BTW, the owl picture was taken with a compact Canon SX730HS. It has a great macro facility - but the zoom is pretty damned good too. This female broad-bodied chaser dragonfly was taken from about 9 feet: hand-held, no tripod:
That is amazing quality. I recently had serviced my ancient Nikon FE2 and am trying to get used to using it. Or rather, trying to get used to carrying it around which is a culture shock vs my smart phone.
This popped up for me on BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52913066 Am I right in thinking the reason accountants suggest a limited company is because you end up paying less tax? I wonder whether people will be able to sue accountants for this kind of advice, it's clearly been very detrimental to her...
I thought the limited liability of being a company was also a major advantage than of being a sole trader etc.
That account doesn’t read right.
She closed the company, but can’t pay her office rent, she spent £60k on equipment, but has no assets, her turnover was £20k a month but she paid herself £500...
The article doesn't say that the company has no assets (in fact doesn't use the word) - but they are probably not realisable at anything like what she might have paid for them; she hasn't closed the company; she paid herself a salary of £500 and the rest in dividends as advised by accountants.
Her problem is that she hasn't been able trade owing to the government restrictions, so there's no income coming in, while her overhead continues. Because of the way the business was structured, she has received no government assistance either via the rating system, self employed assistance, or furlough.
The article is perhaps lacking in details, but it seems pretty consistent to me.
BTW, the owl picture was taken with a compact Canon SX730HS. It has a great macro facility - but the zoom is pretty damned good too. This female broad-bodied chaser dragonfly was taken from about 9 feet: hand-held, no tripod:
That is very impressive. I watched the very same type leave my pond exit the nymph stage (alien like), sun itself for some time before flying. My pictures with my phone were from a few centimetres away and not as good.
Later that day (and obviously I have no idea if it was the same one) it was flying with a male (blue) and laying eggs in the pond.
Interesting to hear the editor of the Guardian say yesterday that they had decided to do a feature comparing the stories of health workers in the UK, US and Australia who had died of Coronavirus, but the Australian Guardian came back and said they didn't have any who had died.
The reason we have the worst stats is that we are the best at collecting them.
In regard to the black lives matters march yesterday in the UK, I wonder why people just shrug when almost on a daily basis a black teenager stabs to death another black teenager just becuase of the street that he lives in. Why is there not a march about this, don't these black lives matter?
Yes, I think you are beginning to understand how systemic racism works.
BLM is about combating systemic racism.
Young kids in London stabbing each other is nothing to do with race its to do with drugs
And drug dealing is usually related to lack of role models and other opportunities.
Which sadly is a far greater issue for Black males than any other group (including white working class males)
Correct, and has been for decades. I'm not sure how you persuade young black people to take parenthood more seriously.
Here’s an example of everyday racism on my part regarding cultural depictions. A few months ago I watched the Mary Queen of Scots movie with Saoirse Ronan. It is very unlikely that Mary spoke with a heavy Scots accent as she was portrayed, having spent virtually all her childhood in France, and I knew that. However, halfway through I noticed I was less bothered by how Mary sounded than how Thomas Randolph, who was played by black actor Adrian Lester, looked. Neither was I as bothered that Margot Robbie is much much better looking than the historical Elizabeth I. My brain had been trained to ignore those historical inaccuracies, and the many others in the film, save for the amount of melanin in one actor’s skin. That’s systemic racism showing in someone who tries really really hard not to be racist.
Similarly we have no problem with James Bond having a Scots, English, Irish or indeed Australian accent, having brown or blue eyes, chest hair or no chest hair, but if a black actor is ever cast in the role we all know how the usual suspects will react.
James Bond has been a British English character with a long family history going back to the Normans as far as I recall (family motto) and therefore white. All the actors have played him as such (with greater or lesser success on the accent front ). It is fiction and it is therefore of course fine for him to become a black character, or a woman, but it would be a bigger divergence from the source material than we've yet seen. Personally, I'd prefer us to create new cultural icons who happen to be black.
James Bond has always to a lesser or greater degree been somewhat removed or not paid much attention to, the source material, and the 'original' character.
I see no issue with a black James Bond at all. Just like Doctor Who, it's a character which has changed time and time again, and new things brought to it by each character, so anything new and interesting should be welcomed.
A non-white Bond is fine so long as it's done with integrity. No gimmicks.
As I understand it James Bond is meant to have been of aristocratic Scottish heritage. As I am not aware of any Scottish aristocratic people who also have black heritage (waiting to be corrected here!) I therefore (perhaps unpolitically correctly) think that having a black actor play JB is about as silly as having a white actor play Barak Obama.
Bit of Swiss in there too. Fine for you to not want a black Bond. Says nothing bad about you at all that you feel this way. Bond is a deeply personal thing. We all have our own relationship with the character. There are things we would and would not be comfortable with seeing and these things are different for each person. Me, for example, I am cool with the idea of Bond being not white but I would struggle with him being Afro-Caribbean with dreadlocks and talking jive. And regardless of skin colour I would baulk at him sporting a big droopy moustache. I also for all my wokeness could not accept him as a woman - particularly with the big droopy moustache.
Similarly we have no problem with James Bond having a Scots, English, Irish or indeed Australian accent, having brown or blue eyes, chest hair or no chest hair, but if a black actor is ever cast in the role we all know how the usual suspects will react.
Probably the same as if a man played Miss/Mr Marple.
Or Hugh Grant played Robert Mugabe.
For clarity, however, I think that James Bond, a fictional character, as someone has noted similarly to Dr Who, could be played by anyone and should be played by Idris Elba and should absofuckinglutely not be played by Tom Hiddleston.
Ben Kingsley as Gandhi?
Oh I just looked it up and he is of Asian heritage, my bad.
Jackson Carlaw, Leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party. twisting the knife into BoZo’s belly just now on BBC Radio Scotland. He says, repeatedly, that he is “not wholly convinced” by Dominic Cummings’ explanation for his actions.
Classic code for “the man’s a liar”.
Astonishingly, Carlaw has not spoken to his boss BoZo in months. They have only exchanged two text messages since The Clown was released from hospital.
Carlaw sounds like a drowning man, unable to affect either his opponents nor his (supposed) allies.
The Milton Keynes appointee is a real kick in the groin.
MK? *googles for land of concrete coos* Ah - now I see. Blood is sure thicker than residence when it comes to Tories. But what a dunt in the baws to the actual Scottish Tories. Remiunds me of the day when the Scottish Office was run by a MP from Weston-Super-Mare IIRC.
I will defer to our actual Scottish posters on this (and we can always rely on Malc for a fair and balanced appraisal of the situation), but right now it looks to me as if the Conservatives are going to get absolutely, utterly, walloped in the Holyrood elections next year. As in a panda-level event.
I would say Tories in Scotland have solid bedrock of 20%, who are the "British rather than Scottish" crowd. More than panda-level. The Tories have nothing to offer the other 80% however. The Ruth Davidson brand of unionism has been comprehensively trashed by the Brexit Party insurgency, aka the Conservative Party.
I concur.
(Just a detail, and largely subjective, but I assess SCon solid bedrock support to be max 15% rather than 20%. Irrespective, at least 80% of Scots are outwith the reach of the Brexit Party insurgency, aka the Conservative Party.)
Similarly we have no problem with James Bond having a Scots, English, Irish or indeed Australian accent, having brown or blue eyes, chest hair or no chest hair, but if a black actor is ever cast in the role we all know how the usual suspects will react.
Probably the same as if a man played Miss/Mr Marple.
Or Hugh Grant played Robert Mugabe.
For clarity, however, I think that James Bond, a fictional character, as someone has noted similarly to Dr Who, could be played by anyone and should be played by Idris Elba and should absofuckinglutely not be played by Tom Hiddleston.
Ben Kingsley as Gandhi?
Nowt wrong with Krishna Pandit Bhanji playing the half naked fakir.
What an absolute moron....he does know a number of footballers caught it between weekly tests without knowing, and without really going anywhere but the odd trip to the shops. And obviously, he could catch it at the protest and transport it.
BTW, the owl picture was taken with a compact Canon SX730HS. It has a great macro facility - but the zoom is pretty damned good too. This female broad-bodied chaser dragonfly was taken from about 9 feet: hand-held, no tripod:
That's a stunning photo. Have you thought of sending to Nat Geo annual competition?
