BREAKING: The UK will scrap five warships, dozens of military helicopters and a fleet of drones to save money despite growing threats from Russia and a war raging in Europe. John Healey, the defence secretary, announced the dramatic move in parliament on Wednesday, saying it would save up to half a billion pounds over the next five years. The defence secretary described the equipment being axed as “outdated” and said the “common sense” decision to retire them was long overdue. He signalled the decision was part of a plan to restructure and modernise the armed forces, which have already been significantly reduced in size following decades of cost-saving cuts, with new capabilities due to come on line to replace the gaps.
Because it amuses me, the inane and pointless repetition
The irony is that Leon is probably in Singapore or Mauritaus or the Galapagos Islands, where it's not twighlight.
And he's still on here to argue with tim.
I can report that I am very definitely in Camden. I just saw actor Simon Russel Beale outside Gails on Parkway. Yesterday I saw Julian Clary walking his dog outside my local. It all happens here
Further evidence of the mediocrity of this government.
'Schools should cut down on museums and theatre trips and remove references in lessons to middle class activities like skiing holidays a government curriculum review will be held.'
The government's education/curriculum reivew is a Woke Disaster in the making. They've got the most insane Woke twats from academe advising them, proper Britain-haters and "post-colonialist gender studies" experts
I actually despise them now, I even think Corbyn and McDonnell would have been better. Yes they might have hit big corporates a bit more and been a bit more anti Israel but they didn't hate our farmers, small businesses and pensioners as much as this one does and McDonnell at least had some vague intellectual traints unlike the philistine and woke Starmer and Reeves
Yep. They are actually STUPID, and malevolently so
And let's look at their record so far
Inflation: rising Unemployment: rising Growth: nearly extinguished Taxes: rising Debt: rising Public services: cut Defence: cut Pensioners: told to freeze Farmers: told to fuck off Retailers: told to jump in a lake Chagos Islands: given away for nothing, indeed we have to PAY
That's just the first five months. And that's ignoring all the petty grift and corruption
The last Tory government may have been out of ideas and exhausted but they weren't malevolent like this lot. They are targeting the countryside because they voted for Brexit and they want to put these farmers into poverty and destroy the idea of the family farm as retribution. Labour have been waiting 8 years since 2016 to get their revenge on the countryside and it's barely even been disguised.
The last Tory government were totally malevolent.
They cut HS2 for no reason other than spite.
And because it was a pointless waste of billions.
Are we going to re-hash this /again/ ? The pointless waste of billions was burying half the line so rich landowners (oh, look it’s them again...) in the Cotswolds wouldn’t have their views ruined. Oh, plus the bat thing.
The real waste was the waste of building this expensive half, then deciding to ditch the cheap half that actually made the whole thing worthwhile. Thanks to Sunak we’ve built a very expensive railway to no-where that achieves nothing.
Nope. It ws a massive pointless white elephant from start to finish. It is just just a shame they didn't scrap the whole thing.
It was a bargain at £20 billion, which is what it would cost if it cost the global average per mile for high speed lines.
It was marginal at £40-50 billion.
It is an unbelievable waste of money at £100 billion.
Further evidence of the mediocrity of this government.
'Schools should cut down on museums and theatre trips and remove references in lessons to middle class activities like skiing holidays a government curriculum review will be held.'
The government's education/curriculum reivew is a Woke Disaster in the making. They've got the most insane Woke twats from academe advising them, proper Britain-haters and "post-colonialist gender studies" experts
I actually despise them now, I even think Corbyn and McDonnell would have been better. Yes they might have hit big corporates a bit more and been a bit more anti Israel but they didn't hate our farmers, small businesses and pensioners as much as this one does and McDonnell at least had some vague intellectual traints unlike the philistine and woke Starmer and Reeves
Yep. They are actually STUPID, and malevolently so
And let's look at their record so far
Inflation: rising Unemployment: rising Growth: nearly extinguished Taxes: rising Debt: rising Public services: cut Defence: cut Pensioners: told to freeze Farmers: told to fuck off Retailers: told to jump in a lake Chagos Islands: given away for nothing, indeed we have to PAY
That's just the first five months. And that's ignoring all the petty grift and corruption
The last Tory government may have been out of ideas and exhausted but they weren't malevolent like this lot. They are targeting the countryside because they voted for Brexit and they want to put these farmers into poverty and destroy the idea of the family farm as retribution. Labour have been waiting 8 years since 2016 to get their revenge on the countryside and it's barely even been disguised.
This is what happens when you put a lot of student marxists in charge who've spent their whole lives in think-tanks, charities and political bag-carrying and have never left North London.
They're indulging all their pet ideological fantasises and prejudices with no thought of what the real impact will be or what's right for the country.
Blair wouldn't have dreamed of behaving like this.
Maybe if we'd got a foreign company and mostly foreign people to work on it, it would have been built by now at less cost.
No, that's a lot of nonsense.
It's the august combination of potential for judicial review, gold plating, NIMBYism and the value of a bat's life being placed at a billion quid that's cost the dosh.
FTP. Great post Firestopper. PB's Finest! I just read it to a few friends who I was having lunch with and they loved it and that was without them reading the self serving drivel that you were replying to.
FTP. Great post Firestopper. PB's Finest! I just read it to a few friends who I was having lunch with and they loved it and that was without them reading the self serving drivel that you were replying to.
Good call. He was actually raging at the preponderance of the rich, fey, professional classes that PB is filled with, some of whom live or have houses abroad.
I'm sure your friends wouldn't know anyone who fits into that category, now, would they.
FTP. Great post Firestopper. PB's Finest! I just read it to a few friends who I was having lunch with and they loved it and that was without them reading the self serving drivel that you were replying to.
That’s a beautiful sentiment Roger. It’s good that in this day and age fellow men can put down their Sauternes for a moment to agree with a rant against the rich.
Do tell us which champagne you ordered to toast the fine sans-culottes bravely voicing your feelings in a way you couldn’t as it is difficult to type whilst lunching with friends.
Another month of this until the days start getting longer. Winter in this country is truly bleak.
Not as bleak as in the Nordics which is, presumably, why so many top themselves.
It doesn't bother me excessively, although it's not my preference: I view it as a quid pro quo for the very long summer evenings we get in May, June and July.
Cold makes it quite difficult to manage the speed control of my electric scooter. My hands, already minimally responsive, just seize up. Better with gloves, but not a lot! However it's max. 8mph, so no danger of serious damage to anyone.
Another bad day on the Moscow stock exchange. The gains since Trump's re-election have been wiped out and now almost back to the low at the end of the summer. The official dollar exchange rate is now over 100 though what that means in practice who knows? They also seem to be having trouble selling their debt.
Further evidence of the mediocrity of this government.
'Schools should cut down on museums and theatre trips and remove references in lessons to middle class activities like skiing holidays a government curriculum review will be held.'
The government's education/curriculum reivew is a Woke Disaster in the making. They've got the most insane Woke twats from academe advising them, proper Britain-haters and "post-colonialist gender studies" experts
I actually despise them now, I even think Corbyn and McDonnell would have been better. Yes they might have hit big corporates a bit more and been a bit more anti Israel but they didn't hate our farmers, small businesses and pensioners as much as this one does and McDonnell at least had some vague intellectual traints unlike the philistine and woke Starmer and Reeves
Yep. They are actually STUPID, and malevolently so
And let's look at their record so far
Inflation: rising Unemployment: rising Growth: nearly extinguished Taxes: rising Debt: rising Public services: cut Defence: cut Pensioners: told to freeze Farmers: told to fuck off Retailers: told to jump in a lake Chagos Islands: given away for nothing, indeed we have to PAY
That's just the first five months. And that's ignoring all the petty grift and corruption
The last Tory government may have been out of ideas and exhausted but they weren't malevolent like this lot. They are targeting the countryside because they voted for Brexit and they want to put these farmers into poverty and destroy the idea of the family farm as retribution. Labour have been waiting 8 years since 2016 to get their revenge on the countryside and it's barely even been disguised.
The last Tory government were totally malevolent.
They cut HS2 for no reason other than spite.
And because it was a pointless waste of billions.
Are we going to re-hash this /again/ ? The pointless waste of billions was burying half the line so rich landowners (oh, look it’s them again...) in the Cotswolds wouldn’t have their views ruined. Oh, plus the bat thing.
