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In office but not in power – politicalbetting.com

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  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 55,014
    Leon said:

    We do of course risk with some of this turning into local news tv
    'Tonight on Look East the regions oldest woman meets the regions fattest man in the regions oldest church to discuss Norwich City's prospects in the worlds oldest League'

    Not easy to get to St Peter’s at Bradwell. The nuclear power station, or what’s left of it, overshadows it.
    I had a Hoopoe fly in off the sea there - and land not ten feet away, feeding like a crazed thing.

    That's my daily birding anecdote related to a place somebody else has named.
    Desolate spot, isn’t it!
    Remote ancient chapel and nuclear power station - noom central!
    Ooh yes, and, even better, a DISUSED nuclear power station

    One of the noomiest places in the UK

    Dark noom - the nuke station, and bright noom - the ravishingly lonely chapel. Described as a “bare boned box of holiness” by thriller writer S K Tremayne, I believe

    Off the bat I am struggling to think of a noomier place in the UK, apart from St Kilda, which is one of the noomiest places on EARTH, so that’s a high bar
    I'm saving it for a rainy day, so pure speculation - but is the city under Edinburgh a candidate? Hoping so...
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 14,519

    We do of course risk with some of this turning into local news tv
    'Tonight on Look East the regions oldest woman meets the regions fattest man in the regions oldest church to discuss Norwich City's prospects in the worlds oldest League'

    Not easy to get to St Peter’s at Bradwell. The nuclear power station, or what’s left of it, overshadows it.
    It took me six weeks to get there.

    Mind you, I did walk from Edinburgh. :)

    That chapel is a really atmospheric place.
    Totally different setting but St Laurence, Bradford on Avon is as good.
  • isamisam Posts: 41,960

    Taz said:

    kinabalu said:

    Taz said:

    kinabalu said:

    BREAKING: "Putin will have to respond to the drone attacks" says the Kreml ... no hang on, says Donald Trump!

    Trump was quoting Putin. Not advocating it. 🙄
    You think?
    Yes. I’ve quoted the link to his actual comments.

    I get that Trump is not flavour of the month here, I can’t say I’m a fan myself, but the derangement when it comes to his comments, or what people think he said, is off the scale.
    Trump says mad shit.

    His foreign relationships and policy is bizarre, unless he has some connection with Russia that we are unaware of.

    Economists across the World and across history have explained that Tariffs are bad. Smoot -Hawley and the subsequent economic catastrophe should have taught him that lesson. So now Coca Cola are talking about moving their HQ from Atlanta to Europe or the Middle East. Heavy manufacturing and automotive are looking to move production from one third country to another to beat tariffs (not moving back to the rust-belt).

    The performative cruelty and racism is World beating in its wickedness and projects like Gaza Atlantic City is beyond insane and the ethnic cleansing plan element is beyond belief.

    He's deranged, and not me.

    Trump has a degree in economics.
    I hava a Desmond in politics and my views are considered to be so wrong and absurd by the majority of PBers. I would appear to be wrong about Brexit, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Robert Jenrick for starters.
    Diff’rent strokes rather than wrong I’d say
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 31,541

    isam said:

    DavidL said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Oh dear...

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/06/02/ash-regan-makes-underground-prostitution-blunder-gaffe/

    But when asked how she responded to those who said the Bill could drive prostitution into an “unregulated and underground system”, she answered: “There is no basis for any of those assertions. If you even think for one second, you cannot possibly drive prostitution underground.

    “If you had a lot of women in underground cellars with a locked door, how would the punters get to them?”

    Surely no-one is that stupid.
    You're talking about a woman who thought (a) joining the SNP was a good idea and then (b) thought joining Alba was a smart career option. We are not talking even the second drawer here.
    I’m old enough to remember PBers with their customary Caledonian insight discussing her seriously as a leader of the SNP/FM.
    Is there a third drawer for those people?
    I remember PBers suggesting Suzanne Evans take over from Farage as UKIP leader as he was a drag on their vote! When I said that would be madness, I think I was called a misogynist
    She did replace him didn't she?
    That was Diane James (briefly)
    Then Nuttall
    Ah, I'd forgotten her. A very nice seeming lady. Perhaps she'll come back as a Reform MP - her Wikipedia says she joined the Brexit Party.
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 31,541
    isam said:

    Taz said:

    kinabalu said:

    Taz said:

    kinabalu said:

    BREAKING: "Putin will have to respond to the drone attacks" says the Kreml ... no hang on, says Donald Trump!

    Trump was quoting Putin. Not advocating it. 🙄
    You think?
    Yes. I’ve quoted the link to his actual comments.

    I get that Trump is not flavour of the month here, I can’t say I’m a fan myself, but the derangement when it comes to his comments, or what people think he said, is off the scale.
    Trump says mad shit.

    His foreign relationships and policy is bizarre, unless he has some connection with Russia that we are unaware of.

    Economists across the World and across history have explained that Tariffs are bad. Smoot -Hawley and the subsequent economic catastrophe should have taught him that lesson. So now Coca Cola are talking about moving their HQ from Atlanta to Europe or the Middle East. Heavy manufacturing and automotive are looking to move production from one third country to another to beat tariffs (not moving back to the rust-belt).

    The performative cruelty and racism is World beating in its wickedness and projects like Gaza Atlantic City is beyond insane and the ethnic cleansing plan element is beyond belief.

    He's deranged, and not me.

    Trump has a degree in economics.
    I hava a Desmond in politics and my views are considered to be so wrong and absurd by the majority of PBers. I would appear to be wrong about Brexit, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Robert Jenrick for starters.
    Diff’rent strokes rather than wrong I’d say
    I would say wrong. Completely wrong.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 32,161
    ...
    isam said:

    Taz said:

    kinabalu said:

    Taz said:

    kinabalu said:

    BREAKING: "Putin will have to respond to the drone attacks" says the Kreml ... no hang on, says Donald Trump!

    Trump was quoting Putin. Not advocating it. 🙄
    You think?
    Yes. I’ve quoted the link to his actual comments.

    I get that Trump is not flavour of the month here, I can’t say I’m a fan myself, but the derangement when it comes to his comments, or what people think he said, is off the scale.
    Trump says mad shit.

    His foreign relationships and policy is bizarre, unless he has some connection with Russia that we are unaware of.

    Economists across the World and across history have explained that Tariffs are bad. Smoot -Hawley and the subsequent economic catastrophe should have taught him that lesson. So now Coca Cola are talking about moving their HQ from Atlanta to Europe or the Middle East. Heavy manufacturing and automotive are looking to move production from one third country to another to beat tariffs (not moving back to the rust-belt).

    The performative cruelty and racism is World beating in its wickedness and projects like Gaza Atlantic City is beyond insane and the ethnic cleansing plan element is beyond belief.

    He's deranged, and not me.

    Trump has a degree in economics.
    I hava a Desmond in politics and my views are considered to be so wrong and absurd by the majority of PBers. I would appear to be wrong about Brexit, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Robert Jenrick for starters.
    Diff’rent strokes rather than wrong I’d say
    Come the day of Nigel's Revolution I accept I deserve an early firing squad at the stadium for my unacceptable treason.
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 14,519
    Leon said:

    We do of course risk with some of this turning into local news tv
    'Tonight on Look East the regions oldest woman meets the regions fattest man in the regions oldest church to discuss Norwich City's prospects in the worlds oldest League'

    Not easy to get to St Peter’s at Bradwell. The nuclear power station, or what’s left of it, overshadows it.
    I had a Hoopoe fly in off the sea there - and land not ten feet away, feeding like a crazed thing.

    That's my daily birding anecdote related to a place somebody else has named.
    Desolate spot, isn’t it!
    Remote ancient chapel and nuclear power station - noom central!
    Ooh yes, and, even better, a DISUSED nuclear power station

    One of the noomiest places in the UK

    Dark noom - the nuke station, and bright noom - the ravishingly lonely chapel. Described as a “bare boned box of holiness” by thriller writer S K Tremayne, I believe

    Off the bat I am struggling to think of a noomier place in the UK, apart from St Kilda, which is one of the noomiest places on EARTH, so that’s a high bar
    A curiously noomish experience to me is that I have visited Bankside Power station when it was a working power station and in its current incarnation as Tate Modern.

    The memory of the first visit, it must have been in the 1960s, has much more noom than the second.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 34,917
    kle4 said:

    isam said:

    DavidL said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Oh dear...

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/06/02/ash-regan-makes-underground-prostitution-blunder-gaffe/

    But when asked how she responded to those who said the Bill could drive prostitution into an “unregulated and underground system”, she answered: “There is no basis for any of those assertions. If you even think for one second, you cannot possibly drive prostitution underground.

    “If you had a lot of women in underground cellars with a locked door, how would the punters get to them?”

    Surely no-one is that stupid.
    You're talking about a woman who thought (a) joining the SNP was a good idea and then (b) thought joining Alba was a smart career option. We are not talking even the second drawer here.
    I’m old enough to remember PBers with their customary Caledonian insight discussing her seriously as a leader of the SNP/FM.
    Is there a third drawer for those people?
    I remember PBers suggesting Suzanne Evans take over from Farage as UKIP leader as he was a drag on their vote! When I said that would be madness, I think I was called a misogynist
    She did replace him didn't she?
    Hard to remember, they went through a pretty ridiculous run of new leader after new leader until a bit of stability under...Neil Hamilton.
    Whatever happened to him?
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 55,014

    isam said:

    DavidL said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Oh dear...

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/06/02/ash-regan-makes-underground-prostitution-blunder-gaffe/

    But when asked how she responded to those who said the Bill could drive prostitution into an “unregulated and underground system”, she answered: “There is no basis for any of those assertions. If you even think for one second, you cannot possibly drive prostitution underground.

    “If you had a lot of women in underground cellars with a locked door, how would the punters get to them?”

    Surely no-one is that stupid.
    You're talking about a woman who thought (a) joining the SNP was a good idea and then (b) thought joining Alba was a smart career option. We are not talking even the second drawer here.
    I’m old enough to remember PBers with their customary Caledonian insight discussing her seriously as a leader of the SNP/FM.
    Is there a third drawer for those people?
    I remember PBers suggesting Suzanne Evans take over from Farage as UKIP leader as he was a drag on their vote! When I said that would be madness, I think I was called a misogynist
    She did replace him didn't she?
    That was Diane James (briefly)
    Then Nuttall
    I still remember that fabulous pile of newspapers litterally making him look like a knobhead.

    You have to look about a dozen rows down:

    https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=5ed3572dacaed608&sxsrf=AE3TifO9fJEJ_Lr8IJcVtIH3ba-cT42ArQ:1749063667211&q=paul+nuttall+ukip+image+newspapers&udm=2&source=univ&fir=MZ-BObq8gSOKOM%2CIvdN5pvpTCC52M%2C_%3BHPcapffEwxUzgM%2CRAZu7Ab5KzQGJM%2C_%3BO-uCW1HqKTnAYM%2CncKijj1vdSh2CM%2C_%3B8L-9_TRiyWixSM%2CfOIew97OfdTAOM%2C_%3BNem9PWol3f0-DM%2CgvNPLJCc3AaARM%2C_%3BolIPP6ncmzueiM%2C0bPJ0MuP9h4k8M%2C_%3BN5D-mPvSYlNRiM%2Co09SbgmxO1LCwM%2C_%3BzrYH-NUa1K7J-M%2C05h03A2jv50UeM%2C_%3BJISSnSyysfMqWM%2CnRR6p4S6eYAbiM%2C_&usg=AI4_-kS8aK1YmC1swnE3cifmZwNdPeT2ZA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj2lsv0udiNAxXMQ_EDHT62J6AQ7Al6BAgVEAU&biw=1920&bih=945&dpr=1#vhid=FtSXzwl4ZSTsRM&vssid=mosaic
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 11,000
    edited June 4
    kle4 said:

    isam said:

    DavidL said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Oh dear...

