Regarding the fraud highlighted by Only Living Boy: how did the fraudsters know i) his relative was selling his house, and ii) what his email was?
It's a type of fraud that we are constantly warned about. Changing bank account details is a major red flag.
You can check bank account details via services like Infotrack, and then verify them with a telephone call. I would always telephone to check bank details.
I am curious what name was on the new account, and if it matched the old one
The likelihood is that there will be a minute difference.
An actual GE on those numbers would likely see some really weird seat losses. It'd certainly be worth an all-nighter...
I just popped it through my rudimentary model and you get some mad results. The LDs actually lose seats, the Conservatives make a small net gain but lose up to half of their current seats. Labour down over 200 seats.
A result like the without a massive MRP is almost impossible to predict in seats terms.
FB neighbourhood information page (aka moaning old indigenes) update. There are loads of posts like this atm, mostly anonymous, though some regular Reform cheerleaders. If I were of a more cynical turn of mind I might be a bit suspicious.
Being foreign and blowing kisses makes you a scumbag apparently.
'Tonight whilst my daughter and her friend was walking home from gym two foreign just eat guys came out from the flats at the royal were they began cycling on their bikes and clocked both of the girls they repeatedly kept turning round looking at them and as they cycled up onto the bridge they began shouting and blowing kisses at the girls. This behaviour is totally unacceptable!! Both men headed up into Royston so please be careful. The girls never managed to get pictures unfortunately due to how fast they cycled away. Scum bags!'
Clearly bollocks, but - had it been real - blowing kisses and shouting at random girls walking down the street would be scumbag behaviour.
I'm not fond of public lewd gestures in general but blowing kisses is pretty mild in the glossary of street misogyny in the east end of Glasgow, grabbing one’s crotch and bellowing ‘want it’ is standard fare. Strangely I've never seen a single complaint about 'banter' from non-foreign scaffolders and the like on the FB page.
Regarding the fraud highlighted by Only Living Boy: how did the fraudsters know i) his relative was selling his house, and ii) what his email was?
Criminals committing fraud target people like solicitors, mortgage brokers, lenders, estate agents, and surveyors to get leads. They might not even be the same criminal group, one group might get the leads and sell them to another group that carries out the fraudulent transaction. This sort of crime is big business now.
PB legal brains: a family member has fallen victim to fraud. Their email was hacked and the fraudsters used it to make a last minute change in banking instructions to their conveyancing solicitor. The solicitors failed to check these instructions with a phone call, and sent the proceeds of their home sale to fraudsters. To my mind, the solicitors failed to spot a blatant red flag for fraud and were grossly negligent in their treatment of the money. The funds are now overdue and they need to make our family member good immediately. However, the solicitors are claiming that they can't do anything until they hear from their liability insurers, which might take weeks/months. My fear is that the insurers will try to find some means of avoiding reimbursing the lost money. There is no onward chain so there isn't a critical urgency here, but we are concerned about the anxiety this is creating for elderly family members. What should we do? Do we have any mechanism to force the payment? They are just stonewalling us.
The short answer is that they are making their problem (recalcitrant insurers) your problem. But their liability to your relatives is not contingent upon their insurers. It is their negligence that has caused the loss. Contact the Law Society's complaints department and make a complaint that they are failing to address the loss caused and keep a careful note of any consequential loss, advising them when it is incurred.
Thanks David. Is it worth engaging solicitors to demand payment, do you think?
Yes, but they will probably just pass the correspondence from the solicitors to their insurers so you may not end up any further forward. The Law Society is a better bet. If they are anything like their Scottish equivalents no sane solicitor ever wants to have to deal with them. Life is way too short.
The size of the firm and the loss are also relevant. Most lawyers have a self insured limit that is often measured by partner so a larger firm has a bigger excess. If the loss is not huge they may be funding a lot of it themselves anyway in which case they really are mucking about.
Agree with David, but the Law Society of England and Wales' regulatory functions are delegated to its subsidiary, the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
Occam's Razor is usually the best way to explain things.
One should not look for complexity where it does not exist.
Indeed
The fascinating question though is the establishment figures who are letting him do it
They either
1. Think he's right 2. Think there will be a penalty for opposing him
I don't think 1 is true, and I think 2 is true only up to a point
The things Trump is doing will be unpopular
I ask (again) is there any first mover advantage in opposing Trump?
Absolutely there is. But then there are also substantial disadvantages.
Being first to put your head above the parapet makes you the first target to be shot at. But avoiding that, and using the platform well, it also makes you the leader of the opposition.
So until Congress discovers a spine, Trump can legally rendition to a third country jail. The judgment does at least insist on due process, which gives the chance of contesting any such order.
Sir Keir Starmer is to name John Fingleton, a former chief executive of the Office of Fair Trading, as the chair of a nuclear regulatory taskforce which will aim to incentivise greater investment in Britain’s nuclear energy industry. https://x.com/MarkKleinmanSky/status/1909550284616892460
Almaty is really quite a pleasant city. Feels weirdly affluent - more like a big important up and coming city in Eastern Europe than remote Central Asia; yet somehow everyone looks a bit Chinese
And now I’m going to get a Kazakh haircut. Wish me luck
Regarding the fraud highlighted by Only Living Boy: how did the fraudsters know i) his relative was selling his house, and ii) what his email was?
It's a type of fraud that we are constantly warned about. Changing bank account details is a major red flag.
You can check bank account details via services like Infotrack, and then verify them with a telephone call. I would always telephone to check bank details.
I am curious what name was on the new account, and if it matched the old one
Yes. That's a good (and worrying) point.
If the account name was the same, how did they get proof of identity to open it? (And when - it would imply a fraud with substantial planning) If it wasn't the same, how did it get past confirmation of payee?
Either scenario makes me even more concerned about the behaviour of the solicitors in question.
Regarding the fraud highlighted by Only Living Boy: how did the fraudsters know i) his relative was selling his house, and ii) what his email was?
They do a password reset on your email account. Once they have done that they have access to everything. They can read your inbox to see what accounts you have and business you transact. They can transfer your mobile number to their phone, which gets past two factor authorisation, they can probably access and empty at least some of your financial accounts by resetting passwords on those.
Your only line of defence is preventions on unauthorised password resets for your email. If you haven't set those up, perhaps because you're not very technically aware or if the ISP is a bit careless, you're stuffed.
Almaty is really quite a pleasant city. Feels weirdly affluent - more like a big important up and coming city in Eastern Europe than remote Central Asia; yet somehow everyone looks a bit Chinese
And now I’m going to get a Kazakh haircut. Wish me luck
An actual GE on those numbers would likely see some really weird seat losses. It'd certainly be worth an all-nighter...
I just popped it through my rudimentary model and you get some mad results. The LDs actually lose seats, the Conservatives make a small net gain but lose up to half of their current seats. Labour down over 200 seats.
A result like the without a massive MRP is almost impossible to predict in seats terms.
The Lib Dems losing seats is not implausible. They hit pretty much every Tory target in 2024 so are at a starting point where the road is pretty steep. Even without the Tories gaining seats back (which they wouldn't given the further Con-LD swing), enough seats would be vulnerable to the SNP and Reform that I could well see net losses as plausible.
FB neighbourhood information page (aka moaning old indigenes) update. There are loads of posts like this atm, mostly anonymous, though some regular Reform cheerleaders. If I were of a more cynical turn of mind I might be a bit suspicious.
Being foreign and blowing kisses makes you a scumbag apparently.
'Tonight whilst my daughter and her friend was walking home from gym two foreign just eat guys came out from the flats at the royal were they began cycling on their bikes and clocked both of the girls they repeatedly kept turning round looking at them and as they cycled up onto the bridge they began shouting and blowing kisses at the girls. This behaviour is totally unacceptable!! Both men headed up into Royston so please be careful. The girls never managed to get pictures unfortunately due to how fast they cycled away. Scum bags!'
Clearly bollocks, but - had it been real - blowing kisses and shouting at random girls walking down the street would be scumbag behaviour.
