GB News: 38% of young people think Britain would be better off under a "military strongman".
While to me this is obviously troubling, perhaps one should stop a moment and ask a question. If you are 25 and born in 2000, you were 8 during the financial crisis, since when UK politics has been in trouble with the well known consequences.
The question is this: What experience does a 25 year old have of liberal multi party democracy, parliament, democratic government, the theory of the rule of law and the post WWII social democratic consensus which would lead them to think that it is incomparably all for the best in the best of all possible worlds and that nothing else is worth a try?
Not much, I would guess.
They have had plenty of exposure to the Farage, far right agenda and it's cohort of cranks, crooks and cretins though, not to mention several years of the increasingly loathsome Trump.
Fascism can get normalized it seems.
Yes; so if you are 25, you think that Con and Lab have failed you, can't get done what they promise, and the democratic alternative in our system is the spivs of reform. So what is there about multi party democracy which tells you, from your experience so far, that you are not to look at any alternative ways of running a country? You might think that the rule of one of the heads of army, navy or air force wouldn't be any worse.
I am 70 and think it would be a disaster to abandon democracy. If I was 25 it may seem attractive.
It would only be attractive to a 25 year old who hasn't read any history whatsoever.
I wonder where that HAC officer is - the one who drunkenly plotted a coup, with myself, to the horror of some of the great and the good. Who had just expressed (the great and the good types) an absence of loyalty towards the people of the country.
Channel migrant crossings ‘to double if Starmer crackdown fails’
The number of illegal migrants crossing the Channel is forecast to double this year unless new Government measures can curb the flow, independent modelling shows.
The research, by Richard Wood, one of Britain’s top modelling forecasters, takes account of not only weather and sea conditions but also includes asylum grant rates, illegal immigration flows into Europe and dinghy size
That will be the end of him, and probably of Labour, forever
I had supper tonight with a guy who is very senior in a role adjacent to MI5 and MI6, I can't go into more detail than that. He literally works alongside them in some huge hi tech building in REDACTED, his job is specifically terror-related as a REDACTED
He said they do amazing things every day, protecting us, but with all the migrants coming in, unvetted, and now all the Afghans - it all feels a bit pointless, and he's close to "giving up on the UK"
Well in any just wirld it would be the end of him. But I suspect any concern will continue to be batted awat as racist and tge Nu10k will carry on.
I think that Serena Veigman's teams have now been in the last 5 finals. Surely one of the greatest managerial feats in the history of football. She is incredible.
Channel migrant crossings ‘to double if Starmer crackdown fails’
The number of illegal migrants crossing the Channel is forecast to double this year unless new Government measures can curb the flow, independent modelling shows.
The research, by Richard Wood, one of Britain’s top modelling forecasters, takes account of not only weather and sea conditions but also includes asylum grant rates, illegal immigration flows into Europe and dinghy size
That will be the end of him, and probably of Labour, forever
I had supper tonight with a guy who is very senior in a role adjacent to MI5 and MI6, I can't go into more detail than that. He literally works alongside them in some huge hi tech building in REDACTED, his job is specifically terror-related as a REDACTED
He said they do amazing things every day, protecting us, but with all the migrants coming in, unvetted, and now all the Afghans - it all feels a bit pointless, and he's close to "giving up on the UK"
Well in any just wirld it would be the end of him. But I suspect any concern will continue to be batted awat as racist and tge Nu10k will carry on.
That's not the sense I am getting. I am getting the sense, from several sources, of real panic in the government
GB News: 38% of young people think Britain would be better off under a "military strongman".
While to me this is obviously troubling, perhaps one should stop a moment and ask a question. If you are 25 and born in 2000, you were 8 during the financial crisis, since when UK politics has been in trouble with the well known consequences.
The question is this: What experience does a 25 year old have of liberal multi party democracy, parliament, democratic government, the theory of the rule of law and the post WWII social democratic consensus which would lead them to think that it is incomparably all for the best in the best of all possible worlds and that nothing else is worth a try?
Not much, I would guess.
They have had plenty of exposure to the Farage, far right agenda and it's cohort of cranks, crooks and cretins though, not to mention several years of the increasingly loathsome Trump.
Fascism can get normalized it seems.
Yes; so if you are 25, you think that Con and Lab have failed you, can't get done what they promise, and the democratic alternative in our system is the spivs of reform. So what is there about multi party democracy which tells you, from your experience so far, that you are not to look at any alternative ways of running a country? You might think that the rule of one of the heads of army, navy or air force wouldn't be any worse.
I am 70 and think it would be a disaster to abandon democracy. If I was 25 it may seem attractive.
It would only be attractive to a 25 year old who hasn't read any history whatsoever.
What a good job our 25 year olds are earnest students of history
GB News: 38% of young people think Britain would be better off under a "military strongman".
While to me this is obviously troubling, perhaps one should stop a moment and ask a question. If you are 25 and born in 2000, you were 8 during the financial crisis, since when UK politics has been in trouble with the well known consequences.
The question is this: What experience does a 25 year old have of liberal multi party democracy, parliament, democratic government, the theory of the rule of law and the post WWII social democratic consensus which would lead them to think that it is incomparably all for the best in the best of all possible worlds and that nothing else is worth a try?
Not much, I would guess.
They have had plenty of exposure to the Farage, far right agenda and it's cohort of cranks, crooks and cretins though, not to mention several years of the increasingly loathsome Trump.
Fascism can get normalized it seems.
Yes; so if you are 25, you think that Con and Lab have failed you, can't get done what they promise, and the democratic alternative in our system is the spivs of reform. So what is there about multi party democracy which tells you, from your experience so far, that you are not to look at any alternative ways of running a country? You might think that the rule of one of the heads of army, navy or air force wouldn't be any worse.
I am 70 and think it would be a disaster to abandon democracy. If I was 25 it may seem attractive.
It would only be attractive to a 25 year old who hasn't read any history whatsoever.
What a good job our 25 year olds are earnest students of history
My 19 year old daughter wrote an essay (for entry to uni) on the Shining Path and the lasting effects of their embracing The Propaganda Of The Deed.
My counter-terror friend told me that about 20% of his work, and rising, is now dedicated to this. Something of which I have never heard. It's called The Com
One thing that always strikes me about NYC, you don't have to go that far north of the city and it absolutely back country with f##k all people living there.
I like how some US States have capitals like Albany with around 100k people, even as they contain massive cities. Illinois is another example, and there are probably even more dramatic ones.
I think I am definitely in the minority that as a work-acholic and somebody who enjoys their work, I have no intention of retiring at 60 odd.
See I find this objectionable.....you do realise 90% of people don't get to choose they are just managed out in there mid to late 50's at never get another job?
Why do you find what I decide to do objectionable. I am not saying everybody else should as I do e.g. I work 7 days a week, normally 80-100hrs.
I am saying all this, I will cut down to a couple of days a week, work till 69 objectionable because you seem to assume they are options open to pretty much everyone. They really aren't. I am 58 now. Pretty sure I will find getting another job difficult should I be laid off. Also know damn well going to hr and suggesting I might want to work only 3 or 4 days a week will be seen as a good excuse for not keeping me on.
Pretty much people that get to retire at a time of their own choosing and ability to fit the hours they work to suit themselves tend to be senior staff not proles and plebs like me
Soho totally buzzing tonight. Groucho swinging and rocking. Who are these gloomsters doing the capital down?
London is BACK
An American friend is staying in town and he told me at great length how much better London is to visit than New York (he lives in LA).
Cleaner, people friendlier, the summer weather less humid, the Underground safer and more user-friendly, the things to do more much cheaper and more interesting, etc. etc.
So despite all the complaining on here, we still have some things going for us on this battered old island and we shouldn't take them for granted.
The population of London has overtaken New York City in recent years.
Arbitrary bureaucratic boundaries. The metro area of New York is still much larger in population (20m vs 15m 2024 est).
Of course London would be much larger were it not for the Green Noose around its neck and decades of government policy to foster its decline.
This is using the same boundaries that have existed for both cities since 1965. For the vast majority of that time NYC had the higher population.
Utterly ludicrous for growing cities to have the same boundaries they had sixty years ago.
Where's the growth? The city should have expanded outwards in the intervening sixty years and need to see its boundaries updated to account for the millions of extra people there.
Channel migrant crossings ‘to double if Starmer crackdown fails’
The number of illegal migrants crossing the Channel is forecast to double this year unless new Government measures can curb the flow, independent modelling shows.
The research, by Richard Wood, one of Britain’s top modelling forecasters, takes account of not only weather and sea conditions but also includes asylum grant rates, illegal immigration flows into Europe and dinghy size
That will be the end of him, and probably of Labour, forever
I had supper tonight with a guy who is very senior in a role adjacent to MI5 and MI6, I can't go into more detail than that. He literally works alongside them in some huge hi tech building in REDACTED, his job is specifically terror-related as a REDACTED
He said they do amazing things every day, protecting us, but with all the migrants coming in, unvetted, and now all the Afghans - it all feels a bit pointless, and he's close to "giving up on the UK"
Well in any just wirld it would be the end of him. But I suspect any concern will continue to be batted awat as racist and tge Nu10k will carry on.
That's not the sense I am getting. I am getting the sense, from several sources, of real panic in the government
Well, good. But all I see is 'oh, aren't those white people who don't like untramelled immigration from the Middle East awful'.
