, logic, interpretations, concerns, preferences etc
I can have wildly differing views on someone else, on the same issue, while recognising their facts because my priorities are not theirs and vice-versa.
But you only get the facts - as best as they can be pieced together - as to what happened on October 7 because someone else who has a backbone, unlike you, has sat down and watched the video of the atrocities. The Israeli government specifically pieced together a montage of these videos - from cctv, GoPro, etc - so people - journalists etc - could watch what Hamas did and then form their own judgments - and then tell quivering saps like you what they saw and what Hamas did
So the imagery IS required if you are going to have your “text based discussions”. Or you have nothing to talk about. You just get it second hand, that’s the only difference; you rely on someone else’s opinion to form your own opinion, which just makes you more ignorant, rather than some ascetic saint who abhors depravity
No I don't rely on anyone else's opinion, I listen to the facts, which are the same facts others have, then I make my own opinion.
Yes some sad soul has to look at the images, and they do, and they're paid appropriately for it. Just like surgeons need to see things and other people need to see things too.
My wife has kept people on end of life company and held the hand of multiple people as they draw their last breath and die, its not something I would like to do and I don't need to watch videos of it happening or anything more gory to know its happened.
Our debates don't primarily come from having differing facts, they come from having differing opinions and priorities none of which is addressed by hunting out snuff videos.
As with @JosiasJessop I shall know in future to treat your opinions with this context in mind. That you don’t watch scary news because it upsets you, therefore we can expect some really quite eccentric lacunae in your commentary, and a lot of basic errors
And now I think we’ve exhausted this topic. To the pool! To swim under the ceibas!
The villains in Moscow look like calm professional soldiers, well versed in using guns
Which supports several different theses. Chechen soldiers angry at Putin? Islamists who want payback for Syria? Hired assassins doing a false flag?
Playing devil's advocate: what expertise do you have to know the difference between 'calm professional soldiers, well versed in using guns', and some yokels who have been playing with AK-47s in the backwoods?
Soldiering is about more than firing guns; terrorism is sadly much simpler. But soldiers can be terrorists (see events passim).
Sadly, I’m basing this opinion on the many hundreds of videos I’ve now watched - as we have all watched - of solders and terrorists and mass shooters in action
There is a certain type that you can spot. They do it methodically and calmly, they don’t shout or rant, they barely break a sweat. They don’t run anywhere: they maybe jog; there is zero emotion
It looks “professional”, it certainly looks like they have shot people before
So my guess would be soldiers more likely than religious militants
But yes, it’s just a guess from an amateur on a balcony in a jungle in Colombia
I haven't, why on God's green earth would I? I don't need that in my brain thanks.
Because it’s impossible to avoid? If you’ve managed to never watch a video or murder or shooting or terrorism in the last 20 years of social media and universal camera phones then bravo, that’s impressive
It's pretty easy if you not a ghoul.
It’s quite amazing how many PBers refuse to watch news that is upsetting and are instead content to have it gently described to them as they suck their thumbs in the corner of the nursery
I've seen quite a few disturbing videos due to following people for news about the Ukraine War, but a few times what had been shared has had to be retracted as not genuine. Faked in some way, not at the time or place claimed, etc.
Even watching harrowing footage is not a guarantee of access to the raw facts. You still have to trust your source and the provenance of the footage.
It’s a bloody stupid argument, and neither side is right in insisting that they’re right to the exclusion of the other.
But a video of an alleged shooting, where the poster says it is of A shooting B, can be very misleading. Is it of a real shooting, or of the even t described? Is A the perpetrator, and the victim B, or actually vice versa? This is something we see in the current Ukraine war, where the same picture has been shown by both sides, and I, as a non-expert, have little idea if it is a Ukrainian T72 tank or a Russian one. In fact, the people who posted it probably do not, either.
It is why you need other trusted sources - and even they can get it wrong. If they get it wrong frequently, they should not be trusted...
Indeed, just as you get videos or images going viral which turn out to be from unrelated events years before.
Lets face it, nobody goes around looking at gory images because they want to get to the truth.
We can have such interesting, and often long, almost entirely text-based discussions on this site, precisely because such imagery is not required.
By and large we all operate with the same field of facts. Where we disagree normally comes down to personal opinions on those facts due to having differing morals, priorities, thoughts, logic, interpretations, concerns, preferences etc
I can have wildly differing views on someone else, on the same issue, while recognising their facts because my priorities are not theirs and vice-versa.
But you only get the facts - as best as they can be pieced together - as to what happened on October 7 because someone else who has a backbone, unlike you, has sat down and watched the video of the atrocities. The Israeli government specifically pieced together a montage of these videos - from cctv, GoPro, etc - so people - journalists etc - could watch what Hamas did and then form their own judgments - and then tell quivering saps like you what they saw and what Hamas did
So the imagery IS required if you are going to have your “text based discussions”. Or you have nothing to talk about. You just get it second hand, that’s the only difference; you rely on someone else’s opinion to form your own opinion, which just makes you more ignorant, rather than some ascetic saint who abhors depravity
No I don't rely on anyone else's opinion, I listen to the facts, which are the same facts others have, then I make my own opinion.
Yes some sad soul has to look at the images, and they do, and they're paid appropriately for it. Just like surgeons need to see things and other people need to see things too.
My wife has kept people on end of life company and held the hand of multiple people as they draw their last breath and die, its not something I would like to do and I don't need to watch videos of it happening or anything more gory to know its happened.
Our debates don't primarily come from having differing facts, they come from having differing opinions and priorities none of which is addressed by hunting out snuff videos.
As with @JosiasJessop I shall know in future to treat your opinions with this context in mind. That you don’t watch scary news because it upsets you, therefore we can expect some really quite eccentric lacunae in your commentary, and a lot of basic errors
And now I think we’ve exhausted this topic. To the pool! To swim under the ceibas!
I will watch any news.
Snuff videos on Twitter ≠ news.
The fact you believe any old bullshit you've seen online to be "news" rather explains your basic errors though.
In London Assembly election news, this Government is so useless no-one knows what the election spending limits for the upcoming elections are yet because the relevant Statutory Instruments have not yet been passed by parliament.approved by the relevant Minister (one M. Gove).
Senior Russian figures now starting to blame Ukraine and promising revenge.
One has to hope that this one is so blatant that intelligent Russians see right through it and we get another brain drain. As others have commented, this may not be a false flag but Putin will still use it as such. There needs to be a phrase for that. Flag of convenience perhaps.
Given the FSB claimed they were just practising [for what?] when their bombs were discovered in one of the target apartment blocks the previous time, I'm not sure how much more blatant you can get.
This stringing things out until the last possible moment isn't working out too well for Con is it?
The Tories have been badly hit by the general European slowdown. The public haven't noticed how we have grown faster than the EU since we Brexited. We are still far too dependent on Europe.
This stringing things out until the last possible moment isn't working out too well for Con is it?