Jackson Carlaw, Leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party. twisting the knife into BoZo’s belly just now on BBC Radio Scotland. He says, repeatedly, that he is “not wholly convinced” by Dominic Cummings’ explanation for his actions.
Classic code for “the man’s a liar”.
Astonishingly, Carlaw has not spoken to his boss BoZo in months. They have only exchanged two text messages since The Clown was released from hospital.
Carlaw sounds like a drowning man, unable to affect either his opponents nor his (supposed) allies.
The Milton Keynes appointee is a real kick in the groin.
MK? *googles for land of concrete coos* Ah - now I see. Blood is sure thicker than residence when it comes to Tories. But what a dunt in the baws to the actual Scottish Tories. Remiunds me of the day when the Scottish Office was run by a MP from Weston-Super-Mare IIRC.
I will defer to our actual Scottish posters on this (and we can always rely on Malc for a fair and balanced appraisal of the situation), but right now it looks to me as if the Conservatives are going to get absolutely, utterly, walloped in the Holyrood elections next year. As in a panda-level event.
I would say Tories in Scotland have solid bedrock of 20%, who are the "British rather than Scottish" crowd. More than panda-level. The Tories have nothing to offer the other 80% however. The Ruth Davidson brand of unionism has been comprehensively trashed by the Brexit Party insurgency, aka the Conservative Party.
It has never been successfully explained to me why people can't be both British and Scottish.
Jackson Carlaw, Leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party. twisting the knife into BoZo’s belly just now on BBC Radio Scotland. He says, repeatedly, that he is “not wholly convinced” by Dominic Cummings’ explanation for his actions.
Classic code for “the man’s a liar”.
Astonishingly, Carlaw has not spoken to his boss BoZo in months. They have only exchanged two text messages since The Clown was released from hospital.
Carlaw sounds like a drowning man, unable to affect either his opponents nor his (supposed) allies.
The Milton Keynes appointee is a real kick in the groin.
MK? *googles for land of concrete coos* Ah - now I see. Blood is sure thicker than residence when it comes to Tories. But what a dunt in the baws to the actual Scottish Tories. Remiunds me of the day when the Scottish Office was run by a MP from Weston-Super-Mare IIRC.
What an absolute moron....he does know a number of footballers caught it between weekly tests without knowing, without really going anywhere but the odd trip to the shops.
What an absolute moron....he does know a number of footballers caught it between weekly tests without knowing, without really going anywhere but the odd trip to the shops.
@Alistair would you say the gang related deaths in Jamaica were systemic racism? You could make the argument it stems from the slave trade and lack of compensation, I suppose. Still more to do with internal economics I'd say.
If there were no black people in the uk, there would still be gang violence in poor areas over drugs. Immigrants from poor countries tend to live in those areas so the gang violence is more black than it might otherwise be. I don't think that's systemic racism, unless importing people from poor countries to do our crummy jobs is systemically racist... I kind of think that is actually
BTW, the owl picture was taken with a compact Canon SX730HS. It has a great macro facility - but the zoom is pretty damned good too. This female broad-bodied chaser dragonfly was taken from about 9 feet: hand-held, no tripod:
Jackson Carlaw, Leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party. twisting the knife into BoZo’s belly just now on BBC Radio Scotland. He says, repeatedly, that he is “not wholly convinced” by Dominic Cummings’ explanation for his actions.
Classic code for “the man’s a liar”.
Astonishingly, Carlaw has not spoken to his boss BoZo in months. They have only exchanged two text messages since The Clown was released from hospital.
Carlaw sounds like a drowning man, unable to affect either his opponents nor his (supposed) allies.
The Milton Keynes appointee is a real kick in the groin.
MK? *googles for land of concrete coos* Ah - now I see. Blood is sure thicker than residence when it comes to Tories. But what a dunt in the baws to the actual Scottish Tories. Remiunds me of the day when the Scottish Office was run by a MP from Weston-Super-Mare IIRC.
I will defer to our actual Scottish posters on this (and we can always rely on Malc for a fair and balanced appraisal of the situation), but right now it looks to me as if the Conservatives are going to get absolutely, utterly, walloped in the Holyrood elections next year. As in a panda-level event.
Latest Holyrood polling has the Tories above the 22% they got in 2016
What an absolute moron....he does know a number of footballers caught it between weekly tests without knowing, and without really going anywhere but the odd trip to the shops. And obviously, he could catch it at the protest and transport it.
What an absolute moron....he does know a number of footballers caught it between weekly tests without knowing, and without really going anywhere but the odd trip to the shops. And obviously, he could catch it at the protest and transport it.
Similarly we have no problem with James Bond having a Scots, English, Irish or indeed Australian accent, having brown or blue eyes, chest hair or no chest hair, but if a black actor is ever cast in the role we all know how the usual suspects will react.
Probably the same as if a man played Miss/Mr Marple.
Or Hugh Grant played Robert Mugabe.
For clarity, however, I think that James Bond, a fictional character, as someone has noted similarly to Dr Who, could be played by anyone and should be played by Idris Elba and should absofuckinglutely not be played by Tom Hiddleston.
Ben Kingsley as Gandhi?
Nowt wrong with Krishna Pandit Bhanji playing the half naked fakir.
What an absolute moron....he does know a number of footballers caught it between weekly tests without knowing, and without really going anywhere but the odd trip to the shops. And obviously, he could catch it at the protest and transport it.
This popped up for me on BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52913066 Am I right in thinking the reason accountants suggest a limited company is because you end up paying less tax? I wonder whether people will be able to sue accountants for this kind of advice, it's clearly been very detrimental to her...
I thought the limited liability of being a company was also a major advantage than of being a sole trader etc.
That account doesn’t read right.
She closed the company, but can’t pay her office rent, she spent £60k on equipment, but has no assets, her turnover was £20k a month but she paid herself £500...
The article doesn't say that the company has no assets (in fact doesn't use the word) - but they are probably not realisable at anything like what she might have paid for them; she hasn't closed the company; she paid herself a salary of £500 and the rest in dividends as advised by accountants.
Her problem is that she hasn't been able trade owing to the government restrictions, so there's no income coming in, while her overhead continues. Because of the way the business was structured, she has received no government assistance either via the rating system, self employed assistance, or furlough.
The article is perhaps lacking in details, but it seems pretty consistent to me.
She ought to be able to furlough herself, at 80% of the £500 per month.
There are of course terrible bad luck stories in business. I feel very sorry for her.
However, I agree with @eek - dividends (distribution of profits) shouldn't be guaranteed by the Govt. Nor should the tax structure for them be drastically altered afterwards, in the way that I suspect self employed NICS will be.
I wonder if he is frightened of being seen wearing a hearing aid, even the little ones behind the ear?
There is one piece of evidence for the proposition: Boris got backbenchers to stop barracking during PMQs. It is possible this is so he can hear better, but I doubt it. The benches have speakers built into them, and if you look at old PMQs, you can see Theresa May lean towards them. And in any case, the anti-barracking directive came before covid-19.
Could well be. However Mr J is in his late 50s isn't he? Entirely possible that he is suffering initial hearing loss anyway.
There is also an issue of discrimination of a voice against the monkey-house cries and howls of Tory MPs. Worse than a party conversation as the speaker is further away.
I wonder if his responses to press conferences show any hint that he hasn't actually heard the question and is bluffing?
It is possible though up to now, I've interpreted Boris's misunderstanding (or simply missing) questions as reflecting the impact of covid-19 on cognition rather than on hearing (nor a deliberate strategy, the usual politicians' trick of answering a different question).
What an absolute moron....he does know a number of footballers caught it between weekly tests without knowing, without really going anywhere but the odd trip to the shops.
This popped up for me on BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52913066 Am I right in thinking the reason accountants suggest a limited company is because you end up paying less tax? I wonder whether people will be able to sue accountants for this kind of advice, it's clearly been very detrimental to her...
I thought the limited liability of being a company was also a major advantage than of being a sole trader etc.
Her liability in practice seems different though, since she has taken out personal loans to support the business.
What an absolute moron....he does know a number of footballers caught it between weekly tests without knowing, and without really going anywhere but the odd trip to the shops. And obviously, he could catch it at the protest and transport it.
Maybe, maybe not. At some point we need to get back to "normal" and we can't all be in the middle of any number of sets of tests.
Going to stand in a crammed crowd of 1000s it absolutely moronic.
He had tested negative. What plan are you suggesting for people who test negative in society? Still 2m come what may?
