Search found 2910 matches

by Flinders
18 Jun 2021, 9:36am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Dom puts the boot in...
Replies: 133
Views: 10578

Re: Dom puts the boot in...

I miss Manx Cat a lot. :(
One reason I eventually stopped posting was what had happened to Manx Cat.
by Flinders
6 Jun 2020, 9:05pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Should the UK ( World ) seek compensation from China for the damage it's citizens have done?
Replies: 99
Views: 4008

Re: Should the UK ( World ) seek compensation from China for the damage it's citizens have done?

If anyone answered yes, then I assume they are okay with all the countries that got infected from their citizens' visits to, or people from, the UK, including when we were doing naff-all to stop it for weeks on end after it was identified here, and after that, including up to now, making a total horlicks of dealing with it. That could be quite an invoice, and there would be more invoices to follow.

[e.g., perhaps Ireland could bill us for all the infections and any deaths that resulted there from us recklessly holding Cheltenham.]
by Flinders
30 May 2020, 9:16pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Dishwashers
Replies: 49
Views: 1850

Re: Dishwashers

We'd been planning for one beofre the virus but it had been held up because the kitchen has to be gutted and rewired. The virus meant we had to put a hold on the job, but I felt increased the need for one (as it is more hygienic, should any of us get the bug) so we got one anyway before the lockdown started and OH fitted it himself. The house agent and previous owner of the house (which we bought last year) had said there was plumbing for a dishwasher. This turned out to be a pipe crushed at one end, with a broken in-line tap, and connected to nothing but fresh air at the other. :roll: Fortunately he had bought a few 'bits' in anticipation before the lockdown and was able to cobble it in.
It does save time, and does a great job- we put all the pots and pans and glasses from the old house through it (where we had hard water, which gradually fogs glasses) and now they sparkle like they never did before. But I detect a smell on the pots and glasses which makes milk taste funny to me, so we are getting a 'no-scent' type of powder next time.
by Flinders
19 Apr 2020, 2:54pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Should the UK ( World ) seek compensation from China for the damage it's citizens have done?
Replies: 99
Views: 4008

Re: Should the UK ( World ) seek compensation from China for the damage it's citizens have done?

Should all the other countries UK citizens have spread it to be able to sue us, then? Could get expensive, that.
by Flinders
19 Apr 2020, 2:52pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Is the UK government an incompentent bunch of liars?
Replies: 1377
Views: 40972

Re: Is the UK government an incompentent bunch of liars?

Carpetcleaner is new to me, as I've been away for a bit. Are they new? Their posts, and patterns relating to those posts are not dissimilar to the sort of posts that get posters banned from other sites I visit- not so much for their politics, but for *cough* 'other patterns'. If the person is well known here as a long standing poster and on other non-political topics, of course, I'm wrong. It is so difficult to spot them these days.
by Flinders
26 Mar 2020, 10:04am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Coronavirus (aka COVID-19) - just how serious?
Replies: 2697
Views: 75165

Re: Coronavirus (aka COVID-19) - just how serious?

RickH wrote:
100%JR wrote:From Sky News 2 hours ago for those who dislike figures without source:-
The number of people who have died in the UK after contracting coronavirus has risen by 43 to 465.

It represents the smallest rise in the number of deaths since 17 March - more than a week ago.

But there was the biggest increase in the number of infections across the UK - up 1,542 to 9,529.

In England, 28 people died in 24 hours.


So infections are up but deaths are down.Read into that what you will.

There have been similar spikes & troughs in other countries, presumably from a mix of factors.

People don't get ill or die to a neat schedule & there may be slight delays to testing &/or reporting which may push some figures from one day to the next.

And there is a time-lag between clamping down on contacts and a drop in numbers. Numbers will rise a lot in the next two weeks due to there being no clampdown weeks ago. I'm still furious that events like Cheltenham were allowed to go ahead with the public present- cases from that have already emerged, it looks like some bar staff may have had it at the time, and each of the cases from Cheltenham and other events like crufts, etc. which ought to have been banned is likely (due to exponential growth) lead to hundreds more in the coming weeks that could have been avoided when we are still not prepared to deal with it. The FA acted long before told to, which says good things about them, and will have saved many lives, but is just another terrible indictment on the government's laggardly response.
by Flinders
26 Mar 2020, 9:58am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Coronavirus (aka COVID-19) - just how serious?
Replies: 2697
Views: 75165

Re: Coronavirus (aka COVID-19) - just how serious?

PH wrote:
horizon wrote:Like everyone else, I'm wading through the figures and the news and I can only say what I think about it as a complete layperson.

You say that, but there is a whole weight of evidence on one side and a few theories on the other. And you've chosen to ignore one and promote the other.
I don't know either, despite having a better grasp of the terms used than I did a month ago, the only people who have any idea of what's going on are those who've spent years studying it, and when for every one that says X there's fifty say Y, I'm inclined to think on the balance of probability the fifty are far more likely to have got it right.
As for your interpretation of the R4 program, i think you ought to apologies for it, you have completely misrepresented what was said (Though I have still only listened to the first 6 min)
The argument that we're being lied to by the WHO and all the scientific evidence behind it, I am going to dismiss as <Whatever word the mods want to remove> Whilst I normally laugh at such conspiracy theories, they will this time get people killed, it's no laughing matter.
The comparison with flu I find outrages, no medical experts make that comparison, other than to give an idea of symptoms. On the R4 program it was compared as being twice as contagious and ten times more dangerous, so how is that possibly like flu? How does that impact on the health services?
It's no comparison at all.