I'm not fond of public lewd gestures in general but blowing kisses is pretty mild in the glossary of street misogyny in the east end of Glasgow, grabbing one’s crotch and bellowing ‘want it’ is standard fare. Strangely I've never seen a single complaint about 'banter' from non-foreign scaffolders and the like on the FB page.
"I think I started doing that when I was about seven, grabbing my crotch. It's great fun. You get to grab your dick in front of 20,000 people, and they all scream!"
FB neighbourhood information page (aka moaning old indigenes) update. There are loads of posts like this atm, mostly anonymous, though some regular Reform cheerleaders. If I were of a more cynical turn of mind I might be a bit suspicious.
Being foreign and blowing kisses makes you a scumbag apparently.
'Tonight whilst my daughter and her friend was walking home from gym two foreign just eat guys came out from the flats at the royal were they began cycling on their bikes and clocked both of the girls they repeatedly kept turning round looking at them and as they cycled up onto the bridge they began shouting and blowing kisses at the girls. This behaviour is totally unacceptable!! Both men headed up into Royston so please be careful. The girls never managed to get pictures unfortunately due to how fast they cycled away. Scum bags!'
Clearly bollocks, but - had it been real - blowing kisses and shouting at random girls walking down the street would be scumbag behaviour.
I'm not fond of public lewd gestures in general but blowing kisses is pretty mild in the glossary of street misogyny in the east end of Glasgow, grabbing one’s crotch and bellowing ‘want it’ is standard fare. Strangely I've never seen a single complaint about 'banter' from non-foreign scaffolders and the like on the FB page.
Living in the genteel northern reaches of God's Own County, I've clearly led a sheltered life.
Almaty is really quite a pleasant city. Feels weirdly affluent - more like a big important up and coming city in Eastern Europe than remote Central Asia; yet somehow everyone looks a bit Chinese
And now I’m going to get a Kazakh haircut. Wish me luck
Do they have Turkish barbers in Kazakhstan?
It’s probably the only city in the world with none. That I can see
This is actually one of the best haircuts I’ve had in ages. Many months
I’m tempted to make it my new favourite barbers., where I will always return - except it’s not overwhelmingly convenient to have your “favourite barbers” in the south Dostyk area of Almaty, Kazakhstan
“Just nipping out for a quick haircut, luv, won’t take more than a week”
FB neighbourhood information page (aka moaning old indigenes) update. There are loads of posts like this atm, mostly anonymous, though some regular Reform cheerleaders. If I were of a more cynical turn of mind I might be a bit suspicious.
Being foreign and blowing kisses makes you a scumbag apparently.
'Tonight whilst my daughter and her friend was walking home from gym two foreign just eat guys came out from the flats at the royal were they began cycling on their bikes and clocked both of the girls they repeatedly kept turning round looking at them and as they cycled up onto the bridge they began shouting and blowing kisses at the girls. This behaviour is totally unacceptable!! Both men headed up into Royston so please be careful. The girls never managed to get pictures unfortunately due to how fast they cycled away. Scum bags!'
Clearly bollocks, but - had it been real - blowing kisses and shouting at random girls walking down the street would be scumbag behaviour.
It doesn't sound particularly far-fetched to me. That kind of behaviour is incredibly common in many parts of the world. It's also probably quite tricky to quickly change those kind of attitudes for new people who come to the UK, as plenty of UK born white men would be quite happy to go back to the days when that level of harassment was normal here.
You'd think, given the profile of Reform voters (a larger percentage are men with much less progressive views than the other parties), it *should* be a bit of a dilemma.
'just eat guys' having time to anything other than get from A to B in a straight line through whatever obstacles are in their way? I don't buy it!
Almaty is really quite a pleasant city. Feels weirdly affluent - more like a big important up and coming city in Eastern Europe than remote Central Asia; yet somehow everyone looks a bit Chinese
And now I’m going to get a Kazakh haircut. Wish me luck
Do they have Turkish barbers in Kazakhstan?
It’s probably the only city in the world with none. That I can see
FB neighbourhood information page (aka moaning old indigenes) update. There are loads of posts like this atm, mostly anonymous, though some regular Reform cheerleaders. If I were of a more cynical turn of mind I might be a bit suspicious.
Being foreign and blowing kisses makes you a scumbag apparently.
'Tonight whilst my daughter and her friend was walking home from gym two foreign just eat guys came out from the flats at the royal were they began cycling on their bikes and clocked both of the girls they repeatedly kept turning round looking at them and as they cycled up onto the bridge they began shouting and blowing kisses at the girls. This behaviour is totally unacceptable!! Both men headed up into Royston so please be careful. The girls never managed to get pictures unfortunately due to how fast they cycled away. Scum bags!'
Clearly bollocks, but - had it been real - blowing kisses and shouting at random girls walking down the street would be scumbag behaviour.
I'm not fond of public lewd gestures in general but blowing kisses is pretty mild in the glossary of street misogyny in the east end of Glasgow, grabbing one’s crotch and bellowing ‘want it’ is standard fare. Strangely I've never seen a single complaint about 'banter' from non-foreign scaffolders and the like on the FB page.
So is the FB complaint that "foreign" Just Eat cyclists are not Woke enough?
There's me thinking that Reform wanted to go back to the good old days when such banter was enjoyed by all concerned, along the lines of pinching bums on the Tube, "glamour" calenders in workplaces, page 3 girls etc.
FB neighbourhood information page (aka moaning old indigenes) update. There are loads of posts like this atm, mostly anonymous, though some regular Reform cheerleaders. If I were of a more cynical turn of mind I might be a bit suspicious.
Being foreign and blowing kisses makes you a scumbag apparently.
'Tonight whilst my daughter and her friend was walking home from gym two foreign just eat guys came out from the flats at the royal were they began cycling on their bikes and clocked both of the girls they repeatedly kept turning round looking at them and as they cycled up onto the bridge they began shouting and blowing kisses at the girls. This behaviour is totally unacceptable!! Both men headed up into Royston so please be careful. The girls never managed to get pictures unfortunately due to how fast they cycled away. Scum bags!'
Clearly bollocks, but - had it been real - blowing kisses and shouting at random girls walking down the street would be scumbag behaviour.
I'm not fond of public lewd gestures in general but blowing kisses is pretty mild in the glossary of street misogyny in the east end of Glasgow, grabbing one’s crotch and bellowing ‘want it’ is standard fare. Strangely I've never seen a single complaint about 'banter' from non-foreign scaffolders and the like on the FB page.
Living in the genteel northern reaches of God's Own County, I've clearly led a sheltered life.
Almaty is really quite a pleasant city. Feels weirdly affluent - more like a big important up and coming city in Eastern Europe than remote Central Asia; yet somehow everyone looks a bit Chinese
And now I’m going to get a Kazakh haircut. Wish me luck
Do they have Turkish barbers in Kazakhstan?
It’s probably the only city in the world with none. That I can see
But I got a great cut for £8 at “chop chop”
Kazakh is a Turkic language, if that counts!
Very many people don’t speak it. At least in Almaty
Eg all the kids in the trendy barbers could only speak Russian (and some English). Zero Kazakh
FB neighbourhood information page (aka moaning old indigenes) update. There are loads of posts like this atm, mostly anonymous, though some regular Reform cheerleaders. If I were of a more cynical turn of mind I might be a bit suspicious.
Being foreign and blowing kisses makes you a scumbag apparently.
'Tonight whilst my daughter and her friend was walking home from gym two foreign just eat guys came out from the flats at the royal were they began cycling on their bikes and clocked both of the girls they repeatedly kept turning round looking at them and as they cycled up onto the bridge they began shouting and blowing kisses at the girls. This behaviour is totally unacceptable!! Both men headed up into Royston so please be careful. The girls never managed to get pictures unfortunately due to how fast they cycled away. Scum bags!'
Clearly bollocks, but - had it been real - blowing kisses and shouting at random girls walking down the street would be scumbag behaviour.
