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How’s the polling going to look in two years time – politicalbetting.com

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  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 18,217
    edited March 2022
    rpjs said:

    Pox cases on a big spike again. Nobody seems to care any more, but does show that all the BORIS ENDS COVID stuff was fanciful.

    With Covid tearing a hole through schools across Aberdeenshire I am not at all surprised that Sturgeon has decided to extend the mask mandate. It won't stop it tearing through them but will help stop spreading it further.

    Would you support mask mandates to stop norovirus, or influenza, spreading further beyond schools?

    If not, what's the difference with Covid?
    If it's an influenza as deadly as the Spanish Flu, then yes. And in fact mask mandates were put in place back then too.
    Sure, but neither Covid or the currently circulating strains of influenza are that deadly. So it doesn't feel like masks are appropriate or necessary at this stage.
  • TazTaz Posts: 14,287

    HYUFD said:

    dixiedean said:

    HYUFD said:

    Sweden today activated national service personnel: anybody who has done military training (national service or professional), irrespective of how long ago, is now under military command.

    We have an unusual civic responsibility (the only other example seems to be Norway) where every Swedish citizen between 16 and 70, men and women, is part of Totalförsvaret (”Total Defence”). We all have to play our part in defending the state. There are three strands:

    1. Military service, already activated (see above)
    2. State war service, all public employees (state, regional and council) are obliged to serve the state in whatever capacity the government deems fit, not yet activated.
    3. Civil war service, everyone else age 16-70 not included in the above two categories, not yet activated

    Sounds pretty authoritarian.

    Have you herring-munching wife-swappers decided to join NATO yet?
    Although most Swedes profess to be agnostic or atheist (the only other country with such a majority being Scotland), it is still a pretty judgemental Lutheran culture. Conforming is inbuilt in Swedish society. What you perceive to be authoritarian, Swedes consider to be safe and comforting.

    We eat a lot of herring. Our sexual habits are probably more tame than your fantasy.

    And No is the very clear answer to your final question.
    56% of Swedes identity as Lutheran and China is much more atheist than even Scotland as is North Korea


    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Sweden
    The Chinese aren't particularly atheist. They may well say they are.
    Their religions were never particularly organised and top-down as ours. But religious based "superstition", or folk beliefs, and private devotions are common.
    China has by far the most atheists in the world.

    Almost 50% of Chinese are convinced atheists, not even agnostic

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/atheists-countries-list-six-world-most-convinced-a6946291.html

    The Communist government discourages organised religion as a challenge to loyalty to the party and certainly organised religion without a government licence.

    Folk religion and Taoism etc is stronger in Japan than China
    I'm in Albania. They are mostly allegedly Muslims but they clearly don't give a f***. Despite the call the prayer you hear from time they seem to like their pork, wine and raki.
    Ooh, enjoy. I love Raki.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,454

    Leon said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    Leon said:

    TimT said:

    Nancy Pelosi in action. Jeez. Makes Sleepy Joe look like JFK on steroids.

    https://twitter.com/jessicahodlr/status/1503556754168242186

    That is somewhat embarrassing - is she ill ?
    She is usually articulate, and an extremely wily political operative. It looks like too much botox, but perhaps she's had a (mini-)stroke? Almost looks like that.
    Check out these


    https://twitter.com/Dechko20/status/1503304816071749633?s=20&t=W7qojxry2aWB5WNgzMcZrg

    https://twitter.com/ReillocNaes/status/1502623154539278343?s=20&t=W7qojxry2aWB5WNgzMcZrg


    https://twitter.com/_joecephus/status/1498862864790179845?s=20&t=W7qojxry2aWB5WNgzMcZrg

    Either she drinks or she has some major cognitive problem (eg a stroke, as you say)
    Doesn't look drunk, just looks and is very old. the fact that we can prop up 81 year olds to the extent they can purport to do a serious job, doesn't mean we should. Serious anti struldbrugg legislation needed (actually even struldbruggs were declared legally dead at 80).
    So my wife at 82 should be dead in your musings

    Not dead, just NOT GOVERNING AMERICA
    Can you just imagine @Leon being POTUS?

    Jeez! :lol:
    Better than Trump.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,503
    Leon said:

    Foxy said:

    boulay said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    I’ve read on here that Biden, Trump, Clinton, Johnson, Pelosi, Corbyn and even I think Sturgeon are suffering from dementia, strokes, or other brain-impairing illnesses.

    It’s utter bullshit.

    Biden: if that were your dad you'd be having a word with his GP. Harold Wilson and Ronald reagan we know for certain were demented in office. Others:

    "Five percent of people ages 71 to 79, 24.2 percent of people 80 to 89, and 37.4 percent of those 90 years or older were estimated to have some type of dementia."

    https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/one-seven-americans-age-71-older-has-some-type-dementia-nih-funded-study-estimates

    Those odds easily, easily justify a 70 (or 75 absolutely max) cut off for holding office. So you don't have to assess on a case by case basis.
    I’m sure there is some cognitive decline as politicians age, and indeed are stressed by the demands of the job.

    But every time I watch one of these videos - including the Pelosi one - I just see someone occasionally forgetting a word.

    I do it myself.

    Everyone has off-days, especially 70-somethings.
    So assuming there are adequate numbers of under 70s, which there are, retire the 70 somethings as a precaution. There's a lower bound for US presidents, why no upper one?
    What precaution, precisely, are we guarding against? A babbled press conference?
    Dementia. You are plainly in the happy position of never having known anyone with a serious case. i can promise you it goes way beyond babbling at conferences.
    Absolutely - for the last two years of my father’s life he could go from being incredibly sharp and on the ball re politics or general life to a dribbling mess who insisted I was my brother. It could be a switch in the space of a day, over a few days or weeks.

    It’s easy to put it down to just “getting old” but it can take a while to realise what’s really going on and so there is clearly a risk that someone can be elected where “mis-speaks” are laughed off to a real problem where the president is wearing one black brogue and one cherry red penny loafer to thinking he’s Peppa Pig during an essential briefing.

    It’s a grim reality but the consequences are huge especially when it’s not your dad having an issue remembering why you are taking them for a hospital appointment but instead when they are supposed to be digesting intelligence briefs and maybe declaring war…..
    A friend lost her mother to dementia last week. She had been unable to recognise her daughter for the last couple of years, but her mothers husband reckoned it started 19 years before, just no one noticed but him.
    My mother in law has it. Sometimes she's in a vaguely reasonable mood even though she doesn't really know who anyone is but most of the time it is terrible. "I want to be dead" is all to frequent, as is being surprisingly rough, even with her husband of nearly 70 years. We've had to hide all the knives.

    What can you do? I'm quite sure if we went back 20 years she'd quite readily have told us to head for Switzerland but that isn't an option now.

    The NHS seems to shrug and treat it as a social care problem and not an illness. And care homes however hard they try aren't really a suitable place to dump people, particularly in a pandemic when visiting is heavily limited.

    Utter nightmare for all concerned. Cancer, however bad, has nothing on this.

    We desperately need to do more research on it as the population gets older. My money is on it being virus or pathogen triggered, but who knows...

    The rural English used to have “smothering parties”. Where a whole village would come round, get wildly drunk, then briskly suffocate the elderly demented person under blankets. Job done. No questions asked

    Arguably more merciful than what we do today. Keep people alive for years, in grave mental pain
    My mother in law was quite cheerful and even entertaining with her dementia, and my grandmother was too. Neither were distressed noticeably, though they did need a lot of care. It isn't always awful, both enjoyed life until near the end.
  • TimTTimT Posts: 6,468

    Nigelb said:

    WTAF
    The Met just gets worse.

    Racism cited as factor in police strip search of girl, 15, at London school
    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/mar/15/black-girl-racism-police-strip-search-london-school-hackney

    Nothing to see here, we're doing our job, move on.


    Talk about tone deaf.
  • JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 6,230
    Taz said:

    HYUFD said:

    dixiedean said:

    HYUFD said:

    Sweden today activated national service personnel: anybody who has done military training (national service or professional), irrespective of how long ago, is now under military command.

    We have an unusual civic responsibility (the only other example seems to be Norway) where every Swedish citizen between 16 and 70, men and women, is part of Totalförsvaret (”Total Defence”). We all have to play our part in defending the state. There are three strands:

    1. Military service, already activated (see above)
    2. State war service, all public employees (state, regional and council) are obliged to serve the state in whatever capacity the government deems fit, not yet activated.
    3. Civil war service, everyone else age 16-70 not included in the above two categories, not yet activated

    Sounds pretty authoritarian.

    Have you herring-munching wife-swappers decided to join NATO yet?
    Although most Swedes profess to be agnostic or atheist (the only other country with such a majority being Scotland), it is still a pretty judgemental Lutheran culture. Conforming is inbuilt in Swedish society. What you perceive to be authoritarian, Swedes consider to be safe and comforting.

    We eat a lot of herring. Our sexual habits are probably more tame than your fantasy.

    And No is the very clear answer to your final question.
    56% of Swedes identity as Lutheran and China is much more atheist than even Scotland as is North Korea


    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Sweden
    The Chinese aren't particularly atheist. They may well say they are.
    Their religions were never particularly organised and top-down as ours. But religious based "superstition", or folk beliefs, and private devotions are common.
    China has by far the most atheists in the world.

    Almost 50% of Chinese are convinced atheists, not even agnostic

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/atheists-countries-list-six-world-most-convinced-a6946291.html

    The Communist government discourages organised religion as a challenge to loyalty to the party and certainly organised religion without a government licence.

    Folk religion and Taoism etc is stronger in Japan than China
    I'm in Albania. They are mostly allegedly Muslims but they clearly don't give a f***. Despite the call the prayer you hear from time they seem to like their pork, wine and raki.
    Ooh, enjoy. I love Raki.
    I have a baklava and raki moment coming up
  • TazTaz Posts: 14,287

    Taz said:

    HYUFD said:

    dixiedean said:

    HYUFD said:

    Sweden today activated national service personnel: anybody who has done military training (national service or professional), irrespective of how long ago, is now under military command.

    We have an unusual civic responsibility (the only other example seems to be Norway) where every Swedish citizen between 16 and 70, men and women, is part of Totalförsvaret (”Total Defence”). We all have to play our part in defending the state. There are three strands:

    1. Military service, already activated (see above)
    2. State war service, all public employees (state, regional and council) are obliged to serve the state in whatever capacity the government deems fit, not yet activated.
    3. Civil war service, everyone else age 16-70 not included in the above two categories, not yet activated

    Sounds pretty authoritarian.

    Have you herring-munching wife-swappers decided to join NATO yet?
    Although most Swedes profess to be agnostic or atheist (the only other country with such a majority being Scotland), it is still a pretty judgemental Lutheran culture. Conforming is inbuilt in Swedish society. What you perceive to be authoritarian, Swedes consider to be safe and comforting.

    We eat a lot of herring. Our sexual habits are probably more tame than your fantasy.

    And No is the very clear answer to your final question.
    56% of Swedes identity as Lutheran and China is much more atheist than even Scotland as is North Korea


    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Sweden
    The Chinese aren't particularly atheist. They may well say they are.
    Their religions were never particularly organised and top-down as ours. But religious based "superstition", or folk beliefs, and private devotions are common.
    China has by far the most atheists in the world.

    Almost 50% of Chinese are convinced atheists, not even agnostic

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/atheists-countries-list-six-world-most-convinced-a6946291.html

    The Communist government discourages organised religion as a challenge to loyalty to the party and certainly organised religion without a government licence.

    Folk religion and Taoism etc is stronger in Japan than China
    I'm in Albania. They are mostly allegedly Muslims but they clearly don't give a f***. Despite the call the prayer you hear from time they seem to like their pork, wine and raki.
    Ooh, enjoy. I love Raki.
    I have a baklava and raki moment coming up
    Enjoy. I’m more than a little envious.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,011
    Leon said:

    Foxy said:

    boulay said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    I’ve read on here that Biden, Trump, Clinton, Johnson, Pelosi, Corbyn and even I think Sturgeon are suffering from dementia, strokes, or other brain-impairing illnesses.

    It’s utter bullshit.

    Biden: if that were your dad you'd be having a word with his GP. Harold Wilson and Ronald reagan we know for certain were demented in office. Others:

    "Five percent of people ages 71 to 79, 24.2 percent of people 80 to 89, and 37.4 percent of those 90 years or older were estimated to have some type of dementia."

    https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/one-seven-americans-age-71-older-has-some-type-dementia-nih-funded-study-estimates

    Those odds easily, easily justify a 70 (or 75 absolutely max) cut off for holding office. So you don't have to assess on a case by case basis.
    I’m sure there is some cognitive decline as politicians age, and indeed are stressed by the demands of the job.

