When do parties lie? – politicalbetting.com

TheScreamingEagles said:

boulay said:

DougSeal said:

Andy_JS said:

"Britain’s largest choir stop performing The Police’s ‘Every Breath You Take’ due to controversial lyrics and “impact of the narrative”. Comprising over 31,000 members across the UK, the Rock Choir has long performed the classic 1983 track but has now confirmed it will be removing it from the repertoire."

https://www.nme.com/news/music/britains-largest-choir-stop-performing-the-police-every-breath-you-take-3831072

It's about a stalker. It is an inherently creepy song.

One of Netflix’s most popular shows amongst women was “You” about a stalker. The song doesn’t glorify stalking.

Humans can often work out for themselves if they should stalk people because Sting sang about a stalker or if they shouldn’t - I was stalked by a woman and would hazard she didn’t do it because of a song.

There’s a very fine line between stalking and being romantic.

Was that your closing submission to the court right before you decided criminal law might not be for you?

The Soviets made a million of these between the end of WWII and 1980.
(And the Provos used one to shoot down an army helicopter back in the day.)

https://x.com/Osinttechnical/status/1883780521857298725

Foss said:

Sandpit said:

Foss said:

TimS said:

Carnyx said:

Foss said:

Eabhal said:

Spotted the council checking some damage on a tenement with a drone. What a fascinating modern age we live in.

Last time we had some roof work done I was able to provide drone shots of the issues. It cut down on confusion and made the whole thing so much easier

Ditto, for m-i-l's house (neighbour had a drone so it was free).

And same for a solar PV company doing us a quote for rooftop panels. A obvious thing to do in hindsight but I was still surprised and impressed when they got the drone out.

I got a small drone for Christmas about 5 years ago. It was so rubbish I couldn't even manage to keep it in the same field on a breezy day, and the photos were terrible. Put me off drones for years. Now I'm wishing I'd just got a more expensive one to start with.

The light drones (250g) have less regs around them. But they do get blown around more.

Yes the trick is to buy a decent one that’s 250g, something like DJI Mini. ($300)
https://store.dji.com/product/dji-mini-4k?from=store_homepage&vid=166281
The toy ones are uncontrollable outside on anything other than a dead calm day, and the heavier ones require formal training and licensing for commercial use.

The Mini is a nice drone - but the US has been talking about banning DJI and, if they do so, one has to wonder how long their western business has to live.

Yes you wouldn’t want to go mapping nuclear power stations with anything Chinese, but they won’t care too much about a little local domestic survey work. DJI could definitely get caught up in a political trade spat with the US though.

Taz said:

Nigelb said:

DougSeal said:

Andy_JS said:

"Britain’s largest choir stop performing The Police’s ‘Every Breath You Take’ due to controversial lyrics and “impact of the narrative”. Comprising over 31,000 members across the UK, the Rock Choir has long performed the classic 1983 track but has now confirmed it will be removing it from the repertoire."

https://www.nme.com/news/music/britains-largest-choir-stop-performing-the-police-every-breath-you-take-3831072

It's about a stalker. It is an inherently creepy song.

Innocent me thought it was all about democratic scrutiny...

There was an urban myth he wrote it about his first wife as they were divorcing at the time but that is not on any official account.

He moved onto another actress, Trudy Styler, and got into Tantric Love with 6 hour lovemaking sessions and the like. Takes all sorts i guess.

Not just an urban myth:

"“I think it’s a nasty little song, really rather evil. It’s about jealousy and surveillance and ownership,” Sting said in 1983. The Police frontman was speaking during a sold-out arena tour of the US. Thanks to the “nasty little song”, which had just spent two months at the top of the Billboard singles chart, the trio were acclaimed as the world’s biggest band. They were also on the verge of breaking up.

“Every Breath You Take”was written in 1982 when Sting was suffering what he called a “mental breakdown” amid the disintegration of his first marriage. It was a straightforward song by The Police’s standards: “generic” and “rule-obeying” in Sting’s words."

https://ig.ft.com/life-of-a-song/every-breath-you-take.html

TimS said:

boulay said:

DougSeal said:

Andy_JS said:

"Britain’s largest choir stop performing The Police’s ‘Every Breath You Take’ due to controversial lyrics and “impact of the narrative”. Comprising over 31,000 members across the UK, the Rock Choir has long performed the classic 1983 track but has now confirmed it will be removing it from the repertoire."

https://www.nme.com/news/music/britains-largest-choir-stop-performing-the-police-every-breath-you-take-3831072

It's about a stalker. It is an inherently creepy song.

One of Netflix’s most popular shows amongst women was “You” about a stalker. The song doesn’t glorify stalking.

Humans can often work out for themselves if they should stalk people because Sting sang about a stalker or if they shouldn’t - I was stalked by a woman and would hazard she didn’t do it because of a song.

I was also stalked by a woman. Mercifully briefly, and she backed off when I laid down the law. But it was unnerving while it happened.

Mine lasted just over a year with her telling people we were in a relationship, even contacting my Facebook friends and introducing herself as my fiance, turning up at my home in the middle of the night.

It only stopped when I had been seeing someone for about a month and she realised it was pointless I guess.

