Alex Wickham @alexwickham · 40m NEW: A furious Keir Starmer says the overcrowding crisis in prisons is worse than he previously thought and it’s become his main domestic priority
He blasted the “terrible” state of public services left by Sunak
German Embassy London @GermanEmbassy · 1h Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the G̶e̶r̶m̶a̶n̶s̶ English always win.
All the best for the final on Sunday, England! #EURO2024
Despite the English always thinking our biggest rivalry is Germany, for the German's its the Dutch.
England has a few rivalries but probably the only one that is felt equally on both sides is with Argentina.
We’ve not had a competitive match against the nearly 20 years though. Hopefully we’ll play them at the next World Cup.
England are heading a for an absolute gubbing vs Spain and tbh there’s no shame in that.
Will be the first decent team we’ve played. Spain have already beaten the second and third best teams in the tournament.
Very disrespectful to Holland. Or any of the other teams England have played. Holland are higher in the FIFA rankings than Spain. So as a statement of recent performances, that is simply not true. The best two teams in the tournament are Spain and England by the way. As is evidenced by them being the two teams in the final. That’s the way tournament football works. The teams that last long enough to reach the final are the ones which do the best within the rules of the tournament. You may be correct and Spain may win. But as a statement of reality, you are incorrect about everything else.
How is that disrespectful?! And why does my respect otherwise matter a damn? And yes I know how tournament football works but this isn’t FPTP. It’s not uncommon for very strong sides to be knocked by the eventual winner. And it’s also perfectly fine to have the opinion that Germany look like a better team than the Netherlands (or England). Its sport, not an equation.
Also FIFA rankings are what they are. A ranking system based on results weighted to significance over a period of time.
How can it not be disrespectful to say teams are not ‘decent’? Particularly when they are in the top 10 of the rankings? The fact is that some teams ended up in the ‘wrong side’ of the draw because they failed to perform in their group. England played to win their group, as a result they ended up where they are. That is just an understanding of how the competition works.
“At the moment we have 40,000 outfits purporting to make number plates,” he laughs. “It’s ridiculous. We need to increase the annual fee to be a plate manufacturer – at the moment it’s just £40. The number plate is classed as ‘personal information’ by the Information Commissioner, but we don’t have our driving licences or passports made this way.”
Alex Wickham @alexwickham · 40m NEW: A furious Keir Starmer says the overcrowding crisis in prisons is worse than he previously thought and it’s become his main domestic priority
He blasted the “terrible” state of public services left by Sunak
“Some of what we’ve found is shocking”
No idea if true or not but these kind of statements are classic from the new government playbook.
Sorry to ask this again, but when people say Joe Biden is going to stand down, do they mostly mean he won't be the candidate in November but will continue as president, or that he'll stand down as president immediately?
You make a good point, actually general one about the tendency on this board (and elsewhere!) toward imprecision and vaguery, sometimes/often on purpose.
Which people are you talking about? IF you mean PBers, what does it matter, as individually/collectively we do NOT know what's what re: the Democratic nomination.
Just guessin' the best - AND worst - we can!
Unless you imagine that Jill Biden or Kamala Harris or _____ [fill in the blank] are posting on here?
Anyone really, people on here, people elsewhere. Just trying to get an idea of what's most likely.
But: there may be some people in the Democratic Party who believe that if Harris is going to be the candidate, it adds to her gravitas if she becomes president before the election.
Sorry to ask this again, but when people say Joe Biden is going to stand down, do they mostly mean he won't be the candidate in November but will continue as president, or that he'll stand down as president immediately?
You make a good point, actually general one about the tendency on this board (and elsewhere!) toward imprecision and vaguery, sometimes/often on purpose.
Which people are you talking about? IF you mean PBers, what does it matter, as individually/collectively we do NOT know what's what re: the Democratic nomination.
Just guessin' the best - AND worst - we can!
Unless you imagine that Jill Biden or Kamala Harris or _____ [fill in the blank] are posting on here?
Anyone really, people on here, people elsewhere. Just trying to get an idea of what's most likely.
But: there may be some people in the Democratic Party who believe that if Harris is going to be the candidate, it adds to her gravitas if she becomes president before the election.
Could be.
Except that even IF Biden is willing to step down as nominee - a hell of an IF at present - am pretty sure he would NOT be sympathetic to resigning as President as a political ploy to boost Harris.
Similar to how the late QEII proved rather closed-minded to suggestions she leave the stage for her successor. Who was her own child . . . which I'm pretty sure is NOT the case with JB > KH.
As a political nerd, I’m supposed to find the latest Tory psychodrama hilarious/entertaining. But it’s just boring. Who gives a shit about Kemi and Suella bitching about each other? It’s just incessant noise in the backgrounds of our lives.
As a political nerd, I’m supposed to find the latest Tory psychodrama hilarious/entertaining. But it’s just boring. Who gives a shit about Kemi and Suella bitching about each other? It’s just incessant noise in the backgrounds of our lives.
Enjoy the delicious feeling that nothing they do or say makes any difference anymore.
It's like Trump loses in November and then starts an argument with JD Vance.
Alex Wickham @alexwickham · 40m NEW: A furious Keir Starmer says the overcrowding crisis in prisons is worse than he previously thought and it’s become his main domestic priority
He blasted the “terrible” state of public services left by Sunak
“Some of what we’ve found is shocking”
No idea if true or not but these kind of statements are classic from the new government playbook.
It's been obvious for many years that the criminal justice system is fucked.
The more interesting question is whether the tories (indeed, even reform, perhaps?) and the right wing media buy into proper criminal justice reform. I'd guess Farage, especially, ain't man enough not go for the free kick - but as for the centre-right establishment?
The right fucked up, since 2010. They starved it of resources 'til 2019, then spent the next 4 1/2 years throwing red meat to the base.
Like the old truism, "Only labour can reform the NHS" - "Only the tories can fix the criminal justice system"
The tories proved themselves incapable of playing the game & running the country. Thankfully, it looks like Starmer ain't going to make the same mistake.
Over to you, Evans, Nelson, Verity, Newton, Et al.
As a political nerd, I’m supposed to find the latest Tory psychodrama hilarious/entertaining. But it’s just boring. Who gives a shit about Kemi and Suella bitching about each other? It’s just incessant noise in the backgrounds of our lives.
Enjoy the delicious feeling that nothing they do or say makes any difference anymore.
It's like Trump loses in November and then starts an argument with JD Vance.
I do, to some extent. But I’m perfectly happy watching Sir Keir represent us on the world stage and look statesmanlike. The Suella Kemi nonsense just seems like an irritating sideshow causing an unseemly sound clash. FWIW the Tories would be mad to pick either of them. And I don’t think they will.