    But every time I watch one of these videos - including the Pelosi one - I just see someone occasionally forgetting a word.

    I do it myself.

    Everyone has off-days, especially 70-somethings.
    So assuming there are adequate numbers of under 70s, which there are, retire the 70 somethings as a precaution. There's a lower bound for US presidents, why no upper one?
    What precaution, precisely, are we guarding against? A babbled press conference?
    Dementia. You are plainly in the happy position of never having known anyone with a serious case. i can promise you it goes way beyond babbling at conferences.
    Absolutely - for the last two years of my father’s life he could go from being incredibly sharp and on the ball re politics or general life to a dribbling mess who insisted I was my brother. It could be a switch in the space of a day, over a few days or weeks.

    It’s easy to put it down to just “getting old” but it can take a while to realise what’s really going on and so there is clearly a risk that someone can be elected where “mis-speaks” are laughed off to a real problem where the president is wearing one black brogue and one cherry red penny loafer to thinking he’s Peppa Pig during an essential briefing.

    It’s a grim reality but the consequences are huge especially when it’s not your dad having an issue remembering why you are taking them for a hospital appointment but instead when they are supposed to be digesting intelligence briefs and maybe declaring war…..
    A friend lost her mother to dementia last week. She had been unable to recognise her daughter for the last couple of years, but her mothers husband reckoned it started 19 years before, just no one noticed but him.
    My mother in law has it. Sometimes she's in a vaguely reasonable mood even though she doesn't really know who anyone is but most of the time it is terrible. "I want to be dead" is all to frequent, as is being surprisingly rough, even with her husband of nearly 70 years. We've had to hide all the knives.

    What can you do? I'm quite sure if we went back 20 years she'd quite readily have told us to head for Switzerland but that isn't an option now.

    The NHS seems to shrug and treat it as a social care problem and not an illness. And care homes however hard they try aren't really a suitable place to dump people, particularly in a pandemic when visiting is heavily limited.

    Utter nightmare for all concerned. Cancer, however bad, has nothing on this.

    We desperately need to do more research on it as the population gets older. My money is on it being virus or pathogen triggered, but who knows...

    The rural English used to have “smothering parties”. Where a whole village would come round, get wildly drunk, then briskly suffocate the elderly demented person under blankets. Job done. No questions asked

    Arguably more merciful than what we do today. Keep people alive for years, in grave mental pain
    I can imagine that still happens - eg in some of the quieter, more bucolic parts of Kent.
  • TimTTimT Posts: 6,468

    Only two sides.

    Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦
    @IAPonomarenko
    The video reportedly shows a Russian tank firing a round against a single civilian just trying to leave danger zone on foot and openly indicating his non-combatant status.
    Mariupol.
    https://twitter.com/IAPonomarenko/status/1503818024549326851

    This user and posts seem to have been removed from twitter.
  • StillWatersStillWaters Posts: 8,145

    Good for him

    Matt Hancock
    @MattHancock
    ·
    2m
    Just hearing
    @IPSAUK
    won't allow any MP to open their homes to refugees fleeing Ukraine - despite there being NO extra cost to the taxpayer

    This is absurd and cruel

    I will be writing to IPSA to get this ridiculous decision overturned immediately
    Matt Hancock
    @MattHancock
    ·
    40s
    They say it’s because we can’t sublet. I won’t be subletting: I will be WELCOMING Ukrainians as guests

    https://twitter.com/MattHancock/status/1503796280887332871

    Welcoming them as guests and trousering the £350 per month payment… based on utilising state funded assets
  • biggles said:

    Chris Bryant has just called for Aaron Banks to be sanctioned as a Russian “agent of influence”, and notes that Nigel Farage received over £500k from RT in 2018 alone.

    We need to be careful with this stuff. I dislike both men but we can’t have a witch hunt for anyone who ever took any cash from a Russian. Working for Russia Today has always been morally wrong, but it was lawful. I’d we’re not careful this could all get a bit “reds under the bed”.
    On that note I'd like to point out that I never called for Salmond to be sanctioned.

    I raised his RT work in the hope that the SNats here would finally admit; yep, a wrongun'.

    But it's never happened. It shouldn't be a surprise when they wouldn't even disown him when he had to leave their party and set up a new one because he couldn't keep his hands off the women in his first party (they said that. In detail).

    Why do the Nats here find him impossible to criticise? Is he like a god to them?

    Is he their Boris?
    Your obviously an inattentive dimwit because insofar as there are lots of 'SNats' on here, several of us including me have said his behaviour in office have disqualified him from holding it again (not that theres much chance of that); I certainly won't vote for Alba whatever the circumstances.

    I'm amused by exactly the same people who multiply orgasmed when Salmond was accused of attempted rape & sexual assault, had big, fat,sad faces when he was cleared then pivoted to screeching about the injustice done to the 'best PM the UK never had' now busting a sphincter over his relationship with RT.

    Save your efforts for peering out from the net curtains for the approach of Vlad's goons, sport.
    Can you refer me to a post of yours criticising Salmond that I inattentively ignored?

    I'd love to retract my statement in your direction if you've made one, single critical post regarding his RT employment.

    Obviously ol' Malc would first have to acknowledge his RT employment.
    I couldn't give a toss if you retract your statement or not.
    How are your efforts driving aid to Ukraine going? You might be better employed getting that going rather than sermonising on here.
    I'm waiting for a tranche of redundancy money from my old employer before I spend it on an intensive driving course. I could borrow money to do it, if you'll lend?

    If you want to help get me off here you could donate. I haven't yet set up a page for donations, it'd seem a bit previous like my earlier willingness to cook on the front line now does.

    But if you want to donate, I'll take yours and any other's declaration here like a PB bet.
    I prefer my Don Quixotes a bit less steeped in hysteria and self righteousness.
    I can well understand why you would doubt me now.

    I'll be disappointed if you don't support me once I've proved myself.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 41,872

    Leon said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    Leon said:

    TimT said:

    Nancy Pelosi in action. Jeez. Makes Sleepy Joe look like JFK on steroids.

    https://twitter.com/jessicahodlr/status/1503556754168242186

    That is somewhat embarrassing - is she ill ?
    She is usually articulate, and an extremely wily political operative. It looks like too much botox, but perhaps she's had a (mini-)stroke? Almost looks like that.
    Check out these


    https://twitter.com/Dechko20/status/1503304816071749633?s=20&t=W7qojxry2aWB5WNgzMcZrg

    https://twitter.com/ReillocNaes/status/1502623154539278343?s=20&t=W7qojxry2aWB5WNgzMcZrg


    https://twitter.com/_joecephus/status/1498862864790179845?s=20&t=W7qojxry2aWB5WNgzMcZrg

    Either she drinks or she has some major cognitive problem (eg a stroke, as you say)
    Doesn't look drunk, just looks and is very old. the fact that we can prop up 81 year olds to the extent they can purport to do a serious job, doesn't mean we should. Serious anti struldbrugg legislation needed (actually even struldbruggs were declared legally dead at 80).
    So my wife at 82 should be dead in your musings

    Not dead, just NOT GOVERNING AMERICA
    Can you just imagine @Leon being POTUS?

    Jeez! :lol:
    Better than Trump.
    I'm no fan of Trump but..
  • Good for him

    Matt Hancock
    @MattHancock
    ·
    2m
    Just hearing
    @IPSAUK
    won't allow any MP to open their homes to refugees fleeing Ukraine - despite there being NO extra cost to the taxpayer

    This is absurd and cruel

    I will be writing to IPSA to get this ridiculous decision overturned immediately
    Matt Hancock
    @MattHancock
    ·
    40s
    They say it’s because we can’t sublet. I won’t be subletting: I will be WELCOMING Ukrainians as guests

    https://twitter.com/MattHancock/status/1503796280887332871

    Welcoming them as guests and trousering the £350 per month payment… based on utilising state funded assets
    "NO extra cost to the taxpayer"?
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 51,712
    HYUFD said:

    dixiedean said:

    HYUFD said:

    Sweden today activated national service personnel: anybody who has done military training (national service or professional), irrespective of how long ago, is now under military command.

    We have an unusual civic responsibility (the only other example seems to be Norway) where every Swedish citizen between 16 and 70, men and women, is part of Totalförsvaret (”Total Defence”). We all have to play our part in defending the state. There are three strands:

    1. Military service, already activated (see above)
    2. State war service, all public employees (state, regional and council) are obliged to serve the state in whatever capacity the government deems fit, not yet activated.
    3. Civil war service, everyone else age 16-70 not included in the above two categories, not yet activated

    Sounds pretty authoritarian.

    Have you herring-munching wife-swappers decided to join NATO yet?
    Although most Swedes profess to be agnostic or atheist (the only other country with such a majority being Scotland), it is still a pretty judgemental Lutheran culture. Conforming is inbuilt in Swedish society. What you perceive to be authoritarian, Swedes consider to be safe and comforting.

    We eat a lot of herring. Our sexual habits are probably more tame than your fantasy.

    And No is the very clear answer to your final question.
    56% of Swedes identity as Lutheran and China is much more atheist than even Scotland as is North Korea


    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Sweden
    The Chinese aren't particularly atheist. They may well say they are.
    Their religions were never particularly organised and top-down as ours. But religious based "superstition", or folk beliefs, and private devotions are common.
    China has by far the most atheists in the world.

    Almost 50% of Chinese are convinced atheists, not even agnostic

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/atheists-countries-list-six-world-most-convinced-a6946291.html

    The Communist government discourages organised religion as a challenge to loyalty to the party and certainly organised religion without a government licence.

    Folk religion and Shinto etc is stronger in Japan than China in some surveys though unless it includes belief in a God as with the Abrahamic religions is effectively atheism anyway
    Is God's existence based on facts or opinions?
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    edited March 2022
    TimT said:

    Only two sides.

    Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦
    @IAPonomarenko
    The video reportedly shows a Russian tank firing a round against a single civilian just trying to leave danger zone on foot and openly indicating his non-combatant status.
    Mariupol.
    https://twitter.com/IAPonomarenko/status/1503818024549326851

    This user and posts seem to have been removed from twitter.
    User still there

    https://twitter.com/IAPonomarenko

    And this is the same incident I think

    https://twitter.com/NewsfeedUkraine/status/1503775643061870603
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 51,712
    biggles said:

    Chris Bryant has just called for Aaron Banks to be sanctioned as a Russian “agent of influence”, and notes that Nigel Farage received over £500k from RT in 2018 alone.

    We need to be careful with this stuff. I dislike both men but we can’t have a witch hunt for anyone who ever took any cash from a Russian. Working for Russia Today has always been morally wrong, but it was lawful. I’d we’re not careful this could all get a bit “reds under the bed”.
    In the US, it's the Republicans who are "red" :lol:
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,422
    boulay said:

    Watching the C4 doc on the Jeremy Kyle show having never watched the programme but connected to earlier conversations I’m not sure exactly which punishment suits him:

    The smothering party, early onset dementia, cancer, Nigel Foremain’s Leprechaun beating or just parachuted into Russian troop areas of Mariupol painted in Azov Battalion insignia.

    What a c***

    I always thought Kyle's show was in bad taste.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,503
    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    dixiedean said:

    HYUFD said:

    Sweden today activated national service personnel: anybody who has done military training (national service or professional), irrespective of how long ago, is now under military command.

    We have an unusual civic responsibility (the only other example seems to be Norway) where every Swedish citizen between 16 and 70, men and women, is part of Totalförsvaret (”Total Defence”). We all have to play our part in defending the state. There are three strands:

    1. Military service, already activated (see above)
    2. State war service, all public employees (state, regional and council) are obliged to serve the state in whatever capacity the government deems fit, not yet activated.
    3. Civil war service, everyone else age 16-70 not included in the above two categories, not yet activated

    Sounds pretty authoritarian.

    Have you herring-munching wife-swappers decided to join NATO yet?
    Although most Swedes profess to be agnostic or atheist (the only other country with such a majority being Scotland), it is still a pretty judgemental Lutheran culture. Conforming is inbuilt in Swedish society. What you perceive to be authoritarian, Swedes consider to be safe and comforting.

    We eat a lot of herring. Our sexual habits are probably more tame than your fantasy.

    And No is the very clear answer to your final question.
    56% of Swedes identity as Lutheran and China is much more atheist than even Scotland as is North Korea


    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Sweden
    The Chinese aren't particularly atheist. They may well say they are.
    Their religions were never particularly organised and top-down as ours. But religious based "superstition", or folk beliefs, and private devotions are common.
    China has by far the most atheists in the world.

    Almost 50% of Chinese are convinced atheists, not even agnostic

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/atheists-countries-list-six-world-most-convinced-a6946291.html

    The Communist government discourages organised religion as a challenge to loyalty to the party and certainly organised religion without a government licence.

