Sod's Law

I'm also getting the nagging suspicion there was something fishy about that 'Queen' who jumped out of the helicopter at the 2012 Olympics...

As a note of comparison, the very last two recorded bubonic plague cases in the UK were in Suffolk in 1918, and the last cases of infected rats were in 1914.

And they both manage to look the same age despite over twenty years age difference between them.

I read a pretty jaded interview from Karl Wallinger once where he described his bitterness that Williams was prancing around on stage at the Brits singing his song in front of millions of viewers while Karl himself was sat eating crackers at home watching the event on TV. I don't think he ever made much money from the song sadly. He didn't even know that Williams had recorded a cover of his song until it was suddenly everywhere. What makes it tragic is that he wrote the song in tribute to his dead mother and Williams has taken credit for it many times.

Williams changed absolutely nothing about that song when he covered it as well. As Karl once said: 'the only difference between Robbie's version and mine is that I know who "she" is'.

In fairness to him, this is a political news thread (in a time when politics is not in a good place globally at the moment and social media has a lot to blame for it) in a website whose whole existence literally revolves around waiting for people to die. If you come here expecting to find reassuring stories about the basic goodness of mankind, you're going to be sorely disappointed. Still, in TOC's case, a lot of people kind of fell off the deep end during Covid and it wouldn't surprise me if he/his family were among them. It put the idea of imminent doom into peoples' minds and gave them too much free time to worry and catastrophise. That's not a healthy mix. We need to remind ourselves nowadays that not everything is as completely fucked as social media has led people into thinking.

I'm not sure why Israel were allowed in to begin with. They are not a European country no matter how much they think they are.

Where's Snopes when you need 'em?

The problems of today won't necessarily be the problems of 2029. The SPD just happen to be the government in power in Germany while it faces an unenviable situation (a lot of it to do with the last 30 years of German foreign policy towards Russia) which would make any sitting government unpopular. Their situation can't really be compared with Britain and the last fourteen years of Tory rule.

They should have stuck with fax machines like they do in Japan?

The planned operation and the long recuperation period (along with scheduled events still being cancelled) is making me think 'abdominal tumour' rather than simple hysterectomy. She clearly needs her health to be kept a close eye on for the foreseeable future for whatever reason. It seems to be affecting her much worse than the King's cancer is affecting him.

Labour's Jonathan Ashworth bets on the general election being held in May, with Sunak possibly announcing the date at the end of March: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2024/mar/05/labour-jonathan-ashworth-bet-general-election-may-conservatives-rishi-sunak-uk-politics-latest-updates Pure speculation of course, but the polls are showing no signs of looking better for the Conservatives if they hold off for too long, more and mortgages come up for renewal as the year goes on (leaving more and more voters feeling poorer and less kind to the Tories) and he may want to take advantage of the fact that Labour are now slightly bruised over Rochdale/Gaza.

I think he is my only hit so far, and also the youngest on my list.

Rishi and his rabble at the only people still dragging up the old Corbyn-based attacks on him at this point. I think Keir Starmer has already made his point very loud and clear that he's not Jeremy Corbyn. He couldn't look any less like Corbyn if he draped himself in the Israeli flag and made 'for the few, not the many' his campaign slogan. There's nothing wrong with being pragmatic but it can be like Buridan's ass sometimes. There's a point where it becomes self-harming. Before he made his decision, he should have taken a look at the other crazies on the ballot paper who'd be let loose if Labour had pulled out (which is what happened in the end).

I would like to reiterate what I said about how this man should seriously consider carrying an oxygen tank and respirator wherever he goes, and avoid any hand to hand contact.

It's just completely bizarre and ironic that the Labour leadership deselected Ali because they didn't like what he said about Israel, and now Rochdale has ended up with an MP who's views on Israel are far more... erm... 'outspoken' than Ali ever would have been. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.

Galloway's clearly exploited the fact that hardly anyone bothers voting in byelections besides people who really really care about politics (which for them means the 'flavour of the day' issue, whatever that is). That's why candidates like him don't stand a chance at the general elections when the more moderate majority turn out. That said, I never would have seen this coming two weeks ago.

So who do you think you'll move onto death-stalking when poor Jimmy finally snuffs it?

BTW this site seems to be pulling a 'McConnell' on me and freezing whenever I try and post anything. If these posts are taking hours to show up, I apologise.

Damn, now they'll have to find another strapping young 75 year old whippersnapper to replace him.

I'm amazed how he's easily in a worse state than other recently abdicated monarchs (including those who abdicated 10 years ago like Juan Carlos) but still shows no signs of relinquishing the throne. He makes the former Danish queen seem like a professional jogger in her twenties in comparison.

Richard Nixon:

God, my one lasting memory of her is when my dad used to play her music in the car when he took me to infant school. The very earliest music I can even remember is from her and Catatonia (and pretty much every MOR female act from the late nineties). As for Esther, I've at least seen clips of her on 'That's Life' in repeats but I've never even seen a single second of 'This Is Your Life' so I don't know why I subconsciously conflate the two.

Only if the US takes back James Cordon and makes sure he NEVER leaves America.

Whoops, I meant the second one. I don't like to use the 'it was all before I was born' defence but that's what I'm gonna have to go with.