As a political nerd, I’m supposed to find the latest Tory psychodrama hilarious/entertaining. But it’s just boring. Who gives a shit about Kemi and Suella bitching about each other? It’s just incessant noise in the backgrounds of our lives.
There's a non-zero chance one of them might become PM in less than 5 years from now.
Tough to say who's had a better day, Watkins or Atkinson?
As an individual achievement a 7fer is better than a single goal.
The circumstances of scoring that goal, in that way, at that time, in a semi-Final, are probably just about superior to taking a wicket with your second ball on Test debut.
But Atkinson's 7-fer was, I think, the third best for a Test bowler on debut, which is a wee bit more special.
Alex Wickham @alexwickham · 40m NEW: A furious Keir Starmer says the overcrowding crisis in prisons is worse than he previously thought and it’s become his main domestic priority
He blasted the “terrible” state of public services left by Sunak
“Some of what we’ve found is shocking”
He shouldn’t have locked so many people up when he was DPP.
As a political nerd, I’m supposed to find the latest Tory psychodrama hilarious/entertaining. But it’s just boring. Who gives a shit about Kemi and Suella bitching about each other? It’s just incessant noise in the backgrounds of our lives.
There's a non-zero chance one of them might become PM in less than 5 years from now.
There’s a zero chance I will find their whining interesting even if they do
Now that Biden is beatable by anyone, the GOP should pick a sane candidate. I mean, they won't, but they could...
Come back Mittens, all is forgiven!
Trump didn't win the primary because "the GOP" thought he had the best chance of winning. He won the primary because most primary voters think the other candidates are RINO sellouts, and only Trump can be trusted to stand up for them.
“At the moment we have 40,000 outfits purporting to make number plates,” he laughs. “It’s ridiculous. We need to increase the annual fee to be a plate manufacturer – at the moment it’s just £40. The number plate is classed as ‘personal information’ by the Information Commissioner, but we don’t have our driving licences or passports made this way.”
I always presumed they were highly controlled in the way being a locksmith is.
Basically every motor factor does plates. If you're a normal punter, you have to show a V5 before they will make you a plate up, however trade customers sign something to take responsibility and can just get them on demand. Unfortunately, any other solution is wildly impractical - imagine being an accident repair center and having to produce all the paperwork for every car which needs a bumper.
Also, peices of perspex with some letters on and some reflective yellow backing are never going to be particularly difficult to make and are totally unregulated if you apply a sticky label saying "not for road use".
Unfortunately the best fix is to not try and do everything via ANPR as a substitute for actual policing.
Incredibly expensive ad for Addidas during the football tonight. Beckham VO Bellingham Dembele Messi 'Hey Jude' soundtrack huge production..... ££££££££££££££££££££££££££
“At the moment we have 40,000 outfits purporting to make number plates,” he laughs. “It’s ridiculous. We need to increase the annual fee to be a plate manufacturer – at the moment it’s just £40. The number plate is classed as ‘personal information’ by the Information Commissioner, but we don’t have our driving licences or passports made this way.”
I always presumed they were highly controlled in the way being a locksmith is.
Basically every motor factor does plates. If you're a normal punter, you have to show a V5 before they will make you a plate up, however trade customers sign something to take responsibility and can just get them on demand. Unfortunately, any other solution is wildly impractical - imagine being an accident repair center and having to produce all the paperwork for every car which needs a bumper.
Also, peices of perspex with some letters on and some reflective yellow backing are never going to be particularly difficult to make and are totally unregulated if you apply a sticky label saying "not for road use".
Unfortunately the best fix is to not try and do everything via ANPR as a substitute for actual policing.
I'd have thought they would mandate the manufacturers to fit some sort of encrypted unique identifier beacon that they would be able to detect with a lot more reliability than a number plate. Obviously it would take a few years before most cars had one, but that would give them some time to roll out the network of stations monitoring them.
“At the moment we have 40,000 outfits purporting to make number plates,” he laughs. “It’s ridiculous. We need to increase the annual fee to be a plate manufacturer – at the moment it’s just £40. The number plate is classed as ‘personal information’ by the Information Commissioner, but we don’t have our driving licences or passports made this way.”
I always presumed they were highly controlled in the way being a locksmith is.
Basically every motor factor does plates. If you're a normal punter, you have to show a V5 before they will make you a plate up, however trade customers sign something to take responsibility and can just get them on demand. Unfortunately, any other solution is wildly impractical - imagine being an accident repair center and having to produce all the paperwork for every car which needs a bumper.
Also, peices of perspex with some letters on and some reflective yellow backing are never going to be particularly difficult to make and are totally unregulated if you apply a sticky label saying "not for road use".
Unfortunately the best fix is to not try and do everything via ANPR as a substitute for actual policing.
I'd have thought they would mandate the manufacturers to fit some sort of encrypted unique identifier beacon that they would be able to detect with a lot more reliability than a number plate. Obviously it would take a few years before most cars had one, but that would give them some time to roll out the network of stations monitoring them.
GPS tracking more likely I'd have thought.
Though they are going to require something very similar for drones (Remote ID). If you can fit it on a 250g drone, you can fit it on a car...
Incredibly expensive ad for Addidas during the football tonight. Beckham VO Bellingham Dembele Messi 'Hey Jude' soundtrack huge production..... ££££££££££££££££££££££££££
They have run that basically every ad break throughout the tournament. Along with AliExpress which Beckham is also in.
“At the moment we have 40,000 outfits purporting to make number plates,” he laughs. “It’s ridiculous. We need to increase the annual fee to be a plate manufacturer – at the moment it’s just £40. The number plate is classed as ‘personal information’ by the Information Commissioner, but we don’t have our driving licences or passports made this way.”
I always presumed they were highly controlled in the way being a locksmith is.
Basically every motor factor does plates. If you're a normal punter, you have to show a V5 before they will make you a plate up, however trade customers sign something to take responsibility and can just get them on demand. Unfortunately, any other solution is wildly impractical - imagine being an accident repair center and having to produce all the paperwork for every car which needs a bumper.
Also, peices of perspex with some letters on and some reflective yellow backing are never going to be particularly difficult to make and are totally unregulated if you apply a sticky label saying "not for road use".
Unfortunately the best fix is to not try and do everything via ANPR as a substitute for actual policing.
I'd have thought they would mandate the manufacturers to fit some sort of encrypted unique identifier beacon that they would be able to detect with a lot more reliability than a number plate. Obviously it would take a few years before most cars had one, but that would give them some time to roll out the network of stations monitoring them.