I'm not fond of public lewd gestures in general but blowing kisses is pretty mild in the glossary of street misogyny in the east end of Glasgow, grabbing one’s crotch and bellowing ‘want it’ is standard fare. Strangely I've never seen a single complaint about 'banter' from non-foreign scaffolders and the like on the FB page.
Living in the genteel northern reaches of God's Own County, I've clearly led a sheltered life.
I haven't seen any of that sort of behaviour for many years. Though a group of women did wolf-whistle me a couple of years ago when I was out on a run...
Yet again, I'd like to mention the Considerate Constructors Scheme. which AFAIAA has pretty much stopped the old and well-documented misbehaviour of builders on building sites. Positive change can happen.
Regarding the fraud highlighted by Only Living Boy: how did the fraudsters know i) his relative was selling his house, and ii) what his email was?
It's a type of fraud that we are constantly warned about. Changing bank account details is a major red flag.
You can check bank account details via services like Infotrack, and then verify them with a telephone call. I would always telephone to check bank details.
I am curious what name was on the new account, and if it matched the old one
Yes. That's a good (and worrying) point.
If the account name was the same, how did they get proof of identity to open it? (And when - it would imply a fraud with substantial planning) If it wasn't the same, how did it get past confirmation of payee?
Either scenario makes me even more concerned about the behaviour of the solicitors in question.
Daft question, probably, but while account names are now checked for Faster Payments/BACS are they for CHAPS (which this presumably was) - or were they always checked for CHAPS?
About ten years ago, my wife received a couple of thousand in her bank account which was clearly misdirected BACS payment. She notified her bank who said they couldn't do anything unless/until someone requested it back, but that she should not treat it as her money as it could, of course, be claimed back. We stuck it in a savings account and then, eventually, spent it.
As an aside, many years ago a couple were walking the coastline of Britain. They'd been walking the wilds of the west and north Scottish coasts, and arrived one morning in the first big city for many months: Aberdeen.
To her surprise, people were staring at them as they passed, as if they were some foul creatures. Only when they stopped did they realise that she'd been drying her underwear on the back of her rucksack, and they were flying like a flag in the breeze.
FB neighbourhood information page (aka moaning old indigenes) update. There are loads of posts like this atm, mostly anonymous, though some regular Reform cheerleaders. If I were of a more cynical turn of mind I might be a bit suspicious.
Being foreign and blowing kisses makes you a scumbag apparently.
'Tonight whilst my daughter and her friend was walking home from gym two foreign just eat guys came out from the flats at the royal were they began cycling on their bikes and clocked both of the girls they repeatedly kept turning round looking at them and as they cycled up onto the bridge they began shouting and blowing kisses at the girls. This behaviour is totally unacceptable!! Both men headed up into Royston so please be careful. The girls never managed to get pictures unfortunately due to how fast they cycled away. Scum bags!'
Clearly bollocks, but - had it been real - blowing kisses and shouting at random girls walking down the street would be scumbag behaviour.
I'm not fond of public lewd gestures in general but blowing kisses is pretty mild in the glossary of street misogyny in the east end of Glasgow, grabbing one’s crotch and bellowing ‘want it’ is standard fare. Strangely I've never seen a single complaint about 'banter' from non-foreign scaffolders and the like on the FB page.
Living in the genteel northern reaches of God's Own County, I've clearly led a sheltered life.
I haven't seen any of that sort of behaviour for many years. Though a group of women did wolf-whistle me a couple of years ago when I was out on a run...
Yet again, I'd like to mention the Considerate Constructors Scheme. which AFAIAA has pretty much stopped the old and well-documented misbehaviour of builders on building sites. Positive change can happen.
You lead an extremely sheltered life
Men hassling women - unpleasantly - is an everyday sight in many parts of london. And yes, there is a correlation with recent migrants
FB neighbourhood information page (aka moaning old indigenes) update. There are loads of posts like this atm, mostly anonymous, though some regular Reform cheerleaders. If I were of a more cynical turn of mind I might be a bit suspicious.
Being foreign and blowing kisses makes you a scumbag apparently.
'Tonight whilst my daughter and her friend was walking home from gym two foreign just eat guys came out from the flats at the royal were they began cycling on their bikes and clocked both of the girls they repeatedly kept turning round looking at them and as they cycled up onto the bridge they began shouting and blowing kisses at the girls. This behaviour is totally unacceptable!! Both men headed up into Royston so please be careful. The girls never managed to get pictures unfortunately due to how fast they cycled away. Scum bags!'
Clearly bollocks, but - had it been real - blowing kisses and shouting at random girls walking down the street would be scumbag behaviour.
I'm not fond of public lewd gestures in general but blowing kisses is pretty mild in the glossary of street misogyny in the east end of Glasgow, grabbing one’s crotch and bellowing ‘want it’ is standard fare. Strangely I've never seen a single complaint about 'banter' from non-foreign scaffolders and the like on the FB page.
So is the FB complaint that "foreign" Just Eat cyclists are not Woke enough?
There's me thinking that Reform wanted to go back to the good old days when such banter was enjoyed by all concerned, along the lines of pinching bums on the Tube, "glamour" calenders in workplaces, page 3 girls etc.
Don't forget the classic of stopping women breatfeeding in public, which was much-discussed on here a decade or so ago after Farage's comments.
"'Tonight whilst my daughter and her friend was walking home from gym, a foreign Spectator journalist came out from the hotel where he began panting heavily as he walked and clocked both of the girls he repeatedly kept turning round looking at them and as he panted onto the bridge he began shouting and blowing kisses at the girls. This behaviour is totally unacceptable!! He headed up to the local brothel so please be careful. The girls never managed to get pictures unfortunately due to how they were laughing at him. Scum bag!'"
'"There was this Chinese guy..." (man, I hope that's relevant)'
As an aside, many years ago a couple were walking the coastline of Britain. They'd been walking the wilds of the west and north Scottish coasts, and arrived one morning in the first big city for many months: Aberdeen.
To her surprise, people were staring at them as they passed, as if they were some foul creatures. Only when they stopped did they realise that she'd been drying her underwear on the back of her rucksack, and they were flying like a flag in the breeze.
Anyone with underwear would attract some funny looks in Aberdeen.
FB neighbourhood information page (aka moaning old indigenes) update. There are loads of posts like this atm, mostly anonymous, though some regular Reform cheerleaders. If I were of a more cynical turn of mind I might be a bit suspicious.
Being foreign and blowing kisses makes you a scumbag apparently.
'Tonight whilst my daughter and her friend was walking home from gym two foreign just eat guys came out from the flats at the royal were they began cycling on their bikes and clocked both of the girls they repeatedly kept turning round looking at them and as they cycled up onto the bridge they began shouting and blowing kisses at the girls. This behaviour is totally unacceptable!! Both men headed up into Royston so please be careful. The girls never managed to get pictures unfortunately due to how fast they cycled away. Scum bags!'
Clearly bollocks, but - had it been real - blowing kisses and shouting at random girls walking down the street would be scumbag behaviour.
I'm not fond of public lewd gestures in general but blowing kisses is pretty mild in the glossary of street misogyny in the east end of Glasgow, grabbing one’s crotch and bellowing ‘want it’ is standard fare. Strangely I've never seen a single complaint about 'banter' from non-foreign scaffolders and the like on the FB page.
Living in the genteel northern reaches of God's Own County, I've clearly led a sheltered life.
You live on the Malabar Coast? Who knew!
County (note lack of an 'r')
God has many countries (and parts thereof) but only one county. Well, four ceremonial counties, plus some large number of local authorities, but you get the idea!
FB neighbourhood information page (aka moaning old indigenes) update. There are loads of posts like this atm, mostly anonymous, though some regular Reform cheerleaders. If I were of a more cynical turn of mind I might be a bit suspicious.
Being foreign and blowing kisses makes you a scumbag apparently.
