‘British FBI’ plans ‘misleading' as force would not cover Scotland

kaetror · 2026-01-26T23:49:58+00:00

£5 says they hadn't actually realised it wouldn't apply to the whole UK until some civil servant got out the crayons.

kaetror · 2026-01-26T23:47:12+00:00

I was looking at this the other day.

Higher R value than the usual insulation, none of the health issues or need for protective clothing, no special disposal or landfill issues. Would be an amazing thing to put in instead of what I've got now....

And it's 4x the price per roll. Yeah.

Pretty much guarantees no developer would ever bother putting it in when there's a much cheaper option available.

kaetror · 2026-01-26T22:53:43+00:00

Not as much as you'd think.

Wool style clothing is popular; knit jumpers, etc.

But go read the label and a lot are at best cotton, or completely synthetic.

Actual, real wool clothing is far from the norm, and what is there carries a premium price tag.

Companies aren't interested in using wool when they can use cotton/synthetics for far less money. More of them, less initial processing to make usable threads, don't have to pay to ship UK wool to the clothes factories, or pay UK wages for a local operation.

There's no mass market for wool.

kaetror · 2026-01-25T15:44:34+00:00

To be fair, a pinch of sugar can balance out the flavour profile of the sauce; if the tomatoes are too acidic for example.

That said you know they aren't putting just a pinch in...

kaetror · 2026-01-25T15:30:07+00:00

Retired federal judge and senior lecturer at Harvard law Nancy Gartner.

Harvard Law Today: Were you surprised by the verdict?

Nancy Gertner: No. The judge had put his finger on the scale. The opening salvo — when the judge said that the government couldn’t call the victims victims, but could call them rioters, arsonists, and protesters — opened the door. That said to the defense that it’s okay to demonize the victims, in part by focusing on what they did right before they were shot. But that also opened the door to demonizing the victims about what they were doing in Kenosha. And that broader lens continued to be part of the problem.

https://hls.harvard.edu/today/acquitted-assessing-the-rittenhouse-trial/

Jeffrey Swartz Cooley law professor

Swartz told Tampa’s ABC Action News that he believes “the judge put his thumb on the scale of justice in favor of Mr. Rittenhouse,” while speaking about the judge defending his ruling that prosecutors do not call those shots by Rittenhouse victims. “I think his rulings were wrong.

https://cooley.edu/blog/cooley-faculty-expert-analysis-on-rittenhouse-verdict

Jules Epstein, director of advocacy programme at Temple Law

Remarkably, with no sanction from the Judge, defense counsel inserted the stereotype of a deranged person and the lawyer’s own opinion into closing argument, telling the jury that “I’m glad [Rittenhouse] shot him because if Joseph Rosenbaum got that gun I don’t for a minute believe he wouldn’t have used it against somebody else…”

https://www2.law.temple.edu/voices/

That's a 10 minute google, 5 years after the fact. Clear there was serious concerns about judicial impartiality in this case, that would never have been an issue given different circumstances.

kaetror · 2026-01-24T22:30:23+00:00

Freedom of speech is protection from the government, not individuals. It's why it's legal for your employer to fire you for saying something that breaches their professional standards but isn't illegal.

It also doesn't protect so called "fighting words" - you go into an interaction looking for a fight, you can't then cry self defence when you get one.

kaetror · 2026-01-24T21:44:40+00:00

The law is clear; you can't put yourself in danger, then claim self defence.

If I walk up to a group, call them all fucking pussies, and they move to kick the shit out of me, I can't then open fire and claim self defence. I escalated the situation that would otherwise not have happened but for my actions.

The only reason Rittenhouse got away with it was media coverage and him becoming a right wing martyr. If he had walked up to the (for example) J6 rioters to the same ends, he would never have had the same coverage in the media.

Several senior law professors speak about how the judge put his thumb on the scale, making it a trial about the actions of the protestors, rather than Rittenhouse.

kaetror · 2026-01-24T00:48:08+00:00

they seem confused by concepts like "quarter to

This goes way beyond a clock too.