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/06/02/ash-regan-makes-underground-prostitution-blunder-gaffe/

    But when asked how she responded to those who said the Bill could drive prostitution into an “unregulated and underground system”, she answered: “There is no basis for any of those assertions. If you even think for one second, you cannot possibly drive prostitution underground.

    “If you had a lot of women in underground cellars with a locked door, how would the punters get to them?”

    Surely no-one is that stupid.
    You're talking about a woman who thought (a) joining the SNP was a good idea and then (b) thought joining Alba was a smart career option. We are not talking even the second drawer here.
    I’m old enough to remember PBers with their customary Caledonian insight discussing her seriously as a leader of the SNP/FM.
    Is there a third drawer for those people?
    I remember PBers suggesting Suzanne Evans take over from Farage as UKIP leader as he was a drag on their vote! When I said that would be madness, I think I was called a misogynist
    She did replace him didn't she?
    Hard to remember, they went through a pretty ridiculous run of new leader after new leader until a bit of stability under...Neil Hamilton.
    Paul Nuttall was relatively successful and kept them at 2 to 3% outpolling the Greens in 2017. He got 25% and second In the 2017 Stoke by election
    Then it went to shit under Henry Bolton, Gérard Batten, Richard Braine and Freddy Vacha.
    Hamilton took over but they were a nothing by then with just the legacy Welsh AMs and half a dozen councillors that are now all gone. Some young woman had taken over by July last year and now they seem to be rebuilding a little under Nick Tenconi but as a quite hard right version of their former selves
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 11,000

    kle4 said:

    isam said:

    DavidL said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Oh dear...

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/06/02/ash-regan-makes-underground-prostitution-blunder-gaffe/

    But when asked how she responded to those who said the Bill could drive prostitution into an “unregulated and underground system”, she answered: “There is no basis for any of those assertions. If you even think for one second, you cannot possibly drive prostitution underground.

    “If you had a lot of women in underground cellars with a locked door, how would the punters get to them?”

    Surely no-one is that stupid.
    You're talking about a woman who thought (a) joining the SNP was a good idea and then (b) thought joining Alba was a smart career option. We are not talking even the second drawer here.
    I’m old enough to remember PBers with their customary Caledonian insight discussing her seriously as a leader of the SNP/FM.
    Is there a third drawer for those people?
    I remember PBers suggesting Suzanne Evans take over from Farage as UKIP leader as he was a drag on their vote! When I said that would be madness, I think I was called a misogynist
    She did replace him didn't she?
    Hard to remember, they went through a pretty ridiculous run of new leader after new leader until a bit of stability under...Neil Hamilton.
    Whatever happened to him?
    He is honorary life president of UKIP
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 32,161

    isam said:

    Taz said:

    kinabalu said:

    Taz said:

    kinabalu said:

    BREAKING: "Putin will have to respond to the drone attacks" says the Kreml ... no hang on, says Donald Trump!

    Trump was quoting Putin. Not advocating it. 🙄
    You think?
    Yes. I’ve quoted the link to his actual comments.

    I get that Trump is not flavour of the month here, I can’t say I’m a fan myself, but the derangement when it comes to his comments, or what people think he said, is off the scale.
    Trump says mad shit.

    His foreign relationships and policy is bizarre, unless he has some connection with Russia that we are unaware of.

    Economists across the World and across history have explained that Tariffs are bad. Smoot -Hawley and the subsequent economic catastrophe should have taught him that lesson. So now Coca Cola are talking about moving their HQ from Atlanta to Europe or the Middle East. Heavy manufacturing and automotive are looking to move production from one third country to another to beat tariffs (not moving back to the rust-belt).

    The performative cruelty and racism is World beating in its wickedness and projects like Gaza Atlantic City is beyond insane and the ethnic cleansing plan element is beyond belief.

    He's deranged, and not me.

    Trump has a degree in economics.
    I hava a Desmond in politics and my views are considered to be so wrong and absurd by the majority of PBers. I would appear to be wrong about Brexit, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Robert Jenrick for starters.
    Diff’rent strokes rather than wrong I’d say
    I would say wrong. Completely wrong.
    Yes I called Brexit and the Truss budget absurd, expensive and dangerous.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 63,457
    carnforth said:

    French agree to intercept migrant boats when at sea, rather than just on beaches. Up to 300 metres out.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/06/04/france-finally-agrees-to-intercept-migrant-boats/

    No, me neither.

    They haven't published how much the "bill" is for this concession yet.

    No doubt we'll find out on 8th July.

    If the migrants are throwing stones and injuring officers then that legitimises the use of reasonable and proportionate force, IMHO.
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 11,000

    isam said:

    DavidL said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Oh dear...

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/06/02/ash-regan-makes-underground-prostitution-blunder-gaffe/

    But when asked how she responded to those who said the Bill could drive prostitution into an “unregulated and underground system”, she answered: “There is no basis for any of those assertions. If you even think for one second, you cannot possibly drive prostitution underground.

    “If you had a lot of women in underground cellars with a locked door, how would the punters get to them?”

    Surely no-one is that stupid.
    You're talking about a woman who thought (a) joining the SNP was a good idea and then (b) thought joining Alba was a smart career option. We are not talking even the second drawer here.
    I’m old enough to remember PBers with their customary Caledonian insight discussing her seriously as a leader of the SNP/FM.
    Is there a third drawer for those people?
    I remember PBers suggesting Suzanne Evans take over from Farage as UKIP leader as he was a drag on their vote! When I said that would be madness, I think I was called a misogynist
    She did replace him didn't she?
    That was Diane James (briefly)
    Then Nuttall
    Ah, I'd forgotten her. A very nice seeming lady. Perhaps she'll come back as a Reform MP - her Wikipedia says she joined the Brexit Party.
    Can't see it, she didn't run in 2024
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 14,519
    Leon said:

    We do of course risk with some of this turning into local news tv
    'Tonight on Look East the regions oldest woman meets the regions fattest man in the regions oldest church to discuss Norwich City's prospects in the worlds oldest League'

    Not easy to get to St Peter’s at Bradwell. The nuclear power station, or what’s left of it, overshadows it.
    I had a Hoopoe fly in off the sea there - and land not ten feet away, feeding like a crazed thing.

    That's my daily birding anecdote related to a place somebody else has named.
    Desolate spot, isn’t it!
    Remote ancient chapel and nuclear power station - noom central!
    Ooh yes, and, even better, a DISUSED nuclear power station

    One of the noomiest places in the UK

    Dark noom - the nuke station, and bright noom - the ravishingly lonely chapel. Described as a “bare boned box of holiness” by thriller writer S K Tremayne, I believe

    Off the bat I am struggling to think of a noomier place in the UK, apart from St Kilda, which is one of the noomiest places on EARTH, so that’s a high bar
    Candidates; the first two now consigned to noom heaven:
    Broad Street Station after it closed and before it was redeveloped.
    Bradford Park Avenue football ground ditto.
    The stained glass at All Saints, North Street, York.
    Loch Ba.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 61,524
    I might actually be honest in my Gazette article and say, Guys, the food in LUX is SHITE

    As bad as Germany or Holland, which, given that they are actual neighbouring countries, and the dominant cultures, is probably not surprising
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 11,000
    Lee Anderson joins Pochin in calling for a Burqa ban. Will Farage, Tice and McMurdock ? With Rupert Lowe aboard maybe not!
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 6,221
    edited June 4
    Leon said:

    I might actually be honest in my Gazette article and say, Guys, the food in LUX is SHITE

    As bad as Germany or Holland, which, given that they are actual neighbouring countries, and the dominant cultures, is probably not surprising

    Don't the Luxembourg finance bods have somewhere to eat? You'd think a profusion of fine French restaurants.

    But I suppose they can exist alongside, siloed from, a mediocre local food scene.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 35,383

    Lee Anderson joins Pochin in calling for a Burqa ban. Will Farage, Tice and McMurdock ? With Rupert Lowe aboard maybe not!

    The French did it, so it can't be that bad.
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 6,221
    Andy_JS said:

    Lee Anderson joins Pochin in calling for a Burqa ban. Will Farage, Tice and McMurdock ? With Rupert Lowe aboard maybe not!

    The French did it, so it can't be that bad.
    Hah!

    It's odd that Britons have never been so uptight about Muslim head garb as northern continentals are. I wonder why?
  • LeonLeon Posts: 61,524
    algarkirk said:

    Leon said:

    We do of course risk with some of this turning into local news tv
    'Tonight on Look East the regions oldest woman meets the regions fattest man in the regions oldest church to discuss Norwich City's prospects in the worlds oldest League'

    Not easy to get to St Peter’s at Bradwell. The nuclear power station, or what’s left of it, overshadows it.
    I had a Hoopoe fly in off the sea there - and land not ten feet away, feeding like a crazed thing.

    That's my daily birding anecdote related to a place somebody else has named.
    Desolate spot, isn’t it!
    Remote ancient chapel and nuclear power station - noom central!
    Ooh yes, and, even better, a DISUSED nuclear power station

    One of the noomiest places in the UK

    Dark noom - the nuke station, and bright noom - the ravishingly lonely chapel. Described as a “bare boned box of holiness” by thriller writer S K Tremayne, I believe

    Off the bat I am struggling to think of a noomier place in the UK, apart from St Kilda, which is one of the noomiest places on EARTH, so that’s a high bar
    Candidates; the first two now consigned to noom heaven:
    Broad Street Station after it closed and before it was redeveloped.
    Bradford Park Avenue football ground ditto.
    The stained glass at All Saints, North Street, York.
    Loch Ba.
    Good list, tho I have never been to any of them! Clearly thought involved

    Right, with the Poncho of Pondering about my shoulders, I’ll go for

    almost anywhere in west Herefordshire, Galway or Craswall or Abbey Dore, but if forced to choose:

    Kilpeck

    Yes, a cliche, but what a place

    Kilmartin is overlooked for its wild extent of megaliths, in Scotland

    The Isle of Harris in toto, for bright noom and dark noom, which infect each other, as everyone was forced to leave the beautiful western coast, eg Luskentyre and go and live on the craggy uninhabitable but striking east coast

    Coalbrookdale must be in the top 100 worldwide, with its bright noom of Progress, industry, so much good, yet the dark noom of the Satanic mills, birthed here

    In London: Kenwood. I don’t know what it is, but I find it very hard to be unhappy in Kenwood. It has the brightest of bright nooms. The perfect beauty of the Regency house, the sweeping gardens and slopes, the view over the Heath and then London, the art collection (Vermeer!!!!), and then Spaniard’s Inn, right behind

    If you know anyone suicidal in London, take them to Kenwood


  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 32,161
    ...
    Leon said:

    I might actually be honest in my Gazette article and say, Guys, the food in LUX is SHITE

    As bad as Germany or Holland, which, given that they are actual neighbouring countries, and the dominant cultures, is probably not surprising

    I can't wait for you to come to England to sample and critique the over roasted red meat, overcooked vegetables and fish and chips cooked in three year old solidified vegetable oil. Public Houses serve the most rewarding shoe leather Sunday lunches.
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 11,000
    edited June 4
    https://x.com/Keir_Starmer/status/1930187654005432758?s=19

    Six arrests in an entire 'nationwide crackdown' and that twit is crowing about 'smashing the gangs'
    What an embarrassment of a man
  • LeonLeon Posts: 61,524
    edited June 4
    carnforth said:

    Leon said:

    I might actually be honest in my Gazette article and say, Guys, the food in LUX is SHITE

    As bad as Germany or Holland, which, given that they are actual neighbouring countries, and the dominant cultures, is probably not surprising

    Don't the Luxembourg finance bods have somewhere to eat? You'd think a profusion of fine French restaurants.