The Tories have been badly hit by the general European slowdown. The public haven't noticed how we have grown faster than the EU since we Brexited. We are still far too dependent on Europe.
The wisest decision for the next PM to make would be to repair our relationship with the EU. That would go a long way to sorting out the small boats for a start.
Why on Earth does somebody earning nearly £100K need childcare support? Is the UK really that broken that childcare is now that expensive that people in the top 10% of earners can't afford it?
Pretty much. I remember when I had two kids under three: on any given day they went to nursery - and it wasn't a particularly fancy nursery - it cost me more than I earned in that day. I was basically working so I was still employable when they went to school.
The cost of nursery seems to be that of moderate private school. In London, well over £1k per month, per child, full time.
This stringing things out until the last possible moment isn't working out too well for Con is it?
The Tories have been badly hit by the general European slowdown. The public haven't noticed how we have grown faster than the EU since we Brexited. We are still far too dependent on Europe.
The other possibility is after nearly 14 years in office people are tired and fed up with the Conservative Party not helped by the way the party has comported itself in Government.
Hunt's comment tonight on £100k not being a big salary in Surrey symptomatic of how out of touch they have become.
The POTS switch off and forcing everyone onto digital voice is going to be an absolute disaster, a scandal waiting to unfold.
Ofcom have manifestly failed in their duty to protect the public. Before Openreach were allowed to do it, they should have mandated bolstering the mobile networks and requiring backup power in the case of a power cut. On the current trajectory people are going to be left cut off.
Having a copper line won’t do much good, when the power goes out. How many yards of copper to the cabinet? And what happens when the cabinet goes out? They don’t run off wind up rubber bands…
The villains in Moscow look like calm professional soldiers, well versed in using guns
Which supports several different theses. Chechen soldiers angry at Putin? Islamists who want payback for Syria? Hired assassins doing a false flag?
Playing devil's advocate: what expertise do you have to know the difference between 'calm professional soldiers, well versed in using guns', and some yokels who have been playing with AK-47s in the backwoods?
Soldiering is about more than firing guns; terrorism is sadly much simpler. But soldiers can be terrorists (see events passim).
The same expertise that led him to confidently declare that Kate was dead a few days ago?
Why on Earth does somebody earning nearly £100K need childcare support? Is the UK really that broken that childcare is now that expensive that people in the top 10% of earners can't afford it?
Pretty much. I remember when I had two kids under three: on any given day they went to nursery - and it wasn't a particularly fancy nursery - it cost me more than I earned in that day. I was basically working so I was still employable when they went to school.
The cost of nursery seems to be that of moderate private school. In London, well over £1k per month, per child, full time.
Yes. And you know, the nursery was fine. But it was a long way from private school quality.
This stringing things out until the last possible moment isn't working out too well for Con is it?
The Tories have been badly hit by the general European slowdown. The public haven't noticed how we have grown faster than the EU since we Brexited. We are still far too dependent on Europe.
Ffs, even after Brexit the Tories can still find ways to blame Europe.
Reuters - IS claim responsibility for Mosow attack
But why?
Loads of people won't believe them, as evidenced here. Even if it was them. In this context IS with Ukrainian plates makes sense. Sow confusion. Divide. A playbook learned from Russia Russia isn't in a position to launch a massive campaign against them. They've hit them when they are weak. Any false flag would have been hugely more effective a week before an election than a week afterwards. IS were in danger of disappearing off the relevance chart given 2 major wars. They needed something to remind us they exist.
The timing of Kate's announcement is probably linked to the reports in the last few days of staff at the London Hospital being investigated for trying to access her medical records. They probably wanted to get ahead of anything coming of that.
Still, it's a bit much when you can't even expect privacy from those charged with confidentiality.
This stringing things out until the last possible moment isn't working out too well for Con is it?
The Tories have been badly hit by the general European slowdown. The public haven't noticed how we have grown faster than the EU since we Brexited. We are still far too dependent on Europe.
Ffs, even after Brexit the Tories can still find ways to blame Europe.
Its certainly true that Europe is undergoing a downturn, thank goodness we'd Brexited so the damage to us was limited.
There are still Labour supporters who blame Gordon Brown's failures on America.
I haven't been following this story but, if true, what on earth were they thinking?
You don't touch the national flag. Ever.
It almost killed British Airways when they did all the wacky tailfins 20 years ago. And Woke wasn't even a thing then.
20? That was in Mrs T's time, surely.
It was.
BA found some idiots who told them to ditch the whole “British thing”
So they came up with a bunch of designs which were mind blowingly average. Sort of middle class white 12 year old does Tribal Art for the end of year completion.
Mrs Thatcher was shown this at a trade fair and reacted by wrapping a handkerchief around the tail of the model
Within days, Richard Branson announced that if BA didn’t want to be the national flag carrier, Virgin would.
Reuters - IS claim responsibility for Mosow attack
But why?
Loads of people won't believe them, as evidenced here. Even if it was them. Russia isn't in a position to launch a campaign against them. Any false flag would have been hugely more effective a week before an election than a week afterwards. IS were in danger of disappearing off the relevance chart given 2 major wars. They needed something to remind us they exist.
That's off the top of my head.
I think Russia still has forces in Syria, albeit less than when they attempted to seize Kyiv in 2022.
I haven't been following this story but, if true, what on earth were they thinking?
You don't touch the national flag. Ever.
It almost killed British Airways when they did all the wacky tailfins 20 years ago. And Woke wasn't even a thing then.
20? That was in Mrs T's time, surely.
It was.
BA found some idiots who told them to ditch the whole “British thing”
So they came up with a bunch of designs which were mind blowingly average. Sort of middle class white 12 year old does Tribal Art for the end of year completion.
Mrs Thatcher was shown this at a trade fair and reacted by wrapping a handkerchief around the tail of the model
Within days, Richard Branson announced that if BA didn’t want to be the national flag carrier, Virgin would.
I’m going to call it on 2nd May General Election. It’s not going to happen.
A General Election on 2nd May 2024, same day as locals like 2015, is not going to happen. Parliament has to be dissolutioned and dissolvelated on Tuesday 26th. It’s not going to happen.
TSE - I have PM’d you a header called
I’M MOONRABBIT - AND I PROMISED YOU MAY 2ND GENERAL ELECTION
In the internal message system because I feel PBers are waiting for an apology. 😒
Have you got it?
Many of us have made more stupid predictions, on occasion.
Indeed.
@MoonRabbit ‘s rationale was sound, and she has been courteous by conceding the point. No apology required.
Though I reserve the right to take the occasional piss.
The villains in Moscow look like calm professional soldiers, well versed in using guns
Which supports several different theses. Chechen soldiers angry at Putin? Islamists who want payback for Syria? Hired assassins doing a false flag?
Playing devil's advocate: what expertise do you have to know the difference between 'calm professional soldiers, well versed in using guns', and some yokels who have been playing with AK-47s in the backwoods?
