This was really helpful, especially 'sort by proportion'
Retired (US, business & technology) historian. Twitter escapee. Hope this doesn't go the same way. Welsh & European. Durham resident. Gardener & cyclist.
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This was really helpful, especially 'sort by proportion'
One reason we stopped doing admissions interviews — tho it was mostly the cost to us, tbh, & the judgement that in most cases they didn’t add much. The people we invited to interview were usually worth an offer, so why not just make the offer? Open Days served the “selling” purpose better, too.
Very good, Mr K. Looking at our major-party politicians, exc perhaps Ed Davey, none of them knows the answer. Nick Gibb is a rare hangover from a calmer, gentler age. He could only get on with the policy because a bunch of colleagues who lacked his key attribute were doing the politics, badly.
Lateral thinking.
The official job title is “tit-whisperer”.
You ‘ave to larf.
Does she have it on her toilet paper, like all True Patriots?
I’m glad I didn’t look like that bag of lard when I was 65.
They know how to make you feel wanted. Your money, anyway.
It's all so stupid & inane & depressing & undignified. Politics without any value or values.
“Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just pleased to see me?” Or words to that effect.
Don’t we all get the opportunity to do that — to hear it, at least — every ****ing time she opens her mouth?
And also that IT DOES NOT MATTER. She did not go to Stanford. She did not, could not become a Dr (thank God). She got mediocre A-levels, middling uni, unspectacular entry-level career. She is still (1) rich, married very well, & (2) LOTO. Isn’t that enough?
Why, what has she done to deserve your help or anybody’s? Apart from not being Robert Jenrick?
“Growth people can feel in their pockets” makes me think of something rude, but I guess that’s just because I’m an old bloke who remembers playing the game we called “pocket billiards”. About 60 years ago, very adolescent.
No. So what was the real backdrop?
I dunno. Up until now I’ve enjoyed the luxury of being able to waste my vote in a more emotionally satisfying way, but given Reform’s victory in the local elections it may be necessary to choose simply the best anti-Reform option. Not easy to do, & Labour makes it no easier by being so ****.
Even if it was only just a story, it'd be one worth telling. You'd think it'd be a posture he'd adopt naturally. But he misses every opportunity, which must be deliberate -- as advised, not accidental.
At least, he should, & very consciously. A leader for Britain, not just for white, immigrant-hating England (which isn't even all of England). Perish the thought that he should use the bully pulpit for relentless war vs Reform, & campaign as leader of the still relatively prog British majority.
I really don't know whether or why I should care if he stays or goes. What, apart from winning the largest minority of the pop vote in an election vs a party that had done an excellent job of destroying itself, has he actually _achieved_? Honeymoon period, huge majority, zilch exc self-harm since.
My personal opinion, as somebody living in what was a safe Lab seat but who hasn't voted Lab for yrs-- partly because it's not been necessary but also Lib Dems &/or Greens more attractive locally-- is that he will survive, because he has a large majority & there is no obvious better rival/substitute
Not just one flag, a whole mantelpiece full of them. A pathetic display. Who thought it would be a good look?
He's clearly English but he's decorating the mantelpiece in 10 ****ing Downing Street with something that is currently principally significant as the emblem of Reform and the nazis. He cd have chosen the Union Flag. It wd have been more appropriate. He's not just saying he's backing England at footy
Owning their national flag in the UK? Really, normal? Except when there's an England match or some Royal anniversary I hardly see them.
You're going into overdrive to apologize for him. He's adopting his usual ungainly position in a domestic fight, i.e. bending over backwards. Not even very easy or elegant to engage in flag-shagging when you're doing that. Does he persuade? Does he inspire anything apart from a cringe reaction?
Isn't the official GOP answer that everybody has to die of _something_?
The nation is supposed to be the United Kingdom. Starmer is not Prime Minister of England.
Thanks!
He should show us his underpants. If they don't show the Cross of St George, he's not serious.
Great example this morning of How to Park on a Bike Path -- smack in the middle, so that nobody can ride past on either side. Not sure whether this car was just parked or perhaps abandoned after a bit of a thunk -- some bodywork damage in front.
Doesn't "delivery" require rather more openness to _spending_, rather than just putting so much trust in the reform fairy & her new guise, AI? I think it's pretty fair for Mr Henig to express some mild cynicism. What is there not to be a bit cynical about? There is more continuity than delivery, tbh
Perfect at any time of day, with very minor modifications — portion size, accompaniments.
I knew a guy who lost his job as a college principal when it turned out that he’d invented (faked) an O-level pass in a subject where he’d gone on to get a genuine doctorate. Not his only career error, but it was handy because it was an open & shut sacking offence.
