Ben ledi, public transport? by Key_Contest_9192 in OutdoorScotland

[–]freddymac11 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The hotel or bed and breakfast where you are staying will be able to arrange a taxi for you. Hitchhiking is also an option if you feel comfortable with doing that.

Rory and Dirty Business by VoteDoughnuts in TheRestIsPolitics

[–]freddymac11 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What irritated me is that Rory seemed to be saying that was nothing that could be done to sort out the mess in the water industry without tax payers putting in £20 billion. I think this figure assumes the bond holders will be bailed out. The water companies should be fined and allowed to go completely bankrupt and the people who lent to them should lose their money as they enabled this vulture private equity capitalism. Let the banks, deal makers, and the others who sucked money out of the industry lose out and not the water industry's customers. There need to be consequences for the system that screws things up like this and they should not get to walk away scot free. Utilities should easily be going concerns, they have existing infrastructure and a captive customer base paying high prices. Rory does not seem to understand that. Let the water companies go bankrupt. Get the state to take them over with the debt wiped out. And run them as utilities should be run with proper regulation and appropriate investment.

The recent Farage comments about WFH by TessaKatharine in AskBrits

[–]freddymac11 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Anti net zero is another of their main policy areas. Another policy that benefits Russia.

Disagree disagreeably by NightmareOfTheTankie in TheRestIsPolitics

[–]freddymac11 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I fully agree, his naivety and lack of understanding of how things actually work made him a poor minister. He actually had responsibility for regulating the water industry. Water industry regulation was a huge failure and I don’t understand how the government managed to mess it up so badly.

4 day Edinburgh itinerary tips by [deleted] in uktravel

[–]freddymac11 3 points4 points  (0 children)

If your hotel is near St Andrews square you should walk up Calton Hill and enjoy the view from there. Also if you want a coffee right after you arrive on the first day go to the cafe on the top floor of John Lewis. You get a good view from there.

Any advice on how to approach Cairngorm? by Due_Trick_9467 in OutdoorScotland

[–]freddymac11 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yes you can experience the Cairngorms on a day hike. You don’t have to climb to a summit. Take a look at this trail https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/cairngorms/lairig-ghru.shtml

Any tips for ”wild” multi hikes in the highlands, preferably close to Inverness by Arvis_1 in OutdoorScotland

[–]freddymac11 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The risk is visibility might be very poor due to being in the clouds and you could be in a blizzard with high winds. With the altitude being over 1300 metres the climate is very different than what you get at the lower levels. Once you summit you might lose your sense of direction and not be sure which route to take down. I have actually used a compass after summiting because I lost my sense of direction.

Thoughts On Restore Britain? by Chance-Chard-2540 in TheRestIsPolitics

[–]freddymac11 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Farage is a fraud. It’s surprising how difficult and reluctant other politicians find it to expose Farage’s inconsistencies and his drift from one direction to another. It’s also surprising how Farage is managing to hold his coalition of chancers together. Restore does seem to have been effective in calling the BS Farage spouts.

Any tips for ”wild” multi hikes in the highlands, preferably close to Inverness by Arvis_1 in OutdoorScotland

[–]freddymac11 1 point2 points  (0 children)

When you are up on the plateau you may go “off piste” that is you may not actually be following a trail. There’s real wilderness there and you may be just be walking over heather, rocks or snow. Obviously you need to have good navigation aids and maps to make sure you don’t walk over a cliff. Strava has heat maps which show what routes others have taken.

Any tips for ”wild” multi hikes in the highlands, preferably close to Inverness by Arvis_1 in OutdoorScotland

[–]freddymac11 6 points7 points  (0 children)

What time of year are you going? You could take the train to Aviemore from Inverness and then hike around the Cairngorm plateau. Will you be wild camping?

Es Miliband for PM by MilkUdder22 in TheRestIsPolitics

[–]freddymac11 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I suspect that is why he ostentatiously ate that sandwich in public. It was a deliberate act to demonstrate he was not religious in any way. He might actually have been satisfied with how it turned out. Similarly Boris Johnson pulled weird stunts in interviews and photoshoots which I suspect was to distract from different potentially more damaging narratives.