On topic, beyond the obvious - the most notable right-wing populist is someone who even some of his supporters admit is a habitual liar, so he and his party may 'Spiders Georg' the figures and plus others emulate him. This could be because populist politics is more vibe and 'feeling' based than centrist politics - which aims to be and values more technocratic and fact-based politics - even when it gets it wrong.

That can have its advantages - emotion is an important part of politics, as we found out in the Brexit Referendum when an emotional appeal defeated a technocratic one. But it's also led to some really dangerous radicalisation as social media favours the sharing of extreme views and claims as if you're going on vibes and emotion one is less likely to check your change when something chimes with your gut feeling.

That's of course not to say others are immune - look at FBPE or the Corbynites - but the modern right appears to be much more vibe-based and work back from there than it was even 10 years ago.

Taz said:

Nigelb said:

DougSeal said:

Andy_JS said:

"Britain’s largest choir stop performing The Police’s ‘Every Breath You Take’ due to controversial lyrics and “impact of the narrative”. Comprising over 31,000 members across the UK, the Rock Choir has long performed the classic 1983 track but has now confirmed it will be removing it from the repertoire."

https://www.nme.com/news/music/britains-largest-choir-stop-performing-the-police-every-breath-you-take-3831072

It's about a stalker. It is an inherently creepy song.

Innocent me thought it was all about democratic scrutiny...

There was an urban myth he wrote it about his first wife as they were divorcing at the time but that is not on any official account.

He moved onto another actress, Trudy Styler, and got into Tantric Love with 6 hour lovemaking sessions and the like. Takes all sorts i guess.

Allegedly that was a mis-hearing of 'frantic sex', but he liked the new version so much it stuck.

Apropos of nothing I was gobsmacked to meet Sting one day while walking with my parents - gobsmacked because dad (a) knew who he was but more importantly (b) Sting knew who my dad was. At the time dad was in charge of the police where Sting lives and had been involved in the security arrangements for an event at the house.
You rarely expect your dad to know A list musicians.

Nigelb said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Sunil_Prasannan said:

I misread the title of the previous thread as "Is Nigel Farage far right?"

That was not my intention.

I would never use headlines that could be considered clickbait.

It could have been How Far is Farage Right ?

Surely with Nigel Farage far is in the middle (or on the left if you don’t use his first name).

boulay said:

TimS said:

boulay said:

DougSeal said:

Andy_JS said:

"Britain’s largest choir stop performing The Police’s ‘Every Breath You Take’ due to controversial lyrics and “impact of the narrative”. Comprising over 31,000 members across the UK, the Rock Choir has long performed the classic 1983 track but has now confirmed it will be removing it from the repertoire."

https://www.nme.com/news/music/britains-largest-choir-stop-performing-the-police-every-breath-you-take-3831072

It's about a stalker. It is an inherently creepy song.

One of Netflix’s most popular shows amongst women was “You” about a stalker. The song doesn’t glorify stalking.

Humans can often work out for themselves if they should stalk people because Sting sang about a stalker or if they shouldn’t - I was stalked by a woman and would hazard she didn’t do it because of a song.

I was also stalked by a woman. Mercifully briefly, and she backed off when I laid down the law. But it was unnerving while it happened.

Mine lasted just over a year with her telling people we were in a relationship, even contacting my Facebook friends and introducing herself as my fiance, turning up at my home in the middle of the night.

It only stopped when I had been seeing someone for about a month and she realised it was pointless I guess.

Yuck. The Baby Reindeer timeline.

TimS said:

DougSeal said:

Andy_JS said:

"Britain’s largest choir stop performing The Police’s ‘Every Breath You Take’ due to controversial lyrics and “impact of the narrative”. Comprising over 31,000 members across the UK, the Rock Choir has long performed the classic 1983 track but has now confirmed it will be removing it from the repertoire."

https://www.nme.com/news/music/britains-largest-choir-stop-performing-the-police-every-breath-you-take-3831072

It's about a stalker. It is an inherently creepy song.

I don't understand why Sting is so defensive about the lyrics. They're what make it such a powerful song. Writing creepy lyrics like that doesn't mean he's a stalker anymore than Bruce Dickinson actually wants to send his daughter to the slaughter or Jenrick-lookalike Brandon Flowers wants to murder his girlfriend in Midnight Show.

Much less pressure was exerted on Prodigy - though I think they withdrew the original video to “Smack My Bitch Up”.

Sean_F said:

turbotubbs said:

Sean_F said:

JosiasJessop said:

"The seven members of one of Scotland's biggest child sex abuse rings have been given life-long sentences and warned that they may never be released."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2dxj570n21o

They actually look like orcs.

I suspect few of us look our best in police mug shots but I'm starting to wonder if AI couldn't learn to pick out wrong 'uns just from their obviously guilty faces.

So many paedos look like caricatures of paedos. People of obviously low intelligence, hideously ugly, and devoid of morals.

This tendency to judge character from appearance is why some of us choose not to have a profile picture

DougSeal said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

boulay said:

DougSeal said:

Andy_JS said:

"Britain’s largest choir stop performing The Police’s ‘Every Breath You Take’ due to controversial lyrics and “impact of the narrative”. Comprising over 31,000 members across the UK, the Rock Choir has long performed the classic 1983 track but has now confirmed it will be removing it from the repertoire."

https://www.nme.com/news/music/britains-largest-choir-stop-performing-the-police-every-breath-you-take-3831072

It's about a stalker. It is an inherently creepy song.