Not attending mass events for the foreseeable future. They are one of the known ways that this thing spreads bigly. Germany big initial outbreak, Carnival celebrations, 40% of people got it. The level of coronavirus in society is still high.
If I was a Muslim that just forewent usual Eid celebrations because of the rules, I would be mighty pissed off to see this.
Big Dom should have gone, but his trip to Durham wasn't risking loads of peoples health.
The idea that a fictional character can't interchange racially over time is ridiculous. This is a bit of a racial stereotyping really, but James Bond is a smooth, cool kind of guy, and black men are generally cooler and smoother than white men anyway. Probably a perfect fit
This popped up for me on BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52913066 Am I right in thinking the reason accountants suggest a limited company is because you end up paying less tax? I wonder whether people will be able to sue accountants for this kind of advice, it's clearly been very detrimental to her...
I thought the limited liability of being a company was also a major advantage than of being a sole trader etc.
That account doesn’t read right.
She closed the company, but can’t pay her office rent, she spent £60k on equipment, but has no assets, her turnover was £20k a month but she paid herself £500...
The article doesn't say that the company has no assets (in fact doesn't use the word) - but they are probably not realisable at anything like what she might have paid for them; she hasn't closed the company; she paid herself a salary of £500 and the rest in dividends as advised by accountants.
Her problem is that she hasn't been able trade owing to the government restrictions, so there's no income coming in, while her overhead continues. Because of the way the business was structured, she has received no government assistance either via the rating system, self employed assistance, or furlough.
The article is perhaps lacking in details, but it seems pretty consistent to me.
She ought to be able to furlough herself, at 80% of the £500 per month.
There are of course terrible bad luck stories in business. I feel very sorry for her.
However, I agree with @eek - dividends (distribution of profits) shouldn't be guaranteed by the Govt. Nor should the tax structure for them be drastically altered afterwards, in the way that I suspect self employed NICS will be.
I had an ethical dilemma this morning when a company director who had put himself on furlough emailed asking for some advice regarding his company i.e. he was carrying out work. Told him I’d love to but didn’t want to get him in trouble with HMRC - he accepted that thankfully.
What an absolute moron....he does know a number of footballers caught it between weekly tests without knowing, and without really going anywhere but the odd trip to the shops. And obviously, he could catch it at the protest and transport it.
Maybe, maybe not. At some point we need to get back to "normal" and we can't all be in the middle of any number of sets of tests.
Going to stand in a crammed crowd of 1000s it absolutely moronic.
He had tested negative. What plan are you suggesting for people who test negative in society? Still 2m come what may?
Eh? Whether he's negative before the event is surely not the issue. He could be positive after it and put his household in danger. And possibly (someone more knowledgeable than me can correct) even catch it and infect others at the same event.
I would put myself down as a mild lockdown-skeptic, but even I can see that a mass protest isn't one of the things that should be allowed, still less encouraged, still less attended, by anyone in public life.
What apology? One part of one sentence. It should be I am sorry, I made the wrong decision, period, we must all continue to follow the rules. We can campaign against racism online.
Really he just excuses his behaviour as I didn't have coronavirus (which is irrelevant) and the killing of George Floyd I have an obligation to fight racism which trumps social distancing.
This popped up for me on BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52913066 Am I right in thinking the reason accountants suggest a limited company is because you end up paying less tax? I wonder whether people will be able to sue accountants for this kind of advice, it's clearly been very detrimental to her...
I thought the limited liability of being a company was also a major advantage than of being a sole trader etc.
That account doesn’t read right.
She closed the company, but can’t pay her office rent, she spent £60k on equipment, but has no assets, her turnover was £20k a month but she paid herself £500...
The article doesn't say that the company has no assets (in fact doesn't use the word) - but they are probably not realisable at anything like what she might have paid for them; she hasn't closed the company; she paid herself a salary of £500 and the rest in dividends as advised by accountants.
Her problem is that she hasn't been able trade owing to the government restrictions, so there's no income coming in, while her overhead continues. Because of the way the business was structured, she has received no government assistance either via the rating system, self employed assistance, or furlough.
The article is perhaps lacking in details, but it seems pretty consistent to me.
She ought to be able to furlough herself, at 80% of the £500 per month.
There are of course terrible bad luck stories in business. I feel very sorry for her.
However, I agree with @eek - dividends (distribution of profits) shouldn't be guaranteed by the Govt. Nor should the tax structure for them be drastically altered afterwards, in the way that I suspect self employed NICS will be.
I had an ethical dilemma this morning when a company director who had put himself on furlough emailed asking for some advice regarding his company i.e. he was carrying out work. Told him I’d love to but didn’t want to get him in trouble with HMRC - he accepted that thankfully.
Very deftly delt with.
I considered closing the business entirely for a couple of months and furloughing all staff, myself included, for about 3 seconds before I realised how monumentally bored I would have been after about 3 hours. The scheme helped us, though, to keep going with those staff who could work from home and protect the positions and salaries of those who really cant/were not necessary for the fall in demand.
I am full of praise for the Treasury because of this.
What an absolute moron....he does know a number of footballers caught it between weekly tests without knowing, and without really going anywhere but the odd trip to the shops. And obviously, he could catch it at the protest and transport it.
Maybe, maybe not. At some point we need to get back to "normal" and we can't all be in the middle of any number of sets of tests.
Going to stand in a crammed crowd of 1000s it absolutely moronic.
He had tested negative. What plan are you suggesting for people who test negative in society? Still 2m come what may?
Eh? Whether he's negative before the event is surely not the issue. He could be positive after it and put his household in danger. And possibly (someone more knowledgeable than me can correct) even catch it and infect others at the same event.
I would put myself down as a mild lockdown-skeptic, but even I can see that a mass protest isn't one of the things that should be allowed, still less encouraged, still less attended, by anyone in public life.
This popped up for me on BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52913066 Am I right in thinking the reason accountants suggest a limited company is because you end up paying less tax? I wonder whether people will be able to sue accountants for this kind of advice, it's clearly been very detrimental to her...
I thought the limited liability of being a company was also a major advantage than of being a sole trader etc.
That account doesn’t read right.
She closed the company, but can’t pay her office rent, she spent £60k on equipment, but has no assets, her turnover was £20k a month but she paid herself £500...
The article doesn't say that the company has no assets (in fact doesn't use the word) - but they are probably not realisable at anything like what she might have paid for them; she hasn't closed the company; she paid herself a salary of £500 and the rest in dividends as advised by accountants.
Her problem is that she hasn't been able trade owing to the government restrictions, so there's no income coming in, while her overhead continues. Because of the way the business was structured, she has received no government assistance either via the rating system, self employed assistance, or furlough.
The article is perhaps lacking in details, but it seems pretty consistent to me.
I have read it three times now, and each time gives only more questions. It's horribly confused between personal and business rent and bills, personal and business loans, talks about the business in the past tense but looks forward to seeing her customers in future. If her business was in a serviced office and she now lives with her parents, what exactly are her bills for?
I think the major issue is that it is a new business, starting only in September 2019, therefore she has no accounts filed to base a claim for exceptional state support above the standard UC payments.
The exceptional support offered is one of the best such schemes in the world, and has so far gone without too many hitches - but unwinding it is going to be a nightmare, as a couple of million people go from a very generous furlough to unemployment.
What an absolute moron....he does know a number of footballers caught it between weekly tests without knowing, and without really going anywhere but the odd trip to the shops. And obviously, he could catch it at the protest and transport it.
Maybe, maybe not. At some point we need to get back to "normal" and we can't all be in the middle of any number of sets of tests.
Going to stand in a crammed crowd of 1000s it absolutely moronic.
He had tested negative. What plan are you suggesting for people who test negative in society? Still 2m come what may?
Eh? Whether he's negative before the event is surely not the issue. He could be positive after it and put his household in danger. And possibly (someone more knowledgeable than me can correct) even catch it and infect others at the same event.
I would put myself down as a mild lockdown-skeptic, but even I can see that a mass protest isn't one of the things that should be allowed, still less encouraged, still less attended, by anyone in public life.
The idea that a fictional character character can't interchange racially over time is ridiculous.
The obvious example is Jesus. Although most accept the figure in the New Testament stems on someone who really existed in First Century West Bank/Israel, so not really fictional, the historical Jesus was nevertheless most certainly not the blond blue eyed figure of western iconography.