“Get trapped” = “trap themselves.” Badenoch is an unreliable narrator.
Kedgeree is one of our staple treats at home!
What principles might those be? They don’t know, so how should we, except by listening to what they say & seeing what they do, or say that they will do? The evidence is poor.
No assistance is ever necessary. Stupid, gabby cow.
It’s the VCs and other nobs (or is it knobs?) who are the visitors, really. They come, they **** up, they get paid off, they go.
My ID after I retired from Durham after 33 years shifted to “Visitor”, which I thought was a bit rich. Good indication of how the old place values its staff, though.
Stanford anticipated her Bs & D at A-level?
Newspaper seller, Manchester, March 1939. Ominous headlines (Mirrorpix/@manchestereveningnews.co.uk).
No marking! No annual appraisal! No REF! No pointless meetings! No nothing, just USS.
Needs to use some members of the crew, especially the guy on the left, as anchor weights.
Also: asbestos for your house and thalidomide to help you sleep… www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Strong Ku Klux Klan vibes. Disappointed at lack of hoods.
And that stupid Badenoch only wants to make this worse.
Sometimes to get a particularly shy tutorial group talking I wd leave the room & tell the kids I’d only come back if I cd hear their conversation thru the door. Or I’d leave the table & go sit by the window & let them get on with it. In extreme cases I hid underneath table. Not eccentric, effective.
Shire Horse Sale, Denby Dale, west Yorkshire, 1989, photo by Don McPhee.
More than just stupidity — the enthusiastic embrace of, or apology for, evil.
And what were they doing before they gained power — thinking, planning, consulting, researching, persuading — to try to make sure they didn’t make such a ****ing mess of their opportunity when they got it? Instead, a waste of time & space, damaging the country. Red carpet for Farage & the fascists.
What a fine bunch of rams on the South Tyne, just north of Alston, yesterday! @herdyshepherd.bsky.social
The people I read suggest that most of the protestors are there out of concern for the remaining hostages & the cost (human & otherwise) of the war to Israel rather than for the Arabs whether in the WB or Gaza. Sure, there will be exceptions, but this is not the basis on which to expect much better.
And go. Rinse & repeat.
I follow a number of Israeli voices on Twitter (they don’t seem to have made it over here much). Unfortunately the Ha’aretz (etc.) tendency among the Israeli public is not in the ascendant, hasn’t been for decades, if ever. So even a return to a nicer version of apartheid seems too much to hope for.
Quite. They do seem to have a talent for making bad choices. Perhaps they are just not very good at this politics & government stuff, but the other lot were even worse so for the moment we’re stuck with them,
Mooted, please. You have been auto-incorrected by a badly trained algorithm.
Too late for the 2SS. Look at a map of the W. Bank or a report of the latest settler atrocities or the daily Gaza horrors or listen to a spokesman for the ruling coalition. What is going to move Israeli public opinion off the path it’s been on for at least a generation? Rabin tried, & look at result
I’ve had a great time in Kingston — good cinema, food at Stein’s restaurant on the river.
Much flatter.
They may have said & even thought that, but I am not sure that the polls bear them out, or what their definition of “peace” might be. The Netanyahu government, its evil extremists, & the enthusiastic killers in & out of uniform, do not lack a constituency.
It’s clearly an invitation to his more feral followers to off her.
“Living death” is a good way of describing it. “Dead man walking.” At least none of them seems to give the impression that they’re enjoying themselves, tho some (notably Streeting, seems to have enormous self-belief) come uncomfortably close.
How can you parachute in a new leader who’s not an MP? Where could they find a “safe seat” that wouldn’t collapse under him? Why should we believe that there is hidden talent in (or outside of) Labour’s ministerial ranks, just waiting for the opportunity to show its true qualities?
This is a very worthwhile read on Starmer’s failure of leadership & his government’s overall trajectory (dismal, administering stagnation). Not just Starmer, there’s weakness in depth, no plausible better candidate. Look down through Cabinet ranks, & what do you find? Mediocrity & worse.
Don’t give them ideas!
The “bully pulpit” of the presidency would have been no use to Theodore Roosevelt if he (1) had rarely opened his mouth, or said anything interesting when he did, (2) had not been open to new ideas & pol movements, or (3) had no significant achievements to point to, to make his promises credible.
This is an extraordinary photo, but I think I’ll continue to make do with an iPhone and leave the 600 mm lenses to the pros.
So arrived c. 1965. I’ve lost track of the significance of that date in terms of the Windrush story / changes in immigration law re Commonwealth citizens.
Doesn’t this calculation require that these unwilling passengers won’t need onboard security, but will go like meek little lambs to the slaughter? Optimistic, I think. Some need to prevent hijacking to nicer destinations. Result: lower numbers per flight.
