politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Antifrank on the GE2020 prospects for Tim Farron’s Lib Dem

Kevin Schofield ‏@PolhomeEditor 11m11 minutes ago
No10 on Sinai plane crash: "We have become concerned that the plane may well have been brought down by an explosive device."

make of that what you will.

BBC - Leicester MP Keith Vaz urges Coca-Cola Christmas truck tour to avoid city.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-34718933

Today's top wanker award.

O/T:

A few weeks ago someone "unmasked" James Maybrick's brother as Jack the Ripper. Now another amateur sleuth says it was someone called Francis Thompson:

http://www.express.co.uk/news/history/616896/Jack-The-Ripper-identity-mystery-solved

JosiasJessop said:

Cyclefree said:

MTimT said:

kle4 said:

MTimT said:

kle4 said:

antifrank said:

I feel like a heretic, but I prefer sultanas to raisins.

Not a heretic, just thoroughly untrustworthy.

Guess that makes me an untrustworthy heretic too.

Sad to say. I'm sorry, I draw the line at preferring sultanas over raisans. Politics is subjective, but some things should be unquestionable.

What is your position on Marmite?

Marmite is awesome!

Marmite is hideous. But it is a nectar of the God when compared to Vegemite.

(I lived with an Aussie for four years ...)

A case of minor brain-freeze at Coventry station a few weeks ago - bought a cheese roll from the café there thinking it was Cheese and Branstons, but it was actually Cheese and Marmite! I wondered why it was a little soggy

SimonStClare said:

BBC - Leicester MP Keith Vaz urges Coca-Cola Christmas truck tour to avoid city.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-34718933

Today's top wanker award.

He really is an odious man and somebody shown to have dodgy expenses among other things, but there still is in a top select committee role.

Even a brief look at wikipedia page will show he has been involved in scandals times and time again, many of which brought down other people, but some how he is still there clinging to the greasy pole.

MTimT said:

Plato_Says said:

Quite. Revolting = Hershey

Morris_Dancer said:

Mr. T, due to your Amerification, your views on chocolate are inherently dubious.

I do miss British confectionary and savoury biscuits. Fortunately, Cadbury's are now available but the complaint is that Hershey's have f'd up the formula for the US market.

Hershey 's chocolate is the work of the devil. It smells like baby puke and is disgustingly sweet.

JosiasJessop said:

MTimT said:

Apropo of nothing (except bragging), just signed off on the final proof of my next piece for publication. Four page Comment in a little rag called Nature. Due out Thursday 12 November. Embargoed until then, but will post the link once I am allowed.

Congratulations.

Your book arrived a couple of days ago, and I'm looking forward to reading it. Second hand unfortunately, so you won't get any income from it. If you'd like to nominate a charity for a couple of quid to go to?

Unusually, Mrs J picked it up from my to-be-read stack and took it before me. That usually only happens with sci-fi novels. Make of that what you will ...

Thanks. No need, but feel free to donate to any animal rescue/shelter other than PETA.

Hope the missus enjoys (if that is the right word) it.

The chocolate from here is to die for - http://www.gay-odin.it/

Mr Jessop: Marmite on toast / Marmite soldiers / a Marmite drink - these are all comfort foods. Admittedly Marmite and peanut butter sandwiches (often consumed in the Cyclefree household) are an acquired taste. But still.

In Naples there used to be a shop - Codringtons - named after some English admiral - where you could get English delicacies such as Marmite, tea etc for those Neapolitans fond of such things and the English community that resided there. I never did find a Neapolitan who liked Marmite - apart from me and my brother - but our visits there were a highlight and we enjoyed the shocked expressions of our relatives when we suggested cooking spaghetti with butter and Marmite and Parmesan.

Cyclefree said:

MTimT said:

kle4 said:

MTimT said:

kle4 said:

antifrank said:

I feel like a heretic, but I prefer sultanas to raisins.

Not a heretic, just thoroughly untrustworthy.

Guess that makes me an untrustworthy heretic too.

Sad to say. I'm sorry, I draw the line at preferring sultanas over raisans. Politics is subjective, but some things should be unquestionable.

What is your position on Marmite?

Marmite is awesome!

My wife does not understand me when I insist we have some in the cupboard at all times.

AndyJS said:

O/T:

A few weeks ago someone "unmasked" James Maybrick's brother as Jack the Ripper. Now another amateur sleuth says it was someone called Francis Thompson:

http://www.express.co.uk/news/history/616896/Jack-The-Ripper-identity-mystery-solved

I thought it was the German bloke wot committed similar crimes in the US?

