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Post by crossbat11 on Dec 29, 2023 14:59:17 GMT
I've noticed that Barax hasn't posted for some time and I'm getting a little concerned about his absence.
I may not have agreed with his political opinions but I appreciated the "perspective" he provided. I hope he's OK and hasn't disappeared for health reasons or because he feels that he was being bullied.
When you get to our age on this forum it's always a little worrying when an old regular suddenly stops posting.
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steve
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Post by steve on Dec 29, 2023 15:04:26 GMT
I missed the Barax can someone provide a summary of their postings
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steve
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Post by steve on Dec 29, 2023 15:08:16 GMT
pjw1961 That's suberb😁 They've all lost their nuts.
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domjg
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Post by domjg on Dec 29, 2023 15:09:39 GMT
I've noticed that Barax hasn't posted for some time and I'm getting a little concerned about his absence. I may not have agreed with his political opinions but I appreciated the "perspective" he provided. I hope he's OK and hasn't disappeared for health reasons or because he feels that he was being bullied. When you get to our age on this forum it's always a little worrying when an old regular suddenly stops posting. He was news to me, I didn't see a single one of his posts.
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Post by crossbat11 on Dec 29, 2023 15:21:41 GMT
I've noticed that Barax hasn't posted for some time and I'm getting a little concerned about his absence. I may not have agreed with his political opinions but I appreciated the "perspective" he provided. I hope he's OK and hasn't disappeared for health reasons or because he feels that he was being bullied. When you get to our age on this forum it's always a little worrying when an old regular suddenly stops posting. He was news to me, I didn't see a single one of his posts. Barax was a rum dude but his heart was in the right place. Sometimes his posts made little sense, but occasionally he'd absolutely get to the heart of an issue, albeit he often did so in language some of us may have found offensive. I never fully got to the bottom of it, but I believe his user name was an amalgam of his real name, Barry, and the sheep affliction Anthrax. He had an obsession with germ warfare and remote Scottish islands and I believe he may have hailed originally from one of these far flung outposts of the British Isles. Interestingly, despite his roots, he was a staunch unionist and lifelong critic of the SNP. I fear we may never see his like again.
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Post by EmCat on Dec 29, 2023 15:23:48 GMT
I've noticed that Barax hasn't posted for some time and I'm getting a little concerned about his absence. I may not have agreed with his political opinions but I appreciated the "perspective" he provided. I hope he's OK and hasn't disappeared for health reasons or because he feels that he was being bullied. When you get to our age on this forum it's always a little worrying when an old regular suddenly stops posting. He was news to me, I didn't see a single one of his posts. I popped out to the shops for less than an hour, and they had been and been excised. More seriously, though, having seen the way some online boards end up with only the get rich quick scammers posting, it was good to see Mark was on the case so quickly
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Post by Rafwan on Dec 29, 2023 15:30:30 GMT
I am certain you are completely wrong in this, crossbat11 . Leaders are thrown up and fashioned by the political cultures within which they exist. Stark staring obvious to me. Mystical qualities such as “charisma” are an absurd fantasy. They are endowed ex poste facto. Are you sure there isn't a bit of lingering Corbyn love/knee jerk defence going on here??? Nope. I speak pearls of wisdom. I see Crofty is back! Mad as hell!!
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Post by Rafwan on Dec 29, 2023 15:52:29 GMT
Rafwan Really If someone with the cross party appeal of 1997 Tony Blair had been leader of Labour in 2017 rather than Jeremy Corbyn we'd now have a Labour government with a massive majority and we wouldn't have left the European union. Whether you call it character or charisma doesn't matter for the majority who don't think about politics at all other than briefly at a general election these types of factors do matter. Vanilla extract man Starmer despite being in public a personality vacuum currently benefits from the fact that he behaves in a far more prime ministery fashion than the incumbent Sunakered. This rather than his policy position will influence millions of voters. steveYour first paragraph is your fantasy. Had Blair been leader of the LibDems in 2017, what would have been the outcome? The leader is no more than the embodiment of the party. Voters make a judgment on which party, in the form of its leader, is most likely to work in their interests, and act accordingly. This is a highly complex judgment about what the party says it is going to do and whether the voter believes they will actually do it. The reason Starmer is seen as more prime ministerly is pretty much for the reasons graham gives. BTW, do you remember what Tony Blair’s nickname was when he was first elected Labour leader?
