That slight and subtle tang on the breeze, that distant but perceptible sharpness. The rumour of a story of a tale told by a neighbour, of a cold wind, where the road bends
We are just six weeks from the nights drawing in. Autumn is on the way
One step at a time, not had our summer yet! Was near freezing here last night
That slight and subtle tang on the breeze, that distant but perceptible sharpness. The rumour of a story of a tale told by a neighbour, of a cold wind, where the road bends
We are just six weeks from the nights drawing in. Autumn is on the way
One step at a time, not had our summer yet! Was near freezing here last night
Is there a betting market up yet on the day of summer this year? I forecast 13th June.
That slight and subtle tang on the breeze, that distant but perceptible sharpness. The rumour of a story of a tale told by a neighbour, of a cold wind, where the road bends
We are just six weeks from the nights drawing in. Autumn is on the way
One step at a time, not had our summer yet! Was near freezing here last night
Is there a betting market up yet on the day of summer this year? I forecast 13th June.
Can somebody explain the fascination with Katie Lam? Some fellow PBers worship her. The press promote her as an (the?) heir to Thatcher. I’m at a loss to explain or understand her appeal. Im not sure that I’ve ever heard her speak.
Now don’t all rush to condemn me for ignorance or naïveté. I hold multiple doctorates, run multiple businesses and come from a political background. I just do not understand the so-called appeal of Lam. Explain it to me in simple terms.
The media and PB are desperate for another Thatcher. Katie Lam is currently the closest. Therefore, said media and PB contributors are bigging up Katie Lam.
The real kicker of the Golders Green stabbing story is this: if the attacker had been a racist white man, trying to kill as many black people - old and young - as possible - I do not believe for a second that Zak Polanski and Owen Jones and @Roger and @Theuniondivvie of this here parish would be remotely concerned about the police kicking him in the head, as the white racist attacker held on to the knife, resisted arrest, and carried on trying to kill black people
Indeed, I am sure these same commenters would be praising the police, for acting with great courage, not killing the man, taking risks to their own lives to restrain him without lethal force
So what's the difference? The difference is partly that the attacker was brown, but mainly that the victims were Jews. Trying to kill Jews is somehow not as bad as trying to kill black people, ergo the attacker should be shown more mercy and sympathy
In other words, all the pious outrage is in fact driven by a pretty evil racism, AKA anti-Semitism
The other difference is that you’re posting incessantly about it, which signals the ethnicity of the perpetrator to PB’ers as clear as day.
Correct. There's only three or four racists on the site. Leon's the worst. It doesn't need to be said. Everyone knows it.
Can't see Reform doing that well in !Birmingham!, but who knows. My Dad is up tomorrow, his ward (Coventry) was held in the cataclysmic 1995 locals (Conservative) so we will see
Surely the big story is that the US Iran contratemps is over? The stock market has shot up and the Yanks are going home. I hear the reason is China! They said enough is enough and that was that. A victory for brain over brawn...
Are the BBC ignoring it?
" the Yanks are going home"
With their tails between their legs. And Netanyahu is 'sick as a parrot'!
I hope.
This is fun. Won't look so good when the aclcohol wears off. They look like they've been caught in the headlights. Next week should be interesting. Some of the US podcasters are really smelling blood. He forgets it's only HIS ships that won't get through.
That slight and subtle tang on the breeze, that distant but perceptible sharpness. The rumour of a story of a tale told by a neighbour, of a cold wind, where the road bends
We are just six weeks from the nights drawing in. Autumn is on the way
And here's me not even having had my annual bout of hayfever yet.
Can somebody explain the fascination with Katie Lam? Some fellow PBers worship her. The press promote her as an (the?) heir to Thatcher. I’m at a loss to explain or understand her appeal. Im not sure that I’ve ever heard her speak.
Now don’t all rush to condemn me for ignorance or naïveté. I hold multiple doctorates, run multiple businesses and come from a political background. I just do not understand the so-called appeal of Lam. Explain it to me in simple terms.
The media and PB are desperate for another Thatcher. Katie Lam is currently the closest. Therefore, said media and PB contributors are bigging up Katie Lam.
Never heard of her.
This time last year she was 100/1 to be next Tory leader, and now she is 7s
I'm in a Green-coloured area on this map. And we have shitloads of potholes.
I’m amber and, to be fair to the Reform council, quite a few potholes by me have been fixed recently as well as more visible maintenance.
There should be a special ultra-purple for The Bishop's Avenue, which doesn't have pot holes, it's more a dense sequence of vast, terrifying chasms, with the occasional weird flat bit, that could be ancient traces of road
Purple seems the appropriate colour for The Bishop’s Avenue.
Is the Bishops Avenue adopted? I'd be very unsurprised if the residents hadn't paid to have it council maintenaned.
Should I follow the Newhamers down to Barking Creek listening to the wind of change or am I gonna start a revolution from Wall End?
For @TSE's benefit, those are "subtle 90s pop references".
Back to the real world and with the Communities United Party leafleting outside the tube station and my first Reform poster spotted in the next road, the wind of change might be more than "the slight and subtle tang" from Beckton sewage works.
The Conservatives are in their Campaign HQ, the barbers in the next street. The last thing I would want my candidates to be doing the night before the election is gladhanding their own supporters - they should be out with the Undecideds - but the local Conservatives, though they have the money, seem to have neither the resources nor the nous to campaign.
It's odd because Wall End is their best prospect in the Borough and werethey to get back onto the Council after an absence of a decade and a half it would be a real fillip but what's more likely is the Conservatives will finish fourth behind the Newham Independents, Labour and the Greens.
This is a bit awkward for the Thatcherite economists.
Britain has eight big North European neighbours. Of them Britain has, 1/ The weakest economy. 2/ The lowest taxes. 3/ The lowest marginal tax rate on labour at high incomes. The right should be less confident sneering at the idea of "taxing for growth". https://x.com/thomasforth/status/2051763318222659963
Try Switzerland, even lower taxes than the UK and higher gdp per capita than all those 8
But it's also a disturbingly highly regulated country (outside of banking).