Carl Feigenbaum

MTimT said:

Cyclefree said:

Cadbury's chocolate is, I'm sorry to say, generally horrible.

Neuhaus dark chocolate orange sticks. Prestat truffles. That's the way to go.

Did you ever stop at Bendicks on Black Boy Hill on the way back from lectures? Couldn't afford to do so often (first year only I was in Wells), but it was always a luxury reward event.

I remember it. But didn't buy more than once or twice. I remember the fish and chip shop at the bottom and eating that on the walk up. TBH in years 1 & 2 I don't remember much cooking at all, apart from a disaster involving beans, which due no doubt to my ineptness, had turned into a Weapon of Mass Destruction all by themselves. It was only in the third year that I cooked properly.

For me it was when the Arab market became big and brands like Galaxy were filled with higher melting point fats - it became waxy and not so tasty.

It's still my favourite ordinary brand, but Lindt orange or Bournville remain tops for me. Old Jamaica is wonderful too if you can find it.

FrancisUrquhart said:

Cadburys chocolate is piss poor, but Hersheys is even worse.

MTimT said:

JosiasJessop said:

MTimT said:

Apropo of nothing (except bragging), just signed off on the final proof of my next piece for publication. Four page Comment in a little rag called Nature. Due out Thursday 12 November. Embargoed until then, but will post the link once I am allowed.

Congratulations.

Your book arrived a couple of days ago, and I'm looking forward to reading it. Second hand unfortunately, so you won't get any income from it. If you'd like to nominate a charity for a couple of quid to go to?

Unusually, Mrs J picked it up from my to-be-read stack and took it before me. That usually only happens with sci-fi novels. Make of that what you will ...

Thanks. No need, but feel free to donate to any animal rescue/shelter other than PETA.

Hope the missus enjoys (if that is the right word) it.

Like me, she's someone who finds information to be enjoyment. I'll donate a few coins to Wood Green Animal Shelter.

As an aside, Mrs J is very pro-animal rights, but hates PETA with a passion. She's a veggie (now reluctantly for health reasons a pescetarian) Turkish liberal, with a father who was a senior diplomat who attempted to start up a political party. She's very interested in the region, especially as she lived in Iran for a short period during the Iran-Iraq war. Which is the reason she ended up being a liberal ...

Sunil_Prasannan said:

I did like a few of the US chocolate bars while I was in Colorado a few years back. "Three Musketeers" was virtually the same as our Milky Way, while their "Milky Way" was not unlike a Mars Bar!

Tescos in Birmingham City Centre have a limited selection of US stuff, though not Three Musketeers, unfortunately.

Even though it is piss poor chocolate, 3 Musketeers bar is my go to when in the US....my guilty pleasure :-)

MTimT said:

Cyclefree said:

we enjoyed the shocked expressions of our relatives when we suggested cooking spaghetti with butter and Marmite and Parmesan.

It is a very very cheap dish.

When I lived briefly in Paris I used to hang out with a group of mostly French, Arabs, Italian and others. There were 2 English amongst us. One evening we decided that we would have a "Food from our Country" evening. The others were planning all sorts of treats while the English guy and I - somewhat mischievously and against the spirit of the evening - planned a whole menu consisting entirely of fairly disgusting food from tins and cans and packets: Spam, Angel Delight, corned beef, Heinz salad cream, that sort of thing, with not one bit of fresh food anywhere and no attempt at any, you know, actual cooking.

The others politely declined.

kle4 said:

PClipp said:

kle4 said:

Ugly prospects, to be sure. I feel for them. They barely scraped my vote this time, but I want more parties to have decent numbers in parliament not less, and with UKIP facing their well known difficulties breaking through despite far better national poll numbers than the LDs, the Greens nowhere as usual, PC limited in scope and the SNP already having achieved dominance, the LDs are the only other option to be a strong party in Parliament, but there are so few areas that are ready to be won back with even a decent revival. They need miracles to win, at present, or they need a good result to hold and barely build on 2015, to try for a bigger push in 2025.

There seems little they can do, barring that poll revival the piece mentions they need just sort of happening from pure chance.

I thnk the PB Commentariat is being unduly pessimistic. Labour have a leader that most of its MPs do not want - so there is very prospect of the Labour Party falling to bits.

The Tories are horribly divided by the question of the EU - so much so that Cameron does not even dare to reveal what he is trying to negotiate. Once this becomes apparent, surely the Conservative Party will also fall to bits.

Meanwhile, the Lib Dems are reasonably united and beavering away to build up their election-winning machine again. In some places more than others, perhaps - but local government byelections have not been as totally grim as the PB Commentariat would have us believe - far from it! - and all the signs are that there is considerate enthusiasm and commitment for the excellent Jane Brophy´s campaign in Oldham.