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domjg
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Post by domjg on Dec 29, 2023 15:57:20 GMT
Rafwan Really If someone with the cross party appeal of 1997 Tony Blair had been leader of Labour in 2017 rather than Jeremy Corbyn we'd now have a Labour government with a massive majority and we wouldn't have left the European union. Whether you call it character or charisma doesn't matter for the majority who don't think about politics at all other than briefly at a general election these types of factors do matter. Vanilla extract man Starmer despite being in public a personality vacuum currently benefits from the fact that he behaves in a far more prime ministery fashion than the incumbent Sunakered. This rather than his policy position will influence millions of voters. steve Your first paragraph is your fantasy. Had Blair been leader of the LibDems in 2017, what would have been the outcome? The leader is no more than the embodiment of the party. Voters make a judgment on which party, in the form of its leader, is most likely to work in their interests, and act accordingly. This is a highly complex judgment about what the party says it is going to do and whether the voter believes they will actually do it. The reason Starmer is seen as more prime ministerly is pretty much for the reasons graham gives. BTW, do you remember what Tony Blair’s nickname was when he was first elected Labour leader? "BTW, do you remember what Tony Blair’s nickname was when he was first elected Labour leader?" - You mean when he was barely forty years old?
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Post by crossbat11 on Dec 29, 2023 16:37:49 GMT
Rafwan Really If someone with the cross party appeal of 1997 Tony Blair had been leader of Labour in 2017 rather than Jeremy Corbyn we'd now have a Labour government with a massive majority and we wouldn't have left the European union. Whether you call it character or charisma doesn't matter for the majority who don't think about politics at all other than briefly at a general election these types of factors do matter. Vanilla extract man Starmer despite being in public a personality vacuum currently benefits from the fact that he behaves in a far more prime ministery fashion than the incumbent Sunakered. This rather than his policy position will influence millions of voters. steveYour first paragraph is your fantasy. Had Blair been leader of the LibDems in 2017, what would have been the outcome? The leader is no more than the embodiment of the party. Voters make a judgment on which party, in the form of its leader, is most likely to work in their interests, and act accordingly. This is a highly complex judgment about what the party says it is going to do and whether the voter believes they will actually do it. The reason Starmer is seen as more prime ministerly is pretty much for the reasons graham gives. BTW, do you remember what Tony Blair’s nickname was when he was first elected Labour leader? More "pearls of wisdom" that, when I have time, I promise to pore over and absorb before then summoning up a reply worthy of the wisdom you have just imparted. A load of bollocks was my early verdict on the yet unburnished pearls, but, as I said, wisdom comes dropping slowly, from the veils of the morning to where the crickets sing.
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Post by graham on Dec 29, 2023 17:37:04 GMT
I believe I noticed a slightly lighter evening tonight! Having checked sunset time, it is now 7 minutes later than during the 9 day period of stasis which ran from 9th - 17th December. Evening sunset has now returned to where it was on 27th November. It is still a pretty trivial change, but psychologically helpful to know that the evenings are now lighter than for over a month.
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Post by steamdrivenandy on Dec 29, 2023 17:54:53 GMT
I believe I noticed a slightly lighter evening tonight! Having checked sunset time, it is now 7 minutes later than during the 9 day period of stasis which ran from 9th - 17th December. Evening sunset has now returned to where it was on 27th November. It is still a pretty trivial change, but psychologically helpful to know that the evenings are now lighter than for over a month. In earlier times I'd have had you down as a witch doctor Graham. Now if you can explain why the clocks only go back two months before year end and why we have to wait an extra month for them to go forward again?