One of Netflix’s most popular shows amongst women was “You” about a stalker. The song doesn’t glorify stalking.

Humans can often work out for themselves if they should stalk people because Sting sang about a stalker or if they shouldn’t - I was stalked by a woman and would hazard she didn’t do it because of a song.

There’s a very fine line between stalking and being romantic.

Was that your closing submission to the court right before you decided criminal law might not be for you?

Indeed.

I know this will come as a galloping shock to all of you, but I am not very subtle, so the first time I fell in love, everyone else knew, except me.

People found my geeky innocence endearing.

bondegezou said:

Taz said:

Pulpstar said:

Andy_JS said:

"Britain’s largest choir stop performing The Police’s ‘Every Breath You Take’ due to controversial lyrics and “impact of the narrative”. Comprising over 31,000 members across the UK, the Rock Choir has long performed the classic 1983 track but has now confirmed it will be removing it from the repertoire."

https://www.nme.com/news/music/britains-largest-choir-stop-performing-the-police-every-breath-you-take-3831072

Remember Delilah getting cancelled a couple of years back.

The Stones "Under My Thumb" has been considered problematic too.

Or The Beatles' "Run for Your Life".

Of all the ones mentioned I think the one that's actually most problematic is Baby it's Cold Outside. The others don't hide the fact they are about control or violence and aren't condoning it. Whereas that one's intended to be a cheerful, homely song celebrating some really quite controlling behaviour as if it's just being romantic.

Sandpit said:

DougSeal said:

Sandpit said:

Andy_JS said:

"Britain’s largest choir stop performing The Police’s ‘Every Breath You Take’ due to controversial lyrics and “impact of the narrative”. Comprising over 31,000 members across the UK, the Rock Choir has long performed the classic 1983 track but has now confirmed it will be removing it from the repertoire."

https://www.nme.com/news/music/britains-largest-choir-stop-performing-the-police-every-breath-you-take-3831072

A song more famous among the younger generations for being covered by the artist formerly known as Diddy.

"Younger generations"? Well, technically speaking I suppose...but it came out 28 years ago. "I'll be Missing You" by Puff Daddy is far closer in time (14 years) to "Every Breath You Take" than it is to us (28 years)...

Well that’s me feeling old for the day!

Nothing will ever top when your colleagues say to you ‘guys your age’ when talking about Oasis.

bondegezou said:

Taz said:

Pulpstar said:

Andy_JS said:

"Britain’s largest choir stop performing The Police’s ‘Every Breath You Take’ due to controversial lyrics and “impact of the narrative”. Comprising over 31,000 members across the UK, the Rock Choir has long performed the classic 1983 track but has now confirmed it will be removing it from the repertoire."

https://www.nme.com/news/music/britains-largest-choir-stop-performing-the-police-every-breath-you-take-3831072

Remember Delilah getting cancelled a couple of years back.

The Stones "Under My Thumb" has been considered problematic too.

Or The Beatles' "Run for Your Life".

Cliff Richard's "Living Doll"?

...gonna lock her up in trunk, so no big hunk...

turbotubbs said:

Taz said:

Nigelb said:

DougSeal said:

Andy_JS said:

"Britain’s largest choir stop performing The Police’s ‘Every Breath You Take’ due to controversial lyrics and “impact of the narrative”. Comprising over 31,000 members across the UK, the Rock Choir has long performed the classic 1983 track but has now confirmed it will be removing it from the repertoire."

https://www.nme.com/news/music/britains-largest-choir-stop-performing-the-police-every-breath-you-take-3831072

It's about a stalker. It is an inherently creepy song.

Innocent me thought it was all about democratic scrutiny...

There was an urban myth he wrote it about his first wife as they were divorcing at the time but that is not on any official account.

He moved onto another actress, Trudy Styler, and got into Tantric Love with 6 hour lovemaking sessions and the like. Takes all sorts i guess.

Allegedly that was a mis-hearing of 'frantic sex', but he liked the new version so much it stuck.

Apropos of nothing I was gobsmacked to meet Sting one day while walking with my parents - gobsmacked because dad (a) knew who he was but more importantly (b) Sting knew who my dad was. At the time dad was in charge of the police where Sting lives and had been involved in the security arrangements for an event at the house.
You rarely expect your dad to know A list musicians.

I am sure there is a gag there about your Dad knowing Sting and being in the Police by my gag writing ability is sadly deficient to make it.

Great story and a true A List musician as well.

Sting has not forgotten his roots either and still does stuff for the North East quite regularly.

Omfg CONCLAVE is fucking ludicrous


Are they really gonna give it the Oscar?!


“Yes eet eez true. Ze holy father ‘e knew I ‘ave seven penises”

bondegezou said:

Taz said:

Pulpstar said:

Andy_JS said:

"Britain’s largest choir stop performing The Police’s ‘Every Breath You Take’ due to controversial lyrics and “impact of the narrative”. Comprising over 31,000 members across the UK, the Rock Choir has long performed the classic 1983 track but has now confirmed it will be removing it from the repertoire."

https://www.nme.com/news/music/britains-largest-choir-stop-performing-the-police-every-breath-you-take-3831072

Remember Delilah getting cancelled a couple of years back.

