Bank Holiday Edition - Saturday 28th - Monday 30th May 2016

[ephemerid]

Bookcase on show full of Chomsky,Gramsci,Coe,Tolkein,Dickens,Shakespeare,Orwell etc(unread beyond strictly necessary).Upstairs,Viz,If and Peanuts cartoon strips.

Whodunnits.

And anything by Don Winslow. He is fantastic.

(I got 9)

[ohsocynical]

Rubbish at Cryptic crosswords though.

[HindleA]

I'll take your word for it,never heard of him.

[HindleA]

Rubbish at Cryptic crosswords though.

I am better at them,because there are two routes to the answer,the definition and the parsing,granted you have to get used to the technique.

I started early when everybody else was reading books.

[Willow904]

7 out of 15.

Rather eclectic collection of titles. I think you'd have to have a rather strange taste in books to have read all of them. I recognised all the ones I've read, which is something, I guess. I'm not convinced by the page 69 thing, I have to say. If I'd picked books based on it, I'd have read even fewer of them!

[Hobiejoe]

It is all relative,I suppose.

13:46 - 16:35 Was it something you said?

Where is everybody?

Crossing of paths. Met up for a family lunch in Exeter to both meet BIL's new partner for the first time and to say goodbye to him as he heads to Heathrow to fly back to Zimbabwe tonight.

You know that old Chinese curse "may you live in interesting times"? Certainly holds true for FCO types in Harare just now. Mrs Mugabe's day in the sun approaches.

[HindleA]

Up to Snoopy undertaking ice-skating training in a birdbath for the 1968 Grenoble Winter Olympics.An amazingly resilient character coming straight back from being disqualified from the World's Armwrestling Chamionship on the spurious grounds of not having an opposable thumb.

[HindleA]

Why read vast amounts on characterisation and plot lines when a few squiggles and speech bubbles tells you all you need to know,my excuse.

[HindleA]

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... -reshuffle" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Why David Cameron should crush the Tory dinosaurs in a revenge reshuffle
Ian Birrell

[HindleA]

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... in-graphic" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Council withdraws EU referendum leaflet over 'unfair' remain graphic
Brexit campaigners complain illustration on Bristol city council’s postal vote guidance could influence voters’ decisions

[citizenJA]

8 out of 15.

Got 7.

Me too.
I'm beside myself.

[citizenJA]

7 out of 15.

Rather eclectic collection of titles. I think you'd have to have a rather strange taste in books to have read all of them. I recognised all the ones I've read, which is something, I guess. I'm not convinced by the page 69 thing, I have to say. If I'd picked books based on it, I'd have read even fewer of them!

There's no excuse for me not knowing more than I did. I'm a reader, was a bookseller for years and my random taste meant I read all
kinds of different books. I'm beside myself.

[HindleA]

I wouldn't view it as being very indicative of much,at least you tried it.

[HindleA]

You would think with 40ish years experience of anagram solving I would good at Countdown,I am crap.

[Willow904]

You would think with 40ish years experience of anagram solving I would good at Countdown,I am crap.

It's that damn ticking clock. Too much pressure. I prefer Pointless.

[rebeccariots2]

I hadn't realised that the 'how to' leaflets had been sent out in several areas - not just Bristol. Sounds as though an awful lot of leaflets will be wasted.

Electoral Commission contacts all counting officers in UK to ban 'biased' postal voting referendum guides as council pulps 5,000 leaflets
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05 ... w-spreads/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[HindleA]

Blatantly biased anyway,it has got Remain as the first option,everybody knows people tend to tick the top of two options,even without the "helpful" illustration telling you to.Outrageous.

[Willow904]

I hadn't realised that the 'how to' leaflets had been sent out in several areas - not just Bristol. Sounds as though an awful lot of leaflets will be wasted.

Electoral Commission contacts all counting officers in UK to ban 'biased' postal voting referendum guides as council pulps 5,000 leaflets
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05 ... w-spreads/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You'd think there'd be a generic leaflet designed by the electoral commission to show how to vote in any referendum. Why does it have to be specific and different from every council?

[rebeccariots2]

Blatantly biased anyway,it has got Remain as the first option,everybody knows people tend to tick the top of two options,even without the "helpful" illustration telling you to.Outrageous.

I presume *we* are paying for these bloody leaflets?

[rebeccariots2]

Harry Leslie Smith ‏@Harryslaststand 1h1 hour ago
Allegations of monumental #toryelectionfraud is a sign that we need to change way we do politics or else we will lose our entire democracy.

[HindleA]

Still waiting for ballot paper,"late" for us,it generally is no later than the "about" day mentioned.I 'phone Thursday if not received by then.

[HindleA]

I've done it again.

[tinybgoat]

7/15, Slightly educated guesses.
If they'd stuck to decent books like,
Enid Blyton, Richard Scarry & Erich von Däniken, I might have done better.

Only one of the listed books I've read was Mort by Terry Pratchett,
and i got that wrong

[HindleA]

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... earch-says" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Labour voters in the dark about party's stance on Brexit, research says
With only three weeks to go before EU referendum, concern among remain camp that more needs to make position clear

[HindleA]

Charles.M.Schultz;Steve Bell;Chamber's Dictionary (11th Edition) and Brewer's(18th Edition).

[HindleA]

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016 ... eportation" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Australian family fighting deportation from Scotland win partial reprieve
The Home Office is allowing the Brains to remain in the Highlands until August but have refused them the right to work, provoking fresh outcry

[HindleA]

Kafka

[HindleA]

Whom I have never read.

[Willow904]

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... earch-says


Labour voters in the dark about party's stance on Brexit, research says
With only three weeks to go before EU referendum, concern among remain camp that more needs to make position clear

Stupid article. Polls have shown Labour voters more likely to vote remain than Tory voters, so why does it even matter if they know what Labour's stance is? Only Cameron can change the mind of his own voters, who are threatening to take us out. Surely it's all on him? The choice of the 11m voters that put Cameron in power will have the biggest influence over the referendum outcome. If they vote out, how can Labour's lesser influence counter that?

[HindleA]

Yes.

[Eric_WLothian]

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016 ... eportation


Australian family fighting deportation from Scotland win partial reprieve
The Home Office is allowing the Brains to remain in the Highlands until August but have refused them the right to work, provoking fresh outcry

I suspect there is more than meets the eye in this case. The family have already had two extensions to allow them to sort out their expired student visa.

Why did the SNP MP bring up the case at PMQs, rather than raise it with the minister responsible for immigration? He also said the child's first language was Gaelic - a blatant lie. When the family were interviewed on BBC Scotland, the child could barely string together a sentence in Gaelic.

Seems to me the family have put themselves up as pawns in yet another SNP snipe at Westminster.