It must have been so strange being born British in the 1920s.
You are born into the global hegemon. An industrial juggernaut. The world's reserve currency. The largest empire ever known. The undisputed ruler of the waves.
R3 had a recording of her performing in some Broadway musical. Decent contralto, if rather warbley.
This narrative from young rightwingers is becoming increasingly common. It misses out just how many people of thar generation enjoyed the 60s and 70s, like many relatives of mine, as a huge relief.
There is too much of an attitude that the country has been on a constant downward trajectory. Maybe from a global military power perspective, but certainly there have been good times too.
I would accept that from around 2014-15 onwards we have had a lost decade, and it is hard to argue that we are not in decline right now, but these things are cyclical. Britain can come back. But it requires some more medicine. It remains to be seen whether the public wake up to the need to take it; or whether it is forced on them
It must have been so strange being born British in the 1920s.
You are born into the global hegemon. An industrial juggernaut. The world's reserve currency. The largest empire ever known. The undisputed ruler of the waves.
R3 had a recording of her performing in some Broadway musical. Decent contralto, if rather warbley.
This narrative from young rightwingers is becoming increasingly common. It misses out just how many people of thar generation enjoyed the 60s and 70s, like many relatives of mine, as a huge relief.
There is too much of an attitude that the country has been on a constant downward trajectory. Maybe from a global military power perspective, but certainly there have been good times too.
I would accept that from around 2014-15 onwards we have had a lost decade, and it is hard to argue that we are not in decline right now, but these things are cyclical. Britain can come back. But it requires some more medicine. It remains to be seen whether the public wake up to the need to take it; or whether it is forced on them
It must have been so strange being born British in the 1920s.
You are born into the global hegemon. An industrial juggernaut. The world's reserve currency. The largest empire ever known. The undisputed ruler of the waves.
R3 had a recording of her performing in some Broadway musical. Decent contralto, if rather warbley.
This narrative from young rightwingers is becoming increasingly common. It misses out just how many people of thar generation enjoyed the 60s and 70s, like many relatives of mine, as a huge relief.
Oh, I'm sure that's true.
But either way the culture shock must have been considerable.
I often think the sweet spot was someone born in the late 30s. That does presuppose that you didn’t suffer loss in the war, but you’d be generally too young to remember much of it. Teenager in the relative stability of the 50s. Still young enough to enjoy the 60s.
It must have been so strange being born British in the 1920s.
You are born into the global hegemon. An industrial juggernaut. The world's reserve currency. The largest empire ever known. The undisputed ruler of the waves.
R3 had a recording of her performing in some Broadway musical. Decent contralto, if rather warbley.
This narrative from young rightwingers is becoming increasingly common. It misses out entirely just how many people of that generation welcomed the 60s and 70s, like many relatives of mine, as a huge relief.
This is also connected to why the 1960s and 1990s are still disproportionately objects of nostalgia for their later youth generations, more than many others, according to the polls
My X timeline if I click 'For You' seems to have a lot of these nostalgic old film clips of things like a sunday afternoon in a London park in 1953. Or happy Britains enjoy a day at the seaside, 1948.
Pretty sure these are being fed by someone with an agenda.
It must have been so strange being born British in the 1920s.
You are born into the global hegemon. An industrial juggernaut. The world's reserve currency. The largest empire ever known. The undisputed ruler of the waves.
R3 had a recording of her performing in some Broadway musical. Decent contralto, if rather warbley.
This narrative from young rightwingers is becoming increasingly common. It misses out just how many people of thar generation enjoyed the 60s and 70s, like many relatives of mine, as a huge relief.
There is too much of an attitude that the country has been on a constant downward trajectory. Maybe from a global military power perspective, but certainly there have been good times too.
I would accept that from around 2014-15 onwards we have had a lost decade, and it is hard to argue that we are not in decline right now, but these things are cyclical. Britain can come back. But it requires some more medicine. It remains to be seen whether the public wake up to the need to take it; or whether it is forced on them
I expect it will be the latter . Most of the public are in denial where they’ll electorally punish any party which tries to tell them the truth. The triple lock being the highlight of the delusion , polling shows strong public support for that , those under retirement age still think it will be there for them when they retire .
When I stepped out of Pavia University this morning it looked a bit dicky, as up the street one way it was blocked by a large Gaza demonstration, and the other way by a line of Italian riot police, with no way out other than back into the university. For a moment it didn't seem a great spot for me and the dog to be standing. But it all seemed to be passing off peacefully and the riot police didn't seem to see me or the dog as any threat. Second day running we've encountered large demonstrations here.
Graffiti is a plague on all Italan cities
It is. Italy is bad but France and the UK also have their fair share. That and litter really bug me. Exits angry old man mode.
PS Dog poo bags hanging from trees (I know some collect them on their return walk, but not many). Why?
Sorry didn't exit angry old man mode properly.
No, you're right.
That seriously pisses me off, too. I'd rather the poo was left unbagged, than bagged and randomly discarded. At least it would decompose more quickly.
When I stepped out of Pavia University this morning it looked a bit dicky, as up the street one way it was blocked by a large Gaza demonstration, and the other way by a line of Italian riot police, with no way out other than back into the university. For a moment it didn't seem a great spot for me and the dog to be standing. But it all seemed to be passing off peacefully and the riot police didn't seem to see me or the dog as any threat. Second day running we've encountered large demonstrations here.
Graffiti is a plague on all Italan cities
It is. Italy is bad but France and the UK also have their fair share. That and litter really bug me. Exits angry old man mode.
PS Dog poo bags hanging from trees (I know some collect them on their return walk, but not many). Why?
Sorry didn't exit angry old man mode properly.
No, you're right.
That seriously pisses me off, too. I'd rather the poo was left unbagged, than bagged and randomly discarded. At least it would decompose more quickly.
Just vile.
If you don’t want the hassle of bagging and binning far better to flick with a stick into the undergrowth.
It looks like quite a 'hoolie' is about to arrive in the North of Scotland so I wish everyone to stay safe including all our family members
Indeed I have just received an alert from our energy supplier and that we are apparently on their vulnerable list
Getting pretty wild here in south west
We had the very heavy (even for us) rain. The the rain stopped and the wind died down. Just as I thought it wasn’t going to be as bad as forecast, the wind rose again and it’s now blowing a hoolie. It nearly always seems to be the first weekend of October that brings the first serious storm of the autumn. Perhaps the meteorologists can confirm.
There's something I've been meaning to follow up on about a jet transition in September that was mentioned in a paper that was defining seasons objectively in the Mediterranean.
Storm Amy is ex-Hurricane Humberto, and so I think there's definitely something about the interaction between the hurricane season, the start of the Polar night, and the enduring heat in the oceans that lays the groundwork for strong mid-latitude storms in October.
It must have been so strange being born British in the 1920s.
You are born into the global hegemon. An industrial juggernaut. The world's reserve currency. The largest empire ever known. The undisputed ruler of the waves.
R3 had a recording of her performing in some Broadway musical. Decent contralto, if rather warbley.
This narrative from young rightwingers is becoming increasingly common. It misses out entirely just how many people of that generation welcomed the 60s and 70s, like many relatives of mine, as a huge relief.
This is also connected to why the 1960s and 1990s are still disproportionately objects of nostalgia for their later youth generations, more than many others, according to the polls
My X timeline if I click 'For You' seems to have a lot of these nostalgic old film clips of things like a sunday afternoon in a London park in 1953. Or happy Britains enjoy a day at the seaside, 1948.
Pretty sure these are being fed by someone with an agenda.
My "for you" is lot of people having a go at Netflix for some reason. And sombreros.
It looks like quite a 'hoolie' is about to arrive in the North of Scotland so I wish everyone to stay safe including all our family members
Indeed I have just received an alert from our energy supplier and that we are apparently on their vulnerable list
Getting pretty wild here in south west
We had the very heavy (even for us) rain. The the rain stopped and the wind died down. Just as I thought it wasn’t going to be as bad as forecast, the wind rose again and it’s now blowing a hoolie. It nearly always seems to be the first weekend of October that brings the first serious storm of the autumn. Perhaps the meteorologists can confirm.
They call it Amy, beginning with the first letter of the alphabet. So yes, I think
While storms can occur throughout this period, October often sees the start of significant storm activity. For example, Storm Ashley marked the beginning of the 2024/25 season on October 20-21, 2024, bringing wet and windy conditions. Similarly, Storm Babet in October 2023 brought strong winds and significant rainfall. Storm Amy was named as the first storm of the 2025/26 season, approaching the UK with strong winds and heavy rain.
It must have been so strange being born British in the 1920s.
You are born into the global hegemon. An industrial juggernaut. The world's reserve currency. The largest empire ever known. The undisputed ruler of the waves.
Leavitt: "President Trump will end the radical left's reign of terror in Portland once and for all. The president has directed Secretary Hegseth to provide all necessary troops to protect war-ravaged Portland."
It must have been so strange being born British in the 1920s.
You are born into the global hegemon. An industrial juggernaut. The world's reserve currency. The largest empire ever known. The undisputed ruler of the waves.
R3 had a recording of her performing in some Broadway musical. Decent contralto, if rather warbley.
This narrative from young rightwingers is becoming increasingly common. It misses out just how many people of thar generation enjoyed the 60s and 70s, like many relatives of mine, as a huge relief.
There is too much of an attitude that the country has been on a constant downward trajectory. Maybe from a global military power perspective, but certainly there have been good times too.
I would accept that from around 2014-15 onwards we have had a lost decade, and it is hard to argue that we are not in decline right now, but these things are cyclical. Britain can come back. But it requires some more medicine. It remains to be seen whether the public wake up to the need to take it; or whether it is forced on them
When it was said “They’ve never had it so good”, this wasn’t jeered at. It was literally true on a staggering scale.
We talk of boomers and greed. My uncle and aunt reacted to the phenomenon of working class becoming middle class by saving.
They bought their house and paid it off. The rapid increases in wages meant they kept to *saving 30% of income*.
Kitty Donaldson @kitty_donaldson · 2h NEW: Allies of Robert Jenrick are collecting no confidence letters from Conservative MPs calling for party leader Kemi Badenoch to quit, The i Paper has been told.
It must have been so strange being born British in the 1920s.
You are born into the global hegemon. An industrial juggernaut. The world's reserve currency. The largest empire ever known. The undisputed ruler of the waves.
R3 had a recording of her performing in some Broadway musical. Decent contralto, if rather warbley.
This narrative from young rightwingers is becoming increasingly common. It misses out just how many people of thar generation enjoyed the 60s and 70s, like many relatives of mine, as a huge relief.
Oh, I'm sure that's true.
But either way the culture shock must have been considerable.
I often think the sweet spot was someone born in the late 30s. That does presuppose that you didn’t suffer loss in the war, but you’d be generally too young to remember much of it. Teenager in the relative stability of the 50s. Still young enough to enjoy the 60s.
Kitty Donaldson @kitty_donaldson · 2h NEW: Allies of Robert Jenrick are collecting no confidence letters from Conservative MPs calling for party leader Kemi Badenoch to quit, The i Paper has been told.
Genuinely why? The Tories will be destroyed next may, why would he want to be in charge when that happens? Why not ride to the rescue after?
It must have been so strange being born British in the 1920s.
You are born into the global hegemon. An industrial juggernaut. The world's reserve currency. The largest empire ever known. The undisputed ruler of the waves.
R3 had a recording of her performing in some Broadway musical. Decent contralto, if rather warbley.
This narrative from young rightwingers is becoming increasingly common. It misses out just how many people of thar generation enjoyed the 60s and 70s, like many relatives of mine, as a huge relief.
Oh, I'm sure that's true.
But either way the culture shock must have been considerable.
I often think the sweet spot was someone born in the late 30s. That does presuppose that you didn’t suffer loss in the war, but you’d be generally too young to remember much of it. Teenager in the relative stability of the 50s. Still young enough to enjoy the 60s.
Men, yes. Women perhaps not so much.
Dad was born in 1939. Remembers snippets of the war but not much. Served in the guards rather than national service then straight into Wiltshire Police for 30 years. Retired at 56 with a huge pay off (restructuring) and has now been retired as long as he served.
Kitty Donaldson @kitty_donaldson · 2h NEW: Allies of Robert Jenrick are collecting no confidence letters from Conservative MPs calling for party leader Kemi Badenoch to quit, The i Paper has been told.