The Stones "Under My Thumb" has been considered problematic too.

Or The Beatles' "Run for Your Life".

Never heard of it so had a google. The first couple of lines pull no punches. It sets the tone somewhat.

"Well, I'd rather see you dead, little girl
Than to be with another man"

FeersumEnjineeya said:

bondegezou said:

Taz said:

Pulpstar said:

Andy_JS said:

"Britain’s largest choir stop performing The Police’s ‘Every Breath You Take’ due to controversial lyrics and “impact of the narrative”. Comprising over 31,000 members across the UK, the Rock Choir has long performed the classic 1983 track but has now confirmed it will be removing it from the repertoire."

https://www.nme.com/news/music/britains-largest-choir-stop-performing-the-police-every-breath-you-take-3831072

Remember Delilah getting cancelled a couple of years back.

The Stones "Under My Thumb" has been considered problematic too.

Or The Beatles' "Run for Your Life".

Cliff Richard's "Living Doll"?

...gonna lock her up in trunk, so no big hunk...

Of course there's the whimsical little ditty "Smack up my Bitch" by The Prodigy which had many bans as well.

Leon said:

Omfg CONCLAVE is fucking ludicrous


Are they really gonna give it the Oscar?!


“Yes eet eez true. Ze holy father ‘e knew I ‘ave seven penises”

Saw it a couple of weeks ago. The first half was quite good in terms of atmosphere.

TheScreamingEagles said:

Where do we stand on ‘I Touch Myself’ by The Divinyls?

Probably prefer to lie down at the time to be honest.

Although tame stuff compared to a little know female band called Rockbitch.

eek said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

rcs1000 said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

On topic, this from Robert Jenrick has really annoyed me.



https://x.com/RobertJenrick/status/1882684767742951702

Are you suggesting that not all the problems in the criminal justice system are due to the new Labour administration?

Look, I give Starmer until this July.

The solution is easy, as with most things, he needs to hire more (well remunerated) lawyers to fix the problems.

That’s only part of the problem - he also needs to get the courts open every day. Currently a lot only work part time due to lack of judges (and a host of other issues).

Goodness me, you are surely not suggesting that *professionals* should work weekends? Whatever next? Perhaps you might also suggest something as outrageous as hospital consultants should work weekends, or maybe something even more morally abominable that they shouldn't be able do private work on the sly when they are meant to be working for the NHS?

Whatever would the world come to if highly paid (and super superannuated) public "servants" had to work at weekends. Preposterous!

viewcode said:

Andy_JS said:

"Britain’s largest choir stop performing The Police’s ‘Every Breath You Take’ due to controversial lyrics and “impact of the narrative”. Comprising over 31,000 members across the UK, the Rock Choir has long performed the classic 1983 track but has now confirmed it will be removing it from the repertoire."

https://www.nme.com/news/music/britains-largest-choir-stop-performing-the-police-every-breath-you-take-3831072

#pbfreespeech. Or possibly #pbfreesong in this case.

I always thought it was based on a commentary from a respiratory specialist in A&E.

Taz said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Where do we stand on ‘I Touch Myself’ by The Divinyls?

Probably prefer to lie down at the time to be honest.

Although tame stuff compared to a little know female band called Rockbitch.

I prefer this cover, as used in the opening episode of season 2 of Sex Education.

https://youtu.be/uZ5VNXIiv1c?si=auxSsn6OBjgGx82_

Leon said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Where do we stand on ‘I Touch Myself’ by The Divinyls?

GREAT song. i once wrote an entire article about the brilliant cover version by Scala, the Choir of Belgian Virgins

Spooky, see my post one minute before yours.

Taz said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Where do we stand on ‘I Touch Myself’ by The Divinyls?

Probably prefer to lie down at the time to be honest.

Although tame stuff compared to a little know female band called Rockbitch.

Try l7 a female band that used to raffle off one of the band members to the audience for a night of fun

DougSeal said:

Nigel_Foremain said:

eek said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

rcs1000 said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

On topic, this from Robert Jenrick has really annoyed me.



https://x.com/RobertJenrick/status/1882684767742951702

Are you suggesting that not all the problems in the criminal justice system are due to the new Labour administration?

Look, I give Starmer until this July.

The solution is easy, as with most things, he needs to hire more (well remunerated) lawyers to fix the problems.

That’s only part of the problem - he also needs to get the courts open every day. Currently a lot only work part time due to lack of judges (and a host of other issues).

Goodness me, you are surely not suggesting that *professionals* should work weekends? Whatever next? Perhaps you might also suggest something as outrageous as hospital consultants should work weekends, or maybe something even more morally abominable that they shouldn't be able do private work on the sly when they are meant to be working for the NHS?

Whatever would the world come to if highly paid (and super superannuated) public "servants" had to work at weekends. Preposterous!

Funny you should say that. TMI perhaps but I needed my ears vacuumed out this weekend - I had the flu lurgy earlier this month and my ears had been backed up ever since. Thought it too good to be true but found an independent audiologist who did Sunday morning appointments to compete with Specsavers et al and...I'm not exactly sure where I was going with this anecdote so ignore it. She did a great job though.