I wish your team well, but I do feel obligated to point out that the PBCommentariat, I believe, overestimated how well the LDs would do in 2015, in fact they were generous to their propsects. Doesn't mean the pessimism about their chances now is correct of course, but it's not as though that pessimism has been the default reaction.

I was, um, pretty accurate in my predictions for 2015.

And fwiw this far out, I agree with antifrank. Down to 3 or 4 in 2020. My mates used to wax lyrical about lib Dems. They don't even get a mention nowadays. #spentforce

MTimT said:

Cyclefree said:

MTimT said:

Cyclefree said:

Cadbury's chocolate is, I'm sorry to say, generally horrible.

Neuhaus dark chocolate orange sticks. Prestat truffles. That's the way to go.

Did you ever stop at Bendicks on Black Boy Hill on the way back from lectures? Couldn't afford to do so often (first year only I was in Wells), but it was always a luxury reward event.

I remember it. But didn't buy more than once or twice. I remember the fish and chip shop at the bottom and eating that on the walk up. TBH in years 1 & 2 I don't remember much cooking at all, apart from a disaster involving beans, which due no doubt to my ineptness, had turned into a Weapon of Mass Destruction all by themselves. It was only in the third year that I cooked properly.

I started cooking in the second year. 6 of us shared a Jacobean farmhouse on 17 acres out in Dundry (A38 going just south of Bedminster, before the reservoir). We got free milk and potatoes from the farmer who rented the fields in return for feeding the cows.

Can one be envious in retrospect? Because I'm beginning to be.

I like Heinz Salad Creme. As a kid, I liked SPAM and corned beef. I tried both in the last couple of years and ARGH - esp SPAM = it's so salty.

Angel Delight from memory has a strange metallic quality - powdered potato like Smash is the work of the devil. Does anyone bar the very desperate/astronauts eat this anymore?

Cyclefree said:

MTimT said:

Cyclefree said:

we enjoyed the shocked expressions of our relatives when we suggested cooking spaghetti with butter and Marmite and Parmesan.

It is a very very cheap dish.

When I lived briefly in Paris I used to hang out with a group of mostly French, Arabs, Italian and others. There were 2 English amongst us. One evening we decided that we would have a "Food from our Country" evening. The others were planning all sorts of treats while the English guy and I - somewhat mischievously and against the spirit of the evening - planned a whole menu consisting entirely of fairly disgusting food from tins and cans and packets: Spam, Angel Delight, corned beef, Heinz salad cream, that sort of thing, with not one bit of fresh food anywhere and no attempt at any, you know, actual cooking.

The others politely declined.

Cyclefree said:

The chocolate from here is to die for - http://www.gay-odin.it/

Mr Jessop: Marmite on toast / Marmite soldiers / a Marmite drink - these are all comfort foods. Admittedly Marmite and peanut butter sandwiches (often consumed in the Cyclefree household) are an acquired taste. But still.

In Naples there used to be a shop - Codringtons - named after some English admiral - where you could get English delicacies such as Marmite, tea etc for those Neapolitans fond of such things and the English community that resided there. I never did find a Neapolitan who liked Marmite - apart from me and my brother - but our visits there were a highlight and we enjoyed the shocked expressions of our relatives when we suggested cooking spaghetti with butter and Marmite and Parmesan.

Hah

Banana and brown sugar toasted sandwiches

MTimT said:

kle4 said:

MTimT said:

kle4 said:

MTimT said:

kle4 said:

antifrank said:

I feel like a heretic, but I prefer sultanas to raisins.

Not a heretic, just thoroughly untrustworthy.

Guess that makes me an untrustworthy heretic too.

Sad to say. I'm sorry, I draw the line at preferring sultanas over raisans. Politics is subjective, but some things should be unquestionable.

What is your position on Marmite?

Ah, I'm a bit of a traitor there - I'm a vegemite man.
Such oddity probably explains why I've voted LD several times - they should target the weird vote - I know people will say they already do, but mostly a particular type of weirdy, whereas there's a lot of weird people out there waiting to be tapped.

Did you spend time Down Under or are you truly weird?

No time down under, just weird - although I can blame my parents for stocking our cupboards with it rather than Marmite I should think, preconditioning me to prefer it.

Cyclefree said:

MTimT said:

Cyclefree said:

MTimT said:

Cyclefree said:

Cadbury's chocolate is, I'm sorry to say, generally horrible.