    But I suppose they can exist alongside, siloed from, a mediocre local food scene.
    It’s genuinely odd

    Maybe it proves that rich Davos men have no taste, I dunno

    Geneva is quite dull, food wise (tho not remotely as bad), and it has a similar culture, very wealthy, Franco-German, lots of international orgs
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 55,014
    edited June 4
    Leon said:

    algarkirk said:

    Leon said:

    We do of course risk with some of this turning into local news tv
    'Tonight on Look East the regions oldest woman meets the regions fattest man in the regions oldest church to discuss Norwich City's prospects in the worlds oldest League'

    Not easy to get to St Peter’s at Bradwell. The nuclear power station, or what’s left of it, overshadows it.
    I had a Hoopoe fly in off the sea there - and land not ten feet away, feeding like a crazed thing.

    That's my daily birding anecdote related to a place somebody else has named.
    Desolate spot, isn’t it!
    Remote ancient chapel and nuclear power station - noom central!
    Ooh yes, and, even better, a DISUSED nuclear power station

    One of the noomiest places in the UK

    Dark noom - the nuke station, and bright noom - the ravishingly lonely chapel. Described as a “bare boned box of holiness” by thriller writer S K Tremayne, I believe

    Off the bat I am struggling to think of a noomier place in the UK, apart from St Kilda, which is one of the noomiest places on EARTH, so that’s a high bar
    Candidates; the first two now consigned to noom heaven:
    Broad Street Station after it closed and before it was redeveloped.
    Bradford Park Avenue football ground ditto.
    The stained glass at All Saints, North Street, York.
    Loch Ba.
    If you know anyone suicidal in London, take them to Kenwood
    Especially if Ross Noble is playing!
  • eekeek Posts: 30,213

    eek said:

    @BartholomewRoberts - found time to check things out and this is the relationship between allowances and employee NI cuts.

    Autumn 2022 - allowances frozen to 2028, the 1.25% increase introduced in the 2021 budget is dropped. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-63555313

    Autumn 2023 - no changes to allowances (frozen until 28), 2% off national insurance (down to 10%) https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-67276717

    Spring / Hunt Budget 2024 - no changes to allowances (still frozen until 28) 2% off national insurance (down to 8%).
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-68465603

    I will await your apology for being incorrect.

    I'm sorry, I merged the two into one, you're right and I was wrong.

    However I maintain still its disingenuous to look at one without the other, given they are related and close together. Indeed its cynical but not unusual politics to do a tax rise in one budget, then a tax cut in the next closer to the election, which is exactly what was done here with the tax rise more than covering the supposed-cut.

    To look at one without the other is disingenuous. Over the course of two consecutive autumn statements NI was fiddled with, with the net result being a tax rise but a lower rate that is only paid by salaried incomes. Treasury wins, those who work for a living aren't penalised as much and funded by a tax hike on unearned incomes.

    Its exactly the right kind of policy that could be continued by Labour, except they won't as the Tories did it.
    Except both subsequent NI cuts were not sensible cuts - merely created for political reasons to create a trap for the next Government that they immediately fell into
  • TazTaz Posts: 18,743
    @MattW @Eabhal

    Ever seen one of these before ?

    I was out for a ride this morning. Cycled through the woods, got a twig in my chain. Not a problem here.

    https://x.com/tansuyegen/status/1930108014368825507?s=61
  • LeonLeon Posts: 61,524

    ...

    Leon said:

    I might actually be honest in my Gazette article and say, Guys, the food in LUX is SHITE

    As bad as Germany or Holland, which, given that they are actual neighbouring countries, and the dominant cultures, is probably not surprising

    I can't wait for you to come to England to sample and critique the over roasted red meat, overcooked vegetables and fish and chips cooked in three year old solidified vegetable oil. Public Houses serve the most rewarding shoe leather Sunday lunches.
    In what way is that remotely comparable to what I am experiencing in Luxembourg?

    The local flint knapping butt plug association is sending me to the “nicest places to eat” in the country. Just as they’ve put me in - literally - the nicest hotel room in the country. They are not sending me to the local Clervaux Toby Carvery or the biggest Spoons in Viendane. Tho, TBH, you’d possibly eat better in a Spoons - a microwave Spoons curry would honestly be better than some of this
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 38,704
    @elonmusk

    Call your Senator,
    Call your Congressman,

    Bankrupting America is NOT ok!

    @jimsciutto

    Musk is now openly lobbying to block the signature catch-all legislation of Trump’s second term.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 60,068

    isam said:

    DavidL said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Oh dear...

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/06/02/ash-regan-makes-underground-prostitution-blunder-gaffe/

    But when asked how she responded to those who said the Bill could drive prostitution into an “unregulated and underground system”, she answered: “There is no basis for any of those assertions. If you even think for one second, you cannot possibly drive prostitution underground.

    “If you had a lot of women in underground cellars with a locked door, how would the punters get to them?”

    Surely no-one is that stupid.
    You're talking about a woman who thought (a) joining the SNP was a good idea and then (b) thought joining Alba was a smart career option. We are not talking even the second drawer here.
    I’m old enough to remember PBers with their customary Caledonian insight discussing her seriously as a leader of the SNP/FM.
    Is there a third drawer for those people?
    I remember PBers suggesting Suzanne Evans take over from Farage as UKIP leader as he was a drag on their vote! When I said that would be madness, I think I was called a misogynist
    She did replace him didn't she?
    That was Diane James (briefly)
    Then Nuttall
    Ah, I'd forgotten her. A very nice seeming lady. Perhaps she'll come back as a Reform MP - her Wikipedia says she joined the Brexit Party.
    She fell out rather badly with Nigel, I believe.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 60,068
    algarkirk said:

    Leon said:

    We do of course risk with some of this turning into local news tv
    'Tonight on Look East the regions oldest woman meets the regions fattest man in the regions oldest church to discuss Norwich City's prospects in the worlds oldest League'

    Not easy to get to St Peter’s at Bradwell. The nuclear power station, or what’s left of it, overshadows it.
    I had a Hoopoe fly in off the sea there - and land not ten feet away, feeding like a crazed thing.

    That's my daily birding anecdote related to a place somebody else has named.
    Desolate spot, isn’t it!
    Remote ancient chapel and nuclear power station - noom central!
    Ooh yes, and, even better, a DISUSED nuclear power station

    One of the noomiest places in the UK

    Dark noom - the nuke station, and bright noom - the ravishingly lonely chapel. Described as a “bare boned box of holiness” by thriller writer S K Tremayne, I believe

    Off the bat I am struggling to think of a noomier place in the UK, apart from St Kilda, which is one of the noomiest places on EARTH, so that’s a high bar
    A curiously noomish experience to me is that I have visited Bankside Power station when it was a working power station and in its current incarnation as Tate Modern.

    The memory of the first visit, it must have been in the 1960s, has much more noom than the second.
    I saw what was quite literally the worst art exhibition in the history of the world at Tate Modern.

    The Art of Yoko Ono.

    My wife (who is a genuine artist) started off sniggering, and then ... a few minute later ... said "I can't stand this any more. Let's go and get drunk."
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 11,000
    Further to Canada as discussed earlier, NDP have confirmed they are voting no on the King's speech meaning if the Conservatives and Bloc also vote no then Canada is going straight back to the polls
  • TazTaz Posts: 18,743
    rcs1000 said:

    isam said:

    DavidL said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Oh dear...

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/06/02/ash-regan-makes-underground-prostitution-blunder-gaffe/

    But when asked how she responded to those who said the Bill could drive prostitution into an “unregulated and underground system”, she answered: “There is no basis for any of those assertions. If you even think for one second, you cannot possibly drive prostitution underground.

    “If you had a lot of women in underground cellars with a locked door, how would the punters get to them?”

    Surely no-one is that stupid.
    You're talking about a woman who thought (a) joining the SNP was a good idea and then (b) thought joining Alba was a smart career option. We are not talking even the second drawer here.
    I’m old enough to remember PBers with their customary Caledonian insight discussing her seriously as a leader of the SNP/FM.
    Is there a third drawer for those people?
    I remember PBers suggesting Suzanne Evans take over from Farage as UKIP leader as he was a drag on their vote! When I said that would be madness, I think I was called a misogynist
    She did replace him didn't she?
    That was Diane James (briefly)
    Then Nuttall
    Ah, I'd forgotten her. A very nice seeming lady. Perhaps she'll come back as a Reform MP - her Wikipedia says she joined the Brexit Party.
    She fell out rather badly with Nigel, I believe.
    That’s a common theme really with Farage and people he works closely with. As I said before there comes a point when someone should realise the problem is probably them not other people
  • ohnotnowohnotnow Posts: 4,858
    Leon said:

    algarkirk said:

    Leon said:

    We do of course risk with some of this turning into local news tv
    'Tonight on Look East the regions oldest woman meets the regions fattest man in the regions oldest church to discuss Norwich City's prospects in the worlds oldest League'

    Not easy to get to St Peter’s at Bradwell. The nuclear power station, or what’s left of it, overshadows it.
    I had a Hoopoe fly in off the sea there - and land not ten feet away, feeding like a crazed thing.

