Today's papers contain several articles condemning Prince Andrew and praising Emily Maitliss for their respective performances in last night's broadcast interview.

Emily's interviewing was certainly competent and Andrew responded to every question in a professional manner. I found all his answers entirely plausible.

I'm not saying I believe him, and I'm not saying I disbelieve him: I'm entirely open-minded about the affair.

I am, however, saying I'm surprised that in a civilised society so many people have already condemned him for offences for which there isn't one single solitary shred of evidence.

Even his "accuser" isn't suggesting he did anything illegal or immoral.

I'm not a fan of Andrew or the royal family in general - but I'm a huge fan of justice.

Quote: Lazzard @ 17th November 2019, 10:48 AM

Bear in mind, this is a ten year roll-out.
Its hard to imagine the advances in scope and use of the internet by then.
Remote diagnosis by doctors and hospitals is just one that springs to mind.
It just isn't in the internet companies interest to keep everyone in the super-fast loop - yet, if our institutions and services require it, then it would be decidedly undemocratic if people outside of cities are excluded from what the rest of the country take for granted.
Currently we just have to put up with a constantly buffering iPlayer.
Not so funny if you're getting vital health-scan.
Not 100% convinced that Labour's plan is the best way to do it - driven as much by ideology as practicality - but the aim is laudable & necessary.

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It's actually working out the other way around. It's the country places that are getting Fibre-to-the-Premises FTTP (the really fast one) and the towns & cities are bye&large still getting only Fibre-to-the-Cabinet FTTC which tops out at about 60/80 Mbps. Too expensive digging up the pavements & roads they claim.

This is because there were grants to firms such as GigaClear to install broadband in country locations.

In a scene typical of "Breaking Bad", two chemistry professors at a university in Arkansas USA have been arrested for cooking methamphetamine.

Want my advice, guys?

Better call Saul!

Quote: Rood Eye @ 15th November 2019, 10:42 PM

You can check it here:

https://www.broadbandspeedchecker.co.uk/

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But I don't really care. It doesn't cause me any problems.

Quote: Chappers @ 17th November 2019, 8:07 PM

I don't really care. It doesn't cause me any problems.

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There speaks a man who's never going to get his prostate checked.

I've been reading about the helicopter accident during filming of the The Twilight Zone movie in 1982 and I don't know what is more horrific, the nature of the deaths that occurred or the fact that blame was accepted by the studio for violating child acting labor laws and the director accepted he was 'wrong' and also that compensation was paid to the victims' families but despite that everyone that faced a trial of manslaughter were acquitted. I don't think there were any convictions for anything.

Quote: Definitely Tarby @ 17th November 2019, 9:02 PM

I've been reading about the helicopter accident during filming of the The Twilight Zone movie in 1982 and I don't know what is more horrific, the nature of the deaths that occurred or the fact that blame was accepted by the studio for violating child acting labor laws and the director accepted he was 'wrong' and also that compensation was paid to the victims' families but despite that everyone that faced a trial of manslaughter were acquitted. I don't think there were any convictions for anything.

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A dreadful incident.

After a trial lasting 10 months, the jury must have decided that, under all the circumstances, the tragedy was not foreseeable and that it was simply a very unfortunate accident.

Under Californian law, the children should have had permits to allow them to work at night but the studio had not applied for such permits. Be that as it may, however, I'm sure the defence argued that even if those permits had been obtained, the accident would still have happened.

The new set for BBC's EastEnders is expected to be completed in about four years' time.

It will have cost approximately £87 million and guess who's paid for it?

You and me - that's who!

And I haven't watched it for 33 years and I don't intend to watch it ever again.

Quote: Definitely Tarby @ 17th November 2019, 9:02 PM

I've been reading about the helicopter accident during filming of the The Twilight Zone movie in 1982 and I don't know what is more horrific, the nature of the deaths that occurred or the fact that blame was accepted by the studio for violating child acting labor laws and the director accepted he was 'wrong' and also that compensation was paid to the victims' families but despite that everyone that faced a trial of manslaughter were acquitted. I don't think there were any convictions for anything.

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It's America. If you're rich you can get away with pretty much anything.

Quote: Rood Eye @ 17th November 2019, 12:51 PM

Andrew responded to every question in a professional manner. I found all his answers entirely plausible.