I think I am definitely in the minority that as a work-acholic and somebody who enjoys their work, I have no intention of retiring at 60 odd.
See I find this objectionable.....you do realise 90% of people don't get to choose they are just managed out in there mid to late 50's at never get another job?
Whether you are right or not, and I hope you are not, there is nothing objectionable in what you are objecting to.
I am one of the fortunate ones too. I retired at 68 from something I loved doing. I keep carrying on in voluntary ways.
I am not objecting to what francis wishes to do, I am merely objecting to him believing its actually a choice we can all make. Does that make it clearer? I am happy he can do what suits him. For someone that for example does not wish to retire being managed out with no hope of another job it isn't a choice
As neither of us is in Gaza we'll just have to flip a coin as to who is telling porkies.
That is not a rebuttal of the article.
Just Israeli governmental talking points.
From Topping? Surely not.
How do you know which version is true.
I would look at the comparative familiarity of fhe accounts, just to start with. The GHF thread looks almost identical to two years of Israeli press briefing, whereas the Guardian's report seems to include a lot of newer and more disparate details and sources of information, including by several aid agencies.
ie you have no idea.
Two year old repastes will be more inaccurate ; hence I have a good idea of the comparison, which was your question.
The GHF hasn't been distributing food for two years. But good to see you think Hamas is a trusted source. And the UN which has likely had to make "accommodation" to operate in Gaza.
But Hamas is clearly far from the only source of the Guardian report, whereas there's no evidence of ""GHF" contradicting the claims of the Israeli government at any time.
The GHF thread, on the other hand, is essentially just a cut and paste of countiess interviews given by ministers ovef the lasr two years when Israel itself was supposed to be managimg aid, with "Israel" substituted for the name of the organisation.
As I said, you have no idea of what is actually going on. The GHF sounds perfectly plausible to me.
Listen to Jeremy Bowen on now. I haven't seen him as angry before. Some of the pictures of starvation would require a prosthetics department well out of the reach of any filmmakers in Gaza. You seem to have something of a minority view
Whichever way you view it, Gaza is ethnic cleansing. It is quite remarkable that a couple of right wing Tories have blown the whistle on the complicity of a Labour, a Labour Government.
Channel migrant crossings ‘to double if Starmer crackdown fails’
The number of illegal migrants crossing the Channel is forecast to double this year unless new Government measures can curb the flow, independent modelling shows.
The research, by Richard Wood, one of Britain’s top modelling forecasters, takes account of not only weather and sea conditions but also includes asylum grant rates, illegal immigration flows into Europe and dinghy size
That will be the end of him, and probably of Labour, forever
I had supper tonight with a guy who is very senior in a role adjacent to MI5 and MI6, I can't go into more detail than that. He literally works alongside them in some huge hi tech building in REDACTED, his job is specifically terror-related as a REDACTED
He said they do amazing things every day, protecting us, but with all the migrants coming in, unvetted, and now all the Afghans - it all feels a bit pointless, and he's close to "giving up on the UK"
Well in any just wirld it would be the end of him. But I suspect any concern will continue to be batted awat as racist and tge Nu10k will carry on.
That's not the sense I am getting. I am getting the sense, from several sources, of real panic in the government
Well, good. But all I see is 'oh, aren't those white people who don't like untramelled immigration from the Middle East awful'.
That's all I see, like you - but I perceive signals of panic and change (probably far too late) within the government
I may be deluding myself, but it is odd that I've heard this from 3 different people in a few days, all highly connected but in truly diverse jobs
Put it another way: minds are finally being focused by the rise and rise of Reform, and the clear unrest across British towns. But it's too late for Labour
I think I am definitely in the minority that as a work-acholic and somebody who enjoys their work, I have no intention of retiring at 60 odd.
See I find this objectionable.....you do realise 90% of people don't get to choose they are just managed out in there mid to late 50's at never get another job?
Why do you find what I decide to do objectionable. I am not saying everybody else should as I do e.g. I work 7 days a week, normally 80-100hrs.
I am saying all this, I will cut down to a couple of days a week, work till 69 objectionable because you seem to assume they are options open to pretty much everyone. They really aren't. I am 58 now. Pretty sure I will find getting another job difficult should I be laid off. Also know damn well going to hr and suggesting I might want to work only 3 or 4 days a week will be seen as a good excuse for not keeping me on.
Pretty much people that get to retire at a time of their own choosing and ability to fit the hours they work to suit themselves tend to be senior staff not proles and plebs like me
There is definitely a hazard for the company, I've worked on a project where the experts in one area were late 60s/early 70s working 3-4 days a week, a) the project was due to run for another few years b) if it got too stressful/they'd cocked up then they were likely to bail (which they did). There's also the "retired but come back as a consultant" issue, where they only want to do the interesting stuff, so the younger staff get lumbered with more of the boring/unpleasant stuff.
I visited NYC with my brother last year in March. At 11:15pm one day we struggled to find a fast food restaurant that was open, right in the middle of Manhattan. I found that a bit surprising. Several places had closed at 11pm.
I visited NYC with my brother last year in March. At 11:15pm one day we struggled to find a fast food restaurant that was open, right in the middle of Manhattan. I found that a bit surprising. Several places had closed at 11pm.
I think I am definitely in the minority that as a work-acholic and somebody who enjoys their work, I have no intention of retiring at 60 odd.
See I find this objectionable.....you do realise 90% of people don't get to choose they are just managed out in there mid to late 50's at never get another job?
Why do you find what I decide to do objectionable. I am not saying everybody else should as I do e.g. I work 7 days a week, normally 80-100hrs.
I am saying all this, I will cut down to a couple of days a week, work till 69 objectionable because you seem to assume they are options open to pretty much everyone. They really aren't. I am 58 now. Pretty sure I will find getting another job difficult should I be laid off. Also know damn well going to hr and suggesting I might want to work only 3 or 4 days a week will be seen as a good excuse for not keeping me on.
Pretty much people that get to retire at a time of their own choosing and ability to fit the hours they work to suit themselves tend to be senior staff not proles and plebs like me
I literally made posts in this thread that said businesses need to adapt / be encouraged not to do this and so we have a graduated retirement over many years.
I think I am definitely in the minority that as a work-acholic and somebody who enjoys their work, I have no intention of retiring at 60 odd.
See I find this objectionable.....you do realise 90% of people don't get to choose they are just managed out in there mid to late 50's at never get another job?
Why do you find what I decide to do objectionable. I am not saying everybody else should as I do e.g. I work 7 days a week, normally 80-100hrs.
I am saying all this, I will cut down to a couple of days a week, work till 69 objectionable because you seem to assume they are options open to pretty much everyone. They really aren't. I am 58 now. Pretty sure I will find getting another job difficult should I be laid off. Also know damn well going to hr and suggesting I might want to work only 3 or 4 days a week will be seen as a good excuse for not keeping me on.
Pretty much people that get to retire at a time of their own choosing and ability to fit the hours they work to suit themselves tend to be senior staff not proles and plebs like me
There is definitely a hazard for the company, I've worked on a project where the experts in one area were late 60s/early 70s working 3-4 days a week, a) the project was due to run for another few years b) if it got too stressful/they'd cocked up then they were likely to bail (which they did). There's also the "retired but come back as a consultant" issue, where they only want to do the interesting stuff, so the younger staff get lumbered with more of the boring/unpleasant stuff.
I can certainly understand why there might be things a company needs to consider and there is no denying there are potential issues such as you have highlighted.
My and people of my ages experiences (guess what they aren't senior management) is basically the older you get the more you have to keep your nose clean else you end up unemployed waiting to reach retirement. Indeed as I have mentioned I got diagnosed with a brain tumour week before last....guess what I am back to working 5 days a week rather than giving hr a reason to question if I am capable
Channel migrant crossings ‘to double if Starmer crackdown fails’
The number of illegal migrants crossing the Channel is forecast to double this year unless new Government measures can curb the flow, independent modelling shows.
The research, by Richard Wood, one of Britain’s top modelling forecasters, takes account of not only weather and sea conditions but also includes asylum grant rates, illegal immigration flows into Europe and dinghy size
That will be the end of him, and probably of Labour, forever
I had supper tonight with a guy who is very senior in a role adjacent to MI5 and MI6, I can't go into more detail than that. He literally works alongside them in some huge hi tech building in REDACTED, his job is specifically terror-related as a REDACTED
He said they do amazing things every day, protecting us, but with all the migrants coming in, unvetted, and now all the Afghans - it all feels a bit pointless, and he's close to "giving up on the UK"
Well in any just wirld it would be the end of him. But I suspect any concern will continue to be batted awat as racist and tge Nu10k will carry on.
It is rather sad to see you a Mancunion with their sparkling history of tolerance join the PB right wing racist faction. I hadn't really noticed it until the last few months.
I visited NYC with my brother last year in March. At 11:15pm one day we struggled to find a fast food restaurant that was open, right in the middle of Manhattan. I found that a bit surprising. Several places had closed at 11pm.
I am presuming this is hang over from COVID. When Mrs U worked there you, loads of dinners were 24hrs.
My counter-terror friend told me that about 20% of his work, and rising, is now dedicated to this. Something of which I have never heard. It's called The Com
I think I am definitely in the minority that as a work-acholic and somebody who enjoys their work, I have no intention of retiring at 60 odd.
See I find this objectionable.....you do realise 90% of people don't get to choose they are just managed out in there mid to late 50's at never get another job?