Latest US polling appears to show the demonstrations have turned the tide for Trump, particularly in the marginal northern states he needs to hold onto. The demonstrators appears to cutting off their own nose to spite their face.
The idea that a fictional character can't interchange racially over time is ridiculous. This is a bit of a racial stereotyping really, but James Bond is a smooth, cool kind of guy, and black men are generally cooler and smoother than white men anyway. Probably a perfect fit
Can you think of an Asian actor who has been suggested for the role?
BTW, the owl picture was taken with a compact Canon SX730HS. It has a great macro facility - but the zoom is pretty damned good too. This female broad-bodied chaser dragonfly was taken from about 9 feet: hand-held, no tripod:
That is amazing quality. I recently had serviced my ancient Nikon FE2 and am trying to get used to using it. Or rather, trying to get used to carrying it around which is a culture shock vs my smart phone.
Yes, when I took my full frame camera on holiday last time I decided to dump Canon and switch to Sony. Carrying around a 5Diii and a pretty heavy lens all day is something I've realised I didn't want to do any more.
Switched to the A7iii last year. It's legitimately amazing for the size, the interface is quite terrible but once I customised it I've been taking some amazing pics with it. I did a series of "Desolate London" shoots with my wife when the proper lockdown was on which was great fun. Again, can't imagine having to lug around the 5D and two heavy full frame lenses. I got the Zeiss Batis 85mm for it recently which is probably the star buy for my use, I've also got the cheap Sony 28mm which is surprisingly decent.
If you're sick of lugging around a giant camera but still want the best pictures then the A7iii is amazing value for money and the lens selection is ace. I sold all of my Canon gear over the last few weeks (finally had time during furlough) and I'm actually quids in despite buying a camera, flash, a Zeiss lens, two Sony lenses and a shoulder strap.
What an absolute moron....he does know a number of footballers caught it between weekly tests without knowing, and without really going anywhere but the odd trip to the shops. And obviously, he could catch it at the protest and transport it.
Jackson Carlaw, Leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party. twisting the knife into BoZo’s belly just now on BBC Radio Scotland. He says, repeatedly, that he is “not wholly convinced” by Dominic Cummings’ explanation for his actions.
Classic code for “the man’s a liar”.
Astonishingly, Carlaw has not spoken to his boss BoZo in months. They have only exchanged two text messages since The Clown was released from hospital.
Carlaw sounds like a drowning man, unable to affect either his opponents nor his (supposed) allies.
The Milton Keynes appointee is a real kick in the groin.
MK? *googles for land of concrete coos* Ah - now I see. Blood is sure thicker than residence when it comes to Tories. But what a dunt in the baws to the actual Scottish Tories. Remiunds me of the day when the Scottish Office was run by a MP from Weston-Super-Mare IIRC.
I will defer to our actual Scottish posters on this (and we can always rely on Malc for a fair and balanced appraisal of the situation), but right now it looks to me as if the Conservatives are going to get absolutely, utterly, walloped in the Holyrood elections next year. As in a panda-level event.
I would say Tories in Scotland have solid bedrock of 20%, who are the "British rather than Scottish" crowd. More than panda-level. The Tories have nothing to offer the other 80% however. The Ruth Davidson brand of unionism has been comprehensively trashed by the Brexit Party insurgency, aka the Conservative Party.
I would say it's closer to 25% as the Tories still got 25.1% at the general election in Scotland (only down 3.5%) even with a collapse in their vote in Edinburgh. Mainly in Edinburgh were voters voting for Ruth Davidson rather than the Tories in 2016 and to a lesser extent in 2017 so the Tories will probably go backwards in Edinburgh on the list vote but offset it with leave voters (and elderly remain voters who dislike the SNP more than Johnson) elsewhere and still end up with 22-26% overall in next years Scottish election.
Of course 2017 was probably their high watermark in seats in Westminster elections which probably won't be repeated for a while so Ruth Davidson still got out at the right time.
Given that Coronavirus disproportionately attacks the elderly, what will it do to the Tories Scottish vote?
Bollocks. If you were favourable to Gardiner before this, you'd be favourable to him afterwards. If you were angry with him, you'd be livid. It is not a genuine expression of regret, it is mealy-mouthed emoting that leaves unsaid but very clear the fact that Gardiner knew the public health risks, and simply rated them below his desire to go and do something he really really wanted to do.
What apology? One part of one sentence. It should be I am sorry, I made the wrong decision, period, we must all continue to follow the rules. We can campaign against racism online.
Really he just excuses his behaviour as I didn't have coronavirus (which is irrelevant) and the killing of George Floyd I have an obligation to fight racism which trumps social distancing.
pure bullshit. cant see why an issue in a foreign country is relevant..
The idea that a fictional character character can't interchange racially over time is ridiculous.
Unless the race of the character is integral to the story. For example, Atticus Finch must be white.
He must also be Gregory Peck imo but that is probably just me.
Yes. And you can do interesting things to challenge the audience. Patrick Stewart once played Othello on Broadway surrounded by black actors, a reverse version of the play. That inversion clearly had dramatic and artistic merit.
Last year in the US, only 10 unarmed black individuals were killed, of which 5 were shot attacking the police e.g. trying to run them over with a car, 1 the gun went off accidentally (and it was a black officer), and of the remaining 4, 2 resulted in the police officer being charged, and one of the other cases the police were responding to the individual with a gun and a gun was found at the scene.
But.....in total ~1000 individuals (of all ethnicities) were killed by police and that is fairly consistent over the past 5 years.
Widespread weapons in society lead to armed police, which lead to people getting shot.
The idea that a fictional character character can't interchange racially over time is ridiculous.
The obvious example is Jesus. Although most accept the figure in the New Testament stems on someone who really existed in First Century West Bank/Israel, so not really fictional, the historical Jesus was nevertheless most certainly not the blond blue eyed figure of western iconography.
What an absolute moron....he does know a number of footballers caught it between weekly tests without knowing, and without really going anywhere but the odd trip to the shops. And obviously, he could catch it at the protest and transport it.
I look forward to Mr. Forensic removing the Labour whip from him for wilfully violating the lockdown regulations for the sake of his political activism and endangering public health ... or at least I would, were he not a gross hypocrite.
Now I know what Cummings should do - pop on a BLM t-shirt and join in prominently with the protests. The Blob's heads will implode from the pressure of contradictory impulses...
The idea that a fictional character can't interchange racially over time is ridiculous. This is a bit of a racial stereotyping really, but James Bond is a smooth, cool kind of guy, and black men are generally cooler and smoother than white men anyway. Probably a perfect fit
Can you think of an Asian actor who has been suggested for the role?
I can't. Seems like an interesting omission.
Im not really a fan of James Bond, so don't follow who's been suggested to take the role, other than Idris Elba when the conversation turns to a black Bond.
The idea that a fictional character character can't interchange racially over time is ridiculous.
The obvious example is Jesus. Although most accept the figure in the New Testament stems on someone who really existed in First Century West Bank/Israel, so not really fictional, the historical Jesus was nevertheless most certainly not the blond blue eyed figure of western iconography.
Madonna 'Like a Prayer'!
That portrayal was, ironically, as ethnically accurate as most in the Vatican.
Jackson Carlaw, Leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party. twisting the knife into BoZo’s belly just now on BBC Radio Scotland. He says, repeatedly, that he is “not wholly convinced” by Dominic Cummings’ explanation for his actions.
Classic code for “the man’s a liar”.
Astonishingly, Carlaw has not spoken to his boss BoZo in months. They have only exchanged two text messages since The Clown was released from hospital.
Carlaw sounds like a drowning man, unable to affect either his opponents nor his (supposed) allies.
The Milton Keynes appointee is a real kick in the groin.
MK? *googles for land of concrete coos* Ah - now I see. Blood is sure thicker than residence when it comes to Tories. But what a dunt in the baws to the actual Scottish Tories. Remiunds me of the day when the Scottish Office was run by a MP from Weston-Super-Mare IIRC.
I will defer to our actual Scottish posters on this (and we can always rely on Malc for a fair and balanced appraisal of the situation), but right now it looks to me as if the Conservatives are going to get absolutely, utterly, walloped in the Holyrood elections next year. As in a panda-level event.
I would say Tories in Scotland have solid bedrock of 20%, who are the "British rather than Scottish" crowd. More than panda-level. The Tories have nothing to offer the other 80% however. The Ruth Davidson brand of unionism has been comprehensively trashed by the Brexit Party insurgency, aka the Conservative Party.