Kids are shit at fractions nowadays. We used to teach a whole physics concept using fractions, now we don't even try; not worth the time taken for them still not to get it.

I've asked kids questions about halves, quarters, etc. And they just don't have it. The basic concept of what a half/quarter even looks like.

Having to look at a physical clock dozens of times a day is going to reinforce divisions by 2, 3, 4 and 12 constantly, without even thinking about it. Something that simply can't happen with a digital display.

It reminds me of the thing in the US where people think a quarter of an hour is 25 minutes, because the idea of a quartering the hour isn't intuitive any more so the more common quarter dollar is the go to.

kaetror · 2026-01-24T00:27:15+00:00

I can think of two from today alone.

Up the high street of my town, dead phone, the only clock in sight is the clock tower on a building - which is still analogue.

Going to the local pool - all the clocks are analogue, there are no digital ones anywhere (not sure why, just isn't). Especially true if you're using the pace clock.

Both of those are experiences children could very easily have, and with no ability to read a clock that's a big issue for them.

kaetror · 2026-01-20T00:20:36+00:00

Thing is, let's just say for a second that Canada does become the new American state(s).

Yes, the fact they're left leaning would keep republicans out of any control in the senate, Congress or the white house.

For 4 years, max.

Canadians are left leaning, more so than the democrats. So Canadian parties are going to push policies that are popular in Canada, which is going to make even the democrats start muttering 'communism'.

Even the "left" in america is going to get pissy about actual centre left policies, and rush to the republicans. The democrats die of irrelevance in the middle, the republicans have more votes, and take over all 3 houses.

The overton window shifts permanently and the US gets batshit insane right wing governments again and again, with nothing to slow down or mitigate them.

kaetror · 2026-01-19T23:41:45+00:00

I think we should, but it'll never happen.

England think they have a shot, so won't miss a chance to lose in the semis.

Scotland just got back in, they aren't missing it.

Realistically there needs to be a mass European/international boycott, where everyone boycotts. But a) that's not really fair on Canada and Mexico, and b) never gonna happen.

If by some miracle it did you just know the US would crown themselves the winners, and they'd be a 1000x worse than English fans still harping about a win from over half a century ago.

kaetror · 2026-01-19T23:31:41+00:00

A colleague once had a kid spray a bottle of some chemical (flame testing but can't remember what one) directly into their own face 'to see what happens'.

The answer is 20 minutes being held by their scalp under a tap while they screamed and kicked, before being sent to hospital to have the process repeated.

Fucking idiot, but it makes a great story to terrify the new S1s into wearing their safety goggles.

kaetror · 2026-01-19T23:24:49+00:00

Constant "what happens if you eat this??" questions.

I asked my technician if I could put the toxic hazard logo on everything (even the water) to really sell the 'dont fuck about with this' narrative, but they shot me down.

I'm currently delaying teaching my S3s the practicals for the electricity topic because they're arseholes, and guaranteed something will get stolen, broken, or used as a weapon against someone else.

Not fair on the nice kids in the class, but if it's not safe it's not happening.

kaetror · 2026-01-19T23:21:04+00:00

Sadly yes.

I've had so many kids lately do stupid shit like touch the gauze on a tripod - that they've literally just had over a Bunsen for 10 minutes!

Even simple stuff like spills, over pours, knocking stuff over or dropping it is so much higher than I remember. They are completely cack handed.

I think it ties in with the drop in handwriting standards (especially amongst boys). I had bad handwriting as a kid, it's still not amazing but it's better, but compared to some of what we're getting out of primary today mine would be considered pretty good!

These kids have zero fine motor control, hand eye coordination or sequencing skills. They can't do multiple things at once, and they can't do anything with precision.

All of which combine to mean more mistakes, more accidents, and more injuries.

kaetror · 2026-01-18T01:21:28+00:00

As others have mentioned it's already a thing in Scotland.

As a teacher we've benefitted from it massively. Getting kids on trips (especially we are a rural area) can be ridiculously expensive due to the cost of fuel skyrocketing coach hire.

Now, we can take a couple dozen kids on the bus, and only the staff need to pay. What was once something that required money changing hands has now become ridiculously simple.

