VILLAMARV

No place for factoring in all the recent history, another team we haven't got the best record against and all that but ultimately for a team chasing the top 4 we should be picking up 3 points against the sides in the bottom half. Hook or crook I'm not bothered. 3 points please.

Gutting news though, although I'd rather they try and sort it out properly than throw him back in and end up with a longer problem.

Some of us have got this at least

I've had a variation of this chat with some friends of mine who were asserting that "gender shouldn't be self determined". I argued that surely gender can only be self determined - but that we agreed if what they really meant was that the Law should not be self affirming though. Despite accusations of engaging in a semantic argument, I think there's a massive difference. Their suggestion that gender can be determined externally is rather silly to my mind. How people identify and what the Law should do about that are very different questions that are unlikely to be answered with a simple catch-all statement.

This is what I was wondering - Occasionally there'll be someone suggesting I can't put 4 x 5's on a 7 or somthing like that - we grew up playing them as a de facto 10. MrsVM thinks I have to show my bottom cards if I can't play them - which I assume was born out of youthful exuberance when turning them over. It's not a game I've ever read rules to though, it's just learnt behaviour. There's already a couple of variations I've never encountered listed in these two posts, namely the red threes and the extra card higher than a 5

Which festival's that Xann? - asking for a friend obviously

We moved back to the middle of nowhere a while ago now. I've been trying to convince MrsVM that the local surgery is not all officious and nasty to you when you phone them up like the one in Cardiff. Anyway, I got MrsVM to fill in all the registration forms and all that back before xmas and I personally hand delivered them to reception (I think in November IIRC). She has been spoken to appallingly in the past by receptionists in Cardiff and is rather nervous about speaking with them as a result at the best of times. Whereas some of us don't blink at having to phone the doctors up, It's a bit of an understandable thing, given her past experiences, that she has to psych herself up for. Today was the first time she had reason to call them and they had no record of her at my current address whatsoever. So they've lost the previous form and presumably the confidential medical information attached, they couldn't/wouldn't book her an appointment or a phone call (despite being on their records previously as a temporary patient, so existing on their database) and obviously - as a speedy resolution is not an option - speed is kind of of the essence medically in this instance too. Just an annoying time to have internal proceedure quoted back to her when it's their error. It's one of those unfortunate errors that is not that hard to rectify but the damage, mentally, is hard to either explain or to quantify. I love my local surgery, I find them friendly, helpful and I can usually speak to a doctor within 24 hours of contacting them. I'm gutted for her that the first time she's reached out to them for help has been a beurocratic clusterfunk. I know it will probably stop her reaching out for help in the future and it just further reinforces some of the negative outcomes she was worried about in the first place.

While we're chatting Utd's remaining games the rearranged game at home to Sheff Utd is midweek between Cov in the semi and Burnley at home, Other than that they have Bournemouth and Palace, same as we do, With a game to rearrange against Newcastle and Arsenal and Brighton. I'm not worried about Utd personally.

And Newcastle to rearrange from FA Cup Semifinal weekend. Chelsea and Liverpool are this week 3 days apart too. (Thur/Sun)

The shortlist internally for player of the season this year is insane really. Bailey, Luiz, Watkins and Konsa in particular are having real stand out seasons. Konsa's answered everything we asked about him when Mings got injured and then some. He's having a great season.

Saucy suggestion

this would be interesting as they'd either end up with Arsenal - Chelsea - Liverpool in 8 days or Liverpool - Chelsea - Burnley - Man City - Sheff Utd 5 games in 15 days at the end But basically their easier on paper run in could get a bit more congested and the 2 games to squeeze in somewhere are far from easy.

I wonder when their (Spurs) postponed games (away v Chelsea and at home to Man City) get rearranged for. If Man City get past Real Madrid they might not be available until the last week of the season midweek - unless they squeeze it in a few days after the FA cup semis. I'd have thought they'd want to get the trip to Chelsea out of the way sooner rather than later so surely at the same time as weplay against Lille at home would be ideal. I can't see Chelsea wanting it 3 days before the FACup semi against City. If not then, it too is probably pushed back till May.

I think Spurs will sneak ahead of us over the next few weeks but that we'll pull it back by the end of the season. It'll be interesting to see how the top 4 handle their(our) European games. I'm glad we haven't got an extra game to fit in like some teams do, because of the FAcup draws.

FTLOPM podcast reckoned that along with Stevenage, Wolves are the only English team Unai has ever played that he's never beaten. Be a great day to put that stat to bed.