Why do you find what I decide to do objectionable. I am not saying everybody else should as I do e.g. I work 7 days a week, normally 80-100hrs.
I am saying all this, I will cut down to a couple of days a week, work till 69 objectionable because you seem to assume they are options open to pretty much everyone. They really aren't. I am 58 now. Pretty sure I will find getting another job difficult should I be laid off. Also know damn well going to hr and suggesting I might want to work only 3 or 4 days a week will be seen as a good excuse for not keeping me on.
Pretty much people that get to retire at a time of their own choosing and ability to fit the hours they work to suit themselves tend to be senior staff not proles and plebs like me
I literally made posts in this thread that said businesses need to adapt / be encouraged not to do this and so we have a graduated retirement over many years.
I visited NYC with my brother last year in March. At 11:15pm one day we struggled to find a fast food restaurant that was open, right in the middle of Manhattan. I found that a bit surprising. Several places had closed at 11pm.
I am presuming this is hang over from COVID. When Mrs U worked there you, loads of dinners were 24hrs.
Channel migrant crossings ‘to double if Starmer crackdown fails’
The number of illegal migrants crossing the Channel is forecast to double this year unless new Government measures can curb the flow, independent modelling shows.
The research, by Richard Wood, one of Britain’s top modelling forecasters, takes account of not only weather and sea conditions but also includes asylum grant rates, illegal immigration flows into Europe and dinghy size
That will be the end of him, and probably of Labour, forever
I had supper tonight with a guy who is very senior in a role adjacent to MI5 and MI6, I can't go into more detail than that. He literally works alongside them in some huge hi tech building in REDACTED, his job is specifically terror-related as a REDACTED
He said they do amazing things every day, protecting us, but with all the migrants coming in, unvetted, and now all the Afghans - it all feels a bit pointless, and he's close to "giving up on the UK"
Well in any just wirld it would be the end of him. But I suspect any concern will continue to be batted awat as racist and tge Nu10k will carry on.
That's not the sense I am getting. I am getting the sense, from several sources, of real panic in the government
Well, good. But all I see is 'oh, aren't those white people who don't like untramelled immigration from the Middle East awful'.
That's all I see, like you - but I perceive signals of panic and change (probably far too late) within the government
I may be deluding myself, but it is odd that I've heard this from 3 different people in a few days, all highly connected but in truly diverse jobs
Put it another way: minds are finally being focused by the rise and rise of Reform, and the clear unrest across British towns. But it's too late for Labour
But I suspect they're being focused to double down on the "isn't immigration splendid" narrative - see for example Andy_JS's story about the police escorting pro-immigrant protestors to Epping. But maybe you're right and the government has decided to change tack. After all, who knows what SKS believes this week.
My counter-terror friend told me that about 20% of his work, and rising, is now dedicated to this. Something of which I have never heard. It's called The Com
Is this the fall out from the poorer (and not worth reporting on) areas who'd been taking the home office shilling until now, saying "we're a bit full up, guv"?
My counter-terror friend told me that about 20% of his work, and rising, is now dedicated to this. Something of which I have never heard. It's called The Com
Is this the fall out from the poorer (and not worth reporting on) areas who'd been taking the home office shilling until now, saying "we're a bit full up, guv"?
My counter-terror friend told me that about 20% of his work, and rising, is now dedicated to this. Something of which I have never heard. It's called The Com
Another 10% is pure Neo Nazis, the grave majority is Islamism, still, and it hasn't got better, it's likely getting worse
What are impure Nazis? Ones who occasionally do sick stuff just for a laugh rather than out of rancid hatred for everyone not like themselves?
Basically, yes
That Sky story tallies entirely with what my friend told me about “the com”. And I’d never heard of it or them until tonight
Some of the stuff he told me was truly mind scrambling. And also ominous
The government is close to losing control on seversl fronts. Put it that way
Do you ever give up talking shit? all your invented stories where you meet people REDACTED who are very important REDACTED and have the same racist views as REDACTED. are just insufferably boring. Can't you see the only people who are entertained by your invented crap are saddos who are as dull as REDACTED
As neither of us is in Gaza we'll just have to flip a coin as to who is telling porkies.
That is not a rebuttal of the article.
Just Israeli governmental talking points.
From Topping? Surely not.
How do you know which version is true.
I would look at the comparative familiarity of fhe accounts, just to start with. The GHF thread looks almost identical to two years of Israeli press briefing, whereas the Guardian's report seems to include a lot of newer and more disparate details and sources of information, including by several aid agencies.
ie you have no idea.
Two year old repastes will be more inaccurate ; hence I have a good idea of the comparison, which was your question.
The GHF hasn't been distributing food for two years. But good to see you think Hamas is a trusted source. And the UN which has likely had to make "accommodation" to operate in Gaza.
But Hamas is clearly far from the only source of the Guardian report, whereas there's no evidence of ""GHF" contradicting the claims of the Israeli government at any time.
The GHF thread, on the other hand, is essentially just a cut and paste of countiess interviews given by ministers ovef the lasr two years when Israel itself was supposed to be managimg aid, with "Israel" substituted for the name of the organisation.
As I said, you have no idea of what is actually going on. The GHF sounds perfectly plausible to me.
Listen to Jeremy Bowen on now. I haven't seen him as angry before. Some of the pictures of starvation would require a prosthetics department well out of the reach of any filmmakers in Gaza. You seem to have something of a minority view
Whichever way you view it, Gaza is ethnic cleansing. It is quite remarkable that a couple of right wing Tories have blown the whistle on the complicity of a Labour, a Labour Government.
My counter-terror friend told me that about 20% of his work, and rising, is now dedicated to this. Something of which I have never heard. It's called The Com
Another 10% is pure Neo Nazis, the grave majority is Islamism, still, and it hasn't got better, it's likely getting worse
What are impure Nazis? Ones who occasionally do sick stuff just for a laugh rather than out of rancid hatred for everyone not like themselves?
Basically, yes
That Sky story tallies entirely with what my friend told me about “the com”. And I’d never heard of it or them until tonight
Some of the stuff he told me was truly mind scrambling. And also ominous
The government is close to losing control on seversl fronts. Put it that way
Do you ever give up talking shit? all your invented stories where you meet people REDACTED who are very important REDACTED and have the same racist views as REDACTED. are just insufferably boring. Can't you see the only people who are entertained by your invented crap are saddos who are as dull as REDACTED
My counter-terror friend told me that about 20% of his work, and rising, is now dedicated to this. Something of which I have never heard. It's called The Com
GB News: 38% of young people think Britain would be better off under a "military strongman".
While to me this is obviously troubling, perhaps one should stop a moment and ask a question. If you are 25 and born in 2000, you were 8 during the financial crisis, since when UK politics has been in trouble with the well known consequences.
The question is this: What experience does a 25 year old have of liberal multi party democracy, parliament, democratic government, the theory of the rule of law and the post WWII social democratic consensus which would lead them to think that it is incomparably all for the best in the best of all possible worlds and that nothing else is worth a try?
Not much, I would guess.
They have had plenty of exposure to the Farage, far right agenda and it's cohort of cranks, crooks and cretins though, not to mention several years of the increasingly loathsome Trump.
Fascism can get normalized it seems.
Yes; so if you are 25, you think that Con and Lab have failed you, can't get done what they promise, and the democratic alternative in our system is the spivs of reform. So what is there about multi party democracy which tells you, from your experience so far, that you are not to look at any alternative ways of running a country? You might think that the rule of one of the heads of army, navy or air force wouldn't be any worse.
I am 70 and think it would be a disaster to abandon democracy. If I was 25 it may seem attractive.
It would only be attractive to a 25 year old who hasn't read any history whatsoever.
What a good job our 25 year olds are earnest students of history
My 19 year old daughter wrote an essay (for entry to uni) on the Shining Path and the lasting effects of their embracing The Propaganda Of The Deed.
So that’s one who knows.
Do we have Civics in the National Curriculum?
(And I don't mean cold-blooded analytical civics, I mean study as to the advantages of a democratic system, and why we fight for it when necessary.)
Would it be over simplistic to think that if Farage believes that a Reform government can cut crime in half, then his policy would be to have fewer prison places, not more?
I suppose the point is (i) you need to jail more people now to get crime down over the term of a government, so you need the places now even if you won't in four years; and (ii) you can repurpose the places as crime falls, either giving terms of imprisonment for less serious offences or for things like holding asylum seekers.
I mean, it's all obvious bollocks anyway, and the "halving crime" thing is plucked out of thin air. But presumably that's the argument.
I don't actually think it would be particularly hard to reduce crime significantly.
I don't think it requires some radical reshaping or our criminal justice system. I think it merely requires us to fund the police, lawyers and courts properly. So that people are more likely to get caught, prosecuted and punished.
It's the last that's the biggest problem, particularly for the "low level" crimes that make people's lives a misery, like burglary and drug dealing.
A lot of the time the local plod know who the local scrotes are, but can't be bothered to go and round them up so they can tie up the court system for half a day only to get a few hours community service and be back nicking stuff the following night.
Zero tolerance policing, prosecution and sentencing, with a "three strikes and it's 10 years inside" rule would rapidly put most of these persistent offenders inside for the long term, and crime would fall off a cliff.
It wouldn't be cheap because prison is expensive, but in the long run the reduced cost of crime would pay for it.
