Andy_JS asked: "Why is the USA pretty much the only Western country that takes weeks to count its votes, instead of hours or days?
First, let me repeat that most American states take days or even hours, so your question should be rephrased as follows: Why do some American states take weeks to count votes while most states count votes in days, or even hours?
And the answer is, usually, because the slow states have longer and more complex ballots, and use mail ballots for all, or a large fraction, of their ballots. Counting mail ballots takes longer, since, among other things, vote counters have to compare signatures, with the signatures on file.
(It's also my impression that few other nations allow write-in votes, which add still another layer of complexity to the counting.
That article would make sense if we were looking at a 60 year old Joe and wondering what he'd be like at 79. We know what he is like at 79. So pointing to other on the ball oldies is like Harold Shipman's defence team fielding hundreds of examples of non-murderer GPs to prove the implausibility of the case against him.
Also, it has this line
"few doubt that Speaker Nancy Pelosi, at age 82, is still at the top of her game"
That article would make sense if we were looking at a 60 year old Joe and wondering what he'd be like at 79. We know what he is like at 79. So pointing to other on the ball oldies is like Harold Shipman's defence team fielding hundreds of examples of non-murderer GPs to prove the implausibility of the case against him.
I'm not endorsing the argument. Just noting that the argument for his running is being put out there.
I'm still not quite sure which way to bet on this. Fortunately I'm green on the market, so can just sit back and wait for opportunities to trade. For now I can't work out whether anyone is mispriced (as Buttigieg was a while back).
Interesting but more interesting is how decisions by Cameron May Johnson and Truss have done more damage to this country than any consecutive group of Prime Ministers in history. They have all but destroyed it. In every case they put personal aggrandisement above the good of the country. Cameron was slightly less culpable and Johnson slightly more but history will judge them equally. The sooner the country is shot of the whole Party -which the surely will-the sooner the reconstruction can start.
Item 1. rejoining the EU. On our knees if necessary
How has the country been "all but destroyed?"
"The worst economic performance since records began'. BBC 5 O'Clock News.
Supply chains 'Thanks to Brexit' the worst ever and Covid is NOT the major cause.
Interesting but more interesting is how decisions by Cameron May Johnson and Truss have done more damage to this country than any consecutive group of Prime Ministers in history. They have all but destroyed it. In every case they put personal aggrandisement above the good of the country. Cameron was slightly less culpable and Johnson slightly more but history will judge them equally. The sooner the country is shot of the whole Party -which the surely will-the sooner the reconstruction can start.
Item 1. rejoining the EU. On our knees if necessary
How has the country been "all but destroyed?"
It is really quite hilarious how the one poster whose professional world is meant to be in touch with public mood seems to be so out of touch with public mood.
Usual economic update. Cafes, restos and pubs everywhere I have been visiting remain ram packed. Predictions of economic woe seem, yet again, wide of the mark....
That article would make sense if we were looking at a 60 year old Joe and wondering what he'd be like at 79. We know what he is like at 79. So pointing to other on the ball oldies is like Harold Shipman's defence team fielding hundreds of examples of non-murderer GPs to prove the implausibility of the case against him.
I'm not endorsing the argument. Just noting that the argument for his running is being put out there.
I'm still not quite sure which way to bet on this. Fortunately I'm green on the market, so can just sit back and wait for opportunities to trade. For now I can't work out whether anyone is mispriced (as Buttigieg was a while back).
No, I understood that. I assumed you were pointing and laughing, which is what it deserves.
Whether a deal has been done with Putin, or not, those scenes in Kherson are spellbinding. What is it about Liberation videos? They have the same power whether they come from France in 1944, or Ukraine in 2022
They must touch something primal and Freudian inside us. The beaten animal yearning to be free, the glorious overthrowing of the oppressor
Yes. And it puts much of what we worry about into perspective. 2nd May 1997 is perhaps our nearest equivalent in recent memory - but even to make such a comparison is absurd and slightly crass.
Very absurd and very crass
Yes. very crass. Actually offensive. For me, the closest comparison to the Kherson Liberation is Brexit Day, Friday 31st January, and the moment Boris won the GE in 2019, when we knew he would Ged Brexit Done
The hideous oppressor was expelled, and the tanks of free movement and the artillery of trade regulations fled across the Channel, like the soldiers across the Dnieper, and it was like having a baby as well
Even more absurdly crass. Only swiveleyed loons like you think the fools charter of Brexit is anything worth celebrating. "Ooo sovereinty sovereignty" we hear the brainwashed fuckwits cry. We already had our sovereignty you gullible thickheads.