Genuinely why? The Tories will be destroyed next may, why would he want to be in charge when that happens? Why not ride to the rescue after?
It must have been so strange being born British in the 1920s.
You are born into the global hegemon. An industrial juggernaut. The world's reserve currency. The largest empire ever known. The undisputed ruler of the waves.
R3 had a recording of her performing in some Broadway musical. Decent contralto, if rather warbley.
This narrative from young rightwingers is becoming increasingly common. It misses out entirely just how many people of that generation welcomed the 60s and 70s, like many relatives of mine, as a huge relief.
This is also connected to why the 1960s and 1990s are still disproportionately objects of nostalgia for their later youth generations, more than many others, according to the polls
My X timeline if I click 'For You' seems to have a lot of these nostalgic old film clips of things like a sunday afternoon in a London park in 1953. Or happy Britains enjoy a day at the seaside, 1948.
Pretty sure these are being fed by someone with an agenda.
Kitty Donaldson @kitty_donaldson · 2h NEW: Allies of Robert Jenrick are collecting no confidence letters from Conservative MPs calling for party leader Kemi Badenoch to quit, The i Paper has been told.
Genuinely why? The Tories will be destroyed next may, why would he want to be in charge when that happens? Why not ride to the rescue after?
Delusions regarding his ability to turn it all around ?
It must have been so strange being born British in the 1920s.
You are born into the global hegemon. An industrial juggernaut. The world's reserve currency. The largest empire ever known. The undisputed ruler of the waves.
R3 had a recording of her performing in some Broadway musical. Decent contralto, if rather warbley.
This narrative from young rightwingers is becoming increasingly common. It misses out just how many people of thar generation enjoyed the 60s and 70s, like many relatives of mine, as a huge relief.
Oh, I'm sure that's true.
But either way the culture shock must have been considerable.
I often think the sweet spot was someone born in the late 30s. That does presuppose that you didn’t suffer loss in the war, but you’d be generally too young to remember much of it. Teenager in the relative stability of the 50s. Still young enough to enjoy the 60s.
Men, yes. Women perhaps not so much.
Thatcher was born in 1925. Granted her generation had its challenges, and hopeful we can say that live continues to improve for women, but being part of the first generation where a woman became PM isn't that bad.
Kitty Donaldson @kitty_donaldson · 2h NEW: Allies of Robert Jenrick are collecting no confidence letters from Conservative MPs calling for party leader Kemi Badenoch to quit, The i Paper has been told.
Everyone needs a hobby. Some people collect stamps, others collect Conservative no-confidence letters.
It's the start of November that her immunity wears off, isn't it?
Besides, if Bobby J is really planning a coup, isn't the honourable thing for him to do to resign from the shadow cabinet?
Kitty Donaldson @kitty_donaldson · 2h NEW: Allies of Robert Jenrick are collecting no confidence letters from Conservative MPs calling for party leader Kemi Badenoch to quit, The i Paper has been told.
Genuinely why? The Tories will be destroyed next may, why would he want to be in charge when that happens? Why not ride to the rescue after?
12 month cooling off period for the 1922. It's the earliest he could have gone; he's desperate for it.
I - genionely - think Jenrick is the main reason why we might not get a Reform largest party at the next GE. The man is astonishnngly opportunstic and will split the right-wing vote through sheer tiktok hyperactivity.
“Further update: Father of Manchester synagogue terrorist praised the Oct 7 Hamas terrorists as ‘Allah’s men on earth’. Faraj Al-Shamie posted on Facebook his support for the invasion of Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and 250 civilians and soldiers taken hostage. Al-Shamie, a trauma surgeon living in a council house in Britain, said that the Hamas terrorists who had infiltrated the Jewish state had “proved beyond a shadow of a doubt” that Israel would be destroyed eventually. Rather undermines Al-Shamie Sr’s statement expressing “profound shock” in the wake of his son’s killing spree.“
Is it normal in the UK that surgeons live in council houses? Would have thought they would be kept for those people who have less well paid jobs or no jobs.
If I was a cynic, I might suggest that the 'profound shock' is that his son did not kill more people.
I'd be rather concerned about his suitability to be a surgeon, given those expressed views. If I were Jewish, I'd want him nowhere near me.
One would like to to think we don’t have many here with such views. But various polling suggests otherwise. The enemy within.
As the murderer's dad exemplified, not only are there a lot here who have those views, but they see absolutely no need to hide them - they see them as completely normal.
they have had plenty encouragement and little action to deter them
My daughter told me about a programme they have in school about online radicalisation. I was quite surprised at this - not the stereotype I had of British schools. It turned out, of course, the threat it was worried about was white people becoming radicalised in their opinions to Muslims, rather than the rather more apparent problem of Islamic radicalisation. Probably doing anything about that would be racist.
Without wishing to presume too much, Cookie, I am guessing your daughter is herself white?
I suspect very strongly that the programme is tailored to specific audiences.
In our school we are definitely as much on the lookout for Islamic radicalisation as we are about far-right radicalisation.
Well she is, and you are fair to presume, but it was directed at the whole class - of which white kids make up a majority, but barely. And I don't object to measures to stop white kids going down an internet rabbithole, not at all. But the way the 0ublic sector addresses the problem you get the impression that as far as they can see white kids are the only problem.
Yes that does sound odd. Presenting something to the whole class would obviously need to explore different forms of radicalisation.
I wonder if it was a failing on the part of the individual teacher? Despite efforts to avoid it (and a code of conduct that says we must avoid it) individual prejudices can still slip in.
Head of the Signal app threatens to withdraw from Europe
The head of the Signal app has criticized plans in the EU that would allow messengers to have backdoors to enable automatic searches for criminal content. Signal is considered one of the most secure messengers.
"If we were faced with the choice of either undermining the integrity of our encryption and our data protection guarantees or leaving Europe, we would unfortunately make the decision to leave the market,"
Kitty Donaldson @kitty_donaldson · 2h NEW: Allies of Robert Jenrick are collecting no confidence letters from Conservative MPs calling for party leader Kemi Badenoch to quit, The i Paper has been told.
Genuinely why? The Tories will be destroyed next may, why would he want to be in charge when that happens? Why not ride to the rescue after?
Still a long time until the GE. My guess, he's presuming Reform will stumble at some point and Starmer will continue to be dependably shite so there's an opening for the Tories with a leader who looks and sounds as if they have some actual answers - and recent history suggests that leader isn't Kemi Badenoch.
Obviously its not Jenricks lot briefing the I. Cleverley or his backers trying to create a wedge so he can pick up the pieces id guess Jenricks trying to get the 'numbers' to strike at the most opportune moment and Cleverley is dobbing him in via the scandal hungry press goobers Plus ca change
Starmer: Palestine protesters should ‘respect the grief of British Jews this week’
‘Peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our democracy – and there is justified concern about the suffering in Gaza – but a minority have used these protests as a pretext for stoking antisemitic tropes’
Wales becoming a contest between Plaid and Reform would be depressing.
Wales under Labour has been pretty depressing by all accounts.
It's not been a good thing that there hasn't been a change in government in Wales, and I wouldn't want to waste any time trying to defend Labour in Wales, but two flavours of nationalist grievance to choose from does look like a straight downgrade.
At least you could get to your downgraded destination a little faster than 20 miles per hour.
Kitty Donaldson @kitty_donaldson · 2h NEW: Allies of Robert Jenrick are collecting no confidence letters from Conservative MPs calling for party leader Kemi Badenoch to quit, The i Paper has been told.
Everyone needs a hobby. Some people collect stamps, others collect Conservative no-confidence letters.
It's the start of November that her immunity wears off, isn't it?
Besides, if Bobby J is really planning a coup, isn't the honourable thing for him to do to resign from the shadow cabinet?
Head of the Signal app threatens to withdraw from Europe
The head of the Signal app has criticized plans in the EU that would allow messengers to have backdoors to enable automatic searches for criminal content. Signal is considered one of the most secure messengers.
"If we were faced with the choice of either undermining the integrity of our encryption and our data protection guarantees or leaving Europe, we would unfortunately make the decision to leave the market,"
For “allow”, read “forced”
Signal are one of the few outfits that I have respect for in this space.
Their code is open sourced - both client and server. You can download the code and build it yourself. A number of people do.
They really work to make their service secure. They are owned by a non-profit (aka charity) that specifically is constituted to forbid selling data.
It’s notable that taking a fork of their code is nearly the standard for building a custom, ultra secure messaging app. In fact I’ve suggested in the past the U.K. government should do exactly that.
Kitty Donaldson @kitty_donaldson · 2h NEW: Allies of Robert Jenrick are collecting no confidence letters from Conservative MPs calling for party leader Kemi Badenoch to quit, The i Paper has been told.
Genuinely why? The Tories will be destroyed next may, why would he want to be in charge when that happens? Why not ride to the rescue after?
Still a long time until the GE. My guess, he's presuming Reform will stumble at some point and Starmer will continue to be dependably shite so there's an opening for the Tories with a leader who looks and sounds as if they have some actual answers - and recent history suggests that leader isn't Kemi Badenoch.
Fair enough. But unless he thinks the Reform stumble is going to happen in the next six months it seems like a bad idea to me. Still a bold move if true.
It must have been so strange being born British in the 1920s.
You are born into the global hegemon. An industrial juggernaut. The world's reserve currency. The largest empire ever known. The undisputed ruler of the waves.
R3 had a recording of her performing in some Broadway musical. Decent contralto, if rather warbley.
This narrative from young rightwingers is becoming increasingly common. It misses out just how many people of thar generation enjoyed the 60s and 70s, like many relatives of mine, as a huge relief.
Oh, I'm sure that's true.
But either way the culture shock must have been considerable.
I often think the sweet spot was someone born in the late 30s. That does presuppose that you didn’t suffer loss in the war, but you’d be generally too young to remember much of it. Teenager in the relative stability of the 50s. Still young enough to enjoy the 60s.
Men, yes. Women perhaps not so much.
Both sets of my grandparents were born in the mid 30s, married and having kids by the mid 50s. I don't think they had bad lives (male or female).
All we've done since is invert the pressure on women - back then, they had to be stay at home mums, now they have to earn a 2nd income to pay the mortgage (and as various astute posters have noted the car PCP payments on shiny new cars they can't really afford). Giving them an actual choice seems as far away as ever.
When I stepped out of Pavia University this morning it looked a bit dicky, as up the street one way it was blocked by a large Gaza demonstration, and the other way by a line of Italian riot police, with no way out other than back into the university. For a moment it didn't seem a great spot for me and the dog to be standing. But it all seemed to be passing off peacefully and the riot police didn't seem to see me or the dog as any threat. Second day running we've encountered large demonstrations here.
Graffiti is a plague on all Italan cities
It is. Italy is bad but France and the UK also have their fair share. That and litter really bug me. Exits angry old man mode.
PS Dog poo bags hanging from trees (I know some collect them on their return walk, but not many). Why?
Sorry didn't exit angry old man mode properly.
No, you're right.
That seriously pisses me off, too. I'd rather the poo was left unbagged, than bagged and randomly discarded. At least it would decompose more quickly.
When I stepped out of Pavia University this morning it looked a bit dicky, as up the street one way it was blocked by a large Gaza demonstration, and the other way by a line of Italian riot police, with no way out other than back into the university. For a moment it didn't seem a great spot for me and the dog to be standing. But it all seemed to be passing off peacefully and the riot police didn't seem to see me or the dog as any threat. Second day running we've encountered large demonstrations here.
Graffiti is a plague on all Italan cities
It is. Italy is bad but France and the UK also have their fair share. That and litter really bug me. Exits angry old man mode.
PS Dog poo bags hanging from trees (I know some collect them on their return walk, but not many). Why?
Sorry didn't exit angry old man mode properly.
No, you're right.
That seriously pisses me off, too. I'd rather the poo was left unbagged, than bagged and randomly discarded. At least it would decompose more quickly.
Just vile.
If you don’t want the hassle of bagging and binning far better to flick with a stick into the undergrowth.
If you don’t want to pick up, bag and bin dog poo you don’t deserve to have a dog.
It must have been so strange being born British in the 1920s.