Really? I lived there for 18 years, mixing with all sorts of people, and never heard that criticism, nor did I ever run into regulatory problems myself. It's quite a conformist country in many ways, but that's on the whole an advantage - it's just a more critical description of "united".
Ignoring all the rules on toilet flushing in apartment blocks.... Switzerland, Luxembourg, RoI have high GDP/capita because multinationals book their profits there, it's "empty calories". They're not big employers in those countries.
Switzerland, while small, definitely has a real economy. There's even a surprisingly large amount of manufacturing that happens there, as well as pharmaceutical research, banking, insurance, etc.
I'm in a Green-coloured area on this map. And we have shitloads of potholes.
It is however hugely noticeable when you cross from Wigan (green) to Bolton (red). It's like being transported back in time. I grew up c 200m from that border.
The real kicker of the Golders Green stabbing story is this: if the attacker had been a racist white man, trying to kill as many black people - old and young - as possible - I do not believe for a second that Zak Polanski and Owen Jones and @Roger and @Theuniondivvie of this here parish would be remotely concerned about the police kicking him in the head, as the white racist attacker held on to the knife, resisted arrest, and carried on trying to kill black people
Indeed, I am sure these same commenters would be praising the police, for acting with great courage, not killing the man, taking risks to their own lives to restrain him without lethal force
So what's the difference? The difference is partly that the attacker was brown, but mainly that the victims were Jews. Trying to kill Jews is somehow not as bad as trying to kill black people, ergo the attacker should be shown more mercy and sympathy
In other words, all the pious outrage is in fact driven by a pretty evil racism, AKA anti-Semitism
The other difference is that you’re posting incessantly about it, which signals the ethnicity of the perpetrator to PB’ers as clear as day.
Correct. There's only three or four racists on the site. Leon's the worst. It doesn't need to be said. Everyone knows it.
My logic is irrefutable. The only possible reason to be concerned about the Golders Green stabber, when you would NOT have been so concerned if he'd been targetting black people, is because he was targettiing Jews. Somewhere in that tiny space you call a brain, you perceive Jews as lesser, and as somewhat deserving of being stabbed to death. You are that weird but not entirely uncommon thing, the racist, anti-Semitic self hating Jew. Polanski appears to be another
I'm in a Green-coloured area on this map. And we have shitloads of potholes.
It is however hugely noticeable when you cross from Wigan (green) to Bolton (red). It's like being transported back in time. I grew up c 200m from that border.
Sadly for Wigan Council their record on potholes and education won't save them from a Reform tsunami. Only saving grace is it's one third.
I'm in a Green-coloured area on this map. And we have shitloads of potholes.
I’m amber and, to be fair to the Reform council, quite a few potholes by me have been fixed recently as well as more visible maintenance.
There should be a special ultra-purple for The Bishop's Avenue, which doesn't have pot holes, it's more a dense sequence of vast, terrifying chasms, with the occasional weird flat bit, that could be ancient traces of road
Purple seems the appropriate colour for The Bishop’s Avenue.
Is the Bishops Avenue adopted? I'd be very unsurprised if the residents hadn't paid to have it council maintenaned.
No, it's because the residents are insanely wealthy oligarch types. and whenever they buy one of these properties - and they do change hands quite often, thanks to shifting fortunes - they want to build an underground cinema complex, or a subterranean skating rink, or a tunnel to the other house in Hampstead
This causes endless subsidence and collapsing road surfaces and the council - Barnet? - has got bored of fixing it, and is demanding the residents pay extra for the damage. This doesn't happen, so the enormous holes don't really get fixed. AIUI
Can somebody explain the fascination with Katie Lam? Some fellow PBers worship her. The press promote her as an (the?) heir to Thatcher. I’m at a loss to explain or understand her appeal. Im not sure that I’ve ever heard her speak.
Now don’t all rush to condemn me for ignorance or naïveté. I hold multiple doctorates, run multiple businesses and come from a political background. I just do not understand the so-called appeal of Lam. Explain it to me in simple terms.
The media and PB are desperate for another Thatcher. Katie Lam is currently the closest. Therefore, said media and PB contributors are bigging up Katie Lam.
Can't see Reform doing that well in !Birmingham!, but who knows. My Dad is up tomorrow, his ward (Coventry) was held in the cataclysmic 1995 locals (Conservative) so we will see
The real kicker of the Golders Green stabbing story is this: if the attacker had been a racist white man, trying to kill as many black people - old and young - as possible - I do not believe for a second that Zak Polanski and Owen Jones and @Roger and @Theuniondivvie of this here parish would be remotely concerned about the police kicking him in the head, as the white racist attacker held on to the knife, resisted arrest, and carried on trying to kill black people
Indeed, I am sure these same commenters would be praising the police, for acting with great courage, not killing the man, taking risks to their own lives to restrain him without lethal force
So what's the difference? The difference is partly that the attacker was brown, but mainly that the victims were Jews. Trying to kill Jews is somehow not as bad as trying to kill black people, ergo the attacker should be shown more mercy and sympathy
In other words, all the pious outrage is in fact driven by a pretty evil racism, AKA anti-Semitism
The other difference is that you’re posting incessantly about it, which signals the ethnicity of the perpetrator to PB’ers as clear as day.
Correct. There's only three or four racists on the site. Leon's the worst. It doesn't need to be said. Everyone knows it.
My logic is irrefutable. The only possible reason to be concerned about the Golders Green stabber, when you would NOT have been so concerned if he'd been targetting black people, is because he was targettiing Jews. Somewhere in that tiny space you call a brain, you perceive Jews as lesser, and as somewhat deserving of being stabbed to death. You are that weird but not entirely uncommon thing, the racist, anti-Semitic self hating Jew. Polanski appears to be another
Your posts do demonstrate an irrefutable characteristic but I'm afraid it isn't logic.