Neuhaus dark chocolate orange sticks. Prestat truffles. That's the way to go.

Did you ever stop at Bendicks on Black Boy Hill on the way back from lectures? Couldn't afford to do so often (first year only I was in Wells), but it was always a luxury reward event.

I remember it. But didn't buy more than once or twice. I remember the fish and chip shop at the bottom and eating that on the walk up. TBH in years 1 & 2 I don't remember much cooking at all, apart from a disaster involving beans, which due no doubt to my ineptness, had turned into a Weapon of Mass Destruction all by themselves. It was only in the third year that I cooked properly.

I started cooking in the second year. 6 of us shared a Jacobean farmhouse on 17 acres out in Dundry (A38 going just south of Bedminster, before the reservoir). We got free milk and potatoes from the farmer who rented the fields in return for feeding the cows.

Can one be envious in retrospect? Because I'm beginning to be.

This will just make it worse: http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/06/3a/7a/9d/colliters-brook-farm.jpg

We paid GBP7.50 per week each in rent, IIRC.

Richard_Nabavi said:

MaxPB said:

I still don't like the idea of giving the plod or any local government idiots access to any of the information gathered by the result of this Bill. It should be for the Spooks and only for the Spooks.

As I've already said (not that I'm doing anything other than reading out what's in the Guardian), local authorities will be explicitly excluded from accessing this information. That's a reduction in their current powers. What's more the Bill adds a whole load more safeguards, including for the first time judicial authorisation of interception warrants.

The Bill is here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/473770/Draft_Investigatory_Powers_Bill.pdf

Schedule 4 lists the authorities that can access the data.

Local authorities may be excluded but the lost is certainly more than just the police and security services and includes NHS Trusts and HMRC as well.

Great article antifrank and I agree with the logic. The assumption that there will be an automatic recovery for the Lib Dems (or that the only way is up) is very flawed. UKIP came very close to getting zero seats this year on a far greater share of the vote - the 10/1 of the Lib Dems getting zero next time seems about like a reasonable longshot.

JosiasJessop said:

MTimT said:

JosiasJessop said:

MTimT said:

JosiasJessop said:

MTimT said:

Apropo of nothing (except bragging), just signed off on the final proof of my next piece for publication. Four page Comment in a little rag called Nature. Due out Thursday 12 November. Embargoed until then, but will post the link once I am allowed.

Congratulations.

Your book arrived a couple of days ago, and I'm looking forward to reading it. Second hand unfortunately, so you won't get any income from it. If you'd like to nominate a charity for a couple of quid to go to?

Unusually, Mrs J picked it up from my to-be-read stack and took it before me. That usually only happens with sci-fi novels. Make of that what you will ...

Thanks. No need, but feel free to donate to any animal rescue/shelter other than PETA.

Hope the missus enjoys (if that is the right word) it.

Like me, she's someone who finds information to be enjoyment. I'll donate a few coins to Wood Green Animal Shelter.

As an aside, Mrs J is very pro-animal rights, but hates PETA with a passion. She's a veggie (now reluctantly for health reasons a pescetarian) Turkish liberal, with a father who was a senior diplomat who attempted to start up a political party. She's very interested in the region, especially as she lived in Iran for a short period during the Iran-Iraq war. Which is the reason she ended up being a liberal ...

I think anyone who loves animals hates PETA. They are extremists praying on grannies.

Yet to make it to Iran, but may get there sometime in the next few years. Trying to organize a workshop in Shiraz.

Her stories of her time there are both funny and nasty. She was under ten, and it was a couple of years after the revolution. By all accounts they've become much more (relatively) moderate since then.

Her (then) diplomatic passport got her out of many sticky situations. Young armed men fired up with religious fervour and the state's power are not the nicest people, whatever the state and religion.

Which is a shame, as it's a country I wouldn't mind visiting. Along with Iraq, Israel and Jordan. A tour of those countries might prove rather difficult, especially one after the other.

Amazingly, the closest I have come to Israel is the Dead Sea and the Allenby Bridge. That may change in January - I have been asked to do some training for a bunch of Israelis, Palestinians and Jordanians (yes, in the same room at the same time).

Jordan is easy and a pleasure to visit. All the interesting stuff in Iraq is probably a little dangerous at the moment.

The LDs will get Labour tactical votes next time which they lost in 2015 so I would not be surprised to see them get 15 to 20 seats even if they only rose a fraction in the popular vote to 10% or so

Charles said:

Cyclefree said:

The chocolate from here is to die for - http://www.gay-odin.it/

Mr Jessop: Marmite on toast / Marmite soldiers / a Marmite drink - these are all comfort foods. Admittedly Marmite and peanut butter sandwiches (often consumed in the Cyclefree household) are an acquired taste. But still.