You are born into the global hegemon. An industrial juggernaut. The world's reserve currency. The largest empire ever known. The undisputed ruler of the waves.
R3 had a recording of her performing in some Broadway musical. Decent contralto, if rather warbley.
This narrative from young rightwingers is becoming increasingly common. It misses out just how many people of thar generation enjoyed the 60s and 70s, like many relatives of mine, as a huge relief.
There is too much of an attitude that the country has been on a constant downward trajectory. Maybe from a global military power perspective, but certainly there have been good times too.
I would accept that from around 2014-15 onwards we have had a lost decade, and it is hard to argue that we are not in decline right now, but these things are cyclical. Britain can come back. But it requires some more medicine. It remains to be seen whether the public wake up to the need to take it; or whether it is forced on them
When it was said “They’ve never had it so good”, this wasn’t jeered at. It was literally true on a staggering scale.
We talk of boomers and greed. My uncle and aunt reacted to the phenomenon of working class becoming middle class by saving.
They bought their house and paid it off. The rapid increases in wages meant they kept to *saving 30% of income*.
We were doing well until the idiot Cameron gave the other idiot Osborne the key to the petty cash box. We have been reaping his austerity whirlwind ever since.
Kitty Donaldson @kitty_donaldson · 2h NEW: Allies of Robert Jenrick are collecting no confidence letters from Conservative MPs calling for party leader Kemi Badenoch to quit, The i Paper has been told.
Genuinely why? The Tories will be destroyed next may, why would he want to be in charge when that happens? Why not ride to the rescue after?
Because Jenrick will lead the Tories to unprecedented sweeping success in May.
Kitty Donaldson @kitty_donaldson · 2h NEW: Allies of Robert Jenrick are collecting no confidence letters from Conservative MPs calling for party leader Kemi Badenoch to quit, The i Paper has been told.
Genuinely why? The Tories will be destroyed next may, why would he want to be in charge when that happens? Why not ride to the rescue after?
Because Jenrick will lead the Tories to unprecedented sweeping success in May.
It must have been so strange being born British in the 1920s.
You are born into the global hegemon. An industrial juggernaut. The world's reserve currency. The largest empire ever known. The undisputed ruler of the waves.
R3 had a recording of her performing in some Broadway musical. Decent contralto, if rather warbley.
This narrative from young rightwingers is becoming increasingly common. It misses out just how many people of thar generation enjoyed the 60s and 70s, like many relatives of mine, as a huge relief.
Oh, I'm sure that's true.
But either way the culture shock must have been considerable.
I often think the sweet spot was someone born in the late 30s. That does presuppose that you didn’t suffer loss in the war, but you’d be generally too young to remember much of it. Teenager in the relative stability of the 50s. Still young enough to enjoy the 60s.
Men, yes. Women perhaps not so much.
Dad was born in 1939. Remembers snippets of the war but not much. Served in the guards rather than national service then straight into Wiltshire Police for 30 years. Retired at 56 with a huge pay off (restructuring) and has now been retired as long as he served.
Pretty sweet spot.
I was born in 1943. I thoroughly enjoyed the sixties, married in 1968. Three kids and five grandsons all living within walking distance of me. Fired in 1995 (long story) with big pay off and large fully inflation protected pension. I'm extremely lucky. In good health. Skiing next year. And I'm still alive to see the fantastic AI revolution. What a time to be alive! I think I hit the sweet spot.
It looks like quite a 'hoolie' is about to arrive in the North of Scotland so I wish everyone to stay safe including all our family members
Indeed I have just received an alert from our energy supplier and that we are apparently on their vulnerable list
Getting pretty wild here in south west
We had the very heavy (even for us) rain. The the rain stopped and the wind died down. Just as I thought it wasn’t going to be as bad as forecast, the wind rose again and it’s now blowing a hoolie. It nearly always seems to be the first weekend of October that brings the first serious storm of the autumn. Perhaps the meteorologists can confirm.
There's something I've been meaning to follow up on about a jet transition in September that was mentioned in a paper that was defining seasons objectively in the Mediterranean.
Storm Amy is ex-Hurricane Humberto, and so I think there's definitely something about the interaction between the hurricane season, the start of the Polar night, and the enduring heat in the oceans that lays the groundwork for strong mid-latitude storms in October.
Head of the Signal app threatens to withdraw from Europe
The head of the Signal app has criticized plans in the EU that would allow messengers to have backdoors to enable automatic searches for criminal content. Signal is considered one of the most secure messengers.
"If we were faced with the choice of either undermining the integrity of our encryption and our data protection guarantees or leaving Europe, we would unfortunately make the decision to leave the market,"
I gather Apple is simply going to turn off encryption entirely for UK customers, rather than install a back door.
Head of the Signal app threatens to withdraw from Europe
The head of the Signal app has criticized plans in the EU that would allow messengers to have backdoors to enable automatic searches for criminal content. Signal is considered one of the most secure messengers.
"If we were faced with the choice of either undermining the integrity of our encryption and our data protection guarantees or leaving Europe, we would unfortunately make the decision to leave the market,"
Kitty Donaldson @kitty_donaldson · 2h NEW: Allies of Robert Jenrick are collecting no confidence letters from Conservative MPs calling for party leader Kemi Badenoch to quit, The i Paper has been told.
Genuinely why? The Tories will be destroyed next may, why would he want to be in charge when that happens? Why not ride to the rescue after?
Still a long time until the GE. My guess, he's presuming Reform will stumble at some point and Starmer will continue to be dependably shite so there's an opening for the Tories with a leader who looks and sounds as if they have some actual answers - and recent history suggests that leader isn't Kemi Badenoch.
Too long. Four years. Remarkably, only one Conservative leader has lasted that long this century, and that was David Cameron.
IDS 2 years Michael Howard 2 years Call Me Dave 11 years Theresa May 3 years Boris 3 years Liz Truss 7 weeks Rishi Sunak 2 years Kemi (so far) 1 year.
If Jenrick takes over now, on those precedents he will himself be replaced before a 2029 general election.
It must have been so strange being born British in the 1920s.
You are born into the global hegemon. An industrial juggernaut. The world's reserve currency. The largest empire ever known. The undisputed ruler of the waves.
R3 had a recording of her performing in some Broadway musical. Decent contralto, if rather warbley.
This narrative from young rightwingers is becoming increasingly common. It misses out just how many people of thar generation enjoyed the 60s and 70s, like many relatives of mine, as a huge relief.
There is too much of an attitude that the country has been on a constant downward trajectory. Maybe from a global military power perspective, but certainly there have been good times too.
I would accept that from around 2014-15 onwards we have had a lost decade, and it is hard to argue that we are not in decline right now, but these things are cyclical. Britain can come back. But it requires some more medicine. It remains to be seen whether the public wake up to the need to take it; or whether it is forced on them
When it was said “They’ve never had it so good”, this wasn’t jeered at. It was literally true on a staggering scale.
We talk of boomers and greed. My uncle and aunt reacted to the phenomenon of working class becoming middle class by saving.
They bought their house and paid it off. The rapid increases in wages meant they kept to *saving 30% of income*.
We were doing well until the idiot Cameron gave the other idiot Osborne the key to the petty cash box. We have been reaping his austerity whirlwind ever since.
We were doing well until the idiot Blair gave the other idiot Brown the key to the petty cash box. We have been reaping his overspending whirlwind ever since.
Kitty Donaldson @kitty_donaldson · 2h NEW: Allies of Robert Jenrick are collecting no confidence letters from Conservative MPs calling for party leader Kemi Badenoch to quit, The i Paper has been told.
Great news for Cleverly, Jenrick and his MPJenrick backers can remove Kemi while Cleverly has clean hands. His backers can then 'with heavy heart' vote to remove Kemi in the VONC then Cleverly can get Kemi loyalist MPs to back him as the unity candidate over Jenrick
Head of the Signal app threatens to withdraw from Europe
The head of the Signal app has criticized plans in the EU that would allow messengers to have backdoors to enable automatic searches for criminal content. Signal is considered one of the most secure messengers.
"If we were faced with the choice of either undermining the integrity of our encryption and our data protection guarantees or leaving Europe, we would unfortunately make the decision to leave the market,"
I gather Apple is simply going to turn off encryption entirely for UK customers, rather than install a back door.
That of course means that our government's security efforts make anyone who uses Apple's products far less secure.
It must have been so strange being born British in the 1920s.
You are born into the global hegemon. An industrial juggernaut. The world's reserve currency. The largest empire ever known. The undisputed ruler of the waves.
R3 had a recording of her performing in some Broadway musical. Decent contralto, if rather warbley.
This narrative from young rightwingers is becoming increasingly common. It misses out just how many people of thar generation enjoyed the 60s and 70s, like many relatives of mine, as a huge relief.
There is too much of an attitude that the country has been on a constant downward trajectory. Maybe from a global military power perspective, but certainly there have been good times too.
I would accept that from around 2014-15 onwards we have had a lost decade, and it is hard to argue that we are not in decline right now, but these things are cyclical. Britain can come back. But it requires some more medicine. It remains to be seen whether the public wake up to the need to take it; or whether it is forced on them
When it was said “They’ve never had it so good”, this wasn’t jeered at. It was literally true on a staggering scale.
We talk of boomers and greed. My uncle and aunt reacted to the phenomenon of working class becoming middle class by saving.
They bought their house and paid it off. The rapid increases in wages meant they kept to *saving 30% of income*.
We were doing well until the idiot Cameron gave the other idiot Osborne the key to the petty cash box. We have been reaping his austerity whirlwind ever since.
We were doing well until the idiot Blair gave the other idiot Brown the key to the petty cash box. We have been reaping his overspending whirlwind ever since.
Not true. It might have been true in some alternative universe without the global financial crisis but in this one, Brown did not blow up the economy.
It must have been so strange being born British in the 1920s.
You are born into the global hegemon. An industrial juggernaut. The world's reserve currency. The largest empire ever known. The undisputed ruler of the waves.
R3 had a recording of her performing in some Broadway musical. Decent contralto, if rather warbley.
This narrative from young rightwingers is becoming increasingly common. It misses out just how many people of thar generation enjoyed the 60s and 70s, like many relatives of mine, as a huge relief.
There is too much of an attitude that the country has been on a constant downward trajectory. Maybe from a global military power perspective, but certainly there have been good times too.
I would accept that from around 2014-15 onwards we have had a lost decade, and it is hard to argue that we are not in decline right now, but these things are cyclical. Britain can come back. But it requires some more medicine. It remains to be seen whether the public wake up to the need to take it; or whether it is forced on them
When it was said “They’ve never had it so good”, this wasn’t jeered at. It was literally true on a staggering scale.
We talk of boomers and greed. My uncle and aunt reacted to the phenomenon of working class becoming middle class by saving.
They bought their house and paid it off. The rapid increases in wages meant they kept to *saving 30% of income*.
We were doing well until the idiot Cameron gave the other idiot Osborne the key to the petty cash box. We have been reaping his austerity whirlwind ever since.
We were doing well until the idiot Blair gave the other idiot Brown the key to the petty cash box. We have been reaping his overspending whirlwind ever since.
Not true. It might have been true in some alternative universe without the global financial crisis but in this one, Brown did not blow up the economy.
Brown began the overspending before the financial crisis hit. We went from surplus to deficit in 2002, five year before the financial crisis.
Had the idiot not done that, we'd have quickly overcome the crisis. Crises happen, you should be prepared for them and we were until Brown maxed the credit card pre-crisis.
Kitty Donaldson @kitty_donaldson · 2h NEW: Allies of Robert Jenrick are collecting no confidence letters from Conservative MPs calling for party leader Kemi Badenoch to quit, The i Paper has been told.
Genuinely why? The Tories will be destroyed next may, why would he want to be in charge when that happens? Why not ride to the rescue after?
Still a long time until the GE. My guess, he's presuming Reform will stumble at some point and Starmer will continue to be dependably shite so there's an opening for the Tories with a leader who looks and sounds as if they have some actual answers - and recent history suggests that leader isn't Kemi Badenoch.
Too long. Four years. Remarkably, only one Conservative leader has lasted that long this century, and that was David Cameron.
IDS 2 years Michael Howard 2 years Call Me Dave 11 years Theresa May 3 years Boris 3 years Liz Truss 7 weeks Rishi Sunak 2 years Kemi (so far) 1 year.