You don't need any of that shit. Just about every new car has Internet connectivity so the government could just legislate that the manufacturers have to hand over the telemetry data which would identify vehicle location and activity via the VIN.
In related and devastating news, I can't make snide plates for my new car. It's a one-of-one. The only example produced in that particular colour.
“At the moment we have 40,000 outfits purporting to make number plates,” he laughs. “It’s ridiculous. We need to increase the annual fee to be a plate manufacturer – at the moment it’s just £40. The number plate is classed as ‘personal information’ by the Information Commissioner, but we don’t have our driving licences or passports made this way.”
I always presumed they were highly controlled in the way being a locksmith is.
Basically every motor factor does plates. If you're a normal punter, you have to show a V5 before they will make you a plate up, however trade customers sign something to take responsibility and can just get them on demand. Unfortunately, any other solution is wildly impractical - imagine being an accident repair center and having to produce all the paperwork for every car which needs a bumper.
Also, peices of perspex with some letters on and some reflective yellow backing are never going to be particularly difficult to make and are totally unregulated if you apply a sticky label saying "not for road use".
Unfortunately the best fix is to not try and do everything via ANPR as a substitute for actual policing.
I'd have thought they would mandate the manufacturers to fit some sort of encrypted unique identifier beacon that they would be able to detect with a lot more reliability than a number plate. Obviously it would take a few years before most cars had one, but that would give them some time to roll out the network of stations monitoring them.
You don't need any of that shit. Just about every new car has Internet connectivity so the government could just legislate that the manufacturers have to hand over the telemetry data which would identify vehicle location and activity via the VIN.
In related and devastating news, I can't make snide plates for my new car. It's a one-of-one. The only example produced in that particular colour.
Alex Wickham @alexwickham · 40m NEW: A furious Keir Starmer says the overcrowding crisis in prisons is worse than he previously thought and it’s become his main domestic priority
He blasted the “terrible” state of public services left by Sunak
“Some of what we’ve found is shocking”
No idea if true or not but these kind of statements are classic from the new government playbook.
It's been obvious for many years that the criminal justice system is fucked.
The more interesting question is whether the tories (indeed, even reform, perhaps?) and the right wing media buy into proper criminal justice reform. I'd guess Farage, especially, ain't man enough not go for the free kick - but as for the centre-right establishment?
The right fucked up, since 2010. They starved it of resources 'til 2019, then spent the next 4 1/2 years throwing red meat to the base.
Like the old truism, "Only labour can reform the NHS" - "Only the tories can fix the criminal justice system"
The tories proved themselves incapable of playing the game & running the country. Thankfully, it looks like Starmer ain't going to make the same mistake.
Over to you, Evans, Nelson, Verity, Newton, Et al.
I think the explanation is that a lot of the Tories running the country from 2010 to 2024 were just plain thick and didn't know what they were doing. Hopefully the new government will be a big improvement.
Perhaps a wider question is ANPR has crept in absolutely everywhere. It wasn't a million years ago that people were kicking up a massive fuss about use of CCTV cameras and more recently facial recognition. But we are happy as a society with ANPR tracking our every move in our car?
Incredibly expensive ad for Addidas during the football tonight. Beckham VO Bellingham Dembele Messi 'Hey Jude' soundtrack huge production..... ££££££££££££££££££££££££££
Incredibly expensive taxpayer funded navy recruitment ads as well
Incredibly expensive ad for Addidas during the football tonight. Beckham VO Bellingham Dembele Messi 'Hey Jude' soundtrack huge production..... ££££££££££££££££££££££££££
Incredibly expensive taxpayer funded navy recruitment ads as well
£££££££££££££££££££
However, I doubt the bloke from Blyth costs 6 squillion quid to appear though....a packet of pork scratchings was probably enough.
“At the moment we have 40,000 outfits purporting to make number plates,” he laughs. “It’s ridiculous. We need to increase the annual fee to be a plate manufacturer – at the moment it’s just £40. The number plate is classed as ‘personal information’ by the Information Commissioner, but we don’t have our driving licences or passports made this way.”
Alex Wickham @alexwickham · 40m NEW: A furious Keir Starmer says the overcrowding crisis in prisons is worse than he previously thought and it’s become his main domestic priority
He blasted the “terrible” state of public services left by Sunak
“Some of what we’ve found is shocking”
No idea if true or not but these kind of statements are classic from the new government playbook.
It's been obvious for many years that the criminal justice system is fucked.
The more interesting question is whether the tories (indeed, even reform, perhaps?) and the right wing media buy into proper criminal justice reform. I'd guess Farage, especially, ain't man enough not go for the free kick - but as for the centre-right establishment?
The right fucked up, since 2010. They starved it of resources 'til 2019, then spent the next 4 1/2 years throwing red meat to the base.
Like the old truism, "Only labour can reform the NHS" - "Only the tories can fix the criminal justice system"
The tories proved themselves incapable of playing the game & running the country. Thankfully, it looks like Starmer ain't going to make the same mistake.
Over to you, Evans, Nelson, Verity, Newton, Et al.
I think the explanation is that a lot of the Tories running the country from 2010 to 2024 were just plain thick and didn't know what they were doing. Hopefully the new government will be a big improvement.
Have a look how many Justice secretaries there has been in 14 years, absolute loads. Has changed basically every year since 2015. Which means no chance of consistent thought / approach.
It was something that Cameron generally got right, you don't switch ministers unless you absolutely have to.
Alex Wickham @alexwickham · 40m NEW: A furious Keir Starmer says the overcrowding crisis in prisons is worse than he previously thought and it’s become his main domestic priority
He blasted the “terrible” state of public services left by Sunak
“Some of what we’ve found is shocking”
No idea if true or not but these kind of statements are classic from the new government playbook.
It's been obvious for many years that the criminal justice system is fucked.
The more interesting question is whether the tories (indeed, even reform, perhaps?) and the right wing media buy into proper criminal justice reform. I'd guess Farage, especially, ain't man enough not go for the free kick - but as for the centre-right establishment?
The right fucked up, since 2010. They starved it of resources 'til 2019, then spent the next 4 1/2 years throwing red meat to the base.
Like the old truism, "Only labour can reform the NHS" - "Only the tories can fix the criminal justice system"
The tories proved themselves incapable of playing the game & running the country. Thankfully, it looks like Starmer ain't going to make the same mistake.
Over to you, Evans, Nelson, Verity, Newton, Et al.