'Tonight whilst my daughter and her friend was walking home from gym two foreign just eat guys came out from the flats at the royal were they began cycling on their bikes and clocked both of the girls they repeatedly kept turning round looking at them and as they cycled up onto the bridge they began shouting and blowing kisses at the girls. This behaviour is totally unacceptable!! Both men headed up into Royston so please be careful. The girls never managed to get pictures unfortunately due to how fast they cycled away. Scum bags!'
Clearly bollocks, but - had it been real - blowing kisses and shouting at random girls walking down the street would be scumbag behaviour.
I'm not fond of public lewd gestures in general but blowing kisses is pretty mild in the glossary of street misogyny in the east end of Glasgow, grabbing one’s crotch and bellowing ‘want it’ is standard fare. Strangely I've never seen a single complaint about 'banter' from non-foreign scaffolders and the like on the FB page.
Living in the genteel northern reaches of God's Own County, I've clearly led a sheltered life.
I haven't seen any of that sort of behaviour for many years. Though a group of women did wolf-whistle me a couple of years ago when I was out on a run...
Yet again, I'd like to mention the Considerate Constructors Scheme. which AFAIAA has pretty much stopped the old and well-documented misbehaviour of builders on building sites. Positive change can happen.
You lead an extremely sheltered life
Men hassling women - unpleasantly - is an everyday sight in many parts of london. And yes, there is a correlation with recent migrants
I don't spend an extremely sheltered life. I spend much more time in this country than you do, and possibly travel more widely through it.
Yes, it does happen. I don't deny it. But perhaps you see more of it because (ahem) you're at the sort of places where men hassle women?
Sorry to hear about the problems OnlyLivingBoy’s relatives are experiencing.
Something that is happening a lot at the moment is ‘digital squatting’ that targets older people.
The criminals target older people who they think don’t have online banking, so the criminals will pretend to be the customer and set up their online banking for the first time.
They’ll do it gently, after a few months they’ll change the address, obtain credit in their name, and bugger off.
If you have older friends/neighbours/relatives then you might have to bite the bullet and get them set up online, so nobody else can do it for them.
As another aside, we should not forget that the mere *fear* of 'hassle' puts women and girls at a disadvantage.
I have zero problem with going out before dawn for a walk or run. I did so this morning. It's a brilliant time to be out and about, and very convenient when I'm going to be busy for the rest of the day. But a female friend of mine, another runner, living in our village, won't run in the dark because of the *fear* of getting hassle. It has never happened to her, and there is not much of that sort of thing about here, but her concern seems a very human response.
I don't know how we can quickly, or easily, fix that.
Regarding the fraud highlighted by Only Living Boy: how did the fraudsters know i) his relative was selling his house, and ii) what his email was?
It's a type of fraud that we are constantly warned about. Changing bank account details is a major red flag.
You can check bank account details via services like Infotrack, and then verify them with a telephone call. I would always telephone to check bank details.
I am curious what name was on the new account, and if it matched the old one
Yes. That's a good (and worrying) point.
If the account name was the same, how did they get proof of identity to open it? (And when - it would imply a fraud with substantial planning) If it wasn't the same, how did it get past confirmation of payee?
Either scenario makes me even more concerned about the behaviour of the solicitors in question.
Daft question, probably, but while account names are now checked for Faster Payments/BACS are they for CHAPS (which this presumably was) - or were they always checked for CHAPS?
About ten years ago, my wife received a couple of thousand in her bank account which was clearly misdirected BACS payment. She notified her bank who said they couldn't do anything unless/until someone requested it back, but that she should not treat it as her money as it could, of course, be claimed back. We stuck it in a savings account and then, eventually, spent it.
I don't know, to be honest, but I would be very surprised if it's not checked in the same way. I don't think bank details were always checked for CHAPS - the system predates COP ability, I believe - but CHAPS is a sort of proto-Faster Payments thingy anyway so it really doesn't make much sense for regulations not to have applied to it first, or at least at the same time. Particularly given that CHAPS almost certainly has a much higher average transaction.
Regarding the fraud highlighted by Only Living Boy: how did the fraudsters know i) his relative was selling his house, and ii) what his email was?
It's a type of fraud that we are constantly warned about. Changing bank account details is a major red flag.
You can check bank account details via services like Infotrack, and then verify them with a telephone call. I would always telephone to check bank details.
I am curious what name was on the new account, and if it matched the old one
Yes. That's a good (and worrying) point.
If the account name was the same, how did they get proof of identity to open it? (And when - it would imply a fraud with substantial planning) If it wasn't the same, how did it get past confirmation of payee?
Either scenario makes me even more concerned about the behaviour of the solicitors in question.
Daft question, probably, but while account names are now checked for Faster Payments/BACS are they for CHAPS (which this presumably was) - or were they always checked for CHAPS?
About ten years ago, my wife received a couple of thousand in her bank account which was clearly misdirected BACS payment. She notified her bank who said they couldn't do anything unless/until someone requested it back, but that she should not treat it as her money as it could, of course, be claimed back. We stuck it in a savings account and then, eventually, spent it.
I don't know, to be honest, but I would be very surprised if it's not checked in the same way. I don't think bank details were always checked for CHAPS - the system predates COP ability, I believe - but CHAPS is a sort of proto-Faster Payments thingy anyway so it really doesn't make much sense for regulations not to have applied to it first, or at least at the same time. Particularly given that CHAPS almost certainly has a much higher average transaction.
It is checked the same way for CHAPS as it is for faster payments.
See here as an example.
When you make Faster Payments or CHAPS payments to a person or business for the first time, we check the account details with their bank. This helps:
Regarding the fraud highlighted by Only Living Boy: how did the fraudsters know i) his relative was selling his house, and ii) what his email was?
It's a type of fraud that we are constantly warned about. Changing bank account details is a major red flag.
You can check bank account details via services like Infotrack, and then verify them with a telephone call. I would always telephone to check bank details.
I am curious what name was on the new account, and if it matched the old one
Yes. That's a good (and worrying) point.
If the account name was the same, how did they get proof of identity to open it? (And when - it would imply a fraud with substantial planning) If it wasn't the same, how did it get past confirmation of payee?
Either scenario makes me even more concerned about the behaviour of the solicitors in question.
Daft question, probably, but while account names are now checked for Faster Payments/BACS are they for CHAPS (which this presumably was) - or were they always checked for CHAPS?
About ten years ago, my wife received a couple of thousand in her bank account which was clearly misdirected BACS payment. She notified her bank who said they couldn't do anything unless/until someone requested it back, but that she should not treat it as her money as it could, of course, be claimed back. We stuck it in a savings account and then, eventually, spent it.
I don't know, to be honest, but I would be very surprised if it's not checked in the same way. I don't think bank details were always checked for CHAPS - the system predates COP ability, I believe - but CHAPS is a sort of proto-Faster Payments thingy anyway so it really doesn't make much sense for regulations not to have applied to it first, or at least at the same time. Particularly given that CHAPS almost certainly has a much higher average transaction.
It depends - there are banks that are not fully setup for faster payments so don't provide the feedback loop of account name and that it belongs to the person you think it does or someone else.
Now the software probably has steps to say unable to identify the account owner but I wonder if the solicitor will care about that they probably think oh that's always the case with half baked bank XYZ.
Regarding the fraud highlighted by Only Living Boy: how did the fraudsters know i) his relative was selling his house, and ii) what his email was?
It's a type of fraud that we are constantly warned about. Changing bank account details is a major red flag.
You can check bank account details via services like Infotrack, and then verify them with a telephone call. I would always telephone to check bank details.
I am curious what name was on the new account, and if it matched the old one
Yes. That's a good (and worrying) point.
If the account name was the same, how did they get proof of identity to open it? (And when - it would imply a fraud with substantial planning) If it wasn't the same, how did it get past confirmation of payee?
Either scenario makes me even more concerned about the behaviour of the solicitors in question.
Daft question, probably, but while account names are now checked for Faster Payments/BACS are they for CHAPS (which this presumably was) - or were they always checked for CHAPS?