That slight and subtle tang on the breeze, that distant but perceptible sharpness. The rumour of a story of a tale told by a neighbour, of a cold wind, where the road bends
We are just six weeks from the nights drawing in. Autumn is on the way
Today is the cross-quarter day, so there are six and a half weeks until the solstice. But, the latest sunset is after the solstice, on the 24th or 25th June, so that's about another half week away. So it's seven weeks from the latest sunset.
If you ever want help with your numbers you only have to ask.
I'm in a Green-coloured area on this map. And we have shitloads of potholes.
I’m amber and, to be fair to the Reform council, quite a few potholes by me have been fixed recently as well as more visible maintenance.
There should be a special ultra-purple for The Bishop's Avenue, which doesn't have pot holes, it's more a dense sequence of vast, terrifying chasms, with the occasional weird flat bit, that could be ancient traces of road
Purple seems the appropriate colour for The Bishop’s Avenue.
Is the Bishops Avenue adopted? I'd be very unsurprised if the residents hadn't paid to have it council maintenaned.
No, it's because the residents are insanely wealthy oligarch types. and whenever they buy one of these properties - and they do change hands quite often, thanks to shifting fortunes - they want to build an underground cinema complex, or a subterranean skating rink, or a tunnel to the other house in Hampstead
This causes endless subsidence and collapsing road surfaces and the council - Barnet? - has got bored of fixing it, and is demanding the residents pay extra for the damage. This doesn't happen, so the enormous holes don't really get fixed. AIUI
Apparently the problem is widespread in Hampstead, and the whole borough is likely to disappear into a giant sinkhole soon.
Can't see Reform doing that well in !Birmingham!, but who knows. My Dad is up tomorrow, his ward (Coventry) was held in the cataclysmic 1995 locals (Conservative) so we will see
I'm in a Green-coloured area on this map. And we have shitloads of potholes.
I’m amber and, to be fair to the Reform council, quite a few potholes by me have been fixed recently as well as more visible maintenance.
There should be a special ultra-purple for The Bishop's Avenue, which doesn't have pot holes, it's more a dense sequence of vast, terrifying chasms, with the occasional weird flat bit, that could be ancient traces of road
Purple seems the appropriate colour for The Bishop’s Avenue.
Is the Bishops Avenue adopted? I'd be very unsurprised if the residents hadn't paid to have it council maintenaned.
No, it's because the residents are insanely wealthy oligarch types. and whenever they buy one of these properties - and they do change hands quite often, thanks to shifting fortunes - they want to build an underground cinema complex, or a subterranean skating rink, or a tunnel to the other house in Hampstead
This causes endless subsidence and collapsing road surfaces and the council - Barnet? - has got bored of fixing it, and is demanding the residents pay extra for the damage. This doesn't happen, so the enormous holes don't really get fixed. AIUI
I once went to see a house on a road with more potholes than remaining road surface and the estate agent explained that the road hadn't been adopted, so the residents were responsible for the cost of road maintenance, but the advantage of the dire state of the road surface was that the road wasn't used as a rat run.
There’s not going to be a hantavirus pandemic. Transmission is symptomatic and close contact. Covid was thankfully unusual in its nature. (As in most viruses are not like it).
I remember in January 2020 feeling reassured when the Chinese authorities announced that the mysterious new form of pneumonia was spread only through close contact ...
Can't see Reform doing that well in !Birmingham!, but who knows. My Dad is up tomorrow, his ward (Coventry) was held in the cataclysmic 1995 locals (Conservative) so we will see
PollCheck are currently predicting that Reform will be the largest faction in Birmingham with 24 of the 101 seats.
Can somebody explain the fascination with Katie Lam? Some fellow PBers worship her. The press promote her as an (the?) heir to Thatcher. I’m at a loss to explain or understand her appeal. Im not sure that I’ve ever heard her speak.
Now don’t all rush to condemn me for ignorance or naïveté. I hold multiple doctorates, run multiple businesses and come from a political background. I just do not understand the so-called appeal of Lam. Explain it to me in simple terms.
The media and PB are desperate for another Thatcher. Katie Lam is currently the closest. Therefore, said media and PB contributors are bigging up Katie Lam.
Can anyone explain what is or isn't going on in the Gulf?
One minute there's an "understanding", the next ships are being fired on and there are renewed airstrikes.
WTI is oscillating like something oscillating a lot (as distinct from an ocelot). Up around $100 a barrel then down just below $90, now back towards $95.
Can't see Reform doing that well in !Birmingham!, but who knows. My Dad is up tomorrow, his ward (Coventry) was held in the cataclysmic 1995 locals (Conservative) so we will see
Enoch Central, remember.
I've finished Sumption's "Challenges to Democracy" (disappointing ) and am reading Bogdanor's "Making the Weather: Six politicians who changed modern Britain" (much more fun). One of them was Powell and he points out that Powell's lasting legacy was sovereignty (which lasted), not racism (which didn't). As an example he points out that Powell's Wolverhampton seat went on to be held by non-white and/or non- Christian MPs. Things change.
Can anyone explain what is or isn't going on in the Gulf?
One minute there's an "understanding", the next ships are being fired on and there are renewed airstrikes.
WTI is oscillating like something oscillating a lot (as distinct from an ocelot). Up around $100 a barrel then down just below $90, now back towards $95.
Presumably those around Trump, including his own family, are gleefully playing the markets with inside information of where the madness goes next.
Can anyone explain what is or isn't going on in the Gulf?
One minute there's an "understanding", the next ships are being fired on and there are renewed airstrikes.
WTI is oscillating like something oscillating a lot (as distinct from an ocelot). Up around $100 a barrel then down just below $90, now back towards $95.