If Jenrick takes over now, on those precedents he will himself be replaced before a 2029 general election.
Football manager syndrome.
At some point, you have to accept that pressing the NEXT button with the passion, urgency and frequency of a teenage boy who has found a naughty picture website that has somehow evaded the Online Safety Act isn't helping.
At best, the selection process is throwing up the wrong winners. At worst, the job is simply impossible.
It must have been so strange being born British in the 1920s.
You are born into the global hegemon. An industrial juggernaut. The world's reserve currency. The largest empire ever known. The undisputed ruler of the waves.
Kitty Donaldson @kitty_donaldson · 2h NEW: Allies of Robert Jenrick are collecting no confidence letters from Conservative MPs calling for party leader Kemi Badenoch to quit, The i Paper has been told.
Genuinely why? The Tories will be destroyed next may, why would he want to be in charge when that happens? Why not ride to the rescue after?
Still a long time until the GE. My guess, he's presuming Reform will stumble at some point and Starmer will continue to be dependably shite so there's an opening for the Tories with a leader who looks and sounds as if they have some actual answers - and recent history suggests that leader isn't Kemi Badenoch.
Too long. Four years. Remarkably, only one Conservative leader has lasted that long this century, and that was David Cameron.
IDS 2 years Michael Howard 2 years Call Me Dave 11 years Theresa May 3 years Boris 3 years Liz Truss 7 weeks Rishi Sunak 2 years Kemi (so far) 1 year.
If Jenrick takes over now, on those precedents he will himself be replaced before a 2029 general election.
Yes, but since when has he placed judgement before his ambition?
Starmer: Palestine protesters should ‘respect the grief of British Jews this week’
‘Peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our democracy – and there is justified concern about the suffering in Gaza – but a minority have used these protests as a pretext for stoking antisemitic tropes’
Good tweet. He’s better at that sort of thing, and foreign policy, than the cheesier party political stuff.
Notable that based on my Embassy chats last night the French seem to rate him a lot. The classic dilemma: the politician who’s more popular abroad than at home. Gorbachev, Blair, Macron, Varoufakis, probably Khamenei. As opposed to the politicians more popular at home than abroad (Trump, Hitler, Stalin, Erdogan, Xi, Modi, Lula, Putin…)
It must have been so strange being born British in the 1920s.
You are born into the global hegemon. An industrial juggernaut. The world's reserve currency. The largest empire ever known. The undisputed ruler of the waves.
R3 had a recording of her performing in some Broadway musical. Decent contralto, if rather warbley.
This narrative from young rightwingers is becoming increasingly common. It misses out just how many people of thar generation enjoyed the 60s and 70s, like many relatives of mine, as a huge relief.
There is too much of an attitude that the country has been on a constant downward trajectory. Maybe from a global military power perspective, but certainly there have been good times too.
I would accept that from around 2014-15 onwards we have had a lost decade, and it is hard to argue that we are not in decline right now, but these things are cyclical. Britain can come back. But it requires some more medicine. It remains to be seen whether the public wake up to the need to take it; or whether it is forced on them
When it was said “They’ve never had it so good”, this wasn’t jeered at. It was literally true on a staggering scale.
We talk of boomers and greed. My uncle and aunt reacted to the phenomenon of working class becoming middle class by saving.
They bought their house and paid it off. The rapid increases in wages meant they kept to *saving 30% of income*.
We were doing well until the idiot Cameron gave the other idiot Osborne the key to the petty cash box. We have been reaping his austerity whirlwind ever since.
We were doing well until the idiot Blair gave the other idiot Brown the key to the petty cash box. We have been reaping his overspending whirlwind ever since.
Not true. It might have been true in some alternative universe without the global financial crisis but in this one, Brown did not blow up the economy.
Brown began the overspending before the financial crisis hit. We went from surplus to deficit in 2002, five year before the financial crisis.
Had the idiot not done that, we'd have quickly overcome the crisis. Crises happen, you should be prepared for them and we were until Brown maxed the credit card pre-crisis.
No, even if we accept your premise that Brown overspent, the sheer scale of the global financial crisis rendered the question moot.
It must have been so strange being born British in the 1920s.
You are born into the global hegemon. An industrial juggernaut. The world's reserve currency. The largest empire ever known. The undisputed ruler of the waves.
R3 had a recording of her performing in some Broadway musical. Decent contralto, if rather warbley.
This narrative from young rightwingers is becoming increasingly common. It misses out just how many people of thar generation enjoyed the 60s and 70s, like many relatives of mine, as a huge relief.
There is too much of an attitude that the country has been on a constant downward trajectory. Maybe from a global military power perspective, but certainly there have been good times too.
I would accept that from around 2014-15 onwards we have had a lost decade, and it is hard to argue that we are not in decline right now, but these things are cyclical. Britain can come back. But it requires some more medicine. It remains to be seen whether the public wake up to the need to take it; or whether it is forced on them
When it was said “They’ve never had it so good”, this wasn’t jeered at. It was literally true on a staggering scale.
We talk of boomers and greed. My uncle and aunt reacted to the phenomenon of working class becoming middle class by saving.
They bought their house and paid it off. The rapid increases in wages meant they kept to *saving 30% of income*.
We were doing well until the idiot Cameron gave the other idiot Osborne the key to the petty cash box. We have been reaping his austerity whirlwind ever since.
We were doing well until the idiot Blair gave the other idiot Brown the key to the petty cash box. We have been reaping his overspending whirlwind ever since.
Not true. It might have been true in some alternative universe without the global financial crisis but in this one, Brown did not blow up the economy.
Brown began the overspending before the financial crisis hit. We went from surplus to deficit in 2002, five year before the financial crisis.
Had the idiot not done that, we'd have quickly overcome the crisis. Crises happen, you should be prepared for them and we were until Brown maxed the credit card pre-crisis.
Nah- it's bigger than that.
We have had a run of decades where the demographics have been in our favour- we should have been running a surplus consistently since sometime in the 80s, when the British boomers were entering their earning years. That's a proper surplus, not one flattered by asset sales or maintainence holidays. We didn't, because voters would have vetoed it.
The crunch that has now started, and is going to get worse for quite a while yet, was utterly predictable, and mostly ignored. Thatcher/Lawson were just as culpable as Blair/Brown for mistaking their demographic luck for fiscal brilliance.
Just had fantastic service at A&E, seen, analysed, x-rayed and assessed in an hour.
Wanted to post about a very interesting seminar I went to yesterday as some very interesting approaches coming in relation to property and stable coin. An incredibly interesting day for even a Luddite like me.
Also v interesting about the regulation issues globally - never thought I would find regulation talks so interesting.
Will post what I can later when I stop vomming from pain and although limited what I can say about yesterday it was perfect timing with the BOE volte face on digital currencies.
Hope you feel better soon.
My recent NHS experience was also good - in part. It took me a few weeks to get a referral to the hospital (I think due to my GP not actually requesting one at first...(*)), but when it finally came the referral was for a week's time. I was seen yesterday with only a ten-minute wait past the scheduled time, they took five x-rays, and I got basic results from my GP this morning.
(*) Though I think the GP might have been dissuaded by the following conversation: "So you've dislocated your shoulder, and your elbow is hurting." "Yes." "And you're in pain." "Yes." "But you've done two triathlons since." "Yes." "Despite being in pain?" My wife: "Yes, but that's the sort of stupid thing he does..."
(GP shrugs and sends the request to /dev/null)
I’m currently in Emergency Surgery, at Luton & Dunstable, after a bad accident, and they have been outstanding. This is the second occasion they’ve saved my life (the first being appendicitis in 2013).
Saved your life ?? Blimey.
I hope you're out of danger now, and make a speedy recovery.
All the best for an amazingly swift recovery Sean.
It must have been so strange being born British in the 1920s.
You are born into the global hegemon. An industrial juggernaut. The world's reserve currency. The largest empire ever known. The undisputed ruler of the waves.
R3 had a recording of her performing in some Broadway musical. Decent contralto, if rather warbley.
This narrative from young rightwingers is becoming increasingly common. It misses out just how many people of thar generation enjoyed the 60s and 70s, like many relatives of mine, as a huge relief.
There is too much of an attitude that the country has been on a constant downward trajectory. Maybe from a global military power perspective, but certainly there have been good times too.
I would accept that from around 2014-15 onwards we have had a lost decade, and it is hard to argue that we are not in decline right now, but these things are cyclical. Britain can come back. But it requires some more medicine. It remains to be seen whether the public wake up to the need to take it; or whether it is forced on them
When it was said “They’ve never had it so good”, this wasn’t jeered at. It was literally true on a staggering scale.
We talk of boomers and greed. My uncle and aunt reacted to the phenomenon of working class becoming middle class by saving.
They bought their house and paid it off. The rapid increases in wages meant they kept to *saving 30% of income*.
We were doing well until the idiot Cameron gave the other idiot Osborne the key to the petty cash box. We have been reaping his austerity whirlwind ever since.
Bollocks.
Brown had spent all the tax from the banks - when that vanished, we were looking at a structural deficit. Labour was talking about bigger cuts than the Coalition. The markets were starting to get all..... Truss'd Up? Hell, the delay in forming a government had some people demanding a National Government *right now*.
It must have been so strange being born British in the 1920s.
You are born into the global hegemon. An industrial juggernaut. The world's reserve currency. The largest empire ever known. The undisputed ruler of the waves.
R3 had a recording of her performing in some Broadway musical. Decent contralto, if rather warbley.
This narrative from young rightwingers is becoming increasingly common. It misses out just how many people of thar generation enjoyed the 60s and 70s, like many relatives of mine, as a huge relief.
There is too much of an attitude that the country has been on a constant downward trajectory. Maybe from a global military power perspective, but certainly there have been good times too.
I would accept that from around 2014-15 onwards we have had a lost decade, and it is hard to argue that we are not in decline right now, but these things are cyclical. Britain can come back. But it requires some more medicine. It remains to be seen whether the public wake up to the need to take it; or whether it is forced on them
When it was said “They’ve never had it so good”, this wasn’t jeered at. It was literally true on a staggering scale.
We talk of boomers and greed. My uncle and aunt reacted to the phenomenon of working class becoming middle class by saving.
They bought their house and paid it off. The rapid increases in wages meant they kept to *saving 30% of income*.
We were doing well until the idiot Cameron gave the other idiot Osborne the key to the petty cash box. We have been reaping his austerity whirlwind ever since.
We were doing well until the idiot Blair gave the other idiot Brown the key to the petty cash box. We have been reaping his overspending whirlwind ever since.
Not true. It might have been true in some alternative universe without the global financial crisis but in this one, Brown did not blow up the economy.
Being a moron, he thought he'd abolished the economic cycle. So Ed 'No' Balls went on the radio and literally claimed they'd abolished boom and bust.
Head of the Signal app threatens to withdraw from Europe
The head of the Signal app has criticized plans in the EU that would allow messengers to have backdoors to enable automatic searches for criminal content. Signal is considered one of the most secure messengers.
"If we were faced with the choice of either undermining the integrity of our encryption and our data protection guarantees or leaving Europe, we would unfortunately make the decision to leave the market,"
I gather Apple is simply going to turn off encryption entirely for UK customers, rather than install a back door.
That of course means that our government's security efforts make anyone who uses Apple's products far less secure.
And of course, all the politicians shiny iPhones....
Starmer: Palestine protesters should ‘respect the grief of British Jews this week’
‘Peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our democracy – and there is justified concern about the suffering in Gaza – but a minority have used these protests as a pretext for stoking antisemitic tropes’
Good tweet. He’s better at that sort of thing, and foreign policy, than the cheesier party political stuff.
Notable that based on my Embassy chats last night the French seem to rate him a lot. The classic dilemma: the politician who’s more popular abroad than at home. Gorbachev, Blair, Macron, Varoufakis, probably Khamenei. As opposed to the politicians more popular at home than abroad (Trump, Hitler, Stalin, Erdogan, Xi, Modi, Lula, Putin…)
Not a tweet, its an article he wrote for the JC and the JC editor will have penned that headline from it. Starmer twitter game is still awful.
Kitty Donaldson @kitty_donaldson · 2h NEW: Allies of Robert Jenrick are collecting no confidence letters from Conservative MPs calling for party leader Kemi Badenoch to quit, The i Paper has been told.