I keep being asked if I want to be an employment tribunal judge. They are that desperate.

I believe it will take two years to get an employment tribunal to take place, and then some considerable period before adjudication. Pretty crap if you are an employee who has been wronged or, on the other hand, a company that has had a vexatious case brought against them.

Sunil_Prasannan said:

DougSeal said:

Sandpit said:

Andy_JS said:

"Britain’s largest choir stop performing The Police’s ‘Every Breath You Take’ due to controversial lyrics and “impact of the narrative”. Comprising over 31,000 members across the UK, the Rock Choir has long performed the classic 1983 track but has now confirmed it will be removing it from the repertoire."

https://www.nme.com/news/music/britains-largest-choir-stop-performing-the-police-every-breath-you-take-3831072

A song more famous among the younger generations for being covered by the artist formerly known as Diddy.

"Younger generations"? Well, technically speaking I suppose...but it came out 28 years ago. "I'll be Missing You" by Puff Daddy is far closer in time (14 years) to "Every Breath You Take" than it is to us (28 years)...

The Falklands War is closer in time to WW2 than it is to us.

What will really trouble you is that we're less than two and a half years from 'Aliens' being closer to WW2 than now...

Andy_JS said:

Leon said:

Omfg CONCLAVE is fucking ludicrous


Are they really gonna give it the Oscar?!


“Yes eet eez true. Ze holy father ‘e knew I ‘ave seven penises”

Saw it a couple of weeks ago. The first half was quite good in terms of atmosphere.

Andy_JS said:

Leon said:

Omfg CONCLAVE is fucking ludicrous


Are they really gonna give it the Oscar?!


“Yes eet eez true. Ze holy father ‘e knew I ‘ave seven penises”

Saw it a couple of weeks ago. The first half was quite good in terms of atmosphere.

It’s a really weird movie. The cinematography is superb, the acting is excellent, the soundtrack is good - but the plot and the script get increasingly turgid and then risible and by the end it devolves into a bizarre and comical puddle of silly woke nonsense

It’s been nommed for EIGHT Oscars which is not a sign of a healthy film industry. BAD

Carnyx said:

DougSeal said:

Nigel_Foremain said:

eek said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

rcs1000 said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

On topic, this from Robert Jenrick has really annoyed me.



https://x.com/RobertJenrick/status/1882684767742951702

Are you suggesting that not all the problems in the criminal justice system are due to the new Labour administration?

Look, I give Starmer until this July.

The solution is easy, as with most things, he needs to hire more (well remunerated) lawyers to fix the problems.

That’s only part of the problem - he also needs to get the courts open every day. Currently a lot only work part time due to lack of judges (and a host of other issues).

Goodness me, you are surely not suggesting that *professionals* should work weekends? Whatever next? Perhaps you might also suggest something as outrageous as hospital consultants should work weekends, or maybe something even more morally abominable that they shouldn't be able do private work on the sly when they are meant to be working for the NHS?

Whatever would the world come to if highly paid (and super superannuated) public "servants" had to work at weekends. Preposterous!

Funny you should say that. TMI perhaps but I needed my ears vacuumed out this weekend - I had the flu lurgy earlier this month and my ears had been backed up ever since. Thought it too good to be true but found an independent audiologist who did Sunday morning appointments to compete with Specsavers et al and...I'm not exactly sure where I was going with this anecdote so ignore it. She did a great job though.

I keep being asked if I want to be an employment tribunal judge. They are that desperate.

Last time I went to a hospital outpatient it was on a Saturday, which I didn't ask for (but was great as I was meeting friends later for lunch). And that was 2-3 years ago. And that was a real live specialist, not some imitation cheapo whatever they are called non-doctor folk.

So the folk NF is berating for not working on Saturdays do work on Saturdays. Some of them, anyway.

+1 - round here urgent referrals is a 7 day a week operation from 9am to roughly midnight. Mrs Eek was treated by them on a Friday evening, discharged at Saturday lunchtime and we visited them early for the following 2 weeks for dressings to be changed as the local district nurses were busy...

Nigel_Foremain said:

DougSeal said:

Nigel_Foremain said:

eek said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

rcs1000 said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

On topic, this from Robert Jenrick has really annoyed me.



https://x.com/RobertJenrick/status/1882684767742951702

Are you suggesting that not all the problems in the criminal justice system are due to the new Labour administration?

Look, I give Starmer until this July.

The solution is easy, as with most things, he needs to hire more (well remunerated) lawyers to fix the problems.

That’s only part of the problem - he also needs to get the courts open every day. Currently a lot only work part time due to lack of judges (and a host of other issues).

Goodness me, you are surely not suggesting that *professionals* should work weekends? Whatever next? Perhaps you might also suggest something as outrageous as hospital consultants should work weekends, or maybe something even more morally abominable that they shouldn't be able do private work on the sly when they are meant to be working for the NHS?

Whatever would the world come to if highly paid (and super superannuated) public "servants" had to work at weekends. Preposterous!