Note, I'm making no claim any of this is an effective deterrent to criminals, nor yet hoping that prison will reform them. My calculation is simply that once locked up, their crime rate tends to zero until you let them out, therefore the easiest way to have low crime is to lock up all the criminals.
Here's the thing: right now, if you were to commit a crime that was sufficiently serious for the Plot to really care, and it was incredibly obvious you were the perpatrator, well, it would still take years to come to trial, by which point the witnesses might have disappeared. So, you might as well wait it out, because there's a high chance that the trial won't ever happen.
And if you're a low level criminal, that got arrested for shoplifting, and then you got a trial date at Uxbridge Magistrates Court, well ... there's a high chance that Legal Aid won't be able to find a barrister who will represent you for the 65 quid they'll recieve (before costs) for turning up to represent you.
So, when you turn up at Court, the magistrates will note your lack of legal represenation and defer the trial to another date.
I think there's a tendency to rush straight for the 'we need harsher punishments' knob, when the biggest problem right now is that the whole process of getting people convicted has almost completely broken down.
It's not an either/or - justice should be being served, and served swiftly. But your perp being nicked for shoplifting should be a 5 minute job. Here's the bloke, here's a witness statement to say he was apprehended running out of the door with a bottle of whiskey in each hand, here's the CCTV. How do you plead Mr?
But part of the reason the court system is overloaded is it's full of frequent flyers coming back for this month's slap on the wrist.
Sure, I'm sure that's part of the reason.
But when court system stops working, it discourages people from pleading guilty. Why bother if it's years until the trial, and the person who nicked you may not even still be with the police? Or why bother if Legal Aid isn't going to send a barrister, and therefore your trial will be delayed again.
I don't think people outside the legal system fully appreciate just how much the court system has broken down.
One of our old posters was once charged with rape. There was a -what- six month gap between his being charged and his trial. Nowadays it could easily be four years. And the more time will pass before the trial takes place, the more likely it is not to happen, and therefore for the scrote to get off scott free.
Which - in turn - results in the number of people copping to a guilty plea collapsing - which in turn adds ever more pressure to the court system.
My counter-terror friend told me that about 20% of his work, and rising, is now dedicated to this. Something of which I have never heard. It's called The Com
Someone on Five Live earlier today with Naga Munchetty phoned in to say they spent a lot of time talking to ChatGPT because it was more interesting than talking to real people. You'd think that's not something you'd want to broadcast to the whole country, even if you didn't give your name when calling in.
One thing that always strikes me about NYC, you don't have to go that far north of the city and it absolutely back country with f##k all people living there.
I like how some US States have capitals like Albany with around 100k people, even as they contain massive cities. Illinois is another example, and there are probably even more dramatic ones.
I was thinking about this the other day, and it seems to come down to the age of the country, and whether the largest settlement had to be the capital because the monarch/government absolutely had to ensure control over the largest settlement to have control of the country (or whatever local ruler of the county, or whatever).
GB News: 38% of young people think Britain would be better off under a "military strongman".
While to me this is obviously troubling, perhaps one should stop a moment and ask a question. If you are 25 and born in 2000, you were 8 during the financial crisis, since when UK politics has been in trouble with the well known consequences.
The question is this: What experience does a 25 year old have of liberal multi party democracy, parliament, democratic government, the theory of the rule of law and the post WWII social democratic consensus which would lead them to think that it is incomparably all for the best in the best of all possible worlds and that nothing else is worth a try?
Not much, I would guess.
They have had plenty of exposure to the Farage, far right agenda and it's cohort of cranks, crooks and cretins though, not to mention several years of the increasingly loathsome Trump.
Fascism can get normalized it seems.
Yes; so if you are 25, you think that Con and Lab have failed you, can't get done what they promise, and the democratic alternative in our system is the spivs of reform. So what is there about multi party democracy which tells you, from your experience so far, that you are not to look at any alternative ways of running a country? You might think that the rule of one of the heads of army, navy or air force wouldn't be any worse.
I am 70 and think it would be a disaster to abandon democracy. If I was 25 it may seem attractive.
It would only be attractive to a 25 year old who hasn't read any history whatsoever.
What a good job our 25 year olds are earnest students of history
My 19 year old daughter wrote an essay (for entry to uni) on the Shining Path and the lasting effects of their embracing The Propaganda Of The Deed.
So that’s one who knows.
Do we have Civics in the National Curriculum?
(And I don't mean cold-blooded analytical civics, I mean study as to the advantages of a democratic system, and why we fight for it when necessary.)
There is some - You’d have to ask some current teachers how much depth there is to that.
My daughters got to read my library and my father gave them way to much moral philosophy…
One thing that always strikes me about NYC, you don't have to go that far north of the city and it absolutely back country with f##k all people living there.
I like how some US States have capitals like Albany with around 100k people, even as they contain massive cities. Illinois is another example, and there are probably even more dramatic ones.
I was thinking about this the other day, and it seems to come down to the age of the country, and whether the largest settlement had to be the capital because the monarch/government absolutely had to ensure control over the largest settlement to have control of the country (or whatever local ruler of the county, or whatever).
With quite a lot of English counties, the county town isn't the most populous.
My counter-terror friend told me that about 20% of his work, and rising, is now dedicated to this. Something of which I have never heard. It's called The Com
During his really heavy drinking Sharon Osbourne was really worried about him but had to go to New York for a week and took him to New York.
She left him wearing his underwear and took all his clothes from the hotel, she told the hotel staff to not provide him any alcohol.
First day she went to a meeting at 9am and left Ozzy in their room and came back absolutely pissed, she had a go at the hotel staff for providing him booze but they denied they provided him any booze.
This happened for the rest of the week, she left him in his undies and came back to find him absolutely pissed out of his tree.
At the end of the week, she asked him how have you been managing to get pissed all week, and Ozzy Osbourne said 'When you leave in the morning, I put on one of your dresses, and go to the gay bars and get pissed there.'
Someone on Five Live earlier today with Naga Munchetty phoned in to say they spent a lot of time talking to ChatGPT because it was more interesting than talking to real people. You'd think that's not something you'd want to broadcast to the whole country, even if you didn't give your name when calling in.
There is going to be a massive growth business in people seeking therapy after becoming messed up attempting therapy with a LLM.
As neither of us is in Gaza we'll just have to flip a coin as to who is telling porkies.
That is not a rebuttal of the article.
Just Israeli governmental talking points.
From Topping? Surely not.
How do you know which version is true.
I would look at the comparative familiarity of fhe accounts, just to start with. The GHF thread looks almost identical to two years of Israeli press briefing, whereas the Guardian's report seems to include a lot of newer and more disparate details and sources of information, including by several aid agencies.
ie you have no idea.
Two year old repastes will be more inaccurate ; hence I have a good idea of the comparison, which was your question.
The GHF hasn't been distributing food for two years. But good to see you think Hamas is a trusted source. And the UN which has likely had to make "accommodation" to operate in Gaza.
But Hamas is clearly far from the only source of the Guardian report, whereas there's no evidence of ""GHF" contradicting the claims of the Israeli government at any time.
The GHF thread, on the other hand, is essentially just a cut and paste of countiess interviews given by ministers ovef the lasr two years when Israel itself was supposed to be managimg aid, with "Israel" substituted for the name of the organisation.
As I said, you have no idea of what is actually going on. The GHF sounds perfectly plausible to me.
Listen to Jeremy Bowen on now. I haven't seen him as angry before. Some of the pictures of starvation would require a prosthetics department well out of the reach of any filmmakers in Gaza. You seem to have something of a minority view
Whichever way you view it, Gaza is ethnic cleansing. It is quite remarkable that a couple of right wing Tories have blown the whistle on the complicity of a Labour, a Labour Government.
It's good to hear but who are the Tories?
Kit Malthouse and Edward Leigh.
You almost feel sorry for the emasculated Lammy. There's a lot of anger which is good to see.....
Who could have guessed that ISIS in blazers might turn out to be a tad problematic,
Syrian government forces have been accused of carrying out a massacre at a hospital during sectarian clashes which erupted just over a week ago. The BBC has visited Suweida's National Hospital, where staff claim patients were killed inside wards.
"Covid was bad for our brains (even for those who didn’t catch it)
The emotional strain of the pandemic, including isolation and uncertainty about the future, took a toll on the population’s health, a study has suggested" (£)
"Covid was bad for our brains (even for those who didn’t catch it)
The emotional strain of the pandemic, including isolation and uncertainty about the future, took a toll on the population’s health, a study has suggested" (£)
Doesn't surprise me. If you aren't active mentally and physically bad things happen, you can't store fitness and I am sure little to no mental stimulation is similar. And if you didn't live in a detached home with a garden, every day will have been stressful.
When i talk to friends who are teachers they say developmentally kids seem well behind in both mental and social skills.
"Covid was bad for our brains (even for those who didn’t catch it)
The emotional strain of the pandemic, including isolation and uncertainty about the future, took a toll on the population’s health, a study has suggested" (£)
Doesn't surprise me. If you aren't active mentally and physically bad things happen, you can't store fitness and I am sure little to no mental stimulation is similar. And if you didn't live in a detached home with a garden, every day will have been stressful.
When i talk to friends who are teachers they say developmentally kids seem well behind in both mental and social skills.
The biggest issue that remains from the covid era is the amount of lost children who never ever made it back into school system as well as all the older students who dropped out of further education at college or university because of the way they were subjected to longer lock down rules as they were up here in Scotland.