We can all agree: we do now.
Thickhead....
I think you and I Mark agree on a lot more than we disagree. We can all be thickheads sometimes. Believing in Brexit in 2016 is excusable, but believing in with what we know now is really just retrospective justification of a poor emotionally driven decision.
As for Leon's original point of abject stupidity: the only parallel between Putin's invasion and Brexit is that both were emotionally driven acts of pointlessness that have resulted in varying degrees of self harm for the main actor
First, let me repeat that most American states take days or even hours, so your question should be rephrased as follows: Why do some American states take weeks to count votes while most states count votes in days, or even hours?
And the answer is, usually, because the slow states have longer and more complex ballots, and use mail ballots for all, or a large fraction, of their ballots. Counting mail ballots takes longer, since, among other things, vote counters have to compare signatures, with the signatures on file.
I get the impression also that the postal voting system in at least some states is not designed for fast counting ? In the UK the postal vote must be received by close-of-polls, and preliminary checks are done as soon as the vote arrives, so counting a postal vote isn't much different from counting an in-person vote. I think I've read that for at least some states as long as the voter *sends* the vote on polling day it must be counted, which is inevitably going to make things slower.
He can keep talking to himself and a few ‘fans’ over there.
Meanwhile, the GOP money men, Fox News, and the NY Post, have all decided that DeSantis is the future, and Trump is yesterday’s man.
The extent of the anger suggests to me that he's going to remain a problem for them. The MAGA crowd might not prove as flexible in their affections as the above bunch.
Interesting but more interesting is how decisions by Cameron May Johnson and Truss have done more damage to this country than any consecutive group of Prime Ministers in history. They have all but destroyed it. In every case they put personal aggrandisement above the good of the country. Cameron was slightly less culpable and Johnson slightly more but history will judge them equally. The sooner the country is shot of the whole Party -which the surely will-the sooner the reconstruction can start.
Item 1. rejoining the EU. On our knees if necessary
How has the country been "all but destroyed?"
It is really quite hilarious how the one poster whose professional world is meant to be in touch with public mood seems to be so out of touch with public mood.
Usual economic update. Cafes, restos and pubs everywhere I have been visiting remain ram packed. Predictions of economic woe seem, yet again, wide of the mark....
I think that’s a symptom of the growing gulf between the haves and the have nots.
paulyork64 asked: "Question. Are Clark County, Washington and Clark County, Nevada named after the same person?"
Clark County, Washington is named after William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. (Reasonably enough, since the expedition came through there. If you are unfamliar with the third-most famous person in the expedition, look here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacagawea )
Clark County, Nevada was named after "William A. Clark, a Montana copper magnate and Democratic U.S. Senator".
(The second William Clark may have been named after the first.)
Whether a deal has been done with Putin, or not, those scenes in Kherson are spellbinding. What is it about Liberation videos? They have the same power whether they come from France in 1944, or Ukraine in 2022
They must touch something primal and Freudian inside us. The beaten animal yearning to be free, the glorious overthrowing of the oppressor
Yes. And it puts much of what we worry about into perspective. 2nd May 1997 is perhaps our nearest equivalent in recent memory - but even to make such a comparison is absurd and slightly crass.
Very absurd and very crass
Yes. very crass. Actually offensive. For me, the closest comparison to the Kherson Liberation is Brexit Day, Friday 31st January, and the moment Boris won the GE in 2019, when we knew he would Ged Brexit Done
The hideous oppressor was expelled, and the tanks of free movement and the artillery of trade regulations fled across the Channel, like the soldiers across the Dnieper, and it was like having a baby as well
Even more absurdly crass. Only swiveleyed loons like you think the fools charter of Brexit is anything worth celebrating. "Ooo sovereinty sovereignty" we hear the brainwashed fuckwits cry. We already had our sovereignty you gullible thickheads.
I read your post yesterday about your Euroscepticism with some interest, but it makes your stridency about Brexit seem a bit artificial. Surely you must see arguments on both sides, even if on balance you favoured Remain or thought the disadvantages outweighed any advantages from pulling out?
If you're a William Hague-style Eurosceptic then you must think that the EU has done things and plans to do more things that we are better off steering clear of, but at the same time you are adamant that there are absolutely no benefits whatsoever from opting out of the whole lot. How can you be so sure that the line of what to opt in to was drawn in precisely the right place before 2016?