    Folk religion and Taoism etc is stronger in Japan than China
    I'm in Albania. They are mostly allegedly Muslims but they clearly don't give a f***. Despite the call the prayer you hear from time they seem to like their pork, wine and raki.
    50% of Albanians say religion is important to them however, compared to just 9% of Chinese who say religion is important to them

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Importance_of_religion_by_country
    Of course people in China cannot always express their true views openly. With the way Falun Gong and other religions are treated they have to be very discrete.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 41,872

    biggles said:

    Chris Bryant has just called for Aaron Banks to be sanctioned as a Russian “agent of influence”, and notes that Nigel Farage received over £500k from RT in 2018 alone.

    We need to be careful with this stuff. I dislike both men but we can’t have a witch hunt for anyone who ever took any cash from a Russian. Working for Russia Today has always been morally wrong, but it was lawful. I’d we’re not careful this could all get a bit “reds under the bed”.
    On that note I'd like to point out that I never called for Salmond to be sanctioned.

    I raised his RT work in the hope that the SNats here would finally admit; yep, a wrongun'.

    But it's never happened. It shouldn't be a surprise when they wouldn't even disown him when he had to leave their party and set up a new one because he couldn't keep his hands off the women in his first party (they said that. In detail).

    Why do the Nats here find him impossible to criticise? Is he like a god to them?

    Is he their Boris?
    Your obviously an inattentive dimwit because insofar as there are lots of 'SNats' on here, several of us including me have said his behaviour in office have disqualified him from holding it again (not that theres much chance of that); I certainly won't vote for Alba whatever the circumstances.

    I'm amused by exactly the same people who multiply orgasmed when Salmond was accused of attempted rape & sexual assault, had big, fat,sad faces when he was cleared then pivoted to screeching about the injustice done to the 'best PM the UK never had' now busting a sphincter over his relationship with RT.

    Save your efforts for peering out from the net curtains for the approach of Vlad's goons, sport.
    Can you refer me to a post of yours criticising Salmond that I inattentively ignored?

    I'd love to retract my statement in your direction if you've made one, single critical post regarding his RT employment.

    Obviously ol' Malc would first have to acknowledge his RT employment.
    I couldn't give a toss if you retract your statement or not.
    How are your efforts driving aid to Ukraine going? You might be better employed getting that going rather than sermonising on here.
    I'm waiting for a tranche of redundancy money from my old employer before I spend it on an intensive driving course. I could borrow money to do it, if you'll lend?

    If you want to help get me off here you could donate. I haven't yet set up a page for donations, it'd seem a bit previous like my earlier willingness to cook on the front line now does.

    But if you want to donate, I'll take yours and any other's declaration here like a PB bet.
    I prefer my Don Quixotes a bit less steeped in hysteria and self righteousness.
    I can well understand why you would doubt me now.

    I'll be disappointed if you don't support me once I've proved myself.
    Good luck.
    Personally if I wanted support at some future point I wouldn't stomp about the place accusing folk of being appeasers and collaborators, but that's lil ol me.
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830

    HYUFD said:

    dixiedean said:

    HYUFD said:

    Sweden today activated national service personnel: anybody who has done military training (national service or professional), irrespective of how long ago, is now under military command.

    We have an unusual civic responsibility (the only other example seems to be Norway) where every Swedish citizen between 16 and 70, men and women, is part of Totalförsvaret (”Total Defence”). We all have to play our part in defending the state. There are three strands:

    1. Military service, already activated (see above)
    2. State war service, all public employees (state, regional and council) are obliged to serve the state in whatever capacity the government deems fit, not yet activated.
    3. Civil war service, everyone else age 16-70 not included in the above two categories, not yet activated

    Sounds pretty authoritarian.

    Have you herring-munching wife-swappers decided to join NATO yet?
    Although most Swedes profess to be agnostic or atheist (the only other country with such a majority being Scotland), it is still a pretty judgemental Lutheran culture. Conforming is inbuilt in Swedish society. What you perceive to be authoritarian, Swedes consider to be safe and comforting.

    We eat a lot of herring. Our sexual habits are probably more tame than your fantasy.

    And No is the very clear answer to your final question.
    56% of Swedes identity as Lutheran and China is much more atheist than even Scotland as is North Korea


    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Sweden
    The Chinese aren't particularly atheist. They may well say they are.
    Their religions were never particularly organised and top-down as ours. But religious based "superstition", or folk beliefs, and private devotions are common.
    China has by far the most atheists in the world.

    Almost 50% of Chinese are convinced atheists, not even agnostic

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/atheists-countries-list-six-world-most-convinced-a6946291.html

    The Communist government discourages organised religion as a challenge to loyalty to the party and certainly organised religion without a government licence.

    Folk religion and Shinto etc is stronger in Japan than China in some surveys though unless it includes belief in a God as with the Abrahamic religions is effectively atheism anyway
    Is God's existence based on facts or opinions?
    On Authority.

    HYUFD is a Christian. That's good enough for me.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 81,781
    edited March 2022
    Farage response to claims he got £500k from RT.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9Ar5zwYrTs
  • stjohnstjohn Posts: 1,861
    Anyone watching the Matt Frei led debate on how to respond better to the Ukraine crisis? Currently on Channel 4.
  • TazTaz Posts: 14,287
    stjohn said:

    Anyone watching the Matt Frei led debate on how to respond better to the Ukraine crisis? Currently on Channel 4.

    Great British Menu here.
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 26,142

    Farage response to claims he got £500k from RT.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9Ar5zwYrTs

    Lol

    https://twitter.com/RhonddaBryant/status/1503810252713648130?cxt=HHwWhICzqaLdzd4pAAAA

    Chris Bryant
    @RhonddaBryant
    I have never received a single penny from Russia Today. End of. Ever. Not in any year.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,683
    edited March 2022

    HYUFD said:

    dixiedean said:

    HYUFD said:

    Sweden today activated national service personnel: anybody who has done military training (national service or professional), irrespective of how long ago, is now under military command.

    We have an unusual civic responsibility (the only other example seems to be Norway) where every Swedish citizen between 16 and 70, men and women, is part of Totalförsvaret (”Total Defence”). We all have to play our part in defending the state. There are three strands:

    1. Military service, already activated (see above)
    2. State war service, all public employees (state, regional and council) are obliged to serve the state in whatever capacity the government deems fit, not yet activated.
    3. Civil war service, everyone else age 16-70 not included in the above two categories, not yet activated

    Sounds pretty authoritarian.

    Have you herring-munching wife-swappers decided to join NATO yet?
    Although most Swedes profess to be agnostic or atheist (the only other country with such a majority being Scotland), it is still a pretty judgemental Lutheran culture. Conforming is inbuilt in Swedish society. What you perceive to be authoritarian, Swedes consider to be safe and comforting.

    We eat a lot of herring. Our sexual habits are probably more tame than your fantasy.

    And No is the very clear answer to your final question.
    56% of Swedes identity as Lutheran and China is much more atheist than even Scotland as is North Korea


    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Sweden
    The Chinese aren't particularly atheist. They may well say they are.
    Their religions were never particularly organised and top-down as ours. But religious based "superstition", or folk beliefs, and private devotions are common.
    China has by far the most atheists in the world.

    Almost 50% of Chinese are convinced atheists, not even agnostic

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/atheists-countries-list-six-world-most-convinced-a6946291.html

    The Communist government discourages organised religion as a challenge to loyalty to the party and certainly organised religion without a government licence.

    Folk religion and Shinto etc is stronger in Japan than China in some surveys though unless it includes belief in a God as with the Abrahamic religions is effectively atheism anyway
    Is God's existence based on facts or opinions?
    Neither, in the English State model c. 1540. On Henry VIII's legislation. Still in force today.
  • biggles said:

    Chris Bryant has just called for Aaron Banks to be sanctioned as a Russian “agent of influence”, and notes that Nigel Farage received over £500k from RT in 2018 alone.

    We need to be careful with this stuff. I dislike both men but we can’t have a witch hunt for anyone who ever took any cash from a Russian. Working for Russia Today has always been morally wrong, but it was lawful. I’d we’re not careful this could all get a bit “reds under the bed”.
    On that note I'd like to point out that I never called for Salmond to be sanctioned.

    I raised his RT work in the hope that the SNats here would finally admit; yep, a wrongun'.

    But it's never happened. It shouldn't be a surprise when they wouldn't even disown him when he had to leave their party and set up a new one because he couldn't keep his hands off the women in his first party (they said that. In detail).

    Why do the Nats here find him impossible to criticise? Is he like a god to them?

    Is he their Boris?
    Your obviously an inattentive dimwit because insofar as there are lots of 'SNats' on here, several of us including me have said his behaviour in office have disqualified him from holding it again (not that theres much chance of that); I certainly won't vote for Alba whatever the circumstances.

    I'm amused by exactly the same people who multiply orgasmed when Salmond was accused of attempted rape & sexual assault, had big, fat,sad faces when he was cleared then pivoted to screeching about the injustice done to the 'best PM the UK never had' now busting a sphincter over his relationship with RT.

    Save your efforts for peering out from the net curtains for the approach of Vlad's goons, sport.
    Can you refer me to a post of yours criticising Salmond that I inattentively ignored?

    I'd love to retract my statement in your direction if you've made one, single critical post regarding his RT employment.

    Obviously ol' Malc would first have to acknowledge his RT employment.
    I couldn't give a toss if you retract your statement or not.
    How are your efforts driving aid to Ukraine going? You might be better employed getting that going rather than sermonising on here.
    I'm waiting for a tranche of redundancy money from my old employer before I spend it on an intensive driving course. I could borrow money to do it, if you'll lend?

    If you want to help get me off here you could donate. I haven't yet set up a page for donations, it'd seem a bit previous like my earlier willingness to cook on the front line now does.

    But if you want to donate, I'll take yours and any other's declaration here like a PB bet.
    I prefer my Don Quixotes a bit less steeped in hysteria and self righteousness.
    I can well understand why you would doubt me now.

    I'll be disappointed if you don't support me once I've proved myself.
    Good luck.
    Personally if I wanted support at some future point I wouldn't stomp about the place accusing folk of being appeasers and collaborators, but that's lil ol me.
    I'm usually willing to see the other side. Even though I'm a unionist, I absolutely understand the desire for an independent Scotland. It'd be bizarre for anyone who voted for Brexit not to understand that. I understood why Remainers wanted to stay in the EU - I did quite a lot, just not enough - how could I not when I want Scotland to stay in the UK.

    Right now there aren't shades; it's good versus evil.

    Right now I'm trying to aim my fire at Russia, and things or people that are helping Russia. People working for RT recently are helping Russia. People blaming NATO are helping Russia. People blaming Israel are helping Russia.

    I'm not saying you've done any of these things, but when I've attacked those things you've attacked me.

    I know what side I'm on.
  • JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 6,230
    Taz said:

    Taz said:

    HYUFD said:

    dixiedean said:

    HYUFD said:

    Sweden today activated national service personnel: anybody who has done military training (national service or professional), irrespective of how long ago, is now under military command.

    We have an unusual civic responsibility (the only other example seems to be Norway) where every Swedish citizen between 16 and 70, men and women, is part of Totalförsvaret (”Total Defence”). We all have to play our part in defending the state. There are three strands:

    1. Military service, already activated (see above)
    2. State war service, all public employees (state, regional and council) are obliged to serve the state in whatever capacity the government deems fit, not yet activated.
    3. Civil war service, everyone else age 16-70 not included in the above two categories, not yet activated

    Sounds pretty authoritarian.

    Have you herring-munching wife-swappers decided to join NATO yet?
    Although most Swedes profess to be agnostic or atheist (the only other country with such a majority being Scotland), it is still a pretty judgemental Lutheran culture. Conforming is inbuilt in Swedish society. What you perceive to be authoritarian, Swedes consider to be safe and comforting.

    We eat a lot of herring. Our sexual habits are probably more tame than your fantasy.

    And No is the very clear answer to your final question.
    56% of Swedes identity as Lutheran and China is much more atheist than even Scotland as is North Korea


    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Sweden
    The Chinese aren't particularly atheist. They may well say they are.
    Their religions were never particularly organised and top-down as ours. But religious based "superstition", or folk beliefs, and private devotions are common.
    China has by far the most atheists in the world.

    Almost 50% of Chinese are convinced atheists, not even agnostic

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/atheists-countries-list-six-world-most-convinced-a6946291.html

    The Communist government discourages organised religion as a challenge to loyalty to the party and certainly organised religion without a government licence.