In Naples there used to be a shop - Codringtons - named after some English admiral - where you could get English delicacies such as Marmite, tea etc for those Neapolitans fond of such things and the English community that resided there. I never did find a Neapolitan who liked Marmite - apart from me and my brother - but our visits there were a highlight and we enjoyed the shocked expressions of our relatives when we suggested cooking spaghetti with butter and Marmite and Parmesan.

Hah

Banana and brown sugar toasted sandwiches

That sounds rather nice.

I have some esoteric food tastes. Deep fried calves brains with a sharp green sauce or lemon is most delicious!

FrancisUrquhart said:

Richard_Tyndall said:

Richard_Nabavi said:

MaxPB said:

I still don't like the idea of giving the plod or any local government idiots access to any of the information gathered by the result of this Bill. It should be for the Spooks and only for the Spooks.

As I've already said (not that I'm doing anything other than reading out what's in the Guardian), local authorities will be explicitly excluded from accessing this information. That's a reduction in their current powers. What's more the Bill adds a whole load more safeguards, including for the first time judicial authorisation of interception warrants.

The Bill is here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/473770/Draft_Investigatory_Powers_Bill.pdf

Schedule 4 lists the authorities that can access the data.

Local authorities may be excluded but the lost is certainly more than just the police and security services and includes NHS Trusts and HMRC as well.

Why would an NHS Trust ever need to request to see my web browsing habits?

Investigations into incidence of repetitive strain injuries of wrists.

FrancisUrquhart said:

Why would an NHS Trust ever need to request to see my web browsing habits?

It seems to be something to do with the ambulance service, judging by the fact that it has to be authorised by the 'Director of Operations or Control and Communications Manager' or 'Duty Manager of Ambulance Trust Control Rooms', and that other ambulance services also have powers.

Cyclefree said:

Charles said:

Cyclefree said:

The chocolate from here is to die for - http://www.gay-odin.it/

Mr Jessop: Marmite on toast / Marmite soldiers / a Marmite drink - these are all comfort foods. Admittedly Marmite and peanut butter sandwiches (often consumed in the Cyclefree household) are an acquired taste. But still.

In Naples there used to be a shop - Codringtons - named after some English admiral - where you could get English delicacies such as Marmite, tea etc for those Neapolitans fond of such things and the English community that resided there. I never did find a Neapolitan who liked Marmite - apart from me and my brother - but our visits there were a highlight and we enjoyed the shocked expressions of our relatives when we suggested cooking spaghetti with butter and Marmite and Parmesan.

Hah

Banana and brown sugar toasted sandwiches

That sounds rather nice.

I have some esoteric food tastes. Deep fried calves brains with a sharp green sauce or lemon is most delicious!

First time I had sheep brains was in Istambul, at the tender age of 22. I was dining alone in a local caravanserai, and the table of Turks next to me thought this was just awful, so insisted I join them, and proceeded to insist I try every dish on their table. It was the dish I most enjoyed.

Cyclefree said:

Charles said:

Cyclefree said:

The chocolate from here is to die for - http://www.gay-odin.it/

Mr Jessop: Marmite on toast / Marmite soldiers / a Marmite drink - these are all comfort foods. Admittedly Marmite and peanut butter sandwiches (often consumed in the Cyclefree household) are an acquired taste. But still.

In Naples there used to be a shop - Codringtons - named after some English admiral - where you could get English delicacies such as Marmite, tea etc for those Neapolitans fond of such things and the English community that resided there. I never did find a Neapolitan who liked Marmite - apart from me and my brother - but our visits there were a highlight and we enjoyed the shocked expressions of our relatives when we suggested cooking spaghetti with butter and Marmite and Parmesan.

Hah

Banana and brown sugar toasted sandwiches

That sounds rather nice.

I have some esoteric food tastes. Deep fried calves brains with a sharp green sauce or lemon is most delicious!

Indeed, almost like a custardless bread pudding.

In Yemen, they use the leftover unleaven bread for breakfast the next morning. It is a very thin variety of bread, so gets very stale very fast, and breaks into small, water biscuit/cracker-like pieces. These are mixed with bananas mushed in honey. A great way to start the day.

Richard_Nabavi said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

Why would an NHS Trust ever need to request to see my web browsing habits?

It seems to be something to do with the ambulance service, judging by the fact that it has to be authorised by the 'Director of Operations or Control and Communications Manager' or 'Duty Manager of Ambulance Trust Control Rooms', and that other ambulance services also have powers.