As for the return of the thread titles, it seems Ezri might be on board https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/nine-finals-ezri-konsa-nails-28912436

apparently most recently of Pentangle too, as he was married to Jacqui McShee.

Did everyone else play the card game Shithead at school? I'm wondering what regional variations are out there? In name and rules. Ace is high, 2's and 10's go on anything - 10's trashes the pack. 4 of a kind become the equivalent of a 10 and 9's are lower than a nine or another 9 or a 10) but can't be played on an ace.

If my early education taught me anything it was that porn comes from cemeteries

Hang on, I enjoyed it, but I'm obviously in the wrong cohort...

I've used the word 'therefore' at the end of the bolded bit instead of something better, like 'just one of the many indices that have combined to show an overall trend towards diminshing life expectancy that explain'...why epidemiologists..... etc. But, yeah fair cop, the way I've written it misrepresents the point I was trying to make so fair enough. I'd also, having read back what I wrote, perhaps change the words "recorded history" to "since the second world war". It's a more easily argued position. But other than some poor choice of wording I'll stand by the rest of the post. The point still stands that life expectancy is declining, for the first time in at least 79 years and unusually during 'peacetime' and outside of any pandemic. The point still stands that epidemiologists have pointed at this trend and suggested we take it seriously. The point also still stands that you appeared to be using at birth data to make inferences into retirement age when you replied to tinker citing the ONS at birth data. The corrections to your figures stand with or without the editorial changes above. I suppose that's built on the assumption that you were back engineering the data on the graph you posted. If I remove that potentally unfair assumption, I suppose I could just more simply ask, where did you get the 5 and 12 year figures from you were using? As for the child mortality bit, in my post, I thought I was clearly suggesting a reason as to why we should be careful ascribing causality to raw data. And a reminder that - especially when makng statements without citation - we run the risk of incorperating bias or prejudice. I wonder if your assumptions around how much the UK could further reduce child mortality might fall foul of this type of hubris. Our child mortality rates may compare favourably to those in developing nations but we don't exactly compare all that favouribly with our more developed peers any more. While we may still be on a downward overall trend in child mortality figures the rate of the decline has slowed comparatively with other EU15+ nations. BMJ - "UK child survival in a European context" I'd be more inclined to ask Swden et al if there are things we could learn from their comparative success in takling child mortality, than hide behind the notion that we have little progress left to make - as seems to be a point made in your post. I appreciate there are external variables that can skew the figures - that's exactly the point I was making. Seemingly, a point we were both making. And not the only one - I agree the difference is huge between a retiree's life expectancy in 1980 as compared to now - around 5 years - that's a huge difference. We seem to agree that there's been a significant increase in inequality since the 1970's. The argument of "people are living longer" is ultimately a subjective one. They are if mapped over a period of time which would show an overall increase and within a collective group large enough to dilute the findings to the contrary. Like we agree, that 5 year difference between a 1980 retiree's life expectancy and a retiree now is massive. If we change the time period or the geographical areas (to more localised ones as tinker was suggesting with the West Mids data) or indeed - and this was the crux of the conversation I interjected into - into areas of affluence or areas of poverty we get very different results and ultimately a different answer, that people are not living longer as a standalone statement of fact. People using this data to back up an argument about pensions and people arguing about observed and recorded societal trends. They are not neccessarily mutually exlusive. As you alluded to, people can often pick facts to suit a narrative, rather than go where the research takes them - when you suggest picking a narrative to suit the facts, I'm not sure that sounds like a healthy counterbalance. The facts can speak for themselves imo. We're back to avoiding inference. What I would assert the research of UK life expectancy shows is that there is an undeniable, observable correlation between higher life expectancies in more affluent areas and lower life expectancies in poorer areas. A correlation that very much replicates outside of the UK. And some places managed to record 17 year gains of around 9 years in life expectancy, nearly double the already agreed upon 'huge' 5 years we were discussing from your example (as tinker also alluded to - as found in some parts of London) https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/231119/life-expectancy-declining-many-english-communities/ And yet from the same research - These variations are massive. As others have said the numbers of people with debilitating illnesses is increasing, the problems associated with inequality, if we just carry on as we are, will only get worse.

I also realise I haven't tested my theory since the great sugar purge

Inspired by the Midori tale in another thread, Midori and Britvic blackcurrant cordial tastes like jelly babies. In my experience this is brand specific on the cordial.

see above