Soldiering is about more than firing guns; terrorism is sadly much simpler. But soldiers can be terrorists (see events passim).
Sadly, I’m basing this opinion on the many hundreds of videos I’ve now watched - as we have all watched - of solders and terrorists and mass shooters in action
There is a certain type that you can spot. They do it methodically and calmly, they don’t shout or rant, they barely break a sweat. They don’t run anywhere: they maybe jog; there is zero emotion
It looks “professional”, it certainly looks like they have shot people before
So my guess would be soldiers more likely than religious militants
But yes, it’s just a guess from an amateur on a balcony in a jungle in Colombia
I haven't, why on God's green earth would I? I don't need that in my brain thanks.
Because it’s impossible to avoid? If you’ve managed to never watch a video or murder or shooting or terrorism in the last 20 years of social media and universal camera phones then bravo, that’s impressive
It's very easy to avoid, unless you're a sick ghoul who hunts it out. I see them occasionally, and rapidly try to skip over them.
You seem to revel in them, and telling people about them.
Yes. I have never seen a video of a killing, and whenever some idiot posts one on here (or elsewhere on the net) I close down the page or app so I cannot see it. On balance, I’d rather @Leon talked about great wine, French landscapes, and gourmet restaurants.
How the fuck do you get your news if you turn off the tv or phone or laptop screen as soon as it shows anything “upsetting”?
How do you know what is happening in Gaza? Or Ukraine? Or Sudan? Or Syria? Or anywhere?
Do you just read written reports where they asterisk out the words “dead” and replace it with “probably asleep”?
I read the news. Just as many did for decades before social media. Each to their own.
I’m going to call it on 2nd May General Election. It’s not going to happen.
A General Election on 2nd May 2024, same day as locals like 2015, is not going to happen. Parliament has to be dissolutioned and dissolvelated on Tuesday 26th. It’s not going to happen.
TSE - I have PM’d you a header called
I’M MOONRABBIT - AND I PROMISED YOU MAY 2ND GENERAL ELECTION
In the internal message system because I feel PBers are waiting for an apology. 😒
Have you got it?
Many of us have made more stupid predictions, on occasion.
Indeed.
@MoonRabbit ‘s rationale was sound, and she has been courteous by conceding the point. No apology required.
Though I reserve the right to take the occasional piss.
The villains in Moscow look like calm professional soldiers, well versed in using guns
Which supports several different theses. Chechen soldiers angry at Putin? Islamists who want payback for Syria? Hired assassins doing a false flag?
Playing devil's advocate: what expertise do you have to know the difference between 'calm professional soldiers, well versed in using guns', and some yokels who have been playing with AK-47s in the backwoods?
Soldiering is about more than firing guns; terrorism is sadly much simpler. But soldiers can be terrorists (see events passim).
Sadly, I’m basing this opinion on the many hundreds of videos I’ve now watched - as we have all watched - of solders and terrorists and mass shooters in action
There is a certain type that you can spot. They do it methodically and calmly, they don’t shout or rant, they barely break a sweat. They don’t run anywhere: they maybe jog; there is zero emotion
It looks “professional”, it certainly looks like they have shot people before
So my guess would be soldiers more likely than religious militants
But yes, it’s just a guess from an amateur on a balcony in a jungle in Colombia
I haven't, why on God's green earth would I? I don't need that in my brain thanks.
Because it’s impossible to avoid? If you’ve managed to never watch a video or murder or shooting or terrorism in the last 20 years of social media and universal camera phones then bravo, that’s impressive
It's very easy to avoid, unless you're a sick ghoul who hunts it out. I see them occasionally, and rapidly try to skip over them.
You seem to revel in them, and telling people about them.
Yes. I have never seen a video of a killing, and whenever some idiot posts one on here (or elsewhere on the net) I close down the page or app so I cannot see it. On balance, I’d rather @Leon talked about great wine, French landscapes, and gourmet restaurants.
How the fuck do you get your news if you turn off the tv or phone or laptop screen as soon as it shows anything “upsetting”?
How do you know what is happening in Gaza? Or Ukraine? Or Sudan? Or Syria? Or anywhere?
Do you just read written reports where they asterisk out the words “dead” and replace it with “probably asleep”?
I read the news. Just as many did for decades before social media. Each to their own.
But if you haven’t actually had a 3D experience on your Apple VR headset of the the actual blood and guts, how can you tell if the Crimean War of 1856 happened?
This stringing things out until the last possible moment isn't working out too well for Con is it?
The Tories have been badly hit by the general European slowdown. The public haven't noticed how we have grown faster than the EU since we Brexited. We are still far too dependent on Europe.
Ffs, even after Brexit the Tories can still find ways to blame Europe.
Its certainly true that Europe is undergoing a downturn, thank goodness we'd Brexited so the damage to us was limited.
There are still Labour supporters who blame Gordon Brown's failures on America.
The villains in Moscow look like calm professional soldiers, well versed in using guns
Which supports several different theses. Chechen soldiers angry at Putin? Islamists who want payback for Syria? Hired assassins doing a false flag?
Playing devil's advocate: what expertise do you have to know the difference between 'calm professional soldiers, well versed in using guns', and some yokels who have been playing with AK-47s in the backwoods?
Soldiering is about more than firing guns; terrorism is sadly much simpler. But soldiers can be terrorists (see events passim).
The same expertise that led him to confidently declare that Kate was dead a few days ago?
The great irony is that the proliferation of AI videos that he is so obsessed with, makes random snuff videos ever more likely to be fake.
The villains in Moscow look like calm professional soldiers, well versed in using guns
Which supports several different theses. Chechen soldiers angry at Putin? Islamists who want payback for Syria? Hired assassins doing a false flag?
Playing devil's advocate: what expertise do you have to know the difference between 'calm professional soldiers, well versed in using guns', and some yokels who have been playing with AK-47s in the backwoods?
Soldiering is about more than firing guns; terrorism is sadly much simpler. But soldiers can be terrorists (see events passim).
The same expertise that led him to confidently declare that Kate was dead a few days ago?
Your inability to discern a joke is oddly gratifying
The villains in Moscow look like calm professional soldiers, well versed in using guns
Which supports several different theses. Chechen soldiers angry at Putin? Islamists who want payback for Syria? Hired assassins doing a false flag?
Playing devil's advocate: what expertise do you have to know the difference between 'calm professional soldiers, well versed in using guns', and some yokels who have been playing with AK-47s in the backwoods?
Soldiering is about more than firing guns; terrorism is sadly much simpler. But soldiers can be terrorists (see events passim).
The same expertise that led him to confidently declare that Kate was dead a few days ago?
Your inability to discern a joke is oddly gratifying
Aren't jokes supposed to have at least the barest hint of humour about them?