"Covid was bad for our brains (even for those who didn’t catch it)
The emotional strain of the pandemic, including isolation and uncertainty about the future, took a toll on the population’s health, a study has suggested" (£)
"Covid was bad for our brains (even for those who didn’t catch it)
The emotional strain of the pandemic, including isolation and uncertainty about the future, took a toll on the population’s health, a study has suggested" (£)
With the benefit of hindsight, it is clear that the UK (and many European countries) were far too cautious. There were plenty of high return, low impact measures that would have had 90% of the benefits of the lockdowns, with 10% of t costs
I consider myself very lucky to have been in California, where there were never any restrictions on meeting people. The only thing they got won't here (IMHO) was keeping the schools shut for too long.
"Covid was bad for our brains (even for those who didn’t catch it)
The emotional strain of the pandemic, including isolation and uncertainty about the future, took a toll on the population’s health, a study has suggested" (£)
With the benefit of hindsight, it is clear that the UK (and many European countries) were far too cautious. There were plenty of high return, low impact measures that would have had 90% of the benefits of the lockdowns, with 10% of t costs
I consider myself very lucky to have been in California, where there were never any restrictions on meeting people. The only thing they got won't here (IMHO) was keeping the schools shut for too long.
Erhh, the 'stay at home' orders which was you do not leave your home for anything that was non-essential i.e. not meeting other people. And you had a lot of these over the 2 year period. And consistent banning of mass gatherings
The problem the UK got into was trying to have this silly tiering system. It was have your cake and eat it, but I doubt it did very much at all as the UK isn't a big place and so it was easy to travel 20-30 minutes. And then this well you can meet people but rule of 6, except for insert long list of exceptions....
UK biggest mistakes, furlong went on far far too long and once we had vaccines we should have been much more proactive to get back to normal.
"Covid was bad for our brains (even for those who didn’t catch it)
The emotional strain of the pandemic, including isolation and uncertainty about the future, took a toll on the population’s health, a study has suggested" (£)
With the benefit of hindsight, it is clear that the UK (and many European countries) were far too cautious. There were plenty of high return, low impact measures that would have had 90% of the benefits of the lockdowns, with 10% of t costs
I consider myself very lucky to have been in California, where there were never any restrictions on meeting people. The only thing they got won't here (IMHO) was keeping the schools shut for too long.
At what point were we 'too cautious' ? In March 2020, or in late 2021?
Applying 'hindsight' to March 2020 is stupid, and potentially dangerous in the future. We had very little knowledge about the virus, and even how it spread (remember all the washing hands stuff?). If the virus had been a little bit different, the 'caution' might not have been enough.
Later on, (say) in late 2021? Sure, too cautious is certainly arguable, and I'd agree. But in March or April 2020, caution was wise.
The problem is this talk of us having dealt with it wrong at first will come back to haunt us when there is another pandemic. We got 'lucky' with Covid, which could have been a much worse illness that the awful one it turned out to be. And if the lesson we have erroneously learnt from Covid is that we don't need to be so cautious, that will hurt us next time.
"Covid was bad for our brains (even for those who didn’t catch it)
The emotional strain of the pandemic, including isolation and uncertainty about the future, took a toll on the population’s health, a study has suggested" (£)
Doesn't surprise me. If you aren't active mentally and physically bad things happen, you can't store fitness and I am sure little to no mental stimulation is similar. And if you didn't live in a detached home with a garden, every day will have been stressful.
When i talk to friends who are teachers they say developmentally kids seem well behind in both mental and social skills.
From British schoolchildren to American airline passengers, something has gone wrong:-
Incidents where airline passengers have disrupted flights with threatening or violent behavior are an ongoing problem and airlines have seen rapid growth in occurrences since 2021. https://www.faa.gov/unruly
My counter-terror friend told me that about 20% of his work, and rising, is now dedicated to this. Something of which I have never heard. It's called The Com
Boris Johnson suppressed damning evidence of Russian interference
Boris Johnson’s government failed to act on the findings of the ‘Russia Report’, which identified credible evidence of Russian interference in UK elections, says former Green Party leader Caroline Lucas. Times Radio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZsqvMpYMy4
Someone on Five Live earlier today with Naga Munchetty phoned in to say they spent a lot of time talking to ChatGPT because it was more interesting than talking to real people. You'd think that's not something you'd want to broadcast to the whole country, even if you didn't give your name when calling in.
Did it begin with ‘L’? Or maybe ‘S’? Or ‘E’, I suppose….
My counter-terror friend told me that about 20% of his work, and rising, is now dedicated to this. Something of which I have never heard. It's called The Com
But it’s wrong. As was discussed the other day, and someone else made the point not me, it’s no different to cops escorting rival soccer fans to a match.
They’re not organising their attendance just making sure they get there without any disorder.
Would it be over simplistic to think that if Farage believes that a Reform government can cut crime in half, then his policy would be to have fewer prison places, not more?
I suppose the point is (i) you need to jail more people now to get crime down over the term of a government, so you need the places now even if you won't in four years; and (ii) you can repurpose the places as crime falls, either giving terms of imprisonment for less serious offences or for things like holding asylum seekers.
I mean, it's all obvious bollocks anyway, and the "halving crime" thing is plucked out of thin air. But presumably that's the argument.
I don't actually think it would be particularly hard to reduce crime significantly.
I don't think it requires some radical reshaping or our criminal justice system. I think it merely requires us to fund the police, lawyers and courts properly. So that people are more likely to get caught, prosecuted and punished.
It's the last that's the biggest problem, particularly for the "low level" crimes that make people's lives a misery, like burglary and drug dealing.
A lot of the time the local plod know who the local scrotes are, but can't be bothered to go and round them up so they can tie up the court system for half a day only to get a few hours community service and be back nicking stuff the following night.
Zero tolerance policing, prosecution and sentencing, with a "three strikes and it's 10 years inside" rule would rapidly put most of these persistent offenders inside for the long term, and crime would fall off a cliff.
It wouldn't be cheap because prison is expensive, but in the long run the reduced cost of crime would pay for it.
Note, I'm making no claim any of this is an effective deterrent to criminals, nor yet hoping that prison will reform them. My calculation is simply that once locked up, their crime rate tends to zero until you let them out, therefore the easiest way to have low crime is to lock up all the criminals.
Here's the thing: right now, if you were to commit a crime that was sufficiently serious for the Plot to really care, and it was incredibly obvious you were the perpatrator, well, it would still take years to come to trial, by which point the witnesses might have disappeared. So, you might as well wait it out, because there's a high chance that the trial won't ever happen.
And if you're a low level criminal, that got arrested for shoplifting, and then you got a trial date at Uxbridge Magistrates Court, well ... there's a high chance that Legal Aid won't be able to find a barrister who will represent you for the 65 quid they'll recieve (before costs) for turning up to represent you.
So, when you turn up at Court, the magistrates will note your lack of legal represenation and defer the trial to another date.
I think there's a tendency to rush straight for the 'we need harsher punishments' knob, when the biggest problem right now is that the whole process of getting people convicted has almost completely broken down.
It's not an either/or - justice should be being served, and served swiftly. But your perp being nicked for shoplifting should be a 5 minute job. Here's the bloke, here's a witness statement to say he was apprehended running out of the door with a bottle of whiskey in each hand, here's the CCTV. How do you plead Mr?
But part of the reason the court system is overloaded is it's full of frequent flyers coming back for this month's slap on the wrist.
Sure, I'm sure that's part of the reason.
But when court system stops working, it discourages people from pleading guilty. Why bother if it's years until the trial, and the person who nicked you may not even still be with the police? Or why bother if Legal Aid isn't going to send a barrister, and therefore your trial will be delayed again.
I don't think people outside the legal system fully appreciate just how much the court system has broken down.
One of our old posters was once charged with rape. There was a -what- six month gap between his being charged and his trial. Nowadays it could easily be four years. And the more time will pass before the trial takes place, the more likely it is not to happen, and therefore for the scrote to get off scott free.
Which - in turn - results in the number of people copping to a guilty plea collapsing - which in turn adds ever more pressure to the court system.
One thing that I thought Starmer would do was invest in the Criminal Justice system, perhaps with some reforms to accelerate process as well as dealing with capacity issues. He knows better than anyone how the system fails.
"Covid was bad for our brains (even for those who didn’t catch it)
The emotional strain of the pandemic, including isolation and uncertainty about the future, took a toll on the population’s health, a study has suggested" (£)
Doesn't surprise me. If you aren't active mentally and physically bad things happen, you can't store fitness and I am sure little to no mental stimulation is similar. And if you didn't live in a detached home with a garden, every day will have been stressful.
When i talk to friends who are teachers they say developmentally kids seem well behind in both mental and social skills.
From British schoolchildren to American airline passengers, something has gone wrong:-
Incidents where airline passengers have disrupted flights with threatening or violent behavior are an ongoing problem and airlines have seen rapid growth in occurrences since 2021. https://www.faa.gov/unruly
Ryanair’s solution.
Stop people drinking in the airport. Presumably so they can sell it at inflated prices on their flights.
"Covid was bad for our brains (even for those who didn’t catch it)
The emotional strain of the pandemic, including isolation and uncertainty about the future, took a toll on the population’s health, a study has suggested" (£)
With the benefit of hindsight, it is clear that the UK (and many European countries) were far too cautious. There were plenty of high return, low impact measures that would have had 90% of the benefits of the lockdowns, with 10% of t costs
I consider myself very lucky to have been in California, where there were never any restrictions on meeting people. The only thing they got won't here (IMHO) was keeping the schools shut for too long.