About ten years ago, my wife received a couple of thousand in her bank account which was clearly misdirected BACS payment. She notified her bank who said they couldn't do anything unless/until someone requested it back, but that she should not treat it as her money as it could, of course, be claimed back. We stuck it in a savings account and then, eventually, spent it.
I don't know, to be honest, but I would be very surprised if it's not checked in the same way. I don't think bank details were always checked for CHAPS - the system predates COP ability, I believe - but CHAPS is a sort of proto-Faster Payments thingy anyway so it really doesn't make much sense for regulations not to have applied to it first, or at least at the same time. Particularly given that CHAPS almost certainly has a much higher average transaction.
It depends - there are banks that are not fully setup for faster payments so don't provide the feedback loop of whether the account belongs to the person you think or someone else.
Now the software probably has steps to say unable to identify the account owner but I wonder if the solicitor will care about that they probably think oh that's always the case with half baked bank XYZ.
By the looks of it, pretty much every UK financial institution should have had CoP in place by the end of October last year:
An actual GE on those numbers would likely see some really weird seat losses. It'd certainly be worth an all-nighter...
I just popped it through my rudimentary model and you get some mad results. The LDs actually lose seats, the Conservatives make a small net gain but lose up to half of their current seats. Labour down over 200 seats.
A result like the without a massive MRP is almost impossible to predict in seats terms.
Tho they had slightly different numbers, Electoral Calculus's last MRP had a reasonable chunk of Lib > Con, and Con > Ref churn (and loads of Lab > Ref!) so perhaps your model isn't that far off the pros.
FB neighbourhood information page (aka moaning old indigenes) update. There are loads of posts like this atm, mostly anonymous, though some regular Reform cheerleaders. If I were of a more cynical turn of mind I might be a bit suspicious.
Being foreign and blowing kisses makes you a scumbag apparently.
'Tonight whilst my daughter and her friend was walking home from gym two foreign just eat guys came out from the flats at the royal were they began cycling on their bikes and clocked both of the girls they repeatedly kept turning round looking at them and as they cycled up onto the bridge they began shouting and blowing kisses at the girls. This behaviour is totally unacceptable!! Both men headed up into Royston so please be careful. The girls never managed to get pictures unfortunately due to how fast they cycled away. Scum bags!'
Clearly bollocks, but - had it been real - blowing kisses and shouting at random girls walking down the street would be scumbag behaviour.
I'm not fond of public lewd gestures in general but blowing kisses is pretty mild in the glossary of street misogyny in the east end of Glasgow, grabbing one’s crotch and bellowing ‘want it’ is standard fare. Strangely I've never seen a single complaint about 'banter' from non-foreign scaffolders and the like on the FB page.
Living in the genteel northern reaches of God's Own County, I've clearly led a sheltered life.
I haven't seen any of that sort of behaviour for many years. Though a group of women did wolf-whistle me a couple of years ago when I was out on a run...
Yet again, I'd like to mention the Considerate Constructors Scheme. which AFAIAA has pretty much stopped the old and well-documented misbehaviour of builders on building sites. Positive change can happen.
Scaffolders were on my mind because a scaffold is being broken down this very day at the back of my bit. The gaffer is berating his hapless apprentice: 'Ya stupid wee ****, dinnae stack it like that, pull it apart and fuckn start again etc', all at maximum decibels. Gaffer may be a perfect gent to the ladies but he's a bullying rsole otherwise.
PB legal brains: a family member has fallen victim to fraud. Their email was hacked and the fraudsters used it to make a last minute change in banking instructions to their conveyancing solicitor. The solicitors failed to check these instructions with a phone call, and sent the proceeds of their home sale to fraudsters. To my mind, the solicitors failed to spot a blatant red flag for fraud and were grossly negligent in their treatment of the money. The funds are now overdue and they need to make our family member good immediately. However, the solicitors are claiming that they can't do anything until they hear from their liability insurers, which might take weeks/months. My fear is that the insurers will try to find some means of avoiding reimbursing the lost money. There is no onward chain so there isn't a critical urgency here, but we are concerned about the anxiety this is creating for elderly family members. What should we do? Do we have any mechanism to force the payment? They are just stonewalling us.
The short answer is that they are making their problem (recalcitrant insurers) your problem. But their liability to your relatives is not contingent upon their insurers. It is their negligence that has caused the loss. Contact the Law Society's complaints department and make a complaint that they are failing to address the loss caused and keep a careful note of any consequential loss, advising them when it is incurred.
Thanks David. Is it worth engaging solicitors to demand payment, do you think?
NOTWITHSTANDING THE ABOVE The first thing is to ask the solicitors if they will do right, RIGHT AWAY ? Demand to see the Senior Partner, Right Away.
If NOT then engage other solicitors from another town and make sure they are willing to act against one of their own. Then report the first solicitors to the Law Council RIGHT AWAY
If there is any loss of any benefit, such as a secondary transaction falls because of want of the funds they are in really deep shit.
Regarding the fraud highlighted by Only Living Boy: how did the fraudsters know i) his relative was selling his house, and ii) what his email was?
It's a type of fraud that we are constantly warned about. Changing bank account details is a major red flag.
You can check bank account details via services like Infotrack, and then verify them with a telephone call. I would always telephone to check bank details.
I am curious what name was on the new account, and if it matched the old one
Yes. That's a good (and worrying) point.
If the account name was the same, how did they get proof of identity to open it? (And when - it would imply a fraud with substantial planning) If it wasn't the same, how did it get past confirmation of payee?
Either scenario makes me even more concerned about the behaviour of the solicitors in question.
Daft question, probably, but while account names are now checked for Faster Payments/BACS are they for CHAPS (which this presumably was) - or were they always checked for CHAPS?
About ten years ago, my wife received a couple of thousand in her bank account which was clearly misdirected BACS payment. She notified her bank who said they couldn't do anything unless/until someone requested it back, but that she should not treat it as her money as it could, of course, be claimed back. We stuck it in a savings account and then, eventually, spent it.
PB legal brains: a family member has fallen victim to fraud. Their email was hacked and the fraudsters used it to make a last minute change in banking instructions to their conveyancing solicitor. The solicitors failed to check these instructions with a phone call, and sent the proceeds of their home sale to fraudsters. To my mind, the solicitors failed to spot a blatant red flag for fraud and were grossly negligent in their treatment of the money. The funds are now overdue and they need to make our family member good immediately. However, the solicitors are claiming that they can't do anything until they hear from their liability insurers, which might take weeks/months. My fear is that the insurers will try to find some means of avoiding reimbursing the lost money. There is no onward chain so there isn't a critical urgency here, but we are concerned about the anxiety this is creating for elderly family members. What should we do? Do we have any mechanism to force the payment? They are just stonewalling us.
The short answer is that they are making their problem (recalcitrant insurers) your problem. But their liability to your relatives is not contingent upon their insurers. It is their negligence that has caused the loss. Contact the Law Society's complaints department and make a complaint that they are failing to address the loss caused and keep a careful note of any consequential loss, advising them when it is incurred.
Thanks David. Is it worth engaging solicitors to demand payment, do you think?
NOTWITHSTANDING THE ABOVE The first thing is to ask the solicitors if they will do right, RIGHT AWAY ? Demand to see the Senior Partner, Right Away.
If NOT then engage other solicitors from another town and make sure they are willing to act against one of their own. Then report the first solicitors to the Law Council RIGHT AWAY
If there is any loss of any benefit, such as a secondary transaction falls because of want of the funds they are in really deep shit.
To be honest it should be sorted by now.
The formal complaint route should only be pursued, after the claim for negligence has been settled, IMHO.
A meeting with the senior partner will do no good, because he can't make an admission of breach of duty of care, without the say so of his insurer.
As an aside, many years ago a couple were walking the coastline of Britain. They'd been walking the wilds of the west and north Scottish coasts, and arrived one morning in the first big city for many months: Aberdeen.
To her surprise, people were staring at them as they passed, as if they were some foul creatures. Only when they stopped did they realise that she'd been drying her underwear on the back of her rucksack, and they were flying like a flag in the breeze.