The real waste was the waste of building this expensive half, then deciding to ditch the cheap half that actually made the whole thing worthwhile. Thanks to Sunak we’ve built a very expensive railway to no-where that achieves nothing.
The Sunk Cost Fallacy is a terrible reason to do anything.
Can I sell you a heavy lift rocket made out of Shuttle derived components?
So, since everyone hates inheritance taxes, I propose we ditch IHT altogether and replace it & CGT with a wealth tax. In fact, lets go the whole hog & bundle Council Tax in there too!
Guaranteed to be politically popular with no pushback whatsoever. /ahem/.
(It probably is the right thing to do economically - if you’re going to have CGT & IHT then really what you’ve done is implement a very lumpy wealth tax.)
Nope. Just beef up CGT. Tax at the point the profit is realised
Since I don’t think I’ll be using my photo quota for anything else, took this picture of the local phone mast in the sunrise from the golf course while walking the dog this morning
I love taking Edith out in the dark on my days off and seeing the sun come up
I’ve just been out for a run. It’s the first day my hands have felt very, very cold.
Do you have any running gloves?
I do but they’re not for me. I just deal with my hands being cold.
I'm the same. I've learned to dress for the second mile, when you're warmed up. I just tough out the first couple of KMs in the bare minimum. I got sick of ending up stuffing gloves and beanie into my jacket pockets, then having to tie the damn jacket around my waist!
Don’t you find that your hands don’t work at the end of it if you do that?
I tend to wear base layers with thumb loops in the sleeves, and I'm a short arse all over, so I can draw my arms up into my mid layer sleeves if its a bit nesh.. My regular running partner dresses as if she's at Everest base camp, and still moans she's cold!
Because it amuses me, the inane and pointless repetition
The irony is that Leon is probably in Singapore or Mauritaus or the Galapagos Islands, where it's not twighlight.
And he's still on here to argue with tim.
I can report that I am very definitely in Camden. I just saw actor Simon Russel Beale outside Gails on Parkway. Yesterday I saw Julian Clary walking his dog outside my local. It all happens here
And it is also fucking freezing
An absolutely beautiful day segueing into a beautiful evening. Nowhere better than England in November when November is like this. It is, I grant you, a tad parky.
Since I don’t think I’ll be using my photo quota for anything else, took this picture of the local phone mast in the sunrise from the golf course while walking the dog this morning
I love taking Edith out in the dark on my days off and seeing the sun come up
We don’t have the crews to man the scrapped ships, and Albion and Northumberland were unlikely to ever sail again. By the time we had the crews (if we started recruiting like mad) the newer ships we have ordered will be coming online. The impact on amphibious landing capability is a problem, but overall the decision makes sense. Watchkeeper is obsolete and barely worth discussing.
HOWEVER we should be massively ramping defence spending. This decision is probably right but the macro picture is very wrong.
And let’s not forget how much of this is the fault of the Tories too, who ran down defence. The worst of them were Cameron and Osborne who ran down defence whilst asking it to do more, risking lives.
This Government looks bad on defence, but it follows one with a dreadful record too. As a nation, we just don’t get it.
I’ve just been out for a run. It’s the first day my hands have felt very, very cold.
Do you have any running gloves?
I do but they’re not for me. I just deal with my hands being cold.
I'm the same. I've learned to dress for the second mile, when you're warmed up. I just tough out the first couple of KMs in the bare minimum. I got sick of ending up stuffing gloves and beanie into my jacket pockets, then having to tie the damn jacket around my waist!
Don’t you find that your hands don’t work at the end of it if you do that?
I tend to wear base layers with thumb loops in the sleeves, and I'm a short arse all over, so I can draw my arms up into my mid layer sleeves if its a bit nesh.. My regular running partner dresses as if she's at Everest base camp, and still moans she's cold!
Strava tells me my cycle commute this morning "felt like -7C". Certainly awake by the time I got to the office!
Because it amuses me, the inane and pointless repetition
The irony is that Leon is probably in Singapore or Mauritaus or the Galapagos Islands, where it's not twighlight.
And he's still on here to argue with tim.
I can report that I am very definitely in Camden. I just saw actor Simon Russel Beale outside Gails on Parkway. Yesterday I saw Julian Clary walking his dog outside my local. It all happens here
And it is also fucking freezing
I saw Simon Russell Beale yesterday, but I didn't see Julian Clary today
FTP. Great post Firestopper. PB's Finest! I just read it to a few friends who I was having lunch with and they loved it and that was without them reading the self serving drivel that you were replying to.
That’s a beautiful sentiment Roger. It’s good that in this day and age fellow men can put down their Sauternes for a moment to agree with a rant against the rich.
Do tell us which champagne you ordered to toast the fine sans-culottes bravely voicing your feelings in a way you couldn’t as it is difficult to type whilst lunching with friends.
He had his phone out at the lunch table. As the young people say: I can’t even..
This is my photo quota for today - quite interesting.
It's a junction in Nottingham City Centre being changed from a traffic island with traffic lights to a signalised T-junction.
You can see how the T-Junction running lanes have been added first, so that traffic flow is maintained. The increased landscaping, footways and mobility tracks will be built round it.
The junction is at one end of Maid Marian Way, which is a 4-6 lane dual carriageway built through Nottinghams ancient street pattern in the 1960s, splitting the city centre roughly 3/4:1/4 .
The traffic down Maid Marian way is 16k vehicles per day, down from 27k per day in approx 2003. One reason for that is that Nottingham built a tramway system in the early 2000s, which now carries around 50k passengers per day.
This is my photo quota for today - quite interesting.
It's a junction in Nottingham City Centre being changed from a traffic island with traffic lights to a signalised T-junction.
You can see how the T-Junction running lanes have been added first, so that traffic flow is maintained. The increased landscaping, footways and mobility tracks will be built round it.
The junction is at one end of Maid Marian Way, which is a 4-6 lane dual carriageway built through Nottinghams ancient street pattern in the 1960s, splitting the city centre roughly 3/4:1/4 .
The traffic down Maid Marian way is 16k vehicles per day, down from 27k per day in approx 2003. One reason for that is that Nottingham built a tramway system in the early 2000s, which now carries around 50k passengers per day.
Have they resolved the issues yet? Nottingham city transport were having to add up to an hour to their schedule last month for some routes because the light phasing simply wasn't fit for purpose. I do like some of the changes. Coming out of the Castle Quarter onto Maid Marion Way is now much better
I've been watching Gary W. Gallagher, a prominent historian, and his Great Courses lecture series on the American Civil War recently. It's comprehensive 48-lecture course that covers the political, social, and military aspects of the war all recorded in the year 2000.
One thing he keeps saying in his lectures is how important it is not to apply the values and judgements of today to the people of the time, if we really want to understand what they did and why they did it, but to read what they actually said and actually did in the context of their own time. He does this repeatedly with analysis of the war, the roles played on the war front, home front, and civilian front and displays no judgement or bias in any analysis he delivers on any of it.
Struck me as what an utterly radical point of view that would be today, simple academic objectiveness, and how we truly have gone backwards.
So, since everyone hates inheritance taxes, I propose we ditch IHT altogether and replace it & CGT with a wealth tax. In fact, lets go the whole hog & bundle Council Tax in there too!
Guaranteed to be politically popular with no pushback whatsoever. /ahem/.
(It probably is the right thing to do economically - if you’re going to have CGT & IHT then really what you’ve done is implement a very lumpy wealth tax.)
Nope. Just beef up CGT. Tax at the point the profit is realised
I’ve just been out for a run. It’s the first day my hands have felt very, very cold.
Do you have any running gloves?
I do but they’re not for me. I just deal with my hands being cold.
I'm the same. I've learned to dress for the second mile, when you're warmed up. I just tough out the first couple of KMs in the bare minimum. I got sick of ending up stuffing gloves and beanie into my jacket pockets, then having to tie the damn jacket around my waist!
Don’t you find that your hands don’t work at the end of it if you do that?
I tend to wear base layers with thumb loops in the sleeves, and I'm a short arse all over, so I can draw my arms up into my mid layer sleeves if its a bit nesh.. My regular running partner dresses as if she's at Everest base camp, and still moans she's cold!