I hope Google doesn’t do the same — have a lot of content in my blog there, tho nothing like the reach of Dillow, I’m sure. Only half a million page-views, stovehistory.blogspot.com.
A Durham History alumnus writes — very well, too.
Can anyone work out why the Reform website had a story on the Taylor Swift engagement today? Odd one.
Good from @bearlypolitics.co.uk - but is the Overton Window moving, towards tolerance of the intolerable? ~ Reform’s Big Immigration Reveal: All Pyrotechnics, No Policy https://www.bearlypolitics.co.uk/p/reforms-big-immigration-reveal-all ~
“there’s concern” — paranoid fantasy as evidence.
This is what a real political speaker (& leader) ought to sound like. Harold Wilson was excellent with hecklers, too. Such a smart guy.
I wrote this with the aim that it would be a durable piece, relevant every time there's a flare-up of far right violence or as far right ideas make further advances into the mainstream. Hope people find it useful.
Implicitly, Starmer opts for “nothing” as his preferred answer.
Looked, but only if you had a really bad case of optimism bias. Like (almost?) every university governing body & "strategy committee". Only forecasting tool = a ruler, for drawing straight-line projections from a few exceptionally, unrepeatably good years after the introduction of £9K fees, end MASN
_an_ idiot -- so presumably a delibertate error.
Terrific essay by @trillingual.bsky.social. "The far-right ... thrives on failures in the existing system, yet offers remedies that would make everything much worse. It is difficult, but necessary, to give both parts of the equation due attention."
Once upon a time banks and private investors were enthusiastic about lending to them. Universities were a sure thing, a one-way bet, and lenders seemed to think that they had implicit government backing, even when they didn't.
We have signed up to the importation of up to 100,000 tons of Australian beef a year, from a farming system routinely dependent on growth hormones and antibiotic use (hard to avoid in inetnsive systems). There _is_ some Australian capacity to produce to higher standards. We'll have to trust them.
This is casuistry. Given the state of our border inspections, we depend on (1) the reliability of the exporter, & (2) the importer's own quality standards. Major importers probably do their own inspections too. I don't think hormone use is a human health issue, just animal welfare; AMR certainly is.
An easy out for you. Just an enforcement problem. Like shit in the rivers.
You think that we actually inspect (many, all) consignments? Nothing I read about the rigorousness of our border inspection protocols or hear from scientists in the animal/plant health community is very reassuring about our regulatory capacity, esp if "inspection" = micro-analysis. AMR = big issue
We seem to be doing what you suggest. It will be interesting to see the consequences. BTW, presumably this Australian beef meets U.K. standards for hormone use, antibiotic residues etc., or you don’t give a shit about that either?
Which subsidies, what do you mean? The agricultural support budget has been (predictably) slashed since Brekshit, & the Gove promise of an equivalent replacement system paying for public goods (environmental benefits) has been broken. In the Neths, attempt to reduce env impact of agri= HUGE pushback
You mean “regulate the shit out of U.K. mega-farms”? Hard to do. Our rivers testify to the results. Water Cos deserve the flak they get, but farmers seem to be missing out so far.
He means “the U.K. was Australia’s largest export market.” Clear enough.
Not a semi-cottage industry, except perhaps in upland areas. We cannot do Australian-scale feedlots in this country without ENORMOUS environmental impact. Mega-farms, whether for chicken, pigs, or dairy = huge loads of shit to dispose of in ways that = gross pollution. Already a big problem.
Not possible for them to compete on scale without industrial mega-farms & attendant environmental/animal welfare costs, but who cares? Not you, I assume.
Disgraced & formerly imprisoned property-developer father of Trump’s son-in-law, i.e. completely inappropriate diplomatic appointment, but so what? A US tradition.
Maybe a new tyre will be different from a well-worn one. An old French rural bike mechanic in 1971 demonstrated his no-levers technique to me, told me only wimps used tools, and I've stuck with it ever since. Only for getting the tyre back on, tho I think he used it to get them off too.
I became a teacher for three reasons: to set up course management systems, worry about AI dissolving my profession, and be broke in my 40s.
He disappeared himself, taking his title too seriously and trying to be Very Clandestine Indeed.
As far as I'm concerned, the more Range Rovers (etc.) the DRC gets, the better. Ditto BMWs.
Ditto Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and for that matter the Tokyo war crimes trials. Don't recall that the Japanese had much success in their negotiations.
A very original turn of phrase.
That's odd, I've had to deal with a few punctures & haven't found them hard at all -- easy to get off, easy enough to get back on just using my thumbs. But I've never had to do roadside repairs with them.
