Westminstenders: How many Dead Cats Do You Get In A Thunderstorm?

[RedToothBrush]

It never rains. It only pours.

What I wouldn't give for a bit of old fashioned drizzle right now.

4 years on and we are facing a torment of calamities. Brexit, serious political instability in the USA ahead of an election that Trump will refuse to lose even if he does, trade deals with the rest of the world put on 6 week deadlines, anger within the commonwealth, a sick weak dependent PM on the back foot and ill briefed, rampant growing corruption in the Tory party, woke nut jobs out of touch with reality, councils on the brink of bankruptcy and the whole covid-19 crisis.

Regardless of whether Starmer would be a good PM, I‘m surprised anyone thinks Johnson is good. But there you go, everyone has different views...

Re home-working. Most of my friends are successfully WFH, and don’t want to return to the office full-time. It’s saving them at least 2 hours travel time daily (and the resulting exhaustion); and thousands of £ on train fares.
Their employers have all found that, contrary to their fears, people are more productive at home.

Of course this all depends on schools/ childcare being open and available. And good broadband.

I have one friend who finds WFH very easy, and is now looking to move much further from the city, to cheaper property, maybe going to the office once a month.
Others who want to buy a property with an ‘office’ room.
And another flat-dweller pal who now wants a small garden in case lockdown happens again.

It could reconfigure demand in the housing market.
Cities could eventually end up being largely inhabited by key workers and people with public-facing jobs...

just catching up on thread... bcf your post re today's papers, what exactly is a "Mandarin"? what are the implications of this sacking?

Ah well Hester, if you put it that way it will never happen! The amount the Tories have made selling it off to property moguls/Dubai etc...they have been busily social cleansing London, not trying to populate it with Keyworkers! I'm only half jesting.

I'm so saddened every time I see these police videos. It is clear they don't learn each time about their tone at the very least. The lady in her car got a lot of comments about "if only she had complied it wouldn't have been so bad" but the point is it wouldn't happen to a white woman in her car. In that case the woman was being shouted at by a man who was repeatedly saying "I know there is something in this car, there has to be. Are you on drugs? What have you taken?"

These police could quickly see it wasn't these two men, especially with the tracker proof on the mobile for the charity run. No need to threaten to taser and handcuff them and keep them in handcuffs at all. They really are breaking down community trust at this fragile time.

These police could quickly see it wasn't these two men, especially with the tracker proof on the mobile for the charity run. No need to threaten to taser and handcuff them and keep them in handcuffs at all. They really are breaking down community trust at this fragile time.

You can't break what you never had.

True, but the guy they handcuffed here was trying to build exactly that with/for them. Ruined and filmed for posterity to boot.

@JeSuisPoulet

True, but the guy they handcuffed here was trying to build exactly that with/for them. Ruined and filmed for posterity to boot.

Scorpions and frogs spring to mind.

“This deal with the US takes us one step closer to seeing the first ever launch into space from British soil,” said science minister Amanda Solloway.

More ignorant flag waving bollocks - launch from the UK doesn't get to any useful orbits without excessive fuel = lower payload. (we could do polar orbits but that's useless for GPS, broadband, telecoms etc)

As for 'horizontal launch' - that's called a runway and we all know how much fun getting those built is - so it'll be one of the existing long, low use ones ie Newquay - so easily accessible for large transport vehicles...

More ignorant flag waving bollocks - launch from the UK doesn't get to any useful orbits without excessive fuel = lower payload. (we could do polar orbits but that's useless for GPS, broadband, telecoms etc)

Maybe landing them (the dangerous bit) here ?

launch from the UK doesn't get to any useful orbits without excessive fuel = lower payload

Ah, but maybe if you BeLeave hard enough, that literally re-writes the laws of physics?

I had never heard of Amanda Solloway so I looked her up. According to wikipedia

She started working at 16 behind the counter of an off-licence, worked as a management trainee at Sainsbury's and stayed for 13 years, then worked in a regional training role at Help the Aged, moved to Baird Clothing to become head of training 1998 and founded her own consultancy in 2008

This does not on the face of it, sound promising - a science minister who can't have done more than O level science if this information is correct. Hence probably believing the bollox that is spun by the Brexiters. Although I see she was apparently a Remainer (once).

a science minister who can't have done more than O level science if this information is correct.