Strava tells me my cycle commute this morning "felt like -7C". Certainly awake by the time I got to the office!
Ron hills and an old school HH lifa base layer (long sleeves if you feel the cold) or at least that's all the two blokes who ran past me on a snowy offroad cycle in the brecons were wearing.
This is my photo quota for today - quite interesting.
It's a junction in Nottingham City Centre being changed from a traffic island with traffic lights to a signalised T-junction.
You can see how the T-Junction running lanes have been added first, so that traffic flow is maintained. The increased landscaping, footways and mobility tracks will be built round it.
The junction is at one end of Maid Marian Way, which is a 4-6 lane dual carriageway built through Nottinghams ancient street pattern in the 1960s, splitting the city centre roughly 3/4:1/4 .
The traffic down Maid Marian way is 16k vehicles per day, down from 27k per day in approx 2003. One reason for that is that Nottingham built a tramway system in the early 2000s, which now carries around 50k passengers per day.
Have they resolved the issues yet? Nottingham city transport were having to add up to an hour to their schedule last month for some routes because the light phasing simply wasn't fit for purpose. I do like some of the changes. Coming out of the Castle Quarter onto Maid Marion Way is now much better
I don't know.
If I'm in Nottingham it's usually tram and walk, car and walk, or train and Brompton
I know the area really well though, going back a .. very .. long time. I used to go down there to catch the bus from MOunt Street to go and do cross-country runningtorture in Wollaton Park when from age 11. Then I lived on Lenton Road in the Park for 6 months later.
Further evidence of the mediocrity of this government.
'Schools should cut down on museums and theatre trips and remove references in lessons to middle class activities like skiing holidays a government curriculum review will be held.'
The government's education/curriculum reivew is a Woke Disaster in the making. They've got the most insane Woke twats from academe advising them, proper Britain-haters and "post-colonialist gender studies" experts
I actually despise them now, I even think Corbyn and McDonnell would have been better. Yes they might have hit big corporates a bit more and been a bit more anti Israel but they didn't hate our farmers, small businesses and pensioners as much as this one does and McDonnell at least had some vague intellectual traints unlike the philistine and woke Starmer and Reeves
Yep. They are actually STUPID, and malevolently so
And let's look at their record so far
Inflation: rising Unemployment: rising Growth: nearly extinguished Taxes: rising Debt: rising Public services: cut Defence: cut Pensioners: told to freeze Farmers: told to fuck off Retailers: told to jump in a lake Chagos Islands: given away for nothing, indeed we have to PAY
That's just the first five months. And that's ignoring all the petty grift and corruption
The last Tory government may have been out of ideas and exhausted but they weren't malevolent like this lot. They are targeting the countryside because they voted for Brexit and they want to put these farmers into poverty and destroy the idea of the family farm as retribution. Labour have been waiting 8 years since 2016 to get their revenge on the countryside and it's barely even been disguised.
The last Tory government were totally malevolent.
They cut HS2 for no reason other than spite.
And because it was a pointless waste of billions.
And Labour endorsed it this week by confirming HS2 will be completed Euston to Birmingham only
I would put Harris 24 above Hillary, despite the worse result. The bad result for Harris wasn't her fault. It was inflation and Joe not stepping down sooner.
I would put Harris 24 above Hillary, despite the worse result. The bad result for Harris wasn't her fault. It was inflation and Joe not stepping down sooner.
I think this is absolutely right: Harris was not a great candidate, but she was not as bad as Hillary.
So, since everyone hates inheritance taxes, I propose we ditch IHT altogether and replace it & CGT with a wealth tax. In fact, lets go the whole hog & bundle Council Tax in there too!
Guaranteed to be politically popular with no pushback whatsoever. /ahem/.
(It probably is the right thing to do economically - if you’re going to have CGT & IHT then really what you’ve done is implement a very lumpy wealth tax.)
We could go full Trump and revert to primarily funding the government through tariffs on imports.
It is worth noting that last time the US Federal government raised most of its money through tariffs, Federal spending was just 2.5% of GDP. (And even then, tariffs were only about half of government receipts.)
I would put Harris 24 above Hillary, despite the worse result. The bad result for Harris wasn't her fault. It was inflation and Joe not stepping down sooner.
I think this is absolutely right: Harris was not a great candidate, but she was not as bad as Hillary.
Do you think Clinton would have lost to John McCain in 2008?
This is my photo quota for today - quite interesting.
It's a junction in Nottingham City Centre being changed from a traffic island with traffic lights to a signalised T-junction.
You can see how the T-Junction running lanes have been added first, so that traffic flow is maintained. The increased landscaping, footways and mobility tracks will be built round it.
The junction is at one end of Maid Marian Way, which is a 4-6 lane dual carriageway built through Nottinghams ancient street pattern in the 1960s, splitting the city centre roughly 3/4:1/4 .
The traffic down Maid Marian way is 16k vehicles per day, down from 27k per day in approx 2003. One reason for that is that Nottingham built a tramway system in the early 2000s, which now carries around 50k passengers per day.
Have they resolved the issues yet? Nottingham city transport were having to add up to an hour to their schedule last month for some routes because the light phasing simply wasn't fit for purpose. I do like some of the changes. Coming out of the Castle Quarter onto Maid Marion Way is now much better
I don't know.
If I'm in Nottingham it's usually tram and walk, car and walk, or train and Brompton
I know the area really well though, going back a .. very .. long time. I used to go down there to catch the bus from MOunt Street to go and do cross-country runningtorture in Wollaton Park when from age 11. Then I lived on Lenton Road in the Park for 6 months later.
Looking at it I think it will turn out to be a considerable improvement, particularly for non car users but also for drivers as well. It is just a shame that Maid Marion Way itself is so bloody horrible.
I would put Harris 24 above Hillary, despite the worse result. The bad result for Harris wasn't her fault. It was inflation and Joe not stepping down sooner.
I think this is absolutely right: Harris was not a great candidate, but she was not as bad as Hillary.
Do you think Clinton would have lost to John McCain in 2008?
Yes. And I think she would have lost to Romney in 2012. And I'm certain she would have been defeated by Trump in 2016.
(Actually, maybe not. The reality is that the incumbent administration was very unpopular in 2008. Maybe even Hillary could have won then.)
The next Dem primary will be the first since Obama 2008, where a candidate could truly come from nowhere to clinch it.
The rest since then have been coronations by the party if we are being honest.
This is true, albeit it's also a small sample size.
2012: incumbent popular President, so no great surprise that he won.
2016: stitch up by Clinton.
2020: competitive process, but a total fuckup because Iowa didn't report a winner, leaving Sanders in place to win New Hampshire. Which meant the Dems were desperately searching for a moderate, and picked the really old guy.
2024: no contest, because Joe dropped out late in the process.
Another month of this until the days start getting longer. Winter in this country is truly bleak.
Not as bleak as in the Nordics which is, presumably, why so many top themselves.
It doesn't bother me excessively, although it's not my preference: I view it as a quid pro quo for the very long summer evenings we get in May, June and July.
Cold makes it quite difficult to manage the speed control of my electric scooter. My hands, already minimally responsive, just seize up. Better with gloves, but not a lot! However it's max. 8mph, so no danger of serious damage to anyone.
I don't want to suggest that the Right Honourable Gentleman will be doing donuts at 8mph in the Tesco Metro car park in the snowdrifts. However, an 8mph scooter and its rider can easily weigh a 1/5 to 1/4 of a tonne so can do considerable damage even at slow speed.
It's also worth remembering that tyre performance gets much worse below about 7C, unless they are all-season tyres.
As usual, there aren't firm figures, and the motor vehicles are probably a greater risk to a scooterer than he is to pedestrians.
However, there are KSIs every year. Here's a Telegraph piece from the good old days of 2022 which mentions both vehicle-scooterist and scooterist-pedestrian collision. https://archive.ph/WL4rd
(I've no idea of a cycling collisions comparison as cycle / moped categories get blurred, but I won't tell IDS if he doesn't.)
Meanwhile in "when everybody's somebody, nobody's anybody" news,
Kemi Badenoch has put the finishing touches to her front bench team, and such are the depleted Conservative ranks that as a Tory MP, you had a better than one-in-two chance of getting a job.