Genuinely why? The Tories will be destroyed next may, why would he want to be in charge when that happens? Why not ride to the rescue after?
Still a long time until the GE. My guess, he's presuming Reform will stumble at some point and Starmer will continue to be dependably shite so there's an opening for the Tories with a leader who looks and sounds as if they have some actual answers - and recent history suggests that leader isn't Kemi Badenoch.
Too long. Four years. Remarkably, only one Conservative leader has lasted that long this century, and that was David Cameron.
IDS 2 years Michael Howard 2 years Call Me Dave 11 years Theresa May 3 years Boris 3 years Liz Truss 7 weeks Rishi Sunak 2 years Kemi (so far) 1 year.
If Jenrick takes over now, on those precedents he will himself be replaced before a 2029 general election.
Yes, but since when has he placed judgement before his ambition?
Better to be leader ASAP for 6 weeks than to wait for a more favourable moment and risk never being leader at all.
It must have been so strange being born British in the 1920s.
You are born into the global hegemon. An industrial juggernaut. The world's reserve currency. The largest empire ever known. The undisputed ruler of the waves.
R3 had a recording of her performing in some Broadway musical. Decent contralto, if rather warbley.
This narrative from young rightwingers is becoming increasingly common. It misses out just how many people of thar generation enjoyed the 60s and 70s, like many relatives of mine, as a huge relief.
There is too much of an attitude that the country has been on a constant downward trajectory. Maybe from a global military power perspective, but certainly there have been good times too.
I would accept that from around 2014-15 onwards we have had a lost decade, and it is hard to argue that we are not in decline right now, but these things are cyclical. Britain can come back. But it requires some more medicine. It remains to be seen whether the public wake up to the need to take it; or whether it is forced on them
When it was said “They’ve never had it so good”, this wasn’t jeered at. It was literally true on a staggering scale.
We talk of boomers and greed. My uncle and aunt reacted to the phenomenon of working class becoming middle class by saving.
They bought their house and paid it off. The rapid increases in wages meant they kept to *saving 30% of income*.
We were doing well until the idiot Cameron gave the other idiot Osborne the key to the petty cash box. We have been reaping his austerity whirlwind ever since.
We were doing well until the idiot Blair gave the other idiot Brown the key to the petty cash box. We have been reaping his overspending whirlwind ever since.
Not true. It might have been true in some alternative universe without the global financial crisis but in this one, Brown did not blow up the economy.
Brown began the overspending before the financial crisis hit. We went from surplus to deficit in 2002, five year before the financial crisis.
Had the idiot not done that, we'd have quickly overcome the crisis. Crises happen, you should be prepared for them and we were until Brown maxed the credit card pre-crisis.
Yet the Conservatives at the time were claiming they would spend even more on public services and at the same time cut taxes.
It was in hindsight the economics of the madhouse.
It must have been so strange being born British in the 1920s.
You are born into the global hegemon. An industrial juggernaut. The world's reserve currency. The largest empire ever known. The undisputed ruler of the waves.
R3 had a recording of her performing in some Broadway musical. Decent contralto, if rather warbley.
This narrative from young rightwingers is becoming increasingly common. It misses out just how many people of thar generation enjoyed the 60s and 70s, like many relatives of mine, as a huge relief.
There is too much of an attitude that the country has been on a constant downward trajectory. Maybe from a global military power perspective, but certainly there have been good times too.
I would accept that from around 2014-15 onwards we have had a lost decade, and it is hard to argue that we are not in decline right now, but these things are cyclical. Britain can come back. But it requires some more medicine. It remains to be seen whether the public wake up to the need to take it; or whether it is forced on them
When it was said “They’ve never had it so good”, this wasn’t jeered at. It was literally true on a staggering scale.
We talk of boomers and greed. My uncle and aunt reacted to the phenomenon of working class becoming middle class by saving.
They bought their house and paid it off. The rapid increases in wages meant they kept to *saving 30% of income*.
We were doing well until the idiot Cameron gave the other idiot Osborne the key to the petty cash box. We have been reaping his austerity whirlwind ever since.
We were doing well until the idiot Blair gave the other idiot Brown the key to the petty cash box. We have been reaping his overspending whirlwind ever since.
Not true. It might have been true in some alternative universe without the global financial crisis but in this one, Brown did not blow up the economy.
Being a moron, he thought he'd abolished the economic cycle. So Ed 'No' Balls went on the radio and literally claimed they'd abolished boom and bust.
To be fair, Labour's counter-cyclical spending had sidestepped the European recession.
Starmer: Palestine protesters should ‘respect the grief of British Jews this week’
‘Peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our democracy – and there is justified concern about the suffering in Gaza – but a minority have used these protests as a pretext for stoking antisemitic tropes’
Good tweet. He’s better at that sort of thing, and foreign policy, than the cheesier party political stuff.
Notable that based on my Embassy chats last night the French seem to rate him a lot. The classic dilemma: the politician who’s more popular abroad than at home. Gorbachev, Blair, Macron, Varoufakis, probably Khamenei. As opposed to the politicians more popular at home than abroad (Trump, Hitler, Stalin, Erdogan, Xi, Modi, Lula, Putin…)
Not a tweet, its an article he wrote for the JC and the JC editor will have penned that headline from it. Starmer twitter game is still awful.
It’s not a good tweet. He should be explaining why Jihad’s father has not also been arrested and banged up / deported. And more to the point, why tf he was let into the country and given citizenship in the first place.
More also needs to be said of how a man named Jihad can make death threats to an MP over his political position regarding Israel, and yet somehow not be on the radar of the security services.
Kitty Donaldson @kitty_donaldson · 2h NEW: Allies of Robert Jenrick are collecting no confidence letters from Conservative MPs calling for party leader Kemi Badenoch to quit, The i Paper has been told.
Genuinely why? The Tories will be destroyed next may, why would he want to be in charge when that happens? Why not ride to the rescue after?
Still a long time until the GE. My guess, he's presuming Reform will stumble at some point and Starmer will continue to be dependably shite so there's an opening for the Tories with a leader who looks and sounds as if they have some actual answers - and recent history suggests that leader isn't Kemi Badenoch.
Too long. Four years. Remarkably, only one Conservative leader has lasted that long this century, and that was David Cameron.
IDS 2 years Michael Howard 2 years Call Me Dave 11 years Theresa May 3 years Boris 3 years Liz Truss 7 weeks Rishi Sunak 2 years Kemi (so far) 1 year.
If Jenrick takes over now, on those precedents he will himself be replaced before a 2029 general election.
Yes, but since when has he placed judgement before his ambition?
Better to be leader ASAP for 6 weeks than to wait for a more favourable moment and risk never being leader at all.
Say what you like about Liz Truss, she did briefly reach the top.
Starmer: Palestine protesters should ‘respect the grief of British Jews this week’
‘Peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our democracy – and there is justified concern about the suffering in Gaza – but a minority have used these protests as a pretext for stoking antisemitic tropes’
Good tweet. He’s better at that sort of thing, and foreign policy, than the cheesier party political stuff.
Notable that based on my Embassy chats last night the French seem to rate him a lot. The classic dilemma: the politician who’s more popular abroad than at home. Gorbachev, Blair, Macron, Varoufakis, probably Khamenei. As opposed to the politicians more popular at home than abroad (Trump, Hitler, Stalin, Erdogan, Xi, Modi, Lula, Putin…)
Not a tweet, its an article he wrote for the JC and the JC editor will have penned that headline from it. Starmer twitter game is still awful.
It’s not a good tweet. He should be explaining why Jihad’s father has not also been arrested and banged up / deported. And more to the point, why tf he was let into the country and given citizenship in the first place.
More also needs to be said of how a man named Jihad can make death threats to an MP over his political position regarding Israel, and yet somehow not be on the radar of the security services.
Not a big fan of Starmer, but not sure we can blame him for things that happend 30 years and 10 years ago.
As for Jihadi Jihad father, it has been reported that he spends most of his time out of the UK (and is out of the country at the moment, working for International Red Cross in Sudan).
It must have been so strange being born British in the 1920s.
You are born into the global hegemon. An industrial juggernaut. The world's reserve currency. The largest empire ever known. The undisputed ruler of the waves.
R3 had a recording of her performing in some Broadway musical. Decent contralto, if rather warbley.
This narrative from young rightwingers is becoming increasingly common. It misses out just how many people of thar generation enjoyed the 60s and 70s, like many relatives of mine, as a huge relief.
There is too much of an attitude that the country has been on a constant downward trajectory. Maybe from a global military power perspective, but certainly there have been good times too.
I would accept that from around 2014-15 onwards we have had a lost decade, and it is hard to argue that we are not in decline right now, but these things are cyclical. Britain can come back. But it requires some more medicine. It remains to be seen whether the public wake up to the need to take it; or whether it is forced on them
When it was said “They’ve never had it so good”, this wasn’t jeered at. It was literally true on a staggering scale.
We talk of boomers and greed. My uncle and aunt reacted to the phenomenon of working class becoming middle class by saving.
They bought their house and paid it off. The rapid increases in wages meant they kept to *saving 30% of income*.
We were doing well until the idiot Cameron gave the other idiot Osborne the key to the petty cash box. We have been reaping his austerity whirlwind ever since.
We were doing well until the idiot Blair gave the other idiot Brown the key to the petty cash box. We have been reaping his overspending whirlwind ever since.
Not true. It might have been true in some alternative universe without the global financial crisis but in this one, Brown did not blow up the economy.
Brown began the overspending before the financial crisis hit. We went from surplus to deficit in 2002, five year before the financial crisis.
Had the idiot not done that, we'd have quickly overcome the crisis. Crises happen, you should be prepared for them and we were until Brown maxed the credit card pre-crisis.
Yet the Conservatives at the time were claiming they would spend even more on public services and at the same time cut taxes.
It was in hindsight the economics of the madhouse.
It was the same line that Reform are pushing. That there is so much wasteful bad spending that can be surgically removed, that it would be possible to cut taxes and still have more money to spend on good things. It's the vision that makes DOGE and DOGEalikes so attractive.
As the poor sods left running county councils for Reform are discovering, that's not really the case.
OT. It so happens that my sister and her vast family are members of the Heaton Park synagogue in Prestwich where the killing took place. They were there yesterday but thankfully undamaged. Indeed the last time I visited that synagogue was for the wedding of one of her children about five years ago.
I'm really not interested in getting into this anti semitism discussion particularly when it is as full of ignorance as it so often is on here when the leading racists take the stage.
But how is it after the wanton killings of newsmen babies small children photo journalists doctors nurses and at least 60,000 non combatents we know no details whatsoever about the life stories of any of them yet we are told out of respect for the synagogue attack all demonstations against the Gazan genocide should stop. Just don't offend Jews?
Does Netanyahu answer for anything? He is a proven liar and a butcher yet not a word from the Board of Deputies against him except that trying to charge him with genocide is an outrage.
"A gang of seven criminals behind "violent and calculated attacks" involving kidnapping and blackmail have been jailed.
A court heard how they used fake online profiles to trick victims into believing they were meeting girls they had been speaking to, but instead they were ambushed, threatened, assaulted and forced to transfer thousands of pounds."
Starmer: Palestine protesters should ‘respect the grief of British Jews this week’
‘Peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our democracy – and there is justified concern about the suffering in Gaza – but a minority have used these protests as a pretext for stoking antisemitic tropes’
Good tweet. He’s better at that sort of thing, and foreign policy, than the cheesier party political stuff.
Notable that based on my Embassy chats last night the French seem to rate him a lot. The classic dilemma: the politician who’s more popular abroad than at home. Gorbachev, Blair, Macron, Varoufakis, probably Khamenei. As opposed to the politicians more popular at home than abroad (Trump, Hitler, Stalin, Erdogan, Xi, Modi, Lula, Putin…)
Not a tweet, its an article he wrote for the JC and the JC editor will have penned that headline from it. Starmer twitter game is still awful.
It’s not a good tweet. He should be explaining why Jihad’s father has not also been arrested and banged up / deported. And more to the point, why tf he was let into the country and given citizenship in the first place.
More also needs to be said of how a man named Jihad can make death threats to an MP over his political position regarding Israel, and yet somehow not be on the radar of the security services.
Not a big fan of Starmer, but not sure we can blame him for things that happend 30 years and 10 years ago.