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domjg
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Post by domjg on Dec 29, 2023 17:55:24 GMT
I believe I noticed a slightly lighter evening tonight! Having checked sunset time, it is now 7 minutes later than during the 9 day period of stasis which ran from 9th - 17th December. Evening sunset has now returned to where it was on 27th November. It is still a pretty trivial change, but psychologically helpful to know that the evenings are now lighter than for over a month. Does it really change that quickly, I thought it was a more or less 10 minute change per week? As a habitual runner living in a village with almost no street lighting I hate the dark evenings. Edit: I meant 10 mins per week
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Post by graham on Dec 29, 2023 18:10:24 GMT
I believe I noticed a slightly lighter evening tonight! Having checked sunset time, it is now 7 minutes later than during the 9 day period of stasis which ran from 9th - 17th December. Evening sunset has now returned to where it was on 27th November. It is still a pretty trivial change, but psychologically helpful to know that the evenings are now lighter than for over a month. In earlier times I'd have had you down as a witch doctor Graham. Now if you can explain why the clocks only go back two months before year end and why we have to wait an extra month for them to go forward again? No idea on that - maybe there are economic or political factors involved. Effectively we spend 5 months on GMT followed by 7 months on BST.
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Post by graham on Dec 29, 2023 18:21:53 GMT
I believe I noticed a slightly lighter evening tonight! Having checked sunset time, it is now 7 minutes later than during the 9 day period of stasis which ran from 9th - 17th December. Evening sunset has now returned to where it was on 27th November. It is still a pretty trivial change, but psychologically helpful to know that the evenings are now lighter than for over a month. Does it really change that quickly, I thought it was a more or less 10 minute change per month? As a habitual runner living in a village with almost no street lighting I hate the dark evenings. The change is a fair bit quicker than you seem to believe - though initially the change is very slow indeed before accelerating to almost 14 minutes a week - ie 2 minutes a day - by late - January. Thus, by the end of January sunset will have returned to where it stood at the end of October following the switch to GMT. On the other hand, it tends to be much colder in January/February than in October/November. Others may be surprised to learn that we have yet to reach the latest sunrise which occurs this year on New Years Eve. The next two weeks show little change in sunrise times
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domjg
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Post by domjg on Dec 29, 2023 18:37:37 GMT
Does it really change that quickly, I thought it was a more or less 10 minute change per month? As a habitual runner living in a village with almost no street lighting I hate the dark evenings. The change is a fair bit quicker than you seem to believe - though initially the change is very slow indeed before accelerating to almost 14 minutes a week - ie 2 minutes a day - by late - January. Thus, by the end of January sunset will have returned to where it stood at the end of October following the switch to GMT. On the other hand, it tends to be much colder in January/February than in October/November. Others may be surprised to learn that we have yet to reach the latest sunrise which occurs this year on New Years Eve. The next two weeks show little change in sunrise times
I meant of course to say 10 mins per week not per month. Thanks, it's interesting.
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Post by Old Southendian on Dec 29, 2023 18:44:10 GMT
Others may be surprised to learn that we have yet to reach the latest sunrise which occurs this year on New Years Eve. The next two weeks show little change in sunrise times
Don't get me started. I've been boring friends for years about this (ie the earliest sunset being in early December, and the latest sunrise being in late December). I can talk for hours, or at least minutes, about it, but I'm sure you're aware of the reason. To summarise, the solar day (ie day+night) is slightly longer than 24 hours at this time of year due to the Earth being closer to the Sun.
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Post by Rafwan on Dec 29, 2023 18:44:46 GMT
I believe I noticed a slightly lighter evening tonight! Having checked sunset time, it is now 7 minutes later than during the 9 day period of stasis which ran from 9th - 17th December. Evening sunset has now returned to where it was on 27th November. It is still a pretty trivial change, but psychologically helpful to know that the evenings are now lighter than for over a month. And daffs are sticking their heads up in the front garden!!
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Post by Rafwan on Dec 29, 2023 18:53:18 GMT
crossbat11 and steveI make a prediction to help things along. Within three to four years from now, “vanilla-extract”, “personality-vacuum” Starmer will be widely acclaimed as the most charismatic leader the country has seen in living memory.