Somebody pointed it on Bluesky earlier that the USN exercise to escort ships thru the straits demonstrated the extent of the problem. It could escort military vessels but not civilian tankers, which is bad. So Iran, insanely, has the upper hand at the moment.
Can anyone explain what is or isn't going on in the Gulf?
One minute there's an "understanding", the next ships are being fired on and there are renewed airstrikes.
WTI is oscillating like something oscillating a lot (as distinct from an ocelot). Up around $100 a barrel then down just below $90, now back towards $95.
Can't see Reform doing that well in !Birmingham!, but who knows. My Dad is up tomorrow, his ward (Coventry) was held in the cataclysmic 1995 locals (Conservative) so we will see
PollCheck are currently predicting that Reform will be the largest faction in Birmingham with 24 of the 101 seats.
Can anyone explain what is or isn't going on in the Gulf?
One minute there's an "understanding", the next ships are being fired on and there are renewed airstrikes.
WTI is oscillating like something oscillating a lot (as distinct from an ocelot). Up around $100 a barrel then down just below $90, now back towards $95.
Presumably those around Trump, including his own family, are gleefully playing the markets with inside information of where the madness goes next.
Yep. 'Corrupt' isn't up to the job. New word required.
Can anyone explain what is or isn't going on in the Gulf?
One minute there's an "understanding", the next ships are being fired on and there are renewed airstrikes.
WTI is oscillating like something oscillating a lot (as distinct from an ocelot). Up around $100 a barrel then down just below $90, now back towards $95.
Somebody pointed it on Bluesky earlier that the USN exercise to escort ships thru the straits demonstrated the extent of the problem. It could escort military vessels but not civilian tankers, which is bad. So Iran, insanely, has the upper hand at the moment.
The problem is that the tankers cannot protect themselves, they are large and slow and somewhat prone to exploding. I wouldn't fancy being on one coming through those straits.
Good luck. I think it pans out as Reform minority, at least for a bit. Ind + Lab + Grn + Lib = 48, for maximum hilarity.
Even better luck for getting a resolution to the bin strike out of that. Seriousy- if Reform manage to get a resolution, it would be a feather in their cap, though they may only have charred remains of a cap to put the feather in.
Can anyone explain what is or isn't going on in the Gulf?
One minute there's an "understanding", the next ships are being fired on and there are renewed airstrikes.
WTI is oscillating like something oscillating a lot (as distinct from an ocelot). Up around $100 a barrel then down just below $90, now back towards $95.
Trump is an unreliable narrator. Hope that helps.
Well, quite, but why, if he is so unreliable, why do oil commodity traders hang on his word?
They don't, but they know people who do and there's money to be made every time he opens his mouth however inaccurate and ill-informed he turns out to be.
Thus do we have the chaotic synthesis of politics and capitalism where policy is dedicated by money making (it's always been that way, though, hasn't it?)
Can't see Reform doing that well in !Birmingham!, but who knows. My Dad is up tomorrow, his ward (Coventry) was held in the cataclysmic 1995 locals (Conservative) so we will see
Enoch Central, remember.
I've finished Sumption's "Challenges to Democracy" (disappointing ) and am reading Bogdanor's "Making the Weather: Six politicians who changed modern Britain" (much more fun). One of them was Powell and he points out that Powell's lasting legacy was sovereignty (which lasted), not racism (which didn't). As an example he points out that Powell's Wolverhampton seat went on to be held by non-white and/or non- Christian MPs. Things change.
They do. Look at America. The Dems were the racist Lost Cause party of the Deep South. Now those states are GOP and the Dems win where the Yankees were. It's done a 180.
Still, I won't be surprised if RUK outperform in the West Midlands.
I'm in a Green-coloured area on this map. And we have shitloads of potholes.
I’m amber and, to be fair to the Reform council, quite a few potholes by me have been fixed recently as well as more visible maintenance.
There should be a special ultra-purple for The Bishop's Avenue, which doesn't have pot holes, it's more a dense sequence of vast, terrifying chasms, with the occasional weird flat bit, that could be ancient traces of road
Purple seems the appropriate colour for The Bishop’s Avenue.
Is the Bishops Avenue adopted? I'd be very unsurprised if the residents hadn't paid to have it council maintenaned.
No, it's because the residents are insanely wealthy oligarch types. and whenever they buy one of these properties - and they do change hands quite often, thanks to shifting fortunes - they want to build an underground cinema complex, or a subterranean skating rink, or a tunnel to the other house in Hampstead
This causes endless subsidence and collapsing road surfaces and the council - Barnet? - has got bored of fixing it, and is demanding the residents pay extra for the damage. This doesn't happen, so the enormous holes don't really get fixed. AIUI
I once went to see a house on a road with more potholes than remaining road surface and the estate agent explained that the road hadn't been adopted, so the residents were responsible for the cost of road maintenance, but the advantage of the dire state of the road surface was that the road wasn't used as a rat run.
Swings and roundabouts I guess.
Some of the streets round my bit have worn down so far you can see the old Victorian cobblestones. It's quite romantic in a way. If you're not a car driver or cyclist.
Does the winner of this have to actually play Arsenal for the CL? I mean it seems a slightly embarrassing formality.
The gulf between these two sides and Arsenal is a chasm
Wonderful to watch
It really isn't "a chasm"
Both these teams play in totally uncompetitve leagues. PSG are on course to easily win their 8th title in 10 years in France, Bayern are on course to VERY easily win their 9th title in 10 years. These aren't even leagues any more, they are sad parades for PSG and Bayern. It is a real problem, and why they wanted the Super League to happen
By contrast Arsenal are just about grinding a very close victory in a vastly more competitive league, where any of five or six could win, and almost every team has money, and every match is competitive and physical. Arsenal are knackered in comparison to the French and German teams. Yet they still might win the final against PSG (or Bayern). The UCL often produces surprise winners
The threat of a Reform government won’t see a 56% turnout . They’re the only pollster with such a high green vote share and I expect their polling to be shown up after the results come in .
