Chomper Higgot

Excellent. I’ll agree with you on one thing, Oxfordshire is a very varied county. I bought my first house in Goring on Thames’ I lived living there, and again fabulous cycling country. Thank you for promoting g sine happy memories.

I don’t necessarily believe you have a house in Banbury, but it’s a trifling matter that I simply can’t be bothered to spend time on. That’s the thing with personal statements and anecdotes, they are not verifiable. That is the only thing that can honestly said of them is they are not verifiable.

What’s that got to do with me not drinking cider? I don’t drink cider, I often buy the Guardian when in the UK and I have never wrapped the Guardian around a bottle of any alcoholic drink, let alone one that I can’t stand the taste of. I have far too much respect for the Guardian to do such a thing.

I don’t care, it’s entirely up to you if you believe me or not. That’s the thing about anecdotes. You’re local cycling club is super friendly and the local countryside is fabulous for cycling.

I don’t drink cider.

Grow a set and say you don’t believe me. Then I can respond up to you. Don’t take it to heart.

I think I might have indeed bought a Guardian. I often do when I’m in the UK.

Or it could have exactly what I said. Anyway don’t take it to heart, I wasn’t denigrating your home town, like I said, the cycling club are super friendly and the local countryside is fabulous. Up and down that hill is what is referred to as ‘testing’. Definitely worth a revisit.

It happened. And happens. I hear the booze in Lidls is cheap. It might not have been Cider.

I didn’t know there was more than one. It was near the town center (ish), I’m not a resident of Banbury and never have been so that’s as good a location as I can recall. Are you feeling home sick or is there a some other point to all these questions? Refer above for location of cycle race course.

I told you Lidls.

What a coincidence 🙂 Lidls, you know it? A very good cycling club, super friendly and put in a very good time trial that ran up the hill from Hanwell, up the hill to Arlescote and back down via Edgehill to Wroxton. Fabulous cycling country.

It’s not precise enough to back up your earlier claim: Bias you say?!

Banbury.

I didn’t count, but in would say half a dozen. Oxfordshire.

The last time I was in England I witnessed firsthand the morning drinkers, 7:00am Supermarket opens, 7:15am alcoholics standing in the supermarket car park guzzling cider. Addiction is not a choice, but it a profit driver for England’s supermarkets.

I do hope that’s not you trying to be more precise.

I think there is a clue in the OP. The upcoming G20 Summit is to be held in South Africa. It’s not a matter of South Africa ‘suddenly becoming important’, rather a matter of South Africa being the host of the G20 Summit and having obligations under the Rome Statute.

South Africa are not taking the moral high ground. They are simply signaling their intention to abide by their obligations under Article 59 of the Rome Statute. They’ve diplomatically not invited Putin thereby avoiding a diplomatic incident. It’s a sad indictment of your own outlook that you regard a nation signaling its intent to abide by the International Statutes to which it is a signatory as ‘trying to take the moral high ground’.

I agree.

South Africa signaling its intent to adhere to its duties under the Rome Statute is to be commended. South Africa is demonstrating that as a sovereign nation it abides by the statutes it signs regardless of how other nations treat their responsibilities. International statutes and treaties would have no meaning if signatory nations were to engage in conflating matters under statues and treaties, or worse still engage in whataboutary. Article 59 of the Rome Statute makes South Africa’s duties clear, just as clear as it is that South Africa takes its duties under the International Statutes it signs seriously. Its a shame on some nations that they do not.

It’s a smart move by South Africa avoid the inevitable diplomatic furor by not inviting Putin. In the event Putin did enter South Africa jurisdiction then South Africa would be bound under Article 59 of the Rome Statute to arrest him: https://www.icc-cpi.int/sites/default/files/2024-05/Rome-Statute-eng.pdf

South Africa is correct, as a signatory to the Rome Statute it must comply with the arrest warrant, not inviting Putin is a diplomatic means of avoiding having to do so. Of course South Africa’s response to the arrest warrant issued for Putin is not related in anyway to any other matter before the ICJ. It’s a separation of issues that applies to all signatories to the Rome Statute and is not at all difficult to understand.

The closure of Israel’s Dublin Embassy is regrettable but naturally there is a ready market for such a prime property in that fine city: https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2024/12/16/palestinian-museum-founder-inquires-about-leasing-site-of-closed-israeli-embassy-in-dublin/#:~:text=Following Israel's decision to,its doors in April 2018.

You’ll have to be more precise.