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jez
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#751

Post by jez »

Ben!!!!!

I need this:
Tolkien coin
Tolkien coin
RDT_20221229_1254243664059878571922921~2.jpg (55.43 KiB) Viewed 923 times
I will pay the going exchange rate plus shipping if course. I need a few copies.

If I smile really big and bat my eyes can we work something out? :batting: :batting: :mrgreen:
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#752

Post by Ben-Prime »

jez wrote: Thu Dec 29, 2022 12:59 pm Ben!!!!!

I need this:

RDT_20221229_1254243664059878571922921~2.jpg

I will pay the going exchange rate plus shipping if course. I need a few copies.

If I smile really big and bat my eyes can we work something out? :batting: :batting: :mrgreen:
Let me see if I can find them after the holiday weekend. Or is this a direct from Royal Mint thing?
But the sunshine aye shall light the sky,
As round and round we run;
And the truth shall ever come uppermost,
And justice shall be done.

- Charles Mackay, "Eternal Justice"
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much ado
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#753

Post by much ado »

I think the coin can be ordered directly from the Royal Mint. You can register for updates at this RM page.

https://www.royalmint.com/annual-sets/2 ... r-tolkien/

ETA:

They have prices in US$ for customers from the US. The coin should show up for purchase on this page with other £2 coins when it's available.

https://www.royalmint.com/shop/denomina ... wo-pounds/
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#754

Post by jez »

Woooohoooo! Thank you for the info!!!

ETA: signed up for the alert when it's available.
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#755

Post by Gregg »

jez wrote: Thu Dec 29, 2022 12:59 pm Ben!!!!!

I need this:

RDT_20221229_1254243664059878571922921~2.jpg

I will pay the going exchange rate plus shipping if course. I need a few copies.

If I smile really big and bat my eyes can we work something out? :batting: :batting: :mrgreen:
And I still owe you for you the stamp and card, so tell me where I can pay you for that at least.
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#756

Post by Gregg »

Ben-Prime wrote: Thu Dec 29, 2022 2:25 pm
jez wrote: Thu Dec 29, 2022 12:59 pm Ben!!!!!

I need this:

RDT_20221229_1254243664059878571922921~2.jpg

I will pay the going exchange rate plus shipping if course. I need a few copies.

If I smile really big and bat my eyes can we work something out? :batting: :batting: :mrgreen:
Let me see if I can find them after the holiday weekend. Or is this a direct from Royal Mint thing?

Long ago there used to be a coin shop, looked ore like a pawn shop, on Charing Cross Road near LSE. And then there are proper posh coin shops where they sit you at a desk, bring you tea and allow you to look at boxes of coins that are way out of what a starving grad student could ever afford in Westminster. They had coins from every reign dating back to William the Conqueror.
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#757

Post by RTH10260 »

I remember these coins well from my childhood. The ‘ring of hands’ 50p, introduced 50 years ago today, to commemorate our entry to the EEC. How far we’ve fallen since #Brexit - and how much we’ve lost. 🇪🇺😢 #BrexitReality

Image of the ‘tails’ side of the UK 1973 Entry to EEC 50p coin - commonly known as the ‘ring of hands’ 50p.

This was the very first commemorative coin since decimalisation in 1971. It was introduced to celebrate the UK's accession to the European Economic Community.

It features nine hands clasping each other in a circle, symbolising the nine member states of the community. In the centre of the design, a large ‘50’ with ‘1973’ above and ‘PENCE’ below.

David Wynne designed the coin. It’s intended to represent the trust, assistance and friendship that comes with EEC membership.



https://mastodon.scot/@jonreed/109613845200937651
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#758

Post by RTH10260 »

Data Reform Bill: Experts Criticize the UK's GDPR Replacement

Kevin Poireault Reporter, Infosecurity Magazine
25 DEC 2022

The UK is seeking to break away from the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which came into effect in May 2018.

Four years later, in May 2022, the UK government proposed a new bill to overhaul the current regime and bring the 2018 Data Protection Act, UK GDPR and the UK’s application of the EU’s ePrivacy directive, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR), under one directive.