I think the explanation is that a lot of the Tories running the country from 2010 to 2024 were just plain thick and didn't know what they were doing. Hopefully the new government will be a big improvement.
I'm afraid they will also be thick. But hopefully in new, interesting and different ways.
Diane Feinstein says that she 100% supports Biden staying in the race: “I talk to the president about every single week. He is as cogent and thoughtful as he was 30 years ago. All suggestions that he is too old are false”
Diane Feinstein says that she 100% supports Biden staying in the race: “I talk to the president about every single week. He is as cogent and thoughtful as he was 30 years ago. All suggestions that he is too old are false”
Diane Feinstein says that she 100% supports Biden staying in the race: “I talk to the president about every single week. He is as cogent and thoughtful as he was 30 years ago. All suggestions that he is too old are false”
Diane Feinstein says that she 100% supports Biden staying in the race: “I talk to the president about every single week. He is as cogent and thoughtful as he was 30 years ago. All suggestions that he is too old are false”
Diane Feinstein says that she 100% supports Biden staying in the race: “I talk to the president about every single week. He is as cogent and thoughtful as he was 30 years ago. All suggestions that he is too old are false”
“At the moment we have 40,000 outfits purporting to make number plates,” he laughs. “It’s ridiculous. We need to increase the annual fee to be a plate manufacturer – at the moment it’s just £40. The number plate is classed as ‘personal information’ by the Information Commissioner, but we don’t have our driving licences or passports made this way.”
“At the moment we have 40,000 outfits purporting to make number plates,” he laughs. “It’s ridiculous. We need to increase the annual fee to be a plate manufacturer – at the moment it’s just £40. The number plate is classed as ‘personal information’ by the Information Commissioner, but we don’t have our driving licences or passports made this way.”
Perhaps a wider question is ANPR has crept in absolutely everywhere. It wasn't a million years ago that people were kicking up a massive fuss about use of CCTV cameras and more recently facial recognition. But we are happy as a society with ANPR tracking our every move in our car?
That's what public sector productivity growth looks like. Road policing has been roughly halved since 2010; some of that gap has been covered by ANPR.
My cop friend thinks it's part of the reason the police find it difficult to develop local intelligence on the movement of the baddies - the road cops did a lot of informal information sharing between forces and areas.
Buy a bicycle and face mask if you're worried (but resist the urge to become a Strava wanker like me).
Perhaps a wider question is ANPR has crept in absolutely everywhere. It wasn't a million years ago that people were kicking up a massive fuss about use of CCTV cameras and more recently facial recognition. But we are happy as a society with ANPR tracking our every move in our car?
That's what public sector productivity growth looks like. Road policing has been roughly halved since 2010; some of that gap has been covered by ANPR.
My cop friend thinks it's part of the reason the police find it difficult to develop local intelligence on the movement of the baddies - the road cops did a lot of informal information sharing between forces and areas.
Buy a bicycle and face mask if you're worried (but resist the urge to become a Strava wanker like me).
“At the moment we have 40,000 outfits purporting to make number plates,” he laughs. “It’s ridiculous. We need to increase the annual fee to be a plate manufacturer – at the moment it’s just £40. The number plate is classed as ‘personal information’ by the Information Commissioner, but we don’t have our driving licences or passports made this way.”
Perhaps a wider question is ANPR has crept in absolutely everywhere. It wasn't a million years ago that people were kicking up a massive fuss about use of CCTV cameras and more recently facial recognition. But we are happy as a society with ANPR tracking our every move in our car?
That's what public sector productivity growth looks like. Road policing has been roughly halved since 2010; some of that gap has been covered by ANPR.
My cop friend thinks it's part of the reason the police find it difficult to develop local intelligence on the movement of the baddies - the road cops did a lot of informal information sharing between forces and areas.
Buy a bicycle and face mask if you're worried (but resist the urge to become a Strava wanker like me).
Nothing wrong with a bit of Strava.
I use it so much my partner gets all suspicious when I don't record a ride.
Perhaps a wider question is ANPR has crept in absolutely everywhere. It wasn't a million years ago that people were kicking up a massive fuss about use of CCTV cameras and more recently facial recognition. But we are happy as a society with ANPR tracking our every move in our car?
That's what public sector productivity growth looks like. Road policing has been roughly halved since 2010; some of that gap has been covered by ANPR.
My cop friend thinks it's part of the reason the police find it difficult to develop local intelligence on the movement of the baddies - the road cops did a lot of informal information sharing between forces and areas.
Buy a bicycle and face mask if you're worried (but resist the urge to become a Strava wanker like me).
Nothing wrong with a bit of Strava.
I use it so much my partner gets all suspicious when I don't record a ride.
I'd suggest a PB Strava group... But Dura Ace would embarrass us all.
Btw: Los Angeles is Strava cycling Nirvana: I regularly pop out and do 500-800 meters of climbing in an hour or two.
Clean energy generated a record-high 44% of China’s electricity in May 2024, pushing coal’s share down to a record low of 53%. Coal lost seven percentage points compared with May 2023, when it accounted for 60% of generation in China. https://x.com/laurimyllyvirta/status/1811195737335558399
Total coal usage actually fell as energy demand grew strongly. And the drop in capacity utilisation is going to reduce the economic incentive for financing new coal plants.
Clean energy generated a record-high 44% of China’s electricity in May 2024, pushing coal’s share down to a record low of 53%. Coal lost seven percentage points compared with May 2023, when it accounted for 60% of generation in China. https://x.com/laurimyllyvirta/status/1811195737335558399
Total coal usage actually fell as energy demand grew strongly. And the drop in capacity utilisation is going to reduce the economic incentive for financing new coal plants.
It's amazing how many people are in total denial about the impact of solar on electricity generation.
Clean energy generated a record-high 44% of China’s electricity in May 2024, pushing coal’s share down to a record low of 53%. Coal lost seven percentage points compared with May 2023, when it accounted for 60% of generation in China. https://x.com/laurimyllyvirta/status/1811195737335558399
Total coal usage actually fell as energy demand grew strongly. And the drop in capacity utilisation is going to reduce the economic incentive for financing new coal plants.
Also interesting that the media were misreporting this. I don't think they've yet published corrections.
How both Bloomberg and Reuters fell for the rumor mill. When data on China's solar and wind utilization in May was delayed by a few days they speculated that the reason was that the data would be embarrassing and show that wind and solar are running into "constraints".