Can anyone explain what is or isn't going on in the Gulf?
One minute there's an "understanding", the next ships are being fired on and there are renewed airstrikes.
WTI is oscillating like something oscillating a lot (as distinct from an ocelot). Up around $100 a barrel then down just below $90, now back towards $95.
Presumably those around Trump, including his own family, are gleefully playing the markets with inside information of where the madness goes next.
Yep. 'Corrupt' isn't up to the job. New word required.
Does the winner of this have to actually play Arsenal for the CL? I mean it seems a slightly embarrassing formality.
The gulf between these two sides and Arsenal is a chasm
Wonderful to watch
It really isn't "a chasm"
Both these teams play in totally uncompetitve leagues. PSG are on course to easily win their 8th title in 10 years in France, Bayern are on course to VERY easily win their 9th title in 10 years. These aren't even leagues any more, they are sad parades for PSG and Bayern. It is a real problem, and why they wanted the Super League to happen
By contrast Arsenal are just about grinding a very close victory in a vastly more competitive league, where any of five or six could win, and almost every team has money, and every match is competitive and physical. Arsenal are knackered in comparison to the French and German teams. Yet they still might win the final against PSG (or Bayern). The UCL often produces surprise winners
That explains the success of Scottish teams in Europe
Can anyone explain what is or isn't going on in the Gulf?
One minute there's an "understanding", the next ships are being fired on and there are renewed airstrikes.
WTI is oscillating like something oscillating a lot (as distinct from an ocelot). Up around $100 a barrel then down just below $90, now back towards $95.
Presumably those around Trump, including his own family, are gleefully playing the markets with inside information of where the madness goes next.
Yep. 'Corrupt' isn't up to the job. New word required.
They are a Mafia
A dynastic gang, looting the markets
Not just the markets. Trump's actions against his own government which, weirdly enough, his government is minded to settle, are just dressed up theft.
There’s not going to be a hantavirus pandemic. Transmission is symptomatic and close contact. Covid was thankfully unusual in its nature. (As in most viruses are not like it).
Millions would refuse to lockdown, whatever form the next virus is claimed to be..💩
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the link between politics and health became glaringly obvious. Democrat-leaning “blue” states were more likely to enact mask requirements and vaccine and social distancing mandates. Republican-leaning “red” states were much more resistant to health measures. The consequences of those differences emerged by the end of 2020, when rates of hospitalization and death from COVID rose in conservative counties and dropped in liberal ones. That divergence continued through 2021, when vaccines became widely available. And although the highly transmissible Omicron variant narrowed the gap in infection rates, hospitalization and death rates, which are dramatically reduced by vaccines, remain higher in Republican-leaning parts of the country.
Can anyone explain what is or isn't going on in the Gulf?
One minute there's an "understanding", the next ships are being fired on and there are renewed airstrikes.
WTI is oscillating like something oscillating a lot (as distinct from an ocelot). Up around $100 a barrel then down just below $90, now back towards $95.
Aaron Rupar @atrupar · 19m Q: What is the status of these talks?
TRUMP: Well, we've had some good talks before and all of the sudden the next day they forgot what happened
Can't see Reform doing that well in !Birmingham!, but who knows. My Dad is up tomorrow, his ward (Coventry) was held in the cataclysmic 1995 locals (Conservative) so we will see
PollCheck are currently predicting that Reform will be the largest faction in Birmingham with 24 of the 101 seats.
Can't see Reform doing that well in !Birmingham!, but who knows. My Dad is up tomorrow, his ward (Coventry) was held in the cataclysmic 1995 locals (Conservative) so we will see
PollCheck are currently predicting that Reform will be the largest faction in Birmingham with 24 of the 101 seats.
There’s not going to be a hantavirus pandemic. Transmission is symptomatic and close contact. Covid was thankfully unusual in its nature. (As in most viruses are not like it).
Millions would refuse to lockdown, whatever form the next virus is claimed to be..💩
Just as a matter of interest: if there was a disease at terrifying and contagious as the one in Outbreak, would it be ok if the government implemented restrictions on people's behavior?
Does the winner of this have to actually play Arsenal for the CL? I mean it seems a slightly embarrassing formality.
The gulf between these two sides and Arsenal is a chasm
Wonderful to watch
It really isn't "a chasm"
Both these teams play in totally uncompetitve leagues. PSG are on course to easily win their 8th title in 10 years in France, Bayern are on course to VERY easily win their 9th title in 10 years. These aren't even leagues any more, they are sad parades for PSG and Bayern. It is a real problem, and why they wanted the Super League to happen
By contrast Arsenal are just about grinding a very close victory in a vastly more competitive league, where any of five or six could win, and almost every team has money, and every match is competitive and physical. Arsenal are knackered in comparison to the French and German teams. Yet they still might win the final against PSG (or Bayern). The UCL often produces surprise winners
That explains the success of Scottish teams in Europe
The Old Firm really should join the EPL - or work their way up from the Championship or whatever
It would be great for all - fans, football, English football, Scottish football, European football - because Celtic and Rangers are meant to be big clubs. They have massive passionate crowds who sing excellent songs
The only people that might complain are the owners of the biggest English clubs, who would not like the extra competition, but they have enough money, they can cope
Imagine Rangers v Liverpool or Spurs, Celtic v City or Chelsea. They would, in a few years, be cracking matches, once Rangers and Celtic have benefited from EPL money and gotten good teams. And ultimately it would strengthen, even further, the EPL, and make it more dramatic and colourful
Two people self-isolating in UK after being on board infected cruise ship
Two people who had been on board the MV Hondius have returned to Britain, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said.
The public health body added that they were now self-isolating and were not showing symptoms after potentially being exposed to hantavirus on the ship.
Of the Britons still on the cruise ship, the UKHSA added that they were showing no symptoms, but were being closely monitored.