So why would the ambulance service ever need to see my browsing history then? That seems even more unnecessary.

MTimT said:

Cyclefree said:

MTimT said:

Cyclefree said:

MTimT said:

Cyclefree said:

Cadbury's chocolate is, I'm sorry to say, generally horrible.

Neuhaus dark chocolate orange sticks. Prestat truffles. That's the way to go.

Did you ever stop at Bendicks on Black Boy Hill on the way back from lectures? Couldn't afford to do so often (first year only I was in Wells), but it was always a luxury reward event.

I remember it. But didn't buy more than once or twice. I remember the fish and chip shop at the bottom and eating that on the walk up. TBH in years 1 & 2 I don't remember much cooking at all, apart from a disaster involving beans, which due no doubt to my ineptness, had turned into a Weapon of Mass Destruction all by themselves. It was only in the third year that I cooked properly.

I started cooking in the second year. 6 of us shared a Jacobean farmhouse on 17 acres out in Dundry (A38 going just south of Bedminster, before the reservoir). We got free milk and potatoes from the farmer who rented the fields in return for feeding the cows.

Can one be envious in retrospect? Because I'm beginning to be.

This will just make it worse: http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/06/3a/7a/9d/colliters-brook-farm.jpg

We paid GBP7.50 per week each in rent, IIRC.

Yes, thank you. It did.

This was where I was. http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-46248574.html

Didn't look a bit like that when I was there. It was divided into flats. The only bit I remember is the conservatory where I grew herbs - basil, mainly.

Plato_Says said:

Ewwwww spam fritters - I associate them with school dinners and squeezing the fat out of them with the tines of my fork.

I've no sweet tooth, but did like tinned peaches as a ween. Iceberg lettuce is ambrosia.

Omnium said:

Plato_Says said:

I like Heinz Salad Creme. As a kid, I liked SPAM and corned beef. I tried both in the last couple of years and ARGH - esp SPAM = it's so salty.

Salad Cream - with Iceberg lettuce,great stuff!
Corned Beef - There's some more up-market varieties than the stuff I used to eat. Corned beef and pickle sandwiches are great!
Luncheon Meat/Spam - Spam fritters are great!

I think that in all of these cases I'd like them today if they were used in the perfect combination (as above). Probably it's just that you can make two lesser ingredients better when combined. And of course also the taste of childhood - that and the coal-dust in my mouth from the working in the mines and getting up before I went to bed.

There're some other foods I'd mention which I'd happily eat again, but really don't.

Tinned peaches
Tinned pears
Liver Sausage
Fish and Chips with newsprint tang

I'm reliably informed by a foodie friend that Iceberg lettuce is an invention of the Devil. She condemns Salad Cream in fuller language.

@Cyclefree re 'Marmite drinks' - I've always found Bovril to be the perfect 'Marmite drink'. Somehow they're not even slightly interchangeable. Bovril on toast is rubbish, and marmite and hot water gets dull fast. Clearly they're not quite the same thing, but I rather associate the two.

On topic: I tipped Farron for leader a few years ago, but have been disappointed with him, so far.

I'm still considering joining either the Lib Dems or the Conservatives, if only to help someone trounce Corbyn's intellectually poor Labour. Sadly after my tipping him, Farron's near-silence since the GE (*) has dissuaded me, so far.

(*) This might be the media's fault rather than his own.

Charles said:

Cyclefree said:

Charles said:

Cyclefree said:

The chocolate from here is to die for - http://www.gay-odin.it/

Mr Jessop: Marmite on toast / Marmite soldiers / a Marmite drink - these are all comfort foods. Admittedly Marmite and peanut butter sandwiches (often consumed in the Cyclefree household) are an acquired taste. But still.

In Naples there used to be a shop - Codringtons - named after some English admiral - where you could get English delicacies such as Marmite, tea etc for those Neapolitans fond of such things and the English community that resided there. I never did find a Neapolitan who liked Marmite - apart from me and my brother - but our visits there were a highlight and we enjoyed the shocked expressions of our relatives when we suggested cooking spaghetti with butter and Marmite and Parmesan.

Hah

Banana and brown sugar toasted sandwiches

That sounds rather nice.

I have some esoteric food tastes. Deep fried calves brains with a sharp green sauce or lemon is most delicious!

Melted Toblerone on vanilla ice cream is a personal favorite as well...

Don't like Toblerone. It's the honey. Can't bear the stuff. It used to be put in hot milk to be drunk when I had a sore throat, which was very often. Put me right off.

Richard_Nabavi said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

So why would the ambulance service ever need to see my browsing history then? That seems even more unnecessary.