Including Badenoch herself, 64 Tories are shadow ministers or whips, which is just under 53% of the total of 121 Conservatives in the Commons. The full front bench list is longer, but some people are named as both whips and junior ministers in departments.
I would put Harris 24 above Hillary, despite the worse result. The bad result for Harris wasn't her fault. It was inflation and Joe not stepping down sooner.
I think this is absolutely right: Harris was not a great candidate, but she was not as bad as Hillary.
Do you think Clinton would have lost to John McCain in 2008?
Yes. And I think she would have lost to Romney in 2012. And I'm certain she would have been defeated by Trump in 2016.
(Actually, maybe not. The reality is that the incumbent administration was very unpopular in 2008. Maybe even Hillary could have won then.)
Counterfactual time: either Clinton or McCain would have been much tougher on Russia than Obama was.
I would put Harris 24 above Hillary, despite the worse result. The bad result for Harris wasn't her fault. It was inflation and Joe not stepping down sooner.
I think this is absolutely right: Harris was not a great candidate, but she was not as bad as Hillary.
I've been watching Gary W. Gallagher, a prominent historian, and his Great Courses lecture series on the American Civil War recently. It's comprehensive 48-lecture course that covers the political, social, and military aspects of the war all recorded in the year 2000.
One thing he keeps saying in his lectures is how important it is not to apply the values and judgements of today to the people of the time, if we really want to understand what they did and why they did it, but to read what they actually said and actually did in the context of their own time. He does this repeatedly with analysis of the war, the roles played on the war front, home front, and civilian front and displays no judgement or bias in any analysis he delivers on any of it.
Struck me as what an utterly radical point of view that would be today, simple academic objectiveness, and how we truly have gone backwards.
Sorry, but that really is complete tosh. I've spent a lot of time listening to The Rest Is History podcasts by Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook recently (while exercising), and they repeatedly make exactly the same point.
Not much being said today about the fate of Yi Peng 3 and its crew. All the excitement overnight about the Danes arresting the ship and fairly silent all day.
I would put Harris 24 above Hillary, despite the worse result. The bad result for Harris wasn't her fault. It was inflation and Joe not stepping down sooner.
I think this is absolutely right: Harris was not a great candidate, but she was not as bad as Hillary.
Do you think Clinton would have lost to John McCain in 2008?
Yes. And I think she would have lost to Romney in 2012. And I'm certain she would have been defeated by Trump in 2016.
(Actually, maybe not. The reality is that the incumbent administration was very unpopular in 2008. Maybe even Hillary could have won then.)
Counterfactual time: either Clinton or McCain would have been much tougher on Russia than Obama was.
McCain would certainly have been tough when the chips were down.
I'll be honest, I don't think the Democrats will have as strong a candidate as the 2020 version of Biden for quite a while.
Really? Biden was a terrible candidate who never made it far in the regular Democratic primaries prior to 2020, and he only won then because Iowa fucked up.
The Democrats - as Nate Silver noted in his post election write-up - have a pretty strong slate of new, youngish popular moderates, with people like Jon Ossoff and Andy Bashear.
You just don't tend to see them, because Clinton's generation has been at the fore for so long.
He got 81 million votes !
There were 81 million votes against Donald Trump.
Trump is almost unique in increasing his popular vote total in three consecutive elections.
if they pick him they lose. Bigger than this year.
Doesn't it rather depend on how people feel in 2028?
If the Trump administration makes everyone richer, then no matter who the Democrats pick, then there's going to be another Republican in the White House.
While if tariffs result in significant inflation without appreciable job gains, then the Democrats could probably renominate Hillary and win.
I would put Harris 24 above Hillary, despite the worse result. The bad result for Harris wasn't her fault. It was inflation and Joe not stepping down sooner.
I think this is absolutely right: Harris was not a great candidate, but she was not as bad as Hillary.
Do you think Clinton would have lost to John McCain in 2008?
Yes. And I think she would have lost to Romney in 2012. And I'm certain she would have been defeated by Trump in 2016.
(Actually, maybe not. The reality is that the incumbent administration was very unpopular in 2008. Maybe even Hillary could have won then.)
Counterfactual time: either Clinton or McCain would have been much tougher on Russia than Obama was.
McCain would certainly have been tough when the chips were down.
I would put Harris 24 above Hillary, despite the worse result. The bad result for Harris wasn't her fault. It was inflation and Joe not stepping down sooner.
I think this is absolutely right: Harris was not a great candidate, but she was not as bad as Hillary.
Do you think Clinton would have lost to John McCain in 2008?
Yes. And I think she would have lost to Romney in 2012. And I'm certain she would have been defeated by Trump in 2016.
(Actually, maybe not. The reality is that the incumbent administration was very unpopular in 2008. Maybe even Hillary could have won then.)
Counterfactual time: either Clinton or McCain would have been much tougher on Russia than Obama was.
This is my photo quota for today - quite interesting.
It's a junction in Nottingham City Centre being changed from a traffic island with traffic lights to a signalised T-junction.
You can see how the T-Junction running lanes have been added first, so that traffic flow is maintained. The increased landscaping, footways and mobility tracks will be built round it.
The junction is at one end of Maid Marian Way, which is a 4-6 lane dual carriageway built through Nottinghams ancient street pattern in the 1960s, splitting the city centre roughly 3/4:1/4 .
The traffic down Maid Marian way is 16k vehicles per day, down from 27k per day in approx 2003. One reason for that is that Nottingham built a tramway system in the early 2000s, which now carries around 50k passengers per day.
Have they resolved the issues yet? Nottingham city transport were having to add up to an hour to their schedule last month for some routes because the light phasing simply wasn't fit for purpose. I do like some of the changes. Coming out of the Castle Quarter onto Maid Marion Way is now much better
I don't know.
If I'm in Nottingham it's usually tram and walk, car and walk, or train and Brompton
I know the area really well though, going back a .. very .. long time. I used to go down there to catch the bus from MOunt Street to go and do cross-country runningtorture in Wollaton Park when from age 11. Then I lived on Lenton Road in the Park for 6 months later.
We should rename the site politicalbettorswithbromptons.com.
if they pick him they lose. Bigger than this year.
Doesn't it rather depend on how people feel in 2028?
If the Trump administration makes everyone richer, then no matter who the Democrats pick, then there's going to be another Republican in the White House.
While if tariffs result in significant inflation without appreciable job gains, then the Democrats could probably renominate Hillary and win.
They've made Elon richer already
CNN reported yesterday that since September Musk's estimated net worth has gone from $250bn to about $320bn. He is richer by $70bn, which is considerably more than the $44bn he paid for Twitter, and his ownership of Twitter is the main reason he is is now $70bn richer (coz it got Trump elected)
That makes his purchase of Twitter perhaps the cleverest purchase of all time; certainly one of the most profitable
I would put Harris 24 above Hillary, despite the worse result. The bad result for Harris wasn't her fault. It was inflation and Joe not stepping down sooner.
I think this is absolutely right: Harris was not a great candidate, but she was not as bad as Hillary.
Do you think Clinton would have lost to John McCain in 2008?
Yes. And I think she would have lost to Romney in 2012. And I'm certain she would have been defeated by Trump in 2016.
(Actually, maybe not. The reality is that the incumbent administration was very unpopular in 2008. Maybe even Hillary could have won then.)
Counterfactual time: either Clinton or McCain would have been much tougher on Russia than Obama was.
McCain would certainly have been tough when the chips were down.
Not obvious that any US President would have behaved much differently wrt Russia while comrade merkel was busily undermining european strategic resilience
I would put Harris 24 above Hillary, despite the worse result. The bad result for Harris wasn't her fault. It was inflation and Joe not stepping down sooner.
I think this is absolutely right: Harris was not a great candidate, but she was not as bad as Hillary.
Do you think Clinton would have lost to John McCain in 2008?
Yes. And I think she would have lost to Romney in 2012. And I'm certain she would have been defeated by Trump in 2016.
(Actually, maybe not. The reality is that the incumbent administration was very unpopular in 2008. Maybe even Hillary could have won then.)
Counterfactual time: either Clinton or McCain would have been much tougher on Russia than Obama was.
McCain would certainly have been tough when the chips were down.