What makes this reporting all the more damning is that data was available already long before showing that wind and solar contributed most of the growth in power generation in May, as shown by my analysis. https://x.com/laurimyllyvirta/status/1804023099689701776?s=19
The actual data on solar and wind utilization is now available and it shows nothing resembling the insinuations in the stories, with solar power "wastage" or curtailment rate at 2.5%. https://msolar.in-en.com/html/solar-2442662.shtml
Reuters and Bloomberg also adopted the rhetoric of China's coal power interests that completely overlook the issue of inflexible thermal power operation and claim that wasted solar and wind are due to constraints in grid infrastructure. This makes me suspect that they might have been spoon-fed the stories by dirty energy interests... https://x.com/laurimyllyvirta/status/1810213320370082181
Perhaps a wider question is ANPR has crept in absolutely everywhere. It wasn't a million years ago that people were kicking up a massive fuss about use of CCTV cameras and more recently facial recognition. But we are happy as a society with ANPR tracking our every move in our car?
“At the moment we have 40,000 outfits purporting to make number plates,” he laughs. “It’s ridiculous. We need to increase the annual fee to be a plate manufacturer – at the moment it’s just £40. The number plate is classed as ‘personal information’ by the Information Commissioner, but we don’t have our driving licences or passports made this way.”
I always presumed they were highly controlled in the way being a locksmith is.
This has been a story ever since the original London Congestion Charge, brought in by Red Ken way back in the day (2003). Within weeks, grannies in North Wales, who hadn’t been outside their village for several decades, started getting daily fines through the post.
The solution is stamped plates, as they have in the US, Japan, and many Middle East countries. That way, anyone wanting to make fake plates has to buy something that doesn’t look or cost too different from a machine that makes fake money, with the same magnitude of punishment available. You’d probably only need a handful of them, which could be in secure government-run locations.
“At the moment we have 40,000 outfits purporting to make number plates,” he laughs. “It’s ridiculous. We need to increase the annual fee to be a plate manufacturer – at the moment it’s just £40. The number plate is classed as ‘personal information’ by the Information Commissioner, but we don’t have our driving licences or passports made this way.”
I always presumed they were highly controlled in the way being a locksmith is.
Basically every motor factor does plates. If you're a normal punter, you have to show a V5 before they will make you a plate up, however trade customers sign something to take responsibility and can just get them on demand. Unfortunately, any other solution is wildly impractical - imagine being an accident repair center and having to produce all the paperwork for every car which needs a bumper.
Also, peices of perspex with some letters on and some reflective yellow backing are never going to be particularly difficult to make and are totally unregulated if you apply a sticky label saying "not for road use".
Unfortunately the best fix is to not try and do everything via ANPR as a substitute for actual policing.
I'd have thought they would mandate the manufacturers to fit some sort of encrypted unique identifier beacon that they would be able to detect with a lot more reliability than a number plate. Obviously it would take a few years before most cars had one, but that would give them some time to roll out the network of stations monitoring them.
GPS tracking more likely I'd have thought.
Though they are going to require something very similar for drones (Remote ID). If you can fit it on a 250g drone, you can fit it on a car...
If you can fit it in a drone (and your link describes a proposal) you can fit it in a car and the baddies can unfit it.
The ANPR/number plate problem is really a call for better ANPR. As for the rest of it, the number plate system is cheap, ubiquitous and works well enough most of the time, even with its messy inconsistencies – no tampering with number spacing but hey, the DVLA sells personalised registration numbers.
“At the moment we have 40,000 outfits purporting to make number plates,” he laughs. “It’s ridiculous. We need to increase the annual fee to be a plate manufacturer – at the moment it’s just £40. The number plate is classed as ‘personal information’ by the Information Commissioner, but we don’t have our driving licences or passports made this way.”
I wondered what the tributes to John Hunt, the racing commentator, at the start of the footy, were about...
John Hunt - whose wife and two daughters were allegedly shot dead with a crossbow in their home last night. Mr Hunt's wife Carol, 61, and their daughters Louise, 25, and Hannah, 28, were found fatally injured at their £800,000 detached home in Bushey, Hertfordshire, last night.
John Hunt found his wife and daughters fatally wounded when he arrived home. They were still alive, so must have suffered. Truly the stuff of nightmares, and for what?
England are heading a for an absolute gubbing vs Spain and tbh there’s no shame in that.
Will be the first decent team we’ve played. Spain have already beaten the second and third best teams in the tournament.
Very disrespectful to Holland. Or any of the other teams England have played. Holland are higher in the FIFA rankings than Spain. So as a statement of recent performances, that is simply not true. The best two teams in the tournament are Spain and England by the way. As is evidenced by them being the two teams in the final. That’s the way tournament football works. The teams that last long enough to reach the final are the ones which do the best within the rules of the tournament. You may be correct and Spain may win. But as a statement of reality, you are incorrect about everything else.
As disrespectful as referring to the country by the wrong name? Twice in the first three sentences of your comment?
Diane Feinstein says that she 100% supports Biden staying in the race: “I talk to the president about every single week. He is as cogent and thoughtful as he was 30 years ago. All suggestions that he is too old are false”
Tough to say who's had a better day, Watkins or Atkinson?
As an individual achievement a 7fer is better than a single goal.
The circumstances of scoring that goal, in that way, at that time, in a semi-Final, are probably just about superior to taking a wicket with your second ball on Test debut.
But Atkinson's 7-fer was, I think, the third best for a Test bowler on debut, which is a wee bit more special.
Yep obviously as a team achievement getting through to the final of the euros is superior to beating a sub par Windies in the cricket.
As a political nerd, I’m supposed to find the latest Tory psychodrama hilarious/entertaining. But it’s just boring. Who gives a shit about Kemi and Suella bitching about each other? It’s just incessant noise in the backgrounds of our lives.
There's a non-zero chance one of them might become PM in less than 5 years from now.
There is a non zero chance that either or both of them have terrible accident and end up being impaled on a duck...its not likely but, you know...
Perhaps a wider question is ANPR has crept in absolutely everywhere. It wasn't a million years ago that people were kicking up a massive fuss about use of CCTV cameras and more recently facial recognition. But we are happy as a society with ANPR tracking our every move in our car?
No, not happy. Although I don't drive myself.
Wait till you find out about the AI powered mobile phone and seatbelt detection cameras.
The problem with boosting public sector productivity is it usually involves more information gathering, which most people don't like. It will be the big sticking point for the NHS.
Ageist! Anyway, it's the wrong question. How many Tories want to merge with Reform because they think Farage is a GOAT and admire his policies, and how many believe they only lost because Reform "stole" 4 million votes?
The lat thing the Tories need is Reform voters. Their views are extreme.
Extreme votes still count, and in any case, I doubt most Reform voters want much more than the rest of us: safety, prosperity, and a halfway competent government that can fix broken Britain or at least look out the window to see if it is raining.
