albaleo comments

True, it is dictated by physics

I'm probably being pedantic, but it is dictated by nature. Physics is a human activity, and we humans get things wrong from time to time.

But I agree that the vast majority of scientific opinion is that the earth will not become like Venus - at least not for a billion years or two.

Our ancestors were hunter gatherers, they didn't cultivate and the protein came from meat.

There seems to be various views on this, and it may depend on how far back we go. A million years or a few thousand?

https://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/guest-blog/human-ancestors-were-nearly-all-vegetarians/

https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/evidence-for-meat-eating-by-early-humans-103874273/

Why do you think the SNP vote collapsed?

Good question, and I'm not really sure. Possibly the recent changed leadership, or possibly from disagreements among various members, or simply from frustration that they can't really do much to change things.

But I'm not sure their vote fully "collapsed". They got about 30% of the vote in Scotland compared to Labour's 36%. However, they ended up with only 9 seats compared to Labour's 37. (One seat is still outstanding.) That First Past The Post system can be ugly.

I've read that Labour got fewer votes overall than in the 2019 election. I'm guessing that's due to a lower turnout which probably suggests a general unhappiness among the population.

Mr Kipling,

No, different and in some cases inferior.

And in other cases?

How to compare a stampede at a religious event in India and an Orange march in Scotland or Northern Ireland? Sorry, but I think madness can occur anywhere humans exist in numbers.

Blair was able to ignore his left wing for the most part.

Indeed. In the US, they have the expression Republican In Name Only (RINO). Blair and his New Labour got the title Conservatives Under New Terminology, or something like that.

But of course, all cultures are equal.

Equal but different. To see a Hindu preacher or to see a Hillsborough football game?

Water supply and treatment is not privatised in all parts of Britain. I think it is only in England where private companies have control.

Liberals will do anything to retain power and I mean anything

Perhaps. But considering they last held power in the UK about 100 years ago, whatever they've been doing hasn't worked very well. Gladstone is probably shouting in his grave.

@Sven,

Sorry, late reply. Thanks - I didn't know that. I thought it was developed in California. (I'm thinking of canned fish.)

I guess we might say in this case the opposite effect was good. Designed to support war, but eventually used to provide safer food for others.

Does the USA have the right to impose its laws on non citizens and on other countries? No!

Sadly, it does. The extradition agreement between the USA and UK allows extradition to the US for acts that took place in the UK.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK%E2%80%93US_extradition_treaty_of_2003

I've read she wore the face mask in the open carriage because she is allergic to horses.

Some other countries in the Tier 2 list:

Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland

https://www.state.gov/reports/2024-trafficking-in-persons-report/

I can't stand the guy, and I can't understand that some people might vote for him.

On the other hand, I agree that the West bears some responsibility, not for starting the war, but for not taking steps to prevent it happening in the first place. Not speaking out against a coup in a country with an elected government seems pretty bad to me. As I've said before, I see Ukraine's government as bad and Russia's even worse. (I'm guessing most people in both countries are much the same as people everywhere.)

The UK attracted 38 million overseas tourists in 2023 - you don't hear our population demanding streets in tourist hotspots be closed to them. 

We do hear concerns from time to time about visitors in some areas. Below is a link about visitors causing trouble in a village near Snowdon.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cljj9dg1y7no

This doesn’t include additional costs such as private rooms and birth by C-sections.

If a C-section is required, then the entire birth process is covered by health insurance and you still get the lump sum allowance. At least that used to be the case. Have things changed?

Inheritance tax is simply communist theft.

And amassing huge amounts of money in savings accounts is simply capitalist theft.

but maybe you won't find any without possible negative side-effects. If you dare, try to find and name here only one. lol

I get your point, and I've being try to think of some for a few hours. Canned food perhaps?

Edinburgh Castle has had various schemes about entry pricing over a long period. It used to be it was free to enter inside the castle walls and walk around. (There were charges for entering some of the buildings inside.) When tourist numbers jumped, they imposed entry charges. (There are about 2 million visitors per year.) But initially, they made entry free for one month of the year (I think it was March.) Now it seems Scottish residents can get free access on Sundays for some months of the year.

The argument for allowing easier/cheaper access to residents is that it is part of the country's history culture. A further argument is that it would be wrong to deny poorer residents, especially children, to have access. I think that's understandable. As a kid, you learn about your country's history and the various events at an important castle. It's not so good if you can't afford to visit it.

There's a comedian from Glasgow who is proud of how woke his city is, especially its use of gender neutral pronouns.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDo3uOHDcMM

 wanting to dismantle our history and culture

Which history is that? The legalizing of slavery or the banning of slavery? The banning of alcohol or the legalizing of alcohol? An average lifespan of 40 (1860) or an average lifespan of 79 (2020)?

We create history everyday. I hope the general idea is to move forward and not go backwards.

If Wikipedia is correct, the Philippines' greenhouse gas emissions per capita are very small. About a third of the world average. I don't think it's a big problem.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_greenhouse_gas_emissions

earned him a life-time ban

But also earned him a life-time memory from myself and I guess many others.

still does not explain one married Japanese couple one family Koseki one family name

I'm a little out of touch on Koseki handling, but I understand information of the spouse added to the Koseki would include the previous family name. I can understand there might be situations where a person can continue to use their previous family name on official documents. (Not sure what appears on the tohon and shohon versions of the koseki.)

I have the opposite experience of maintaining names after marriage. I married my Japanese wife before various changes in 1985. Her "formal" name was her pre-marriage name. But she "informally" used my surname in everyday situations. When she was in hospital for the birth of our daughter, she was known by my surname. But her health insurance card used her "formal" family name. She was worried if there would be problems when handling the health insurance at the hospital when my name was used for her registration at the hospital and her formal name was on the health insurance card. She asked me to go to the local ward office to get her name changed on the health insurance card. I doubted whether that was possible, but I went anyway, and explained to the guy at the desk the situation. He looked at me strangely (my Japanese wasn't too good) and said "So you want to change the family name on the card from hers to yours?" Then he simply picked up a pencil, scored out my wife's surname, and wrote in mine. (This was in the Sumiyoshi ward office in Osaka - a very friendly place.)

At the same time though if I were born in Japan I would definitely want to be born as a woman, at least up until now.

I smiled at that. It brought back memories of a conversation I had on a train with a young Japanese woman in about 1980 when I had not long been in the country. She told me some stories about her working conditions, low pay, etc. I said something like, "It must be terrible being a woman in Japan." She looked around the train at all the tired looking salarymen, and said, "Yes, but it's better than being a man."

 Wonder where straight males fit in this genre

Not sure, but I once got to see a parade by The Lady Boys of Bangkok in Edinburgh. I started to question my sexual preferences. :-)

https://www.gettyimages.in/detail/news-photo/the-lady-boys-of-bangkok-16-of-the-worlds-most-glamorous-news-photo/833654568

But I believe that simply getting up and walking the aisle, even if to just go to the bathroom a couple of times during a long flight, makes a big difference.

I understand wiggling your toes while sitting also helps.

An uplifting article. Thanks.

anything seems possible

So Scotland are in with a chance then.

Thank you for that photo. It made me sit up and say "wow".