What I have been saying for weeks, but far better expressed, especially the part I have put in bold.
by Flinders
19 Mar 2020, 7:21pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Being Positive: What are we doing to occupy ourselves for the duration ...
Replies: 73
Views: 2736

Re: Being Positive: What are we doing to occupy ourselves for the duration ...

Morzedec wrote: The town centre was still busy at lunchtime, with everything open apart from one so-called Charity shop (at a time when some people may need extra help).

A lot of charity shops are staffed by retired and/or vulnerable volunteers, I think that's probably the reason.
by Flinders
19 Mar 2020, 7:18pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Being Positive: What are we doing to occupy ourselves for the duration ...
Replies: 73
Views: 2736

Re: Being Positive: What are we doing to occupy ourselves for the duration ...

PH wrote:I'm still working and unless ill or instructed otherwise will continue. The club riding has all been halted, I may go out solo, but not sure I can muster the enthusiasm for it. I could do some photo rides in the Peaks, something I've been meaning to do for a while. I also have a sewing machine that I haven't really mastered, I don't have a project to make, but I'm sure I can think of something.


Pennine Outdoor do loads of useful stuff for making outdoor gear, fabrics, fleeces, breathables, all the bits like zips and hooks etc. the lot.
https://www.pennineoutdoor.co.uk/
(I don't work there [!] but have ordered from them via email)
by Flinders
17 Nov 2019, 2:47pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: ** The Brexit Thread ** - 'Brexit Means Brexit'
Replies: 21765
Views: 848454

Re: ** The Brexit Thread ** - 'Brexit Means Brexit'

al_yrpal wrote:Horizon, oh dear..ye of little faith! Britain has changed. In the face of huge odds we are still just about holding our own despite the Jonahs assertions. Our country is still a magnet for clever folk who want a better life. Things are difficult all around the world, we arent alone with our problems. Dont know what sort of work you do but I still have many friends in spheres that are doing well and doing unique and exciting new things with massive potential. If the Chinese make a success of Scunthorpe I'll eat my hat.
Two old friends from Maine were here with us last week. Its 10 years since I last saw them. They are Democrats, they are really nice and they are well aware of Americas failings. The US has many people like them. America isnt all bad and I can see the time coming when huge powerful corporations exesses will be better controlled but not curbed and squashed. However these same corporations have gifted the human race massive personal benefits its all too easy to cast them as evil. Four legs good, two legs bad was a mindless chant like 'wicked Tories'. The serial scaremongering just doesnt wash. Its sad so many seem to be willing Britain to fail.

Al

Please spare us the empire-obsessed-pink-glasses nonsense about how we will do so well outside the EU when it will leave us treatyless and at the mercy of the likes of trump and China. Your democratic mates have a lot of work to do to get rid of trump and his criminal associates, and even if they do, Pence will take over, and will stuff us just as badly. The EU is the only organisation trying (and to some extent succeeding despite UK attempts to block it) to curb international coroprations and tax havens.

The reason we are 'not alone' now is that we are in the EU- the US has walked off to be mates with Putin, and the Commonwealth countries have made it clear that there will be serious quid-pro-quo if we want anything off them- we'll pretty much certainly get worse deals with them than the EU has, and it will take time (the EU-Canada treaty too 8 years). If we leave the EU, we are not only alone, but we have magnificently brassed off the only countries that a) are our immediate neighbours, and b) have both incentive and inclination to support us. That's just so stupid I can hardly belive anyone who is able to string a sentence together could think it was a good idea. The costs will be immense, and the benefits illusory. Even Mogg admits it will take 40 years to see the benefits. (Except for him and his short-selling mates in the finance industry, they will make a fast buck shorting Sterling and UK shares).
by Flinders
22 Sep 2019, 7:00pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Dogs off lead on shared use path
Replies: 136
Views: 17556

Re: Dogs off lead on shared use path

Tangled Metal wrote:Most dogs don't do all that neither.

Dogs don't ride furiously and kill someone's mother, ride through red lights then head but anyone who says anything about it, etc. Things that's hit the news this past news.

Things I've seen cyclists do but never seen a dog do includes, riding on the wrong side of the road including with no lights in the dark. Riding through red lights, riding through red light send diagonally across a busy t junction forcing vehicles to emergency brake like they weren't aware or bothered by anything else on the roads. Or obnoxious, self opinionated cyclists giving their views on other cyclists choice about helmets otherwise known at helmet nazi's. There's so much bad behaviour of cyclists I've seen but I can't go as far as labelling all cyclists like people on here seem to do about dogs and dog owners.