Funny you should say that. TMI perhaps but I needed my ears vacuumed out this weekend - I had the flu lurgy earlier this month and my ears had been backed up ever since. Thought it too good to be true but found an independent audiologist who did Sunday morning appointments to compete with Specsavers et al and...I'm not exactly sure where I was going with this anecdote so ignore it. She did a great job though.

I keep being asked if I want to be an employment tribunal judge. They are that desperate.

I believe it will take two years to get an employment tribunal to take place, and then some considerable period before adjudication. Pretty crap if you are an employee who has been wronged or, on the other hand, a company that has had a vexatious case brought against them.

Those of us who are F1 fans are well aware of the employment tribunal queue. It’s at least one year so far.

TheScreamingEagles said:

Where do we stand on ‘I Touch Myself’ by The Divinyls?

I just googled/youtubed it. Apologies I need clarification. Is it:

a) a classic example of female empowerment; or

b) soft porn for the Spectator-reading cavalry-twill-wearing aged retired colonel demographic.

tia

TheScreamingEagles said:

On topic, this from Robert Jenrick has really annoyed me.



https://x.com/RobertJenrick/status/1882684767742951702

A Cambridge-educated lawyer repeatedly saying courtrooms rather than courts – enough to drive anyone up the Rumpole. Can someone ask this new Chinese AI machine who was running the country while this appalling state of affairs unfolded.

TOPPING said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Where do we stand on ‘I Touch Myself’ by The Divinyls?

I just googled/youtubed it. Apologies I need clarification. Is it:

a) a classic example of female empowerment; or

b) soft porn for the Spectator-reading cavalry-twill-wearing aged retired colonel demographic.

tia

I was just reading about it on Wiki. Tinged with Sadness as one of the writers of it died of Breast Cancer and after she died the "I Touch Myself" project was created to raise awareness of this sad condition which can also affect men albeit proportionally far fewer. I used to work with a chap who had suffered from it too

Taz said:

boulay said:

Taz said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Where do we stand on ‘I Touch Myself’ by The Divinyls?

Probably prefer to lie down at the time to be honest.

Although tame stuff compared to a little know female band called Rockbitch.

Tame compared to mainstream stuff too - Guess by Charli XCX/Billie Eilish makes I Touch Myself seem quite prudish really.

As this comic act shows rather well

https://youtu.be/7nzYGZXKBYY

That’s brilliant!

Sandpit said:

If you’re in the UK, the International Space Station is 14 minutes away from being directly overhead.

https://x.com/astro_timpeake/status/1883913400637411433

I saw it, man! Passed not far from, and almost as bright as Jupiter! Thanks for the heads up!

Yes the populist right are close to monopoly market leaders in lies and misinformation. The study is correct. We need to find a way to counter it. This will mean ignoring their disingenuous whining about "free speech".

Sandpit said:

sarissa said:

viewcode said:

Gold prices over time. Note to teenaged self: buy gold

https://www.chards.co.uk/gold-price/gold-price-history

now adjust for inflation:
https://www.macrotrends.net/1333/historical-gold-prices-100-year-chart

If you’d bought gold 25 years ago, at the turn of the century, you’d now be at 5x your initial investment in real terms.

Yes, Tesla, Apple, or NVidia have done better, but it beats the bank account and the S&P tracker.

Lots of gold in Greenland, coincidentally.

Inside the race for Greenland's mineral wealth
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9d5jwvw9nlo

DeepSeek under cyber attack after sending Nvidia down nearly 20% on the stock price today

Nigel_Foremain said:

eek said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

rcs1000 said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

On topic, this from Robert Jenrick has really annoyed me.



https://x.com/RobertJenrick/status/1882684767742951702

Are you suggesting that not all the problems in the criminal justice system are due to the new Labour administration?

Look, I give Starmer until this July.

The solution is easy, as with most things, he needs to hire more (well remunerated) lawyers to fix the problems.

That’s only part of the problem - he also needs to get the courts open every day. Currently a lot only work part time due to lack of judges (and a host of other issues).

Goodness me, you are surely not suggesting that *professionals* should work weekends? Whatever next? Perhaps you might also suggest something as outrageous as hospital consultants should work weekends, or maybe something even more morally abominable that they shouldn't be able do private work on the sly when they are meant to be working for the NHS?

Whatever would the world come to if highly paid (and super superannuated) public "servants" had to work at weekends. Preposterous!

At my local hospital, weekend clinics (including Sundays) have been a thing for years.

Will anyone on the board be buying their local WH Smiths? I might put a bid in for the one in Canterbury where I spent a lot of the mid to late Eighties in the record department after school.

eek said:

TOPPING said:

eek said:

Carnyx said:

DougSeal said:

Nigel_Foremain said:

eek said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

rcs1000 said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

On topic, this from Robert Jenrick has really annoyed me.



https://x.com/RobertJenrick/status/1882684767742951702

Are you suggesting that not all the problems in the criminal justice system are due to the new Labour administration?

Look, I give Starmer until this July.

The solution is easy, as with most things, he needs to hire more (well remunerated) lawyers to fix the problems.

That’s only part of the problem - he also needs to get the courts open every day. Currently a lot only work part time due to lack of judges (and a host of other issues).