In a statement released this evening, the UKHSA said:
"UKHSA is aware of two people who have returned to the UK independently having been on board the MV Hondius. Neither of these individuals is currently reporting symptoms. They are receiving advice and support from UKHSA and have been advised to self-isolate."
It added that it was supporting "a small number of individuals identified as close contacts" of people on the boat. The body said:
"They are being offered support and are also self-isolating. None are reporting any symptoms. The risk to the general public remains very low."
Two people self-isolating in UK after being on board infected cruise ship
Two people who had been on board the MV Hondius have returned to Britain, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said.
The public health body added that they were now self-isolating and were not showing symptoms after potentially being exposed to hantavirus on the ship.
Of the Britons still on the cruise ship, the UKHSA added that they were showing no symptoms, but were being closely monitored.
In a statement released this evening, the UKHSA said:
"UKHSA is aware of two people who have returned to the UK independently having been on board the MV Hondius. Neither of these individuals is currently reporting symptoms. They are receiving advice and support from UKHSA and have been advised to self-isolate."
It added that it was supporting "a small number of individuals identified as close contacts" of people on the boat. The body said:
"They are being offered support and are also self-isolating. None are reporting any symptoms. The risk to the general public remains very low."
Can anyone explain what is or isn't going on in the Gulf?
One minute there's an "understanding", the next ships are being fired on and there are renewed airstrikes.
WTI is oscillating like something oscillating a lot (as distinct from an ocelot). Up around $100 a barrel then down just below $90, now back towards $95.
Aaron Rupar @atrupar · 19m Q: What is the status of these talks?
TRUMP: Well, we've had some good talks before and all of the sudden the next day they forgot what happened
Two people self-isolating in UK after being on board infected cruise ship
Two people who had been on board the MV Hondius have returned to Britain, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said.
The public health body added that they were now self-isolating and were not showing symptoms after potentially being exposed to hantavirus on the ship.
Of the Britons still on the cruise ship, the UKHSA added that they were showing no symptoms, but were being closely monitored.
In a statement released this evening, the UKHSA said:
"UKHSA is aware of two people who have returned to the UK independently having been on board the MV Hondius. Neither of these individuals is currently reporting symptoms. They are receiving advice and support from UKHSA and have been advised to self-isolate."
It added that it was supporting "a small number of individuals identified as close contacts" of people on the boat. The body said:
"They are being offered support and are also self-isolating. None are reporting any symptoms. The risk to the general public remains very low."
FON have shifted from finding Reform a bit higher than otherpollsters to finding them a bit lower. Greens have taken Reform's place as higher than the others.
And anyone who thinks they can discern the next GE result from current data is delusional. It is a reasonable working hypothesis that Greens will in due course follow Reform in having a significant downturn. But cui bono, no idea. Even when everyone hates every party, the figures still have to total 100%.
Two people self-isolating in UK after being on board infected cruise ship
Two people who had been on board the MV Hondius have returned to Britain, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said.
The public health body added that they were now self-isolating and were not showing symptoms after potentially being exposed to hantavirus on the ship.
Of the Britons still on the cruise ship, the UKHSA added that they were showing no symptoms, but were being closely monitored.
In a statement released this evening, the UKHSA said:
"UKHSA is aware of two people who have returned to the UK independently having been on board the MV Hondius. Neither of these individuals is currently reporting symptoms. They are receiving advice and support from UKHSA and have been advised to self-isolate."
It added that it was supporting "a small number of individuals identified as close contacts" of people on the boat. The body said:
"They are being offered support and are also self-isolating. None are reporting any symptoms. The risk to the general public remains very low."
Hantaviruses are a growing problem, but they're not new diseases. This is not the start of a new pandemic. The strain has been identified as the Andes virus, discovered in 1995. It causes >100 cases a year, mainly in Argentina and Chile, and most zoonotic from rodents, but it can also spread from human to human and cruise ships are good places for spreading disease. Hantavrius cases globally are on the rise, driven by global warming, which is leading to an increase in infected rodent populations.
I'd like to see a goal for them just to make it more exciting but even then PSG would be very strong favourites.
They just don't look capable of beating the truly solid PSG defence. They've nearly run out of ideas, indeed PSG have had the most opportunities despite the Bayern pressure
PSG to win this, and probably the title. But I would not write off Arsenal. They are battle-hardened, if a bit boring at times
Two people self-isolating in UK after being on board infected cruise ship
Two people who had been on board the MV Hondius have returned to Britain, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said.
The public health body added that they were now self-isolating and were not showing symptoms after potentially being exposed to hantavirus on the ship.
Of the Britons still on the cruise ship, the UKHSA added that they were showing no symptoms, but were being closely monitored.
In a statement released this evening, the UKHSA said:
"UKHSA is aware of two people who have returned to the UK independently having been on board the MV Hondius. Neither of these individuals is currently reporting symptoms. They are receiving advice and support from UKHSA and have been advised to self-isolate."
It added that it was supporting "a small number of individuals identified as close contacts" of people on the boat. The body said:
"They are being offered support and are also self-isolating. None are reporting any symptoms. The risk to the general public remains very low."
Hantaviruses are a growing problem, but they're not new diseases. This is not the start of a new pandemic. The strain has been identified as the Andes virus, discovered in 1995. It causes >100 cases a year, mainly in Argentina and Chile, and most zoonotic from rodents, but it can also spread from human to human and cruise ships are good places for spreading disease. Hantavrius cases globally are on the rise, driven by global warming, which is leading to an increase in infected rodent populations.
Spread by breathing in the virus from rodent urine, droppings or saliva, 1-4 weeks for symptoms to appear. Does that mean it's in the ventilation system of the cruise ship? Sounds like a 1 way trip to a beach in Bangladesh.
Does the winner of this have to actually play Arsenal for the CL? I mean it seems a slightly embarrassing formality.