    That's my daily birding anecdote related to a place somebody else has named.
    Desolate spot, isn’t it!
    Remote ancient chapel and nuclear power station - noom central!
    Ooh yes, and, even better, a DISUSED nuclear power station

    One of the noomiest places in the UK

    Dark noom - the nuke station, and bright noom - the ravishingly lonely chapel. Described as a “bare boned box of holiness” by thriller writer S K Tremayne, I believe

    Off the bat I am struggling to think of a noomier place in the UK, apart from St Kilda, which is one of the noomiest places on EARTH, so that’s a high bar
    Candidates; the first two now consigned to noom heaven:
    Broad Street Station after it closed and before it was redeveloped.
    Bradford Park Avenue football ground ditto.
    The stained glass at All Saints, North Street, York.
    Loch Ba.
    Good list, tho I have never been to any of them! Clearly thought involved

    Right, with the Poncho of Pondering about my shoulders, I’ll go for

    almost anywhere in west Herefordshire, Galway or Craswall or Abbey Dore, but if forced to choose:

    Kilpeck

    Yes, a cliche, but what a place

    Kilmartin is overlooked for its wild extent of megaliths, in Scotland

    The Isle of Harris in toto, for bright noom and dark noom, which infect each other, as everyone was forced to leave the beautiful western coast, eg Luskentyre and go and live on the craggy uninhabitable but striking east coast

    Coalbrookdale must be in the top 100 worldwide, with its bright noom of Progress, industry, so much good, yet the dark noom of the Satanic mills, birthed here

    In London: Kenwood. I don’t know what it is, but I find it very hard to be unhappy in Kenwood. It has the brightest of bright nooms. The perfect beauty of the Regency house, the sweeping gardens and slopes, the view over the Heath and then London, the art collection (Vermeer!!!!), and then Spaniard’s Inn, right behind

    If you know anyone suicidal in London, take them to Kenwood


    Wandering about the flow country and also across in assynt always makes me quite dizzy.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 54,897
    Taz said:

    rcs1000 said:

    isam said:

    DavidL said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Oh dear...

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/06/02/ash-regan-makes-underground-prostitution-blunder-gaffe/

    But when asked how she responded to those who said the Bill could drive prostitution into an “unregulated and underground system”, she answered: “There is no basis for any of those assertions. If you even think for one second, you cannot possibly drive prostitution underground.

    “If you had a lot of women in underground cellars with a locked door, how would the punters get to them?”

    Surely no-one is that stupid.
    You're talking about a woman who thought (a) joining the SNP was a good idea and then (b) thought joining Alba was a smart career option. We are not talking even the second drawer here.
    I’m old enough to remember PBers with their customary Caledonian insight discussing her seriously as a leader of the SNP/FM.
    Is there a third drawer for those people?
    I remember PBers suggesting Suzanne Evans take over from Farage as UKIP leader as he was a drag on their vote! When I said that would be madness, I think I was called a misogynist
    She did replace him didn't she?
    That was Diane James (briefly)
    Then Nuttall
    Ah, I'd forgotten her. A very nice seeming lady. Perhaps she'll come back as a Reform MP - her Wikipedia says she joined the Brexit Party.
    She fell out rather badly with Nigel, I believe.
    That’s a common theme really with Farage and people he works closely with. As I said before there comes a point when someone should realise the problem is probably them not other people
    “If you run into an asshole in the morning, you ran into an asshole. If you run into assholes all day, you're the asshole.”
  • Stark_DawningStark_Dawning Posts: 10,092
    Scott_xP said:

    @elonmusk

    Call your Senator,
    Call your Congressman,

    Bankrupting America is NOT ok!

    @jimsciutto

    Musk is now openly lobbying to block the signature catch-all legislation of Trump’s second term.

    Donald really has made Elon look a complete chump - trashed his personal brand and then the thing he trashed his personal brand over has been rendered irrelevant anyway.
  • RattersRatters Posts: 1,344
    Scott_xP said:

    @elonmusk

    Call your Senator,
    Call your Congressman,

    Bankrupting America is NOT ok!

    @jimsciutto

    Musk is now openly lobbying to block the signature catch-all legislation of Trump’s second term.

    We all knew Trump and Musk would eventually fall out.

    I do find it funny it's happened so dramatically in less than five months' from him taking office.

    The interesting thing is whether Musk will hold any sway with any members of the Trump-controlled GOP.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 60,068
    Andy_JS said:

    Lee Anderson joins Pochin in calling for a Burqa ban. Will Farage, Tice and McMurdock ? With Rupert Lowe aboard maybe not!

    The French did it, so it can't be that bad.
    I oppose banning it because the government shouldn't ban things unless absolutely necessary. There has to be a very fucking high barrier before the the government should be saying "you cannot wear that".
  • ohnotnowohnotnow Posts: 4,858
    rcs1000 said:

    algarkirk said:

    Leon said:

    We do of course risk with some of this turning into local news tv
    'Tonight on Look East the regions oldest woman meets the regions fattest man in the regions oldest church to discuss Norwich City's prospects in the worlds oldest League'

    Not easy to get to St Peter’s at Bradwell. The nuclear power station, or what’s left of it, overshadows it.
    I had a Hoopoe fly in off the sea there - and land not ten feet away, feeding like a crazed thing.

    That's my daily birding anecdote related to a place somebody else has named.
    Desolate spot, isn’t it!
    Remote ancient chapel and nuclear power station - noom central!
    Ooh yes, and, even better, a DISUSED nuclear power station

    One of the noomiest places in the UK

    Dark noom - the nuke station, and bright noom - the ravishingly lonely chapel. Described as a “bare boned box of holiness” by thriller writer S K Tremayne, I believe

    Off the bat I am struggling to think of a noomier place in the UK, apart from St Kilda, which is one of the noomiest places on EARTH, so that’s a high bar
    A curiously noomish experience to me is that I have visited Bankside Power station when it was a working power station and in its current incarnation as Tate Modern.

    The memory of the first visit, it must have been in the 1960s, has much more noom than the second.
    I saw what was quite literally the worst art exhibition in the history of the world at Tate Modern.

    The Art of Yoko Ono.

    My wife (who is a genuine artist) started off sniggering, and then ... a few minute later ... said "I can't stand this any more. Let's go and get drunk."
    If you ever end up in Glasgow and want to enjoy a similar drinking/art experience - the Trongate 103 holds event nights with dreadful 'art' (the kind of dull mediocre tosh that comes from well-connected art school people who can write four pages of A4 about their dreadful photo/painting/whatever) but with the benefit of being sponsored by various booze companies so free drinks galore.

    You can always spot the 'true artists' wangling their 2nd or 5th free Scotch as they bitch about the dreck on the walls.

    There are some quite good pubs and restaurants nearby to really make a night of it.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 60,068

    Scott_xP said:

    @elonmusk

    Call your Senator,
    Call your Congressman,

    Bankrupting America is NOT ok!

    @jimsciutto

    Musk is now openly lobbying to block the signature catch-all legislation of Trump’s second term.

    Donald really has made Elon look a complete chump - trashed his personal brand and then the thing he trashed his personal brand over has been rendered irrelevant anyway.
    Elon agrees with Donald on the subjects of cutting taxes, DEI and trans.

    He disagrees with him on tariffs, immigration, and the budget deficit.

  • eekeek Posts: 30,213
    rcs1000 said:

    algarkirk said:

    Leon said:

    We do of course risk with some of this turning into local news tv
    'Tonight on Look East the regions oldest woman meets the regions fattest man in the regions oldest church to discuss Norwich City's prospects in the worlds oldest League'

    Not easy to get to St Peter’s at Bradwell. The nuclear power station, or what’s left of it, overshadows it.
    I had a Hoopoe fly in off the sea there - and land not ten feet away, feeding like a crazed thing.

    That's my daily birding anecdote related to a place somebody else has named.
    Desolate spot, isn’t it!
    Remote ancient chapel and nuclear power station - noom central!
    Ooh yes, and, even better, a DISUSED nuclear power station

    One of the noomiest places in the UK

    Dark noom - the nuke station, and bright noom - the ravishingly lonely chapel. Described as a “bare boned box of holiness” by thriller writer S K Tremayne, I believe

    Off the bat I am struggling to think of a noomier place in the UK, apart from St Kilda, which is one of the noomiest places on EARTH, so that’s a high bar
    A curiously noomish experience to me is that I have visited Bankside Power station when it was a working power station and in its current incarnation as Tate Modern.

    The memory of the first visit, it must have been in the 1960s, has much more noom than the second.
    I saw what was quite literally the worst art exhibition in the history of the world at Tate Modern.

    The Art of Yoko Ono.

    My wife (who is a genuine artist) started off sniggering, and then ... a few minute later ... said "I can't stand this any more. Let's go and get drunk."
    That's currently on in Berlin. I didn't visit.

    Although at the end of the month - I'm doing a quick dash to Paris to see the David Hockney exhibition and the Orsay before L'art est dans la rue closes.
  • BartholomewRobertsBartholomewRoberts Posts: 24,265
    rcs1000 said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Lee Anderson joins Pochin in calling for a Burqa ban. Will Farage, Tice and McMurdock ? With Rupert Lowe aboard maybe not!

    The French did it, so it can't be that bad.
    I oppose banning it because the government shouldn't ban things unless absolutely necessary. There has to be a very fucking high barrier before the the government should be saying "you cannot wear that".
    I'm in the same boat.

    I vehemently dislike it and thing its misogynistic and wrong.

    But we should not be banning things we dislike.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 54,405
    Leon said:

    algarkirk said:

    Leon said:

    We do of course risk with some of this turning into local news tv
    'Tonight on Look East the regions oldest woman meets the regions fattest man in the regions oldest church to discuss Norwich City's prospects in the worlds oldest League'

    Not easy to get to St Peter’s at Bradwell. The nuclear power station, or what’s left of it, overshadows it.
    I had a Hoopoe fly in off the sea there - and land not ten feet away, feeding like a crazed thing.

    That's my daily birding anecdote related to a place somebody else has named.
    Desolate spot, isn’t it!
    Remote ancient chapel and nuclear power station - noom central!
    Ooh yes, and, even better, a DISUSED nuclear power station

    One of the noomiest places in the UK

    Dark noom - the nuke station, and bright noom - the ravishingly lonely chapel. Described as a “bare boned box of holiness” by thriller writer S K Tremayne, I believe

    Off the bat I am struggling to think of a noomier place in the UK, apart from St Kilda, which is one of the noomiest places on EARTH, so that’s a high bar
    Candidates; the first two now consigned to noom heaven:
    Broad Street Station after it closed and before it was redeveloped.
    Bradford Park Avenue football ground ditto.
    The stained glass at All Saints, North Street, York.
    Loch Ba.
    Good list, tho I have never been to any of them! Clearly thought involved

    Right, with the Poncho of Pondering about my shoulders, I’ll go for

    almost anywhere in west Herefordshire, Galway or Craswall or Abbey Dore, but if forced to choose:

    Kilpeck

    Yes, a cliche, but what a place

    Kilmartin is overlooked for its wild extent of megaliths, in Scotland

    The Isle of Harris in toto, for bright noom and dark noom, which infect each other, as everyone was forced to leave the beautiful western coast, eg Luskentyre and go and live on the craggy uninhabitable but striking east coast

    Coalbrookdale must be in the top 100 worldwide, with its bright noom of Progress, industry, so much good, yet the dark noom of the Satanic mills, birthed here

    In London: Kenwood. I don’t know what it is, but I find it very hard to be unhappy in Kenwood. It has the brightest of bright nooms. The perfect beauty of the Regency house, the sweeping gardens and slopes, the view over the Heath and then London, the art collection (Vermeer!!!!), and then Spaniard’s Inn, right behind

    If you know anyone suicidal in London, take them to Kenwood


    http://www.noom.com
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 60,068

    rcs1000 said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Lee Anderson joins Pochin in calling for a Burqa ban. Will Farage, Tice and McMurdock ? With Rupert Lowe aboard maybe not!

