Boo Khaki

Yip, NB probably not a great example. Just picked it because the last time I was down there the harbourfront was heaving with folk, obviously residents not tourists, and every single one of them had a Home Counties accent. The issue that has plagued the Islands is encroaching into mainland Scotland now though, and it has accelerated since Brexit. Fewer people are able to uproot to France or Spain in search of lower house prices and a lesser population density, but they've twigged that Scotland offers the same. The issue is, they bring their hyper-inflationary housing market with them, and folk who have been born and brought up in these areas can no longer afford to compete for places to live. Then you have the preponderance of second homes, and absentee landlordism in places like Edinburgh, where a significant number of AirBnb and so on are bought by English property developers using the profits they've made in the ridiculous English housing market. In theory, an influx of wealthy people into any economy should always be welcome, but it isn't as simple as that in reality, because they are often the sorts of families where they are wealthy enough that one is economically inactive and the breadwinner still commutes south of the border (or increasingly now WFH, but not "employed" in Scotland), or they only reside here for part of the year, or are simply here to gather passive income on housing investments while simultaneously destroying the market for locals.

No need. Since Brexit we've basically become a theme-park for wealthy Home Counties individuals, so certain parts of Scotland are rapidly becoming indistinguishable from leafy pro-Union Southeast England in any case. It'll be a while before major cities will be fully assimilated (parts of Edinburgh excepted), but go to North Berwick and wander around for half an hour and you'd be convinced you were in Kent or Surrey.

Excuse my ignorance, but what precisely is happening in Scotland on 2nd May that will require me to vote? I've googled, and all of their official blurb refers repeatedly to "the Country", "across the Country", and so on, but does not specify precisely which country they are referring to.

Appreciate the gag. "Angles in heaven" is used frequently by the same folk who post about "are brave boys" all over FB.

Yip, which is why, when the Dens drainage is overwhelmed, any water on the Tannadice pitch will still drain but then pool inside the sewerage where it meets with Dens Road, whereas because the water from the Dens pitch drains more or less directly on to Dens Road, it has nowhere to go and just pools up. Awaits the suggestion that Dundee FC should have just ignored scientific principles that underpin drainage everywhere and forced their water to drain uphill into Tannadice Street or Provost Road.

Yes, because there is likely entirely separate sewerage and drainage under Tannadice street which is not perpetually overwhelmed, and doesn't cause any water on the Tannadice surface to pool up. Its not a "Dens plumbing issue", its because there is nowhere for the water on the Dens pitch to go because during any significant rainfall the already insufficient drainage on Dens Road becomes completely overwhelmed.

I couldn't, and would literally refuse to take the pitch if selected. I'm not bothered enough about being a professional to just ignore it and do the job. I'd also retire and take another job before I'd accept a contract over the road. I get why a lot of young laddies end up playing for their team's rivals, but I couldn't, playing football for a living has never particularly interested me.

It's not, because it opens up the possibility that if someone invents time travel between now and Saturday, the SPFL know they can send both teams back in time to Thursday night and get the fixture played. Well that's the only reason I can think of anyway

I can genuinely believe this is the issue, because it's something that's common in Edinburgh around the New Town area. Properties below street level, where the drainage and sewerage in the street is actually above the level of the property, so no matter how dry you try to keep your place and what you do, you have water pishing through the ceiling constantly. It's a Cooncil problem, but they'll just shrug because your property doesnae belong to them. OK, clearly a slightly different issue, but it stands to reason that if the drainage in Dens Road is constantly overwhelmed, then all that water is just going to pool and sit there.

Cooncil groundsmen oot to spike Dens Road?

Why on earth would we actually need a VAR monitor? The officials just randomly make it up and misapply the laws anyway, so they could just pretend or guess and achieve the exact same outcome. Get folk from the crowd to do a re-enactment of the incident.

"Temporary" instability? It's been an ongoing shitshow of stumbling from one crisis to the next since 2016, at least.

The "woke" left?

If they wanted to show a couple of big, expensive vessels tied up in port, they could have chosen their "world leading" aircraft carriers. Shouldn't be difficult to find an appropriate picture, since they've spent 90% of their service lives either alongside or in dry dock. Also, is that actually one of the "2nd most powerful" nation's F-35's, or is it one of the ones we keep borrowing from the US because we can't afford to buy enough of our own? Disgraceful lack of Jade Goody and a bewinged Diana playing ping-pong with Captain Tom and the angles in heaven, although props to them for coming up with something just as ridiculous.