I would say it's closer to 25% as the Tories still got 25.1% at the general election in Scotland (only down 3.5%) even with a collapse in their vote in Edinburgh. Mainly in Edinburgh were voters voting for Ruth Davidson rather than the Tories in 2016 and to a lesser extent in 2017 so the Tories will probably go backwards in Edinburgh on the list vote but offset it with leave voters (and elderly remain voters who dislike the SNP more than Johnson) elsewhere and still end up with 22-26% overall in next years Scottish election.
Of course 2017 was probably their high watermark in seats in Westminster elections which probably won't be repeated for a while so Ruth Davidson still got out at the right time.
Given that Coronavirus disproportionately attacks the elderly, what will it do to the Tories Scottish vote?
probably nothing.
given where they live the Tories picked up most of their votes in the sticks not crowded cities where the disease spreads fastest.
Re the thread, yes I agree that the Government's reaction to the virus will probably be one of those traumatic events that will remain with voters for years and will impact on the outcome of the next election. The parallel which the Tories will fear is that of Black Wednesday in 1992 which served to undermine their claims to economic competence all the way up to the 1997 general election. The response to the virus is undermining any possible idea that Johnson runs a generally competent government, such has been the shambles witnessed on multiple fronts.
In political terms, the impact will get worse for Johnson. There is a deep recession on the horizon and the question is whether the Conservatives will be blamed for its depth not least on account of their mistakes having led to the UK being late out of the lockdown.
Yesterday saw another 359 deaths confirmed by testing in the UK. That was more than the total recorded for the rest of Europe combined.
What apology? One part of one sentence. It should be I am sorry, I made the wrong decision, period, we must all continue to follow the rules. We can campaign against racism online.
Really he just excuses his behaviour as I didn't have coronavirus (which is irrelevant) and the killing of George Floyd I have an obligation to fight racism which trumps social distancing.
It's considerably better than "I acted as I saw fit in the best interests of myself and my family and I will not mark myself down for that."
What an absolute moron....he does know a number of footballers caught it between weekly tests without knowing, and without really going anywhere but the odd trip to the shops. And obviously, he could catch it at the protest and transport it.
I look forward to Mr. Forensic removing the Labour whip from him for wilfully violating the lockdown regulations for the sake of his political activism and endangering public health ... or at least I would, were he not a gross hypocrite.
Now I know what Cummings should do - pop on a BLM t-shirt and join in prominently with the protests. The Blob's head will implode from the pressure of contradictory impulses...
Is rather interesting how media not interested in an MP breaking rules to bonk a married man, now one totally ignoring the rules to go to a protest.
Yes Big Dom has influenced the rules and should be held to account, but seems a bit like NOTW phone hacking, where other than the Indy got no interest in the Mirror (who were European champions at this) and actually a bigger issue, corporate hacking.
What apology? One part of one sentence. It should be I am sorry, I made the wrong decision, period, we must all continue to follow the rules. We can campaign against racism online.
Really he just excuses his behaviour as I didn't have coronavirus (which is irrelevant) and the killing of George Floyd I have an obligation to fight racism which trumps social distancing.
It's considerably better than "I acted as I saw fit in the best interests of myself and my family and I will not mark myself down for that."
You won't get my defending Big Dom. Said straight away he should have gone and apologised. But in reality, his actions were low risk to the wider spread of the disease.
Attending mass gatherings is an absolute no no, compared to Kinnock Jnr saying hi to his dad from a distance, which was a minor breach.
Jackson Carlaw, Leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party. twisting the knife into BoZo’s belly just now on BBC Radio Scotland. He says, repeatedly, that he is “not wholly convinced” by Dominic Cummings’ explanation for his actions.
Classic code for “the man’s a liar”.
Astonishingly, Carlaw has not spoken to his boss BoZo in months. They have only exchanged two text messages since The Clown was released from hospital.
Carlaw sounds like a drowning man, unable to affect either his opponents nor his (supposed) allies.
The Milton Keynes appointee is a real kick in the groin.
MK? *googles for land of concrete coos* Ah - now I see. Blood is sure thicker than residence when it comes to Tories. But what a dunt in the baws to the actual Scottish Tories. Remiunds me of the day when the Scottish Office was run by a MP from Weston-Super-Mare IIRC.
The new Scottish office minister was born in Hamilton and went to school in Glasgow.
He is Scottish, he just represents an English seat
Ask SCon MPs how they feel about that appointment. It is simply embarrassing, as was obvious from Jackson Carlaw’s BBC interview this morning.
Well, David Duguid (MP for Banff and Buchan) won't be embarrassed as he's just been appointed a Scotland Office Minister, along with Iain Stewart. Appears to be a job-share with them both being appointed Whips as well. Duguid increased his majority in December in what was formerly an SNP stronghold.
The idea that a fictional character character can't interchange racially over time is ridiculous.
Unless the race of the character is integral to the story. For example, Atticus Finch must be white.
He must also be Gregory Peck imo but that is probably just me.
Well it's central to that version of the story, but TKAM could be made with a Hindu Finch and Muslim or Sikh Tom? The only aspect that needs to remain for the story to make sense is a difference between Tom and the rest
BTW, the owl picture was taken with a compact Canon SX730HS. It has a great macro facility - but the zoom is pretty damned good too. This female broad-bodied chaser dragonfly was taken from about 9 feet: hand-held, no tripod:
That is amazing quality. I recently had serviced my ancient Nikon FE2 and am trying to get used to using it. Or rather, trying to get used to carrying it around which is a culture shock vs my smart phone.
Yes, when I took my full frame camera on holiday last time I decided to dump Canon and switch to Sony. Carrying around a 5Diii and a pretty heavy lens all day is something I've realised I didn't want to do any more.
Switched to the A7iii last year. It's legitimately amazing for the size, the interface is quite terrible but once I customised it I've been taking some amazing pics with it. I did a series of "Desolate London" shoots with my wife when the proper lockdown was on which was great fun. Again, can't imagine having to lug around the 5D and two heavy full frame lenses. I got the Zeiss Batis 85mm for it recently which is probably the star buy for my use, I've also got the cheap Sony 28mm which is surprisingly decent.
If you're sick of lugging around a giant camera but still want the best pictures then the A7iii is amazing value for money and the lens selection is ace. I sold all of my Canon gear over the last few weeks (finally had time during furlough) and I'm actually quids in despite buying a camera, flash, a Zeiss lens, two Sony lenses and a shoulder strap.
Thanks I will def take a look. I only have the 50mm Nikkor on it at the moment but was def thinking of lensing up! I bought it 30 yrs ago and at the time it was one of the more expensive cameras on the market if you can believe it (I had only gone out looking for an Olympus OM10). So despite the sentimental value I am not averse to getting rid and starting again.
There is a half-finished roll of b&w film in there began pre-lockdown.
Last year in the US, only 10 unarmed black individuals were killed, of which 5 were shot attacking the police e.g. trying to run them over with a car, 1 the gun went off accidentally (and it was a black officer), and of the remaining 4, 2 resulted in the police officer being charged, and one of the other cases the police were responding to the individual with a gun and a gun was found at the scene.
But.....in total ~1000 individuals (of all ethnicities) were killed by police and that is fairly consistent over the past 5 years.
Widespread weapons in society lead to armed police, which lead to people getting shot.
Jackson Carlaw, Leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party. twisting the knife into BoZo’s belly just now on BBC Radio Scotland. He says, repeatedly, that he is “not wholly convinced” by Dominic Cummings’ explanation for his actions.
Classic code for “the man’s a liar”.
Astonishingly, Carlaw has not spoken to his boss BoZo in months. They have only exchanged two text messages since The Clown was released from hospital.
Carlaw sounds like a drowning man, unable to affect either his opponents nor his (supposed) allies.
The Milton Keynes appointee is a real kick in the groin.
MK? *googles for land of concrete coos* Ah - now I see. Blood is sure thicker than residence when it comes to Tories. But what a dunt in the baws to the actual Scottish Tories. Remiunds me of the day when the Scottish Office was run by a MP from Weston-Super-Mare IIRC.
I will defer to our actual Scottish posters on this (and we can always rely on Malc for a fair and balanced appraisal of the situation), but right now it looks to me as if the Conservatives are going to get absolutely, utterly, walloped in the Holyrood elections next year. As in a panda-level event.