As for Jihadi Jihad father, it has been reported that he spends most of his time out of the UK (and is out of the country at the moment, working for International Red Cross in Sudan).
That’s good. We don’t even need to pay to deport him. Just cancel his passport and be done with it.
OT. It so happens that my sister and her vast family are members of the Heaton Park synagogue in Prestwich where the killing took place. They were there yesterday but thankfully undamaged. Indeed the last time I visited that synagogue was for the wedding of one of her children about five years ago.
I'm really not interested in getting into this anti semitism discussion particularly when it is as full of ignorance as it so often is on here when the leading racists take the stage.
But how is it after the wanton killings of newsmen babies small children photo journalists doctors nurses and at least 60,000 non combatents we know no details whatsoever about the life stories of any of them yet we are told out of respect for the synagogue attack all demonstations against the Gazan genocide should stop. Just don't offend Jews?
Does Netanyahu answer for anything? He is a proven liar and a butcher yet not a word from the Board of Deputies against him except that trying to charge him with genocide is an outrage.
Yesterday's attack had nothing to do with Netanyahu.
It had everything to do with hatred and anti-Semitism.
Edit: and I'd just like to add that I'm glad your family is safe. I hope they soon get over the trauma of the day.
Home from the office in Glasgow just in time to beat the inevitable train chaos of the incoming storm. One does rather wonder if there's much impact assessment being done about the economic losses that will come from the increased amount of public transportation disruption in an increasingly stormy Scotland/Britain.
When the first storm of the season is Storm Aaron A. Aaronson then there might be a problem
The southern Gaza city of Khan Younis has witnessed one of the fiercest internal confrontations since the war began, between a Hamas security force and gunmen from the al-Mujaida clan - one of the largest families in the south.
According to Hamas, its forces raided the neighbourhood to detain individuals accused of collaborating with Israel.
Local accounts, however, described an armed assault by about 50 men riding in five pickup trucks, armed with assault rifles and a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launcher, who stormed the al-Mujaida quarter and killed five members of the family.
Armed relatives quickly fought back, sparking hours-long clashes with heavy gunfire.
Reports circulating on social media – difficult to independently verify – claim that more than 11 Hamas members were killed, with some of their bodies dragged through the streets.
OT. It so happens that my sister and her vast family are members of the Heaton Park synagogue in Prestwich where the killing took place. They were there yesterday but thankfully undamaged. Indeed the last time I visited that synagogue was for the wedding of one of her children about five years ago.
I'm really not interested in getting into this anti semitism discussion particularly when it is as full of ignorance as it so often is on here when the leading racists take the stage.
But how is it after the wanton killings of newsmen babies small children photo journalists doctors nurses and at least 60,000 non combatents we know no details whatsoever about the life stories of any of them yet we are told out of respect for the synagogue attack all demonstations against the Gazan genocide should stop. Just don't offend Jews?
Does Netanyahu answer for anything? He is a proven liar and a butcher yet not a word from the Board of Deputies against him except that trying to charge him with genocide is an outrage.
Yesterday's attack had nothing to do with Netanyahu.
It had everything to do with hatred and anti-Semitism.
That is true, and parts of Roger's post are simultaneously true. Zack Polanski was good at expressing this, this morming, as someone also from the Manchester Jewish community.
Spain does have a bit of natural advantage when it comes to solar power though !
And Milliband turned down a fully financed plan for the private sector to build a connector to Morocco
XLinks?
Yes. Didn't like the 'political risk' amongst other things (the financing & construction costs have of course risen - as they have with everything else). It smacks of bullshit to me, given that political risk attaches to other energy sources too.
Now if there were equivalent projects to do something overland in Europe, then I'd better understand the decision. But what there is doesn't begin to compare in capacity.
Instead we're booking 20 year + wind projects with overseas developers, at the top of the market, and funnelling billions into carbon capture.
I think security was a big issue. Easy for the Russians to take it out.
(If we actually used our armed forces we could sink the shadow fleet, build interconnectors and not put up with drones disrupting our airports. Our leaders are made of jelly, just completely pathetic. What next - fighter jets in NATO airspace?!?!)
Not from my conversations with the senior management team
OT. It so happens that my sister and her vast family are members of the Heaton Park synagogue in Prestwich where the killing took place. They were there yesterday but thankfully undamaged. Indeed the last time I visited that synagogue was for the wedding of one of her children about five years ago.
I'm really not interested in getting into this anti semitism discussion particularly when it is as full of ignorance as it so often is on here when the leading racists take the stage.
But how is it after the wanton killings of newsmen babies small children photo journalists doctors nurses and at least 60,000 non combatents we know no details whatsoever about the life stories of any of them yet we are told out of respect for the synagogue attack all demonstations against the Gazan genocide should stop. Just don't offend Jews?
Does Netanyahu answer for anything? He is a proven liar and a butcher yet not a word from the Board of Deputies against him except that trying to charge him with genocide is an outrage.
British Jews opinion of Netanyahu is strongly negative*:
"95% of adult British Jews have an opinion on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the most widely known leader among those examined. Four in five Jews hold an unfavourable opinion of him, with 65% saying they “strongly disapprove” and 15% saying they “somewhat” disapprove of him."
Intense police activity has been reported on the outskirts of Bolton, Greater Manchester.
Residents in Central Avenue, Bolton, which his around 10 miles from the Heaton park synagogue, said search teams, police vehicles and Tactical Aid Unit vans have been scouring the area.
Just getting in to see the news, shocked to learn old Jihad al-MurderStab was on bail for a sexual offence. I assume there is worse to come and we're just being drip fed bits.
The cops must be relieved the weather forecast is so brutal, it will at least limit the amount of people willing to go out and protest.
The southern Gaza city of Khan Younis has witnessed one of the fiercest internal confrontations since the war began, between a Hamas security force and gunmen from the al-Mujaida clan - one of the largest families in the south.
According to Hamas, its forces raided the neighbourhood to detain individuals accused of collaborating with Israel.
Local accounts, however, described an armed assault by about 50 men riding in five pickup trucks, armed with assault rifles and a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launcher, who stormed the al-Mujaida quarter and killed five members of the family.
Armed relatives quickly fought back, sparking hours-long clashes with heavy gunfire.
Reports circulating on social media – difficult to independently verify – claim that more than 11 Hamas members were killed, with some of their bodies dragged through the streets.
It's surprising how Gaza is apparently a wasteland where everyone is starving, and yet dozens of armed men are fit enough to drive around and have a battle - without Israel's assistance.
OT. It so happens that my sister and her vast family are members of the Heaton Park synagogue in Prestwich where the killing took place. They were there yesterday but thankfully undamaged. Indeed the last time I visited that synagogue was for the wedding of one of her children about five years ago.
I'm really not interested in getting into this anti semitism discussion particularly when it is as full of ignorance as it so often is on here when the leading racists take the stage.
But how is it after the wanton killings of newsmen babies small children photo journalists doctors nurses and at least 60,000 non combatents we know no details whatsoever about the life stories of any of them yet we are told out of respect for the synagogue attack all demonstations against the Gazan genocide should stop. Just don't offend Jews?
Does Netanyahu answer for anything? He is a proven liar and a butcher yet not a word from the Board of Deputies against him except that trying to charge him with genocide is an outrage.
British Jews opinion of Netanyahu is strongly negative*:
"95% of adult British Jews have an opinion on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the most widely known leader among those examined. Four in five Jews hold an unfavourable opinion of him, with 65% saying they “strongly disapprove” and 15% saying they “somewhat” disapprove of him."
You wouldn't know that if you just read the output of the Board of Deputies, or for that matter PB, or indeed British Jihadists.
* the poll is from 2024, but things have only got worse since.
I’m not sure I see the connection. The British Jews I know have a deeply unfavourite opinion of Bibi. Yet still consider Israel has the right to defend herself against external attack.
It must have been so strange being born British in the 1920s.
You are born into the global hegemon. An industrial juggernaut. The world's reserve currency. The largest empire ever known. The undisputed ruler of the waves.
R3 had a recording of her performing in some Broadway musical. Decent contralto, if rather warbley.
This narrative from young rightwingers is becoming increasingly common. It misses out just how many people of thar generation enjoyed the 60s and 70s, like many relatives of mine, as a huge relief.
Oh, I'm sure that's true.
But either way the culture shock must have been considerable.
I often think the sweet spot was someone born in the late 30s. That does presuppose that you didn’t suffer loss in the war, but you’d be generally too young to remember much of it. Teenager in the relative stability of the 50s. Still young enough to enjoy the 60s.
Men, yes. Women perhaps not so much.
Dad was born in 1939. Remembers snippets of the war but not much. Served in the guards rather than national service then straight into Wiltshire Police for 30 years. Retired at 56 with a huge pay off (restructuring) and has now been retired as long as he served.
Pretty sweet spot.
I was born in 1943. I thoroughly enjoyed the sixties, married in 1968. Three kids and five grandsons all living within walking distance of me. Fired in 1995 (long story) with big pay off and large fully inflation protected pension. I'm extremely lucky. In good health. Skiing next year. And I'm still alive to see the fantastic AI revolution. What a time to be alive! I think I hit the sweet spot.
Except you're going to die about five years before they solve longevity, reverse ageing and everyone lives until they're 190, or forever
OT. It so happens that my sister and her vast family are members of the Heaton Park synagogue in Prestwich where the killing took place. They were there yesterday but thankfully undamaged. Indeed the last time I visited that synagogue was for the wedding of one of her children about five years ago.
I'm really not interested in getting into this anti semitism discussion particularly when it is as full of ignorance as it so often is on here when the leading racists take the stage.
But how is it after the wanton killings of newsmen babies small children photo journalists doctors nurses and at least 60,000 non combatents we know no details whatsoever about the life stories of any of them yet we are told out of respect for the synagogue attack all demonstations against the Gazan genocide should stop. Just don't offend Jews?
Does Netanyahu answer for anything? He is a proven liar and a butcher yet not a word from the Board of Deputies against him except that trying to charge him with genocide is an outrage.
British Jews opinion of Netanyahu is strongly negative*:
"95% of adult British Jews have an opinion on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the most widely known leader among those examined. Four in five Jews hold an unfavourable opinion of him, with 65% saying they “strongly disapprove” and 15% saying they “somewhat” disapprove of him."
You wouldn't know that if you just read the output of the Board of Deputies, or for that matter PB, or indeed British Jihadists.
* the poll is from 2024, but things have only got worse since.
I’m not sure I see the connection. The British Jews I know have a deeply unfavourite opinion of Bibi. Yet still consider Israel has the right to defend herself against external attack.
Spain does have a bit of natural advantage when it comes to solar power though !
And Milliband turned down a fully financed plan for the private sector to build a connector to Morocco
XLinks?
Yes. Didn't like the 'political risk' amongst other things (the financing & construction costs have of course risen - as they have with everything else). It smacks of bullshit to me, given that political risk attaches to other energy sources too.
Now if there were equivalent projects to do something overland in Europe, then I'd better understand the decision. But what there is doesn't begin to compare in capacity.
Instead we're booking 20 year + wind projects with overseas developers, at the top of the market, and funnelling billions into carbon capture.
I think security was a big issue. Easy for the Russians to take it out.
(If we actually used our armed forces we could sink the shadow fleet, build interconnectors and not put up with drones disrupting our airports. Our leaders are made of jelly, just completely pathetic. What next - fighter jets in NATO airspace?!?!)
Not from my conversations with the senior management team
The real issue is cost.
The price of solar panels is collapsing. They are about as cheap a roofing material for sheds, now.
The bit that costs money is the electronics to turn the DC low voltage into 240v AC. And setup/wiring.
So, while Morocco has more sun (fewer required panels) this doesn’t mean much in terms of costs. They need the same amount of power electronics as a UK solar site - the U.K. one just needs more, very cheap panels.
So the Moroccan ‘leccy won’t be that much cheaper. And by the time you add in the cost of the interconnect - it will be more expensive in most scenarios.
On top of that you have the strategic vulnerability of depending on energy imports - why not just make all your ‘leccy here?
Intense police activity has been reported on the outskirts of Bolton, Greater Manchester.
Residents in Central Avenue, Bolton, which his around 10 miles from the Heaton park synagogue, said search teams, police vehicles and Tactical Aid Unit vans have been scouring the area.