It's not just the "hasn't done science" bit, but from that resume it would seem you can combine that with "hasn't done politics either".

But then in a country which managed to spend £50 million pounds on a ferry company that didn't do ferries, it actually makes sense.

"in 5 years we will look back and realise what a trigger it was"

Listening imo, lockdown may bring / accelerate significant work & social changes
In particular:

much more WFH - companies can save on offices; workers save commute

online shopping and the accelerated demise of high street shops that sell non-perishable goods - maybe all that remain will be shops selling fresh / frozen food

Their employers have all found that, contrary to their fears, people are more productive at home

And to be cynical, that it costs the company far less to employ people at home than it does in to house them in expensive buildings and associated costs etc.

Meanwhile, an ocean away, Republican lawmakers vote to remove the Confederate flag from Mississippis state flag. Not quite sure that'll please The Orange One, which is a shame. I guess You Can't Always Get What You Want, eh Donnie ?

mississippitoday.org/2020/06/27/historic-moment-lawmakers-clear-difficult-hurdle-to-consider-bill-that-would-remove-the-mississippi-state-flag/

The new design could have "In God We Trust" as a motto, but I wonder if there's an appetite for Ben Frankins more prosaic "MIND YOUR BUSINESS" ...

Tatiana
I would not want to have investments in retail or office freeholds at the moment.
Yes, it will cost companies much less to only have people present in the workplace when they need to be
but it will also save the planet

case in point
school run traffic

• how many of the cars dropping off are then on their way to work

.... if on the other hand there was no career penalty for logging on at 9:30 rather than 8.45 kids and parents could walk to school and the parents then walk home

• better for pollution and congestion
• better for physical health

It will not work for ALL jobs
but it will work for many

As for 'horizontal launch'

Virgin Orbit have the contract for Newquay.

13 April Virgin Orbit Plans Horizontal Launch Site in Oita, Japan;

"Virgin Orbit plans to build a horizontal launch site in Oita, a coastal prefecture on Japan’s Kyushu Island.The smallsat company announced April 2 it is working with regional partners ANA Holdings Inc. and the Space Port Japan Association, and the Oita Airport is its preferred pilot launch site for a mission to space as early as 2022. Virgin Orbit and Oita prefecture have agreed to commence a joint technical study of the future spaceport."

“As the global use of smaller satellites and related launch activities are expected to ramp up rapidly in the coming years, a flexible domestic launch capability becomes a crucial factor. It’s a key element in ensuring the availability and responsiveness of launch—a core enabler for the growing space economy,” said Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart. “As Japan looks to establish a regional launch hub for Asia, we’re very excited to work alongside Oita to enable launch operations for space ventures, stimulate the local economy, and facilitate the growth of Japan’s broader space ecosystem.”

www.satellitetoday.com/launch/2020/04/03/virgin-orbit-plans-horizontal-launch-site-in-oita-japan/

kids and parents could walk to school and the parents then walk home

Where do you live LQ? In a rural areas walking to school is often not a safe or even feasible option.

Yes well what happens in Japan and what happens in the UK are not the same thing. The Japanese have bullet trains, the UK has 19th century trains, by and large.

My kids school is opposite direction to husband's work. Both are driving distances (we live semi rurally). He is really pleased that now he can do the school run and be home in time for 9.00, when he wouldn't be able to arrive in the office until 9.30. Win.

Yes well what happens in Japan and what happens in the UK are not the same thing.The Japanese have bullet trains, the UK has 19th century trains, by and large.

"The UK space sector now employs 42,000 people and generates income of £14.8bn a year."

The UK space sector now employs 42,000 people and generates income of £14.8bn a year.
At what cost ?

Funny how many of the arguments that were "all about me" when I was suggesting the future of autonomous cars have vanished without trace in 6 months.

At what cost?

No idea - I thought Keynesian economic policies were the way to go in any case.

The UK space sector now employs 42,000 people and generates income of £14.8bn a year.

Or 10% of the finance sectors worth. Doubling the value of the pie-in-the-sky sector wouldn't cover a 12% loss in the finance sector.

(I'll placemark that there could be some discrepancies here because "income", "turnover" and "worth" are all moveable feasts until the legs fall off the table).

And we note that the UK-US spacerace deal doesn't need any trade deal too.

If I didn't know any better I might begin to think that the posters on this thread were willing British ventures to fail.