The overseas votes results are in - two seats in Europe went 1 for the Socialists (-1) and 1 for CHEGA (+1). CHEGA won the vote in Europe with 18.2%, the Socialists got 16.3% and the Democratic Alliance 14.2%.
The two seats outside Europe went to the Democratic Alliance (nc) and CHEGA (+1). The vote split Democratic Alliance 23%, CHEGA 18% and the Socialists 14.5%.
With all 230 seats now declared, the Democratic Alliance has 80 seats (+3), the Socialists 77 seats (-42), CHEGA 50 seats (+38) and Others on 22 seats (+1)
Democratic Alliance (AD) leader Luis Montenegro has been invited to form a minority Government by the President and he will take office on 28th March. The problem is Montenegro has refused to talk to or enter any kind of deal with CHEGA and the latter's leader, Andre Ventura, has promised to vote down any AD budget unless CHEGA are involved.
Needless to say, that puts the official opposition Socialists in a potentially powerful position though I suspect they will abstain to let the Government legislation pass rather than risk another election.
This stringing things out until the last possible moment isn't working out too well for Con is it?
The Tories have been badly hit by the general European slowdown. The public haven't noticed how we have grown faster than the EU since we Brexited. We are still far too dependent on Europe.
Indeed. We're held back by the EU. Even so we managed to grow our nominal GDP by an amazing 15% since 2016 while the EU only managed a miserable 21% growth.
The timing of Kate's announcement is probably linked to the reports in the last few days of staff at the London Hospital being investigated for trying to access her medical records. They probably wanted to get ahead of anything coming of that.
Still, it's a bit much when you can't even expect privacy from those charged with confidentiality.
Interesting - Given it was a Friday evening I immediately assumed that the timing was linked to Easter and the school holidays. I assume (not checked) that private prep school had last day of term today, and so they will have 3+ weeks for people to absorb information and settle down before the kids are back at school again. Very reasonable to try and minimise even the most well-meaning of 'are you OK, sorry about your mum' towards George + Charlotte from other children and parents.
The timing of Kate's announcement is probably linked to the reports in the last few days of staff at the London Hospital being investigated for trying to access her medical records. They probably wanted to get ahead of anything coming of that.
Still, it's a bit much when you can't even expect privacy from those charged with confidentiality.
I suspect it was fast becoming unsustainable to keep it quiet: it’s clear she’s not expected to be doing official duties again for a while, and if she hadn’t been seen at Easter the whole thing would have blown up even more.
I wish her well. I hope that the fact that the chemo is stated as being preventative is a positive sign and she is on the mend.
Reuters - IS claim responsibility for Mosow attack
But why?
Putin came after them in Syria
As I said earlier today “this could be Islamist payback for Syria”
Does this make us allies with IS?
No.
This was an attack on civilians. It has nothing to do with the war in Ukraine.
That must be an exceptionally clean war. Ukrainian military intelligence disagree with you. They say it's all about the war between Russia and Ukraine. They say Russian special services were behind it, and that the aim is to justify "even tougher" attacks on Ukraine and full-scale mobilisation:
On 7 March they did say "avoid large gatherings over the next 48 hours", but the specifics were "extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, to include concerts".
I kinda agree that there needs to be more than an Islamist terror attack on a Moscow concert hall for Putin to say right, this is it, let's have full mobilisation against Ukraine.
Off topic: The resignations in the House of Representatives remind me of the 1930 election, and the aftermath:
"While the Democrats gained 52 seats in the 1930 midterm elections, Republicans retained a narrow one-seat majority of 218 seats after the polls closed versus the Democrats' 216 seats; however, during the 13 months between these elections and the start of the 72nd Congress,[4] 14 members-elect died (including incumbent Speaker Nicholas Longworth), and the Democrats gained an additional three seats in the special elections called to fill these vacancies, thus gaining control of the House (they held a 219–212 advantage over the Republicans when the new Congress convened).[4][5]" (Links omitted.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1930_United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections
Could the Republicans lose control of the House now before the November election? It is possible, though for the moment I would say the odds are at least 10-1 against that happening. At least.
But the possibility of further resignations gives the rational Republican congressmen -- and there are more than you might think -- signifcant power.
(Note that popular vote swing in the 1930 election was not very large, and that, because so much of the Democratic Party was then in the South, the Republicans actually won a solid majority of the popular vote (53.04%-44.50%).)
So that’s who currently owns a big slice of Trump.
The biggest institutional investor in the SPAC that’s merging with Truth Social is Susquehanna International Group LLP, which was co-founded by GOP megadonor Jeffrey Yass.
The POTS switch off and forcing everyone onto digital voice is going to be an absolute disaster, a scandal waiting to unfold.
Ofcom have manifestly failed in their duty to protect the public. Before Openreach were allowed to do it, they should have mandated bolstering the mobile networks and requiring backup power in the case of a power cut. On the current trajectory people are going to be left cut off.
Having a copper line won’t do much good, when the power goes out. How many yards of copper to the cabinet? And what happens when the cabinet goes out? They don’t run off wind up rubber bands…
The POTS system works through most power cuts and storms, assuming your phone can get its power from the line which some still can. For example my elderly parents rely on it.
Big thanks to the 3 additional congress members that have just signed the discharge petition to get urgent Ukraine aid to the floor of congress for the vote that Moscow Mike Johnson has been blocking for 6 months.
How smart is the average ant? Not very smart. Easily outwitted by @Mexicanpete
But how smart is an entire colony of Leafcutter ants? Pretty smart. They can carefully and diligently strip an entire tree of leaves, the act of an advanced mammal
Also: A single long-lived queen and millions of sterile workers live together in an enormous underground nest. Workers cut and carry leaf fragments, clean and mulch leaves, tend symbiotic fungus gardens, care for queen and many larvae/pupae, and defend the nest, together with soldiers. Newly hatched workers perform tasks inside the nest (some outside, e.g., trail clearing), with older workers mainly active outside the nest.
Atta foragers communicate acoustically via a “stridulation organ” and chemically by trail…
Etc etc
Imagine if you put thousands of GPTs together as a kind of hive mind, working as one, like all those ants becoming the colony
They would make the same cognitive leap. From ant to chimp. But given that they are already near-human, they would go from near-human to godlike
Bet Kate was tempted to end her video with "So, fuck you social media twats!"
Though to be fair to said twats this video directly contradicts last week’s farm shop video…
She can still go out and about in private, surely?
Which one? The “Kate” at the farm shop looks nothing like the Kate in today’s video.
Give it a rest!
The lesson today should be to stop with the conspiracy theories, not to continue with them.
I have eyes. I can’t deny the evidence of my eyes. It was laughable when The S*n published it last week and now we have a new Kate video to compare it against that is less than a week on.
Considering there has been a significant and ongoing coverup by Kensington Palace it is rather gauche to complain at the idea there has been a cover up. Her having cancer does not negate any of the rest. And of course I hope she recovers quickly.