    The French did it, so it can't be that bad.
    I oppose banning it because the government shouldn't ban things unless absolutely necessary. There has to be a very fucking high barrier before the the government should be saying "you cannot wear that".
    I'm in the same boat.

    I vehemently dislike it and thing its misogynistic and wrong.

    But we should not be banning things we dislike.
    Exactly.
  • eekeek Posts: 30,213
    rcs1000 said:

    Scott_xP said:

    @elonmusk

    Call your Senator,
    Call your Congressman,

    Bankrupting America is NOT ok!

    @jimsciutto

    Musk is now openly lobbying to block the signature catch-all legislation of Trump’s second term.

    Donald really has made Elon look a complete chump - trashed his personal brand and then the thing he trashed his personal brand over has been rendered irrelevant anyway.
    Elon agrees with Donald on the subjects of cutting taxes, DEI and trans.

    He disagrees with him on tariffs, immigration, and the budget deficit.

    if you cut taxes and don't cut spending the budget deficit is only going to move in one direction. At least Trump is honest...
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 38,704
    Ratters said:

    Scott_xP said:

    @elonmusk

    Call your Senator,
    Call your Congressman,

    Bankrupting America is NOT ok!

    @jimsciutto

    Musk is now openly lobbying to block the signature catch-all legislation of Trump’s second term.

    We all knew Trump and Musk would eventually fall out.

    I do find it funny it's happened so dramatically in less than five months' from him taking office.

    The interesting thing is whether Musk will hold any sway with any members of the Trump-controlled GOP.
    Johnson called Musk last night. Elon ghosted him...
  • BartholomewRobertsBartholomewRoberts Posts: 24,265
    eek said:

    eek said:

    @BartholomewRoberts - found time to check things out and this is the relationship between allowances and employee NI cuts.

    Autumn 2022 - allowances frozen to 2028, the 1.25% increase introduced in the 2021 budget is dropped. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-63555313

    Autumn 2023 - no changes to allowances (frozen until 28), 2% off national insurance (down to 10%) https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-67276717

    Spring / Hunt Budget 2024 - no changes to allowances (still frozen until 28) 2% off national insurance (down to 8%).
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-68465603

    I will await your apology for being incorrect.

    I'm sorry, I merged the two into one, you're right and I was wrong.

    However I maintain still its disingenuous to look at one without the other, given they are related and close together. Indeed its cynical but not unusual politics to do a tax rise in one budget, then a tax cut in the next closer to the election, which is exactly what was done here with the tax rise more than covering the supposed-cut.

    To look at one without the other is disingenuous. Over the course of two consecutive autumn statements NI was fiddled with, with the net result being a tax rise but a lower rate that is only paid by salaried incomes. Treasury wins, those who work for a living aren't penalised as much and funded by a tax hike on unearned incomes.

    Its exactly the right kind of policy that could be continued by Labour, except they won't as the Tories did it.
    Except both subsequent NI cuts were not sensible cuts - merely created for political reasons to create a trap for the next Government that they immediately fell into
    They were sensible cuts, especially since they were fully-funded by the previous years tax rise.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 55,014
    eek said:

    rcs1000 said:

    algarkirk said:

    Leon said:

    We do of course risk with some of this turning into local news tv
    'Tonight on Look East the regions oldest woman meets the regions fattest man in the regions oldest church to discuss Norwich City's prospects in the worlds oldest League'

    Not easy to get to St Peter’s at Bradwell. The nuclear power station, or what’s left of it, overshadows it.
    I had a Hoopoe fly in off the sea there - and land not ten feet away, feeding like a crazed thing.

    That's my daily birding anecdote related to a place somebody else has named.
    Desolate spot, isn’t it!
    Remote ancient chapel and nuclear power station - noom central!
    Ooh yes, and, even better, a DISUSED nuclear power station

    One of the noomiest places in the UK

    Dark noom - the nuke station, and bright noom - the ravishingly lonely chapel. Described as a “bare boned box of holiness” by thriller writer S K Tremayne, I believe

    Off the bat I am struggling to think of a noomier place in the UK, apart from St Kilda, which is one of the noomiest places on EARTH, so that’s a high bar
    A curiously noomish experience to me is that I have visited Bankside Power station when it was a working power station and in its current incarnation as Tate Modern.

    The memory of the first visit, it must have been in the 1960s, has much more noom than the second.
    I saw what was quite literally the worst art exhibition in the history of the world at Tate Modern.

    The Art of Yoko Ono.

    My wife (who is a genuine artist) started off sniggering, and then ... a few minute later ... said "I can't stand this any more. Let's go and get drunk."
    That's currently on in Berlin. I didn't visit.

    Although at the end of the month - I'm doing a quick dash to Paris to see the David Hockney exhibition and the Orsay before L'art est dans la rue closes.
    Oddly, was talking about that with my hairdresser today.

    He's just a guy with a little place above an estate agents in Dartmouth. Who was number 2 worldwide at Vidal Sassoon. Ran their LA saloon. Maintained Tina Turner's wigs. Cut Bowie's hair.

    Now has a quiet life in coastal Devon.

    Strange, the people you find hidden away here.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 54,405
    carnforth said:

    Cookie said:

    isam said:

    Leon said:

    Cookie said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    In more exciting news I’ve been upgraded to the top level suite in the best hotel in the country

    Ok that country is Luxembourg but still. It’s kinda nice to know that I am in the best hotel room in an entire country

    Has anyone else done that? Maybe they’ve eaten the most expensive wildfowl in the lower 48 states, or worn the fanciest shoes in Ethiopia

    I've tried to be the first voter at a polling booth in GEs a few times, I've never hit the front of the queue yet (i was the second to vote in Mid Norfolk in my ward in 2010). If I ever do then its if I can convince myself I got through the palaver and to the box in good time to beat every other ward in the UK!
    I was also highest person in Britain when I climbed Ben Nevis very early one morning many years ago(like anyone alone atop it)
    The Ben Nevis one is very cool. And oddly do-able
    I was oddly shattered afterwards lol
    I've been the highest person in mainland Britain too. Also the most southerly person in mainland Britain. Also the most southerly person in the United States. Also the most southwesterly in mainland Europe.
    Fascinating!

    I’ve done number 2 I think. The lizard?

    Number 3 is tantalising. Florida? I presume you are excluding islands

    Also I’ve maybe done 4. Sagres in Portugal?

    Is the most southerly point in Europe the big mosque in Gibraltar? If so I have been that person quite a lot, as it was the halfway point of my 5k run when I lived there. I probably didn’t even know what a mosque was at the time (2000)
    I don't think it is, sadly. Spain sticks out a bit further south.
    You've been the most southerly person in Gibraltar, if that's any consolation.
    Isla da Tarifa (not an island anymore). I have been there.
    Isle of Tariffs? :lol:
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 38,704
    @TreyYingst

    Before and after satellite images show the Belaya airbase in Russia. Ukrainian drones destroyed multiple Tu-95 strategic bombers.

    https://x.com/TreyYingst/status/1930280734448644179
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 63,457

    Taz said:

    rcs1000 said:

    isam said:

    DavidL said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Oh dear...

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/06/02/ash-regan-makes-underground-prostitution-blunder-gaffe/

    But when asked how she responded to those who said the Bill could drive prostitution into an “unregulated and underground system”, she answered: “There is no basis for any of those assertions. If you even think for one second, you cannot possibly drive prostitution underground.

    “If you had a lot of women in underground cellars with a locked door, how would the punters get to them?”

    Surely no-one is that stupid.
    You're talking about a woman who thought (a) joining the SNP was a good idea and then (b) thought joining Alba was a smart career option. We are not talking even the second drawer here.
    I’m old enough to remember PBers with their customary Caledonian insight discussing her seriously as a leader of the SNP/FM.
    Is there a third drawer for those people?
    I remember PBers suggesting Suzanne Evans take over from Farage as UKIP leader as he was a drag on their vote! When I said that would be madness, I think I was called a misogynist
    She did replace him didn't she?
    That was Diane James (briefly)
    Then Nuttall
    Ah, I'd forgotten her. A very nice seeming lady. Perhaps she'll come back as a Reform MP - her Wikipedia says she joined the Brexit Party.
    She fell out rather badly with Nigel, I believe.
    That’s a common theme really with Farage and people he works closely with. As I said before there comes a point when someone should realise the problem is probably them not other people
    “If you run into an asshole in the morning, you ran into an asshole. If you run into assholes all day, you're the asshole.”
    Or you're at a Pride event?
  • TazTaz Posts: 18,743
    Israel blocks the donated converted pope mobile from entering Gaza.

    https://x.com/ianbremmer/status/1930352141950169303?s=61
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 55,550

    https://x.com/Keir_Starmer/status/1930187654005432758?s=19

    Six arrests in an entire 'nationwide crackdown' and that twit is crowing about 'smashing the gangs'
    What an embarrassment of a man

    Time to deploy the celebrities:

    https://x.com/keir_starmer/status/1930333322300813583
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 11,000

    https://x.com/Keir_Starmer/status/1930187654005432758?s=19

    Six arrests in an entire 'nationwide crackdown' and that twit is crowing about 'smashing the gangs'
    What an embarrassment of a man

    Time to deploy the celebrities:

    https://x.com/keir_starmer/status/1930333322300813583
    Lol, we want Billy Bragg and the pensioners from Red Wedge
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 18,843
    Taz said:

    rcs1000 said:

    isam said:

    DavidL said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Oh dear...

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/06/02/ash-regan-makes-underground-prostitution-blunder-gaffe/

    But when asked how she responded to those who said the Bill could drive prostitution into an “unregulated and underground system”, she answered: “There is no basis for any of those assertions. If you even think for one second, you cannot possibly drive prostitution underground.

    “If you had a lot of women in underground cellars with a locked door, how would the punters get to them?”

    Surely no-one is that stupid.
    You're talking about a woman who thought (a) joining the SNP was a good idea and then (b) thought joining Alba was a smart career option. We are not talking even the second drawer here.
    I’m old enough to remember PBers with their customary Caledonian insight discussing her seriously as a leader of the SNP/FM.
    Is there a third drawer for those people?
    I remember PBers suggesting Suzanne Evans take over from Farage as UKIP leader as he was a drag on their vote! When I said that would be madness, I think I was called a misogynist
    She did replace him didn't she?
    That was Diane James (briefly)
    Then Nuttall
    Ah, I'd forgotten her. A very nice seeming lady. Perhaps she'll come back as a Reform MP - her Wikipedia says she joined the Brexit Party.
    She fell out rather badly with Nigel, I believe.
    That’s a common theme really with Farage and people he works closely with. As I said before there comes a point when someone should realise the problem is probably them not other people
    Thinking about 2028/9, this matters.

    In a Presidential system, it's pretty easy to imagine Farage winning and becoming El Presidente. If all Farage had to do was find 400 Baldricks with nothing but abject loyalty, that might work, too.

    But finding enough people with independent intelligence to staff a government? Really hard to see that right now.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 19,066
    rcs1000 said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Lee Anderson joins Pochin in calling for a Burqa ban. Will Farage, Tice and McMurdock ? With Rupert Lowe aboard maybe not!