    Folk religion and Taoism etc is stronger in Japan than China
    I'm in Albania. They are mostly allegedly Muslims but they clearly don't give a f***. Despite the call the prayer you hear from time they seem to like their pork, wine and raki.
    Ooh, enjoy. I love Raki.
    I have a baklava and raki moment coming up
    Enjoy. I’m more than a little envious.
    It was nice. Albania is a great east-meets-west little place. Democratic prices, too.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 41,872

    Farage response to claims he got £500k from RT.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9Ar5zwYrTs

    On top of Arron's money?! Expensive date, hope he puts out.


  • JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 6,230

    Good for him

    Matt Hancock
    @MattHancock
    ·
    2m
    Just hearing
    @IPSAUK
    won't allow any MP to open their homes to refugees fleeing Ukraine - despite there being NO extra cost to the taxpayer

    This is absurd and cruel

    I will be writing to IPSA to get this ridiculous decision overturned immediately
    Matt Hancock
    @MattHancock
    ·
    40s
    They say it’s because we can’t sublet. I won’t be subletting: I will be WELCOMING Ukrainians as guests

    https://twitter.com/MattHancock/status/1503796280887332871

    Welcoming them as guests and trousering the £350 per month payment… based on utilising state funded assets
    The £350 is presumably defined as expenses.
  • TazTaz Posts: 14,287

    Taz said:

    Taz said:

    HYUFD said:

    dixiedean said:

    HYUFD said:

    Sweden today activated national service personnel: anybody who has done military training (national service or professional), irrespective of how long ago, is now under military command.

    We have an unusual civic responsibility (the only other example seems to be Norway) where every Swedish citizen between 16 and 70, men and women, is part of Totalförsvaret (”Total Defence”). We all have to play our part in defending the state. There are three strands:

    1. Military service, already activated (see above)
    2. State war service, all public employees (state, regional and council) are obliged to serve the state in whatever capacity the government deems fit, not yet activated.
    3. Civil war service, everyone else age 16-70 not included in the above two categories, not yet activated

    Sounds pretty authoritarian.

    Have you herring-munching wife-swappers decided to join NATO yet?
    Although most Swedes profess to be agnostic or atheist (the only other country with such a majority being Scotland), it is still a pretty judgemental Lutheran culture. Conforming is inbuilt in Swedish society. What you perceive to be authoritarian, Swedes consider to be safe and comforting.

    We eat a lot of herring. Our sexual habits are probably more tame than your fantasy.

    And No is the very clear answer to your final question.
    56% of Swedes identity as Lutheran and China is much more atheist than even Scotland as is North Korea


    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Sweden
    The Chinese aren't particularly atheist. They may well say they are.
    Their religions were never particularly organised and top-down as ours. But religious based "superstition", or folk beliefs, and private devotions are common.
    China has by far the most atheists in the world.

    Almost 50% of Chinese are convinced atheists, not even agnostic

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/atheists-countries-list-six-world-most-convinced-a6946291.html

    The Communist government discourages organised religion as a challenge to loyalty to the party and certainly organised religion without a government licence.

    Folk religion and Taoism etc is stronger in Japan than China
    I'm in Albania. They are mostly allegedly Muslims but they clearly don't give a f***. Despite the call the prayer you hear from time they seem to like their pork, wine and raki.
    Ooh, enjoy. I love Raki.
    I have a baklava and raki moment coming up
    Enjoy. I’m more than a little envious.
    It was nice. Albania is a great east-meets-west little place. Democratic prices, too.
    We’re in Montenegro in September. We’re hoping it will be the Albania.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,294

    Farage response to claims he got £500k from RT.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9Ar5zwYrTs

    I note he doesn’t rule out receiving money before 2018. I believe Bryant was talking about tax returns for 2018 which presumably refer to receipts in 2017.

    But let’s see what Bryant says.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 51,712
    stjohn said:

    Anyone watching the Matt Frei led debate on how to respond better to the Ukraine crisis? Currently on Channel 4.

    Yes Prime Minister, BBC4
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,575

    Good for him

    Matt Hancock
    @MattHancock
    ·
    2m
    Just hearing
    @IPSAUK
    won't allow any MP to open their homes to refugees fleeing Ukraine - despite there being NO extra cost to the taxpayer

    This is absurd and cruel

    I will be writing to IPSA to get this ridiculous decision overturned immediately
    Matt Hancock
    @MattHancock
    ·
    40s
    They say it’s because we can’t sublet. I won’t be subletting: I will be WELCOMING Ukrainians as guests

    https://twitter.com/MattHancock/status/1503796280887332871

    Welcoming them as guests and trousering the £350 per month payment… based on utilising state funded assets
    Good for Hancock, provided he does not let his eye wander over to the young ladies of the household
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,575

    HYUFD said:

    dixiedean said:

    HYUFD said:

    Sweden today activated national service personnel: anybody who has done military training (national service or professional), irrespective of how long ago, is now under military command.

    We have an unusual civic responsibility (the only other example seems to be Norway) where every Swedish citizen between 16 and 70, men and women, is part of Totalförsvaret (”Total Defence”). We all have to play our part in defending the state. There are three strands:

    1. Military service, already activated (see above)
    2. State war service, all public employees (state, regional and council) are obliged to serve the state in whatever capacity the government deems fit, not yet activated.
    3. Civil war service, everyone else age 16-70 not included in the above two categories, not yet activated

    Sounds pretty authoritarian.

    Have you herring-munching wife-swappers decided to join NATO yet?
    Although most Swedes profess to be agnostic or atheist (the only other country with such a majority being Scotland), it is still a pretty judgemental Lutheran culture. Conforming is inbuilt in Swedish society. What you perceive to be authoritarian, Swedes consider to be safe and comforting.

    We eat a lot of herring. Our sexual habits are probably more tame than your fantasy.

    And No is the very clear answer to your final question.
    56% of Swedes identity as Lutheran and China is much more atheist than even Scotland as is North Korea


    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Sweden
    The Chinese aren't particularly atheist. They may well say they are.
    Their religions were never particularly organised and top-down as ours. But religious based "superstition", or folk beliefs, and private devotions are common.
    China has by far the most atheists in the world.

    Almost 50% of Chinese are convinced atheists, not even agnostic

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/atheists-countries-list-six-world-most-convinced-a6946291.html

    The Communist government discourages organised religion as a challenge to loyalty to the party and certainly organised religion without a government licence.

    Folk religion and Shinto etc is stronger in Japan than China in some surveys though unless it includes belief in a God as with the Abrahamic religions is effectively atheism anyway
    Is God's existence based on facts or opinions?
    Neither, faith
  • JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 6,230
    Foxy said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    dixiedean said:

    HYUFD said:

    Sweden today activated national service personnel: anybody who has done military training (national service or professional), irrespective of how long ago, is now under military command.

    We have an unusual civic responsibility (the only other example seems to be Norway) where every Swedish citizen between 16 and 70, men and women, is part of Totalförsvaret (”Total Defence”). We all have to play our part in defending the state. There are three strands:

    1. Military service, already activated (see above)
    2. State war service, all public employees (state, regional and council) are obliged to serve the state in whatever capacity the government deems fit, not yet activated.
    3. Civil war service, everyone else age 16-70 not included in the above two categories, not yet activated

    Sounds pretty authoritarian.

    Have you herring-munching wife-swappers decided to join NATO yet?
    Although most Swedes profess to be agnostic or atheist (the only other country with such a majority being Scotland), it is still a pretty judgemental Lutheran culture. Conforming is inbuilt in Swedish society. What you perceive to be authoritarian, Swedes consider to be safe and comforting.

    We eat a lot of herring. Our sexual habits are probably more tame than your fantasy.

    And No is the very clear answer to your final question.
    56% of Swedes identity as Lutheran and China is much more atheist than even Scotland as is North Korea


    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Sweden
    The Chinese aren't particularly atheist. They may well say they are.
    Their religions were never particularly organised and top-down as ours. But religious based "superstition", or folk beliefs, and private devotions are common.
    China has by far the most atheists in the world.

    Almost 50% of Chinese are convinced atheists, not even agnostic

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/atheists-countries-list-six-world-most-convinced-a6946291.html

    The Communist government discourages organised religion as a challenge to loyalty to the party and certainly organised religion without a government licence.

    Folk religion and Taoism etc is stronger in Japan than China
    I'm in Albania. They are mostly allegedly Muslims but they clearly don't give a f***. Despite the call the prayer you hear from time they seem to like their pork, wine and raki.
    50% of Albanians say religion is important to them however, compared to just 9% of Chinese who say religion is important to them

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Importance_of_religion_by_country
    Of course people in China cannot always express their true views openly. With the way Falun Gong and other religions are treated they have to be very discrete.
    In the Balkans, where ethnicity and religion are closely intertwined, it might make a difference. They are playing a folk music loop in the restaurant I'm in and it sounds pretty Turkish to me. Having said that, some Albanians are Orthodox and in the North, Catholic (apparently along the lines of Theodosius's split between the Eastern and Western Empires).
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,247

    Good for him

    Matt Hancock
    @MattHancock
    ·
    2m
    Just hearing
    @IPSAUK
    won't allow any MP to open their homes to refugees fleeing Ukraine - despite there being NO extra cost to the taxpayer

    This is absurd and cruel

    I will be writing to IPSA to get this ridiculous decision overturned immediately
    Matt Hancock
    @MattHancock
    ·
    40s
    They say it’s because we can’t sublet. I won’t be subletting: I will be WELCOMING Ukrainians as guests

    https://twitter.com/MattHancock/status/1503796280887332871

    Welcoming them as guests and trousering the £350 per month payment… based on utilising state funded assets
    The £350 is presumably defined as expenses.
    Nah, it was just plucked off the side of a bus out of thin air.
  • stjohn said:

    Anyone watching the Matt Frei led debate on how to respond better to the Ukraine crisis? Currently on Channel 4.

    Yes Prime Minister, BBC4
    I think Paul Eddington might be the best comedy actor. YM/YPM and The Good Life are my two favourite sitcoms of all time.
  • JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 6,230

    Foxy said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    dixiedean said:

    HYUFD said:

    Sweden today activated national service personnel: anybody who has done military training (national service or professional), irrespective of how long ago, is now under military command.

    We have an unusual civic responsibility (the only other example seems to be Norway) where every Swedish citizen between 16 and 70, men and women, is part of Totalförsvaret (”Total Defence”). We all have to play our part in defending the state. There are three strands:

    1. Military service, already activated (see above)
    2. State war service, all public employees (state, regional and council) are obliged to serve the state in whatever capacity the government deems fit, not yet activated.
    3. Civil war service, everyone else age 16-70 not included in the above two categories, not yet activated

    Sounds pretty authoritarian.

    Have you herring-munching wife-swappers decided to join NATO yet?
    Although most Swedes profess to be agnostic or atheist (the only other country with such a majority being Scotland), it is still a pretty judgemental Lutheran culture. Conforming is inbuilt in Swedish society. What you perceive to be authoritarian, Swedes consider to be safe and comforting.

    We eat a lot of herring. Our sexual habits are probably more tame than your fantasy.

    And No is the very clear answer to your final question.
    56% of Swedes identity as Lutheran and China is much more atheist than even Scotland as is North Korea


    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Sweden
    The Chinese aren't particularly atheist. They may well say they are.
    Their religions were never particularly organised and top-down as ours. But religious based "superstition", or folk beliefs, and private devotions are common.
    China has by far the most atheists in the world.

    Almost 50% of Chinese are convinced atheists, not even agnostic

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/atheists-countries-list-six-world-most-convinced-a6946291.html

    The Communist government discourages organised religion as a challenge to loyalty to the party and certainly organised religion without a government licence.

    Folk religion and Taoism etc is stronger in Japan than China
    I'm in Albania. They are mostly allegedly Muslims but they clearly don't give a f***. Despite the call the prayer you hear from time they seem to like their pork, wine and raki.
    50% of Albanians say religion is important to them however, compared to just 9% of Chinese who say religion is important to them

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Importance_of_religion_by_country
    Of course people in China cannot always express their true views openly. With the way Falun Gong and other religions are treated they have to be very discrete.
    In the Balkans, where ethnicity and religion are closely intertwined, it might make a difference. They are playing a folk music loop in the restaurant I'm in and it sounds pretty Turkish to me. Having said that, some Albanians are Orthodox and in the North, Catholic (apparently along the lines of Theodosius's split between the Eastern and Western Empires).
    Although I have spotted a couple of icons so they are probably Orthodox here.
  • Stark_DawningStark_Dawning Posts: 9,673

    Farage response to claims he got £500k from RT.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9Ar5zwYrTs

    I note he doesn’t rule out receiving money before 2018. I believe Bryant was talking about tax returns for 2018 which presumably refer to receipts in 2017.

