Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th August 2016

[thatchersorphan]

Treasury looks at quitting the single market http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/201 ... jects-nor/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[PorFavor]

"This sort of ignorance postulated by Leavers is astounding:"

" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

...and 170 have signed it.....

171 now I've added my name . . . .

What?

I bet in a previous life you were a real inkhornist (if that's the right term)

Well, I must confess to always having had a bit of a downer on TS Eliot for using Greek script in some of his poetry. I think that's taking things a bit too far.

[utopiandreams]

... Ha! I don't think using my exact wording would be a recommended path to take - but I don't actually think it's technically unparliamentary language. But I'm not an expert on the subject.

I'm not so sure after some of the stuff Cameron used to come out with. Mind you if you suggested something that needed cleaning from your shoes, you'd better make sure they're size 9 or more... unless there be ladies with very large feet in the House.

[citizenJA]

@citizenJA

Yes - I know yours was a genuine question so there's no problem there. I'm just sorry I'm not equipped to answer it.

Your post is a good one. The electorate need to know how government works. The process shouldn't be so difficult to understand.
It undermines quick discovery government isn't legislating for the benefit of country and people.

[utopiandreams]

... Well, I must confess to always having had a bit of a downer on TS Eliot for using Greek script in some of his poetry. I think that's taking things a bit too far.

Oh please, PorFavor!

[PorFavor]

@utopiandreams

Ha! You got me there, amigo!

[tinyclanger2]

large dalek impeded by small bridge

dalek bridge.jpg (7.65 KiB) Viewed 8885 times

[PorFavor]

large dalek impeded by small bridge

dalek bridge.jpg

Yes. But to feel really secure, you'd have to move to the Steppes . . .

[citizenJA]

Press release
7 August 2016
Prime Minister Theresa May has changed Shale Wealth Fund proposals to include the option to give more of the proceeds to local residents.

"A scheme to spread the benefits of shale gas will include options to give more of the proceeds to
local residents than previously planned, after the new Prime Minister changed the plans as part
her drive to deliver an economy that works for all."

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-r ... cal-people" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Labour, sort your problems out immediately, please, we need you

PM rewrites plan to put money from infrastructure in the hands of local people

oh, yeah right
We are doomed, people, no joke

[citizenJA]

"...an economy that works for all"

"Long-term economic plan", "Hard-working families", sing it with me, everyone!

Tory slogans
doomed

[PorFavor]

This is a new twist to the story.

Chinese firm with military ties invited to bid for role in UK's nuclear future

China National Nuclear Corporation on government list of preferred bidders for development funding for next-generation modular reactors (Guardian)

Too many quotable bits to quote them. I urge you to read the article.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... ear-future

[citizenJA]

This is a new twist to the story.

Chinese firm with military ties invited to bid for role in UK's nuclear future

China National Nuclear Corporation on government list of preferred bidders for development funding for next-generation modular reactors (Guardian)

Too many quotable bits to quote them. I urge you to read the article.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... ear-future

It's been good knowing you all, sincerely, even when we've disagreed

[PorFavor]

This is a new twist to the story.

Chinese firm with military ties invited to bid for role in UK's nuclear future

China National Nuclear Corporation on government list of preferred bidders for development funding for next-generation modular reactors (Guardian)

Too many quotable bits to quote them. I urge you to read the article.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... ear-future

It's been good knowing you all, sincerely, even when we've disagreed

Yes - it's been a blast. Or may well be . . .

[utopiandreams]

044.jpg (130.93 KiB) Viewed 8775 times

After what A and I spoke of. Only being prepared I'm afraid I've not found anything later yet. Not the tidiest of gardens but atmospheric and a haven for wildlife. Yes they are brick paths set in the grass. That bottom shed was my brewery full of beer and wine. I had to fit a padlock after I once caught my lads' friends lying with mouths agape under the pressure barrels.

[PorFavor]

@utopiandreams

Beautiful! And I'm (seriously) a big fan of brick-built sheds.

[tinyclanger2]

@utopiandreams

Beautiful! And I'm (seriously) a big fan of brick-built sheds.

Have just checked and the ladybird book "the shed" does not specifically mention the qualities of the brick shed. Perhaps you could write in with a recommendation.

[PorFavor]

@utopiandreams

Beautiful! And I'm (seriously) a big fan of brick-built sheds.

Have just checked and the ladybird book "the shed" does not specifically mention the qualities of the brick shed. Perhaps you could write in with a recommendation.

Ladybird should do a book devoted exclusively to the brick-built shed.

[utopiandreams]

So you wouldn't have liked the 24 footer timber one I built to the left and slightly behind camera, PF. It was covered with pale pink climbing roses though and had an eight foot bay window. I was going to line it and fit a radiator for my office after having cleared mine but...

[PorFavor]

So you wouldn't have liked the 24 footer timber one I built to the left and slightly behind camera, PF. It was covered with pale pink climbing roses though and had an eight foot bay window. I was going to line it and fit a radiator for my office after having cleared mine but...