The proposed bill, officially named the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill and dubbed the ‘Data Reform Bill’ (DRB), went through a first reading in the House of Commons in July and a second in September before being put on pause following changes in government.

If adopted, the DRB would introduce a number of changes to the current UK GDPR. Those include limitations in the scope of personal data; tweaks in the use of personal data for legitimate interests in order to ease data use and sharing for scientific research and the public sector; a redefinition of data protection impact assessment (DPIAs) to ‘assessments of high-risk processing’; and a change in the current threshold for refusing or charging a reasonable fee for a subject access request (SAR) from ‘manifestly unfounded or excessive’ to ‘vexatious or excessive’.

The requirement to appoint a data protection officer (DPO) will also be replaced by one to nominate a suitable senior responsible individual (SRI) to be responsible for data protection risks within their organizations or delegate that task to suitably skilled individuals.

The government projected these changes would yield savings for businesses of over £1bn over 10 years.

Criticism from the Experts

Several data protection experts have heavily criticized this proposed bill arguing that it does not necessarily remove red tape at all.

“The general idea was to remove some red tape, to help the plumber who thinks GDPR is a burden. However, in some ways, it would bring more red tape,” Jonathan Armstrong, partner at compliance firm Cordery* told Infosecurity.



https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/n ... -criticize
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#759

Post by RTH10260 »

Disappointing end to UK space mission as satellites fail to reach orbit
Boeing 747 used in mission from Cornwall successfully released rocket before ‘anomaly’ was reported

Steven Morris
Tue 10 Jan 2023 00.28 GMT

A historic space mission that took off from Cornwall has ended in bitter disappointment after a rocket carrying the first satellites launched from British soil failed to reach orbit and was lost.

To whoops and cheers from a crowd that had gathered at Spaceport Cornwall to watch the launch, a converted Boeing 747 called Cosmic Girl took off on Monday night and headed out across the Atlantic.

It successfully released its rocket, called LauncherOne, carrying a payload of nine satellites off the south coast of Ireland.

But shortly after Virgin Orbit, which is leading the mission, announced there had been “an anomaly” and the rocket failed to reach the required altitude.




https://www.theguardian.com/science/202 ... m-cornwall
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#760

Post by Suranis »

Someone slipped in a Mannequin of Boris Johnson?
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#761

Post by RTH10260 »

The one they rejected at Madame Tussauds :?: :twisted:
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#762

Post by Dave from down under »

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-11/ ... /101842644

UK Business Secretary Grant Schapps has denied involvement in the erasure of former prime minister Boris Johnson from a photo posted to his Twitter account.

Key points:
Grant Schapps claims he "wasn't aware" Boris Johnson had been edited out of the photo
The tweet was deleted once the error was pointed out
The photo had been posted to mark the launch of a satellite from UK shores

Mr Schapps posted an image of his June 2022 visit to the Cornwall space centre to his official account on the eve of the first attempt to launch a satellite from the UK.

"The UK government is delighted to be backing the FIRST ever satellite launch from European soil. Lift-off scheduled Monday at Spaceport Cornwall, Newquay," Mr Schapps wrote.

The accompanying image showed Mr Schapps speaking to representatives from Virgin Orbit and the UK Space Agency in front of a rocket, though separated by an awkward empty space.

The empty space and strange, blurred flooring under the rocket quickly aroused suspicion in social media users, who found the original to feature then-prime minister Boris Johnson.
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#763

Post by Sam the Centipede »

Thanks Dave – I'd seen the two photos on Twitter and later thought about posting here but couldn't pick up the source again – perhaps a twenty second search was a little impatient! It was odd to see a Johnson void and it seemed weird. Johnson is a nasty lying racist creep, but editing him out seemed unnecessary.
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#764

Post by Dave from down under »

"Oceania is, and has always been, at war with Eurasia"
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#765

Post by much ado »