    But let’s see what Bryant says.
    Nige asserts elsewhere that he only received a few grand from RT in previous years.

    “I had two small appearance fees back then, well under £5,000. Not appeared since.”

    He added: “I didn’t do anything with RT in 2018.”

    Asked when he received the “two small appearance fees” he referred to in his initial statement, Farage said: “Different years, a couple of bits of business in 2016 and 2017.”


    https://www.thenational.scot/news/19995622.nigel-farage-dismisses-labour-mp-chris-bryants-claims-payments-russian-state/

    True or not, I suspect this allegation was leaked to Bryant indirectly by the Kremlin. Having achieved Brexit, it's certainly now in Putin's interest to put Farage in a bad light - demoralizing Leavers and spreading more confusion and acrimony.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 51,712
    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    dixiedean said:

    HYUFD said:

    Sweden today activated national service personnel: anybody who has done military training (national service or professional), irrespective of how long ago, is now under military command.

    We have an unusual civic responsibility (the only other example seems to be Norway) where every Swedish citizen between 16 and 70, men and women, is part of Totalförsvaret (”Total Defence”). We all have to play our part in defending the state. There are three strands:

    1. Military service, already activated (see above)
    2. State war service, all public employees (state, regional and council) are obliged to serve the state in whatever capacity the government deems fit, not yet activated.
    3. Civil war service, everyone else age 16-70 not included in the above two categories, not yet activated

    Sounds pretty authoritarian.

    Have you herring-munching wife-swappers decided to join NATO yet?
    Although most Swedes profess to be agnostic or atheist (the only other country with such a majority being Scotland), it is still a pretty judgemental Lutheran culture. Conforming is inbuilt in Swedish society. What you perceive to be authoritarian, Swedes consider to be safe and comforting.

    We eat a lot of herring. Our sexual habits are probably more tame than your fantasy.

    And No is the very clear answer to your final question.
    56% of Swedes identity as Lutheran and China is much more atheist than even Scotland as is North Korea


    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Sweden
    The Chinese aren't particularly atheist. They may well say they are.
    Their religions were never particularly organised and top-down as ours. But religious based "superstition", or folk beliefs, and private devotions are common.
    China has by far the most atheists in the world.

    Almost 50% of Chinese are convinced atheists, not even agnostic

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/atheists-countries-list-six-world-most-convinced-a6946291.html

    The Communist government discourages organised religion as a challenge to loyalty to the party and certainly organised religion without a government licence.

    Folk religion and Shinto etc is stronger in Japan than China in some surveys though unless it includes belief in a God as with the Abrahamic religions is effectively atheism anyway
    Is God's existence based on facts or opinions?
    Neither, faith
    That's your opinion.
  • JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 6,230
    Taz said:

    Taz said:

    Taz said:

    HYUFD said:

    dixiedean said:

    HYUFD said:

    Sweden today activated national service personnel: anybody who has done military training (national service or professional), irrespective of how long ago, is now under military command.

    We have an unusual civic responsibility (the only other example seems to be Norway) where every Swedish citizen between 16 and 70, men and women, is part of Totalförsvaret (”Total Defence”). We all have to play our part in defending the state. There are three strands:

    1. Military service, already activated (see above)
    2. State war service, all public employees (state, regional and council) are obliged to serve the state in whatever capacity the government deems fit, not yet activated.
    3. Civil war service, everyone else age 16-70 not included in the above two categories, not yet activated

    Sounds pretty authoritarian.

    Have you herring-munching wife-swappers decided to join NATO yet?
    Although most Swedes profess to be agnostic or atheist (the only other country with such a majority being Scotland), it is still a pretty judgemental Lutheran culture. Conforming is inbuilt in Swedish society. What you perceive to be authoritarian, Swedes consider to be safe and comforting.

    We eat a lot of herring. Our sexual habits are probably more tame than your fantasy.

    And No is the very clear answer to your final question.
    56% of Swedes identity as Lutheran and China is much more atheist than even Scotland as is North Korea


    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Sweden
    The Chinese aren't particularly atheist. They may well say they are.
    Their religions were never particularly organised and top-down as ours. But religious based "superstition", or folk beliefs, and private devotions are common.
    China has by far the most atheists in the world.

    Almost 50% of Chinese are convinced atheists, not even agnostic

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/atheists-countries-list-six-world-most-convinced-a6946291.html

    The Communist government discourages organised religion as a challenge to loyalty to the party and certainly organised religion without a government licence.

    Folk religion and Taoism etc is stronger in Japan than China
    I'm in Albania. They are mostly allegedly Muslims but they clearly don't give a f***. Despite the call the prayer you hear from time they seem to like their pork, wine and raki.
    Ooh, enjoy. I love Raki.
    I have a baklava and raki moment coming up
    Enjoy. I’m more than a little envious.
    It was nice. Albania is a great east-meets-west little place. Democratic prices, too.
    We’re in Montenegro in September. We’re hoping it will be the Albania.
    I have restricted myself to Tirana and the South. Northern Albania, Montenegro, Macedonia, Kosovo can be fitted into a longer trip round the Balkans.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,456
    A good read on military land-based deployment and support logistics:

    https://www.tanknology.co.uk/post/self-deploying-afvs

    Oh, and this is for reasonably modern Western kit, not the 40 or 50 year old Soviet stuff we are seeing the Russians fielding in Ukraine at the moment.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,247

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    dixiedean said:

    HYUFD said:

    Sweden today activated national service personnel: anybody who has done military training (national service or professional), irrespective of how long ago, is now under military command.

    We have an unusual civic responsibility (the only other example seems to be Norway) where every Swedish citizen between 16 and 70, men and women, is part of Totalförsvaret (”Total Defence”). We all have to play our part in defending the state. There are three strands:

    1. Military service, already activated (see above)
    2. State war service, all public employees (state, regional and council) are obliged to serve the state in whatever capacity the government deems fit, not yet activated.
    3. Civil war service, everyone else age 16-70 not included in the above two categories, not yet activated

    Sounds pretty authoritarian.

    Have you herring-munching wife-swappers decided to join NATO yet?
    Although most Swedes profess to be agnostic or atheist (the only other country with such a majority being Scotland), it is still a pretty judgemental Lutheran culture. Conforming is inbuilt in Swedish society. What you perceive to be authoritarian, Swedes consider to be safe and comforting.

    We eat a lot of herring. Our sexual habits are probably more tame than your fantasy.

    And No is the very clear answer to your final question.
    56% of Swedes identity as Lutheran and China is much more atheist than even Scotland as is North Korea


    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Sweden
    The Chinese aren't particularly atheist. They may well say they are.
    Their religions were never particularly organised and top-down as ours. But religious based "superstition", or folk beliefs, and private devotions are common.
    China has by far the most atheists in the world.

    Almost 50% of Chinese are convinced atheists, not even agnostic

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/atheists-countries-list-six-world-most-convinced-a6946291.html

    The Communist government discourages organised religion as a challenge to loyalty to the party and certainly organised religion without a government licence.

    Folk religion and Shinto etc is stronger in Japan than China in some surveys though unless it includes belief in a God as with the Abrahamic religions is effectively atheism anyway
    Is God's existence based on facts or opinions?
    Neither, faith
    That's your opinion.
    'I forgive you, let's go home.'
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,683
    Sandpit said:

    A good read on military land-based deployment and support logistics:

    https://www.tanknology.co.uk/post/self-deploying-afvs

    Oh, and this is for reasonably modern Western kit, not the 40 or 50 year old Soviet stuff we are seeing the Russians fielding in Ukraine at the moment.

    Oh, that is an interesting site - the statistical armour and turret cage postings were very interesting.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,456

    Good for him

    Matt Hancock
    @MattHancock
    ·
    2m
    Just hearing
    @IPSAUK
    won't allow any MP to open their homes to refugees fleeing Ukraine - despite there being NO extra cost to the taxpayer

    This is absurd and cruel

    I will be writing to IPSA to get this ridiculous decision overturned immediately
    Matt Hancock
    @MattHancock
    ·
    40s
    They say it’s because we can’t sublet. I won’t be subletting: I will be WELCOMING Ukrainians as guests

    https://twitter.com/MattHancock/status/1503796280887332871

    Welcoming them as guests and trousering the £350 per month payment… based on utilising state funded assets
    I imagine that ministers taking red boxes home should be briefed on security issues, but MPs do seem to forget why we needed to have an IPSA in the first place.

    How many MPs are offering their constituency homes, rather than their London homes, and is there a way to decline the £350 payment?
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 53,751

    HYUFD said:

    dixiedean said:

    HYUFD said:

    Sweden today activated national service personnel: anybody who has done military training (national service or professional), irrespective of how long ago, is now under military command.

    We have an unusual civic responsibility (the only other example seems to be Norway) where every Swedish citizen between 16 and 70, men and women, is part of Totalförsvaret (”Total Defence”). We all have to play our part in defending the state. There are three strands:

    1. Military service, already activated (see above)
    2. State war service, all public employees (state, regional and council) are obliged to serve the state in whatever capacity the government deems fit, not yet activated.
    3. Civil war service, everyone else age 16-70 not included in the above two categories, not yet activated

    Sounds pretty authoritarian.

    Have you herring-munching wife-swappers decided to join NATO yet?
    Although most Swedes profess to be agnostic or atheist (the only other country with such a majority being Scotland), it is still a pretty judgemental Lutheran culture. Conforming is inbuilt in Swedish society. What you perceive to be authoritarian, Swedes consider to be safe and comforting.

    We eat a lot of herring. Our sexual habits are probably more tame than your fantasy.

    And No is the very clear answer to your final question.
    56% of Swedes identity as Lutheran and China is much more atheist than even Scotland as is North Korea


    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Sweden
    The Chinese aren't particularly atheist. They may well say they are.
    Their religions were never particularly organised and top-down as ours. But religious based "superstition", or folk beliefs, and private devotions are common.
    China has by far the most atheists in the world.

    Almost 50% of Chinese are convinced atheists, not even agnostic

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/atheists-countries-list-six-world-most-convinced-a6946291.html

    The Communist government discourages organised religion as a challenge to loyalty to the party and certainly organised religion without a government licence.

    Folk religion and Shinto etc is stronger in Japan than China in some surveys though unless it includes belief in a God as with the Abrahamic religions is effectively atheism anyway
    Is God's existence based on facts or opinions?
    Hmm. He doesn’t exist that is a fact. Opinions on this fact differ.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,456
    Carnyx said:

    Sandpit said:

    A good read on military land-based deployment and support logistics:

    https://www.tanknology.co.uk/post/self-deploying-afvs

    Oh, and this is for reasonably modern Western kit, not the 40 or 50 year old Soviet stuff we are seeing the Russians fielding in Ukraine at the moment.

    Oh, that is an interesting site - the statistical armour and turret cage postings were very interesting.
    Yes, I had it bookmarked after someone (I think here) linked to the turret cages post the other day.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 53,751
    Sandpit said:

    A good read on military land-based deployment and support logistics:

    https://www.tanknology.co.uk/post/self-deploying-afvs

    Oh, and this is for reasonably modern Western kit, not the 40 or 50 year old Soviet stuff we are seeing the Russians fielding in Ukraine at the moment.

    We begin to see why the Russians have made almost no progress for yet another day.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 18,217
    Prime Minister of Poland calling for a NATO peacekeeping mission in Ukraine at a press conference in Kyiv.
    https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1503847327521554435
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,422
    DavidL said:

    Sandpit said:

    A good read on military land-based deployment and support logistics:

    https://www.tanknology.co.uk/post/self-deploying-afvs

    Oh, and this is for reasonably modern Western kit, not the 40 or 50 year old Soviet stuff we are seeing the Russians fielding in Ukraine at the moment.

    We begin to see why the Russians have made almost no progress for yet another day.
    Hopefully this'll go down in history as one of the most ill-judged military campaigns of all time.
  • FishingFishing Posts: 4,993

    HYUFD said:

    dixiedean said:

    HYUFD said:

    Sweden today activated national service personnel: anybody who has done military training (national service or professional), irrespective of how long ago, is now under military command.

    We have an unusual civic responsibility (the only other example seems to be Norway) where every Swedish citizen between 16 and 70, men and women, is part of Totalförsvaret (”Total Defence”). We all have to play our part in defending the state. There are three strands:

    1. Military service, already activated (see above)
    2. State war service, all public employees (state, regional and council) are obliged to serve the state in whatever capacity the government deems fit, not yet activated.
    3. Civil war service, everyone else age 16-70 not included in the above two categories, not yet activated

    Sounds pretty authoritarian.

    Have you herring-munching wife-swappers decided to join NATO yet?
    Although most Swedes profess to be agnostic or atheist (the only other country with such a majority being Scotland), it is still a pretty judgemental Lutheran culture. Conforming is inbuilt in Swedish society. What you perceive to be authoritarian, Swedes consider to be safe and comforting.