At what point were we 'too cautious' ? In March 2020, or in late 2021?
Applying 'hindsight' to March 2020 is stupid, and potentially dangerous in the future. We had very little knowledge about the virus, and even how it spread (remember all the washing hands stuff?). If the virus had been a little bit different, the 'caution' might not have been enough.
Later on, (say) in late 2021? Sure, too cautious is certainly arguable, and I'd agree. But in March or April 2020, caution was wise.
The problem is this talk of us having dealt with it wrong at first will come back to haunt us when there is another pandemic. We got 'lucky' with Covid, which could have been a much worse illness that the awful one it turned out to be. And if the lesson we have erroneously learnt from Covid is that we don't need to be so cautious, that will hurt us next time.
I agree that for the initial lockdown it is very easy to be wise with hindsight. And I would cut policymakers a lot of slack.
But for 2021, we should have known that R fell at at a very similar rate with less stringent restrictions based on the experiences of other countries. We also knew that some of the most vulnerable had already been vaccinated, and another chunk of the population had some immunity via previous infection.
I'm not one of these loons that's suggesting no restrictions or that lockdown didn't work. Restrictions were needed, and lockdowns did work.
But you could achieve 90% of the benefits of lockdowns for a fraction of the human cost.
So before the next thread, what was the conclusion?
Will Farage deliver or are we heading for yet another failed government with the pain of controlling expenditure kicked further into the long grass?
I am hoping for a Farage Government in a coalition with sensible Tories.
My hope for that has been slightly diminished by Kemi's lame reshuffle. Big error keeping Mel Stride in post - if one must keep him, promote him to Shadow Foreign Secretary. Jimmy Dimly - what for? He ruled himself out, and his ill-concealed pretensions to the leadership are extremely wearisome. No sensible leader would put him in charge of paperclips. No Hunt. No promotion for Jenrick (he's fine where he is but a promotion would have identified him with the Kemi project rather than as 'King over the water'). Sigh.
"Covid was bad for our brains (even for those who didn’t catch it)
The emotional strain of the pandemic, including isolation and uncertainty about the future, took a toll on the population’s health, a study has suggested" (£)
With the benefit of hindsight, it is clear that the UK (and many European countries) were far too cautious. There were plenty of high return, low impact measures that would have had 90% of the benefits of the lockdowns, with 10% of t costs
I consider myself very lucky to have been in California, where there were never any restrictions on meeting people. The only thing they got won't here (IMHO) was keeping the schools shut for too long.
Erhh, the 'stay at home' orders which was you do not leave your home for anything that was non-essential i.e. not meeting other people. And you had a lot of these over the 2 year period. And consistent banning of mass gatherings
The problem the UK got into was trying to have this silly tiering system. It was have your cake and eat it, but I doubt it did very much at all as the UK isn't a big place and so it was easy to travel 20-30 minutes. And then this well you can meet people but rule of 6, except for insert long list of exceptions....
UK biggest mistakes, furlong went on far far too long and once we had vaccines we should have been much more proactive to get back to normal.
We never had any restrictions on meeting friends in our own homes. There may have been recommendations not to leave one's pod, but there were never any legal restriction on whom one might spend one's time with.
Channel migrant crossings ‘to double if Starmer crackdown fails’
The number of illegal migrants crossing the Channel is forecast to double this year unless new Government measures can curb the flow, independent modelling shows.
The research, by Richard Wood, one of Britain’s top modelling forecasters, takes account of not only weather and sea conditions but also includes asylum grant rates, illegal immigration flows into Europe and dinghy size
That will be the end of him, and probably of Labour, forever
I had supper tonight with a guy who is very senior in a role adjacent to MI5 and MI6, I can't go into more detail than that. He literally works alongside them in some huge hi tech building in REDACTED, his job is specifically terror-related as a REDACTED
He said they do amazing things every day, protecting us, but with all the migrants coming in, unvetted, and now all the Afghans - it all feels a bit pointless, and he's close to "giving up on the UK"
It's only a matter of time, IMHO, before one of these Afghan "translators" turns out to be a Taliban operative, and commits an incident.
"Covid was bad for our brains (even for those who didn’t catch it)
The emotional strain of the pandemic, including isolation and uncertainty about the future, took a toll on the population’s health, a study has suggested" (£)
With the benefit of hindsight, it is clear that the UK (and many European countries) were far too cautious. There were plenty of high return, low impact measures that would have had 90% of the benefits of the lockdowns, with 10% of t costs
I consider myself very lucky to have been in California, where there were never any restrictions on meeting people. The only thing they got won't here (IMHO) was keeping the schools shut for too long.
The UK was a funny one. Some bits of mad exuberance (trying to make Christmas 2020 happen and not giving up until it was far too late, then one day of school in January 2021) followed by a brutal slamming on of all the brakes.
Cakeism can sometimes work in dealings with people- though often by making some unknown little person pay the price. Against a virus, forget it.
"Covid was bad for our brains (even for those who didn’t catch it)
The emotional strain of the pandemic, including isolation and uncertainty about the future, took a toll on the population’s health, a study has suggested" (£)
With the benefit of hindsight, it is clear that the UK (and many European countries) were far too cautious. There were plenty of high return, low impact measures that would have had 90% of the benefits of the lockdowns, with 10% of t costs
I consider myself very lucky to have been in California, where there were never any restrictions on meeting people. The only thing they got won't here (IMHO) was keeping the schools shut for too long.
The UK was a funny one. Some bits of mad exuberance (trying to make Christmas 2020 happen and not giving up until it was far too late, then one day of school in January 2021) followed by a brutal slamming on of all the brakes.
Cakeism can sometimes work in dealings with people- though often by making some unknown little person pay the price. Against a virus, forget it.
The foreign summer hols free for all in 2020 was bonkers.There was absolutely no need. And of course it turbo charged our autumn / winter level of the much more deadly variant. There has been huge focus on eat out to help out where you could go to restaurant in small gorups, it might have been unwise but cases were low and most people stay local and were probably hanging out with them. Going to an airport with 1000s and 1000s of other people, sitting in a metal tube for hours and then going and mixing with people from all over Europe smashed off your tits, well that mental...and how we got a big tidal way to begin with (all coming from spring holidays to Italy).
I think this is a big improvement on the Ian Levine stuff some of which I watched on holiday.
Also an improvement on the telesnaps and the cartoons.
Agreed. If they were able to redo the whole of the Troughton missing episodes with that they would be eminently watchable. There are imperfections but then that's true of the original recordings given their age.
Channel migrant crossings ‘to double if Starmer crackdown fails’
The number of illegal migrants crossing the Channel is forecast to double this year unless new Government measures can curb the flow, independent modelling shows.
The research, by Richard Wood, one of Britain’s top modelling forecasters, takes account of not only weather and sea conditions but also includes asylum grant rates, illegal immigration flows into Europe and dinghy size
That will be the end of him, and probably of Labour, forever
I had supper tonight with a guy who is very senior in a role adjacent to MI5 and MI6, I can't go into more detail than that. He literally works alongside them in some huge hi tech building in REDACTED, his job is specifically terror-related as a REDACTED
He said they do amazing things every day, protecting us, but with all the migrants coming in, unvetted, and now all the Afghans - it all feels a bit pointless, and he's close to "giving up on the UK"
It's only a matter of time, IMHO, before one of these Afghan "translators" turns out to be a Taliban operative, and commits an incident.
While I'm sure that's true. It is also the case that there will be 99 out of 100 Afghan translators who are not Taliban, and who only took the job with us in Afghanistan because we promised to protect them if we ever pulled out the country.
"Covid was bad for our brains (even for those who didn’t catch it)
The emotional strain of the pandemic, including isolation and uncertainty about the future, took a toll on the population’s health, a study has suggested" (£)
With the benefit of hindsight, it is clear that the UK (and many European countries) were far too cautious. There were plenty of high return, low impact measures that would have had 90% of the benefits of the lockdowns, with 10% of t costs
I consider myself very lucky to have been in California, where there were never any restrictions on meeting people. The only thing they got won't here (IMHO) was keeping the schools shut for too long.
Erhh, the 'stay at home' orders which was you do not leave your home for anything that was non-essential i.e. not meeting other people. And you had a lot of these over the 2 year period. And consistent banning of mass gatherings
The problem the UK got into was trying to have this silly tiering system. It was have your cake and eat it, but I doubt it did very much at all as the UK isn't a big place and so it was easy to travel 20-30 minutes. And then this well you can meet people but rule of 6, except for insert long list of exceptions....
UK biggest mistakes, furlong went on far far too long and once we had vaccines we should have been much more proactive to get back to normal.
We never had any restrictions on meeting friends in our own homes. There may have been recommendations not to leave one's pod, but there were never any legal restriction on whom one might spend one's time with.
I very much tend to the view that we seriously overreacted to Covid but I think it is fair to say that the mortality rate from it in the US does not have much to commend it.
"Covid was bad for our brains (even for those who didn’t catch it)
The emotional strain of the pandemic, including isolation and uncertainty about the future, took a toll on the population’s health, a study has suggested" (£)
Doesn't surprise me. If you aren't active mentally and physically bad things happen, you can't store fitness and I am sure little to no mental stimulation is similar. And if you didn't live in a detached home with a garden, every day will have been stressful.