Not obvious that any US President would have behaved much differently wrt Russia while comrade merkel was busily undermining european strategic resilience
I wouldn't have a clue who Simon Russell Beale is..yet the Independent state he's "the greatest living stage actor of his generation" 🤔🥴
He's frequently cited as such. I don't go to the theatre - these days even getting to the cinema is a bit of a schlep - and so cannot tell. But he's a good film character actor, for example his "Beria" in "The Death Of Stalin"
I wouldn't have a clue who Simon Russell Beale is..yet the Independent state he's "the greatest living stage actor of his generation" 🤔🥴
I like him - he was superb as Falstaff in the Hollow Crown series - but I think that honour defiently goes to Mark Rylance. I have seen him several times in Shakespeare productions and he is remarkable. I think he is probably the best actor in all fields of his generation.
I've been watching Gary W. Gallagher, a prominent historian, and his Great Courses lecture series on the American Civil War recently. It's comprehensive 48-lecture course that covers the political, social, and military aspects of the war all recorded in the year 2000.
One thing he keeps saying in his lectures is how important it is not to apply the values and judgements of today to the people of the time, if we really want to understand what they did and why they did it, but to read what they actually said and actually did in the context of their own time. He does this repeatedly with analysis of the war, the roles played on the war front, home front, and civilian front and displays no judgement or bias in any analysis he delivers on any of it.
Struck me as what an utterly radical point of view that would be today, simple academic objectiveness, and how we truly have gone backwards.
Sorry, but that really is complete tosh. I've spent a lot of time listening to The Rest Is History podcasts by Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook recently (while exercising), and they repeatedly make exactly the same point.
I was taught that before CR was even born, I suspect.
I've been watching Gary W. Gallagher, a prominent historian, and his Great Courses lecture series on the American Civil War recently. It's comprehensive 48-lecture course that covers the political, social, and military aspects of the war all recorded in the year 2000.
One thing he keeps saying in his lectures is how important it is not to apply the values and judgements of today to the people of the time, if we really want to understand what they did and why they did it, but to read what they actually said and actually did in the context of their own time. He does this repeatedly with analysis of the war, the roles played on the war front, home front, and civilian front and displays no judgement or bias in any analysis he delivers on any of it.
Struck me as what an utterly radical point of view that would be today, simple academic objectiveness, and how we truly have gone backwards.
I wouldn't have a clue who Simon Russell Beale is..yet the Independent state he's "the greatest living stage actor of his generation" 🤔🥴
I like him - he was superb as Falstaff in the Hollow Crown series - but I think that honour defiently goes to Mark Rylance. I have seen him several times in Shakespeare productions and he is remarkable. I think he is probably the best actor in all fields of his generation.
Agree. Just been watching Rylance in Wolf Hall and he is absolutely mesmerising in an apparently effortless way. I can't quite put my finger on why he's so good, but even when he's silent you can't take your eyes off him.
I would be a strong advocate for the clocks going two hours forward in the summer.
I almost flagged that. Just no.
Get up earlier by setting your alarm earlier instead of having the government change everyone's clocks you lazy sod.
Noon is, on average, when the sun is at its highest. Why mess with that? Why move high noon to 2pm?
Schools, nurseries and most workplaces tend to finish at a certain time because that's when everyone else does. Unless you're retired you generally can't choose your own clock. Double summer would lead to longer evenings for most
I wouldn't have a clue who Simon Russell Beale is..yet the Independent state he's "the greatest living stage actor of his generation" 🤔🥴
I like him - he was superb as Falstaff in the Hollow Crown series - but I think that honour defiently goes to Mark Rylance. I have seen him several times in Shakespeare productions and he is remarkable. I think he is probably the best actor in all fields of his generation.
Mark Rylance has even been up for porn in his career.
I wouldn't have a clue who Simon Russell Beale is..yet the Independent state he's "the greatest living stage actor of his generation" 🤔🥴
I like him - he was superb as Falstaff in the Hollow Crown series - but I think that honour defiently goes to Mark Rylance. I have seen him several times in Shakespeare productions and he is remarkable. I think he is probably the best actor in all fields of his generation.
Simon Russell Beale is certainly up there, if maybe not quite in the same league as Rylance. But if you're not into theatre, you might well not have seen him.
(He was also utterly brilliant as Beria in The Death of Stalin. A rare film gem from him.)
A quote I came across. In the context of technology development and “standing on the shoulders of giants”
Sure, but it then makes one wonder why, exactly, everyone else standing on those same shoulders seems to insist on mining the armpits for gold instead of reaching for new heights. So to say.
Further evidence of the mediocrity of this government.
'Schools should cut down on museums and theatre trips and remove references in lessons to middle class activities like skiing holidays a government curriculum review will be held.'
The government's education/curriculum reivew is a Woke Disaster in the making. They've got the most insane Woke twats from academe advising them, proper Britain-haters and "post-colonialist gender studies" experts
I actually despise them now, I even think Corbyn and McDonnell would have been better. Yes they might have hit big corporates a bit more and been a bit more anti Israel but they didn't hate our farmers, small businesses and pensioners as much as this one does and McDonnell at least had some vague intellectual traints unlike the philistine and woke Starmer and Reeves
Yep. They are actually STUPID, and malevolently so
And let's look at their record so far
Inflation: rising Unemployment: rising Growth: nearly extinguished Taxes: rising Debt: rising Public services: cut Defence: cut Pensioners: told to freeze Farmers: told to fuck off Retailers: told to jump in a lake Chagos Islands: given away for nothing, indeed we have to PAY
That's just the first five months. And that's ignoring all the petty grift and corruption
The last Tory government may have been out of ideas and exhausted but they weren't malevolent like this lot. They are targeting the countryside because they voted for Brexit and they want to put these farmers into poverty and destroy the idea of the family farm as retribution. Labour have been waiting 8 years since 2016 to get their revenge on the countryside and it's barely even been disguised.
That might be why they're enjoying it, but I don't think it's why they're doing it. Sorry to offend sensibilities but this reducing the food supply/getting farmers off the land is a very long term agenda, and the cause of the massive farmer protests in the Netherlands and other places. It is very much the policy that Klaus Schwab and the World Economic Forum have been pushing, and it's not unique to Labour, there have been awful policies like paying farmers to quit the industry that the Tories have introduced. Labour are just the worst extreme of it and they don't have the handbrake of rural Tory MPs.
I would be a strong advocate for the clocks going two hours forward in the summer.
I almost flagged that. Just no.
Get up earlier by setting your alarm earlier instead of having the government change everyone's clocks you lazy sod.
Noon is, on average, when the sun is at its highest. Why mess with that? Why move high noon to 2pm?
They did it in the UK in WW2. To save on energy. 1941-45 and 1947, on checking.
TBF to Horse, not many of us have a sundial on the patio, let alone carry oen around.
It was silly then and it would be silly now. If people wasn't to get up earlier in the summer they are welcome to do so. But why would we want the government enforcing a clock change on the whole population?
People are so childish about this. They can't possibly go to bed early and get up early themselves so they want the government to do it for them by stealth by changing the clocks in the middle of the night.
if they pick him they lose. Bigger than this year.
Doesn't it rather depend on how people feel in 2028?
If the Trump administration makes everyone richer, then no matter who the Democrats pick, then there's going to be another Republican in the White House.
While if tariffs result in significant inflation without appreciable job gains, then the Democrats could probably renominate Hillary and win.
They've made Elon richer already
CNN reported yesterday that since September Musk's estimated net worth has gone from $250bn to about $320bn. He is richer by $70bn, which is considerably more than the $44bn he paid for Twitter, and his ownership of Twitter is the main reason he is is now $70bn richer (coz it got Trump elected)
That makes his purchase of Twitter perhaps the cleverest purchase of all time; certainly one of the most profitable
And, ummm, how many votes does Elon have?
Like every election, 2028 will mostly come down to "do people feel better off than four years previously"?
Now, I'm sceptical that the tariffs plan will make Americans richer. But I could easily be wrong.
I've been watching Gary W. Gallagher, a prominent historian, and his Great Courses lecture series on the American Civil War recently. It's comprehensive 48-lecture course that covers the political, social, and military aspects of the war all recorded in the year 2000.