    We eat a lot of herring. Our sexual habits are probably more tame than your fantasy.

    And No is the very clear answer to your final question.
    56% of Swedes identity as Lutheran and China is much more atheist than even Scotland as is North Korea


    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Sweden
    The Chinese aren't particularly atheist. They may well say they are.
    Their religions were never particularly organised and top-down as ours. But religious based "superstition", or folk beliefs, and private devotions are common.
    China has by far the most atheists in the world.

    Almost 50% of Chinese are convinced atheists, not even agnostic

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/atheists-countries-list-six-world-most-convinced-a6946291.html

    The Communist government discourages organised religion as a challenge to loyalty to the party and certainly organised religion without a government licence.

    Folk religion and Shinto etc is stronger in Japan than China in some surveys though unless it includes belief in a God as with the Abrahamic religions is effectively atheism anyway
    Is God's existence based on facts or opinions?
    Religious people have on average significantly lower levels of education and lower levels of intelligence than agnostics/atheists. That's a fact. Draw your own opinions from that.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,422

    When Trump wins in 2024, Europe will face three authoritarian/fascist world powers alone.

    Bleak.

    I don't think Trump is either of those things. He's a populist and a nationalist.
  • ApplicantApplicant Posts: 3,379
    POMUWAS.
  • philiphphiliph Posts: 4,704

    Good for him

    Matt Hancock
    @MattHancock
    ·
    2m
    Just hearing
    @IPSAUK
    won't allow any MP to open their homes to refugees fleeing Ukraine - despite there being NO extra cost to the taxpayer

    This is absurd and cruel

    I will be writing to IPSA to get this ridiculous decision overturned immediately
    Matt Hancock
    @MattHancock
    ·
    40s
    They say it’s because we can’t sublet. I won’t be subletting: I will be WELCOMING Ukrainians as guests

    https://twitter.com/MattHancock/status/1503796280887332871

    Welcoming them as guests and trousering the £350 per month payment… based on utilising state funded assets
    The £350 is presumably defined as expenses.
    Best described as the same 350.00 offered to anyone.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 95,979

    stjohn said:

    Anyone watching the Matt Frei led debate on how to respond better to the Ukraine crisis? Currently on Channel 4.

    Yes Prime Minister, BBC4
    I think Paul Eddington might be the best comedy actor. YM/YPM and The Good Life are my two favourite sitcoms of all time.

    stjohn said:

    Anyone watching the Matt Frei led debate on how to respond better to the Ukraine crisis? Currently on Channel 4.

    Yes Prime Minister, BBC4
    I think Paul Eddington might be the best comedy actor. YM/YPM and The Good Life are my two favourite sitcoms of all time.
    His ability to deliver what amounted to several lines of speech just through facial expressions was amazing. Mind you he had great back up in the rest of the cast.
    He could also play the straight man role, but also be the more comic foil if needed, not easy.
  • FlatlanderFlatlander Posts: 4,622
    Leon said:

    Foxy said:

    boulay said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    I’ve read on here that Biden, Trump, Clinton, Johnson, Pelosi, Corbyn and even I think Sturgeon are suffering from dementia, strokes, or other brain-impairing illnesses.

    It’s utter bullshit.

    Biden: if that were your dad you'd be having a word with his GP. Harold Wilson and Ronald reagan we know for certain were demented in office. Others:

    "Five percent of people ages 71 to 79, 24.2 percent of people 80 to 89, and 37.4 percent of those 90 years or older were estimated to have some type of dementia."

    https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/one-seven-americans-age-71-older-has-some-type-dementia-nih-funded-study-estimates

    Those odds easily, easily justify a 70 (or 75 absolutely max) cut off for holding office. So you don't have to assess on a case by case basis.
    I’m sure there is some cognitive decline as politicians age, and indeed are stressed by the demands of the job.

    But every time I watch one of these videos - including the Pelosi one - I just see someone occasionally forgetting a word.

    I do it myself.

    Everyone has off-days, especially 70-somethings.
    So assuming there are adequate numbers of under 70s, which there are, retire the 70 somethings as a precaution. There's a lower bound for US presidents, why no upper one?
    What precaution, precisely, are we guarding against? A babbled press conference?
    Dementia. You are plainly in the happy position of never having known anyone with a serious case. i can promise you it goes way beyond babbling at conferences.
    Absolutely - for the last two years of my father’s life he could go from being incredibly sharp and on the ball re politics or general life to a dribbling mess who insisted I was my brother. It could be a switch in the space of a day, over a few days or weeks.

    It’s easy to put it down to just “getting old” but it can take a while to realise what’s really going on and so there is clearly a risk that someone can be elected where “mis-speaks” are laughed off to a real problem where the president is wearing one black brogue and one cherry red penny loafer to thinking he’s Peppa Pig during an essential briefing.

    It’s a grim reality but the consequences are huge especially when it’s not your dad having an issue remembering why you are taking them for a hospital appointment but instead when they are supposed to be digesting intelligence briefs and maybe declaring war…..
    A friend lost her mother to dementia last week. She had been unable to recognise her daughter for the last couple of years, but her mothers husband reckoned it started 19 years before, just no one noticed but him.
    My mother in law has it. Sometimes she's in a vaguely reasonable mood even though she doesn't really know who anyone is but most of the time it is terrible. "I want to be dead" is all to frequent, as is being surprisingly rough, even with her husband of nearly 70 years. We've had to hide all the knives.

    What can you do? I'm quite sure if we went back 20 years she'd quite readily have told us to head for Switzerland but that isn't an option now.

    The NHS seems to shrug and treat it as a social care problem and not an illness. And care homes however hard they try aren't really a suitable place to dump people, particularly in a pandemic when visiting is heavily limited.

    Utter nightmare for all concerned. Cancer, however bad, has nothing on this.

    We desperately need to do more research on it as the population gets older. My money is on it being virus or pathogen triggered, but who knows...

    The rural English used to have “smothering parties”. Where a whole village would come round, get wildly drunk, then briskly suffocate the elderly demented person under blankets. Job done. No questions asked

    Arguably more merciful than what we do today. Keep people alive for years, in grave mental pain
    I would certainly trust a village 'jury' who knew someone as a member of the community to do the right thing far more than the social care system that doesn't know them from Eve, and probably also more than the close family.

    I do wonder where we lost our way on this. Perhaps we (as a society) are too distant from reality, even after a pandemic. It is much easier to take an extremist 'life at all costs' position when you hide all the problems away.

    As an aside, I do know that not everyone with dementia has behavioural problems. A neighbour also had it and was "fine" living at home until the end. I suppose you don't know how it is going to be until it is too late.
  • ThomasNasheThomasNashe Posts: 5,331

    stjohn said:

    Anyone watching the Matt Frei led debate on how to respond better to the Ukraine crisis? Currently on Channel 4.

    Yes Prime Minister, BBC4
    I think Paul Eddington might be the best comedy actor. YM/YPM and The Good Life are my two favourite sitcoms of all time.
    He was good, but his contemporary, Leonard Rossiter was the GOAT. Touched by genius.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 95,979

    When Trump wins in 2024, Europe will face three authoritarian/fascist world powers alone.

    Bleak.

    With some rather dodgy figures in our midst as well.
  • TimTTimT Posts: 6,468

    stjohn said:

    Anyone watching the Matt Frei led debate on how to respond better to the Ukraine crisis? Currently on Channel 4.

    Yes Prime Minister, BBC4
    I think Paul Eddington might be the best comedy actor. YM/YPM and The Good Life are my two favourite sitcoms of all time.
    He was good, but his contemporary, Leonard Rossiter was the GOAT. Touched by genius.
    Reggie Perrin!!!!
  • ThomasNasheThomasNashe Posts: 5,331
    TimT said:

    stjohn said:

    Anyone watching the Matt Frei led debate on how to respond better to the Ukraine crisis? Currently on Channel 4.

    Yes Prime Minister, BBC4
    I think Paul Eddington might be the best comedy actor. YM/YPM and The Good Life are my two favourite sitcoms of all time.
    He was good, but his contemporary, Leonard Rossiter was the GOAT. Touched by genius.
    Reggie Perrin!!!!
    + Rigsby and a highly distinguished stage career.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 95,979
    Andy_JS said:

    DavidL said:

    Sandpit said:

    A good read on military land-based deployment and support logistics:

    https://www.tanknology.co.uk/post/self-deploying-afvs

    Oh, and this is for reasonably modern Western kit, not the 40 or 50 year old Soviet stuff we are seeing the Russians fielding in Ukraine at the moment.

    We begin to see why the Russians have made almost no progress for yet another day.
    Hopefully this'll go down in history as one of the most ill-judged military campaigns of all time.
    Vitaly Gerasimov, give me back my legions.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,280

    TimT said:

    stjohn said:

    Anyone watching the Matt Frei led debate on how to respond better to the Ukraine crisis? Currently on Channel 4.

    Yes Prime Minister, BBC4
    I think Paul Eddington might be the best comedy actor. YM/YPM and The Good Life are my two favourite sitcoms of all time.
    He was good, but his contemporary, Leonard Rossiter was the GOAT. Touched by genius.
    Reggie Perrin!!!!
    + Rigsby and a highly distinguished stage career.
    2001 a space odyssey.
  • ThomasNasheThomasNashe Posts: 5,331

    TimT said:

    stjohn said:

    Anyone watching the Matt Frei led debate on how to respond better to the Ukraine crisis? Currently on Channel 4.

    Yes Prime Minister, BBC4
    I think Paul Eddington might be the best comedy actor. YM/YPM and The Good Life are my two favourite sitcoms of all time.
    He was good, but his contemporary, Leonard Rossiter was the GOAT. Touched by genius.
    Reggie Perrin!!!!
    + Rigsby and a highly distinguished stage career.
    2001 a space odyssey.
    Yes, an interesting cameo.
  • another_richardanother_richard Posts: 26,529

    TimT said:

    stjohn said:

    Anyone watching the Matt Frei led debate on how to respond better to the Ukraine crisis? Currently on Channel 4.

    Yes Prime Minister, BBC4
    I think Paul Eddington might be the best comedy actor. YM/YPM and The Good Life are my two favourite sitcoms of all time.
    He was good, but his contemporary, Leonard Rossiter was the GOAT. Touched by genius.
    Reggie Perrin!!!!
    + Rigsby and a highly distinguished stage career.
    All the cast of Rising Damp was brilliant.

    With excellent guests stars as well.
  • bigglesbiggles Posts: 5,928

    Prime Minister of Poland calling for a NATO peacekeeping mission in Ukraine at a press conference in Kyiv.
    https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1503847327521554435

    Whoever it was (might have been several people) earlier who said this was all a bit 1914 wasn’t wrong.
  • bigglesbiggles Posts: 5,928
    TimT said:

    stjohn said:

    Anyone watching the Matt Frei led debate on how to respond better to the Ukraine crisis? Currently on Channel 4.

    Yes Prime Minister, BBC4
    I think Paul Eddington might be the best comedy actor. YM/YPM and The Good Life are my two favourite sitcoms of all time.
    He was good, but his contemporary, Leonard Rossiter was the GOAT. Touched by genius.
    Reggie Perrin!!!!
    I didn’t get where I am today without appreciating Reggie Perrin.
  • MoonRabbitMoonRabbit Posts: 13,400
    Message intercepted to Moscow from Iranian Committee for Building Relationships with Infidels and Heretics.
    ++Thank you for the £400M of British tax payer money.
    ++We have new markets for our oil despite being gulfs bad guys for goodness knows how long
    ++hard cheese as our new best buddies say
    ++Enjoy hell with the Great Satan

    image
  • bigglesbiggles Posts: 5,928
    Andy_JS said:

    When Trump wins in 2024, Europe will face three authoritarian/fascist world powers alone.

    Bleak.

    I don't think Trump is either of those things. He's a populist and a nationalist.
    And a [redacted].
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,503
    edited March 2022
    biggles said:

    Prime Minister of Poland calling for a NATO peacekeeping mission in Ukraine at a press conference in Kyiv.
    https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1503847327521554435

    Whoever it was (might have been several people) earlier who said this was all a bit 1914 wasn’t wrong.
    Me, I think. To contrast it with all the talk of 1938 appeasement.

    The reality is that all wars are unique. Putin's problem is the failure to recognise sunk costs. He has gone so far that he cannot back out, even though he should.
  • stodgestodge Posts: 13,842

    Prime Minister of Poland calling for a NATO peacekeeping mission in Ukraine at a press conference in Kyiv.
    https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1503847327521554435

    Perhaps a UN peacekeeping force with Jamaican, Indian and Brazilian troops on the streets of Lukhansk, Donetsk and patrolling the Ukraine-Crimea border.