I am a right of centre pragmatist, though I must admit that my putdowns of the lunatic Brexit apologists may well make me seem like an EU enthusiast when I never have been such. I was not in favour of joining Euro, and not in favour of "ever closer union", the latter which I think is mythological, as the French in particular have zero intention of being absorbed into a full-on union with Germany. I find British EU-phobia (as opposed to Eurosceptism) to be a pernicious and dangerously stupid ideology.
It is obvious that the Euro was and is a statement of long term intent. As Scotland well knows you can't have a common currency and a common central bank without it having a long term significance for nationhood and statehood. As an 'ever closer union' step it cannot be mistaken except by those who wish not to see the obvious.
Interesting but more interesting is how decisions by Cameron May Johnson and Truss have done more damage to this country than any consecutive group of Prime Ministers in history. They have all but destroyed it. In every case they put personal aggrandisement above the good of the country. Cameron was slightly less culpable and Johnson slightly more but history will judge them equally. The sooner the country is shot of the whole Party -which the surely will-the sooner the reconstruction can start.
Item 1. rejoining the EU. On our knees if necessary
How has the country been "all but destroyed?"
It is really quite hilarious how the one poster whose professional world is meant to be in touch with public mood seems to be so out of touch with public mood.
Usual economic update. Cafes, restos and pubs everywhere I have been visiting remain ram packed. Predictions of economic woe seem, yet again, wide of the mark....
Yes, Roger has a tendency to indulge in the art of hyperbole in extremis. I fear that the recession may well be long but if it must be I am hoping it maybe somewhat shallow
He can keep talking to himself and a few ‘fans’ over there.
Meanwhile, the GOP money men, Fox News, and the NY Post, have all decided that DeSantis is the future, and Trump is yesterday’s man.
The extent of the anger suggests to me that he's going to remain a problem for them. The MAGA crowd might not prove as flexible in their affections as the above bunch.
Dunno. Quite a few promiment MAGA-esque Trumpite voices on Twitter are blatantly switching to De Santis. They want to win more than they love The Donald. De Santis is a winner
Interesting but more interesting is how decisions by Cameron May Johnson and Truss have done more damage to this country than any consecutive group of Prime Ministers in history. They have all but destroyed it. In every case they put personal aggrandisement above the good of the country. Cameron was slightly less culpable and Johnson slightly more but history will judge them equally. The sooner the country is shot of the whole Party -which the surely will-the sooner the reconstruction can start.
Item 1. rejoining the EU. On our knees if necessary
(For those who missed my earlier comments: I have been following that county, because I really, really hope Trumpista Joe Kent loses.)
It probably has somewhat fewer things to vote on than the average Washington state ballot, this year.
Re: WA 3rd Congressional, am starting to think that Kent is gonna go splat.
Here some numbers by county, first is estimated number of ballots remaining to be counted; second is current % for Democratic candidate Marie Gluesenkamp Perez; third is each counties share of estimated ballots remaining:
So over 80% of remaining ballots are from counties were MGP is currently leading over JK.
Note that it is Veterans Day holiday in US, and most election offices in WA will NOT be releasing numbers today; however, Clark and Cowlitz are both exceptions, so picture should be clearer this evening.
Whether a deal has been done with Putin, or not, those scenes in Kherson are spellbinding. What is it about Liberation videos? They have the same power whether they come from France in 1944, or Ukraine in 2022
They must touch something primal and Freudian inside us. The beaten animal yearning to be free, the glorious overthrowing of the oppressor
Yes. And it puts much of what we worry about into perspective. 2nd May 1997 is perhaps our nearest equivalent in recent memory - but even to make such a comparison is absurd and slightly crass.
Very absurd and very crass
Yes. very crass. Actually offensive. For me, the closest comparison to the Kherson Liberation is Brexit Day, Friday 31st January, and the moment Boris won the GE in 2019, when we knew he would Ged Brexit Done
The hideous oppressor was expelled, and the tanks of free movement and the artillery of trade regulations fled across the Channel, like the soldiers across the Dnieper, and it was like having a baby as well
Even more absurdly crass. Only swiveleyed loons like you think the fools charter of Brexit is anything worth celebrating. "Ooo sovereinty sovereignty" we hear the brainwashed fuckwits cry. We already had our sovereignty you gullible thickheads.