That's the thing. If we accept most Reform and indeed Conservative voters are knocking on a bit, then it follows they mostly have paid off their mortgages so will not have been adversely affected by Liz Truss spiking interest rates. Indeed, as savers, they'd have benefited. And yet look what happened to Conservative poll share.
Diane Feinstein says that she 100% supports Biden staying in the race: “I talk to the president about every single week. He is as cogent and thoughtful as he was 30 years ago. All suggestions that he is too old are false”
Feinstein is the direct parallel. Sat in the senate for years whilst everyone knew she was increasingly gaga. But the US cult of respect for seniors seemed to preclude anybody showing her the door and shoving her through.
Alex Wickham @alexwickham · 40m NEW: A furious Keir Starmer says the overcrowding crisis in prisons is worse than he previously thought and it’s become his main domestic priority
He blasted the “terrible” state of public services left by Sunak
“Some of what we’ve found is shocking”
He shouldn’t have locked so many people up when he was DPP.
What an evil man he is.
He has been responsible for every public disaster since the French Revolution.
“At the moment we have 40,000 outfits purporting to make number plates,” he laughs. “It’s ridiculous. We need to increase the annual fee to be a plate manufacturer – at the moment it’s just £40. The number plate is classed as ‘personal information’ by the Information Commissioner, but we don’t have our driving licences or passports made this way.”
I always presumed they were highly controlled in the way being a locksmith is.
Basically every motor factor does plates. If you're a normal punter, you have to show a V5 before they will make you a plate up, however trade customers sign something to take responsibility and can just get them on demand. Unfortunately, any other solution is wildly impractical - imagine being an accident repair center and having to produce all the paperwork for every car which needs a bumper.
Also, peices of perspex with some letters on and some reflective yellow backing are never going to be particularly difficult to make and are totally unregulated if you apply a sticky label saying "not for road use".
Unfortunately the best fix is to not try and do everything via ANPR as a substitute for actual policing.
Is it 'wildly impractical' ?
My Aussie Ex was bemused by how lax our number plate laws were, and said in Aussie (Vic in her case) you could only have them made at a few set places. Though that might differ state-by-state.
Our current system is an absolute farce. It needs tightening up.
Diane Feinstein says that she 100% supports Biden staying in the race: “I talk to the president about every single week. He is as cogent and thoughtful as he was 30 years ago. All suggestions that he is too old are false”
Feinstein is the direct parallel. Sat in the senate for years whilst everyone knew she was increasingly gaga. But the US cult of respect for seniors seemed to preclude anybody showing her the door and shoving her through.
Ruth Bader Ginsberg was the other recent example. She died at 87 still sitting on the Supreme Court, a decade after Obama had urged her to stand down so the Democrats could appoint a younger replacement. She was Carter’s nomination, that’s how long she’d been around.
Her death allowed Trump to nominate a successor, Amy Coney Barrett, giving a clear Conservative majority to the Court, and leading to many of the recent decisions that have upset US liberals.
Ageist! Anyway, it's the wrong question. How many Tories want to merge with Reform because they think Farage is a GOAT and admire his policies, and how many believe they only lost because Reform "stole" 4 million votes?
Looking at the Welsh results threw up an interesting one.
Blaenau Gwent had no Reform candidate and a big vote for Labour. Neighbouring seats had a chunk cut out of the Labour vote and substantial Reform votes. But in the absence of Reform, those votes still mainly went to Labour, not the Tories.
The Reform vote is an anti vote. Tories would be making a huge mistake to put those votes directly into their column. But that’s how they will see it.
England are heading a for an absolute gubbing vs Spain and tbh there’s no shame in that.
Will be the first decent team we’ve played. Spain have already beaten the second and third best teams in the tournament.
Very disrespectful to Holland. Or any of the other teams England have played. Holland are higher in the FIFA rankings than Spain. So as a statement of recent performances, that is simply not true. The best two teams in the tournament are Spain and England by the way. As is evidenced by them being the two teams in the final. That’s the way tournament football works. The teams that last long enough to reach the final are the ones which do the best within the rules of the tournament. You may be correct and Spain may win. But as a statement of reality, you are incorrect about everything else.
As disrespectful as referring to the country by the wrong name? Twice in the first three sentences of your comment?
“At the moment we have 40,000 outfits purporting to make number plates,” he laughs. “It’s ridiculous. We need to increase the annual fee to be a plate manufacturer – at the moment it’s just £40. The number plate is classed as ‘personal information’ by the Information Commissioner, but we don’t have our driving licences or passports made this way.”
I always presumed they were highly controlled in the way being a locksmith is.
Basically every motor factor does plates. If you're a normal punter, you have to show a V5 before they will make you a plate up, however trade customers sign something to take responsibility and can just get them on demand. Unfortunately, any other solution is wildly impractical - imagine being an accident repair center and having to produce all the paperwork for every car which needs a bumper.
Also, peices of perspex with some letters on and some reflective yellow backing are never going to be particularly difficult to make and are totally unregulated if you apply a sticky label saying "not for road use".
Unfortunately the best fix is to not try and do everything via ANPR as a substitute for actual policing.
Is it 'wildly impractical' ?
My Aussie Ex was bemused by how lax our number plate laws were, and said in Aussie (Vic in her case) you could only have them made at a few set places. Though that might differ state-by-state.
Our current system is an absolute farce. It needs tightening up.
Diane Feinstein says that she 100% supports Biden staying in the race: “I talk to the president about every single week. He is as cogent and thoughtful as he was 30 years ago. All suggestions that he is too old are false”
Diane Feinstein says that she 100% supports Biden staying in the race: “I talk to the president about every single week. He is as cogent and thoughtful as he was 30 years ago. All suggestions that he is too old are false”
Feinstein is the direct parallel. Sat in the senate for years whilst everyone knew she was increasingly gaga. But the US cult of respect for seniors seemed to preclude anybody showing her the door and shoving her through.
Ruth Bader Ginsberg was the other recent example. She died at 87 still sitting on the Supreme Court, a decade after Obama had urged her to stand down so the Democrats could appoint a younger replacement. She was Carter’s nomination, that’s how long she’d been around.
Her death allowed Trump to nominate a successor, Amy Coney Barrett, giving a clear Conservative majority to the Court, and leading to many of the recent decisions that have upset US liberals.
To be fair to RBG she was at least mentally sharp to the end. Just rather ill advisedly put her own interests before those of the causes she purported to represent. And effectively undid many of her achievements.