Anyone with underwear would attract some funny looks in Aberdeen.
Here lie the bones of Elisabeth Charlotte, Born a virgin, died a harlot. She was aye a virgin at seventeen, A remarkable thing in Aberdeen.
PB legal brains: a family member has fallen victim to fraud. Their email was hacked and the fraudsters used it to make a last minute change in banking instructions to their conveyancing solicitor. The solicitors failed to check these instructions with a phone call, and sent the proceeds of their home sale to fraudsters. To my mind, the solicitors failed to spot a blatant red flag for fraud and were grossly negligent in their treatment of the money. The funds are now overdue and they need to make our family member good immediately. However, the solicitors are claiming that they can't do anything until they hear from their liability insurers, which might take weeks/months. My fear is that the insurers will try to find some means of avoiding reimbursing the lost money. There is no onward chain so there isn't a critical urgency here, but we are concerned about the anxiety this is creating for elderly family members. What should we do? Do we have any mechanism to force the payment? They are just stonewalling us.
The short answer is that they are making their problem (recalcitrant insurers) your problem. But their liability to your relatives is not contingent upon their insurers. It is their negligence that has caused the loss. Contact the Law Society's complaints department and make a complaint that they are failing to address the loss caused and keep a careful note of any consequential loss, advising them when it is incurred.
Thanks David. Is it worth engaging solicitors to demand payment, do you think?
NOTWITHSTANDING THE ABOVE The first thing is to ask the solicitors if they will do right, RIGHT AWAY ? Demand to see the Senior Partner, Right Away.
If NOT then engage other solicitors from another town and make sure they are willing to act against one of their own. Then report the first solicitors to the Law Council RIGHT AWAY
If there is any loss of any benefit, such as a secondary transaction falls because of want of the funds they are in really deep shit.
To be honest it should be sorted by now.
The formal complaint route should only be pursued, after the claim for negligence has been settled, IMHO.
A meeting with the senior partner will do no good, because he can't make an admission of breach of duty of care, without the say so of his insurer.
Let's not forget that the fraudsters here are the crooks not the solicitors. What are the police doing? Nothing I'm guessing...
It sounds a bit redundant to me as Google Wallet and Apple Wallet can already support various types of ID cards, driving licenses, and so on. I hope the UK government is not re-inventing the wheel and is simply issuing standards compliant digital documents.
Yeah I have my NI number in there at the moment, that's as far as it goes I think. Or wait this is a bit reinventing the wheel/wallet. I suppose the gov't doesn't want to be tied into Google or Apple or w/e
Yeah, it's essentially just a reference implementation... it's intended to be one amongst many possible 'holder service providers', with Google, Apple, and Samsung wallets all likely to be accredited too.
The real value will come from on-device verification & validation services which, which is when digital passports and the like start to become useful - so eg. you'll be able to prove your identity on your phone, without having to get a trained border guard to scrutinise your photo. That's not due to go live until 2027, though.
There is a certain amount of wheel-reinvention going on here, as it's partially duplicating work done in the late 2010s at GDS as well as parts of the similar-but-different EU eIDAS system. Brexit put a spanner in the works, so now we're getting this instead.
FB neighbourhood information page (aka moaning old indigenes) update. There are loads of posts like this atm, mostly anonymous, though some regular Reform cheerleaders. If I were of a more cynical turn of mind I might be a bit suspicious.
Being foreign and blowing kisses makes you a scumbag apparently.
'Tonight whilst my daughter and her friend was walking home from gym two foreign just eat guys came out from the flats at the royal were they began cycling on their bikes and clocked both of the girls they repeatedly kept turning round looking at them and as they cycled up onto the bridge they began shouting and blowing kisses at the girls. This behaviour is totally unacceptable!! Both men headed up into Royston so please be careful. The girls never managed to get pictures unfortunately due to how fast they cycled away. Scum bags!'
Clearly bollocks, but - had it been real - blowing kisses and shouting at random girls walking down the street would be scumbag behaviour.
I'm not fond of public lewd gestures in general but blowing kisses is pretty mild in the glossary of street misogyny in the east end of Glasgow, grabbing one’s crotch and bellowing ‘want it’ is standard fare. Strangely I've never seen a single complaint about 'banter' from non-foreign scaffolders and the like on the FB page.
Living in the genteel northern reaches of God's Own County, I've clearly led a sheltered life.
I haven't seen any of that sort of behaviour for many years. Though a group of women did wolf-whistle me a couple of years ago when I was out on a run...
Yet again, I'd like to mention the Considerate Constructors Scheme. which AFAIAA has pretty much stopped the old and well-documented misbehaviour of builders on building sites. Positive change can happen.
Scaffolders were on my mind because a scaffold is being broken down this very day at the back of my bit. The gaffer is berating his hapless apprentice: 'Ya stupid wee ****, dinnae stack it like that, pull it apart and fuckn start again etc', all at maximum decibels. Gaffer may be a perfect gent to the ladies but he's a bullying rsole otherwise.
If their firm is part of the scheme, that's probably a breach of the CCS code.
Although, and I say this hesitantly, if the apprentice is doing something dangerous, sometimes a short, sharp bollocking is in order. But it shouldn't necessarily be that public or loud. And often a politer word works better.
I knew someone who used to give someone who did something wrong the full hairdryer treatment for a few minutes, go away, then come back a few minutes later with a smile and a "How can we fix this then?" Often with a cup of tea and some biccies. Which struck me as perhaps not the best way of dealing with things, but much better than some.
As an aside, many years ago a couple were walking the coastline of Britain. They'd been walking the wilds of the west and north Scottish coasts, and arrived one morning in the first big city for many months: Aberdeen.
To her surprise, people were staring at them as they passed, as if they were some foul creatures. Only when they stopped did they realise that she'd been drying her underwear on the back of her rucksack, and they were flying like a flag in the breeze.
Anyone with underwear would attract some funny looks in Aberdeen.
Here lie the bones of Elisabeth Charlotte, Born a virgin, died a harlot. She was aye a virgin at seventeen, A remarkable thing in Aberdeen.
On a tombstone in Aberdeen
Memory may be a fault but
Here lies the body of Elizabeth White Who fell asleep one Saturday night. For seventy-nine years she kept her virginity Which is surely a record for this vicinity.
is alleged to be on a gravestone somewhere in the East Midlands.
pretty wild to watch judges uphold the constitutional order again and again before being forced to relent because the supreme court says it's fine for a republican president to ignore laws
track a particular case in which the regime has clearly taken an anti-constitutional stance and the judge has to eventually issue a statement like "SCOTUS said on Monday that crimes are legal now, case dismissed."
Bizarrely I just came accross this poster I shot years ago. I have no idea what it was about. All I remember is that it took the flag painter five hours and the model was that years disco dancing champion .....
PS It was at the motor show for brake linings ive just found out
Regarding the fraud highlighted by Only Living Boy: how did the fraudsters know i) his relative was selling his house, and ii) what his email was?
It's a type of fraud that we are constantly warned about. Changing bank account details is a major red flag.
You can check bank account details via services like Infotrack, and then verify them with a telephone call. I would always telephone to check bank details.
I am curious what name was on the new account, and if it matched the old one
Yes. That's a good (and worrying) point.
If the account name was the same, how did they get proof of identity to open it? (And when - it would imply a fraud with substantial planning) If it wasn't the same, how did it get past confirmation of payee?
Either scenario makes me even more concerned about the behaviour of the solicitors in question.
Daft question, probably, but while account names are now checked for Faster Payments/BACS are they for CHAPS (which this presumably was) - or were they always checked for CHAPS?
About ten years ago, my wife received a couple of thousand in her bank account which was clearly misdirected BACS payment. She notified her bank who said they couldn't do anything unless/until someone requested it back, but that she should not treat it as her money as it could, of course, be claimed back. We stuck it in a savings account and then, eventually, spent it.
Yes, they are checked.