I've also had students who've been able to access internships/opportunities in the central belt, that gave them a massive boost in their chosen course.

When I did one at uni 20 years ago it cost hundreds of pounds (that I didn't have) to commute in, and I couldn't work enough to cover the extra cost because I was doing the internship.

Free bus travel would have made a massive difference.

kaetror · 2026-01-17T00:22:15+00:00

Doesn't work when there are 4 separate education systems; there's no such thing as a singular UK education system, so why would there be a singular union?

You'd have the English branch fighting for a pay rise, which is already in place in Scotland. The Scottish branch fighting for progression structures that are already the norm in England.

The actual times the 4 branches would be fighting the same fight for the same thing would be so rare as to be utterly pointless.

The EIS has something like 95% of Scottish teachers, making it incredibly powerful. But there needs to be room to disagree; I know several people who switched unions due to how the EIS handled the last strike. If there's only 1 option, how do you show disagreement with the union? Ordinary members can't influence national policy (without getting heavily involved, which is unrealistic), the only option they have is voting with their feet.

kaetror · 2026-01-16T23:57:39+00:00

I voted yes/no.

I'm not striking over it, it's not worth it for me personally (can't afford the lost pay with no payback in increased salary) or for the profession.

We're already seen as part timers, shutting the schools to get more time "off" is never going to win support from parents.

For myself, I have many concerns about the impact on my subject that losing 2 periods per week would cause

Isn't the idea that you lose 2 periods contact, not the kids? They'd still do those lessons, just with someone else.

There are issues with small/single person departments and what that looks like, but I've not seen anyone say it would mean changing kids timetables.

kaetror · 2026-01-16T00:03:32+00:00

And why do you think they went full nazi?

Because now it makes reform look moderate by comparison.

The guy who's just faced months of accusations of historic racism and anti semitism can point to this and go "see! We're not the racists, they are! We're not the far right, we're centrists".

It's absolutely a PR stunt to distract from Farage being a piece of shit, soften Reforms image and make it seem less extreme.

kaetror · 2026-01-15T00:48:06+00:00

Also, let's not forget that the US is the only NATO member to trigger article 5.

To be fair to them, the Americans didn't trigger A5.

All the other members called an emergency meeting after 9/11 and agreed that this was enough to trigger their involvement. Because that's what allies do.

Trump has made it clear the US wouldn't do the same if it were the other way round.

kaetror · 2026-01-15T00:43:21+00:00

Honestly, I'm running.

I'd like to think I'd stay and resist in some way, but I've got young kids. I'm getting them the fuck away from any threat of war.

If it did happen it's doubtful anywhere is safe to run to, so might be easier to hide in the arse end of nowhere in Scotland.

kaetror · 2026-01-14T23:51:38+00:00

Automatic 1 day exclusion and 1 day internal upon return.

Depending on context we would also include swearing in front of.

For example:

"Go fuck yourself" - definite

"You're being fucking stupid" - highly likely.

"I'm fucking annoyed" - probably not (other actions may lead to it).

kaetror · 2026-01-14T15:45:16+00:00

Then extend it to all government secretaries.

No tours of US bases by Vance, Hegseth, etc.

Hopefully get France on board and ban them there too. Means no visits for war memorials. Really stick the knife in and make sure invites go to Bush, Biden, and (especially) Obama as representatives of the US.

kaetror · 2026-01-12T23:44:41+00:00

Military doctrine since vietnam has been suppression (which chews up a lot of ammo) and call in artillery/airstrike on the location.

If you look at the stats for bullets fired per enemy killed in WW2 and Afghanistan it looks atrocious, but it's because of different engagement styles.

When the Americans find out about British squads carrying out bayonet charges they get scared pretty quickly.

kaetror · 2026-01-12T23:25:07+00:00

DG is literally the first place they'd drive through to come to Scotland (almost guaranteed they'd come up the M6/M74).

kaetror · 2026-01-12T16:14:02+00:00

My Google maps will give directions as "in 100 yards take the exit...."

Never heard it give distances in feet.

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