Sam the Centipede wrote: Tue Jan 10, 2023 4:49 pm Thanks Dave – I'd seen the two photos on Twitter and later thought about posting here but couldn't pick up the source again – perhaps a twenty second search was a little impatient! It was odd to see a Johnson void and it seemed weird. Johnson is a nasty lying racist creep, but editing him out seemed unnecessary.
Image in question:

Image

ETA: Sorry. I see it was in the original post above. :bag: (Wearing the bag again.)
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#766

Post by RTH10260 »

BUT... But... but... Boris Johnson may not like to be associated with a failed Space Force endeavour pushed by him. It could remind people to recall that failed GPS Galileo replacement project :twisted:
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#767

Post by Volkonski »

I thought he had just been cropped out. This shows much more effort.
much ado wrote: Tue Jan 10, 2023 8:11 pm
Sam the Centipede wrote: Tue Jan 10, 2023 4:49 pm Thanks Dave – I'd seen the two photos on Twitter and later thought about posting here but couldn't pick up the source again – perhaps a twenty second search was a little impatient! It was odd to see a Johnson void and it seemed weird. Johnson is a nasty lying racist creep, but editing him out seemed unnecessary.
Image in question:

Image

ETA: Sorry. I see it was in the original post above. :bag: (Wearing the bag again.)
“If everyone fought for their own convictions there would be no war.” ― Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
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#768

Post by RTH10260 »

Partygate - a fresh twist
Partygate: Boris Johnson joked No 10 party was ‘most unsocially distanced in UK’
Shredded documents and couples ‘getting it on’ before Philip’s funeral among new claims

Adam Forrest Political Correspondent
6 hours ago

Boris Johnson joked about a No 10 leaving do which was held during the Covid crisis as being “the most unsocially distanced party in the UK right now”, it has been claimed.

The former prime minster made the remark at a “boozy” celebration in Downing Street in November 2020 while coronavirus restrictions were in place, according to ITV.

The broadcaster said that when it put the quote to Mr Johnson – forced out of No 10 by the Conservatives in the summer after the Partygate scandal – the former Tory leader “did not deny saying it”.

The claim about the comments made at the leaving party for ex-director of communications Lee Cain is part of a number of new allegations made in an ITV podcast, Partygate: The Inside Story.

It reports that a source said: “I was working late … I heard the prime minister speaking and that’s when I heard the quote: ‘This is the most unsocially distanced party in the UK right now’ and everyone was laughing about it.”

The revelation is among several damning new allegations – including claims No 10 staff destroyed evidence and some were seen “getting it on” at a party on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral in April 2021.





https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/p ... 59942.html
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#769

Post by Dave from down under »

What has the Tory party come to?

No mention of B&D, S&M and other traditional traits of the Tories????
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#770

Post by RTH10260 »

Dozen Grenfell firefighters diagnosed with terminal cancer
Firefighters and survivors from the disaster have called for medical screenings

Thomas Kingsley
4 hours ago

Up to a dozen firefighters who tackled the blaze at Grenfell Tower have been diagnosed with terminal cancer.

According to reports, the cancers are understood to be mainly digestive cancers and leukaemia.

Firefighters and survivors from the disaster have called for medical screenings as a list of rescuers who went to the west London fire in 2017 and have cancer is being drawn up.

Strokes, heart disease and kidney failure are also understood to have been recorded among the heroes – possibly due to the physical toll on their bodies during the tragedy.

“We are expecting some really depressing data to be revealed soon. It's shocking,” a fire service source told the Mirror.




https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/h ... 61470.html
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#771

Post by RTH10260 »

UK government ‘let lawyers bypass sanctions’ to help Putin ally sue journalist
Documents seen by Open Democracy show UK firm got approval to engage with Wagner group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin

Shaun Walker
Tue 24 Jan 2023 14.37 GMT

British lawyers were given government dispensation to bypass sanctions in order to help Yevgeny Prigozhin, the controversial Russian businessman and Wagner group founder, sue a journalist, according to documents made available to the website Open Democracy.