I read your post yesterday about your Euroscepticism with some interest, but it makes your stridency about Brexit seem a bit artificial. Surely you must see arguments on both sides, even if on balance you favoured Remain or thought the disadvantages outweighed any advantages from pulling out?
If you're a William Hague-style Eurosceptic then you must think that the EU has done things and plans to do more things that we are better off steering clear of, but at the same time you are adamant that there are absolutely no benefits whatsoever from opting out of the whole lot. How can you be so sure that the line of what to opt in to was drawn in precisely the right place before 2016?
I am a right of centre pragmatist, though I must admit that my putdowns of the lunatic Brexit apologists may well make me seem like an EU enthusiast when I never have been such. I was not in favour of joining Euro, and not in favour of "ever closer union", the latter which I think is mythological, as the French in particular have zero intention of being absorbed into a full-on union with Germany. I find British EU-phobia (as opposed to Eurosceptism) to be a pernicious and dangerously stupid ideology.
It is obvious that the Euro was and is a statement of long term intent. As Scotland well knows you can't have a common currency and a common central bank without it having a long term significance for nationhood and statehood. As an 'ever closer union' step it cannot be mistaken except by those who wish not to see the obvious.
Our opt out was allowed as a pragmatic expedient.
Our correct position was and is EFTA/EEA.
It is where we will end up eventually and inevitably. The country can only hold it's collective heads in the sand for so long.
paulyork64 asked: "Question. Are Clark County, Washington and Clark County, Nevada named after the same person?"
Clark County, Washington is named after William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. (Reasonably enough, since the expedition came through there. If you are unfamliar with the third-most famous person in the expedition, look here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacagawea )
Clark County, Nevada was named after "William A. Clark, a Montana copper magnate and Democratic U.S. Senator".
(The second William Clark may have been named after the first.)
ahh many thanks. i wondered if the Lewis and Clark one was involved. I confess I had only heard of those and not Sacagawea. PB is an education as always.
Whether a deal has been done with Putin, or not, those scenes in Kherson are spellbinding. What is it about Liberation videos? They have the same power whether they come from France in 1944, or Ukraine in 2022
They must touch something primal and Freudian inside us. The beaten animal yearning to be free, the glorious overthrowing of the oppressor
Yes. And it puts much of what we worry about into perspective. 2nd May 1997 is perhaps our nearest equivalent in recent memory - but even to make such a comparison is absurd and slightly crass.
Very absurd and very crass
Yes. very crass. Actually offensive. For me, the closest comparison to the Kherson Liberation is Brexit Day, Friday 31st January 2020, and the moment Boris won the GE in 2019, when we knew he would Get Brexit Done
The hideous oppressor was expelled, and the tanks of free movement and the artillery of trade regulations fled across the Channel, like the soldiers across the Dnieper, and it was like having a baby as well
Probably only Britons who experienced Brexit can understand exactly how the Khersonites feel today. Two proudly free peoples, saluting each other
The minor but obvious problem with your post being:
pm215 said: "I get the impression also that the postal voting system in at least some states is not designed for fast counting ? In the UK the postal vote must be received by close-of-polls, and preliminary checks are done as soon as the vote arrives, so counting a postal vote isn't much different from counting an in-person vote. I think I've read that for at least some states as long as the voter *sends* the vote on polling day it must be counted, which is inevitably going to make things slower."
Right. That's true, for example, in Washington state. This year ballots had to be postmarked by the 8th, or placed in a drop box before 8 PM on the 8th.
States often don't allow any examination of ballots before election day. (Many party officials fear that knowing partial results before election day would allow the other party to try to tip the balance, if the election is close.)
Whether a deal has been done with Putin, or not, those scenes in Kherson are spellbinding. What is it about Liberation videos? They have the same power whether they come from France in 1944, or Ukraine in 2022
They must touch something primal and Freudian inside us. The beaten animal yearning to be free, the glorious overthrowing of the oppressor
Yes. And it puts much of what we worry about into perspective. 2nd May 1997 is perhaps our nearest equivalent in recent memory - but even to make such a comparison is absurd and slightly crass.
Very absurd and very crass
Yes. very crass. Actually offensive. For me, the closest comparison to the Kherson Liberation is Brexit Day, Friday 31st January, and the moment Boris won the GE in 2019, when we knew he would Ged Brexit Done
The hideous oppressor was expelled, and the tanks of free movement and the artillery of trade regulations fled across the Channel, like the soldiers across the Dnieper, and it was like having a baby as well
Even more absurdly crass. Only swiveleyed loons like you think the fools charter of Brexit is anything worth celebrating. "Ooo sovereinty sovereignty" we hear the brainwashed fuckwits cry. We already had our sovereignty you gullible thickheads.