Oh, I don't know - it sounds quite wonderful.

[tinyclanger2]

"Using your shed as an office is called shedworking"

(ref: The Ladybird book of the shed)

[yahyah]

So this is what you get up to when I'm not here.
Gardening and sheds, what more is there to discuss ?

[yahyah]

Back to the weird world of politics...

Welsh Tories complaining the Welsh government didn't plan for a Brexit vote.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/polit ... y-11716029" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Maybe Carwyn should pinch the Tory Brexit plan, if anyone can find it.

[PorFavor]

"Using your shed as an office is called shedworking"

(ref: The Ladybird book of the shed)

A brick-built edifice
Would make a very good
Shedoffice.

[refitman]

@utopiandreams

Beautiful! And I'm (seriously) a big fan of brick-built sheds.

My house came with quite a large one at the bottom of the garden:

tmp_22024-IMG_20141227_155847-1152315621.jpg (277.84 KiB) Viewed 8689 times

[yahyah]

Blimey, I know we've had a bad summer but snow in Wombwell in August ?

[yahyah]

Whose are the footprints ?

[refitman]

@utopiandreams

Beautiful! And I'm (seriously) a big fan of brick-built sheds.

My house came with quite a large one at the bottom of the garden:

tmp_22024-IMG_20141227_155847-1152315621.jpg

Those are the neighbour's cat's footprints.

[refitman]

Blimey, I know we've had a bad summer but snow in Wombwell in August ?

December 2014, my first Christmas in the house.

[yahyah]

They seem to stop just in front of the brick built edifice, all very X Files.

[TR'sGhost]

Now now, Roger. Grammar schools, look what they did for me. On second thoughts my sis failed her 11 plus and it wasn't until she was 13 and we moved elsewhere that she went up a set and what became of her? Head hunted by one of the major financial institutions. Oh I see they've been in the news again, possibly best left unsaid.

I went to a strange mix of a secondary school. It was formed out of three schools, a boy's grammar and boy's and girl's secondary moderns. I started there in 1979, it's first year as a comprehensive. Those of us who lived in the local villages had to pass the 11+ to get there, but those from town were streamed based on junior school performance and didn't sit the 11+ at all.

As schools go it was pretty rubbish, a few good teachers but some absolutely hopeless ones including the first head and deputy head who had previously been running the boy's grammar. The physics and maths A-level results in my year were appalling, despite both being taught by ex-grammar teachers.

One thing about the value of the 11+ has stayed with me. Four of my year who passed it at 11 left school at 16 with no qualifications at all. They did enough work to stay in the upper streams in everything while being very disruptive, then at 16 methodically failed all the exams. Their places would have better gone to others.

And that those who want the 11+ and grammar system back mostly resist understanding that it had to be weighted in favour of boys otherwise too few would pass compared to girls, that the more you practiced for it the better your chance of passing and that there is no reason why, just because you want your children to take the 11+ and go the the grammar, that that will be the outcome. 90ish percent of the children of the grammar enthusiasts would end up at secondary moderns.

Of course, if along with grammars goes the right to buy your child a place, as happened in some schools even after the 1940s changes, they probably regard the 11+ as a life-limiting factor that only affects others, not them and theirs.

[utopiandreams]

"Using your shed as an office is called shedworking"

(ref: The Ladybird book of the shed)

As it happens you could have called it that. I built it as a workshop for furniture restoration when my wife had her stroke. Didn't pay much mind given everything else I had to do.

Postscript: when I say I built it, I did have help from my 6 and 10 year old lads.

[yahyah]

Night all.

[PorFavor]

I've mentioned before that I occasionally get the odd (and this one's very odd) e-mail which is meant for someone in America. Well, here's the latest -

L,

How would you like to get...

A free flight to New York City;
A private tour of our campaign headquarters at Trump Tower, and
A lunch with me – where we’ll talk about our strategy to defeat Hillary Clinton and Make America Great Again!

Just contribute $3 now to automatically enter for a chance to win it all.

Ever since my father officially accepted the Republican nomination for president, our campaign has surged with momentum, and more and more Americans are joining the Trump Train to help us win.

And right now is the perfect time for you to sign on.

Your contribution will push us closer to victory. And you will also get the chance to have an insider’s look at the Trump-Pence HQ in the heart of Manhattan and provide YOUR feedback on our campaign.

Contribute $3 to automatically enter to win.

I’m sure Hillary Clinton’s campaign is setting up fundraisers with high-powered lobbyists as we speak. But those are the people who have rigged the economy against you, left our borders wide open, and refuse to take the threat of Radical Islam seriously.

Those are the people my father wants nothing to do with. His campaign is about you, and that’s why I hope you will take action today.

I’ll be happy to meet you and hear your thoughts on our campaign one-on-one.