The documents concern a libel case brought by Prigozhin against Eliot Higgins, the founder of the investigative group Bellingcat, in 2021. The revelations will raise further questions about the controversial use of UK libel law by super-rich, non-nationals.

Discreet Law, a London firm headed by Roger Gherson, asked for, and received, government approval to engage with Prigozhin, Open Democracy reported. The firm reportedly worked in consort with a Russian law firm to draw up a legal plan for the businessman.

Prigozhin, who spent his 20s in prison, became a hotdog salesman on his release and then rose to become one of the most powerful people in Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.

For years, Prigozhin denied all links to the Wagner group of mercenaries which was active in Syria and many African countries, and brought a case against Higgins over claims he was linked to Wagner’s misdeeds.

In September last year, Prigozhin admitted he founded Wagner in 2014, and said he had brought court cases against journalists who had made the claims as “in any issue there should be room for sport”.




https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... journalist
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#772

Post by RTH10260 »

Britain the only G7 economy forecast to shrink in 2023
IMF says UK economy is likely to contract 0.6% as rising interest rates and higher taxes take toll

Larry Elliott Economics editor
Tue 31 Jan 2023 01.30 GMT

Britain is expected to be the only major industrialised country to see its economy shrink this year after the impact of Liz Truss’s brief premiership prompted a sharp growth downgrade from the International Monetary Fund.

Adding to growing political pressure on Rishi Sunak after the sacking of the Conservative party chair Nadhim Zahawi, the Washington-based IMF warned on Tuesday it expected the UK economy to contract by 0.6% this year – 0.9 percentage points worse than it had pencilled in just three months ago and slower even than sanctions-hit Russia.

The IMF said that while the prospects for every other member of the G7 group of leading developed nations had improved or remained unchanged since October, rising interest rates and higher taxes had made the outlook for the UK gloomier.

Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, the IMF’s economic counsellor, said 2023 would be “quite challenging” for the UK as it slipped from top to bottom of the G7 league table. “There is a sharp correction,” he added.

The UK chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, last week warned a sense of declinism was hampering the UK’s economic recovery, and has come under pressure to come up with a credible plan to boost growth. His speech, which focused on “enterprise, education, employment and everywhere”, was widely criticised by business leaders as being devoid of policies.

The UK growth downgrade came in the IMF’s update to its half-yearly World Economic Outlook (WEO) – a health check on the global economy published in April and October.




https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... k-2023-imf
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#773

Post by Gregg »

I thought Brexit was gonna fix all that. :confuzzled:
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#774

Post by RTH10260 »

from the "Earthlings behaving badly" file ....
Royal Navy orders investigation into nuclear submarine ‘repaired with glue’
Claims made that broken bolts on HMS Vanguard’s reactor chamber were stuck on instead of replaced

Joe Middleton
Wed 1 Feb 2023 00.02 GMT

The Royal Navy has ordered an urgent investigation amid claims that workers on a Trident nuclear armed submarine fixed broken bolts in the vessel’s reactor chamber using glue.

The faulty repairs on the cooling pipes aboard HMS Vanguard were found after one of the bolts fell off during an inspection, the Sun reported.

The bolt heads originally came off due to over-tightening. But, rather than replacing the damaged shafts, staff at the defence contractor Babcock implemented a quick fix and glued them back on.

Engineers at the contractor reported it as a procedural glitch after the problem was found, but did not mention the botched nature of the repair.

A navy source told the newspaper: “It’s a disgrace. You can’t cut corners with nuclear. Standards are standards. Nuclear standards are never compromised.”

The glued bolts held insulation in place on the coolant pipes in the nuclear reactor and were found just as workers were set to fire it up to full power for the first time, the newspaper reported.

Investigators will trawl records of repairs to find out when the bodged work occurred and who was ultimately responsible.

The Ministry of Defence spokesperson said that a “defect” was found on HMS Vanguard when in dry dock and that it was “promptly reported and fixed”.




https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... -with-glue
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#775

Post by raison de arizona »

Holy crap. That's crazy, you don't play with nukes.
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