If you have any money resting in your account you might be contemplating betting on who will be the next Pope and bookies like Paddy Power are offering odds but I would caution against betting on these markets as this is the epitome of an insiders’ market.
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Good morning, everyone.
F1: my review of Saudi Arabia is up here, including my take on the lap 1 incidents (Gasly-Tsunoda = racing incident, Verstappen entirely tried to gain an unfair advantage and deserved to be penalised) and how the title battle is shaping up. Also, the transcript has a lovely graph.
Podbean: https://undercutters.podbean.com/e/f1-2025-saudi-arabian-grand-prix-review/
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/f1-2025-saudi-arabian-grand-prix-review/id1786574257?i=1000704410551
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1xxxu5PeXCJvkNSieGr70V
Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/bcfe213b-55fb-408a-a823-dc6693ee9f78/episodes/6f22639b-8655-4bcd-9400-c3972b1a4994/undercutters---f1-podcast-f1-2025-saudi-arabian-grand-prix-review
Transcript: https://morrisf1.blogspot.com/2025/04/f1-2025-saudi-arabian-grand-prix-review.html
Edited extra bit: On-topic, not sure I'm inclined to bet on this. My leadership bets have tended to be iffy, except that one time I fluked my way to be really green on the Lib Dems (I was online at the moment almost every major announcement of not standing was made, having backed Swinson a day or two before the leadership election was announced).
Not all those appointed by the late Pope are 100% signed up to his agenda, either. Church politics doesn’t allow a Pope to take over the place like that.
My Peruvian church going relatives are discussing this like football… one thing they were talking about was the conservatives backing a conservative candidate from a non-European country.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/politics/2025/04/21/steve-hilton-enters-california-governor-race/
The report, which was based on analysis of a range of official data about GP services, also found that:
There are too few full-time GPs for the health secretary to fulfil his promise to “bring back the family doctor”, and that is unlikely to change in the years ahead.
The government’s policy of pushing GPs to offer more appointments may not be “wise” because GPs will respond by providing more remotely – which patients dislike.
GP appointment times will need to be extended from 10 to 15 minutes if Streeting is to deliver his pledge to shift the NHS from a treatment to much more of an illness prevention service.
If GPs shift to being more preventive in their work, that might reduce the number of appointments they can offer, because patients will need more time to discuss their health.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/apr/22/patient-satisfaction-gp-services-england-research
That is why Parolin being favourite is significant. It may be name recognition - he has spent twelve years out and about - but as Francis' Secretary of State and closely associated with his policies, it suggests they want more of the same.
Whether the Cardinals will agree is another question.
Would he/she/they be the 'insider' you are referring to?
'Nobody is confident the Holy Ghost would understand what makes a good Pope.'
She's also made a big thing about persecution of Christians.
If you get more than - say - 10 billion-to-1, then she might be worth a quid.
https://x.com/kobeissiletter/status/1914279658008257001?s=61
Personally, I think even Kamala high on ayahuasca would grind Hilton into the ground, given these midterms are not going to be a Republican highpoint and California is Democrat-central.
To do otherwise is a liberal fantasy.
Starmer close to EU arms deal — at the expense of fishermen
British firms will be able to bid for the new €150 billion EU defence fund after the UK makes concessions on fishing quotas
Sir Keir Starmer is close to striking a major trade deal with the EU that would allow British arms companies to sell billions of pounds of weapons to European allies.
British firms will be able to bid for the new €150 billion EU defence fund as part of Starmer’s reset with the bloc after the UK made significant concessions to Brussels on fishing rights.
The prime minister will host an EU-UK summit on May 19 in London as he seeks to ease trade barriers with Brussels.
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/starmer-close-to-eu-arms-deal-at-the-expense-of-fishermen-fwckp5btr
*Admittedly it wasn't the only factor but it was a major one.
Cinematography: 10/10
Constipated look on Ralph Fiennes' face: 11/10
If we did, then we'd have a much bigger one and far less going to export.
I'm not sure why it changed, or exactly when. Was it maybe because of overfishing that caused prices to rise and supply to plummet? Or was it simply a change in tastes?
It’s exactly the same as Blair. Giving away something concrete - half the Rebate - for something possible - the promise to reform CAP (which never happened)
It’s classic bad British EU negotiation. Plus ca change….