Thanks – good luck!

Eric Trump



A chance to meet Eric Trump! Be still, my beating heart.

[utopiandreams]

But would he really like to hear your thoughts, PorFavor?

[mbc1955]

Now now, Roger. Grammar schools, look what they did for me. On second thoughts my sis failed her 11 plus and it wasn't until she was 13 and we moved elsewhere that she went up a set and what became of her? Head hunted by one of the major financial institutions. Oh I see they've been in the news again, possibly best left unsaid.

I went to a strange mix of a secondary school. It was formed out of three schools, a boy's grammar and boy's and girl's secondary moderns. I started there in 1979, it's first year as a comprehensive. Those of us who lived in the local villages had to pass the 11+ to get there, but those from town were streamed based on junior school performance and didn't sit the 11+ at all.

As schools go it was pretty rubbish, a few good teachers but some absolutely hopeless ones including the first head and deputy head who had previously been running the boy's grammar. The physics and maths A-level results in my year were appalling, despite both being taught by ex-grammar teachers.

One thing about the value of the 11+ has stayed with me. Four of my year who passed it at 11 left school at 16 with no qualifications at all. They did enough work to stay in the upper streams in everything while being very disruptive, then at 16 methodically failed all the exams. Their places would have better gone to others.

And that those who want the 11+ and grammar system back mostly resist understanding that it had to be weighted in favour of boys otherwise too few would pass compared to girls, that the more you practiced for it the better your chance of passing and that there is no reason why, just because you want your children to take the 11+ and go the the grammar, that that will be the outcome. 90ish percent of the children of the grammar enthusiasts would end up at secondary moderns.

Of course, if along with grammars goes the right to buy your child a place, as happened in some schools even after the 1940s changes, they probably regard the 11+ as a life-limiting factor that only affects others, not them and theirs.

I passed my Eleven + in 1966, the last year Manchester Education Committee ran them. I was one of only two boys to be offered a choice from only four Grammar schools, and there were at least a half dozen girls offered the choice of every (non-boys only) Grammar school in the city. It really is a rotten age at which to select, especuially for boys.

[PorFavor]

@utopiandreams

Beautiful! And I'm (seriously) a big fan of brick-built sheds.

My house came with quite a large one at the bottom of the garden:

tmp_22024-IMG_20141227_155847-1152315621.jpg

Those are the neighbour's cat's footprints.

I've never seen a cat on a pogo-stick . . .

[utopiandreams]

I'm afraid to confess that my brother and I grew up thinking our sister wasn't too bright so you can imagine my concern with my lads after their mother's stroke and given their sister was Downs. Thankfully I don't think I did too bad a job of raising them.

[utopiandreams]

Pogo Stick Kitty by Jacquelin Vanderwood

Edit: thought I'd better attribute it, especially after what I said recently.

[utopiandreams]

See y'all. Mmm, mixed bean curry tonight.

[PorFavor]

@utopiandreams

Thank you for that. The colours remind me of the ones that were on the children's metal watering cans of yore. Magical.

[citizenJA]

Night all.

Goodnight, yahyah.

[citizenJA]

See y'all. Mmm, mixed bean curry tonight.

Goodnight, utopiandreams

[AngryAsWell]

Yes Minister Brexit special – Sir Humphrey explains all
Wondering how leaving the EU will actually work? The legendary civil service mandarin clarifies the situation in a new sketch by Yes Minister creators Jonathan Lynn and Antony Jay

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radi ... r-humphrey" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[AnatolyKasparov]

See y'all. Mmm, mixed bean curry tonight.

I hope you aren't going to be around lots of people afterwards

[tinybgoat]

See y'all. Mmm, mixed bean curry tonight.

I hope you aren't going to be around lots of people afterwards

Riding the Trump Train Sleeper, 'til the morning light.

[StephenDolan]

Morning

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liv ... p-11711417" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


"Could you pass a Scouse Citizen test?"

Got 13 but with weighting for pub and club knowledge I should be a shoo in.

23 here, so I should really. That pesky ceiling had me flummoxed.

[PorFavor]

Morning

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liv ... p-11711417" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


"Could you pass a Scouse Citizen test?"

Got 13 but with weighting for pub and club knowledge I should be a shoo in.

23 here, so I should really. That pesky ceiling had me flummoxed.

Is the question linked to mixed bean curry in any way?

[tinyclanger2]

Morning

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liv ... p-11711417" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


"Could you pass a Scouse Citizen test?"

Got 13 but with weighting for pub and club knowledge I should be a shoo in.

23 here, so I should really. That pesky ceiling had me flummoxed.

Am going back a bit, and it was all too brief a stint, but have to admit I was poor on proper information. Much better on dance and snifters I'm afraid.
No Noilly Prat for me in those days of course.

[PorFavor]

Anyway - about brick-built sheds . . .

[PorFavor]

Yes, ok. It was a stray question mark. Satisfied?