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Post by bedknobsandboomstick on Dec 29, 2023 19:11:20 GMT
Others may be surprised to learn that we have yet to reach the latest sunrise which occurs this year on New Years Eve. The next two weeks show little change in sunrise times
Don't get me started. I've been boring friends for years about this (ie the earliest sunset being in early December, and the latest sunrise being in late December). I can talk for hours, or at least minutes, about it, but I'm sure you're aware of the reason. To summarise, the solar day (ie day+night) is slightly longer than 24 hours at this time of year due to the Earth being closer to the Sun.
Ooh I always wondered what was going on there. Thanks. The thing that fries my brain is that, logically, the sun should be due east and west 6 hours before / after solar noon. Except that this isnt the case, and it varies enormously over the course of the year. This may be due to either something to do with angular distance, or because the universe is actually an insane nightmare opperating in accordance with the whims of a mad and capricious god.
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Post by alec on Dec 29, 2023 19:41:06 GMT
For those interested, I've just posted a preprint on the covid thread which I think is the first hard evidence of the efficacy of the updated booster jabs (albeit the US ones, which are likely more effective than the version used in the UK).
Basically it's not very good. Only 60% protection vs hospitalisation from the booster vs no booster, and 0% protection from prior vaccination and no booster vs unvaccinated. That may not be as bad as it sounds as the unvaccinated cohort will have some infection based immunity, so not having a booster doesn't mean a return to no immunity as in March 2020, but it does show that we're running out of road rather quicker than hoped in terms of protection against serious harms from vaccinating. Not a great start to 2024.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2023 20:32:18 GMT
Are you sure there isn't a bit of lingering Corbyn love/knee jerk defence going on here??? Nope. I speak pearls of wisdom. I see Crofty is back! Mad as hell!! Not me. I thought West Ham were superb and the Arse a bit uncertain despite so much possession. Defeat is far worse if it’s against a team like MU that I really dislike or I feel there was something unfair about the result (eg that ridiculous goal Newcastle were given in their 1-0 win.) But I like Moyes and I like yer ‘Ammers. Oh…..plus I’ve gone off Arteta because of his treatment of Ramsdale. Paul
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Post by Rafwan on Dec 29, 2023 21:30:29 GMT
Nope. I speak pearls of wisdom. I see Crofty is back! Mad as hell!! Not me. I thought West Ham were superb and the Arse a bit uncertain despite so much possession. Defeat is far worse if it’s against a team like MU that I really dislike or I feel there was something unfair about the result (eg that ridiculous goal Newcastle were given in their 1-0 win.) But I like Moyes and I like yer ‘Ammers. Oh…..plus I’ve gone off Arteta because of his treatment of Ramsdale. Paul Lovely! You are a generous-hearted man.
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steve
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Post by steve on Dec 29, 2023 22:01:35 GMT
The traitor facing more jeopardy for exclusion as an insurrectionist.
There are now active lawsuits in 14 states, including Alaska, Arizona, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming, seeking to remove Trump ahead of their primaries citing the same constitutional clause.
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oldnat
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Post by oldnat on Dec 29, 2023 22:40:40 GMT
I see that some people have accepted an award in the New Year Dishonours list.