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fishing_industry_in_Russia
I don't think we can offer them caviar...
But the use of offal has also largely disappeared, and processed meats increased massively.
[Link to audio clip]
https://x.com/roseveniceallan/status/1914576957892608050
The real worry for western chipmakers in the fairly near term is the increasing market threat from Chinese DRAM manufacturers. EUV machines aren't essential to compete at the high end, so it's more vulnerable.
China might do the same to that market as they've done to power semiconductors.
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Meat-prices-1954-64-pence-per-pound-Source-National-Food-Survey-1955-65_fig2_46553334
It doesn't appear to be adjusted for inflation.
@PeterTwinklage
there is no evidence JD Vance killed the Pope. there is also no evidence JD Vance didn’t kill the Pope.
in conclusion, JD Vance should be deported to El Salvador.
https://x.com/PeterTwinklage/status/1914389152566497542
Our fishing industry always fished heavily in other countries waters, at least before the 200 mile limit came in. After that stopped, we stopped eating so much fish.
Then battery chickens came in. Chicken was once an expensive meat.
One thing to bear in mind is that quotas are privately owned. A large proportion of English/Welsh quotas are in foreign hands, and in Scotland tend to be dominated by a few family businesses.
Beef - 1467 rising to 1889
Fish - 829 rising to 2059
That's a massive relative change.
Nothing better as you ploughed across the Minch.
Also I know people who generally opt for fish as it is more healthy and less cruel in its farming methods. Like, er, me
I eat fish basically as often as I can. 3-4 times a week given the chance? More sometimes?
One of the great drawbacks of Central Asia is the lack of fish
Not to mention the increasing concern in the Catholic church about the ways US MAGA-fascism is something of a wolf in sheep's clothing as far as Christianity in general is concerned.
It wouldn’t be such a problem to open up UK fishing grounds to EU (the French) if they gave a fuck about protecting stocks and environments. Bit they don’t.
Big shame. I love mackerel. I have a mackerel and lentil curry recipe. Fantastic.
I had some awful mackerel and haddock back in the day but prepared properly it is delicious.
Should be the PB national dish.
Smoked mackerel pâté (with cream cheese, lemon) served with melba toast is very nice also.
Saw Warfare last night. In the cinema. Excellent and a strong recommend.
Sorry, were we talking about elections and betting odds or something.
British fishermen sold their quotas to foreigners. Which, if you think about it, is not that different to British farmers selling their fields to gay French hedge fund managers*.
* Yes, there's a specific one I'm thinking of
Which is presumably why there are so few left.
There's really no hope for you.
So they got a load of licences to fish in our waters and then abuse it horribly - they use their CI licences to fish the tuna and land them in France so sneak around our ban and French quotas.
Fishing is only worth 0.03 to economic output . And Bozos deal fxcked UK fishing as it stopped a lot of our high end exports to the EU like live langoustine etc .
Reflects too the fact that while the Roman Catholic church remains reasonably strong in Italy and Poland elsewhere in Europe it is in decline with its growth in the developing world
Salt herring a staple in times past and much loved by my Hebridean relatives, now really difficult to find anywhere including the islands.
But the limited funding and time schools work under must be a problem.
I'm a fairly good baker, but a barely-competent cook. I just about make meals that keep my family alive. I wish I knew how to cook better, but I am rather set in my ways now.
https://x.com/keir_starmer/status/1914575998009384974
As a parent, I know that family life and work can often feel impossible to juggle.
That's why I promised to make parents lives easier, and put more money in their pockets, with Labour's free breakfast clubs.
Today, they start rolling out across the country.
So while she might have a very outside shot at Canterbury if she quickly got ordained she has zero chance of Rome
It was the 1970s mind.
Funny how disabled toilets, which were always unisex, are now fair game for anyone.
Anyway, how are Trump's tariffs panning out?
I always have it at posh hotels if it’s available
When you have that breakfast and you break the yolk and the golden goodness mixes with the fishy umami and you mop it up with salty crunchy toast. Then a gulp of strong tea?
Omg
Sets you up for the whole day but in a brilliant healthy way that a full English does not. A full English weighs you down and you need a nap