The gulf between these two sides and Arsenal is a chasm
Wonderful to watch
It really isn't "a chasm"
Both these teams play in totally uncompetitve leagues. PSG are on course to easily win their 8th title in 10 years in France, Bayern are on course to VERY easily win their 9th title in 10 years. These aren't even leagues any more, they are sad parades for PSG and Bayern. It is a real problem, and why they wanted the Super League to happen
By contrast Arsenal are just about grinding a very close victory in a vastly more competitive league, where any of five or six could win, and almost every team has money, and every match is competitive and physical. Arsenal are knackered in comparison to the French and German teams. Yet they still might win the final against PSG (or Bayern). The UCL often produces surprise winners
That explains the success of Scottish teams in Europe
The Old Firm really should join the EPL - or work their way up from the Championship or whatever
It would be great for all - fans, football, English football, Scottish football, European football - because Celtic and Rangers are meant to be big clubs. They have massive passionate crowds who sing excellent songs
The only people that might complain are the owners of the biggest English clubs, who would not like the extra competition, but they have enough money, they can cope
Imagine Rangers v Liverpool or Spurs, Celtic v City or Chelsea. They would, in a few years, be cracking matches, once Rangers and Celtic have benefited from EPL money and gotten good teams. And ultimately it would strengthen, even further, the EPL, and make it more dramatic and colourful
Why should the second and third best teams in Scotland join, and not the team that is above them in the table?
Does the winner of this have to actually play Arsenal for the CL? I mean it seems a slightly embarrassing formality.
The gulf between these two sides and Arsenal is a chasm
Wonderful to watch
It really isn't "a chasm"
Both these teams play in totally uncompetitve leagues. PSG are on course to easily win their 8th title in 10 years in France, Bayern are on course to VERY easily win their 9th title in 10 years. These aren't even leagues any more, they are sad parades for PSG and Bayern. It is a real problem, and why they wanted the Super League to happen
By contrast Arsenal are just about grinding a very close victory in a vastly more competitive league, where any of five or six could win, and almost every team has money, and every match is competitive and physical. Arsenal are knackered in comparison to the French and German teams. Yet they still might win the final against PSG (or Bayern). The UCL often produces surprise winners
That explains the success of Scottish teams in Europe
The Old Firm really should join the EPL - or work their way up from the Championship or whatever
It would be great for all - fans, football, English football, Scottish football, European football - because Celtic and Rangers are meant to be big clubs. They have massive passionate crowds who sing excellent songs
The only people that might complain are the owners of the biggest English clubs, who would not like the extra competition, but they have enough money, they can cope
Imagine Rangers v Liverpool or Spurs, Celtic v City or Chelsea. They would, in a few years, be cracking matches, once Rangers and Celtic have benefited from EPL money and gotten good teams. And ultimately it would strengthen, even further, the EPL, and make it more dramatic and colourful
Why should the second and third best teams in Scotland join, and not the team that is above them in the table?
Would laugh my face off if they'd said last year we'll take the top two.
Can't see Reform doing that well in !Birmingham!, but who knows. My Dad is up tomorrow, his ward (Coventry) was held in the cataclysmic 1995 locals (Conservative) so we will see
PollCheck are currently predicting that Reform will be the largest faction in Birmingham with 24 of the 101 seats.
Can somebody explain the fascination with Katie Lam? Some fellow PBers worship her. The press promote her as an (the?) heir to Thatcher. I’m at a loss to explain or understand her appeal. Im not sure that I’ve ever heard her speak.
Now don’t all rush to condemn me for ignorance or naïveté. I hold multiple doctorates, run multiple businesses and come from a political background. I just do not understand the so-called appeal of Lam. Explain it to me in simple terms.
The media and PB are desperate for another Thatcher. Katie Lam is currently the closest. Therefore, said media and PB contributors are bigging up Katie Lam.
Two people self-isolating in UK after being on board infected cruise ship
Two people who had been on board the MV Hondius have returned to Britain, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said.
The public health body added that they were now self-isolating and were not showing symptoms after potentially being exposed to hantavirus on the ship.
Of the Britons still on the cruise ship, the UKHSA added that they were showing no symptoms, but were being closely monitored.
In a statement released this evening, the UKHSA said:
"UKHSA is aware of two people who have returned to the UK independently having been on board the MV Hondius. Neither of these individuals is currently reporting symptoms. They are receiving advice and support from UKHSA and have been advised to self-isolate."
It added that it was supporting "a small number of individuals identified as close contacts" of people on the boat. The body said:
"They are being offered support and are also self-isolating. None are reporting any symptoms. The risk to the general public remains very low."
Hantaviruses are a growing problem, but they're not new diseases. This is not the start of a new pandemic. The strain has been identified as the Andes virus, discovered in 1995. It causes >100 cases a year, mainly in Argentina and Chile, and most zoonotic from rodents, but it can also spread from human to human and cruise ships are good places for spreading disease. Hantavrius cases globally are on the rise, driven by global warming, which is leading to an increase in infected rodent populations.
We should sink all cruise ships on environmental, labour rights, and public health grounds. This is what 3% on defence can deliver.
Comments
My Dad is up tomorrow, his ward (Coventry) was held in the cataclysmic 1995 locals (Conservative) so we will see
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=china+say+war+must+stop#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:cbebd0ae,vid:8M5J-W3aXJo,st:0
I'd be very unsurprised if the residents hadn't paid to have it council maintenaned.
Should I follow the Newhamers down to Barking Creek listening to the wind of change or am I gonna start a revolution from Wall End?
For @TSE's benefit, those are "subtle 90s pop references".
Back to the real world and with the Communities United Party leafleting outside the tube station and my first Reform poster spotted in the next road, the wind of change might be more than "the slight and subtle tang" from Beckton sewage works.