I have no idea, but at a guess it would be for the situation where they were urgently trying to locate someone who'd made an emergency call? I doubt if it is a new power.

Nope not buying that I am afraid Richard. You don't need to view what web sites I have visited for the ambulance to locate me.

Also, just because a service already has a power, it doesn't mean it is right either.

The Lib Dems impressed me with their spirit just after the election when Twitter was full of talk about the Lib Dem fight back and how many new members they had recruited. But then Corbyn comes along and increases the Labour membership by more than the whole of the Lib Dems put together. They might well have expected some kind of boost from a left wing Labour leader. But that hasn't materialised either. They do still have the pavement politics approach up their sleeve. They must have some great expertise in that after all. But that is a long slog and they are starting from a pretty low base in local government. If I were a Lib Dem I'd be thinking about buying a comfy pair of shoes and getting out on the doorsteps. And I'd probably forget about Westminster and focus on the local town hall.

It might pay off for them. The right kind of crisis could still make them the best port in a storm.

In the meantime, the lack of a popular centre party has at least enabled Labour to have its first radical left wing leader without immediately losing a shedload of votes. The right kind of Liberal revival could even get Labour into Downing Street. But the biggest effect of the collapse of the centre is to give the Tories a very comfortable electoral position.

FrancisUrquhart said:

Richard_Nabavi said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

So why would the ambulance service ever need to see my browsing history then? That seems even more unnecessary.

I have no idea, but at a guess it would be for the situation where they were urgently trying to locate someone who'd made an emergency call? I doubt if it is a new power.

Nope not buying that I am afraid Richard. You don't need to view what web sites I have visited for the ambulance to locate me.

Also, just because a service already has a power, it doesn't mean it is right either.

Get your MP to ask Theresa May. Not everything is an evil conspiracy. Sometimes there's a perfectly reasonable explanation, it's just that you haven't thought of it.

watford30 said:

Speedy said:

dr_spyn said:

Kevin Schofield ‏@PolhomeEditor 11m11 minutes ago
No10 on Sinai plane crash: "We have become concerned that the plane may well have been brought down by an explosive device."

make of that what you will.

I don't think so, the Russians will want to say it's terrorism for political reasons and to remove any blame from the company, the Egyptians will never admit to anything but technical failure for tourism reasons, so the investigation will be botched.

However the tail broke first and broke clean off and there is evidence of a long term hydraulic fluid leak on the tail that has corroded at least the outer parts of the tail at some sections, along with the previous damage the tail suffered from an earlier accident, that seems sufficient to have caused the tail to snap.

Since there is no credible claim by a terrorist group that they did it, the most likely cause is the one outlined above. The closest comparison is the BEA flight-706: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_European_Airways_Flight_706

The Skydrol leak visible in photos in no worse than those found on many other aircraft. However the previous tail strike, and/or an engine failure would be a likely cause.

I wouldn't fly on a Russian built aircraft, or one leased and maintained by a Russian airline.

And I would not trust the outcome of any Russian enquiry. The govt may well have some info they cannot disclose. It could be anything at moment, so govt is probably being wise in being overcautious. This plane however looks a dead ringer for an accident waiting to happen. If it is a bomb however it marks a terrible slap in the face of Putin's braggadocio.

Richard_Nabavi said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

So why would the ambulance service ever need to see my browsing history then? That seems even more unnecessary.

I have no idea, but at a guess it would be for the situation where they were urgently trying to locate someone who'd made an emergency call? I doubt if it is a new power.

They could find someone who made an emergency call very quickly from the phone company. Not sure if they use it yet but there's the technological capability of 999 services to see a mobile phone calling them on a map based on triangulation or for some smartphones the onboard GPS.

By the way, how easy is it to get an unregistered pay as you go SIM card with a data plan in the UK these days? There was talk about requiring ID to get a SIM a few years back but did it come to anything?

Richard_Nabavi said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

So why would the ambulance service ever need to see my browsing history then? That seems even more unnecessary.

I have no idea, but at a guess it would be for the situation where they were urgently trying to locate someone who'd made an emergency call? I doubt if it is a new power.

Why browsing history to find a call? That doesn't make sense.

The more you create a honey pot like having all this information about people the more likely it is that people, including bad people, will want access to it. Information is valuable, very valuable. The more bodies have the right to view the information, the greater the chances of them using it and the greater the chances of people in those organisations misusing the information.

richardDodd said:

Been travelling all day.. how did PMQs go..

Not well for the sick chicken apparently. And it went I to 10 minutes overtime.