    Can't see it and the thorny question of who pays for it will never be far from the top of the agenda - perhaps ask the UAE or the Qataris to stump or use proceeds from the sale of oligarch assets.

    The truth unfortunately is partition has been used a lot in recent times - it resolves nothing but preserves a peace of sorts.
  • bigglesbiggles Posts: 5,928
    Foxy said:

    biggles said:

    Prime Minister of Poland calling for a NATO peacekeeping mission in Ukraine at a press conference in Kyiv.
    https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1503847327521554435

    Whoever it was (might have been several people) earlier who said this was all a bit 1914 wasn’t wrong.
    Me, I think. To contrast it with all the talk of 1938 appeasement.

    The reality is that all wars are unique. Putin's problem is the failure to recognise sunk costs. He has gone so far that he cannot back out, even though he should.
    You are right that parallels are never exact, but it is just feeling like there’s a lot of overlapping issues and it won’t take a massive miscalculation before we are in a situation the history books will take two chapters to unpack.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,503

    Leon said:

    Foxy said:

    boulay said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    I’ve read on here that Biden, Trump, Clinton, Johnson, Pelosi, Corbyn and even I think Sturgeon are suffering from dementia, strokes, or other brain-impairing illnesses.

    It’s utter bullshit.

    Biden: if that were your dad you'd be having a word with his GP. Harold Wilson and Ronald reagan we know for certain were demented in office. Others:

    "Five percent of people ages 71 to 79, 24.2 percent of people 80 to 89, and 37.4 percent of those 90 years or older were estimated to have some type of dementia."

    https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/one-seven-americans-age-71-older-has-some-type-dementia-nih-funded-study-estimates

    Those odds easily, easily justify a 70 (or 75 absolutely max) cut off for holding office. So you don't have to assess on a case by case basis.
    I’m sure there is some cognitive decline as politicians age, and indeed are stressed by the demands of the job.

    But every time I watch one of these videos - including the Pelosi one - I just see someone occasionally forgetting a word.

    I do it myself.

    Everyone has off-days, especially 70-somethings.
    So assuming there are adequate numbers of under 70s, which there are, retire the 70 somethings as a precaution. There's a lower bound for US presidents, why no upper one?
    What precaution, precisely, are we guarding against? A babbled press conference?
    Dementia. You are plainly in the happy position of never having known anyone with a serious case. i can promise you it goes way beyond babbling at conferences.
    Absolutely - for the last two years of my father’s life he could go from being incredibly sharp and on the ball re politics or general life to a dribbling mess who insisted I was my brother. It could be a switch in the space of a day, over a few days or weeks.

    It’s easy to put it down to just “getting old” but it can take a while to realise what’s really going on and so there is clearly a risk that someone can be elected where “mis-speaks” are laughed off to a real problem where the president is wearing one black brogue and one cherry red penny loafer to thinking he’s Peppa Pig during an essential briefing.

    It’s a grim reality but the consequences are huge especially when it’s not your dad having an issue remembering why you are taking them for a hospital appointment but instead when they are supposed to be digesting intelligence briefs and maybe declaring war…..
    A friend lost her mother to dementia last week. She had been unable to recognise her daughter for the last couple of years, but her mothers husband reckoned it started 19 years before, just no one noticed but him.
    My mother in law has it. Sometimes she's in a vaguely reasonable mood even though she doesn't really know who anyone is but most of the time it is terrible. "I want to be dead" is all to frequent, as is being surprisingly rough, even with her husband of nearly 70 years. We've had to hide all the knives.

    What can you do? I'm quite sure if we went back 20 years she'd quite readily have told us to head for Switzerland but that isn't an option now.

    The NHS seems to shrug and treat it as a social care problem and not an illness. And care homes however hard they try aren't really a suitable place to dump people, particularly in a pandemic when visiting is heavily limited.

    Utter nightmare for all concerned. Cancer, however bad, has nothing on this.

    We desperately need to do more research on it as the population gets older. My money is on it being virus or pathogen triggered, but who knows...

    The rural English used to have “smothering parties”. Where a whole village would come round, get wildly drunk, then briskly suffocate the elderly demented person under blankets. Job done. No questions asked

    Arguably more merciful than what we do today. Keep people alive for years, in grave mental pain
    I would certainly trust a village 'jury' who knew someone as a member of the community to do the right thing far more than the social care system that doesn't know them from Eve, and probably also more than the close family.

    I do wonder where we lost our way on this. Perhaps we (as a society) are too distant from reality, even after a pandemic. It is much easier to take an extremist 'life at all costs' position when you hide all the problems away.

    As an aside, I do know that not everyone with dementia has behavioural problems. A neighbour also had it and was "fine" living at home until the end. I suppose you don't know how it is going to be until it is too late.
    "Life at all costs" is not something that I recognise in UK practice. It is more of a feature in the USA,.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 56,999
    kyf_100 said:

    From yesterday, I note I was laughed at by some for suggesting China's goal was to deprecate the dollar as the world's reserve currency, I see from today's Wall Street Journal that Saudi Arabia is in talks to start pricing its oil in yuan.

    I repeat what I said yesterday - dumb people wage war with tanks, smart people wage war with economics.

    https://twitter.com/WSJ/status/1503755436461371405

    The Yuan can't be the world's reserve currency for two and a half reasons:

    (1) It's not really freely convertible
    (2) If it became the world's reserve currency, others would peg their currencies to it, and therefore China would lose the ability to devalue
    and
    (2.5) The world's reserve currency is pretty much always that of a debtor nation: that is, there needs to be enough of the currency in circulation for people to use it at the reserve. Which requires regular money creation through the act of borrowing.
    (2.75) There aren't enough Yuan denominated assets for people to buy.

  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,503
    biggles said:

    Foxy said:

    biggles said:

    Prime Minister of Poland calling for a NATO peacekeeping mission in Ukraine at a press conference in Kyiv.
    https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1503847327521554435

    Whoever it was (might have been several people) earlier who said this was all a bit 1914 wasn’t wrong.
    Me, I think. To contrast it with all the talk of 1938 appeasement.

    The reality is that all wars are unique. Putin's problem is the failure to recognise sunk costs. He has gone so far that he cannot back out, even though he should.
    You are right that parallels are never exact, but it is just feeling like there’s a lot of overlapping issues and it won’t take a massive miscalculation before we are in a situation the history books will take two chapters to unpack.
    If there is anyone left to write history books...
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 56,999

    Nigelb said:

    WTAF
    The Met just gets worse.

    Racism cited as factor in police strip search of girl, 15, at London school
    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/mar/15/black-girl-racism-police-strip-search-london-school-hackney

    Nothing to see here, we're doing our job, move on.


    Why does her age matter?

    Surely the story is that someone somewhere was searched by someone for some reason?
  • bigglesbiggles Posts: 5,928
    Oh god it’s serious now - Huw Edwards is back leading the news. If war is declared, it’ll be announced by Huw.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,503
    rcs1000 said:

    Nigelb said:

    WTAF
    The Met just gets worse.

    Racism cited as factor in police strip search of girl, 15, at London school
    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/mar/15/black-girl-racism-police-strip-search-london-school-hackney

    Nothing to see here, we're doing our job, move on.


    Why does her age matter?

    Surely the story is that someone somewhere was searched by someone for some reason?
    She is a child, at school and her parents were not informed.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,503
    DavidL said:

    Fishing said:

    HYUFD said:

    dixiedean said:

    HYUFD said:

    Sweden today activated national service personnel: anybody who has done military training (national service or professional), irrespective of how long ago, is now under military command.

    We have an unusual civic responsibility (the only other example seems to be Norway) where every Swedish citizen between 16 and 70, men and women, is part of Totalförsvaret (”Total Defence”). We all have to play our part in defending the state. There are three strands:

    1. Military service, already activated (see above)
    2. State war service, all public employees (state, regional and council) are obliged to serve the state in whatever capacity the government deems fit, not yet activated.
    3. Civil war service, everyone else age 16-70 not included in the above two categories, not yet activated

    Sounds pretty authoritarian.

    Have you herring-munching wife-swappers decided to join NATO yet?
    Although most Swedes profess to be agnostic or atheist (the only other country with such a majority being Scotland), it is still a pretty judgemental Lutheran culture. Conforming is inbuilt in Swedish society. What you perceive to be authoritarian, Swedes consider to be safe and comforting.

    We eat a lot of herring. Our sexual habits are probably more tame than your fantasy.

    And No is the very clear answer to your final question.
    56% of Swedes identity as Lutheran and China is much more atheist than even Scotland as is North Korea


    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Sweden
    The Chinese aren't particularly atheist. They may well say they are.
    Their religions were never particularly organised and top-down as ours. But religious based "superstition", or folk beliefs, and private devotions are common.
    China has by far the most atheists in the world.

    Almost 50% of Chinese are convinced atheists, not even agnostic

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/atheists-countries-list-six-world-most-convinced-a6946291.html

    The Communist government discourages organised religion as a challenge to loyalty to the party and certainly organised religion without a government licence.

    Folk religion and Shinto etc is stronger in Japan than China in some surveys though unless it includes belief in a God as with the Abrahamic religions is effectively atheism anyway
    Is God's existence based on facts or opinions?
    Religious people have on average significantly lower levels of education and lower levels of intelligence than agnostics/atheists. That's a fact. Draw your own opinions from that.
    As on most problems in life Pratchett sums it up perfectly:

    "The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they’ve found it"
    Seek and Ye shall find...

    Christians are often known as Seekers.
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 8,537
    biggles said:

    Oh god it’s serious now - Huw Edwards is back leading the news. If war is declared, it’ll be announced by Huw.

    I thought he was permanent super-sub for London Bridge
  • bigglesbiggles Posts: 5,928
    Foxy said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Nigelb said:

    WTAF
    The Met just gets worse.

    Racism cited as factor in police strip search of girl, 15, at London school
    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/mar/15/black-girl-racism-police-strip-search-london-school-hackney

    Nothing to see here, we're doing our job, move on.


    Why does her age matter?

    Surely the story is that someone somewhere was searched by someone for some reason?
    She is a child, at school and her parents were not informed.
    And not even any other adult present. From a safeguarding point of view, basically all the things the police must not do.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,535
    rcs1000 said:

    kyf_100 said:

    From yesterday, I note I was laughed at by some for suggesting China's goal was to deprecate the dollar as the world's reserve currency, I see from today's Wall Street Journal that Saudi Arabia is in talks to start pricing its oil in yuan.

    I repeat what I said yesterday - dumb people wage war with tanks, smart people wage war with economics.

    https://twitter.com/WSJ/status/1503755436461371405

    The Yuan can't be the world's reserve currency for two and a half reasons:

    (1) It's not really freely convertible
    (2) If it became the world's reserve currency, others would peg their currencies to it, and therefore China would lose the ability to devalue
    and
    (2.5) The world's reserve currency is pretty much always that of a debtor nation: that is, there needs to be enough of the currency in circulation for people to use it at the reserve. Which requires regular money creation through the act of borrowing.
    (2.75) There aren't enough Yuan denominated assets for people to buy.

    The Yaun might be a reserve currency. But not in my lifetime.

    Next.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 53,751
    rcs1000 said:

    Nigelb said:

    WTAF
    The Met just gets worse.

    Racism cited as factor in police strip search of girl, 15, at London school
    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/mar/15/black-girl-racism-police-strip-search-london-school-hackney

    Nothing to see here, we're doing our job, move on.


    Why does her age matter?

    Surely the story is that someone somewhere was searched by someone for some reason?
    You don't think the fact that police thought it appropriate to strip search a 15 year old girl is not significant? Wow.
  • bigglesbiggles Posts: 5,928
    Foxy said:

    biggles said:

    Foxy said:

    biggles said:

    Prime Minister of Poland calling for a NATO peacekeeping mission in Ukraine at a press conference in Kyiv.
    https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1503847327521554435

    Whoever it was (might have been several people) earlier who said this was all a bit 1914 wasn’t wrong.
    Me, I think. To contrast it with all the talk of 1938 appeasement.

    The reality is that all wars are unique. Putin's problem is the failure to recognise sunk costs. He has gone so far that he cannot back out, even though he should.
    You are right that parallels are never exact, but it is just feeling like there’s a lot of overlapping issues and it won’t take a massive miscalculation before we are in a situation the history books will take two chapters to unpack.
    If there is anyone left to write history books...
    I have faith in cockroach evolution.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 51,712

    TimT said:

    stjohn said:

    Anyone watching the Matt Frei led debate on how to respond better to the Ukraine crisis? Currently on Channel 4.