I find it hard to understand how the payment could have been made. Solicitors always have client accounts. I wonder if the destination account was outside the UK ? Otherwise surely the bank would demand a reason why so much money was going into the account from a Solicitor's Client Account. If my friend sells a scrap mowing machine for me at Junction 36 then I have to prove it was mine, and validate the account, and promise to pay the tax etc etc. And I'll be lucky if it makes £500
As an aside, many years ago a couple were walking the coastline of Britain. They'd been walking the wilds of the west and north Scottish coasts, and arrived one morning in the first big city for many months: Aberdeen.
To her surprise, people were staring at them as they passed, as if they were some foul creatures. Only when they stopped did they realise that she'd been drying her underwear on the back of her rucksack, and they were flying like a flag in the breeze.
Anyone with underwear would attract some funny looks in Aberdeen.
Here lie the bones of Elisabeth Charlotte, Born a virgin, died a harlot. She was aye a virgin at seventeen, A remarkable thing in Aberdeen.
On a tombstone in Aberdeen
Memory may be a fault but
Here lies the body of Elizabeth White Who fell asleep one Saturday night. For seventy-nine years she kept her virginity Which is surely a record for this vicinity.
is alleged to be on a gravestone somewhere in the East Midlands.
Talking of gravestones, there is one in Godmanchester churchyard which is a mini murder thriller in itself:
“TO / the Memory of / MARY ANN WEEMS / who was Murdered in the 21st Year / of her Age”
“As a Warning / to the Young of both Sexes / This Stone is erected by public Subscription / over the remains of MARY ANN WEEMS / who at an early age became acquainted / with THOMAS WEEMS formerly of this Parish / this connextion [sic] terminating in a compulsory / Marriage occasioned him soon to desert her / and wishing to be Married to another Woman / he filled up the measure of his iniquity / by resolving to murder his Wife / which he barbarously perpetrated at Wendy / on their Journey to London toward which place / he had induced her to go under the mask / of reconciliation May the 7th 1819 / He was taken within a few hours after / the crime was committed, tried and / subsequently executed at Cambridge / on the 7th of August in the same Year / Ere Crime you perpetrate survey this Stone / Learn hence the God of Justice sleeps not on his Throne / But marks the Sinner with unerring Eye / The suffering victim hears and makes the Guilty die”"
FB neighbourhood information page (aka moaning old indigenes) update. There are loads of posts like this atm, mostly anonymous, though some regular Reform cheerleaders. If I were of a more cynical turn of mind I might be a bit suspicious.
Being foreign and blowing kisses makes you a scumbag apparently.
'Tonight whilst my daughter and her friend was walking home from gym two foreign just eat guys came out from the flats at the royal were they began cycling on their bikes and clocked both of the girls they repeatedly kept turning round looking at them and as they cycled up onto the bridge they began shouting and blowing kisses at the girls. This behaviour is totally unacceptable!! Both men headed up into Royston so please be careful. The girls never managed to get pictures unfortunately due to how fast they cycled away. Scum bags!'
Clearly bollocks, but - had it been real - blowing kisses and shouting at random girls walking down the street would be scumbag behaviour.
I'm not fond of public lewd gestures in general but blowing kisses is pretty mild in the glossary of street misogyny in the east end of Glasgow, grabbing one’s crotch and bellowing ‘want it’ is standard fare. Strangely I've never seen a single complaint about 'banter' from non-foreign scaffolders and the like on the FB page.
Living in the genteel northern reaches of God's Own County, I've clearly led a sheltered life.
I haven't seen any of that sort of behaviour for many years. Though a group of women did wolf-whistle me a couple of years ago when I was out on a run...
Yet again, I'd like to mention the Considerate Constructors Scheme. which AFAIAA has pretty much stopped the old and well-documented misbehaviour of builders on building sites. Positive change can happen.
Scaffolders were on my mind because a scaffold is being broken down this very day at the back of my bit. The gaffer is berating his hapless apprentice: 'Ya stupid wee ****, dinnae stack it like that, pull it apart and fuckn start again etc', all at maximum decibels. Gaffer may be a perfect gent to the ladies but he's a bullying rsole otherwise.
The interesting thing on this is you'd think commercial pressures would push it out. We've had a couple of extensions, both done by a builder who we'd seen in action nearby; we also got quotes from the person who did some work next door (he was quite booked up or we might have picked him) but not from the guy who worked across the street who actually seemed to have done a decent job but came across as an aggressive little shit. Builders are in/around you house for extended periods; you care what they're like. Ours was very good with our kids and my wife was entirely happy to be alone with him, his team and his selected subbies in the house.
Bizarrely I just came accross this poster I shot years ago. I have no idea what it was about. All I remember is that it took the flag painter five hours and the model was that years disco dancing champion .....
Nowadays the flags would just be added digitally. And some people think that is progress!
Bizarrely I just came accross this poster I shot years ago. I have no idea what it was about. All I remember is that it took the flag painter five hours and the model was that years disco dancing champion .....
Nowadays the flags would just be added digitally. And some people think that is progress!
You're right but they couldn't then get the contours right doing it in post. Poor girl!
China plans to ban Hollywood movies after saying it will never accept the 'blackmail nature' of the United States following President Donald Trump's escalated tariff threats against Beijing
That'll blow Hollywood plans right out of the water. A franchise that appeals in China can gross big: "Avengers Endgame" did over $500 million in China. The second Avatar did a quarter of a billion there. "Avatar: Fire and Ash" is due out later this year, so an American film ban will hurt. I wonder if they'll rebadge their fillums as "British" to get it past the tariffs?
Gave up on that franchise after sitting through one movie that promised to tell us how old Ultron was and singularly failed to do so.
The chat box on Youtube is full of Tommy Robinson enthusiasts, demanding that all lawyers be thrown out of Parliament and similar - very MAGA / Musky derivative.
When are we going to stop pretending that those working from home are actually working?
The article suggests the problems are falling oil extraction, lack of investment, and unreliable economic statistics.
Meanwhile, pro-ID card Labour MPs think the productivity problem is not enough ID cards:-
The letter calls on the government to revive the idea of ID cards – a hugely controversial policy proposal during Tony Blair’s era – but said digital IDs were the right route for the modern economy. It said it would mean that citizens could “engage with the state more seamlessly”, including booking GP appointments, renewing passports or paying tax.
It might also flush out the hundred of thousands (millions?) who are working illegally.
Indeed, but we could eliminate that problem by becoming a cashless society rather than having draconian ID cards.
ID cards are not really draconian. Its only the potential application by the state that makes it so. For instance you have to show ID such as a passport when being employed at my Uni - an ID card would do that. You could show it at the GP or hospital. Lots of benefits to it.
Could would rapidly become must in lots of other life situations.
Good morning, everyone.
Only because it would make life easier - reality is no one is going to create extra work here because there is no money involved.
What's involved is power. Power exerted by authority over individuals.
Unless there ends up being a law that says no ID card no treatment, anyone playing games like that is going to end up on a disciplinary at some level or other.
power only works if people are given it
Unfortunately Trump is giving us an object lesson in how power works. You take it and you smash people's face in and the others are too frightened to stop you. A 21st century hyperpower is turning itself into a medieval state and people are...doing podcasts. Please do not believe that decency prevents evil.
As the O'Brien who doesn't have a phone-in on LBC put it:
Obedience is not enough. Unless he is suffering, how can you be sure that he is obeying your will and not his own? Power is in inflicting pain and humiliation.
Power is also making people do and repeat absurd things.
Comments
A result like the without a massive MRP is almost impossible to predict in seats terms.
Being first to put your head above the parapet makes you the first target to be shot at. But avoiding that, and using the platform well, it also makes you the leader of the opposition.
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5237011-supreme-court-trump-venezuelans-alien-enemies-act/
So until Congress discovers a spine, Trump can legally rendition to a third country jail.
The judgment does at least insist on due process, which gives the chance of contesting any such order.
