Interesting Links for 17-05-2025

[andrewducker]

1. Keir Starmer is now less popular with Labour voters than Ed Davey.

(tags:Labour libdem politics UK )

2. Illegal release lynx moved to new permanent home at the Highland Wildlife Park

(tags:Scotland animals cats )

3. Fortnite deployed an AI Darth Vader. Players taught it to swear

(tags:ai StarWars swearing )

4. Aberdeen to Penzance: End of the line for longest UK direct train route (running for over 100 years)

(tags:trains UK history )

5. Trump administration working on plan to move 1 million Palestinians to Libya

(tags:Palestine Libya USA OhForFucksSake )

Comments

[bens_dad]

I've only done Bristol-Aberdeen, but I have done Lahore - Karachi which at 1241km is only 6km shorter than Aberdeen-Penzance - though at 36 hours it was also much longer.

I have done Aberdeen-Exeter return by coach; which was less physically comfortable than either train.

[calimac]

Even a bumpy train ride is generally less uncomfortable than a bus (or coach). Sometimes the latter can be more convenient, though. I took the 'luxury' express coach from Heathrow to Cardiff, and it was a lot less trouble than getting to the train, and not too uncomfortable to ride, either.

[andrewducker]

I've done Scotland/London once by bus, overnight. Never again!

[bens_dad]

I read The Heart of Midlothian around the time of my coach trip and noted that the heroine walked from Edinburgh to London at an estimated cost of £50, whereas a coach trip is now less than that. So much for inflation !

I wonder what it would have cost on horseback ? If the journey time was much quicker, that would save a lot of food and lodgings.

[andrewducker]

Depends on the cost of horse food and horse lodgings!

[foms]

I've taken a train from Montreal to Halifax (Nova Scotia), twice. That train stops many times, along the route, and takes twenty-three hours for a bit over 1300km. The first time was Christmas eve, in coach, and full, with crying babies. The other time was in a berth and included more privacy, access to shower, and to club car. Much nicer the second time.

[danieldwilliam]

I have done the Aberdeen to Penzance route - I think pretty much most of the way - when I went to visit my grandparents. It was a great day out.

[kerk_hiraeth]

Hitler's Nazis planned to move all the Jews to Madagascar.

* this section has been left blank *

kerk

[calimac]

At one point around 1900, the British offered the Jews a chunk of Kenya as a homeland. The Jews had the sense to turn it down.

The Russians tried moving their Jews to Furthest Outer Siberia. That didn't work.

[hilarita]

I've not done the whole thing, but I used to hop on when that train used to stop in Burton on its way south. However, in approx. the early 2000s that suffered from train franchise shite and I stopped being able to get it. It's very sad.

[calimac]

1) This isn't the first time the Liberal leader has topped this ranking. I seem to recall that David Steel outpolled both Thatcher and Callaghan. So why don't more people vote for them? Because they can't win. But they can't win because nobody votes for them.

[andrewducker]

We'll see how angry people are with Labour in 4 years time!