    The French did it, so it can't be that bad.
    I oppose banning it because the government shouldn't ban things unless absolutely necessary. There has to be a very fucking high barrier before the the government should be saying "you cannot wear that".
    I tend to agree with some major exceptions such as when required to identify oneself. We wouldn’t accept someone wearing a balaclava in court, so neither should we a burqa.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 77,974

    isam said:

    Taz said:

    kinabalu said:

    Taz said:

    kinabalu said:

    BREAKING: "Putin will have to respond to the drone attacks" says the Kreml ... no hang on, says Donald Trump!

    Trump was quoting Putin. Not advocating it. 🙄
    You think?
    Yes. I’ve quoted the link to his actual comments.

    I get that Trump is not flavour of the month here, I can’t say I’m a fan myself, but the derangement when it comes to his comments, or what people think he said, is off the scale.
    Trump says mad shit.

    His foreign relationships and policy is bizarre, unless he has some connection with Russia that we are unaware of.

    Economists across the World and across history have explained that Tariffs are bad. Smoot -Hawley and the subsequent economic catastrophe should have taught him that lesson. So now Coca Cola are talking about moving their HQ from Atlanta to Europe or the Middle East. Heavy manufacturing and automotive are looking to move production from one third country to another to beat tariffs (not moving back to the rust-belt).

    The performative cruelty and racism is World beating in its wickedness and projects like Gaza Atlantic City is beyond insane and the ethnic cleansing plan element is beyond belief.

    He's deranged, and not me.

    Trump has a degree in economics.
    I hava a Desmond in politics and my views are considered to be so wrong and absurd by the majority of PBers. I would appear to be wrong about Brexit, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Robert Jenrick for starters.
    Diff’rent strokes rather than wrong I’d say
    I would say wrong. Completely wrong.
    That's more of a validation.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 66,132
    Scott_xP said:

    Ratters said:

    Scott_xP said:

    @elonmusk

    Call your Senator,
    Call your Congressman,

    Bankrupting America is NOT ok!

    @jimsciutto

    Musk is now openly lobbying to block the signature catch-all legislation of Trump’s second term.

    We all knew Trump and Musk would eventually fall out.

    I do find it funny it's happened so dramatically in less than five months' from him taking office.

    The interesting thing is whether Musk will hold any sway with any members of the Trump-controlled GOP.
    Johnson called Musk last night. Elon ghosted him...
    Massively well funded primary incoming...
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 63,457

    Taz said:

    rcs1000 said:

    isam said:

    DavidL said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Oh dear...

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/06/02/ash-regan-makes-underground-prostitution-blunder-gaffe/

    But when asked how she responded to those who said the Bill could drive prostitution into an “unregulated and underground system”, she answered: “There is no basis for any of those assertions. If you even think for one second, you cannot possibly drive prostitution underground.

    “If you had a lot of women in underground cellars with a locked door, how would the punters get to them?”

    Surely no-one is that stupid.
    You're talking about a woman who thought (a) joining the SNP was a good idea and then (b) thought joining Alba was a smart career option. We are not talking even the second drawer here.
    I’m old enough to remember PBers with their customary Caledonian insight discussing her seriously as a leader of the SNP/FM.
    Is there a third drawer for those people?
    I remember PBers suggesting Suzanne Evans take over from Farage as UKIP leader as he was a drag on their vote! When I said that would be madness, I think I was called a misogynist
    She did replace him didn't she?
    That was Diane James (briefly)
    Then Nuttall
    Ah, I'd forgotten her. A very nice seeming lady. Perhaps she'll come back as a Reform MP - her Wikipedia says she joined the Brexit Party.
    She fell out rather badly with Nigel, I believe.
    That’s a common theme really with Farage and people he works closely with. As I said before there comes a point when someone should realise the problem is probably them not other people
    Thinking about 2028/9, this matters.

    In a Presidential system, it's pretty easy to imagine Farage winning and becoming El Presidente. If all Farage had to do was find 400 Baldricks with nothing but abject loyalty, that might work, too.

    It wouldn't because they would just buy a giant turnip instead.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 19,255

    Taz said:

    rcs1000 said:

    isam said:

    DavidL said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Oh dear...

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/06/02/ash-regan-makes-underground-prostitution-blunder-gaffe/

    But when asked how she responded to those who said the Bill could drive prostitution into an “unregulated and underground system”, she answered: “There is no basis for any of those assertions. If you even think for one second, you cannot possibly drive prostitution underground.

    “If you had a lot of women in underground cellars with a locked door, how would the punters get to them?”

    Surely no-one is that stupid.
    You're talking about a woman who thought (a) joining the SNP was a good idea and then (b) thought joining Alba was a smart career option. We are not talking even the second drawer here.
    I’m old enough to remember PBers with their customary Caledonian insight discussing her seriously as a leader of the SNP/FM.
    Is there a third drawer for those people?
    I remember PBers suggesting Suzanne Evans take over from Farage as UKIP leader as he was a drag on their vote! When I said that would be madness, I think I was called a misogynist
    She did replace him didn't she?
    That was Diane James (briefly)
    Then Nuttall
    Ah, I'd forgotten her. A very nice seeming lady. Perhaps she'll come back as a Reform MP - her Wikipedia says she joined the Brexit Party.
    She fell out rather badly with Nigel, I believe.
    That’s a common theme really with Farage and people he works closely with. As I said before there comes a point when someone should realise the problem is probably them not other people
    Thinking about 2028/9, this matters.

    In a Presidential system, it's pretty easy to imagine Farage winning and becoming El Presidente. If all Farage had to do was find 400 Baldricks with nothing but abject loyalty, that might work, too.

    But finding enough people with independent intelligence to staff a government? Really hard to see that right now.
    Farage only needs to win votes in the Commons to remain as PM. Not being able form a competent government is a problem for the country, but doesn't prevent Farage from becoming and remaining as PM if he retains the loyalty of enough MPs.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 60,068

    rcs1000 said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Lee Anderson joins Pochin in calling for a Burqa ban. Will Farage, Tice and McMurdock ? With Rupert Lowe aboard maybe not!

    The French did it, so it can't be that bad.
    I oppose banning it because the government shouldn't ban things unless absolutely necessary. There has to be a very fucking high barrier before the the government should be saying "you cannot wear that".
    I tend to agree with some major exceptions such as when required to identify oneself. We wouldn’t accept someone wearing a balaclava in court, so neither should we a burqa.
    Funnily enough, my original comment included that caveat. But then I deleted it, to stay on point
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 32,161
    Leon said:

    ...

    Leon said:

    I might actually be honest in my Gazette article and say, Guys, the food in LUX is SHITE

    As bad as Germany or Holland, which, given that they are actual neighbouring countries, and the dominant cultures, is probably not surprising

    I can't wait for you to come to England to sample and critique the over roasted red meat, overcooked vegetables and fish and chips cooked in three year old solidified vegetable oil. Public Houses serve the most rewarding shoe leather Sunday lunches.
    In what way is that remotely comparable to what I am experiencing in Luxembourg?

    The local flint knapping butt plug association is sending me to the “nicest places to eat” in the country. Just as they’ve put me in - literally - the nicest hotel room in the country. They are not sending me to the local Clervaux Toby Carvery or the biggest Spoons in Viendane. Tho, TBH, you’d possibly eat better in a Spoons - a microwave Spoons curry would honestly be better than some of this
    Perhaps your readers, bloated on Muse or Scotts fayre would like to learn how to negotiate a Toby buffet breakfast or curry night at Spoons.

  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 66,132
    Sam Stein
    @samstein
    ·
    1h
    Looks like Elon is trying to 86 the BBB.

    https://x.com/samstein/status/1930341945437761713
  • LeonLeon Posts: 61,524

    Leon said:

    ...

    Leon said:

    I might actually be honest in my Gazette article and say, Guys, the food in LUX is SHITE

    As bad as Germany or Holland, which, given that they are actual neighbouring countries, and the dominant cultures, is probably not surprising

    I can't wait for you to come to England to sample and critique the over roasted red meat, overcooked vegetables and fish and chips cooked in three year old solidified vegetable oil. Public Houses serve the most rewarding shoe leather Sunday lunches.
    In what way is that remotely comparable to what I am experiencing in Luxembourg?

    The local flint knapping butt plug association is sending me to the “nicest places to eat” in the country. Just as they’ve put me in - literally - the nicest hotel room in the country. They are not sending me to the local Clervaux Toby Carvery or the biggest Spoons in Viendane. Tho, TBH, you’d possibly eat better in a Spoons - a microwave Spoons curry would honestly be better than some of this
    Perhaps your readers, bloated on Muse or Scotts fayre would like to learn how to negotiate a Toby buffet breakfast or curry night at Spoons.

    Curry at Spoons is OK, IIRC. It’s been a long time - probably 20 years ago in Aberystwyth! - but I recall a Spoons curry being obviously microwaved, genuinely tasty. And good with a cold beer

    I don’t necessarily mind food being frozen and microwaved. The vast majority of the fish we eat has been flash frozen in trawlers, it is still delicious

    Microwaving is just another method of cooking, it is not intrinsically inferior to any other method

    But if you are gonna freeze and microwave FFS make it tasty. The seafood I had tonight in a posh restaurant in LUX was obviously frozen, possibly microwaved, and awful

  • BartholomewRobertsBartholomewRoberts Posts: 24,265

    Taz said:

    rcs1000 said:

    isam said:

    DavidL said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Oh dear...

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/06/02/ash-regan-makes-underground-prostitution-blunder-gaffe/

    But when asked how she responded to those who said the Bill could drive prostitution into an “unregulated and underground system”, she answered: “There is no basis for any of those assertions. If you even think for one second, you cannot possibly drive prostitution underground.

    “If you had a lot of women in underground cellars with a locked door, how would the punters get to them?”

    Surely no-one is that stupid.
    You're talking about a woman who thought (a) joining the SNP was a good idea and then (b) thought joining Alba was a smart career option. We are not talking even the second drawer here.
    I’m old enough to remember PBers with their customary Caledonian insight discussing her seriously as a leader of the SNP/FM.
    Is there a third drawer for those people?
    I remember PBers suggesting Suzanne Evans take over from Farage as UKIP leader as he was a drag on their vote! When I said that would be madness, I think I was called a misogynist
    She did replace him didn't she?
    That was Diane James (briefly)
    Then Nuttall
    Ah, I'd forgotten her. A very nice seeming lady. Perhaps she'll come back as a Reform MP - her Wikipedia says she joined the Brexit Party.
    She fell out rather badly with Nigel, I believe.
    That’s a common theme really with Farage and people he works closely with. As I said before there comes a point when someone should realise the problem is probably them not other people
    Thinking about 2028/9, this matters.

    In a Presidential system, it's pretty easy to imagine Farage winning and becoming El Presidente. If all Farage had to do was find 400 Baldricks with nothing but abject loyalty, that might work, too.

    But finding enough people with independent intelligence to staff a government? Really hard to see that right now.
    Since when has independent intelligence been a prerequisite for the House of Commons?
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 54,405
    Taz said:

    Israel blocks the donated converted pope mobile from entering Gaza.

    https://x.com/ianbremmer/status/1930352141950169303?s=61

    Benedict Netanyahu
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 54,897

    Taz said:

    rcs1000 said:

    isam said:

    DavidL said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Oh dear...