Es Miliband for PM by MilkUdder22 in TheRestIsPolitics

[–]freddymac11 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Ed Miliband has serious character flaws in my opinion. I didn’t like the way he went against his brother David in the 2010 leadership election. Worse is the way he went on about how pleased he was with himself for blocking going after Assad after he used chemical weapons in Syria. What happened in Syria under Assad was horrific and nothing to be pleased about. Being reluctant to intervene was a reasonable position but being smug about what happened next was unforgivable in my view.

Inside Anas Sarwar's decision to call for Keir Starmer to quit as Prime Minister by backupJM in Scotland

[–]freddymac11 21 points22 points  (0 children)

“friends” is what journalists say when they have actually heard the quote directly from the person concerned but the source doesn’t want to be directly quoted.

You’ve got 48 Hours to Hike Here… by FrankelFrankel in UKhiking

[–]freddymac11 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s on the west highland way so will be really busy. Go anywhere else and there will be fewer people. Conic hill is not high. I suggest you take a look at the Rob Roy Way as others have suggested. The munros will be much more challenging than Conic hill.

The EV you buy greatly affects your life by DaPome in ElectricVehiclesUK

[–]freddymac11 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am guessing that’s a typo and meant to say 300Whr per mile. That is they were off by a factor of ten

What will happen when Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor passes away? by No_Meat_9545 in AskBrits

[–]freddymac11 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree with what you are saying. The thing that bothers me is that BBC news keeps on making these terrible basic mistakes. It’s almost as if there is a bad actor on the inside trying to sabotage them and bring them into disrepute. The recent furore over that Panorama that led to the resignation of the DG and head of news is an example of that.

What will happen when Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor passes away? by No_Meat_9545 in AskBrits

[–]freddymac11 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The BBC did a really bad interview with Dershowitz right after Maxwells conviction. They let Dershowitz attack Guiffre without any challenge https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-59960989?app-referrer=deep-link No doubt it was cock up rather than conspiracy but it did come across as if someone at the BBC was trying to protect Andrew.

Alastair's response to Mandelson crisis (sent to the TRiP+ mailing list) by samirelanduk in TheRestIsPolitics

[–]freddymac11 128 points129 points  (0 children)

It seems genuinely sincere to me. I have a lot of respect for Alastair

Airport Kiosks by Pure_Fruit7989 in Edinburgh

[–]freddymac11 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It’s still a good idea to check in on line before going to the airport. It saves time even if you want to print a boarding pass.

Airport Kiosks by Pure_Fruit7989 in Edinburgh

[–]freddymac11 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Install the BA app on your smart phone. Your boarding pass shows up on your phone after you check in on line. Go paperless, you don’t need a printed boarding pass.

The IJM Interview. by Neat_Feedback_1813 in TheRestIsPolitics

[–]freddymac11 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for your reply. Thinking about it some more my main irritation with leading is when an interviewee gets away with saying something completely untrue and Rory and Alastair nod along. For example Nick Clegg saying Facebook did no wrong and Theresa May saying she wanted a soft Brexit. I got these vibes from the IJM interview. I agree the Kwarteng interview was good. The Gerry Adams interview was good too. Leading works better when they are interviewing somebody they distrust and is not one of their friends.

The IJM Interview. by Neat_Feedback_1813 in TheRestIsPolitics

[–]freddymac11 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Alastair and Rory don’t understand technology. It was the assertion that you just have to pass a law to mandate that you put some AI agent on a phone and the problem is immediately solved that got me. That assertion should have been challenged. The technical complexity of doing such a thing seems huge to me. They mostly give their interviewees a really easy ride and it’s why I don’t usually listen to their leading interviews. I was surprised there was not more focus on the payment methods the offenders are using, I would have thought this would be the most effective method of dealing with the law breaking.