I wondered what the tributes to John Hunt, the racing commentator, at the start of the footy, were about...
John Hunt - whose wife and two daughters were allegedly shot dead with a crossbow in their home last night. Mr Hunt's wife Carol, 61, and their daughters Louise, 25, and Hannah, 28, were found fatally injured at their £800,000 detached home in Bushey, Hertfordshire, last night.
John Hunt found his wife and daughters fatally wounded when he arrived home. They were still alive, so must have suffered. Truly the stuff of nightmares, and for what?
This is an horrific story leading the news this morning. Three women tied up and shot with a crossbow, what a terrible thing to have to witness.
One man is in custody, believed to be an ex-boyfriend of one of the daughters who had served in the military, and who had apparently tried to shoot himself.
Diane Feinstein says that she 100% supports Biden staying in the race: “I talk to the president about every single week. He is as cogent and thoughtful as he was 30 years ago. All suggestions that he is too old are false”
Feinstein is the direct parallel. Sat in the senate for years whilst everyone knew she was increasingly gaga. But the US cult of respect for seniors seemed to preclude anybody showing her the door and shoving her through.
Ruth Bader Ginsberg was the other recent example. She died at 87 still sitting on the Supreme Court, a decade after Obama had urged her to stand down so the Democrats could appoint a younger replacement. She was Carter’s nomination, that’s how long she’d been around.
Her death allowed Trump to nominate a successor, Amy Coney Barrett, giving a clear Conservative majority to the Court, and leading to many of the recent decisions that have upset US liberals.
To be fair to RBG she was at least mentally sharp to the end. Just rather ill advisedly put her own interests before those of the causes she purported to represent. And effectively undid many of her achievements.
She was just stubborn rather than suffereng from a mental illness, but the result was the same.
It seems weird as a Brit to see the appointment of judges as a political football, as opposed to the decisions of the court, but that’s how it was set up and the game they play over there. It would make sense, given that those are the rules, to base the date of your retirement on the political makeup of the President and Senate. She was well into her seventies when she turned down Obama’s polite suggestion that she stand aside.
The lat thing the Tories need is Reform voters. Their views are extreme.
Extreme votes still count, and in any case, I doubt most Reform voters want much more than the rest of us: safety, prosperity, and a halfway competent government that can fix broken Britain or at least look out the window to see if it is raining.
That's the thing. If we accept most Reform and indeed Conservative voters are knocking on a bit, then it follows they mostly have paid off their mortgages so will not have been adversely affected by Liz Truss spiking interest rates. Indeed, as savers, they'd have benefited. And yet look what happened to Conservative poll share.
“At the moment we have 40,000 outfits purporting to make number plates,” he laughs. “It’s ridiculous. We need to increase the annual fee to be a plate manufacturer – at the moment it’s just £40. The number plate is classed as ‘personal information’ by the Information Commissioner, but we don’t have our driving licences or passports made this way.”
I always presumed they were highly controlled in the way being a locksmith is.
Basically every motor factor does plates. If you're a normal punter, you have to show a V5 before they will make you a plate up, however trade customers sign something to take responsibility and can just get them on demand. Unfortunately, any other solution is wildly impractical - imagine being an accident repair center and having to produce all the paperwork for every car which needs a bumper.
Also, peices of perspex with some letters on and some reflective yellow backing are never going to be particularly difficult to make and are totally unregulated if you apply a sticky label saying "not for road use".
Unfortunately the best fix is to not try and do everything via ANPR as a substitute for actual policing.
Is it 'wildly impractical' ?
My Aussie Ex was bemused by how lax our number plate laws were, and said in Aussie (Vic in her case) you could only have them made at a few set places. Though that might differ state-by-state.
Our current system is an absolute farce. It needs tightening up.
What problem are we trying to solve by tightening up number plate manufacture?
The ex-copper quoted in the article that started this sub-thread said:-
“It’s not hard to defeat the system,” explains Tony Porter, a retired senior police officer and former surveillance commissioner for England and Wales. “You get legitimate number plates being rendered unreadable with mud, or deliberately masked or altered. You get expired plates from scrapped cars being applied to other vehicles, or plates stolen from a parked car to be fitted to another.” https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/07/10/anpr-cameras-vigilante-drivers-surveillance/
Restricting who can make plates will fix precisely none of those issues.
Comments
Alex Wickham
@alexwickham
·
40m
NEW: A furious Keir Starmer says the overcrowding crisis in prisons is worse than he previously thought and it’s become his main domestic priority
He blasted the “terrible” state of public services left by Sunak
“Some of what we’ve found is shocking”
We’ve not had a competitive match against the nearly 20 years though. Hopefully we’ll play them at the next World Cup.
And for same reason: the name George Clooney sells papers, or rather collects clicks. Probably more than Biden or Trump.
Certainly more, for example, "Smithson the Younger predicts Biden will not run for re-election in November".
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/07/10/anpr-cameras-vigilante-drivers-surveillance/
I always presumed they were highly controlled in the way being a locksmith is.
But: there may be some people in the Democratic Party who believe that if Harris is going to be the candidate, it adds to her gravitas if she becomes president before the election.
BBC Question Time
@bbcquestiontime
For the final episode of Question Time tomorrow, Fiona will be joined by Peter Kyle, George Freeman, Sian Berry and Camilla Cavendish
Join us and an audience from Colchester live on
@BBCOne
and
@BBCiPlayer
at the earlier time of 7.30pm
Except that even IF Biden is willing to step down as nominee - a hell of an IF at present - am pretty sure he would NOT be sympathetic to resigning as President as a political ploy to boost Harris.
Similar to how the late QEII proved rather closed-minded to suggestions she leave the stage for her successor. Who was her own child . . . which I'm pretty sure is NOT the case with JB > KH.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqQCdE3y_tw
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/07/10/media/george-stephanopoulos-biden-tmz-video/index.html
"Lords would have to retire at 80 under Labour plans"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c033dpqmnrgo
(OR maybe RS is a Clippers fan?)
https://x.com/YesCornwall/status/1811066864371408974
So far no reports of Biden forsaking the Church for the Episcopalians (Anglicans to youse) or Rastafarians or _____ [fill in the blank].
It's like Trump loses in November and then starts an argument with JD Vance.
The more interesting question is whether the tories (indeed, even reform, perhaps?) and the right wing media buy into proper criminal justice reform. I'd guess Farage, especially, ain't man enough not go for the free kick - but as for the centre-right establishment?
The right fucked up, since 2010. They starved it of resources 'til 2019, then spent the next 4 1/2 years throwing red meat to the base.