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/06/02/ash-regan-makes-underground-prostitution-blunder-gaffe/

    But when asked how she responded to those who said the Bill could drive prostitution into an “unregulated and underground system”, she answered: “There is no basis for any of those assertions. If you even think for one second, you cannot possibly drive prostitution underground.

    “If you had a lot of women in underground cellars with a locked door, how would the punters get to them?”

    Surely no-one is that stupid.
    You're talking about a woman who thought (a) joining the SNP was a good idea and then (b) thought joining Alba was a smart career option. We are not talking even the second drawer here.
    I’m old enough to remember PBers with their customary Caledonian insight discussing her seriously as a leader of the SNP/FM.
    Is there a third drawer for those people?
    I remember PBers suggesting Suzanne Evans take over from Farage as UKIP leader as he was a drag on their vote! When I said that would be madness, I think I was called a misogynist
    She did replace him didn't she?
    That was Diane James (briefly)
    Then Nuttall
    Ah, I'd forgotten her. A very nice seeming lady. Perhaps she'll come back as a Reform MP - her Wikipedia says she joined the Brexit Party.
    She fell out rather badly with Nigel, I believe.
    That’s a common theme really with Farage and people he works closely with. As I said before there comes a point when someone should realise the problem is probably them not other people
    Thinking about 2028/9, this matters.

    In a Presidential system, it's pretty easy to imagine Farage winning and becoming El Presidente. If all Farage had to do was find 400 Baldricks with nothing but abject loyalty, that might work, too.

    But finding enough people with independent intelligence to staff a government? Really hard to see that right now.
    Since when has independent intelligence been a prerequisite for the House of Commons?
    Disqualification, Shirley?
  • StillWatersStillWaters Posts: 10,110
    rcs1000 said:

    carnforth said:

    Leon said:

    I might actually be honest in my Gazette article and say, Guys, the food in LUX is SHITE

    As bad as Germany or Holland, which, given that they are actual neighbouring countries, and the dominant cultures, is probably not surprising

    Don't the Luxembourg finance bods have somewhere to eat? You'd think a profusion of fine French restaurants.

    But I suppose they can exist alongside, siloed from, a mediocre local food scene.
    It's like the City and the City: there's a whole parallel Luxembourg with good food, that @Leon is not allowed to visit.
    When you were at Peterborough Court did you ever discover that wonderful Indian in Crane Court?

  • StillWatersStillWaters Posts: 10,110
    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Lee Anderson joins Pochin in calling for a Burqa ban. Will Farage, Tice and McMurdock ? With Rupert Lowe aboard maybe not!

    The French did it, so it can't be that bad.
    I oppose banning it because the government shouldn't ban things unless absolutely necessary. There has to be a very fucking high barrier before the the government should be saying "you cannot wear that".
    I'm in the same boat.

    I vehemently dislike it and thing its misogynistic and wrong.

    But we should not be banning things we dislike.
    Exactly.
    I’d counter that it is a form of institutionalised abuse of women and hence should be banned. If they were choosing of their own free will to wear it then fine. But I have my doubts.

    That said the one this that popularised the dress more than anything else was the Brits banning it in Egypt
  • BurgessianBurgessian Posts: 3,026
    ohnotnow said:

    Leon said:

    algarkirk said:

    Leon said:

    We do of course risk with some of this turning into local news tv
    'Tonight on Look East the regions oldest woman meets the regions fattest man in the regions oldest church to discuss Norwich City's prospects in the worlds oldest League'

    Not easy to get to St Peter’s at Bradwell. The nuclear power station, or what’s left of it, overshadows it.
    I had a Hoopoe fly in off the sea there - and land not ten feet away, feeding like a crazed thing.

    That's my daily birding anecdote related to a place somebody else has named.
    Desolate spot, isn’t it!
    Remote ancient chapel and nuclear power station - noom central!
    Ooh yes, and, even better, a DISUSED nuclear power station

    One of the noomiest places in the UK

    Dark noom - the nuke station, and bright noom - the ravishingly lonely chapel. Described as a “bare boned box of holiness” by thriller writer S K Tremayne, I believe

    Off the bat I am struggling to think of a noomier place in the UK, apart from St Kilda, which is one of the noomiest places on EARTH, so that’s a high bar
    Candidates; the first two now consigned to noom heaven:
    Broad Street Station after it closed and before it was redeveloped.
    Bradford Park Avenue football ground ditto.
    The stained glass at All Saints, North Street, York.
    Loch Ba.
    Good list, tho I have never been to any of them! Clearly thought involved

    Right, with the Poncho of Pondering about my shoulders, I’ll go for

    almost anywhere in west Herefordshire, Galway or Craswall or Abbey Dore, but if forced to choose:

    Kilpeck

    Yes, a cliche, but what a place

    Kilmartin is overlooked for its wild extent of megaliths, in Scotland

    The Isle of Harris in toto, for bright noom and dark noom, which infect each other, as everyone was forced to leave the beautiful western coast, eg Luskentyre and go and live on the craggy uninhabitable but striking east coast

    Coalbrookdale must be in the top 100 worldwide, with its bright noom of Progress, industry, so much good, yet the dark noom of the Satanic mills, birthed here

    In London: Kenwood. I don’t know what it is, but I find it very hard to be unhappy in Kenwood. It has the brightest of bright nooms. The perfect beauty of the Regency house, the sweeping gardens and slopes, the view over the Heath and then London, the art collection (Vermeer!!!!), and then Spaniard’s Inn, right behind

    If you know anyone suicidal in London, take them to Kenwood


    Wandering about the flow country and also across in assynt always makes me quite dizzy.
    Ah, Assynt.

    There's a view, from the coast, from which you can see all the peaks, from Quinag, via Suilven, to Ben Mor Coigach, lined up facing the sea, one after the other. Mountain noom.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 66,132
    Zia Yusuf

    @ZiaYusufUK
    ·
    58m
    Wow. Kent County Council tendered a contract for recruitment services for £350 million over 4 years.

    That’s £87.5 million per year of taxpayer money being spent on “advertising vacancies” and “interviewing” people.

    That’s a staggering 22% of their annual payroll.

    What a racket

    https://x.com/ZiaYusufUK/status/1930354435999576124
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 60,068

    rcs1000 said:

    carnforth said:

    Leon said:

    I might actually be honest in my Gazette article and say, Guys, the food in LUX is SHITE

    As bad as Germany or Holland, which, given that they are actual neighbouring countries, and the dominant cultures, is probably not surprising

    Don't the Luxembourg finance bods have somewhere to eat? You'd think a profusion of fine French restaurants.

    But I suppose they can exist alongside, siloed from, a mediocre local food scene.
    It's like the City and the City: there's a whole parallel Luxembourg with good food, that @Leon is not allowed to visit.
    When you were at Peterborough Court did you ever discover that wonderful Indian in Crane Court?

    I did not.

    Mostly we'd eat pizza at the Wine Press on Fleet Street
  • Alphabet_SoupAlphabet_Soup Posts: 3,605
    edited June 4
    edit
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 60,068

    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Lee Anderson joins Pochin in calling for a Burqa ban. Will Farage, Tice and McMurdock ? With Rupert Lowe aboard maybe not!

    The French did it, so it can't be that bad.
    I oppose banning it because the government shouldn't ban things unless absolutely necessary. There has to be a very fucking high barrier before the the government should be saying "you cannot wear that".
    I'm in the same boat.

    I vehemently dislike it and thing its misogynistic and wrong.

    But we should not be banning things we dislike.
    Exactly.
    I’d counter that it is a form of institutionalised abuse of women and hence should be banned. If they were choosing of their own free will to wear it then fine. But I have my doubts.

    That said the one this that popularised the dress more than anything else was the Brits banning it in Egypt
    People make all kinds of choices that you or I might find odd: like supporting Chelsea or wearing a Burkah.

    And the government should always veer in the direction of inaction.

  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 6,221
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    ...

    Leon said:

    I might actually be honest in my Gazette article and say, Guys, the food in LUX is SHITE

    As bad as Germany or Holland, which, given that they are actual neighbouring countries, and the dominant cultures, is probably not surprising

    I can't wait for you to come to England to sample and critique the over roasted red meat, overcooked vegetables and fish and chips cooked in three year old solidified vegetable oil. Public Houses serve the most rewarding shoe leather Sunday lunches.
    In what way is that remotely comparable to what I am experiencing in Luxembourg?

    The local flint knapping butt plug association is sending me to the “nicest places to eat” in the country. Just as they’ve put me in - literally - the nicest hotel room in the country. They are not sending me to the local Clervaux Toby Carvery or the biggest Spoons in Viendane. Tho, TBH, you’d possibly eat better in a Spoons - a microwave Spoons curry would honestly be better than some of this
    Perhaps your readers, bloated on Muse or Scotts fayre would like to learn how to negotiate a Toby buffet breakfast or curry night at Spoons.

    Curry at Spoons is OK, IIRC. It’s been a long time - probably 20 years ago in Aberystwyth! - but I recall a Spoons curry being obviously microwaved, genuinely tasty. And good with a cold beer

    I don’t necessarily mind food being frozen and microwaved. The vast majority of the fish we eat has been flash frozen in trawlers, it is still delicious

    Microwaving is just another method of cooking, it is not intrinsically inferior to any other method

    But if you are gonna freeze and microwave FFS make it tasty. The seafood I had tonight in a posh restaurant in LUX was obviously frozen, possibly microwaved, and awful

    The biggest gulf is the rice. The bread and curry taste fine.
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 6,221
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1de271qg4yo

    "Image pixelated". Thanks BBC.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 77,974
    .

    I see that Trump has finally commented on the spectacularly successful Ukrainian attack on Russian bombers, by quoting Putin's threats to retaliate and both-siding it to equate an attack by Ukraine on military aircraft with Russia's continuous attacks on Ukrainian civilians.

    He's such a pathetic and craven suck-up when it comes to Putin. It really makes him look incredibly weak.

    Amazing to think that there were people arguing he would be better for Ukraine than Biden. Lol.

    Ukrainian President: "If the powerful do not stop Putin, it means they share responsibility with him. And if they want to stop him but cannot, then Putin will no longer see them as powerful."

    On the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression, Zelenskyy argued that Putin views insufficient pressure on Russia and global inaction as silent approval for new atrocities...

    https://x.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1930368946844152107
  • StillWatersStillWaters Posts: 10,110
    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    carnforth said:

    Leon said:

    I might actually be honest in my Gazette article and say, Guys, the food in LUX is SHITE

    As bad as Germany or Holland, which, given that they are actual neighbouring countries, and the dominant cultures, is probably not surprising

    Don't the Luxembourg finance bods have somewhere to eat? You'd think a profusion of fine French restaurants.

    But I suppose they can exist alongside, siloed from, a mediocre local food scene.
    It's like the City and the City: there's a whole parallel Luxembourg with good food, that @Leon is not allowed to visit.
    When you were at Peterborough Court did you ever discover that wonderful Indian in Crane Court?

    I did not.

