Bellend Sebastian

I dunno, I think it's still too easily avoided. If you don't like facing up to the reality of things, there are places you can go media wise that provide a pretty good safe haven from it. My worry is how big the population you've referred to is

"We're on an express elevator to Hell, goin' DOWN!" Ha ha, wheeeee etc I do wonder what would happen if the sort of coverage above and the stuff in The Guardian today was published prominently everywhere, would more people start to crap themselves?

No worries. I've only know one real person who is heavily invested in this sort of stuff, and whilst I haven't got a clue as to what exactly has made them go down this path, there are a few things about their life history and some of the choices they've made that do make them somewhat unusual and I imagine that's not a coincidence. My psychologist missus would no doubt think this is a grotesque over-simplification but I'm often very cynical about people with very strong views about pretty much anything. Seems to me a lot of the time having these extreme positions is less about any conviction or actual belief and more about how taking them gives you entry to a club that you like the look of full of people that you relate to. It's the community and sense of belonging that draws people in a lot of the time, I suspect

Yeah, I know what you mean. I thought it was a really well considered and argued article but came away from it feeling a little unfulfilled the first time I read it. Having just read it again, I think the problem comes from the big unanswered question in all this about why there seems to be so many folk willing to latch on to stuff that has zero evidence base instead of stuff that does. That's the point in the interview where everything seems to change and the guy starts to go to pieces and as the reader I'm thinking well, it all made sense until now, but there's something here that really needs explaining and it just doesn't happen. I'm not inclined to blame Monbiot for that because I think you're getting into the territory there where you're making someone confront something about their value set, beliefs or whatever that could turn the whole lot on its head, and of course that's really difficult and painful for anyone. Particularly tricky from a journalist's perspective when, as in this instance, you're actually getting on pretty well with the subject and acknowledge you've got a lot of common ground. I'm surprised there's not more stuff out there on this subject than there seems to be. It's pretty important isn't it? The thing that makes me sad is the waste of all the energy and time that is ploughed into propagating things that are baseless. Imagine if you could channel that into something constructive

Blimey, this is an interesting read: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/may/04/youre-going-to-call-me-a-holocaust-denier-now-are-you-george-monbiot-comes-face-to-face-with-his-local-conspiracy-theorist

Are we supposed to be hating on veterans now? We've had it in for everybody else, it's a natural progression really

Two Co-op hot dog sausage rolls

Co-op hot cabinet sausage roll

Co-op hot cabinet sausage roll

How is this better than the last thing???

Co-op hot cabinet sausage roll

And there are pictures of women in there that aren't Penny Mordaunt

Annuity purchase is obviously more attractive when rates are higher, but the main determinant is how much do you value the certainty of getting those payments forever? You can build in longer guarantees now that protect against the risk of getting rubbish value by dying early, which aren't crazy expensive. The other thing that folk tend to forget is that it's not an all or nothing decision; for those lucky enough to have a pot big enough to buy an annuity that will cover their basic living costs and have some left over (that can be used for drawdown), a bit of both can be a good option

I've got 18% going in now but when the mortgage ends in about 6 years I'm going to go contribution crazy in the hope that retiring earlier than State Pension Age becomes an option (it isn't really at the minute) as working to 67 is filed firmly under f*** that sky high at the minute

Have a play with this: https://www.direct.aviva.co.uk/myfuture/RetirementPlanner/AboutYou You can muck about with the assumptions to model different scenarios

Always does my head in when you let someone in to your lane and within seconds they are absolutely not returning the favour

Weird coincidence that they publish this today, but well worth a read: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/apr/29/dont-push-into-pain-how-to-rescue-your-knees-from-everything-from-torn-ligaments-to-injured-tendons

I'm as far from being an expert as it's possible to be, but I think these things are most likely to be soft tissue related. Also, the bit where the pain is isn't always where the problem lies. I'd get a physio to have a look as pain easing off/stopping doesn't always equal the problem having properly fixed itself. Hope you get it sorted

Top or bottom? Cannot remember for the life of me what it's called but my physio told me years ago that the soft bit immediately below the knee is about the most common place for injuries to occur. I did my knee years ago walking down Helvellyn in ludicrously inappropriate footwear. It was incredibly painful for weeks, went away after a bit but then flared up big time when I started running. Sorted with a bit of deep tissue massage from the physio, never troubled me again since. If it's the soft bit above the knee I find that relatively easy to treat myself because it's easy to get to. Feeling my legs now this is a bit sore so I'll have a quick go with the massage gun

You mean it feels like it's bruised? What part of the knee?

I did a 10k yesterday having taken it relatively easy since the Abbey Park race a couple of weekends ago, and it felt really good. Actually got quite a buzz out of it, like I needed it. Hardly ever feel like that

IKEA was brilliant when it was open until 10 pm. I used to go there at 9pm and an hour was plenty to get it all done, because there was nobody else there, which is also presumably why they started closing earlier, ruining it for me completely. An old mate of mine nearly caused a police incident when a bit of car park rage got out of hand and the fact that this was at an IKEA I don't think is a coincidence

I went to Fosse Park this afternoon and didn't become furious at any point

That was shaping to up be one of the greatest threads of all time but sadly drowned in a bucket soon after birth

A few ideas for you here, Tom... https://www.accountancyage.com/1997/03/06/the-swithland-scams-explained/?amp=1