Goodness me, you are surely not suggesting that *professionals* should work weekends? Whatever next? Perhaps you might also suggest something as outrageous as hospital consultants should work weekends, or maybe something even more morally abominable that they shouldn't be able do private work on the sly when they are meant to be working for the NHS?

Whatever would the world come to if highly paid (and super superannuated) public "servants" had to work at weekends. Preposterous!

Funny you should say that. TMI perhaps but I needed my ears vacuumed out this weekend - I had the flu lurgy earlier this month and my ears had been backed up ever since. Thought it too good to be true but found an independent audiologist who did Sunday morning appointments to compete with Specsavers et al and...I'm not exactly sure where I was going with this anecdote so ignore it. She did a great job though.

I keep being asked if I want to be an employment tribunal judge. They are that desperate.

Last time I went to a hospital outpatient it was on a Saturday, which I didn't ask for (but was great as I was meeting friends later for lunch). And that was 2-3 years ago. And that was a real live specialist, not some imitation cheapo whatever they are called non-doctor folk.

So the folk NF is berating for not working on Saturdays do work on Saturdays. Some of them, anyway.

+1 - round here urgent referrals is a 7 day a week operation from 9am to roughly midnight. Mrs Eek was treated by them on a Friday evening, discharged at Saturday lunchtime and we visited them early for the following 2 weeks for dressings to be changed as the local district nurses were busy...

Conversely, if you go in to hospital for treatment as an in-patient and they wrap up whatever they were treating you for on a Weds/Thurs you will stay in the hospital until Monday at the earliest because no one will be there to fill your prescriptions or discharge you.

So there is that.

Not where I live, you will be out the door that day...

Pharmacy is open every day of the week and where that isn't the case the prescription can be sorted at my local pharmacy that is open late 7 days a week.

Live up north it's great living in an area where people can afford to own a house...

Sounds ghastly.

Plus I'm sure you're right about people being discharged on time before or over the weekend absodoodle-doo.

DougSeal said:

Will anyone on the board be buying their local WH Smiths? I might put a bid in for the one in Canterbury where I spent a lot of the mid to late Eighties in the record department after school.

Surprised to see Ilford's WH Smith has rebranded its toy section to "Toys R Us", using the original logo!

I thought the latter went bust in 2018!

If the AI bubble is bursting over in the US it does make listing in London much more attractive again because valuations for companies will naturally get closer as money from AI shifts into other industries that's less risky and London is a fairly low risk market.

TimS said:

rcs1000 said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

On topic, this from Robert Jenrick has really annoyed me.



https://x.com/RobertJenrick/status/1882684767742951702

Are you suggesting that not all the problems in the criminal justice system are due to the new Labour administration?

Jenrick. He's got soul but he's not a soldier.

As shown by all the things that he has done.

TOPPING said:

eek said:

TOPPING said:

eek said:

Carnyx said:

DougSeal said:

Nigel_Foremain said:

eek said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

rcs1000 said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

On topic, this from Robert Jenrick has really annoyed me.



https://x.com/RobertJenrick/status/1882684767742951702

Are you suggesting that not all the problems in the criminal justice system are due to the new Labour administration?

Look, I give Starmer until this July.

The solution is easy, as with most things, he needs to hire more (well remunerated) lawyers to fix the problems.

That’s only part of the problem - he also needs to get the courts open every day. Currently a lot only work part time due to lack of judges (and a host of other issues).

Goodness me, you are surely not suggesting that *professionals* should work weekends? Whatever next? Perhaps you might also suggest something as outrageous as hospital consultants should work weekends, or maybe something even more morally abominable that they shouldn't be able do private work on the sly when they are meant to be working for the NHS?

Whatever would the world come to if highly paid (and super superannuated) public "servants" had to work at weekends. Preposterous!

Funny you should say that. TMI perhaps but I needed my ears vacuumed out this weekend - I had the flu lurgy earlier this month and my ears had been backed up ever since. Thought it too good to be true but found an independent audiologist who did Sunday morning appointments to compete with Specsavers et al and...I'm not exactly sure where I was going with this anecdote so ignore it. She did a great job though.

I keep being asked if I want to be an employment tribunal judge. They are that desperate.

Last time I went to a hospital outpatient it was on a Saturday, which I didn't ask for (but was great as I was meeting friends later for lunch). And that was 2-3 years ago. And that was a real live specialist, not some imitation cheapo whatever they are called non-doctor folk.

So the folk NF is berating for not working on Saturdays do work on Saturdays. Some of them, anyway.

+1 - round here urgent referrals is a 7 day a week operation from 9am to roughly midnight. Mrs Eek was treated by them on a Friday evening, discharged at Saturday lunchtime and we visited them early for the following 2 weeks for dressings to be changed as the local district nurses were busy...

Conversely, if you go in to hospital for treatment as an in-patient and they wrap up whatever they were treating you for on a Weds/Thurs you will stay in the hospital until Monday at the earliest because no one will be there to fill your prescriptions or discharge you.

So there is that.

Not where I live, you will be out the door that day...

Pharmacy is open every day of the week and where that isn't the case the prescription can be sorted at my local pharmacy that is open late 7 days a week.

Live up north it's great living in an area where people can afford to own a house...

Sounds ghastly.