Bet Kate was tempted to end her video with "So, fuck you social media twats!"
Though to be fair to said twats this video directly contradicts last week’s farm shop video…
She can still go out and about in private, surely?
Which one? The “Kate” at the farm shop looks nothing like the Kate in today’s video.
You can look very different in a grainy photo taken out and about to a professional video where you are fully made up and professionally lit.
I think we need to step back from the conspiracies now. The explanation has been given, she is hopefully recovering and on the path to wellness, and I think the speculation should really end now until there is another update.
This stringing things out until the last possible moment isn't working out too well for Con is it?
The Tories have been badly hit by the general European slowdown. The public haven't noticed how we have grown faster than the EU since we Brexited. We are still far too dependent on Europe.
Ffs, even after Brexit the Tories can still find ways to blame Europe.
Its certainly true that Europe is undergoing a downturn, thank goodness we'd Brexited so the damage to us was limited.
There are still Labour supporters who blame Gordon Brown's failures on America.
What difference has Brexit made in this regard?
We're no longer spending about £10bn+ per annum on a sclerotic and failing institution to remain tied to a moribund and declining portion of the global economy.
Now if its failing, it can fail without us paying for its failures.
The shooting at the Bataclan started when the Eagles of Death Metal were playing their number "Kiss the Devil". (This is true and not in any way intended to be humorous.)
Austrian politics has been fascinating with some parallels to the UK. For Boris Johnson read Sebastian Kurz who led the People's Party (OVP) in the September 2019 election but whose spectacular fall in the autumn of 2021 led to a collapse in the support for the main centre-right party.
The coalition between the OVP and the Greens has hurt both parties with the Greens also well down on 2019.
The opposition Social Democrats briefly led but by the autumn of 2022 had been overtaken by the Freedom Party (FPO) who were enjoying a new lease of life under Herbert Kickl and now lead the polls by 4-9 points with both the OVP and the Social Democrats trailing on about 20% each.
NEOS, the liberal party, is still at about 8% and the BIER Party under Dominik Wlazny is now polling at 7% and would enter the National Council as would the Communist KPO, currently on 5% and who polled well recently in Lower Salzburg.
The current OVP-Green coalition has a majority of 11 (97-86) in the National Council but that looks to be shattered as their combined vote has fallen from 51.5% to 29%. An FPO-OVP coalition would be able to govern with a small majority but relations between the two parties aren't brilliant and so this could be another country where post-election Govenrment formation may be entertaining.
Bet Kate was tempted to end her video with "So, fuck you social media twats!"
Though to be fair to said twats this video directly contradicts last week’s farm shop video…
She can still go out and about in private, surely?
Which one? The “Kate” at the farm shop looks nothing like the Kate in today’s video.
Give it a rest!
The lesson today should be to stop with the conspiracy theories, not to continue with them.
I have eyes. I can’t deny the evidence of my eyes. It was laughable when The S*n published it last week and now we have a new Kate video to compare it against that is less than a week on.
Considering there has been a significant and ongoing coverup by Kensington Palace it is rather gauche to complain at the idea there has been a cover up. Her having cancer does not negate any of the rest. And of course I hope she recovers quickly.
It was a scammer with two lookalikes who exploited the Sun, I suspect. Or it is possible the Sun was in on it (but will never admit that)
The shooting at the Bataclan started when the Eagles of Death Metal were playing their number "Kiss the Devil". (This is true and not in any way intended to be humorous.)
Austrian politics has been fascinating with some parallels to the UK. For Boris Johnson read Sebastian Kurz who led the People's Party (OVP) in the September 2019 election but whose spectacular fall in the autumn of 2021 led to a collapse in the support for the main centre-right party.
The coalition between the OVP and the Greens has hurt both parties with the Greens also well down on 2019.
The opposition Social Democrats briefly led but by the autumn of 2022 had been overtaken by the Freedom Party (FPO) who were enjoying a new lease of life under Herbert Kickl and now lead the polls by 4-9 points with both the OVP and the Social Democrats trailing on about 20% each.
NEOS, the liberal party, is still at about 8% and the BIER Party under Dominik Wlazny is now polling at 7% and would enter the National Council as would the Communist KPO, currently on 5% and who polled well recently in Lower Salzburg.
The current OVP-Green coalition has a majority of 11 (97-86) in the National Council but that looks to be shattered as their combined vote has fallen from 51.5% to 29%. An FPO-OVP coalition would be able to govern with a small majority but relations between the two parties aren't brilliant and so this could be another country where post-election Govenrment formation may be entertaining.
I remember the days when the EU were pondering action against Austria when the FPO were invited to be a junior partner in a coalition government, early noughties I believe.
Bet Kate was tempted to end her video with "So, fuck you social media twats!"
Though to be fair to said twats this video directly contradicts last week’s farm shop video…
She can still go out and about in private, surely?
Which one? The “Kate” at the farm shop looks nothing like the Kate in today’s video.
Give it a rest!
The lesson today should be to stop with the conspiracy theories, not to continue with them.
I have eyes. I can’t deny the evidence of my eyes. It was laughable when The S*n published it last week and now we have a new Kate video to compare it against that is less than a week on.
Considering there has been a significant and ongoing coverup by Kensington Palace it is rather gauche to complain at the idea there has been a cover up. Her having cancer does not negate any of the rest. And of course I hope she recovers quickly.
It was a scammer with two lookalikes who exploited the Sun, I suspect. Or it is possible the Sun was in on it (but will never admit that)
If scammers why have the powers that be said it is them?
Anyway, I am bemused to see the Express use the latest revelation as an excuse to attack Harry and Meghan. How dare they be seen in public when KATE HAD CANCER.
The POTS switch off and forcing everyone onto digital voice is going to be an absolute disaster, a scandal waiting to unfold.
Ofcom have manifestly failed in their duty to protect the public. Before Openreach were allowed to do it, they should have mandated bolstering the mobile networks and requiring backup power in the case of a power cut. On the current trajectory people are going to be left cut off.
Having a copper line won’t do much good, when the power goes out. How many yards of copper to the cabinet? And what happens when the cabinet goes out? They don’t run off wind up rubber bands…
The POTS system works through most power cuts and storms, assuming your phone can get its power from the line which some still can. For example my elderly parents rely on it.
Most of it will go out, even with quite localised power cuts.
If you want resiliency, buy an Iridium phone. Or, not long from now, your cellphone will get reception from low earth orbit. Literally.
I haven't been following this story but, if true, what on earth were they thinking?
You don't touch the national flag. Ever.
It almost killed British Airways when they did all the wacky tailfins 20 years ago. And Woke wasn't even a thing then.
20? That was in Mrs T's time, surely.
It was.
BA found some idiots who told them to ditch the whole “British thing”
So they came up with a bunch of designs which were mind blowingly average. Sort of middle class white 12 year old does Tribal Art for the end of year completion.