Statement in next hour, apparently.
As a GM resident, it is utterly bizarre to hear Prestwich and Farnworth being mentioned in discussions about terrorism but then GMP busted an Iranian terror cell in the next village to me a few months ago, so I guess that's life now.
The leader of the Green Party says he wants to legalise all drugs, calling for an approach "led by public health experts, not politicians".
Speaking to BBC South East ahead of his party conference, Zack Polanski said he agreed with a Kent Green councillor, who earlier this year called for the legalisation of all drugs, including class A drugs like heroin and crack cocaine.
I think we can see how the Greens plan to improve the public finances!
It must have been so strange being born British in the 1920s.
You are born into the global hegemon. An industrial juggernaut. The world's reserve currency. The largest empire ever known. The undisputed ruler of the waves.
R3 had a recording of her performing in some Broadway musical. Decent contralto, if rather warbley.
This narrative from young rightwingers is becoming increasingly common. It misses out just how many people of thar generation enjoyed the 60s and 70s, like many relatives of mine, as a huge relief.
Oh, I'm sure that's true.
But either way the culture shock must have been considerable.
I often think the sweet spot was someone born in the late 30s. That does presuppose that you didn’t suffer loss in the war, but you’d be generally too young to remember much of it. Teenager in the relative stability of the 50s. Still young enough to enjoy the 60s.
Men, yes. Women perhaps not so much.
Dad was born in 1939. Remembers snippets of the war but not much. Served in the guards rather than national service then straight into Wiltshire Police for 30 years. Retired at 56 with a huge pay off (restructuring) and has now been retired as long as he served.
Pretty sweet spot.
I was born in 1943. I thoroughly enjoyed the sixties, married in 1968. Three kids and five grandsons all living within walking distance of me. Fired in 1995 (long story) with big pay off and large fully inflation protected pension. I'm extremely lucky. In good health. Skiing next year. And I'm still alive to see the fantastic AI revolution. What a time to be alive! I think I hit the sweet spot.
Except you're going to die about five years before they solve longevity, reverse ageing and everyone lives until they're 190, or forever
So, maybe not such a sweet spot
This is one of your most unnecessary posts ever. Not to be recommended.
The leader of the Green Party says he wants to legalise all drugs, calling for an approach "led by public health experts, not politicians".
Speaking to BBC South East ahead of his party conference, Zack Polanski said he agreed with a Kent Green councillor, who earlier this year called for the legalisation of all drugs, including class A drugs like heroin and crack cocaine.
I think we can see how the Greens plan to improve the public finances!
Or maybe just have us all so stoned that we aren't bothered that we are bankrupt.
OT. It so happens that my sister and her vast family are members of the Heaton Park synagogue in Prestwich where the killing took place. They were there yesterday but thankfully undamaged. Indeed the last time I visited that synagogue was for the wedding of one of her children about five years ago.
I'm really not interested in getting into this anti semitism discussion particularly when it is as full of ignorance as it so often is on here when the leading racists take the stage.
But how is it after the wanton killings of newsmen babies small children photo journalists doctors nurses and at least 60,000 non combatents we know no details whatsoever about the life stories of any of them yet we are told out of respect for the synagogue attack all demonstations against the Gazan genocide should stop. Just don't offend Jews?
Does Netanyahu answer for anything? He is a proven liar and a butcher yet not a word from the Board of Deputies against him except that trying to charge him with genocide is an outrage.
British Jews opinion of Netanyahu is strongly negative*:
"95% of adult British Jews have an opinion on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the most widely known leader among those examined. Four in five Jews hold an unfavourable opinion of him, with 65% saying they “strongly disapprove” and 15% saying they “somewhat” disapprove of him."
You wouldn't know that if you just read the output of the Board of Deputies, or for that matter PB, or indeed British Jihadists.
* the poll is from 2024, but things have only got worse since.
I’m not sure I see the connection. The British Jews I know have a deeply unfavourite opinion of Bibi. Yet still consider Israel has the right to defend herself against external attack.
Sure, but when that defence turns into genocide?
You’ve been the king of whataboutery in the last 24hrs, which is disappointingly out of character. Two middle aged British Jews are dead, more in serious condition. As far as we know they have nothing to do with any supposed genocide thousands of miles away.
Friday night question: Does anyone on PB fly a flag from their property, meaning house or business? Which one?
I'm in the fortunate position of not having any in my lane, and if anyone put up one on "my" telegraph pole ie the one outside my house, at present it would be coming down pronto.
The rules are massively broad, so if I put one up, which can't be a St George at present as I won't be identified with the knuckle dragging crowd, it would perhaps be one with a Compass Rose.
That could be a NATO flag (which is clearly OK as an "international organisation where the UK is a member"), or the Anglican Communion one - which is a touch marginal, but appropriate in a period when we have a new Archbishop of Canterbury, and *does* include a shield of St George:
The motto has 2 or 3 possible meanings for 2025 in England: "The truth shall set you free", written in Greek.
The leader of the Green Party says he wants to legalise all drugs, calling for an approach "led by public health experts, not politicians".
Speaking to BBC South East ahead of his party conference, Zack Polanski said he agreed with a Kent Green councillor, who earlier this year called for the legalisation of all drugs, including class A drugs like heroin and crack cocaine.
I think we can see how the Greens plan to improve the public finances!
Fuck all to do with the environment. Typical of today's Green Party.
It must have been so strange being born British in the 1920s.
You are born into the global hegemon. An industrial juggernaut. The world's reserve currency. The largest empire ever known. The undisputed ruler of the waves.
R3 had a recording of her performing in some Broadway musical. Decent contralto, if rather warbley.
This narrative from young rightwingers is becoming increasingly common. It misses out just how many people of thar generation enjoyed the 60s and 70s, like many relatives of mine, as a huge relief.
Oh, I'm sure that's true.
But either way the culture shock must have been considerable.
I often think the sweet spot was someone born in the late 30s. That does presuppose that you didn’t suffer loss in the war, but you’d be generally too young to remember much of it. Teenager in the relative stability of the 50s. Still young enough to enjoy the 60s.
Men, yes. Women perhaps not so much.
Dad was born in 1939. Remembers snippets of the war but not much. Served in the guards rather than national service then straight into Wiltshire Police for 30 years. Retired at 56 with a huge pay off (restructuring) and has now been retired as long as he served.
Pretty sweet spot.
I was born in 1943. I thoroughly enjoyed the sixties, married in 1968. Three kids and five grandsons all living within walking distance of me. Fired in 1995 (long story) with big pay off and large fully inflation protected pension. I'm extremely lucky. In good health. Skiing next year. And I'm still alive to see the fantastic AI revolution. What a time to be alive! I think I hit the sweet spot.
Except you're going to die about five years before they solve longevity, reverse ageing and everyone lives until they're 190, or forever
So, maybe not such a sweet spot
If they do solve longevity and reverse aging in that timescale then none of us on this forum will be able to afford it. Even the lawyers
The leader of the Green Party says he wants to legalise all drugs, calling for an approach "led by public health experts, not politicians".
Speaking to BBC South East ahead of his party conference, Zack Polanski said he agreed with a Kent Green councillor, who earlier this year called for the legalisation of all drugs, including class A drugs like heroin and crack cocaine.
I think we can see how the Greens plan to improve the public finances!
Fuck all to do with the environment. Typical of today's Green Party.
The carbon footprint of the cannabis industry must be quite large.
OT. It so happens that my sister and her vast family are members of the Heaton Park synagogue in Prestwich where the killing took place. They were there yesterday but thankfully undamaged. Indeed the last time I visited that synagogue was for the wedding of one of her children about five years ago.
I'm really not interested in getting into this anti semitism discussion particularly when it is as full of ignorance as it so often is on here when the leading racists take the stage.
But how is it after the wanton killings of newsmen babies small children photo journalists doctors nurses and at least 60,000 non combatents we know no details whatsoever about the life stories of any of them yet we are told out of respect for the synagogue attack all demonstations against the Gazan genocide should stop. Just don't offend Jews?
Does Netanyahu answer for anything? He is a proven liar and a butcher yet not a word from the Board of Deputies against him except that trying to charge him with genocide is an outrage.
British Jews opinion of Netanyahu is strongly negative*:
"95% of adult British Jews have an opinion on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the most widely known leader among those examined. Four in five Jews hold an unfavourable opinion of him, with 65% saying they “strongly disapprove” and 15% saying they “somewhat” disapprove of him."
You wouldn't know that if you just read the output of the Board of Deputies, or for that matter PB, or indeed British Jihadists.
* the poll is from 2024, but things have only got worse since.
I’m not sure I see the connection. The British Jews I know have a deeply unfavourite opinion of Bibi. Yet still consider Israel has the right to defend herself against external attack.
Sure, but when that defence turns into genocide?
You’ve been the king of whataboutery in the last 24hrs, which is disappointingly out of character. Two middle aged British Jews are dead, more in serious condition. As far as we know they have nothing to do with any supposed genocide thousands of miles away.
Exactly so. They had nothing to do with the genocide in Gaza.
The best response to terrorism is to keep calm and carry on, including a protest on an unrelated issue scheduled for tommorow.
Friday night question: Does anyone on PB fly a flag from their property, meaning house or business? Which one?
I'm in the fortunate position of not having any in my lane, and if anyone put up one on "my" telegraph pole ie the one outside my house, at present it would be coming down pronto.
The rules are massively broad, so if I put one up - can't be a St George at present as I won't be identified with the knuckle dragging crowd - it would perhaps be one with a Compass Rose. That could be a NATO flag (which is clearly OK as an "international organisation where the UK is a member"), or the one below - which is a touch marginal, but appropriate in a period when we have a new Archbishop of Canterbury.
It must have been so strange being born British in the 1920s.
You are born into the global hegemon. An industrial juggernaut. The world's reserve currency. The largest empire ever known. The undisputed ruler of the waves.
R3 had a recording of her performing in some Broadway musical. Decent contralto, if rather warbley.
This narrative from young rightwingers is becoming increasingly common. It misses out just how many people of thar generation enjoyed the 60s and 70s, like many relatives of mine, as a huge relief.
Oh, I'm sure that's true.
But either way the culture shock must have been considerable.
I often think the sweet spot was someone born in the late 30s. That does presuppose that you didn’t suffer loss in the war, but you’d be generally too young to remember much of it. Teenager in the relative stability of the 50s. Still young enough to enjoy the 60s.
Men, yes. Women perhaps not so much.
Dad was born in 1939. Remembers snippets of the war but not much. Served in the guards rather than national service then straight into Wiltshire Police for 30 years. Retired at 56 with a huge pay off (restructuring) and has now been retired as long as he served.
Pretty sweet spot.
I was born in 1943. I thoroughly enjoyed the sixties, married in 1968. Three kids and five grandsons all living within walking distance of me. Fired in 1995 (long story) with big pay off and large fully inflation protected pension. I'm extremely lucky. In good health. Skiing next year. And I'm still alive to see the fantastic AI revolution. What a time to be alive! I think I hit the sweet spot.
Except you're going to die about five years before they solve longevity, reverse ageing and everyone lives until they're 190, or forever
So, maybe not such a sweet spot
If they do solve longevity and reverse aging in that timescale then none of us on this forum will be able to afford it. Even the lawyers
The last generation to live. Or the last generation to die. The 2030s are going to be quite the emotional rollercoaster.
It must have been so strange being born British in the 1920s.
You are born into the global hegemon. An industrial juggernaut. The world's reserve currency. The largest empire ever known. The undisputed ruler of the waves.
R3 had a recording of her performing in some Broadway musical. Decent contralto, if rather warbley.
This narrative from young rightwingers is becoming increasingly common. It misses out just how many people of thar generation enjoyed the 60s and 70s, like many relatives of mine, as a huge relief.
Oh, I'm sure that's true.
But either way the culture shock must have been considerable.
I often think the sweet spot was someone born in the late 30s. That does presuppose that you didn’t suffer loss in the war, but you’d be generally too young to remember much of it. Teenager in the relative stability of the 50s. Still young enough to enjoy the 60s.
Men, yes. Women perhaps not so much.
Dad was born in 1939. Remembers snippets of the war but not much. Served in the guards rather than national service then straight into Wiltshire Police for 30 years. Retired at 56 with a huge pay off (restructuring) and has now been retired as long as he served.