Sir Keir Starmer is to name John Fingleton, a former chief executive of the Office of Fair Trading, as the chair of a nuclear regulatory taskforce which will aim to incentivise greater investment in Britain’s nuclear energy industry.
https://x.com/MarkKleinmanSky/status/1909550284616892460
If the account name was the same, how did they get proof of identity to open it? (And when - it would imply a fraud with substantial planning)
If it wasn't the same, how did it get past confirmation of payee?
Either scenario makes me even more concerned about the behaviour of the solicitors in question.
Your only line of defence is preventions on unauthorised password resets for your email. If you haven't set those up, perhaps because you're not very technically aware or if the ISP is a bit careless, you're stuffed.
https://x.com/Nigel_Farage/status/1762547790234660966
- Dave Gahan of Depeche Mode.
But I got a great cut for £8 at “chop chop”
I’m tempted to make it my new favourite barbers., where I will always return - except it’s not overwhelmingly convenient to have your “favourite barbers” in the south Dostyk area of Almaty, Kazakhstan
“Just nipping out for a quick haircut, luv, won’t take more than a week”
There's me thinking that Reform wanted to go back to the good old days when such banter was enjoyed by all concerned, along the lines of pinching bums on the Tube, "glamour" calenders in workplaces, page 3 girls etc.
Eg all the kids in the trendy barbers could only speak Russian (and some English). Zero Kazakh
Yet again, I'd like to mention the Considerate Constructors Scheme. which AFAIAA has pretty much stopped the old and well-documented misbehaviour of builders on building sites. Positive change can happen.
About ten years ago, my wife received a couple of thousand in her bank account which was clearly misdirected BACS payment. She notified her bank who said they couldn't do anything unless/until someone requested it back, but that she should not treat it as her money as it could, of course, be claimed back. We stuck it in a savings account and then, eventually, spent it.
To her surprise, people were staring at them as they passed, as if they were some foul creatures. Only when they stopped did they realise that she'd been drying her underwear on the back of her rucksack, and they were flying like a flag in the breeze.
Men hassling women - unpleasantly - is an everyday sight in many parts of london. And yes, there is a correlation with recent migrants
Bloomberg has some nice charts on the tariffs’ impacts.
The first one argues that tariffs on China are coming globally: too many countries will see a spike of imports from China & that's not sustainable.
(man, I hope that's relevant)'
God has many countries (and parts thereof) but only one county. Well, four ceremonial counties, plus some large number of local authorities, but you get the idea!
Yes, it does happen. I don't deny it. But perhaps you see more of it because (ahem) you're at the sort of places where men hassle women?
Something that is happening a lot at the moment is ‘digital squatting’ that targets older people.
The criminals target older people who they think don’t have online banking, so the criminals will pretend to be the customer and set up their online banking for the first time.
They’ll do it gently, after a few months they’ll change the address, obtain credit in their name, and bugger off.
If you have older friends/neighbours/relatives then you might have to bite the bullet and get them set up online, so nobody else can do it for them.
I have zero problem with going out before dawn for a walk or run. I did so this morning. It's a brilliant time to be out and about, and very convenient when I'm going to be busy for the rest of the day. But a female friend of mine, another runner, living in our village, won't run in the dark because of the *fear* of getting hassle. It has never happened to her, and there is not much of that sort of thing about here, but her concern seems a very human response.
I don't know how we can quickly, or easily, fix that.
See here as an example.
When you make Faster Payments or CHAPS payments to a person or business for the first time, we check the account details with their bank. This helps:
ensure your money gets to the right place
protect you from fraud
https://www.lloydsbank.com/business/help-and-support/payments/confirmation-of-payee.html#:~:text=When you make Faster Payments,protect you from fraud
Now the software probably has steps to say unable to identify the account owner but I wonder if the solicitor will care about that they probably think oh that's always the case with half baked bank XYZ.
https://psr.org.uk/our-work/app-scams/confirmation-of-payee/
Markets go up again a little bit, after a few days of heavy losses as people cover their short positions.
Demand to see the Senior Partner, Right Away.
If NOT then engage other solicitors from another town and make sure they are willing to act against one of their own. Then report the first solicitors to the Law Council RIGHT AWAY
If there is any loss of any benefit, such as a secondary transaction falls because of want of the funds they are in really deep shit.
To be honest it should be sorted by now.
A meeting with the senior partner will do no good, because he can't make an admission of breach of duty of care, without the say so of his insurer.
Born a virgin, died a harlot.
She was aye a virgin at seventeen,
A remarkable thing in Aberdeen.
On a tombstone in Aberdeen
The real value will come from on-device verification & validation services which, which is when digital passports and the like start to become useful - so eg. you'll be able to prove your identity on your phone, without having to get a trained border guard to scrutinise your photo. That's not due to go live until 2027, though.
There is a certain amount of wheel-reinvention going on here, as it's partially duplicating work done in the late 2010s at GDS as well as parts of the similar-but-different EU eIDAS system. Brexit put a spanner in the works, so now we're getting this instead.
Lots more here if anyone's interested: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-digital-identity-and-attributes-trust-framework-04/uk-digital-identity-and-attributes-trust-framework-gamma-04-pre-release
Although, and I say this hesitantly, if the apprentice is doing something dangerous, sometimes a short, sharp bollocking is in order. But it shouldn't necessarily be that public or loud. And often a politer word works better.
I knew someone who used to give someone who did something wrong the full hairdryer treatment for a few minutes, go away, then come back a few minutes later with a smile and a "How can we fix this then?" Often with a cup of tea and some biccies. Which struck me as perhaps not the best way of dealing with things, but much better than some.
Here lies the body of Elizabeth White
Who fell asleep one Saturday night.
For seventy-nine years she kept her virginity
Which is surely a record for this vicinity.
is alleged to be on a gravestone somewhere in the East Midlands.
pretty wild to watch judges uphold the constitutional order again and again before being forced to relent because the supreme court says it's fine for a republican president to ignore laws
track a particular case in which the regime has clearly taken an anti-constitutional stance and the judge has to eventually issue a statement like "SCOTUS said on Monday that crimes are legal now, case dismissed."
https://bsky.app/profile/dennycarter.bsky.social/post/3lmcmrzgswc2l
Bizarrely I just came accross this poster I shot years ago. I have no idea what it was about. All I remember is that it took the flag painter five hours and the model was that years disco dancing champion .....
PS It was at the motor show for brake linings ive just found out
“TO / the Memory of / MARY ANN WEEMS / who was Murdered in the 21st Year / of her Age”
“As a Warning / to the Young of both Sexes / This Stone is erected by public Subscription / over the remains of MARY ANN WEEMS / who at an early age became acquainted / with THOMAS WEEMS formerly of this Parish / this connextion [sic] terminating in a compulsory / Marriage occasioned him soon to desert her / and wishing to be Married to another Woman / he filled up the measure of his iniquity / by resolving to murder his Wife / which he barbarously perpetrated at Wendy / on their Journey to London toward which place / he had induced her to go under the mask / of reconciliation May the 7th 1819 / He was taken within a few hours after / the crime was committed, tried and / subsequently executed at Cambridge / on the 7th of August in the same Year / Ere Crime you perpetrate survey this Stone / Learn hence the God of Justice sleeps not on his Throne / But marks the Sinner with unerring Eye / The suffering victim hears and makes the Guilty die”"
https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/4194419
I don't recall the world going to hell in a hand cart back then.
A genuine national swing feels more likely - albeit maybe boosted a little by local campaigning.
I would go back and erase it but that would only confirm my ability.
RefUK 28% +1% on the previous week
Con 27% +4%
Lab 22% - 2%
Lib Dem 14% - 1%
Green 5%. - 2%
The chat box on Youtube is full of Tommy Robinson enthusiasts, demanding that all lawyers be thrown out of Parliament and similar - very MAGA / Musky derivative.
It turns out I have been running 2 car insurance policies for a couple of months by mistake (my error).
I don't think that I will have much luck asking for a refund from the one I should have cancelled !