One thing he keeps saying in his lectures is how important it is not to apply the values and judgements of today to the people of the time, if we really want to understand what they did and why they did it, but to read what they actually said and actually did in the context of their own time. He does this repeatedly with analysis of the war, the roles played on the war front, home front, and civilian front and displays no judgement or bias in any analysis he delivers on any of it.
Struck me as what an utterly radical point of view that would be today, simple academic objectiveness, and how we truly have gone backwards.
Sorry, but that really is complete tosh. I've spent a lot of time listening to The Rest Is History podcasts by Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook recently (while exercising), and they repeatedly make exactly the same point.
I was taught that before CR was even born, I suspect.
Edit: in fact, thinking back, I learnt it at university in the 1970s when doing some extracurricular reading in the uni library.
I would put Harris 24 above Hillary, despite the worse result. The bad result for Harris wasn't her fault. It was inflation and Joe not stepping down sooner.
I think this is absolutely right: Harris was not a great candidate, but she was not as bad as Hillary.
Do you think Clinton would have lost to John McCain in 2008?
Yes. And I think she would have lost to Romney in 2012. And I'm certain she would have been defeated by Trump in 2016.
(Actually, maybe not. The reality is that the incumbent administration was very unpopular in 2008. Maybe even Hillary could have won then.)
Counterfactual time: either Clinton or McCain would have been much tougher on Russia than Obama was.
McCain would certainly have been tough when the chips were down.
Not obvious that any US President would have behaved much differently wrt Russia while comrade merkel was busily undermining european strategic resilience
I would be a strong advocate for the clocks going two hours forward in the summer.
I almost flagged that. Just no.
Get up earlier by setting your alarm earlier instead of having the government change everyone's clocks you lazy sod.
Noon is, on average, when the sun is at its highest. Why mess with that? Why move high noon to 2pm?
Schools, nurseries and most workplaces tend to finish at a certain time because that's when everyone else does. Unless you're retired you generally can't choose your own clock. Double summer would lead to longer evenings for most
I always found it hard to get my daughter to go to sleep in the height of summer, particularly if it was very hot. Easier to sleep if it's later and it has cooled off a bit, but the clock change makes that much harder.
I'd bet that if Britain moved to double summer time all that would happen is that the times things were open would gradually shift later, people would get up later and work later and there's be a push for school and nursery times to change to match.
The main reason people don't get up earlier in the summer is because they don't want to go to bed when it's still light. This would be the same with double summer time.
I would put Harris 24 above Hillary, despite the worse result. The bad result for Harris wasn't her fault. It was inflation and Joe not stepping down sooner.
I think this is absolutely right: Harris was not a great candidate, but she was not as bad as Hillary.
Do you think Clinton would have lost to John McCain in 2008?
Yes. And I think she would have lost to Romney in 2012. And I'm certain she would have been defeated by Trump in 2016.
(Actually, maybe not. The reality is that the incumbent administration was very unpopular in 2008. Maybe even Hillary could have won then.)
Counterfactual time: either Clinton or McCain would have been much tougher on Russia than Obama was.
McCain would certainly have been tough when the chips were down.
Not obvious that any US President would have behaved much differently wrt Russia while comrade merkel was busily undermining european strategic resilience
Obama was particularly in awe of Merkel.
Based on?
Her ability to carry off a bowl haircut and beige trousersuit?
I've been watching Gary W. Gallagher, a prominent historian, and his Great Courses lecture series on the American Civil War recently. It's comprehensive 48-lecture course that covers the political, social, and military aspects of the war all recorded in the year 2000.
One thing he keeps saying in his lectures is how important it is not to apply the values and judgements of today to the people of the time, if we really want to understand what they did and why they did it, but to read what they actually said and actually did in the context of their own time. He does this repeatedly with analysis of the war, the roles played on the war front, home front, and civilian front and displays no judgement or bias in any analysis he delivers on any of it.
Struck me as what an utterly radical point of view that would be today, simple academic objectiveness, and how we truly have gone backwards.
Sorry, but that really is complete tosh. I've spent a lot of time listening to The Rest Is History podcasts by Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook recently (while exercising), and they repeatedly make exactly the same point.
I was taught that before CR was even born, I suspect.
But to defend CR’s point, they may say it’s best to do that, but do they actually practice it? And the US Civil War is I think the best example of something only seen these days through modern eyes. Lincoln’s always seen as the saviour, who freed blacks from slavery. But he wanted them all deported back to Africa once freed, didn’t he? Like that’s no different than Trumps position. 🤷♀️
I wouldn't have a clue who Simon Russell Beale is..yet the Independent state he's "the greatest living stage actor of his generation" 🤔🥴
I like him - he was superb as Falstaff in the Hollow Crown series - but I think that honour defiently goes to Mark Rylance. I have seen him several times in Shakespeare productions and he is remarkable. I think he is probably the best actor in all fields of his generation.
Simon Russell Beale is certainly up there, if maybe not quite in the same league as Rylance. But if you're not into theatre, you might well not have seen him.
(He was also utterly brilliant as Beria in The Death of Stalin. A rare film gem from him.)
Quietly brilliant as an agent in the recent TV series about cancel culture with Hugh Bonneville.
I've been watching Gary W. Gallagher, a prominent historian, and his Great Courses lecture series on the American Civil War recently. It's comprehensive 48-lecture course that covers the political, social, and military aspects of the war all recorded in the year 2000.
One thing he keeps saying in his lectures is how important it is not to apply the values and judgements of today to the people of the time, if we really want to understand what they did and why they did it, but to read what they actually said and actually did in the context of their own time. He does this repeatedly with analysis of the war, the roles played on the war front, home front, and civilian front and displays no judgement or bias in any analysis he delivers on any of it.
Struck me as what an utterly radical point of view that would be today, simple academic objectiveness, and how we truly have gone backwards.
Sorry, but that really is complete tosh. I've spent a lot of time listening to The Rest Is History podcasts by Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook recently (while exercising), and they repeatedly make exactly the same point.
I was taught that before CR was even born, I suspect.
But to defend CR’s point, they may say it’s best to do that, but do they actually practice it? And the US Civil War is I think the best example of something only seen these days through modern eyes. Lincoln’s always seen as the saviour, who freed blacks from slavery. But he wanted them all deported back to Africa once freed, didn’t he? Like that’s no different than Trumps position. 🤷♀️
The quickest way to get sarcastic comment in writing history is to fail to practice that. It's a common problem in for instance retired doctors or scientists who have a very Whig (sensu Herbert Butterfield) mindset about their profession. The [edit] scathing reviews of those of their books which fall foul of that ...
There's, moreover, a difference between (a) getting into the mindset of, say, 1750, as a detached and independent observer, and (b) actively commemorating that today.
I would be a strong advocate for the clocks going two hours forward in the summer.
I almost flagged that. Just no.
Get up earlier by setting your alarm earlier instead of having the government change everyone's clocks you lazy sod.
Noon is, on average, when the sun is at its highest. Why mess with that? Why move high noon to 2pm?
They did it in the UK in WW2. To save on energy. 1941-45 and 1947, on checking.
TBF to Horse, not many of us have a sundial on the patio, let alone carry oen around.
It was silly then and it would be silly now. If people wasn't to get up earlier in the summer they are welcome to do so. But why would we want the government enforcing a clock change on the whole population?
People are so childish about this. They can't possibly go to bed early and get up early themselves so they want the government to do it for them by stealth by changing the clocks in the middle of the night.
I'm not commemorating or praising DST, just observing it, as a good historian!
I wouldn't have a clue who Simon Russell Beale is..yet the Independent state he's "the greatest living stage actor of his generation" 🤔🥴
I like him - he was superb as Falstaff in the Hollow Crown series - but I think that honour defiently goes to Mark Rylance. I have seen him several times in Shakespeare productions and he is remarkable. I think he is probably the best actor in all fields of his generation.
Simon Russell Beale is certainly up there, if maybe not quite in the same league as Rylance. But if you're not into theatre, you might well not have seen him.
(He was also utterly brilliant as Beria in The Death of Stalin. A rare film gem from him.)