Like the old truism, "Only labour can reform the NHS" - "Only the tories can fix the criminal justice system"
The tories proved themselves incapable of playing the game & running the country. Thankfully, it looks like Starmer ain't going to make the same mistake.
Over to you, Evans, Nelson, Verity, Newton, Et al.
But Atkinson's 7-fer was, I think, the third best for a Test bowler on debut, which is a wee bit more special.
https://youtu.be/_caMQpiwiaU?si=HWWo-14onNb9VH-t
We can see whether her affirmation included serving the King, which would slightly poleaxe the attention-seeking, unmemorable chap.
@PolitlcsUK
🚨 NEW: 47% of Conservative Party members want a merger with Reform, compared with 48% who do not
[@YouGov]"
https://x.com/PolitlcsUK/status/1810998773318910091
https://x.com/justinbaragona/status/1811135879450132657
Come back Mittens, all is forgiven!
Also, peices of perspex with some letters on and some reflective yellow backing are never going to be particularly difficult to make and are totally unregulated if you apply a sticky label saying "not for road use".
Unfortunately the best fix is to not try and do everything via ANPR as a substitute for actual policing.
Though they are going to require something very similar for drones (Remote ID). If you can fit it on a 250g drone, you can fit it on a car...
https://www.caa.co.uk/drones/updates-and-publications/remote-id/
In related and devastating news, I can't make snide plates for my new car. It's a one-of-one. The only example produced in that particular colour.
£££££££££££££££££££
I swear some people want EVERYTHING regulated
We don’t need even more big government!!
Pretty sure Locksmiths aren’t regulated either ? Easy to buy pick sets
It was something that Cameron generally got right, you don't switch ministers unless you absolutely have to.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HY45DY2B8w
Although one can never tell in the US.
My cop friend thinks it's part of the reason the police find it difficult to develop local intelligence on the movement of the baddies - the road cops did a lot of informal information sharing between forces and areas.
Buy a bicycle and face mask if you're worried (but resist the urge to become a Strava wanker like me).
Btw: Los Angeles is Strava cycling Nirvana: I regularly pop out and do 500-800 meters of climbing in an hour or two.
Clean energy generated a record-high 44% of China’s electricity in May 2024, pushing coal’s share down to a record low of 53%. Coal lost seven percentage points compared with May 2023, when it accounted for 60% of generation in China.
https://x.com/laurimyllyvirta/status/1811195737335558399
Total coal usage actually fell as energy demand grew strongly. And the drop in capacity utilisation is going to reduce the economic incentive for financing new coal plants.
How both Bloomberg and Reuters fell for the rumor mill. When data on China's solar and wind utilization in May was delayed by a few days they speculated that the reason was that the data would be embarrassing and show that wind and solar are running into "constraints".
What makes this reporting all the more damning is that data was available already long before showing that wind and solar contributed most of the growth in power generation in May, as shown by my analysis.
https://x.com/laurimyllyvirta/status/1804023099689701776?s=19
They both chose to focus on these speculations instead of the actual content of the data release, which showed continuing record additions of solar and wind capacity.
https://x.com/laurimyllyvirta/status/1806559710901899404?s=19
The actual data on solar and wind utilization is now available and it shows nothing resembling the insinuations in the stories, with solar power "wastage" or curtailment rate at 2.5%.
https://msolar.in-en.com/html/solar-2442662.shtml
Reuters and Bloomberg also adopted the rhetoric of China's coal power interests that completely overlook the issue of inflexible thermal power operation and claim that wasted solar and wind are due to constraints in grid infrastructure. This makes me suspect that they might have been spoon-fed the stories by dirty energy interests...
https://x.com/laurimyllyvirta/status/1810213320370082181
The solution is stamped plates, as they have in the US, Japan, and many Middle East countries. That way, anyone wanting to make fake plates has to buy something that doesn’t look or cost too different from a machine that makes fake money, with the same magnitude of punishment available. You’d probably only need a handful of them, which could be in secure government-run locations.
The ANPR/number plate problem is really a call for better ANPR. As for the rest of it, the number plate system is cheap, ubiquitous and works well enough most of the time, even with its messy inconsistencies – no tampering with number spacing but hey, the DVLA sells personalised registration numbers.
https://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-news/netherlands-holland-official-name-change
The problem with boosting public sector productivity is it usually involves more information gathering, which most people don't like. It will be the big sticking point for the NHS.
And members under 65?
That's the thing. If we accept most Reform and indeed Conservative voters are knocking on a bit, then it follows they mostly have paid off their mortgages so will not have been adversely affected by Liz Truss spiking interest rates. Indeed, as savers, they'd have benefited. And yet look what happened to Conservative poll share.
Competence is key.
He has been responsible for every public disaster since the French Revolution.
My Aussie Ex was bemused by how lax our number plate laws were, and said in Aussie (Vic in her case) you could only have them made at a few set places. Though that might differ state-by-state.
Our current system is an absolute farce. It needs tightening up.
Her death allowed Trump to nominate a successor, Amy Coney Barrett, giving a clear Conservative majority to the Court, and leading to many of the recent decisions that have upset US liberals.
Blaenau Gwent had no Reform candidate and a big vote for Labour. Neighbouring seats had a chunk cut out of the Labour vote and substantial Reform votes. But in the absence of Reform, those votes still mainly went to Labour, not the Tories.
The Reform vote is an anti vote. Tories would be making a huge mistake to put those votes directly into their column. But that’s how they will see it.
http://www.worldlicenseplates.com/world/AU_AUST.html
Printed or stickered plates appear to be mostly found in Europe.
One man is in custody, believed to be an ex-boyfriend of one of the daughters who had served in the military, and who had apparently tried to shoot himself.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/07/10/three-women-murdered-hertfordshire-manhunt-kyle-clifford1/
It seems weird as a Brit to see the appointment of judges as a political football, as opposed to the decisions of the court, but that’s how it was set up and the game they play over there. It would make sense, given that those are the rules, to base the date of your retirement on the political makeup of the President and Senate. She was well into her seventies when she turned down Obama’s polite suggestion that she stand aside.
The ex-copper quoted in the article that started this sub-thread said:-
“It’s not hard to defeat the system,” explains Tony Porter, a retired senior police officer and former surveillance commissioner for England and Wales. “You get legitimate number plates being rendered unreadable with mud, or deliberately masked or altered. You get expired plates from scrapped cars being applied to other vehicles, or plates stolen from a parked car to be fitted to another.”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/07/10/anpr-cameras-vigilante-drivers-surveillance/
Restricting who can make plates will fix precisely none of those issues.