Thursday 21st December 2023

[refitman]

Morning all.

[AnatolyKasparov]

Good morefternoon, all.

Am wrapping up my Christmas stuff today, at least I haven't left it to the last minute this year.

[refitman]

How do you cock up an Xmas card?

[AnatolyKasparov]

I mean, who cares?

It will be hard to beat that one that had Tony Blair looking totally furious, anyway.

[refitman]

[refitman]

]

It cut off the note

[frog222]

All going splendidly on the population immunity experiment front --

[Sky'sGoneOut]

It will be hard to beat that one that had Tony Blair looking totally furious, anyway.

Presumably when you open it up it says, "I'm going to murder you all in your beds."

[frog222]

Atkins will soon be 48 and it's perhaps possible that depending on their career- path some 'junior doctors' may be the same age as her --
“” Junior doctor Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Junior_doctor
Doctors typically may be junior doctors for 8–20 years, and this may be extended by doing research towards a higher degree, for example towards a Doctor of … ”
and dwarf her own experience as a barrister for a few years and then a well-connected hereditary politician .

Work experience --

Victoria Atkins, Sec. for Health & Social Care
– MP since 2015 (<8 yrs)
– she's been a Minister 4 times
– each role lasted <1 year
– she has no medical, healthcare or social care qualifications
– she has 37 days experience as Health Sec.
– she's more 'intern' than Minister

[frog222]

@ Sky

If you do travel (remembering the three-hour 'discussion' on that) I hope you have better luck than these people !

[Sky'sGoneOut]

That Blair card is actually doing my head in, the more you look at his face the more malevolently evil he appears. It's like something out of a Japanese horror film.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

All going splendidly on the population immunity experiment front --

A bloke in one of the flats upstairs has it bad at the moment, he spent all of Monday feverishly shivering in bed. He works for a security company and they keep hassling him to come into work despite knowing he's sick with Covid. it's absolute madness.

[AnatolyKasparov]

That Blair card is actually doing my head in, the more you look at his face the more malevolently evil he appears. It's like something out of a Japanese horror film.

I'm still utterly fascinated as to how it ever got "approved".

[refitman]

That Blair card is actually doing my head in, the more you look at his face the more malevolently evil he appears. It's like something out of a Japanese horror film.

It may be utterly terrifying, but at least they're both in the same room together. And the correct size.

[AnatolyKasparov]

Rail chaos today with Euston temporarily closed, I see.

Just as well we haven't just cancelled a major rail project that might improve matters there.....oh.

[RogerOThornhill]

Must be great being a Tory-leaning teacher - every job at the DfE is open to you.

Keegan’s policy aide to advise new Ofsted chief

A key policy aide to Gillian Keegan will become new Ofsted chief Sir Martyn Oliver’s lead adviser, Schools Week has learned.

Rory Gribbell, a senior policy adviser who also previously led on education issues at Downing Street, will take up the role on secondment from the Department for Education early next month.

Oliver will take the reins at the watchdog from Amanda Spielman on January 1.

Teaching experience?

Two years from 2014 to 2016.

Then Teacher In Residence with Nick Gibb.

Four years at the DfE - then onto No 10 for three years, then back to the DfE.

Did he ever have an Ofsted visit when he was teaching I wonder?

[RogerOThornhill]

And...oh look...a climbdown. that didn't take long.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

Well that's my Christmas up and running. Made my own Christmas dinner before heading North to have another one. Potatoes, carrots and parsnip roasted in garlic and parsley butter, along with turkey, sausages and stuffing all doused in a caramelised onion and red wine gravy. Not bad at all if I do say so myself, even though I forgot the cranberry sauce.

As is traditional I then watched an anime film while drinking a nice bottle of Italian red. All paid for with saved Tesco clubcard coupons.

The anime this year was...

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt16428256/

And it was absolutely brilliant. I thought it might be a bit soppy but the long haired bloke I supposed was going to be the love interest got turned into a small three legged chair and spent most of the film chasing a magical cat while trying to stop a giant swirling worm thing from causing natural disasters. If I've learned anything from watching anime it's that these kind of things happen all the time in Japan so I should have seen it coming.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

It may be utterly terrifying, but at least they're both in the same room together. And the correct size.

Starmer's one does look like the effort of an artistically retarded child let loose on Photoshop, but it's so garishly naff I kind of like it, whereas Blair looks like he's about to swallow my soul so if I were given the choice of which one to put up I'd be going with the Starmer one purely for reasons of self preservation.

Comparing Starmer's card to the original picture though, do my eyes deceive me or have they changed it to make him taller than his wife? It looks to me like they've shrunk her head and upper body just enough to make him appear taller without making her look like a freak. I wonder how she feels about that? I mean they could at least have made her of equal size rather than shrinking her further. In fact the more I look at it the worse it gets. Blair may be out to eat my brains but what does it say to all the women in Starmer's Labour party if he's prepared to shrink his wife on a Christmas card so he looks all tall and manly? You're right refit. I'm ashamed to admit that once again I was taken in by sparkles and glitter.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

So using both images, some basic maths and this online ruler...

https://www.ginifab.com/feeds/cm_to_inc ... image.html

I can confirm that Victoria Starmer's head has been shrunk by approx 5% compared to her husband's on the Christmas card.

Nothing says equality for all and respect for women like shrinking your wife.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

And...oh look...a climbdown. that didn't take long.

Would it have happened without all the hypocritical bleating in the Telegraph and Spectator though?

This is a compromise which is the result of upsetting the Tories own cheerleaders rather than any objections Labour has raised.

Because Labour raised precisely none, shadow ministers went out on the TV rounds and agreed with the 38,000 minimum income threshold.

Or at least that's how I remember it.

Maybe now if we look back at those interviews they will appear different with crudely overdubbed voices and male shadow ministers towering over Kay Burley who weirdly seems to have shrunk to the size of a small squirrel.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

Anyway this will be my last appearance before heading North for Christmas.

I hope you all have a good one.

[refitman]

Safe journey and marry Christmas Sky. I'm going in the opposite direction tomorrow.