I would say Tories in Scotland have solid bedrock of 20%, who are the "British rather than Scottish" crowd. More than panda-level. The Tories have nothing to offer the other 80% however. The Ruth Davidson brand of unionism has been comprehensively trashed by the Brexit Party insurgency, aka the Conservative Party.
It has never been successfully explained to me why people can't be both British and Scottish.
Ask HYUFD why he can’t be both European and British.
Give Starmer some credit for removing him as a shadow minister, although admittedly that wasn't a difficult call. Best that Gardiner now returns to the political anonymity he enjoyed for years.
What an absolute moron....he does know a number of footballers caught it between weekly tests without knowing, and without really going anywhere but the odd trip to the shops. And obviously, he could catch it at the protest and transport it.
What apology? One part of one sentence. It should be I am sorry, I made the wrong decision, period, we must all continue to follow the rules. We can campaign against racism online.
Really he just excuses his behaviour as I didn't have coronavirus (which is irrelevant) and the killing of George Floyd I have an obligation to fight racism which trumps social distancing.
It's considerably better than "I acted as I saw fit in the best interests of myself and my family and I will not mark myself down for that."
'I just had to go signal my virtue at a mass protest and encourage others to do the same, and public health can go fuck itself' is better than 'I was afraid my wife and I would get seriously ill and be unable to provide childcare so I drove to my in-laws'?
The idea that a fictional character can't interchange racially over time is ridiculous. This is a bit of a racial stereotyping really, but James Bond is a smooth, cool kind of guy, and black men are generally cooler and smoother than white men anyway. Probably a perfect fit
That really depends on your perspective of the character, and what you see as an important part of his make up. If what's important to you is that he's a confident, macho guy who gets the girls, yes a black actor would be great. If you read him as very much a figure of the old British establishment, with a sort of confidence, even arrogance, born of inherited wealth, background and ancient lineage, it might be more jarring for you. As someone here said, it depends on your perspective, and taking a view on it is not necessarily racist. I'd still enjoy the films if someone like Elba played the title role, but I totally disagree that it 'needs' it or that it's 'overdue'.
What apology? One part of one sentence. It should be I am sorry, I made the wrong decision, period, we must all continue to follow the rules. We can campaign against racism online.
Really he just excuses his behaviour as I didn't have coronavirus (which is irrelevant) and the killing of George Floyd I have an obligation to fight racism which trumps social distancing.
pure bullshit. cant see why an issue in a foreign country is relevant..
It's not bullshit. It's a simple and sincere explanation which you - and me as it happens - do not feel justifies his actions. And there is at least a sort of apology
Quite a contrast with Johnson/Cummings. What we got there was convoluted, not believable, and utterly devoid of apology.
What an absolute moron....he does know a number of footballers caught it between weekly tests without knowing, and without really going anywhere but the odd trip to the shops. And obviously, he could catch it at the protest and transport it.
The idea that a fictional character can't interchange racially over time is ridiculous. This is a bit of a racial stereotyping really, but James Bond is a smooth, cool kind of guy, and black men are generally cooler and smoother than white men anyway. Probably a perfect fit
Can you think of an Asian actor who has been suggested for the role?
Bollocks. If you were favourable to Gardiner before this, you'd be favourable to him afterwards. If you were angry with him, you'd be livid. It is not a genuine expression of regret, it is mealy-mouthed emoting that leaves unsaid but very clear the fact that Gardiner knew the public health risks, and simply rated them below his desire to go and do something he really really wanted to do.
And so much better than we got from Johnson and Cummings.
Jackson Carlaw, Leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party. twisting the knife into BoZo’s belly just now on BBC Radio Scotland. He says, repeatedly, that he is “not wholly convinced” by Dominic Cummings’ explanation for his actions.
Classic code for “the man’s a liar”.
Astonishingly, Carlaw has not spoken to his boss BoZo in months. They have only exchanged two text messages since The Clown was released from hospital.
Carlaw sounds like a drowning man, unable to affect either his opponents nor his (supposed) allies.
The Milton Keynes appointee is a real kick in the groin.
MK? *googles for land of concrete coos* Ah - now I see. Blood is sure thicker than residence when it comes to Tories. But what a dunt in the baws to the actual Scottish Tories. Remiunds me of the day when the Scottish Office was run by a MP from Weston-Super-Mare IIRC.
I will defer to our actual Scottish posters on this (and we can always rely on Malc for a fair and balanced appraisal of the situation), but right now it looks to me as if the Conservatives are going to get absolutely, utterly, walloped in the Holyrood elections next year. As in a panda-level event.
I would say Tories in Scotland have solid bedrock of 20%, who are the "British rather than Scottish" crowd. More than panda-level. The Tories have nothing to offer the other 80% however. The Ruth Davidson brand of unionism has been comprehensively trashed by the Brexit Party insurgency, aka the Conservative Party.
It has never been successfully explained to me why people can't be both British and Scottish.
Ask HYUFD why he can’t be both European and British.
Identity can change over time. During the Seven Years War (and before) the residents of the 13 American Colonies were generally happy to be described as British and American. Ten years later not so much. Identity in these islands has been shifting for a long time and has never really been constant anyway.
People who think that James Bond is, er, not real and can be played by an actor of any size, flavour, ethnicity, colour = not Star Wars groupies.
People who think James Bond must be played by someone whose father was Scottish, mother was Swiss and was brought up in Kent, etc = Star Wars groupies.
The idea that a fictional character can't interchange racially over time is ridiculous. This is a bit of a racial stereotyping really, but James Bond is a smooth, cool kind of guy, and black men are generally cooler and smoother than white men anyway. Probably a perfect fit
Can you think of an Asian actor who has been suggested for the role?
What apology? One part of one sentence. It should be I am sorry, I made the wrong decision, period, we must all continue to follow the rules. We can campaign against racism online.
Really he just excuses his behaviour as I didn't have coronavirus (which is irrelevant) and the killing of George Floyd I have an obligation to fight racism which trumps social distancing.
It's considerably better than "I acted as I saw fit in the best interests of myself and my family and I will not mark myself down for that."
No it isn't. Cummings drove somewhere due to a family emergency (the severity of which is obviously a matter of dispute). Gardiner made an entirely unnecessary decision to join a mass protest, on foot. No mask. He did so publicly, and boasted about it. By every objective measure, his actions were more reprehensible.
Re the thread, yes I agree that the Government's reaction to the virus will probably be one of those traumatic events that will remain with voters for years and will impact on the outcome of the next election. The parallel which the Tories will fear is that of Black Wednesday in 1992 which served to undermine their claims to economic competence all the way up to the 1997 general election. The response to the virus is undermining any possible idea that Johnson runs a generally competent government, such has been the shambles witnessed on multiple fronts.
In political terms, the impact will get worse for Johnson. There is a deep recession on the horizon and the question is whether the Conservatives will be blamed for its depth not least on account of their mistakes having led to the UK being late out of the lockdown.
Yesterday saw another 359 deaths confirmed by testing in the UK. That was more than the total recorded for the rest of Europe combined.
This popped up for me on BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52913066 Am I right in thinking the reason accountants suggest a limited company is because you end up paying less tax? I wonder whether people will be able to sue accountants for this kind of advice, it's clearly been very detrimental to her...
I thought the limited liability of being a company was also a major advantage than of being a sole trader etc.
That account doesn’t read right.
She closed the company, but can’t pay her office rent, she spent £60k on equipment, but has no assets, her turnover was £20k a month but she paid herself £500...
The article doesn't say that the company has no assets (in fact doesn't use the word) - but they are probably not realisable at anything like what she might have paid for them; she hasn't closed the company; she paid herself a salary of £500 and the rest in dividends as advised by accountants.
Her problem is that she hasn't been able trade owing to the government restrictions, so there's no income coming in, while her overhead continues. Because of the way the business was structured, she has received no government assistance either via the rating system, self employed assistance, or furlough.
The article is perhaps lacking in details, but it seems pretty consistent to me.
She should be eligible for the BBLS, up 25% of last years turnover.
I got one to pay my private secretary while there are no private hospitals.
This popped up for me on BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52913066 Am I right in thinking the reason accountants suggest a limited company is because you end up paying less tax? I wonder whether people will be able to sue accountants for this kind of advice, it's clearly been very detrimental to her...
I thought the limited liability of being a company was also a major advantage than of being a sole trader etc.
That account doesn’t read right.