    Mostly we'd eat pizza at the Wine Press on
    Fleet Street
    Had lunch there today - they’ve refurbished it. Same carpet that I remember from when I was a child though 😂
  • StillWatersStillWaters Posts: 10,110
    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Lee Anderson joins Pochin in calling for a Burqa ban. Will Farage, Tice and McMurdock ? With Rupert Lowe aboard maybe not!

    The French did it, so it can't be that bad.
    I oppose banning it because the government shouldn't ban things unless absolutely necessary. There has to be a very fucking high barrier before the the government should be saying "you cannot wear that".
    I'm in the same boat.

    I vehemently dislike it and thing its misogynistic and wrong.

    But we should not be banning things we dislike.
    Exactly.
    I’d counter that it is a form of institutionalised abuse of women and hence should be banned. If they were choosing of their own free will to wear it then fine. But I have my doubts.

    That said the one this that popularised the dress more than anything else was the Brits banning it in Egypt
    People make all kinds of choices that you or I might find odd: like supporting Chelsea or wearing a Burkah.

    And the government should always veer in the direction of inaction.

    That’s my point. I don’t believe it is a free choice. I believe they are forced to wear them. Government should be able supporting and protecting the vulnerable
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 54,405
    carnforth said:
    Looks OK to me.
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 6,221

    carnforth said:
    Looks OK to me.
    Look more closely...
  • TimSTimS Posts: 15,536

    I see that Trump has finally commented on the spectacularly successful Ukrainian attack on Russian bombers, by quoting Putin's threats to retaliate and both-siding it to equate an attack by Ukraine on military aircraft with Russia's continuous attacks on Ukrainian civilians.

    He's such a pathetic and craven suck-up when it comes to Putin. It really makes him look incredibly weak.

    Amazing to think that there were people arguing he would be better for Ukraine than Biden. Lol.

    Meanwhile Ukraine is striking Russia with a huge drone swarm this evening. Some more unilateral nuclear disarmament by the look of it.

    And Zelenskyy was making dismissive comments about some of Russia’s ceasefire demands earlier. There seems to be a new confidence and a bit of a spring in the step of Ukraine. I wonder if they feel they can now hold their own without American help.
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 31,541

    isam said:

    Taz said:

    kinabalu said:

    Taz said:

    kinabalu said:

    BREAKING: "Putin will have to respond to the drone attacks" says the Kreml ... no hang on, says Donald Trump!

    Trump was quoting Putin. Not advocating it. 🙄
    You think?
    Yes. I’ve quoted the link to his actual comments.

    I get that Trump is not flavour of the month here, I can’t say I’m a fan myself, but the derangement when it comes to his comments, or what people think he said, is off the scale.
    Trump says mad shit.

    His foreign relationships and policy is bizarre, unless he has some connection with Russia that we are unaware of.

    Economists across the World and across history have explained that Tariffs are bad. Smoot -Hawley and the subsequent economic catastrophe should have taught him that lesson. So now Coca Cola are talking about moving their HQ from Atlanta to Europe or the Middle East. Heavy manufacturing and automotive are looking to move production from one third country to another to beat tariffs (not moving back to the rust-belt).

    The performative cruelty and racism is World beating in its wickedness and projects like Gaza Atlantic City is beyond insane and the ethnic cleansing plan element is beyond belief.

    He's deranged, and not me.

    Trump has a degree in economics.
    I hava a Desmond in politics and my views are considered to be so wrong and absurd by the majority of PBers. I would appear to be wrong about Brexit, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Robert Jenrick for starters.
    Diff’rent strokes rather than wrong I’d say
    I would say wrong. Completely wrong.
    Yes I called Brexit and the Truss budget absurd, expensive and dangerous.
    Exactly. Glib, based on a superficial understanding, and wrong.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 54,405
    TimS said:

    I see that Trump has finally commented on the spectacularly successful Ukrainian attack on Russian bombers, by quoting Putin's threats to retaliate and both-siding it to equate an attack by Ukraine on military aircraft with Russia's continuous attacks on Ukrainian civilians.

    He's such a pathetic and craven suck-up when it comes to Putin. It really makes him look incredibly weak.

    Amazing to think that there were people arguing he would be better for Ukraine than Biden. Lol.

    Meanwhile Ukraine is striking Russia with a huge drone swarm this evening. Some more unilateral nuclear disarmament by the look of it.

    And Zelenskyy was making dismissive comments about some of Russia’s ceasefire demands earlier. There seems to be a new confidence and a bit of a spring in the step of Ukraine. I wonder if they feel they can now hold their own without American help.
    How can they trust Trump after the debacle in the White House back in February?
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 31,541
    edited June 4

    Zia Yusuf

    @ZiaYusufUK
    ·
    58m
    Wow. Kent County Council tendered a contract for recruitment services for £350 million over 4 years.

    That’s £87.5 million per year of taxpayer money being spent on “advertising vacancies” and “interviewing” people.

    That’s a staggering 22% of their annual payroll.

    What a racket

    https://x.com/ZiaYusufUK/status/1930354435999576124

    'People need to be told that they can't have their cake and eat it - either taxes go up or services stop' - say PB shrewdies.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 35,383
    "Hamilton is a dead town - what will our new MSP do to save it?"

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c20181e414lo
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 38,704
    Is it too early to start wondering how much it would hurt the Mad King if Russia lose to Ukraine?
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 54,405

    ohnotnow said:

    Leon said:

    algarkirk said:

    Leon said:

    We do of course risk with some of this turning into local news tv
    'Tonight on Look East the regions oldest woman meets the regions fattest man in the regions oldest church to discuss Norwich City's prospects in the worlds oldest League'

    Not easy to get to St Peter’s at Bradwell. The nuclear power station, or what’s left of it, overshadows it.
    I had a Hoopoe fly in off the sea there - and land not ten feet away, feeding like a crazed thing.

    That's my daily birding anecdote related to a place somebody else has named.
    Desolate spot, isn’t it!
    Remote ancient chapel and nuclear power station - noom central!
    Ooh yes, and, even better, a DISUSED nuclear power station

    One of the noomiest places in the UK

    Dark noom - the nuke station, and bright noom - the ravishingly lonely chapel. Described as a “bare boned box of holiness” by thriller writer S K Tremayne, I believe

    Off the bat I am struggling to think of a noomier place in the UK, apart from St Kilda, which is one of the noomiest places on EARTH, so that’s a high bar
    Candidates; the first two now consigned to noom heaven:
    Broad Street Station after it closed and before it was redeveloped.
    Bradford Park Avenue football ground ditto.
    The stained glass at All Saints, North Street, York.
    Loch Ba.
    Good list, tho I have never been to any of them! Clearly thought involved

    Right, with the Poncho of Pondering about my shoulders, I’ll go for

    almost anywhere in west Herefordshire, Galway or Craswall or Abbey Dore, but if forced to choose:

    Kilpeck

    Yes, a cliche, but what a place

    Kilmartin is overlooked for its wild extent of megaliths, in Scotland

    The Isle of Harris in toto, for bright noom and dark noom, which infect each other, as everyone was forced to leave the beautiful western coast, eg Luskentyre and go and live on the craggy uninhabitable but striking east coast

    Coalbrookdale must be in the top 100 worldwide, with its bright noom of Progress, industry, so much good, yet the dark noom of the Satanic mills, birthed here

    In London: Kenwood. I don’t know what it is, but I find it very hard to be unhappy in Kenwood. It has the brightest of bright nooms. The perfect beauty of the Regency house, the sweeping gardens and slopes, the view over the Heath and then London, the art collection (Vermeer!!!!), and then Spaniard’s Inn, right behind

    If you know anyone suicidal in London, take them to Kenwood


    Wandering about the flow country and also across in assynt always makes me quite dizzy.
    Ah, Assynt.

    There's a view, from the coast, from which you can see all the peaks, from Quinag, via Suilven, to Ben Mor Coigach, lined up facing the sea, one after the other. Mountain noom.
    https://www.noom.com/about-us/
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 6,221
    Scott_xP said:

    Is it too early to start wondering how much it would hurt the Mad King if Russia lose to Ukraine?

    Trump or Putin?
  • StereodogStereodog Posts: 983

    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Lee Anderson joins Pochin in calling for a Burqa ban. Will Farage, Tice and McMurdock ? With Rupert Lowe aboard maybe not!

    The French did it, so it can't be that bad.
    I oppose banning it because the government shouldn't ban things unless absolutely necessary. There has to be a very fucking high barrier before the the government should be saying "you cannot wear that".
    I'm in the same boat.

    I vehemently dislike it and thing its misogynistic and wrong.

    But we should not be banning things we dislike.
    Exactly.
    I’d counter that it is a form of institutionalised abuse of women and hence should be banned. If they were choosing of their own free will to wear it then fine. But I have my doubts.

    That said the one this that popularised the dress more than anything else was the Brits banning it in Egypt
    It also just means that women who are forced to wear it will be banned from going out by their misogynist husbands.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 55,014
    carnforth said:

    Scott_xP said:

    Is it too early to start wondering how much it would hurt the Mad King if Russia lose to Ukraine?

    Trump or Putin?
    Presumably Trump.

    It will hurt Putin to the tune of an eighth-floor window drop.
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 22,990
    Good evening all.

    I've just enjoyed a couple of pints in The Duke of York in Belfast. Definitely worth a visit if you are in the city.

    My younger colleagues are still there drinking!
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 55,014
    carnforth said:
    How sad do you have to be have a condom for 200 years - and no opportunity to use it.

    The 200 Year Old Virgin.
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 38,704
    @chrisgeidner.bsky.social‬

    BREAKING: Chief Judge James Boasberg finds that those people sent to CECOT under the Alien Enemies Act on March 15-16 had their due process rights violates and certifies them as a class. He orders that the government "facilitate" the ability for them to seek habeas relief.

    https://bsky.app/profile/chrisgeidner.bsky.social/post/3lqsqby2ljc2k
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 55,014

    Zia Yusuf

    @ZiaYusufUK
    ·
    58m
    Wow. Kent County Council tendered a contract for recruitment services for £350 million over 4 years.

    That’s £87.5 million per year of taxpayer money being spent on “advertising vacancies” and “interviewing” people.

    That’s a staggering 22% of their annual payroll.

    What a racket

    https://x.com/ZiaYusufUK/status/1930354435999576124

    There is considerable scope for some truly egregious--> corrupt contracts to now see the light of day with all these council changes.

    Labour can see these council changes come down the pike withi a year. They'd be very wise to start cleaning house. Might even help them keep some seats.
  • eekeek Posts: 30,213

    Zia Yusuf

    @ZiaYusufUK
    ·
    58m
    Wow. Kent County Council tendered a contract for recruitment services for £350 million over 4 years.

    That’s £87.5 million per year of taxpayer money being spent on “advertising vacancies” and “interviewing” people.

    That’s a staggering 22% of their annual payroll.

    What a racket

    https://x.com/ZiaYusufUK/status/1930354435999576124

    There is considerable scope for some truly egregious--> corrupt contracts to now see the light of day with all these council changes.

    Labour can see these council changes come down the pike withi a year. They'd be very wise to start cleaning house. Might even help them keep some seats.
    Except I think this is a full marketplace where the £350m is mainly being spent on paying the workers supplied via the contract.

    The fact it's Mr Yusuf is not being 100% clear tells me that I don't think he's understands what he has found...
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