The Conservatives are in their Campaign HQ, the barbers in the next street. The last thing I would want my candidates to be doing the night before the election is gladhanding their own supporters - they should be out with the Undecideds - but the local Conservatives, though they have the money, seem to have neither the resources nor the nous to campaign.
It's odd because Wall End is their best prospect in the Borough and werethey to get back onto the Council after an absence of a decade and a half it would be a real fillip but what's more likely is the Conservatives will finish fourth behind the Newham Independents, Labour and the Greens.
I grew up c 200m from that border.
This causes endless subsidence and collapsing road surfaces and the council - Barnet? - has got bored of fixing it, and is demanding the residents pay extra for the damage. This doesn't happen, so the enormous holes don't really get fixed. AIUI
Tho it would be hilarious
If you ever want help with your numbers you only have to ask.
You should be ok in Primrose Hill though.
Find Out Now voting intention
🟦 Reform UK: 25% (+1)
🟢 Greens: 20% (-)
🔵 Conservatives: 20% (+2)
🔴 Labour: 16% (-)
🟠 Lib Dems: 11% (-)
Implied turnout: 56%
Changes from 29th April
[Find Out Now, 6th May, N=2,035]
https://x.com/findoutnowuk/status/2052085562421461264?s=46&t=CW4pL-mMpTqsJXCdjW0Z6Q
Swings and roundabouts I guess.
I've seen him in Primrose Hill a couple of times. Sinister cove
https://www.pollcheck.co.uk/locals-2026#/birmingham
But you’re not a racist.
One minute there's an "understanding", the next ships are being fired on and there are renewed airstrikes.
WTI is oscillating like something oscillating a lot (as distinct from an ocelot). Up around $100 a barrel then down just below $90, now back towards $95.
Wonderful to watch
https://x.com/ukhomeoffice/status/2052082309625491896
Good luck. I think it pans out as Reform minority, at least for a bit. Ind + Lab + Grn + Lib = 48, for maximum hilarity.
Even better luck for getting a resolution to the bin strike out of that. Seriousy- if Reform manage to get a resolution, it would be a feather in their cap, though they may only have charred remains of a cap to put the feather in.
They don't, but they know people who do and there's money to be made every time he opens his mouth however inaccurate and ill-informed he turns out to be.
Thus do we have the chaotic synthesis of politics and capitalism where policy is dedicated by money making (it's always been that way, though, hasn't it?)
Still, I won't be surprised if RUK outperform in the West Midlands.
Both these teams play in totally uncompetitve leagues. PSG are on course to easily win their 8th title in 10 years in France, Bayern are on course to VERY easily win their 9th title in 10 years. These aren't even leagues any more, they are sad parades for PSG and Bayern. It is a real problem, and why they wanted the Super League to happen
By contrast Arsenal are just about grinding a very close victory in a vastly more competitive league, where any of five or six could win, and almost every team has money, and every match is competitive and physical. Arsenal are knackered in comparison to the French and German teams. Yet they still might win the final against PSG (or Bayern). The UCL often produces surprise winners
I am banning on PB any links to articles written by Sean Thomas.
Anyone failing to adhere to this rule will be banned.
Given the publicity might that be seen as a relative success?
A dynastic gang, looting the markets
The LDs will have a decent Thursday. (Or technically early hours of Friday through to the end of Saturday.)
(In the bitter absence of anyone better who's a chance of winning, that is).
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the link between politics and health became glaringly obvious. Democrat-leaning “blue” states were more likely to enact mask requirements and vaccine and social distancing mandates. Republican-leaning “red” states were much more resistant to health measures. The consequences of those differences emerged by the end of 2020, when rates of hospitalization and death from COVID rose in conservative counties and dropped in liberal ones. That divergence continued through 2021, when vaccines became widely available. And although the highly transmissible Omicron variant narrowed the gap in infection rates, hospitalization and death rates, which are dramatically reduced by vaccines, remain higher in Republican-leaning parts of the country.
Aaron Rupar
@atrupar
·
19m
Q: What is the status of these talks?
TRUMP: Well, we've had some good talks before and all of the sudden the next day they forgot what happened
https://x.com/atrupar/status/2052112866409415048
It would be great for all - fans, football, English football, Scottish football, European football - because Celtic and Rangers are meant to be big clubs. They have massive passionate crowds who sing excellent songs
The only people that might complain are the owners of the biggest English clubs, who would not like the extra competition, but they have enough money, they can cope
Imagine Rangers v Liverpool or Spurs, Celtic v City or Chelsea. They would, in a few years, be cracking matches, once Rangers and Celtic have benefited from EPL money and gotten good teams. And ultimately it would strengthen, even further, the EPL, and make it more dramatic and colourful
Two people self-isolating in UK after being on board infected cruise ship
Two people who had been on board the MV Hondius have returned to Britain, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said.
The public health body added that they were now self-isolating and were not showing symptoms after potentially being exposed to hantavirus on the ship.
Of the Britons still on the cruise ship, the UKHSA added that they were showing no symptoms, but were being closely monitored.
In a statement released this evening, the UKHSA said:
"UKHSA is aware of two people who have returned to the UK independently having been on board the MV Hondius. Neither of these individuals is currently reporting symptoms. They are receiving advice and support from UKHSA and have been advised to self-isolate."
It added that it was supporting "a small number of individuals identified as close contacts" of people on the boat. The body said:
"They are being offered support and are also self-isolating. None are reporting any symptoms. The risk to the general public remains very low."
https://news.sky.com/story/three-dead-as-virus-breaks-out-on-atlantic-cruise-ship-13503266
And anyone who thinks they can discern the next GE result from current data is delusional. It is a reasonable working hypothesis that Greens will in due course follow Reform in having a significant downturn. But cui bono, no idea. Even when everyone hates every party, the figures still have to total 100%.
PSG to win this, and probably the title. But I would not write off Arsenal. They are battle-hardened, if a bit boring at times
Sounds like a 1 way trip to a beach in Bangladesh.
Women's.