When i talk to friends who are teachers they say developmentally kids seem well behind in both mental and social skills.
From British schoolchildren to American airline passengers, something has gone wrong:-
Incidents where airline passengers have disrupted flights with threatening or violent behavior are an ongoing problem and airlines have seen rapid growth in occurrences since 2021. https://www.faa.gov/unruly
Is 2021 a good baseline, given there were still substantial Covid restrictions then?
Channel migrant crossings ‘to double if Starmer crackdown fails’
The number of illegal migrants crossing the Channel is forecast to double this year unless new Government measures can curb the flow, independent modelling shows.
The research, by Richard Wood, one of Britain’s top modelling forecasters, takes account of not only weather and sea conditions but also includes asylum grant rates, illegal immigration flows into Europe and dinghy size
That will be the end of him, and probably of Labour, forever
I had supper tonight with a guy who is very senior in a role adjacent to MI5 and MI6, I can't go into more detail than that. He literally works alongside them in some huge hi tech building in REDACTED, his job is specifically terror-related as a REDACTED
He said they do amazing things every day, protecting us, but with all the migrants coming in, unvetted, and now all the Afghans - it all feels a bit pointless, and he's close to "giving up on the UK"
Well in any just wirld it would be the end of him. But I suspect any concern will continue to be batted awat as racist and tge Nu10k will carry on.
That's not the sense I am getting. I am getting the sense, from several sources, of real panic in the government
Well, good. But all I see is 'oh, aren't those white people who don't like untramelled immigration from the Middle East awful'.
"Covid was bad for our brains (even for those who didn’t catch it)
The emotional strain of the pandemic, including isolation and uncertainty about the future, took a toll on the population’s health, a study has suggested" (£)
With the benefit of hindsight, it is clear that the UK (and many European countries) were far too cautious. There were plenty of high return, low impact measures that would have had 90% of the benefits of the lockdowns, with 10% of t costs
I consider myself very lucky to have been in California, where there were never any restrictions on meeting people. The only thing they got won't here (IMHO) was keeping the schools shut for too long.
Erhh, the 'stay at home' orders which was you do not leave your home for anything that was non-essential i.e. not meeting other people. And you had a lot of these over the 2 year period. And consistent banning of mass gatherings
The problem the UK got into was trying to have this silly tiering system. It was have your cake and eat it, but I doubt it did very much at all as the UK isn't a big place and so it was easy to travel 20-30 minutes. And then this well you can meet people but rule of 6, except for insert long list of exceptions....
UK biggest mistakes, furlong went on far far too long and once we had vaccines we should have been much more proactive to get back to normal.
We never had any restrictions on meeting friends in our own homes. There may have been recommendations not to leave one's pod, but there were never any legal restriction on whom one might spend one's time with.
I very much tend to the view that we seriously overreacted to Covid but I think it is fair to say that the mortality rate from it in the US does not have much to commend it.
I've posted numbers before, but there's no doubt that the States that did best were those with modest restrictions.
Those with no restriction tended to see extreme swings as everyone locked themselves down, following by everyone assuming there was no problem. While those States with the most severe restrictions (New York) had serious negative consequences.
@JournalistJill Friends and I just discussing who will play who in the dramatisation of Peggie V Fife. So far we have Anna Maxwell Martin as Naomi C, Miranda Hart as Kate Searle and Brian Blessed as Dr Upton.
More seriously, as much as ITV could do very well from such a drama, I think they'd find it tough to cast as most big names wouldn't want anything to do with it.
"Covid was bad for our brains (even for those who didn’t catch it)
The emotional strain of the pandemic, including isolation and uncertainty about the future, took a toll on the population’s health, a study has suggested" (£)
With the benefit of hindsight, it is clear that the UK (and many European countries) were far too cautious. There were plenty of high return, low impact measures that would have had 90% of the benefits of the lockdowns, with 10% of t costs
I consider myself very lucky to have been in California, where there were never any restrictions on meeting people. The only thing they got won't here (IMHO) was keeping the schools shut for too long.
Erhh, the 'stay at home' orders which was you do not leave your home for anything that was non-essential i.e. not meeting other people. And you had a lot of these over the 2 year period. And consistent banning of mass gatherings
The problem the UK got into was trying to have this silly tiering system. It was have your cake and eat it, but I doubt it did very much at all as the UK isn't a big place and so it was easy to travel 20-30 minutes. And then this well you can meet people but rule of 6, except for insert long list of exceptions....
UK biggest mistakes, furlong went on far far too long and once we had vaccines we should have been much more proactive to get back to normal.
We never had any restrictions on meeting friends in our own homes. There may have been recommendations not to leave one's pod, but there were never any legal restriction on whom one might spend one's time with.
That is a little bit of playing with semantics. If you are ordered to shelter in place and not leave you house, by implication you aren't to be mixing. And I believe you had more weeks of that overall than the UK under those restrictions. If you have a lockdown down don't need a "rule of 6". The UK got in a mess because we kept trying to fudge it and so got things like that and what a family is or isn't.
I think this is a big improvement on the Ian Levine stuff some of which I watched on holiday.
Also an improvement on the telesnaps and the cartoons.
Agreed. If they were able to redo the whole of the Troughton missing episodes with that they would be eminently watchable. There are imperfections but then that's true of the original recordings given their age.
I’d be very happy with the missing Troughtons and Hartnells to this standard.
It’s amazing how the tech has improved in a few years. I suspect in a couple of years the Beeb may, given their policy of old wine in new bottles when it comes to Dr Who, release AI versions on DVD especially where there are full telesnaps
Quite how they’d do Massacre or Space Pirates, for example, I’m not sure.
"Covid was bad for our brains (even for those who didn’t catch it)
The emotional strain of the pandemic, including isolation and uncertainty about the future, took a toll on the population’s health, a study has suggested" (£)
With the benefit of hindsight, it is clear that the UK (and many European countries) were far too cautious. There were plenty of high return, low impact measures that would have had 90% of the benefits of the lockdowns, with 10% of t costs
I consider myself very lucky to have been in California, where there were never any restrictions on meeting people. The only thing they got won't here (IMHO) was keeping the schools shut for too long.
At what point were we 'too cautious' ? In March 2020, or in late 2021?
Applying 'hindsight' to March 2020 is stupid, and potentially dangerous in the future. We had very little knowledge about the virus, and even how it spread (remember all the washing hands stuff?). If the virus had been a little bit different, the 'caution' might not have been enough.
Later on, (say) in late 2021? Sure, too cautious is certainly arguable, and I'd agree. But in March or April 2020, caution was wise.
The problem is this talk of us having dealt with it wrong at first will come back to haunt us when there is another pandemic. We got 'lucky' with Covid, which could have been a much worse illness that the awful one it turned out to be. And if the lesson we have erroneously learnt from Covid is that we don't need to be so cautious, that will hurt us next time.
I agree that for the initial lockdown it is very easy to be wise with hindsight. And I would cut policymakers a lot of slack.
But for 2021, we should have known that R fell at at a very similar rate with less stringent restrictions based on the experiences of other countries. We also knew that some of the most vulnerable had already been vaccinated, and another chunk of the population had some immunity via previous infection.
I'm not one of these loons that's suggesting no restrictions or that lockdown didn't work. Restrictions were needed, and lockdowns did work.
But you could achieve 90% of the benefits of lockdowns for a fraction of the human cost.
You really do need to caveat your last sentence with your first. We knew much more in 2021 than we did in 2020 (and had started the vaccine rollout). But that does not mean what we did in early and mid 2020 was in any way stupid, or even unnecessary.
There was an article in late 2020 from an epidemiologist saying how 'lucky' we had been with Covid-19; it very easily could have been much worse. And whilst later strains were worse (and many people forget that with their hinsightism), they still were nowhere near as bad as they could have been.
And in 2020, we did not know it was not as bad as it could be. And many of the signs were that it was.
"Covid was bad for our brains (even for those who didn’t catch it)
The emotional strain of the pandemic, including isolation and uncertainty about the future, took a toll on the population’s health, a study has suggested" (£)
With the benefit of hindsight, it is clear that the UK (and many European countries) were far too cautious. There were plenty of high return, low impact measures that would have had 90% of the benefits of the lockdowns, with 10% of t costs
I consider myself very lucky to have been in California, where there were never any restrictions on meeting people. The only thing they got won't here (IMHO) was keeping the schools shut for too long.
At what point were we 'too cautious' ? In March 2020, or in late 2021?
Applying 'hindsight' to March 2020 is stupid, and potentially dangerous in the future. We had very little knowledge about the virus, and even how it spread (remember all the washing hands stuff?). If the virus had been a little bit different, the 'caution' might not have been enough.
Later on, (say) in late 2021? Sure, too cautious is certainly arguable, and I'd agree. But in March or April 2020, caution was wise.
The problem is this talk of us having dealt with it wrong at first will come back to haunt us when there is another pandemic. We got 'lucky' with Covid, which could have been a much worse illness that the awful one it turned out to be. And if the lesson we have erroneously learnt from Covid is that we don't need to be so cautious, that will hurt us next time.
I agree that for the initial lockdown it is very easy to be wise with hindsight. And I would cut policymakers a lot of slack.