    Yes Prime Minister, BBC4
    I think Paul Eddington might be the best comedy actor. YM/YPM and The Good Life are my two favourite sitcoms of all time.
    He was good, but his contemporary, Leonard Rossiter was the GOAT. Touched by genius.
    Reggie Perrin!!!!
    + Rigsby and a highly distinguished stage career.
    2001 a space odyssey.
    Pink Panther Strikes Again
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830

    TimT said:

    stjohn said:

    Anyone watching the Matt Frei led debate on how to respond better to the Ukraine crisis? Currently on Channel 4.

    Yes Prime Minister, BBC4
    I think Paul Eddington might be the best comedy actor. YM/YPM and The Good Life are my two favourite sitcoms of all time.
    He was good, but his contemporary, Leonard Rossiter was the GOAT. Touched by genius.
    Reggie Perrin!!!!
    + Rigsby and a highly distinguished stage career.
    2001 a space odyssey.
    Yes, an interesting cameo.
    I don't think it counts as a cameo. It is just a minor part from before he was famous.
  • TimTTimT Posts: 6,468
    rcs1000 said:

    Nigelb said:

    WTAF
    The Met just gets worse.

    Racism cited as factor in police strip search of girl, 15, at London school
    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/mar/15/black-girl-racism-police-strip-search-london-school-hackney

    Nothing to see here, we're doing our job, move on.


    Why does her age matter?

    Surely the story is that someone somewhere was searched by someone for some reason?
    A bit more than that. Was searching her in such a manner without parental presence or adult advocate present right at all? Would she have received different treatment by the police were she the blond, blue-eyed daughter of an MP? How do we handle people accused of 'smelling of drugs'?

    Age certainly matters when serious allegations are made, intrusive procedures are followed, and parents are neither informed nor present. Race does matter when there is a suspicious that someone of a different social standing and skin colour would receive different treatment.
  • FlatlanderFlatlander Posts: 4,622
    edited March 2022
    Foxy said:

    Leon said:

    Foxy said:

    boulay said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    I’ve read on here that Biden, Trump, Clinton, Johnson, Pelosi, Corbyn and even I think Sturgeon are suffering from dementia, strokes, or other brain-impairing illnesses.

    It’s utter bullshit.

    Biden: if that were your dad you'd be having a word with his GP. Harold Wilson and Ronald reagan we know for certain were demented in office. Others:

    "Five percent of people ages 71 to 79, 24.2 percent of people 80 to 89, and 37.4 percent of those 90 years or older were estimated to have some type of dementia."

    https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/one-seven-americans-age-71-older-has-some-type-dementia-nih-funded-study-estimates

    Those odds easily, easily justify a 70 (or 75 absolutely max) cut off for holding office. So you don't have to assess on a case by case basis.
    I’m sure there is some cognitive decline as politicians age, and indeed are stressed by the demands of the job.

    But every time I watch one of these videos - including the Pelosi one - I just see someone occasionally forgetting a word.

    I do it myself.

    Everyone has off-days, especially 70-somethings.
    So assuming there are adequate numbers of under 70s, which there are, retire the 70 somethings as a precaution. There's a lower bound for US presidents, why no upper one?
    What precaution, precisely, are we guarding against? A babbled press conference?
    Dementia. You are plainly in the happy position of never having known anyone with a serious case. i can promise you it goes way beyond babbling at conferences.
    Absolutely - for the last two years of my father’s life he could go from being incredibly sharp and on the ball re politics or general life to a dribbling mess who insisted I was my brother. It could be a switch in the space of a day, over a few days or weeks.

    It’s easy to put it down to just “getting old” but it can take a while to realise what’s really going on and so there is clearly a risk that someone can be elected where “mis-speaks” are laughed off to a real problem where the president is wearing one black brogue and one cherry red penny loafer to thinking he’s Peppa Pig during an essential briefing.

    It’s a grim reality but the consequences are huge especially when it’s not your dad having an issue remembering why you are taking them for a hospital appointment but instead when they are supposed to be digesting intelligence briefs and maybe declaring war…..
    A friend lost her mother to dementia last week. She had been unable to recognise her daughter for the last couple of years, but her mothers husband reckoned it started 19 years before, just no one noticed but him.
    My mother in law has it. Sometimes she's in a vaguely reasonable mood even though she doesn't really know who anyone is but most of the time it is terrible. "I want to be dead" is all to frequent, as is being surprisingly rough, even with her husband of nearly 70 years. We've had to hide all the knives.

    What can you do? I'm quite sure if we went back 20 years she'd quite readily have told us to head for Switzerland but that isn't an option now.

    The NHS seems to shrug and treat it as a social care problem and not an illness. And care homes however hard they try aren't really a suitable place to dump people, particularly in a pandemic when visiting is heavily limited.

    Utter nightmare for all concerned. Cancer, however bad, has nothing on this.

    We desperately need to do more research on it as the population gets older. My money is on it being virus or pathogen triggered, but who knows...

    The rural English used to have “smothering parties”. Where a whole village would come round, get wildly drunk, then briskly suffocate the elderly demented person under blankets. Job done. No questions asked

    Arguably more merciful than what we do today. Keep people alive for years, in grave mental pain
    I would certainly trust a village 'jury' who knew someone as a member of the community to do the right thing far more than the social care system that doesn't know them from Eve, and probably also more than the close family.

    I do wonder where we lost our way on this. Perhaps we (as a society) are too distant from reality, even after a pandemic. It is much easier to take an extremist 'life at all costs' position when you hide all the problems away.

    As an aside, I do know that not everyone with dementia has behavioural problems. A neighbour also had it and was "fine" living at home until the end. I suppose you don't know how it is going to be until it is too late.
    "Life at all costs" is not something that I recognise in UK practice. It is more of a feature in the USA,.
    I know it isn't in medical practice - I've also been party to 'does it really help to do anything about this' conversations - but I'm more meaning society in general.

    The pandemic response is an interesting case. I know we can argue a lot about the statistics and the NHS being unable to cope, but it still had an air of saving lives at the cost of life. I was self-locked down throughout (for obvious reasons given this conversation) but still felt rather uncomfortable about the whole business.
  • stodgestodge Posts: 13,842


    The Yaun might be a reserve currency. But not in my lifetime.

    Next.

    How about the Yawn? I always have plenty of those at this time of day. 10 Yawns = 1 Snore. :)
  • Richard_TyndallRichard_Tyndall Posts: 32,344
    Sandpit said:

    Good for him

    Matt Hancock
    @MattHancock
    ·
    2m
    Just hearing
    @IPSAUK
    won't allow any MP to open their homes to refugees fleeing Ukraine - despite there being NO extra cost to the taxpayer

    This is absurd and cruel

    I will be writing to IPSA to get this ridiculous decision overturned immediately
    Matt Hancock
    @MattHancock
    ·
    40s
    They say it’s because we can’t sublet. I won’t be subletting: I will be WELCOMING Ukrainians as guests

    https://twitter.com/MattHancock/status/1503796280887332871

    Welcoming them as guests and trousering the £350 per month payment… based on utilising state funded assets
    I imagine that ministers taking red boxes home should be briefed on security issues, but MPs do seem to forget why we needed to have an IPSA in the first place.

    How many MPs are offering their constituency homes, rather than their London homes, and is there a way to decline the £350 payment?
    I would suggest the best thing to do would be to pass the £350 straight over to whoever you are hosting. Then depending on your circumstances if you are so inclined you can discuss them contributing some back to help pay for food but otherwise they have some money to be able to look after themselves rather than relying entirely on their hosts. It is taxpayer's money and I think most of those who have volunteered so far would do so with or without the cash so better that it goes to the people who are coming here with practically nothing. They have a far greater need.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,422
    edited March 2022
    Placed my first ever bet with Smarkets. £90 on Putin out by 1st May at 10/1. Thanks to OGH for flagging it up a few days ago.

    https://smarkets.com/event/42629619/politics/europe/2025/01/01/00-00/russia/2022/05/01/12-00/putin-to-be-russian-president-on-1-may-2022
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,280
    DavidL said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Nigelb said:

    WTAF
    The Met just gets worse.

    Racism cited as factor in police strip search of girl, 15, at London school
    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/mar/15/black-girl-racism-police-strip-search-london-school-hackney

    Nothing to see here, we're doing our job, move on.


    Why does her age matter?

    Surely the story is that someone somewhere was searched by someone for some reason?
    You don't think the fact that police thought it appropriate to strip search a 15 year old girl is not significant? Wow.
    I think it depends on context, how it was done etc.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,575
    edited March 2022
    Fishing said:

    HYUFD said:

    dixiedean said:

    HYUFD said:

    Sweden today activated national service personnel: anybody who has done military training (national service or professional), irrespective of how long ago, is now under military command.

    We have an unusual civic responsibility (the only other example seems to be Norway) where every Swedish citizen between 16 and 70, men and women, is part of Totalförsvaret (”Total Defence”). We all have to play our part in defending the state. There are three strands:

    1. Military service, already activated (see above)
    2. State war service, all public employees (state, regional and council) are obliged to serve the state in whatever capacity the government deems fit, not yet activated.
    3. Civil war service, everyone else age 16-70 not included in the above two categories, not yet activated

    Sounds pretty authoritarian.

    Have you herring-munching wife-swappers decided to join NATO yet?
    Although most Swedes profess to be agnostic or atheist (the only other country with such a majority being Scotland), it is still a pretty judgemental Lutheran culture. Conforming is inbuilt in Swedish society. What you perceive to be authoritarian, Swedes consider to be safe and comforting.

    We eat a lot of herring. Our sexual habits are probably more tame than your fantasy.

    And No is the very clear answer to your final question.
    56% of Swedes identity as Lutheran and China is much more atheist than even Scotland as is North Korea


    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Sweden
    The Chinese aren't particularly atheist. They may well say they are.
    Their religions were never particularly organised and top-down as ours. But religious based "superstition", or folk beliefs, and private devotions are common.
    China has by far the most atheists in the world.

    Almost 50% of Chinese are convinced atheists, not even agnostic

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/atheists-countries-list-six-world-most-convinced-a6946291.html

    The Communist government discourages organised religion as a challenge to loyalty to the party and certainly organised religion without a government licence.

    Folk religion and Shinto etc is stronger in Japan than China in some surveys though unless it includes belief in a God as with the Abrahamic religions is effectively atheism anyway
    Is God's existence based on facts or opinions?
    Religious people have on average significantly lower levels of education and lower levels of intelligence than agnostics/atheists. That's a fact. Draw your own opinions from that.
    Bullshit.

    A 2017 US study showed Jews, Unitarians, Episcopalian Anglicans, Presbyterians, Lutherans and even Muslims had a significantly higher level of education than the average American and were significantly more likely to be graduates than atheists and agnostics.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religiosity_and_education

    So that is not a fact. Just your ill researched crap
  • FlatlanderFlatlander Posts: 4,622

    Andy_JS said:

    Placed my first ever bet with Smarkets. £90 on Putin out by 1st May at 10/1.

    Oh for so very many reasons I hope you win that one.
    Don't we all!

    What's the best proxy for betting against a nuclear apocalypse? On the grounds that there isn't really a monetary downside...
  • PhilPhil Posts: 2,250

    Sandpit said:

    Good for him

    Matt Hancock
    @MattHancock
    ·
    2m
    Just hearing
    @IPSAUK
    won't allow any MP to open their homes to refugees fleeing Ukraine - despite there being NO extra cost to the taxpayer

    This is absurd and cruel

    I will be writing to IPSA to get this ridiculous decision overturned immediately
    Matt Hancock
    @MattHancock
    ·
    40s
    They say it’s because we can’t sublet. I won’t be subletting: I will be WELCOMING Ukrainians as guests

    https://twitter.com/MattHancock/status/1503796280887332871

    Welcoming them as guests and trousering the £350 per month payment… based on utilising state funded assets
    I imagine that ministers taking red boxes home should be briefed on security issues, but MPs do seem to forget why we needed to have an IPSA in the first place.

    How many MPs are offering their constituency homes, rather than their London homes, and is there a way to decline the £350 payment?
    I would suggest the best thing to do would be to pass the £350 straight over to whoever you are hosting. Then depending on your circumstances if you are so inclined you can discuss them contributing some back to help pay for food but otherwise they have some money to be able to look after themselves rather than relying entirely on their hosts. It is taxpayer's money and I think most of those who have volunteered so far would do so with or without the cash so better that it goes to the people who are coming here with practically nothing. They have a far greater need.
    & in the future, people who have volunteered to host Ukranian refugees could perhaps go on to register with Refugees At Home, a charity that tries to place refugees from all over the world who end up in the homes of volunteers in the UK.
This discussion has been closed.