Mrs Thatcher was shown this at a trade fair and reacted by wrapping a handkerchief around the tail of the model
Within days, Richard Branson announced that if BA didn’t want to be the national flag carrier, Virgin would.
And rightly so.
This smacks of a lot of Boardroom Liberals who all think everyone thinks the same as them, or should do so.
It's very difficult to get them to see another point of view, when they're like that, or even take such a thing seriously, so I bet either (a) no-one spoke up against it sensing this or, (b) if they did, were either laughed at or summarily dismissed, possibly both.
And they probably droned on about the importance of psychological safety so people felt free to air views at the same time.
This stringing things out until the last possible moment isn't working out too well for Con is it?
The Tories have been badly hit by the general European slowdown. The public haven't noticed how we have grown faster than the EU since we Brexited. We are still far too dependent on Europe.
Indeed. We're held back by the EU. Even so we managed to grow our nominal GDP by an amazing 15% since 2016 while the EU only managed a miserable 21% growth.
Going with GDP per capita figures and taking 2010 as a reasonable baseline (when the Tories were elected, before Brexit became an issue) the data is:
UK +16% EU +9%
Unless you think the Brexit campaign and referendum pushed the UK up in 2016 which is perhaps why you want that as the baseline?
The Guardian review of Chinese reactions to "Three Body Problem" quotes a viewer as saying it is "flat and shallow". Which, for all those of you who have read the books, is actually a spoiler...
This stringing things out until the last possible moment isn't working out too well for Con is it?
The Tories have been badly hit by the general European slowdown. The public haven't noticed how we have grown faster than the EU since we Brexited. We are still far too dependent on Europe.
Indeed. We're held back by the EU. Even so we managed to grow our nominal GDP by an amazing 15% since 2016 while the EU only managed a miserable 21% growth.
Point of order: EU GDP in 2016 included the UK, so I very much doubt that is true.
Furthermore, I think it's more useful to discuss GDP per capita.
The POTS switch off and forcing everyone onto digital voice is going to be an absolute disaster, a scandal waiting to unfold.
Ofcom have manifestly failed in their duty to protect the public. Before Openreach were allowed to do it, they should have mandated bolstering the mobile networks and requiring backup power in the case of a power cut. On the current trajectory people are going to be left cut off.
Having a copper line won’t do much good, when the power goes out. How many yards of copper to the cabinet? And what happens when the cabinet goes out? They don’t run off wind up rubber bands…
The POTS system works through most power cuts and storms, assuming your phone can get its power from the line which some still can. For example my elderly parents rely on it.
Why should we retain an obsolete and outdated system?
If people want to pay extra for it, that's their choice, but if its not economic it should be scrapped.
Bet Kate was tempted to end her video with "So, fuck you social media twats!"
Though to be fair to said twats this video directly contradicts last week’s farm shop video…
She can still go out and about in private, surely?
Which one? The “Kate” at the farm shop looks nothing like the Kate in today’s video.
Give it a rest!
The lesson today should be to stop with the conspiracy theories, not to continue with them.
The reason for the conspiracy theories was that they were hiding something. Now she is within her rights to do so, health is a very personal thing. But the information vacuum got filled. The farm shop thing seems to have been an unrelated stunt. I have no belief that the Mother’s Day photo was real.
I have huge sympathy for her. It won’t be an easy time. But saying that the lesson should be to stop with the conspiracy theories when there really was something ‘up’ is wide of the mark.
The shooting at the Bataclan started when the Eagles of Death Metal were playing their number "Kiss the Devil". (This is true and not in any way intended to be humorous.)
Why on Earth does somebody earning nearly £100K need childcare support? Is the UK really that broken that childcare is now that expensive that people in the top 10% of earners can't afford it?
Pretty much. I remember when I had two kids under three: on any given day they went to nursery - and it wasn't a particularly fancy nursery - it cost me more than I earned in that day. I was basically working so I was still employable when they went to school.
The cost of nursery seems to be that of moderate private school. In London, well over £1k per month, per child, full time.
Yes. And you know, the nursery was fine. But it was a long way from private school quality.
I can't understand why people still bring up children in London. It doesn't make any sense anymore. A house costs £800,000. Nursery costs at least £1000 a month. The shops seem to be money laundering enterprises and not real businesses. If you are starting from nothing you would need to both earn £100k. From what I can see people are increasingly not doing it anymore and dropping out.
I haven't been following this story but, if true, what on earth were they thinking?
You don't touch the national flag. Ever.
It almost killed British Airways when they did all the wacky tailfins 20 years ago. And Woke wasn't even a thing then.
20? That was in Mrs T's time, surely.
It was.
BA found some idiots who told them to ditch the whole “British thing”
So they came up with a bunch of designs which were mind blowingly average. Sort of middle class white 12 year old does Tribal Art for the end of year completion.
Mrs Thatcher was shown this at a trade fair and reacted by wrapping a handkerchief around the tail of the model
Within days, Richard Branson announced that if BA didn’t want to be the national flag carrier, Virgin would.
And rightly so.
This smacks of a lot of Boardroom Liberals who all think everyone thinks the same as them, or should do so.
It's very difficult to get them to see another point of view, when they're like that, or even take such a thing seriously, so I bet either (a) no-one spoke up against it sensing this or, (b) if they did, were either laughed at or summarily dismissed, possibly both.
And they probably droned on about the importance of psychological safety so people felt free to air views at the same time.
No, it’s not board room “Liberalism”
It’s about trying to be fashionable in the manner of the former Prince Charles trying to dance in a Brixton youth club, while wearing double breasted suit.
It’s also about not having a fucking clue about your customer base. And what they want.
See the England shirt nonsense. Basic intelligence would tell you that fucking around with the flag on a national team’s shirt is a risky endeavour.
See also Glassdoor.com
Which has just committed business suicide. Because they elaborately argued themselves into believing that mucking with their users anonymity was a clever idea.
Perhaps this is a window on the difference between fascism and conservatism.
Meanwhile the strapline in the Times is hilarious:
"The prime minster joined Sir Keir Starmer, as well as Nigel Farage and Lee Anderson, in speaking out against the change to the flag on the England kit collar".
Ed Davey was slow off the mark, or nobody cares what he says?
The POTS switch off and forcing everyone onto digital voice is going to be an absolute disaster, a scandal waiting to unfold.
Ofcom have manifestly failed in their duty to protect the public. Before Openreach were allowed to do it, they should have mandated bolstering the mobile networks and requiring backup power in the case of a power cut. On the current trajectory people are going to be left cut off.
Having a copper line won’t do much good, when the power goes out. How many yards of copper to the cabinet? And what happens when the cabinet goes out? They don’t run off wind up rubber bands…
The POTS system works through most power cuts and storms, assuming your phone can get its power from the line which some still can. For example my elderly parents rely on it.
Most of it will go out, even with quite localised power cuts.