In fact it reminds me of the way car drivers talk about cyclists. Cyclists often forget there's a lot of dog owners are cyclists too. :wink:


How many humans were killed by out-of-control dogs this year (including children)? Compared to how many humans killed by cyclists doing the things you mention? What 'hits the news' is not statistics, indeed, it's quite often exceptions to stats that get publicity.
by Flinders
6 Sep 2019, 1:59pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: ** The Brexit Thread ** - 'Brexit Means Brexit'
Replies: 21765
Views: 848454

Re: ** The Brexit Thread ** - 'Brexit Means Brexit'

kwackers wrote:If there'd been a decent majority it wouldn't have been a problem either way.
The referendum should have had a supermajority clause (as should anything that moves us away from a status quo).

No sensible person can possible think a decision like this which is so well balanced could possibly play out well.
Such a clause would have stopped it until the majority was enough to carry it with fewer issues.

Exactly. A major change should always be 51% or more of those eligible to vote, or 2/3 of those actually voting.
by Flinders
21 Jul 2019, 3:21pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: ** The Brexit Thread ** - 'Brexit Means Brexit'
Replies: 21765
Views: 848454

Re: ** The Brexit Thread ** - 'Brexit Means Brexit'

kwackers wrote:
windmiller wrote:Even the bookmakers got the result drastically wrong. They are usually much more accurate than pollsters as they can't afford not to be

I thought bookmakers start with a guestimate and then as the money comes in adjust the odds accordingly.
If everyone who bet did so on a leave victory then that would indicate a leave victory was very likely, ditto the opposite.

You could argue its the same system pollsters use, i.e. large scale sampling with the main difference being how self selection manifests itself in the two forms.
Overall though I'd go with pollsters over bookies, I think the science behind polling allows you to make some adjustment for self selection. Bookies otoh have no easy way to figure it out.

I think the way it works now with the big bookmakers is that these days computers re-adjust the odds according to the money that comes in, with an eye to making a profit, and to what the competition is offering in the way of odds to get custom. I don't think they tend to back their own specific knowledge or opinions a huge amount. I think that the smaller private bookies sometimes do back their specific judgement of horse/jockey/trainer form etc. more and take a bigger risk on their personal knowledge, which is often very comprehensive, according to how good they feel their knowledge is on a particular race.
National bookies don't like big payouts to individuals, and I am told will ban anyone winning much, private bookies will often be more open to accommodating big bets and/or serious punters. There are also betting exchanges (internet bookies where you can offer your own odds against as well as for a horse to other people, effectively being a bookie in a small way).
So a big bookie's odds may be more affected by a surge in popular support for a horse (or outcome of a vote) whereas a private bookie may prefer to put more weight on backing his own judgement, though they may lay off a little risk by betting against their own opinion with another bookie in case they're wrong. Basically, it's complicated. :mrgreen:
"If everyone who bet did so on a leave victory then that would indicate a leave victory was very likely, ditto the opposite." Not really. I might be a remain voter but bet on leave because I thought the vote would go that way, or so that I;d have something to drown my sorrows in if I lost. And vice-versa.

As for polls, the polls closely before the vote were generally within the margin of error of the result, and the vote was so close it could easily have gone either way. It was, in my opinion, constitutionally unsound and in practical terms, insane, to allow a 50%+ win of the votes on one day. Constitutional changes like leave ought to be done on 2/3 of the vote on the day, or 50%+ of those entitled to vote. Even most sports clubs and societies insist on that, in order to prevent a reckless change due to a transient issue people have got hot under the collar about, or due to facts not being properly known by enough people. I might also say that if one side broke the rules in a vote to win, or spread misinformation, both of which happened with the leave vote, a vote would normally have to be rerun.
by Flinders
7 Jul 2019, 8:13pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Is Trump Mad?
Replies: 2055
Views: 94191

Re: Is Trump Mad?

Trump is unstable, not very bright, and is pathologically entitled and self-centred. And he's neither honest nor decent. I'm not impressed by anyone who admires him. Those who do, well, unless they want to look very silly in the next few years or spend a lot of time deleting previous comments, they need to read up a bit more about him. Or try working for him (and trying to get paid - or not jailed- afterwards).

He's not a clown, and just like the Johnsons of this world who also pretend to be funny and edgy, he's really just a lout, but an exceedingly dangerous lout. He's fired (sometimes illegally) just about everyone who could enforce the law or the constitution w.r.t. his presidency and has replaced them by his own placemen. Anyone who can't see (or refuses to see) how dangerous that is can't expect their opinions to be taken seriously. This isn't a party political thing- many republicans are as worried about it as democrats are. And if he succeeds in what he's doing, those on the right need to imagine what it would be like for them if ever a democratic president abuses his powers illegally to the same extent, taking Trump's actions as precedent. The brighter republicans can see that danger. Dimwits who just 'like a laugh', not so much, of course.
by Flinders
7 Jul 2019, 7:59pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Anyone for arsenic?
Replies: 31
Views: 1518

Re: Anyone for arsenic?

Weren't those mines where William Morris's family money came from?
...and all that green wallpaper he designed.....