BREAKING: The UK will scrap five warships, dozens of military helicopters and a fleet of drones to save money despite growing threats from Russia and a war raging in Europe. John Healey, the defence secretary, announced the dramatic move in parliament on Wednesday, saying it would save up to half a billion pounds over the next five years. The defence secretary described the equipment being axed as “outdated” and said the “common sense” decision to retire them was long overdue. He signalled the decision was part of a plan to restructure and modernise the armed forces, which have already been significantly reduced in size following decades of cost-saving cuts, with new capabilities due to come on line to replace the gaps.
I wouldn't have a clue who Simon Russell Beale is..yet the Independent state he's "the greatest living stage actor of his generation" 🤔🥴
I like him - he was superb as Falstaff in the Hollow Crown series - but I think that honour defiently goes to Mark Rylance. I have seen him several times in Shakespeare productions and he is remarkable. I think he is probably the best actor in all fields of his generation.
Agree. Just been watching Rylance in Wolf Hall and he is absolutely mesmerising in an apparently effortless way. I can't quite put my finger on why he's so good, but even when he's silent you can't take your eyes off him.
You actually have put your finger on it. His silence; a stillness that is utterly mesmerising.
I wouldn't have a clue who Simon Russell Beale is..yet the Independent state he's "the greatest living stage actor of his generation" 🤔🥴
I like him - he was superb as Falstaff in the Hollow Crown series - but I think that honour defiently goes to Mark Rylance. I have seen him several times in Shakespeare productions and he is remarkable. I think he is probably the best actor in all fields of his generation.
Simon Russell Beale is certainly up there, if maybe not quite in the same league as Rylance. But if you're not into theatre, you might well not have seen him.
(He was also utterly brilliant as Beria in The Death of Stalin. A rare film gem from him.)
Quietly brilliant as an agent in the recent TV series about cancel culture with Hugh Bonneville.
I wouldn't have a clue who Simon Russell Beale is..yet the Independent state he's "the greatest living stage actor of his generation" 🤔🥴
I like him - he was superb as Falstaff in the Hollow Crown series - but I think that honour defiently goes to Mark Rylance. I have seen him several times in Shakespeare productions and he is remarkable. I think he is probably the best actor in all fields of his generation.
Simon Russell Beale is certainly up there, if maybe not quite in the same league as Rylance. But if you're not into theatre, you might well not have seen him.
(He was also utterly brilliant as Beria in The Death of Stalin. A rare film gem from him.)
Quietly brilliant as an agent in the recent TV series about cancel culture with Hugh Bonneville.
BREAKING: The UK will scrap five warships, dozens of military helicopters and a fleet of drones to save money despite growing threats from Russia and a war raging in Europe. John Healey, the defence secretary, announced the dramatic move in parliament on Wednesday, saying it would save up to half a billion pounds over the next five years. The defence secretary described the equipment being axed as “outdated” and said the “common sense” decision to retire them was long overdue. He signalled the decision was part of a plan to restructure and modernise the armed forces, which have already been significantly reduced in size following decades of cost-saving cuts, with new capabilities due to come on line to replace the gaps.
We don't have five warships to scrap!
Do we have 5 that can be generously called warships for sake of a press release?
BREAKING: The UK will scrap five warships, dozens of military helicopters and a fleet of drones to save money despite growing threats from Russia and a war raging in Europe. John Healey, the defence secretary, announced the dramatic move in parliament on Wednesday, saying it would save up to half a billion pounds over the next five years. The defence secretary described the equipment being axed as “outdated” and said the “common sense” decision to retire them was long overdue. He signalled the decision was part of a plan to restructure and modernise the armed forces, which have already been significantly reduced in size following decades of cost-saving cuts, with new capabilities due to come on line to replace the gaps.
I wouldn't have a clue who Simon Russell Beale is..yet the Independent state he's "the greatest living stage actor of his generation" 🤔🥴
I like him - he was superb as Falstaff in the Hollow Crown series - but I think that honour defiently goes to Mark Rylance. I have seen him several times in Shakespeare productions and he is remarkable. I think he is probably the best actor in all fields of his generation.
Nah, the greatest living stage actor is Sir Patrick Stewart, Brian Blessed a close second.
When I feel it’s dark and I don’t like it, I’ve been watching Spanish series Love Is Forever and Luimelia to take my mind off it. Paula Usero is my new crush.
BREAKING: The UK will scrap five warships, dozens of military helicopters and a fleet of drones to save money despite growing threats from Russia and a war raging in Europe. John Healey, the defence secretary, announced the dramatic move in parliament on Wednesday, saying it would save up to half a billion pounds over the next five years. The defence secretary described the equipment being axed as “outdated” and said the “common sense” decision to retire them was long overdue. He signalled the decision was part of a plan to restructure and modernise the armed forces, which have already been significantly reduced in size following decades of cost-saving cuts, with new capabilities due to come on line to replace the gaps.
BREAKING: The UK will scrap five warships, dozens of military helicopters and a fleet of drones to save money despite growing threats from Russia and a war raging in Europe. John Healey, the defence secretary, announced the dramatic move in parliament on Wednesday, saying it would save up to half a billion pounds over the next five years. The defence secretary described the equipment being axed as “outdated” and said the “common sense” decision to retire them was long overdue. He signalled the decision was part of a plan to restructure and modernise the armed forces, which have already been significantly reduced in size following decades of cost-saving cuts, with new capabilities due to come on line to replace the gaps.
Doesn't seem very many. I know they are damn expensive, but still.
And how many work as desired?
My dad was at the Coronation Fleet Review at Spithead, 1953. Was recently sorting out his photos and found the pic of him in his best in front of the gun turret taken that day. 197 RN ships there on the spot, though a few were depot ships, FPBs and the like.
I wouldn't have a clue who Simon Russell Beale is..yet the Independent state he's "the greatest living stage actor of his generation" 🤔🥴
I like him - he was superb as Falstaff in the Hollow Crown series - but I think that honour defiently goes to Mark Rylance. I have seen him several times in Shakespeare productions and he is remarkable. I think he is probably the best actor in all fields of his generation.
Agree. Just been watching Rylance in Wolf Hall and he is absolutely mesmerising in an apparently effortless way. I can't quite put my finger on why he's so good, but even when he's silent you can't take your eyes off him.
You actually have put your finger on it. His silence; a stillness that is utterly mesmerising.
Is it any good?
I tried reading Wolf Hall and found the artificiality of Mantel's style insufferable. I guess that's not an issue with the film production, so maybe I should try it?
I wouldn't have a clue who Simon Russell Beale is..yet the Independent state he's "the greatest living stage actor of his generation" 🤔🥴
I like him - he was superb as Falstaff in the Hollow Crown series - but I think that honour defiently goes to Mark Rylance. I have seen him several times in Shakespeare productions and he is remarkable. I think he is probably the best actor in all fields of his generation.
Agree. Just been watching Rylance in Wolf Hall and he is absolutely mesmerising in an apparently effortless way. I can't quite put my finger on why he's so good, but even when he's silent you can't take your eyes off him.
You actually have put your finger on it. His silence; a stillness that is utterly mesmerising.
Is it any good?
I tried reading Wolf Hall and found the artificiality of Mantel's style insufferable. I guess that's not an issue with the film production, so maybe I should try it?
I really didn't get why everyone apparently raved over Wolf Hall. There are innumerable other novels set in the same period about the same things, it seem very standard in that way, and I found the characterisation lacking, so it wasn't even a stand out of the genre.
On topic, I like the idea of the opinion polling pause for a while before voting.
There’s something to be said for and against, which your header doesn’t do TSE. But voters minds shouldn’t be casting their votes based on what the polls are telling us the result will be, but casting votes based on the issues that matter to each voter, without thinking you know the result as distraction.
And would the ban and bit more not knowing what’s going on, not help the political betting, creating nicer odds?
I wouldn't have a clue who Simon Russell Beale is..yet the Independent state he's "the greatest living stage actor of his generation" 🤔🥴
I like him - he was superb as Falstaff in the Hollow Crown series - but I think that honour defiently goes to Mark Rylance. I have seen him several times in Shakespeare productions and he is remarkable. I think he is probably the best actor in all fields of his generation.
Nah, the greatest living stage actor is Sir Patrick Stewart, Brian Blessed a close second.
"And he piled upon the whale's white hump, the sum of all the rage and hate felt by his whole race. If his chest had been a cannon, he would have shot his heart upon it."