But for 2021, we should have known that R fell at at a very similar rate with less stringent restrictions based on the experiences of other countries. We also knew that some of the most vulnerable had already been vaccinated, and another chunk of the population had some immunity via previous infection.
I'm not one of these loons that's suggesting no restrictions or that lockdown didn't work. Restrictions were needed, and lockdowns did work.
But you could achieve 90% of the benefits of lockdowns for a fraction of the human cost.
I know this is pure Centrist Dad, but the right space to be in was "restrictions on mixing, but as little full lockdown as possible". Avoid lockdowns by not having a high and growing caseload that can only be managed by a lockdown.
Pretty much the exact opposite of what happened here, unfortunately. Thank goodness for the vaccine boffins.
Comments
Bloody good evening.
London 6.7 million
New York City 7.1 million
Population in 2000
London 7.2 million
New York City 8.0 million
So that’s one who knows.
It's a real thing and it is scary as fuck:
https://news.sky.com/story/inside-the-ultraviolent-neo-nazi-abuse-network-behind-the-crimes-of-a-sussex-teenager-13290041
Another 10% is pure Neo Nazis, the grave majority is Islamism, still, and it hasn't got better, it's likely getting worse
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/07/22/police-take-pro-migrant-protesters-to-asylum-hotel/
Pretty much people that get to retire at a time of their own choosing and ability to fit the hours they work to suit themselves tend to be senior staff not proles and plebs like me
Where's the growth? The city should have expanded outwards in the intervening sixty years and need to see its boundaries updated to account for the millions of extra people there.
I may be deluding myself, but it is odd that I've heard this from 3 different people in a few days, all highly connected but in truly diverse jobs
Put it another way: minds are finally being focused by the rise and rise of Reform, and the clear unrest across British towns. But it's too late for Labour
There's also the "retired but come back as a consultant" issue, where they only want to do the interesting stuff, so the younger staff get lumbered with more of the boring/unpleasant stuff.
My and people of my ages experiences (guess what they aren't senior management) is basically the older you get the more you have to keep your nose clean else you end up unemployed waiting to reach retirement. Indeed as I have mentioned I got diagnosed with a brain tumour week before last....guess what I am back to working 5 days a week rather than giving hr a reason to question if I am capable
Ones who occasionally do sick stuff just for a laugh rather than out of rancid hatred for everyone not like themselves?
But maybe you're right and the government has decided to change tack. After all, who knows what SKS believes this week.
That Sky story tallies entirely with what my friend told me about “the com”. And I’d never heard of it or them until tonight
Some of the stuff he told me was truly mind scrambling. And also ominous
The government is close to losing control on seversl fronts. Put it that way
This is only getting bigger.
https://x.com/CllrNathalieB/status/1947743569072296213
Shut down international student visas for ex polytechnics.
They do more harm then good.
(And I don't mean cold-blooded analytical civics, I mean study as to the advantages of a democratic system, and why we fight for it when necessary.)
But when court system stops working, it discourages people from pleading guilty. Why bother if it's years until the trial, and the person who nicked you may not even still be with the police? Or why bother if Legal Aid isn't going to send a barrister, and therefore your trial will be delayed again.
I don't think people outside the legal system fully appreciate just how much the court system has broken down.
One of our old posters was once charged with rape. There was a -what- six month gap between his being charged and his trial. Nowadays it could easily be four years. And the more time will pass before the trial takes place, the more likely it is not to happen, and therefore for the scrote to get off scott free.
Which - in turn - results in the number of people copping to a guilty plea collapsing - which in turn adds ever more pressure to the court system.
Have you ever thought of a career as a pulp fiction writer? I am sure you would be very good.
My daughters got to read my library and my father gave them way to much moral philosophy…
Now is not the time to panic and start using Americanisms like “bollocks”
If a chap’s talking piffle, say so.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xF86IyrxptU
Steve McGuire
@sfmcguire79
·
23h
Megyn Kelly: “Can a man become a woman?”
Rahm Emanuel: “No.”
@megynkelly
: “That’s so easy! Why don’t more people in your party just say that?”
@RahmEmanuel
: “Because I’m now going to go into a witness protection plan.”
https://x.com/sfmcguire79/status/1947445265780150752
And Rick Wakeman is a great raconteur.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tObMzi-Iyyo
Syrian government forces have been accused of carrying out a massacre at a hospital during sectarian clashes which erupted just over a week ago. The BBC has visited Suweida's National Hospital, where staff claim patients were killed inside wards.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly84jn000do
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/23/trump-announces-japan-trade-deal-after-weeks-of-fraught-negotiations
The emotional strain of the pandemic, including isolation and uncertainty about the future, took a toll on the population’s health, a study has suggested" (£)
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/healthcare/article/covid-was-bad-for-our-brains-even-for-those-who-didnt-catch-it-h756l7q88
When i talk to friends who are teachers they say developmentally kids seem well behind in both mental and social skills.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cglzrklp8jyo
This is going to get absolutely buried in court.
I consider myself very lucky to have been in California, where there were never any restrictions on meeting people. The only thing they got won't here (IMHO) was keeping the schools shut for too long.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-51970815
The problem the UK got into was trying to have this silly tiering system. It was have your cake and eat it, but I doubt it did very much at all as the UK isn't a big place and so it was easy to travel 20-30 minutes. And then this well you can meet people but rule of 6, except for insert long list of exceptions....
UK biggest mistakes, furlong went on far far too long and once we had vaccines we should have been much more proactive to get back to normal.
Applying 'hindsight' to March 2020 is stupid, and potentially dangerous in the future. We had very little knowledge about the virus, and even how it spread (remember all the washing hands stuff?). If the virus had been a little bit different, the 'caution' might not have been enough.
Later on, (say) in late 2021? Sure, too cautious is certainly arguable, and I'd agree. But in March or April 2020, caution was wise.
The problem is this talk of us having dealt with it wrong at first will come back to haunt us when there is another pandemic. We got 'lucky' with Covid, which could have been a much worse illness that the awful one it turned out to be. And if the lesson we have erroneously learnt from Covid is that we don't need to be so cautious, that will hurt us next time.
Incidents where airline passengers have disrupted flights with threatening or violent behavior are an ongoing problem and airlines have seen rapid growth in occurrences since 2021.
https://www.faa.gov/unruly
AI coding tool wipes production database, fabricates 4,000 users, and lies to cover its tracks
https://cybernews.com/ai-news/replit-ai-vive-code-rogue/
Boris Johnson’s government failed to act on the findings of the ‘Russia Report’, which identified credible evidence of Russian interference in UK elections, says former Green Party leader Caroline Lucas. Times Radio
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZsqvMpYMy4
https://youtu.be/ntsU1Zxr8yE?si=_EalVyvJA9DD0bb7
Interested in their views and any other Who fan.
I think this is a big improvement on the Ian Levine stuff some of which I watched on holiday.
Also an improvement on the telesnaps and the cartoons.
Will Farage deliver or are we heading for yet another failed government with the pain of controlling expenditure kicked further into the long grass?
They’re not organising their attendance just making sure they get there without any disorder.
No sign of it at all.
Stop people drinking in the airport. Presumably so they can sell it at inflated prices on their flights.
But for 2021, we should have known that R fell at at a very similar rate with less stringent restrictions based on the experiences of other countries. We also knew that some of the most vulnerable had already been vaccinated, and another chunk of the population had some immunity via previous infection.
I'm not one of these loons that's suggesting no restrictions or that lockdown didn't work. Restrictions were needed, and lockdowns did work.
But you could achieve 90% of the benefits of lockdowns for a fraction of the human cost.
My hope for that has been slightly diminished by Kemi's lame reshuffle. Big error keeping Mel Stride in post - if one must keep him, promote him to Shadow Foreign Secretary. Jimmy Dimly - what for? He ruled himself out, and his ill-concealed pretensions to the leadership are extremely wearisome. No sensible leader would put him in charge of paperclips. No Hunt. No promotion for Jenrick (he's fine where he is but a promotion would have identified him with the Kemi project rather than as 'King over the water'). Sigh.
Cakeism can sometimes work in dealings with people- though often by making some unknown little person pay the price. Against a virus, forget it.
So, what's the right call?
Those with no restriction tended to see extreme swings as everyone locked themselves down, following by everyone assuming there was no problem. While those States with the most severe restrictions (New York) had serious negative consequences.
https://x.com/JournalistJill/status/1947717788011008360
@JournalistJill
Friends and I just discussing who will play who in the dramatisation of Peggie V Fife. So far we have Anna Maxwell Martin as Naomi C, Miranda Hart as Kate Searle and Brian Blessed as Dr Upton.
More seriously, as much as ITV could do very well from such a drama, I think they'd find it tough to cast as most big names wouldn't want anything to do with it.
It’s amazing how the tech has improved in a few years. I suspect in a couple of years the Beeb may, given their policy of old wine in new bottles when it comes to Dr Who, release AI versions on DVD especially where there are full telesnaps
Quite how they’d do Massacre or Space Pirates, for example, I’m not sure.
There was an article in late 2020 from an epidemiologist saying how 'lucky' we had been with Covid-19; it very easily could have been much worse. And whilst later strains were worse (and many people forget that with their hinsightism), they still were nowhere near as bad as they could have been.
And in 2020, we did not know it was not as bad as it could be. And many of the signs were that it was.
Pretty much the exact opposite of what happened here, unfortunately. Thank goodness for the vaccine boffins.