If you want resiliency, buy an Iridium phone. Or, not long from now, your cellphone will get reception from low earth orbit. Literally.
Went to look at a house recently. Ended up talking to the estate agent about how well Starlink worked for their office internet connection.
Why on Earth does somebody earning nearly £100K need childcare support? Is the UK really that broken that childcare is now that expensive that people in the top 10% of earners can't afford it?
Pretty much. I remember when I had two kids under three: on any given day they went to nursery - and it wasn't a particularly fancy nursery - it cost me more than I earned in that day. I was basically working so I was still employable when they went to school.
The cost of nursery seems to be that of moderate private school. In London, well over £1k per month, per child, full time.
Yes. And you know, the nursery was fine. But it was a long way from private school quality.
I can't understand why people still bring up children in London. It doesn't make any sense anymore. A house costs £800,000. Nursery costs at least £1000 a month. The shops seem to be money laundering enterprises and not real businesses. If you are starting from nothing you would need to both earn £100k. From what I can see people are increasingly not doing it anymore and dropping out.
Most people don’t. Hence commuter belt, where you have the privilege of 90 minutes travel each way, each day…
This stringing things out until the last possible moment isn't working out too well for Con is it?
The Tories have been badly hit by the general European slowdown. The public haven't noticed how we have grown faster than the EU since we Brexited. We are still far too dependent on Europe.
Indeed. We're held back by the EU. Even so we managed to grow our nominal GDP by an amazing 15% since 2016 while the EU only managed a miserable 21% growth.
Point of order: EU GDP in 2016 included the UK, so I very much doubt that is true.
Furthermore, I think it's more useful to discuss GDP per capital.
25% UK 35% EU per capita increase PPP since 2016 World Bank figures, which I have to admit surprise me.
This stringing things out until the last possible moment isn't working out too well for Con is it?
The Tories have been badly hit by the general European slowdown. The public haven't noticed how we have grown faster than the EU since we Brexited. We are still far too dependent on Europe.
Indeed. We're held back by the EU. Even so we managed to grow our nominal GDP by an amazing 15% since 2016 while the EU only managed a miserable 21% growth.
Going with GDP per capita figures and taking 2010 as a reasonable baseline (when the Tories were elected, before Brexit became an issue) the data is:
UK +16% EU +9%
Unless you think the Brexit campaign and referendum pushed the UK up in 2016 which is perhaps why you want that as the baseline?
The UK v EU comparison has limitations. Bulgaria and the UK were both in the EU, but they are undoubtedly different economies, so why compare them? What you want is to compare the UK in the EU with the UK out of the EU. You could do a before/after Brexit comparison, but there are obvious confounds. You want to compare the UK now with the counterfactual UK now had we stayed, which we can’t do.
It would be better to, at least, compare the UK over the period in question with more similar EU states. The Brexit vote or when Brexit actually happened seem more sensible time points to look at. One could try developing a full regression model, or maybe a full time series model — ARIMA, even GARCH — and look at Brexit in that.
Comments
Yes some sad soul has to look at the images, and they do, and they're paid appropriately for it. Just like surgeons need to see things and other people need to see things too.
My wife has kept people on end of life company and held the hand of multiple people as they draw their last breath and die, its not something I would like to do and I don't need to watch videos of it happening or anything more gory to know its happened.
Our debates don't primarily come from having differing facts, they come from having differing opinions and priorities none of which is addressed by hunting out snuff videos.
Maybe it is why I was the first to break the news on here about Kate !!!!
I couldn't give less of a shit about that to be honest. I haven't had a landline in about 15 years. I'd have thought you were in the same box to be honest too.
I just hope it isn't all being engineered to 'excuse' a chemical, biological or nuclear escalation by Russia in Ukraine.
And now I think we’ve exhausted this topic. To the pool! To swim under the ceibas!
Snuff videos on Twitter ≠ news.
The fact you believe any old bullshit you've seen online to be "news" rather explains your basic errors though.
passed by parliament.approved by the relevant Minister (one M. Gove).https://x.com/MrHarryCole/status/1770942616072323517?s=20
As I said earlier today “this could be Islamist payback for Syria”
Hunt's comment tonight on £100k not being a big salary in Surrey symptomatic of how out of touch they have become.
You don't touch the national flag. Ever.
It almost killed British Airways when they did all the wacky tailfins 20 years ago. And Woke wasn't even a thing then.
This was an attack on civilians. It has nothing to do with the war in Ukraine.
Even if it was them. In this context IS with Ukrainian plates makes sense. Sow confusion. Divide. A playbook learned from Russia
Russia isn't in a position to launch a massive campaign against them. They've hit them when they are weak.
Any false flag would have been hugely more effective a week before an election than a week afterwards.
IS were in danger of disappearing off the relevance chart given 2 major wars. They needed something to remind us they exist.
That's off the top of my head.
Still, it's a bit much when you can't even expect privacy from those charged with confidentiality.
There are still Labour supporters who blame Gordon Brown's failures on America.
BA found some idiots who told them to ditch the whole “British thing”
So they came up with a bunch of designs which were mind blowingly average. Sort of middle class white 12 year old does Tribal Art for the end of year completion.
Mrs Thatcher was shown this at a trade fair and reacted by wrapping a handkerchief around the tail of the model
Within days, Richard Branson announced that if BA didn’t want to be the national flag carrier, Virgin would.
First rule of terrorism orgs: after a few years they evolve seamlessly into organised crime syndicates.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_ethnic_liveries
https://x.com/gelliottmorris/status/1771270095660020015
True or not.
The overseas votes results are in - two seats in Europe went 1 for the Socialists (-1) and 1 for CHEGA (+1). CHEGA won the vote in Europe with 18.2%, the Socialists got 16.3% and the Democratic Alliance 14.2%.
The two seats outside Europe went to the Democratic Alliance (nc) and CHEGA (+1). The vote split Democratic Alliance 23%, CHEGA 18% and the Socialists 14.5%.
With all 230 seats now declared, the Democratic Alliance has 80 seats (+3), the Socialists 77 seats (-42), CHEGA 50 seats (+38) and Others on 22 seats (+1)
Democratic Alliance (AD) leader Luis Montenegro has been invited to form a minority Government by the President and he will take office on 28th March. The problem is Montenegro has refused to talk to or enter any kind of deal with CHEGA and the latter's leader, Andre Ventura, has promised to vote down any AD budget unless CHEGA are involved.
Needless to say, that puts the official opposition Socialists in a potentially powerful position though I suspect they will abstain to let the Government legislation pass rather than risk another election.
We'll see.
I wish her well. I hope that the fact that the chemo is stated as being preventative is a positive sign and she is on the mend.
https://kyivindependent.com/gunmen-reportedly-fire-into-crowd-at-moscow-concert-hall/
Going by the US warning, there may be more to come:
https://ru.usembassy.gov/security-alert-avoid-large-gatherings-over-the-next-48-hours/
On 7 March they did say "avoid large gatherings over the next 48 hours", but the specifics were "extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, to include concerts".