Pretty sweet spot.
I was born in 1943. I thoroughly enjoyed the sixties, married in 1968. Three kids and five grandsons all living within walking distance of me. Fired in 1995 (long story) with big pay off and large fully inflation protected pension. I'm extremely lucky. In good health. Skiing next year. And I'm still alive to see the fantastic AI revolution. What a time to be alive! I think I hit the sweet spot.
Except you're going to die about five years before they solve longevity, reverse ageing and everyone lives until they're 190, or forever
So, maybe not such a sweet spot
This is one of your most unnecessary posts ever. Not to be recommended.
Oh give over. I was teasing @Barnesian for his excessively self-congratulatory post. Have a sense of humour
Tho there is an underlying truth here. Science is probably quite close to solving longevity, and maybe even mortality
Try not to die, PBers, in the next 5-10 years. It would be a bummer to be the last human to die, just before they crack immortality. Like being the last soldier shot in the trenches, at 11:10, on 11/11/1918
The leader of the Green Party says he wants to legalise all drugs, calling for an approach "led by public health experts, not politicians".
Speaking to BBC South East ahead of his party conference, Zack Polanski said he agreed with a Kent Green councillor, who earlier this year called for the legalisation of all drugs, including class A drugs like heroin and crack cocaine.
I think we can see how the Greens plan to improve the public finances!
Fuck all to do with the environment. Typical of today's Green Party.
The carbon footprint of the cannabis industry must be quite large.
Yes, but like lots of the costs that is to do with illegality.
Legit commercial growers would keep their bills down by proper insulation
Comments
The Greens’ Zack Polanski on facing up to Reform
By Megan Kenyon"
https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/greens/2025/10/zack-polanski-we-absolutely-need-to-stop-the-boats
Even more impressive: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_planetary_pressures–adjusted_Human_Development_Index
Pretty sure these are being fed by someone with an agenda.
Storm Amy is ex-Hurricane Humberto, and so I think there's definitely something about the interaction between the hurricane season, the start of the Polar night, and the enduring heat in the oceans that lays the groundwork for strong mid-latitude storms in October.
@atrupar
Leavitt: "President Trump will end the radical left's reign of terror in Portland once and for all. The president has directed Secretary Hegseth to provide all necessary troops to protect war-ravaged Portland."
https://x.com/atrupar/status/1974161997307502622
We talk of boomers and greed. My uncle and aunt reacted to the phenomenon of working class becoming middle class by saving.
They bought their house and paid it off. The rapid increases in wages meant they kept to *saving 30% of income*.
@kitty_donaldson
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2h
NEW: Allies of Robert Jenrick are collecting no confidence letters from Conservative MPs calling for party leader Kemi Badenoch to quit, The i Paper has been told.
Women perhaps not so much.
Pretty sweet spot.
It's the start of November that her immunity wears off, isn't it?
Besides, if Bobby J is really planning a coup, isn't the honourable thing for him to do to resign from the shadow cabinet?
I - genionely - think Jenrick is the main reason why we might not get a Reform largest party at the next GE. The man is astonishnngly opportunstic and will split the right-wing vote through sheer tiktok hyperactivity.
This beer has gone straight to my head wowsa.
I wonder if it was a failing on the part of the individual teacher? Despite efforts to avoid it (and a code of conduct that says we must avoid it) individual prejudices can still slip in.
The head of the Signal app has criticized plans in the EU that would allow messengers to have backdoors to enable automatic searches for criminal content. Signal is considered one of the most secure messengers.
"If we were faced with the choice of either undermining the integrity of our encryption and our data protection guarantees or leaving Europe, we would unfortunately make the decision to leave the market,"
Cleverley or his backers trying to create a wedge so he can pick up the pieces id guess
Jenricks trying to get the 'numbers' to strike at the most opportune moment and Cleverley is dobbing him in via the scandal hungry press goobers
Plus ca change
‘Peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our democracy – and there is justified concern about the suffering in Gaza – but a minority have used these protests as a pretext for stoking antisemitic tropes’
https://www.thejc.com/opinion/starmer-palestine-protesters-should-respect-the-grief-of-british-jews-this-week-gouq2cg9
Signal are one of the few outfits that I have respect for in this space.
Their code is open sourced - both client and server. You can download the code and build it yourself. A number of people do.
They really work to make their service secure. They are owned by a non-profit (aka charity) that specifically is constituted to forbid selling data.
It’s notable that taking a fork of their code is nearly the standard for building a custom, ultra secure messaging app. In fact I’ve suggested in the past the U.K. government should do exactly that.
I don't think they had bad lives (male or female).
All we've done since is invert the pressure on women - back then, they had to be stay at home mums, now they have to earn a 2nd income to pay the mortgage (and as various astute posters have noted the car PCP payments on shiny new cars they can't really afford). Giving them an actual choice seems as far away as ever.
I thoroughly enjoyed the sixties, married in 1968. Three kids and five grandsons all living within walking distance of me.
Fired in 1995 (long story) with big pay off and large fully inflation protected pension.
I'm extremely lucky. In good health. Skiing next year.
And I'm still alive to see the fantastic AI revolution.
What a time to be alive! I think I hit the sweet spot.
Even storms are Trans now?
IDS 2 years
Michael Howard 2 years
Call Me Dave 11 years
Theresa May 3 years
Boris 3 years
Liz Truss 7 weeks
Rishi Sunak 2 years
Kemi (so far) 1 year.
If Jenrick takes over now, on those precedents he will himself be replaced before a 2029 general election.
I'm done with the "rights" crap.
His father saying he distances the family from the attack, but he [the father] praised the 7 October atrocities by Hamas.
Very poisonous.
Had the idiot not done that, we'd have quickly overcome the crisis. Crises happen, you should be prepared for them and we were until Brown maxed the credit card pre-crisis.
At some point, you have to accept that pressing the NEXT button with the passion, urgency and frequency of a teenage boy who has found a naughty picture website that has somehow evaded the Online Safety Act isn't helping.
At best, the selection process is throwing up the wrong winners. At worst, the job is simply impossible.
I have no doubt that a lot of the characters were based on people in his village and I always wonder who is who and how thin the disguises were.
There is no Bucket family but there is one with a very similar name.
The character as played seemed universal, though, and sometimes rather too close to home...
Notable that based on my Embassy chats last night the French seem to rate him a lot. The classic dilemma: the politician who’s more popular abroad than at home. Gorbachev, Blair, Macron, Varoufakis, probably Khamenei. As opposed to the politicians more popular at home than abroad (Trump, Hitler, Stalin, Erdogan, Xi, Modi, Lula, Putin…)
We have had a run of decades where the demographics have been in our favour- we should have been running a surplus consistently since sometime in the 80s, when the British boomers were entering their earning years. That's a proper surplus, not one flattered by asset sales or maintainence holidays. We didn't, because voters would have vetoed it.
The crunch that has now started, and is going to get worse for quite a while yet, was utterly predictable, and mostly ignored. Thatcher/Lawson were just as culpable as Blair/Brown for mistaking their demographic luck for fiscal brilliance.
Brown had spent all the tax from the banks - when that vanished, we were looking at a structural deficit. Labour was talking about bigger cuts than the Coalition. The markets were starting to get all..... Truss'd Up? Hell, the delay in forming a government had some people demanding a National Government *right now*.
It was in hindsight the economics of the madhouse.
More also needs to be said of how a man named Jihad can make death threats to an MP over his political position regarding Israel, and yet somehow not be on the radar of the security services.
As for Jihadi Jihad father, it has been reported that he spends most of his time out of the UK (and is out of the country at the moment, working for International Red Cross in Sudan).
As the poor sods left running county councils for Reform are discovering, that's not really the case.
I'm really not interested in getting into this anti semitism discussion particularly when it is as full of ignorance as it so often is on here when the leading racists take the stage.
But how is it after the wanton killings of newsmen babies small children photo journalists doctors nurses and at least 60,000 non combatents we know no details whatsoever about the life stories of any of them yet we are told out of respect for the synagogue attack all demonstations against the Gazan genocide should stop. Just don't offend Jews?
Does Netanyahu answer for anything? He is a proven liar and a butcher yet not a word from the Board of Deputies against him except that trying to charge him with genocide is an outrage.
"A gang of seven criminals behind "violent and calculated attacks" involving kidnapping and blackmail have been jailed.
A court heard how they used fake online profiles to trick victims into believing they were meeting girls they had been speaking to, but instead they were ambushed, threatened, assaulted and forced to transfer thousands of pounds."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvg4lkgk2rko
It had everything to do with hatred and anti-Semitism.
Edit: and I'd just like to add that I'm glad your family is safe. I hope they soon get over the trauma of the day.
When the first storm of the season is Storm Aaron A. Aaronson then there might be a problem
According to Hamas, its forces raided the neighbourhood to detain individuals accused of collaborating with Israel.
Local accounts, however, described an armed assault by about 50 men riding in five pickup trucks, armed with assault rifles and a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launcher, who stormed the al-Mujaida quarter and killed five members of the family.
Armed relatives quickly fought back, sparking hours-long clashes with heavy gunfire.
Reports circulating on social media – difficult to independently verify – claim that more than 11 Hamas members were killed, with some of their bodies dragged through the streets.
"95% of adult British Jews have an opinion on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the most widely known leader among those examined. Four in five Jews hold an unfavourable opinion of him, with 65% saying they “strongly disapprove” and 15% saying they “somewhat” disapprove of him."
https://www.jpr.org.uk/reports/what-do-jews-uk-think-about-israel-and-its-leaders-and-how-has-changed-october-7
You wouldn't know that if you just read the output of the Board of Deputies, or for that matter PB, or indeed British Jihadists.
* the poll is from 2024, but things have only got worse since.
Residents in Central Avenue, Bolton, which his around 10 miles from the Heaton park synagogue, said search teams, police vehicles and Tactical Aid Unit vans have been scouring the area.
The cops must be relieved the weather forecast is so brutal, it will at least limit the amount of people willing to go out and protest.
So, maybe not such a sweet spot
The price of solar panels is collapsing. They are about as cheap a roofing material for sheds, now.
The bit that costs money is the electronics to turn the DC low voltage into 240v AC. And setup/wiring.
So, while Morocco has more sun (fewer required panels) this doesn’t mean much in terms of costs. They need the same amount of power electronics as a UK solar site - the U.K. one just needs more, very cheap panels.
So the Moroccan ‘leccy won’t be that much cheaper. And by the time you add in the cost of the interconnect - it will be more expensive in most scenarios.
On top of that you have the strategic vulnerability of depending on energy imports - why not just make all your ‘leccy here?
As a GM resident, it is utterly bizarre to hear Prestwich and Farnworth being mentioned in discussions about terrorism but then GMP busted an Iranian terror cell in the next village to me a few months ago, so I guess that's life now.
The leader of the Green Party says he wants to legalise all drugs, calling for an approach "led by public health experts, not politicians".
Speaking to BBC South East ahead of his party conference, Zack Polanski said he agreed with a Kent Green councillor, who earlier this year called for the legalisation of all drugs, including class A drugs like heroin and crack cocaine.
I think we can see how the Greens plan to improve the public finances!
I'm in the fortunate position of not having any in my lane, and if anyone put up one on "my" telegraph pole ie the one outside my house, at present it would be coming down pronto.
The rules are massively broad, so if I put one up, which can't be a St George at present as I won't be identified with the knuckle dragging crowd, it would perhaps be one with a Compass Rose.
That could be a NATO flag (which is clearly OK as an "international organisation where the UK is a member"), or the Anglican Communion one - which is a touch marginal, but appropriate in a period when we have a new Archbishop of Canterbury, and *does* include a shield of St George:
The motto has 2 or 3 possible meanings for 2025 in England: "The truth shall set you free", written in Greek.
The best response to terrorism is to keep calm and carry on, including a protest on an unrelated issue scheduled for tommorow.
Tho there is an underlying truth here. Science is probably quite close to solving longevity, and maybe even mortality
Try not to die, PBers, in the next 5-10 years. It would be a bummer to be the last human to die, just before they crack immortality. Like being the last soldier shot in the trenches, at 11:10, on 11/11/1918
Legit commercial growers would keep their bills down by proper insulation