She closed the company, but can’t pay her office rent, she spent £60k on equipment, but has no assets, her turnover was £20k a month but she paid herself £500...
The article doesn't say that the company has no assets (in fact doesn't use the word) - but they are probably not realisable at anything like what she might have paid for them; she hasn't closed the company; she paid herself a salary of £500 and the rest in dividends as advised by accountants.
Her problem is that she hasn't been able trade owing to the government restrictions, so there's no income coming in, while her overhead continues. Because of the way the business was structured, she has received no government assistance either via the rating system, self employed assistance, or furlough.
The article is perhaps lacking in details, but it seems pretty consistent to me.
She ought to be able to furlough herself, at 80% of the £500 per month.
There are of course terrible bad luck stories in business. I feel very sorry for her.
However, I agree with @eek - dividends (distribution of profits) shouldn't be guaranteed by the Govt. Nor should the tax structure for them be drastically altered afterwards, in the way that I suspect self employed NICS will be.
She could - but then wouldn't be able to try to keep the business running, as she wouldn't be allowed to work.
People who think that James Bond is, er, not real and can be played by an actor of any size, flavour, ethnicity, colour = not Star Wars groupies.
People who think James Bond must be played by someone whose father was Scottish, mother was Swiss and was brought up in Kent, etc = Star Wars groupies.
Please confirm.
The obsessive fandom of most movie franchises can become a millstone
Similarly we have no problem with James Bond having a Scots, English, Irish or indeed Australian accent, having brown or blue eyes, chest hair or no chest hair, but if a black actor is ever cast in the role we all know how the usual suspects will react.
Probably the same as if a man played Miss/Mr Marple.
Or Hugh Grant played Robert Mugabe.
For clarity, however, I think that James Bond, a fictional character, as someone has noted similarly to Dr Who, could be played by anyone and should be played by Idris Elba and should absofuckinglutely not be played by Tom Hiddleston.
Idris would be brilliant. Hard as nails and a British icon.
Professor Karl Friston is a computer modelling expert, world-renowned for his contributions to neuroscience. He has been applying his "dynamic causal modelling" approach to the Covid-19 pandemic, and has reached some startling results.
- The differences between countries are not primarily down to government actions, but due to 'intrinsic' differences in the populations
- We don't yet fully understand what is driving it, although there are theories ranging from levels of vitamin D to genetic differences
- In each country, there appears to be a portion of the population that is 'not even in the game' - that is, not susceptible to Covid-19. This varies hugely between countries
- In the UK, Professor Friston estimates that portion to be at least 50%, and probably more like 80%
- The similar mortality results between Sweden (no lockdown) and the UK (lockdown) are best explained by the fact that in reality there was no difference - the impact of the legal lockdown in Professor Friston's models "literally goes away".
Bollocks. If you were favourable to Gardiner before this, you'd be favourable to him afterwards. If you were angry with him, you'd be livid. It is not a genuine expression of regret, it is mealy-mouthed emoting that leaves unsaid but very clear the fact that Gardiner knew the public health risks, and simply rated them below his desire to go and do something he really really wanted to do.
And so much better than we got from Johnson and Cummings.
BTW, the owl picture was taken with a compact Canon SX730HS. It has a great macro facility - but the zoom is pretty damned good too. This female broad-bodied chaser dragonfly was taken from about 9 feet: hand-held, no tripod:
What an absolute moron....he does know a number of footballers caught it between weekly tests without knowing, and without really going anywhere but the odd trip to the shops. And obviously, he could catch it at the protest and transport it.
I look forward to Mr. Forensic removing the Labour whip from him for wilfully violating the lockdown regulations for the sake of his political activism and endangering public health ... or at least I would, were he not a gross hypocrite.
Now I know what Cummings should do - pop on a BLM t-shirt and join in prominently with the protests. The Blob's head will implode from the pressure of contradictory impulses...
Is rather interesting how media not interested in an MP breaking rules to bonk a married man, now one totally ignoring the rules to go to a protest.
Yes Big Dom has influenced the rules and should be held to account, but seems a bit like NOTW phone hacking, where other than the Indy got no interest in the Mirror (who were European champions at this) and actually a bigger issue, corporate hacking.
I maintain that if he had put out a release the night the story came out or the next day essentially saying that, while he didn’t consider himself to have acted illegally, given his position he acted inadvisedly, and apologised on that basis, the story would have lasted 48 hours tops. He didn’t have to resign. The issue was that he refused to stop digging up to and including the Barnard Castle Eyesight Test.
What apology? One part of one sentence. It should be I am sorry, I made the wrong decision, period, we must all continue to follow the rules. We can campaign against racism online.
Really he just excuses his behaviour as I didn't have coronavirus (which is irrelevant) and the killing of George Floyd I have an obligation to fight racism which trumps social distancing.
It's considerably better than "I acted as I saw fit in the best interests of myself and my family and I will not mark myself down for that."
No it isn't. Cummings drove somewhere due to a family emergency (the severity of which is obviously a matter of dispute). Gardiner made an entirely unnecessary decision to join a mass protest, on foot. No mask. He did so publicly, and boasted about it. By every objective measure, his actions were more reprehensible.
But - (i) Cummings wrote the Rules that he broke. (ii) Cummings lied about the reasons he broke the Rules that he wrote. (iii) Cummings failed to give even a trace of an apology for breaking the Rules that he wrote.
What an absolute moron....he does know a number of footballers caught it between weekly tests without knowing, and without really going anywhere but the odd trip to the shops. And obviously, he could catch it at the protest and transport it.
I look forward to Mr. Forensic removing the Labour whip from him for wilfully violating the lockdown regulations for the sake of his political activism and endangering public health ... or at least I would, were he not a gross hypocrite.
Now I know what Cummings should do - pop on a BLM t-shirt and join in prominently with the protests. The Blob's head will implode from the pressure of contradictory impulses...
Is rather interesting how media not interested in an MP breaking rules to bonk a married man, now one totally ignoring the rules to go to a protest.
Yes Big Dom has influenced the rules and should be held to account, but seems a bit like NOTW phone hacking, where other than the Indy got no interest in the Mirror (who were European champions at this) and actually a bigger issue, corporate hacking.
I maintain that if he had put out a release the night the story came out or the next day essentially saying that, while he didn’t consider himself to have acted illegally, given his position he acted inadvisedly, and apologised on that basis, the story would have lasted 48 hours tops. He didn’t have to resign. The issue was that he refused to stop digging up to and including the Barnard Castle Eyesight Test.
Personally, I think he did have to resign, but wasn't career ending. Quick resignation, apology saying was thought I was protecting my family, but made a terrible mistake, could have been back in government in a few months.
I think my dislike of Boris is pure instinct. They used to say that posh families sent their idiot sons into the Army or the Church. Now I think they send them to be journalists, and Boris is first and foremost a journalist.
Incidentally, why does everyone pander to the journalists at the daily press conference? Saying "That's a great question?" when it's clearly one notch above that of moronic.
Seem perfectly reasonable. Don't primary school teachers use a similar encouragement technique with particularly dim pupils?
Jackson Carlaw, Leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party. twisting the knife into BoZo’s belly just now on BBC Radio Scotland. He says, repeatedly, that he is “not wholly convinced” by Dominic Cummings’ explanation for his actions.
Classic code for “the man’s a liar”.
Astonishingly, Carlaw has not spoken to his boss BoZo in months. They have only exchanged two text messages since The Clown was released from hospital.
Carlaw sounds like a drowning man, unable to affect either his opponents nor his (supposed) allies.
The Milton Keynes appointee is a real kick in the groin.
MK? *googles for land of concrete coos* Ah - now I see. Blood is sure thicker than residence when it comes to Tories. But what a dunt in the baws to the actual Scottish Tories. Remiunds me of the day when the Scottish Office was run by a MP from Weston-Super-Mare IIRC.
I will defer to our actual Scottish posters on this (and we can always rely on Malc for a fair and balanced appraisal of the situation), but right now it looks to me as if the Conservatives are going to get absolutely, utterly, walloped in the Holyrood elections next year. As in a panda-level event.
I would say Tories in Scotland have solid bedrock of 20%, who are the "British rather than Scottish" crowd. More than panda-level. The Tories have nothing to offer the other 80% however. The Ruth Davidson brand of unionism has been comprehensively trashed by the Brexit Party insurgency, aka the Conservative Party.