Has anyone flown from Sharm el-Sheikh? What was security like there?

Richard_Nabavi said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

Richard_Nabavi said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

So why would the ambulance service ever need to see my browsing history then? That seems even more unnecessary.

I have no idea, but at a guess it would be for the situation where they were urgently trying to locate someone who'd made an emergency call? I doubt if it is a new power.

Nope not buying that I am afraid Richard. You don't need to view what web sites I have visited for the ambulance to locate me.

Also, just because a service already has a power, it doesn't mean it is right either.

Get your MP to ask Theresa May. Not everything is an evil conspiracy. Sometimes there's a perfectly reasonable explanation, it's just that you haven't thought of it.

If there's a reasonable explanation then perhaps Mrs May can bloody well tell us rather than claiming that it's all needed to protect us from monsters and dragons in her awful "I know best, children" voice.

We're not fools. We can see the holes in the arguments. And we're right to be sceptical of the authorities given how bloody useless they've proved to be, how careless of legalities, how inclined to overreach.

At work I'm the one who has access to emails and calls for investigative purposes and it is very very tightly controlled and I have to jump through hoops to get it etc. So I have some understanding of what is needed to carry out investigations. And we don't allow the office nurse to read emails nor the canteen people nor the building maintenance people to read them, which is what her "and others" seems to entail.

AndyJS said:

Has anyone flown from Sharm el-Sheikh? What was security like there?

http://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/569907-breaking-news-airliner-missing-within-egyptian-fir-47.html#post9169149

Why did it take a incident like this to promt action from Governments/Airlines. Anyone who has travelled from Sharm will know security is almost non existant.

Assumed to be from a pilot operating into Sharm.

back OT:

The LDs will start to realise how lucky they've been with leaders recently as Farron's reign unfolds. Somehow, despite peddling a daft "I'm in the middle, but I'm better" argument the LD leaders in recent years have made a great deal of headway. Farron isn't the man to do that sort of thing. However he's a serious politician and it'll be interesting to see what he says.

And then there was a bit of a gap...

It's probably the press coverage being very limited, but the LDs are pretty much off the radar, and he has to change that.

I think the LDs as a party, and as they stand, can't continue. I'm sure that the core Liberal ideas (which are an important distinction), and the general pragmatism, can't be unrepresented, but equally I'm sure that there's no energy in the current arrangements.

My guess therefore is that Farron will preside over a dying party. They need to find some sort of lodestone.

You can't have all those supporters, all that history, and all of that space without some strand filling it though. I'm going with Clegg coming back and sporting a beard.

Richard is very confident that the safeguards / rules about who gets this information and how they use it will work...

CPS fined £200,000 over theft of interview film laptops

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-34718932

We also only have to think about to last week and Talk Talk hack...

Richard_Nabavi said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

Richard is very confident that the safeguards / rules about who gets this information and how they use it will work...

CPS fined £200,000 over theft of interview film laptops

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-34718932

We also only have to think about to last week and Talk Talk hack...

So we'd better not allow the CPS to conduct interviews?

Don't be a tw@t....it is just yet another couple of examples of how piss poor government agencies (and companies) are when it comes to data security.

You seem to think some code of conducts written in the bill will be 100% adhered to and that this data will be safely and securely handled. People are always the weak link the chain. It takes just one rogue employee or one moron.

The CPS can't manage to deal with sensitive interview data properly, Talk Talk can't stop a 15 year old hacking their systems (and the 3rd such hack in a year) i.e. their systems aren't up to scratch.

But its ok the CPS have been fined £200k, which is a) too late after the fact and b) pointless, but ultimately it is our money just going around the cycle.

I'm usually quite sanguine about @Richard_Nabavi and his views being quite Party Line, but on security/surveillance I'm at a loss.

He's so relaxed that I wonder if he's a commercial reason for being so.

FrancisUrquhart said:

Richard_Nabavi said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

Richard is very confident that the safeguards / rules about who gets this information and how they use it will work...

CPS fined £200,000 over theft of interview film laptops

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-34718932

We also only have to think about to last week and Talk Talk hack...

So we'd better not allow the CPS to conduct interviews?

Don't be a tw@t....it is just yet another couple of examples of how piss poor government agencies (and companies) are when it comes to data security.

You seem to think some code of conducts written in the bill will be 100% adhered to and that this data will be safely and securely handled. People are always the weak link the chain. It takes just one rogue employee or one moron.

The CPS can't manage to deal with sensitive interview data properly, Talk Talk can't stop a 15 year old hacking their systems (and the 3rd such hack in a year) i.e. their systems aren't up to scratch.