On topic, I like the idea of the opinion polling pause for a while before voting.
There’s something to be said for and against, which your header doesn’t do TSE. But voters minds shouldn’t be casting their votes based on what the polls are telling us the result will be, but casting votes based on the issues that matter to each voter, without thinking you know the result as distraction.
And would the ban and bit more not knowing what’s going on, not help the political betting, creating nicer odds?
Voters should be casting their vote for all sorts of reasons, yet won't. Nick Palmer I believe has told the story of someone saying they would vote for him as he was tall. We cannot control how people will come to their decision with that kind of desired precision.
I'm skeptical of how big an effect is from people changing their minds about how to vote because of what the polls might say anyway, feels like a post election justification.
Comments
And it is also fucking freezing
It was marginal at £40-50 billion.
It is an unbelievable waste of money at £100 billion.
They're indulging all their pet ideological fantasises and prejudices with no thought of what the real impact will be or what's right for the country.
Blair wouldn't have dreamed of behaving like this.
Up the workers! Right up up 'em!
I'm sure your friends wouldn't know anyone who fits into that category, now, would they.
Do tell us which champagne you ordered to toast the fine sans-culottes bravely voicing your feelings in a way you couldn’t as it is difficult to type whilst lunching with friends.
However it's max. 8mph, so no danger of serious damage to anyone.
Can I sell you a heavy lift rocket made out of Shuttle derived components?
I love taking Edith out in the dark on my days off and seeing the sun come up
It is, I grant you, a tad parky.
HOWEVER we should be massively ramping defence spending. This decision is probably right but the macro picture is very wrong.
And let’s not forget how much of this is the fault of the Tories too, who ran down defence. The worst of them were Cameron and Osborne who ran down defence whilst asking it to do more, risking lives.
This Government looks bad on defence, but it follows one with a dreadful record too. As a nation, we just don’t get it.
But I'm not in Camden
It's a junction in Nottingham City Centre being changed from a traffic island with traffic lights to a signalised T-junction.
You can see how the T-Junction running lanes have been added first, so that traffic flow is maintained. The increased landscaping, footways and mobility tracks will be built round it.
The junction is at one end of Maid Marian Way, which is a 4-6 lane dual carriageway built through Nottinghams ancient street pattern in the 1960s, splitting the city centre roughly 3/4:1/4 .
The traffic down Maid Marian way is 16k vehicles per day, down from 27k per day in approx 2003. One reason for that is that Nottingham built a tramway system in the early 2000s, which now carries around 50k passengers per day.
Source:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn4z811v18jo
Scheme:
https://www.transportnottingham.com/project/maid-marian-way-roundabout-improvements/
I've been watching Gary W. Gallagher, a prominent historian, and his Great Courses lecture series on the American Civil War recently. It's comprehensive 48-lecture course that covers the political, social, and military aspects of the war all recorded in the year 2000.
One thing he keeps saying in his lectures is how important it is not to apply the values and judgements of today to the people of the time, if we really want to understand what they did and why they did it, but to read what they actually said and actually did in the context of their own time. He does this repeatedly with analysis of the war, the roles played on the war front, home front, and civilian front and displays no judgement or bias in any analysis he delivers on any of it.
Struck me as what an utterly radical point of view that would be today, simple academic objectiveness, and how we truly have gone backwards.
If I'm in Nottingham it's usually tram and walk, car and walk, or train and Brompton
I know the area really well though, going back a .. very .. long time. I used to go down there to catch the bus from MOunt Street to go and do cross-country running torture in Wollaton Park when from age 11. Then I lived on Lenton Road in the Park for 6 months later.
The rest since then have been coronations by the party if we are being honest.
(Actually, maybe not. The reality is that the incumbent administration was very unpopular in 2008. Maybe even Hillary could have won then.)
2012: incumbent popular President, so no great surprise that he won.
2016: stitch up by Clinton.
2020: competitive process, but a total fuckup because Iowa didn't report a winner, leaving Sanders in place to win New Hampshire. Which meant the Dems were desperately searching for a moderate, and picked the really old guy.
2024: no contest, because Joe dropped out late in the process.
It's also worth remembering that tyre performance gets much worse below about 7C, unless they are all-season tyres.
As usual, there aren't firm figures, and the motor vehicles are probably a greater risk to a scooterer than he is to pedestrians.
However, there are KSIs every year. Here's a Telegraph piece from the good old days of 2022 which mentions both vehicle-scooterist and scooterist-pedestrian collision.
https://archive.ph/WL4rd
(I've no idea of a cycling collisions comparison as cycle / moped categories get blurred, but I won't tell IDS if he doesn't.)
Kemi Badenoch has put the finishing touches to her front bench team, and such are the depleted Conservative ranks that as a Tory MP, you had a better than one-in-two chance of getting a job.
Including Badenoch herself, 64 Tories are shadow ministers or whips, which is just under 53% of the total of 121 Conservatives in the Commons. The full front bench list is longer, but some people are named as both whips and junior ministers in departments.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2024/nov/20/farming-inheritance-tax-keir-starmer-angela-rayner-uk-politics-live
Kamala 226
2016: 62,984,828 (46.1%)
2020: 74,223,975 (46.8%)
2024: 76,674,170 (50.0%)
If the Trump administration makes everyone richer, then no matter who the Democrats pick, then there's going to be another Republican in the White House.
While if tariffs result in significant inflation without appreciable job gains, then the Democrats could probably renominate Hillary and win.
CNN reported yesterday that since September Musk's estimated net worth has gone from $250bn to about $320bn. He is richer by $70bn, which is considerably more than the $44bn he paid for Twitter, and his ownership of Twitter is the main reason he is is now $70bn richer (coz it got Trump elected)
That makes his purchase of Twitter perhaps the cleverest purchase of all time; certainly one of the most profitable
Get up earlier by setting your alarm earlier instead of having the government change everyone's clocks you lazy sod.
Noon is, on average, when the sun is at its highest. Why mess with that? Why move high noon to 2pm?
TBF to Horse, not many of us have a sundial on the patio, let alone carry oen around.
Double summer would lead to longer evenings for most
Always reliable and hard working. 👍🏻
(He was also utterly brilliant as Beria in The Death of Stalin. A rare film gem from him.)
A quote I came across. In the context of technology development and “standing on the shoulders of giants”
Sure, but it then makes one wonder why, exactly, everyone else standing on those same shoulders seems to insist on mining the armpits for gold instead of reaching for new heights. So to say.
People are so childish about this. They can't possibly go to bed early and get up early themselves so they want the government to do it for them by stealth by changing the clocks in the middle of the night.
Like every election, 2028 will mostly come down to "do people feel better off than four years previously"?
Now, I'm sceptical that the tariffs plan will make Americans richer. But I could easily be wrong.
I'd bet that if Britain moved to double summer time all that would happen is that the times things were open would gradually shift later, people would get up later and work later and there's be a push for school and nursery times to change to match.
The main reason people don't get up earlier in the summer is because they don't want to go to bed when it's still light. This would be the same with double summer time.
There's, moreover, a difference between (a) getting into the mindset of, say, 1750, as a detached and independent observer, and (b) actively commemorating that today.
4 Nuke Subs
2 Carriers
6 Destroyers
9 Frigates
2 Assault (Landing) ships
8 Offshore Patrol
total 37 major ships
What's it called?
And how many work as desired?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjtzSxVHcsA
51 Attack Subs
18 Nuke Subs
11 Carriers
9 Assault (Helicopter) Carriers
9 Cruisers
76 Destroyers
25 Frigates ("Littoral ships")
22 Assault (Landing) ships
37 Offshore patrol (inc. large Coast Guard cutters)
total 258 major warships
I tried reading Wolf Hall and found the artificiality of Mantel's style insufferable. I guess that's not an issue with the film production, so maybe I should try it?
There’s something to be said for and against, which your header doesn’t do TSE. But voters minds shouldn’t be casting their votes based on what the polls are telling us the result will be, but casting votes based on the issues that matter to each voter, without thinking you know the result as distraction.
And would the ban and bit more not knowing what’s going on, not help the political betting, creating nicer odds?
I'm skeptical of how big an effect is from people changing their minds about how to vote because of what the polls might say anyway, feels like a post election justification.