It has never been successfully explained to me why people can't be both British and Scottish.
Ask HYUFD why he can’t be both European and British.
Certainly. @HYUFD, why can't you be European and British?
Professor Karl Friston is a computer modelling expert, world-renowned for his contributions to neuroscience. He has been applying his "dynamic causal modelling" approach to the Covid-19 pandemic, and has reached some startling results.
- The differences between countries are not primarily down to government actions, but due to 'intrinsic' differences in the populations
- We don't yet fully understand what is driving it, although there are theories ranging from levels of vitamin D to genetic differences
- In each country, there appears to be a portion of the population that is 'not even in the game' - that is, not susceptible to Covid-19. This varies hugely between countries
- In the UK, Professor Friston estimates that portion to be at least 50%, and probably more like 80%
- The similar mortality results between Sweden (no lockdown) and the UK (lockdown) are best explained by the fact that in reality there was no difference - the impact of the legal lockdown in Professor Friston's models "literally goes away".
If it turns out that "The differences between countries are not primarily down to government actions, but due to 'intrinsic' differences in the populations", the criticism of our governments actions by people who were sure they knew best will age particularly badly
Comments
Her problem is that she hasn't been able trade owing to the government restrictions, so there's no income coming in, while her overhead continues. Because of the way the business was structured, she has received no government assistance either via the rating system, self employed assistance, or furlough.
The article is perhaps lacking in details, but it seems pretty consistent to me.
Later that day (and obviously I have no idea if it was the same one) it was flying with a male (blue) and laying eggs in the pond.
Oh I just looked it up and he is of Asian heritage, my bad.
(Just a detail, and largely subjective, but I assess SCon solid bedrock support to be max 15% rather than 20%. Irrespective, at least 80% of Scots are outwith the reach of the Brexit Party insurgency, aka the Conservative Party.)
https://twitter.com/BarryGardiner/status/1268216199898296322?s=20
The last couple of weeks, it really is hold my beer I think I can top the idiocy when it comes to coronavirus.
If there were no black people in the uk, there would still be gang violence in poor areas over drugs. Immigrants from poor countries tend to live in those areas so the gang violence is more black than it might otherwise be. I don't think that's systemic racism, unless importing people from poor countries to do our crummy jobs is systemically racist... I kind of think that is actually
There are of course terrible bad luck stories in business. I feel very sorry for her.
However, I agree with @eek - dividends (distribution of profits) shouldn't be guaranteed by the Govt. Nor should the tax structure for them be drastically altered afterwards, in the way that I suspect self employed NICS will be.
Damming indictments of our political class.
If I was a Muslim that just forewent usual Eid celebrations because of the rules, I would be mighty pissed off to see this.
Big Dom should have gone, but his trip to Durham wasn't risking loads of peoples health.
https://www.barrygardiner.com/recent-news/2020/06/04/why-i-joined-the-protest-yesterday/
If it matters to you it matters to him.
I would put myself down as a mild lockdown-skeptic, but even I can see that a mass protest isn't one of the things that should be allowed, still less encouraged, still less attended, by anyone in public life.
Really he just excuses his behaviour as I didn't have coronavirus (which is irrelevant) and the killing of George Floyd I have an obligation to fight racism which trumps social distancing.
I considered closing the business entirely for a couple of months and furloughing all staff, myself included, for about 3 seconds before I realised how monumentally bored I would have been after about 3 hours. The scheme helped us, though, to keep going with those staff who could work from home and protect the positions and salaries of those who really cant/were not necessary for the fall in demand.
I am full of praise for the Treasury because of this.
I think the major issue is that it is a new business, starting only in September 2019, therefore she has no accounts filed to base a claim for exceptional state support above the standard UC payments.
The exceptional support offered is one of the best such schemes in the world, and has so far gone without too many hitches - but unwinding it is going to be a nightmare, as a couple of million people go from a very generous furlough to unemployment.
He must also be Gregory Peck imo but that is probably just me.
I can't. Seems like an interesting omission.
Switched to the A7iii last year. It's legitimately amazing for the size, the interface is quite terrible but once I customised it I've been taking some amazing pics with it. I did a series of "Desolate London" shoots with my wife when the proper lockdown was on which was great fun. Again, can't imagine having to lug around the 5D and two heavy full frame lenses. I got the Zeiss Batis 85mm for it recently which is probably the star buy for my use, I've also got the cheap Sony 28mm which is surprisingly decent.
If you're sick of lugging around a giant camera but still want the best pictures then the A7iii is amazing value for money and the lens selection is ace. I sold all of my Canon gear over the last few weeks (finally had time during furlough) and I'm actually quids in despite buying a camera, flash, a Zeiss lens, two Sony lenses and a shoulder strap.
Yes, Barry Gardiner is an idiot - but we all knew that anyway!
https://twitter.com/klara_sjo/status/1267956826668228608?s=21
Last year in the US, only 10 unarmed black individuals were killed, of which 5 were shot attacking the police e.g. trying to run them over with a car, 1 the gun went off accidentally (and it was a black officer), and of the remaining 4, 2 resulted in the police officer being charged, and one of the other cases the police were responding to the individual with a gun and a gun was found at the scene.
But.....in total ~1000 individuals (of all ethnicities) were killed by police and that is fairly consistent over the past 5 years.
Widespread weapons in society lead to armed police, which lead to people getting shot.
Now I know what Cummings should do - pop on a BLM t-shirt and join in prominently with the protests. The Blob's heads will implode from the pressure of contradictory impulses...
Maybe give @Sunil_Prasannan a shot!
given where they live the Tories picked up most of their votes in the sticks not crowded cities where the disease spreads fastest.
In political terms, the impact will get worse for Johnson. There is a deep recession on the horizon and the question is whether the Conservatives will be blamed for its depth not least on account of their mistakes having led to the UK being late out of the lockdown.
Yesterday saw another 359 deaths confirmed by testing in the UK. That was more than the total recorded for the rest of Europe combined.
Yes Big Dom has influenced the rules and should be held to account, but seems a bit like NOTW phone hacking, where other than the Indy got no interest in the Mirror (who were European champions at this) and actually a bigger issue, corporate hacking.
Attending mass gatherings is an absolute no no, compared to Kinnock Jnr saying hi to his dad from a distance, which was a minor breach.
There is a half-finished roll of b&w film in there began pre-lockdown.
Only on the Planet of the Woke, I'm afraid.
Shares from last December's election:
Lab - 40.9%
Con - 36.1%
PC - 9.9%
LD - 6.0%
Brexit - 5.4%
Green - 1.0%
Quite a contrast with Johnson/Cummings. What we got there was convoluted, not believable, and utterly devoid of apology.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/twitter-s-quest-find-new-bond-asianbond-n578656
I'd have picked Korean actor So Ji Sub, but I don't think his English is sufficiently fluent.
People who think that James Bond is, er, not real and can be played by an actor of any size, flavour, ethnicity, colour = not Star Wars groupies.
People who think James Bond must be played by someone whose father was Scottish, mother was Swiss and was brought up in Kent, etc = Star Wars groupies.
Please confirm.
https://order-order.com/2020/06/04/newsnights-fake-news-graph-punishes-honesty/
I got one to pay my private secretary while there are no private hospitals.
ITV write up:
https://www.itv.com/news/wales/2020-06-04/poll-shows-boost-for-labour-and-plaid-cymru-as-tories-slip-from-record-high/
"the electorate giveth, and the electorate taketh away...."
ClifNotes,
Professor Karl Friston is a computer modelling expert, world-renowned for his contributions to neuroscience. He has been applying his "dynamic causal modelling" approach to the Covid-19 pandemic, and has reached some startling results.
- The differences between countries are not primarily down to government actions, but due to 'intrinsic' differences in the populations
- We don't yet fully understand what is driving it, although there are theories ranging from levels of vitamin D to genetic differences
- In each country, there appears to be a portion of the population that is 'not even in the game' - that is, not susceptible to Covid-19. This varies hugely between countries
- In the UK, Professor Friston estimates that portion to be at least 50%, and probably more like 80%
- The similar mortality results between Sweden (no lockdown) and the UK (lockdown) are best explained by the fact that in reality there was no difference - the impact of the legal lockdown in Professor Friston's models "literally goes away".
Great shot, Mark.
oh...
https://twitter.com/lewis_goodall/status/1268501564848852992
Overall, most governments would be be happy with these kinds of ratings, six months after an election.