Well I think this answers my original query. Phew, what a relief. I was beginning to think Israel might have been a bit naughty. Edit- Sorry, full pile of blatant lies here - https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/suella-braverman-israel-gaza-palestine-international-law-b1149483.html

Yes, it was, and tbf, she got fired and kicked out of her Government post... for about five minutes.

Perhaps she was just there in her capacity as a constituency MP, to reassure the Israeli State that the good people of Fareham are right behind them in their ongoing genocidal rampage in Gaza.

Gist of this particular aspect of the Bill is that JKR and her cult have been screaming blue murder for yonks that "misgendering" would see people cuffed and prosecuted for Hate Crimes. Palpable nonsense, since this was never an offence to begin with, and the Bill changed nothing about that aspect of our laws. To be completely fair here, so too have a lot of folk on the "other side" of this particular bunfight, such as India Willoughby, who invariably jumps in two-footed with anything she considers a slight against her or any other transperson. IW and her ilk have been chomping at the bit, waiting for 01/04 to grass up the likes of JKR, mistakenly believing that the Act would see JKR and others who are in the habit of deliberately misgendering trans people sent to the slammer. More rational people have been saying all along that this was complete and utter nonsense, but of course, now that it has been demonstrated to be complete and utter nonsense, IW and Co are seething about JKR not being arrested, and JKR and her cultists are busy having a wee circle-jerk to themselves about what awesome freedom fighters they are because none of them got arrested after they hadn't broken the law. (yip ) Of course, it's not just limited to the "Gender reassignment/Gender Identity" parts of the Bill, there has been a similar amount of ridiculous, performative nonsense spouted about "I should be able to say whatever the f**k I like in my own home/grassed up by the kids/neighbours" aspect and a few others, mainly the fact that "Sex" is protected characteristic which is excluded, but again, it's invariably by bad actors who either haven't bothered to grasp what the Bill actually is and does, or simply have a vested interest in talking down and decrying anything Holyrood does. There have even been the usual, predictable moans about "wish they took legal advice", "what is the point?" etc, despite the fact Lord Bracadale's Independent Review was exactly that and spelled out precisely why the Bill was necessary. It also recommended excluding "sex" for now because of concerns that would potentially create insurmountable complications in prosecuting otherwise solid cases, to the extent that they were likely to collapse, in favour of a Consultation on a separate "Misogyny" Law which is currently in progress, and, if things go to plan, should result in a law that protects people, especially women and girls, from being victimised because of their sex, exactly what the moaners are demanding. But of course, this is also totally ignored by those who are determined to throw a shitfit about sex being excluded in the first place, even though it is also excluded from the almost identical, pre-existing laws elsewhere in the UK.

Anyone figured out yet what Braverman was doing meeting with Israeli commanders and such, given that she's not a Government minister or anything?

Just because some bad actors have decided to be performatively stupid does not make the legislation "fatuous". It's the people making a big song and dance about the legislation being something it is not who are "fatuous". It's not all that different to pre-existing law elsewhere in the UK, and it hasn't, contrary to what the same fatuous arseholes have been maintaining despite being both told repeatedly, and demonstrably shown, created a whole load of new offences that constitute nothing more than saying a few naughty words about some people. Again, the only people who were building this Act up into something it is not, are those who are now claiming that because their predictions of the sky falling in and thousands being marched away by the tartan Stasi on 01/04 for "thought crimes" have not come to pass, this somehow an indication that they were "correct" all along, and the fact that people are not being arrested for not breaking the law is somehow proof the law is flawed or unnecessary. Absolutely deranged behaviour.

Clearly just wants to inflict the Orc hordes on Perth

That was meant firmly tongue-in-cheek Does turning Professional grant football clubs the ability to control freak weather and rainfall? (also tongue-in-cheek)

I don't see what happened earlier in the season as being particularly relevant, because up to the point where the Rangers game was postponed Dundee were fully up to date with their fixtures. We don't have a backlog of five matches, we have a backlog of one, which was originally scheduled for just a few weeks ago. What might have happened back in November or whenever has had no material impact on the current pressing issue.

No, but given the aforementioned pressures and time constaints of the impending split, it seems to me rather foolish to forego the possibilty of getting a match played on one date in favour of a later one which potentially, needlessly exacerbates those problems.

Is the question of suitability of facilities not a matter that is dictated and overseen by the SPFL in any case? Again, I am not trying to absolve Dundee here for obvious problems with their own stadium, but if you are a governing body/body of oversight and you stipulate that your member clubs facilities must reach certain criterion, is it not ultimately your responsibility to monitor that and ensure compliance? Even if this is a case of Dundee being less than transparent with knowledge of pre-existing problems, there is surely a question of competence here with regard to the SPFL's own fitness.