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Post by mercian on Dec 29, 2023 23:01:47 GMT
Following on from Colorado the State of Maine has banned the traitor insurrectionist from running in the primary ballot for President. Pending confirmation from their supreme court. Maine is one of just two states that split their electoral college vote and while the State is small and appoints just 4 electoral college votes one of these was awarded to the rapist in 2020. The republican controlled U.S. Supreme court will probably make a partisan ruling that the traitor should be allowed to stand because the presidency didn't meet the definition of office holder, although it clearly does, ,I doubt they will go as far as to say January 6th wasn't an insurrection but you never know with these charlatans. But there's a more than zero probability that they will uphold states supremacy in setting their own rules. If they did there would be the chance of the traitor appearing on some ballots not others, in the event that he remained the republican candidate in those circumstances and won the electoral college vote it's highly unlikely that these states, which could by then include states such as California and New York would accept his legitimacy , who knows what follows but it will be catastrophic. It would be the ultimate irony if many US states, having had their legislature rule against Trump, reckoned that their only recourse against a Federal system that acted against their interests, was to secede from the USA, to form a union of New American States (or similar). If the NAS were sufficient in number and GDP to be seen by the UN as the successor state, rather than the (25? 30?) remaining USA, then things would indeed be "interesting". Yes indeed. Could it even lead to civil war? It did last time states seceded. Even if all of the armed forces stayed loyal to the rump USA, subduing a citizenry armed to the teeth wouldn't be easy. Re the UN, if they recognised the 'rump' (not sure if that was what GDP meant) it would be analogous to when Taiwan remained as a member of the UN Security Council for years after the communists controlled mainland China. Whatever happened as a result of secession it would mean a lengthy period when what is now the USA would have it's attention diverted inwards leaving a free hand to Russia and China. The rest of the free world, not just Europe, but the likes of Canada and Australia etc need to start rearming on a big scale.
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domjg
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Post by domjg on Dec 29, 2023 23:25:01 GMT
It would be the ultimate irony if many US states, having had their legislature rule against Trump, reckoned that their only recourse against a Federal system that acted against their interests, was to secede from the USA, to form a union of New American States (or similar). If the NAS were sufficient in number and GDP to be seen by the UN as the successor state, rather than the (25? 30?) remaining USA, then things would indeed be "interesting". Yes indeed. Could it even lead to civil war? It did last time states seceded. Even if all of the armed forces stayed loyal to the rump USA, subduing a citizenry armed to the teeth wouldn't be easy. Re the UN, if they recognised the 'rump' (not sure if that was what GDP meant) it would be analogous to when Taiwan remained as a member of the UN Security Council for years after the communists controlled mainland China. Whatever happened as a result of secession it would mean a lengthy period when what is now the USA would have it's attention diverted inwards leaving a free hand to Russia and China. The rest of the free world, not just Europe, but the likes of Canada and Australia etc need to start rearming on a big scale. "The rest of the free world, not just Europe, but the likes of Canada and Australia etc need to start rearming on a big scale" - This really needs to start happening on a grand scale now, regardless. It's nearly eight decades since the end of the second world war that propelled the USA into the position of military guarantor of the free world and it's not a role that any country would be willing to take on indefinitely. Japan also needs to shed it's pacifistic constitution and tool up, possibly becoming a nuclear power. Some new NATO like organisation binding commitments to all willing democratic nations around the world would also be a good idea I think. In practice if say Japan were attacked we'd be at war too but it would be good for morale and deterrence to make it official.
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oldnat
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Post by oldnat on Dec 30, 2023 0:06:56 GMT
Oldnat says "In a Federal system as in many others there is an on -going tension between the Union and it's constituent parts". Whatever can he be thinking of. 0 I wasn't just thinking of the USA, but Spain, Italy, Indonesia, Denmark (though they take a more enlightened approach) and any other Federal state. Where there is a codified constitution, matters can be resolved through reference to the allocation of responsibilities.
There are tensions in the devolved parts of the UK with the state as well, but (happily for England) it doesn't have to think about such matters, as it's government and parliament are the same as the state. Were there to be a devolved English Parliament, as in the other UK polities, similar tensions would arise.
I would expect any reasonable person to comprehend the tensions between different layers of government, but I don't expect reasonableness from you.
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oldnat
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Post by oldnat on Dec 30, 2023 0:14:32 GMT
The rest of the free world, not just Europe, but the likes of Canada and Australia etc need to start rearming on a big scale. I'm interested in what you define as being "the free world". The term was often used in the mid 20th century to include countries that were anything but "free", but weren't Communist. 70 years on, are you still using that, somewhat archaic, term in the same way?
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Post by graham on Dec 30, 2023 0:24:59 GMT
I see that some people have accepted an award in the New Year Dishonours list. After very careful consideration, I felt I had no alternative but to decline. Not that it makes much difference in that virtually everyone calls me 'Sir' anyway!
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