Plus I'm sure you're right about people being discharged on time before or over the weekend absodoodle-doo.

I know 4 people who have been in hospital over the past 2 years

Discharge days were Saturday, Sunday, Sunday and Saturday,

I remember the first Sunday one as they decided to discharge after the local pharmacy was closed so we had to wait until the hospital Pharmacist returned from getting her tea to get 2 days supply of some epilepsy drugs

eek said:

TOPPING said:

eek said:

TOPPING said:

eek said:

Carnyx said:

DougSeal said:

Nigel_Foremain said:

eek said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

rcs1000 said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

On topic, this from Robert Jenrick has really annoyed me.



https://x.com/RobertJenrick/status/1882684767742951702

Are you suggesting that not all the problems in the criminal justice system are due to the new Labour administration?

Look, I give Starmer until this July.

The solution is easy, as with most things, he needs to hire more (well remunerated) lawyers to fix the problems.

That’s only part of the problem - he also needs to get the courts open every day. Currently a lot only work part time due to lack of judges (and a host of other issues).

Goodness me, you are surely not suggesting that *professionals* should work weekends? Whatever next? Perhaps you might also suggest something as outrageous as hospital consultants should work weekends, or maybe something even more morally abominable that they shouldn't be able do private work on the sly when they are meant to be working for the NHS?

Whatever would the world come to if highly paid (and super superannuated) public "servants" had to work at weekends. Preposterous!

Funny you should say that. TMI perhaps but I needed my ears vacuumed out this weekend - I had the flu lurgy earlier this month and my ears had been backed up ever since. Thought it too good to be true but found an independent audiologist who did Sunday morning appointments to compete with Specsavers et al and...I'm not exactly sure where I was going with this anecdote so ignore it. She did a great job though.

I keep being asked if I want to be an employment tribunal judge. They are that desperate.

Last time I went to a hospital outpatient it was on a Saturday, which I didn't ask for (but was great as I was meeting friends later for lunch). And that was 2-3 years ago. And that was a real live specialist, not some imitation cheapo whatever they are called non-doctor folk.

So the folk NF is berating for not working on Saturdays do work on Saturdays. Some of them, anyway.

+1 - round here urgent referrals is a 7 day a week operation from 9am to roughly midnight. Mrs Eek was treated by them on a Friday evening, discharged at Saturday lunchtime and we visited them early for the following 2 weeks for dressings to be changed as the local district nurses were busy...

Conversely, if you go in to hospital for treatment as an in-patient and they wrap up whatever they were treating you for on a Weds/Thurs you will stay in the hospital until Monday at the earliest because no one will be there to fill your prescriptions or discharge you.

So there is that.

Not where I live, you will be out the door that day...

Pharmacy is open every day of the week and where that isn't the case the prescription can be sorted at my local pharmacy that is open late 7 days a week.

Live up north it's great living in an area where people can afford to own a house...

Sounds ghastly.

Plus I'm sure you're right about people being discharged on time before or over the weekend absodoodle-doo.

I know 4 people who have been in hospital over the past 2 years

Discharge days were Saturday, Sunday, Sunday and Saturday,

I remember the first Sunday one as they decided to discharge after the local pharmacy was closed so we had to wait until the hospital Pharmacist returned from getting her tea to get 2 days supply of some epilepsy drugs

Yes but let's not forget that they were discharged into the grim wastelands of The North.

I am very happy for your six-monthly experiences. I doubt that this is replicated regularly.

TOPPING said:

DougSeal said:

Will anyone on the board be buying their local WH Smiths? I might put a bid in for the one in Canterbury where I spent a lot of the mid to late Eighties in the record department after school.

What do you go to Smiths for. Used to be magazines but the range there is shockingly narrow. Not stamps (what?), the odd newspaper okay. Some trashly airport or top 20 novels plus Jamie Oliver's latest. So I'm not entirely sure what it's for. Hence, I'm out.

About 15 years ago they had a tie up with a weird "game-changer" franchise for provincial solicitors called "Quality Solicitors". A manned open-plan concession for a divorce consultation. I might give that another go.

kinabalu said:

Yes the populist right are close to monopoly market leaders in lies and misinformation. The study is correct. We need to find a way to counter it. This will mean ignoring their disingenuous whining about "free speech".

One of my difficulties with the conclusions in the article is that many terms like 'radical right' 'conservative' 'liberal' and so on have no fixed meaning. Unless you manage to clarify your terms with scalpel like accuracy you will end up with unrealistic conclusions.

To take an obvious example, Reform may come under 'Radical Right' (don't know about here). but in many respects it is fairly old fashioned social democrat + nationalism + low net migration + unrealistic economics + appeal to the working class. There is nothing especially Radical or Right about any of this.

TOPPING said:

DougSeal said:

Will anyone on the board be buying their local WH Smiths? I might put a bid in for the one in Canterbury where I spent a lot of the mid to late Eighties in the record department after school.

What do you go to Smiths for. Used to be magazines but the range there is shockingly narrow. Not stamps (what?), the odd newspaper okay. Some trashly airport or top 20 novels plus Jamie Oliver's latest. So I'm not entirely sure what it's for. Hence, I'm out.

Nowadays, WHSmith is often where the Post Office is, so this is an important story for many towns.