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Rood you're being too kind. Check out these quotes from the press. This is a man that can't remember an attractive woman he knew well enough to wrap his arm around.

"..we can't be certain as to whether or not that's my hand on her whatever it is, left...left side."

"There's a slight problem with the sweating because I have a peculiar medical condition which is that....it was almost impossible for me to sweat.... I am starting to be able to do that again."

"in fact I'm convinced that I was never in Tramps .......I don't drink, I don't think I've ever bought a drink in Tramps whenever I was there." So he never sweats and he never drinks in hot nightclubs. He's a vampire.

Quote: Rood Eye @ 17th November 2019, 11:36 PM

The new set for BBC's EastEnders is expected to be completed in about four years' time.

It will have cost approximately £87 million and guess who's paid for it?

You and me - that's who!

And I haven't watched it for 33 years and I don't intend to watch it ever again.

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Leave it aht!

Quote: Firkin @ 18th November 2019, 10:18 AM

Rood you're being too kind. Check out these quotes from the press. This is a man that can't remember an attractive woman he knew well enough to wrap his arm around.

"..we can't be certain as to whether or not that's my hand on her whatever it is, left...left side."

"There's a slight problem with the sweating because I have a peculiar medical condition which is that....it was almost impossible for me to sweat.... I am starting to be able to do that again."

"in fact I'm convinced that I was never in Tramps .......I don't drink, I don't think I've ever bought a drink in Tramps whenever I was there." So he never sweats and he never drinks in hot nightclubs. He's a vampire.

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You're not wrong, Firks.

When I say I found his answers plausible, I mean they might well have been honest and none of them was contradicted by known fact.

Following the interview, the press has unearthed (no vampire pun intended) a number of photographs showing him in nightclubs dancing and being quite friendly with some clearly affectionate young women.

It might be that such situations were exceedingly rare in Andrew's young life or it might be that they were a very big part of it - we simply don't know. In any event, it was unwise of him to suggest that he was almost a total stranger to the world of dancing, drinking and getting friendly with young women in non-private situations.

If he did have sex with the woman at the centre of these allegations, I can't for the life of me understand why he simply doesn't admit it - and then say ". . . but so what?"

An interviewer might then say "But she was a sex slave!"

Andrew would then be perfectly entitled to say "A sex slave who was free to come to and go from Epstein's company whenever she wished and who was paid thousands upon thousands of dollars for her services? You might call that being a sex slave but I think most people would call it something very different."

Bish! Bash! Bosh! Interview over.

You make an excellent point Rood, but isn't the very fact that he appears to be lying, suggestive something more ominous lays below ? Even if he wasn't lying, why make it look that way ?

Quote: Firkin @ 18th November 2019, 1:43 PM

You make an excellent point Rood, but isn't the very fact that he appears to be lying, suggestive something more ominous lays below ? Even if he wasn't lying, why make it look that way ?

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Yes, I think it highly likely that he knows a lot more than he's hitherto admitted about Epstein's activities.

The snag is that we don't know what sort of things he knows, and we don't know his personal involvement (if any) in any untoward activities.

We've heard an awful lot about "young girls" wandering around Epstein's properties but nobody has yet told us exactly how young or how numerous these girls were - or whether they were present on those properties at the same time as Andrew.

It's very interesting that not one of those allegedly underage girls has come forward to implicate Andrew. When one considers the mountains of cash the press would be prepared to pay to any such girl for her story, one cannot but wonder whether any such girls exist.

I think we need a lot more information before we can draw meaningful conclusions.

Quote: Rood Eye @ 18th November 2019, 2:25 PM

Yes, I think it highly likely that he knows a lot more than he's hitherto admitted about Epstein's activities.

The snag is that we don't know what sort of things he knows, and we don't know his personal involvement (if any) in any untoward activities.

We've heard an awful lot about "young girls" wandering around Epstein's properties but nobody has yet told us exactly how young or how numerous these girls were - or whether they were present on those properties at the same time as Andrew.

It's very interesting that not one of those allegedly underage girls has come forward to implicate Andrew. When one considers the mountains of cash the press would be prepared to pay to any such girl for her story, one cannot but wonder whether any such girls exist.

I think we need a lot more information before we can draw meaningful conclusions.

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You're like the bcg's leading conclusion drawer, often based on no evidence whatsoever, just flimsy hearsay, so it's sweet that you're now such a fan of knowing all the facts.