I kinda agree that there needs to be more than an Islamist terror attack on a Moscow concert hall for Putin to say right, this is it, let's have full mobilisation against Ukraine.
"While the Democrats gained 52 seats in the 1930 midterm elections, Republicans retained a narrow one-seat majority of 218 seats after the polls closed versus the Democrats' 216 seats; however, during the 13 months between these elections and the start of the 72nd Congress,[4] 14 members-elect died (including incumbent Speaker Nicholas Longworth), and the Democrats gained an additional three seats in the special elections called to fill these vacancies, thus gaining control of the House (they held a 219–212 advantage over the Republicans when the new Congress convened).[4][5]"
(Links omitted.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1930_United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections
Could the Republicans lose control of the House now before the November election? It is possible, though for the moment I would say the odds are at least 10-1 against that happening. At least.
But the possibility of further resignations gives the rational Republican congressmen -- and there are more than you might think -- signifcant power.
(Note that popular vote swing in the 1930 election was not very large, and that, because so much of the Democratic Party was then in the South, the Republicans actually won a solid majority of the popular vote (53.04%-44.50%).)
The biggest institutional investor in the SPAC that’s merging with Truth Social is Susquehanna International Group LLP, which was co-founded by GOP megadonor Jeffrey Yass.
The deal is poised to give Donald Trump a massive financial lifeline.
https://twitter.com/CREWcrew/status/1771225541254787535
The lesson today should be to stop with the conspiracy theories, not to continue with them.
Big thanks to the 3 additional congress members that have just signed the discharge petition to get urgent Ukraine aid to the floor of congress for the vote that Moscow Mike Johnson has been blocking for 6 months.
@RepJoshHarder
@RepKevinMullin
@chelliepingree
https://twitter.com/JayinKyiv/status/1771258934856196113
But it could be.
They’re all over this jungle. I love them
How smart is the average ant? Not very smart. Easily outwitted by @Mexicanpete
But how smart is an entire colony of Leafcutter ants? Pretty smart. They can carefully and diligently strip an entire tree of leaves, the act of an advanced mammal
Also: A single long-lived queen and millions of sterile workers live together in an enormous underground nest. Workers cut and carry leaf fragments, clean and mulch leaves, tend symbiotic fungus gardens, care for queen and many larvae/pupae, and defend the nest, together with soldiers. Newly hatched workers perform tasks inside the nest (some outside, e.g., trail clearing), with older workers mainly active outside the nest.
Atta foragers communicate acoustically via a “stridulation organ” and chemically by trail…
Etc etc
Imagine if you put thousands of GPTs together as a kind of hive mind, working as one, like all those ants becoming the colony
They would make the same cognitive leap. From ant to chimp. But given that they are already near-human, they would go from near-human to godlike
Considering there has been a significant and ongoing coverup by Kensington Palace it is rather gauche to complain at the idea there has been a cover up. Her having cancer does not negate any of the rest. And of course I hope she recovers quickly.
I think we need to step back from the conspiracies now. The explanation has been given, she is hopefully recovering and on the path to wellness, and I think the speculation should really end now until there is another update.
Now if its failing, it can fail without us paying for its failures.
The shooting at the Bataclan started when the Eagles of Death Metal were playing their number "Kiss the Devil". (This is true and not in any way intended to be humorous.)
Austrian politics has been fascinating with some parallels to the UK. For Boris Johnson read Sebastian Kurz who led the People's Party (OVP) in the September 2019 election but whose spectacular fall in the autumn of 2021 led to a collapse in the support for the main centre-right party.
The coalition between the OVP and the Greens has hurt both parties with the Greens also well down on 2019.
The opposition Social Democrats briefly led but by the autumn of 2022 had been overtaken by the Freedom Party (FPO) who were enjoying a new lease of life under Herbert Kickl and now lead the polls by 4-9 points with both the OVP and the Social Democrats trailing on about 20% each.
NEOS, the liberal party, is still at about 8% and the BIER Party under Dominik Wlazny is now polling at 7% and would enter the National Council as would the Communist KPO, currently on 5% and who polled well recently in Lower Salzburg.
The current OVP-Green coalition has a majority of 11 (97-86) in the National Council but that looks to be shattered as their combined vote has fallen from 51.5% to 29%. An FPO-OVP coalition would be able to govern with a small majority but relations between the two parties aren't brilliant and so this could be another country where post-election Govenrment formation may be entertaining.
How much Europe has changed since then.
Anyway, I am bemused to see the Express use the latest revelation as an excuse to attack Harry and Meghan. How dare they be seen in public when KATE HAD CANCER.
If you want resiliency, buy an Iridium phone. Or, not long from now, your cellphone will get reception from low earth orbit. Literally.
This smacks of a lot of Boardroom Liberals who all think everyone thinks the same as them, or should do so.
It's very difficult to get them to see another point of view, when they're like that, or even take such a thing seriously, so I bet either (a) no-one spoke up against it sensing this or, (b) if they did, were either laughed at or summarily dismissed, possibly both.
And they probably droned on about the importance of psychological safety so people felt free to air views at the same time.
UK +16%
EU +9%
Unless you think the Brexit campaign and referendum pushed the UK up in 2016 which is perhaps why you want that as the baseline?
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/22/netflix-3-body-problem-divides-viewers-china
Furthermore, I think it's more useful to discuss GDP per capita.
If people want to pay extra for it, that's their choice, but if its not economic it should be scrapped.
Why can't your parents get a 21st century phone?
I have huge sympathy for her. It won’t be an easy time. But saying that the lesson should be to stop with the conspiracy theories when there really was something ‘up’ is wide of the mark.
It’s about trying to be fashionable in the manner of the former Prince Charles trying to dance in a Brixton youth club, while wearing double breasted suit.
It’s also about not having a fucking clue about your customer base. And what they want.
See the England shirt nonsense. Basic intelligence would tell you that fucking around with the flag on a national team’s shirt is a risky endeavour.
See also Glassdoor.com
Which has just committed business suicide. Because they elaborately argued themselves into believing that mucking with their users anonymity was a clever idea.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/oct/14/london-police-defy-ban-on-badges-linked-to-far-right-and-white-supremacy
Perhaps this is a window on the difference between fascism and conservatism.
Meanwhile the strapline in the Times is hilarious:
"The prime minster joined Sir Keir Starmer, as well as Nigel Farage and Lee Anderson, in speaking out against the change to the flag on the England kit collar".
Ed Davey was slow off the mark, or nobody cares what he says?
It would be better to, at least, compare the UK over the period in question with more similar EU states. The Brexit vote or when Brexit actually happened seem more sensible time points to look at. One could try developing a full regression model, or maybe a full time series model — ARIMA, even GARCH — and look at Brexit in that.