I read your post yesterday about your Euroscepticism with some interest, but it makes your stridency about Brexit seem a bit artificial. Surely you must see arguments on both sides, even if on balance you favoured Remain or thought the disadvantages outweighed any advantages from pulling out?
If you're a William Hague-style Eurosceptic then you must think that the EU has done things and plans to do more things that we are better off steering clear of, but at the same time you are adamant that there are absolutely no benefits whatsoever from opting out of the whole lot. How can you be so sure that the line of what to opt in to was drawn in precisely the right place before 2016?
I am a right of centre pragmatist, though I must admit that my putdowns of the lunatic Brexit apologists may well make me seem like an EU enthusiast when I never have been such. I was not in favour of joining Euro, and not in favour of "ever closer union", the latter which I think is mythological, as the French in particular have zero intention of being absorbed into a full-on union with Germany. I find British EU-phobia (as opposed to Eurosceptism) to be a pernicious and dangerously stupid ideology.
Being part of an organisation whose explicit aims - Ever Closer Union - we are opposed to on the basis that we hope other members will share our opposition seems - well - a little trusting for my tastes.
It is meaningless nonsense and is seen as such by many pro-Europeans. The only people who bang on about it are the rabid Euro-federalists, who are in reality a minority, and British EU-phobes.
Whether a deal has been done with Putin, or not, those scenes in Kherson are spellbinding. What is it about Liberation videos? They have the same power whether they come from France in 1944, or Ukraine in 2022
They must touch something primal and Freudian inside us. The beaten animal yearning to be free, the glorious overthrowing of the oppressor
Yes. And it puts much of what we worry about into perspective. 2nd May 1997 is perhaps our nearest equivalent in recent memory - but even to make such a comparison is absurd and slightly crass.
Very absurd and very crass
Yes. very crass. Actually offensive. For me, the closest comparison to the Kherson Liberation is Brexit Day, Friday 31st January 2020, and the moment Boris won the GE in 2019, when we knew he would Get Brexit Done
The hideous oppressor was expelled, and the tanks of free movement and the artillery of trade regulations fled across the Channel, like the soldiers across the Dnieper, and it was like having a baby as well
Probably only Britons who experienced Brexit can understand exactly how the Khersonites feel today. Two proudly free peoples, saluting each other
The minor but obvious problem with your post being:
Brexit = Putin victory Ukraine = Putin defeat
The minor but obvious problem with your post being:
Whether a deal has been done with Putin, or not, those scenes in Kherson are spellbinding. What is it about Liberation videos? They have the same power whether they come from France in 1944, or Ukraine in 2022
They must touch something primal and Freudian inside us. The beaten animal yearning to be free, the glorious overthrowing of the oppressor
Yes. And it puts much of what we worry about into perspective. 2nd May 1997 is perhaps our nearest equivalent in recent memory - but even to make such a comparison is absurd and slightly crass.
Very absurd and very crass
Yes. very crass. Actually offensive. For me, the closest comparison to the Kherson Liberation is Brexit Day, Friday 31st January, and the moment Boris won the GE in 2019, when we knew he would Ged Brexit Done
The hideous oppressor was expelled, and the tanks of free movement and the artillery of trade regulations fled across the Channel, like the soldiers across the Dnieper, and it was like having a baby as well
Even more absurdly crass. Only swiveleyed loons like you think the fools charter of Brexit is anything worth celebrating. "Ooo sovereinty sovereignty" we hear the brainwashed fuckwits cry. We already had our sovereignty you gullible thickheads.
I read your post yesterday about your Euroscepticism with some interest, but it makes your stridency about Brexit seem a bit artificial. Surely you must see arguments on both sides, even if on balance you favoured Remain or thought the disadvantages outweighed any advantages from pulling out?
If you're a William Hague-style Eurosceptic then you must think that the EU has done things and plans to do more things that we are better off steering clear of, but at the same time you are adamant that there are absolutely no benefits whatsoever from opting out of the whole lot. How can you be so sure that the line of what to opt in to was drawn in precisely the right place before 2016?
I am a right of centre pragmatist, though I must admit that my putdowns of the lunatic Brexit apologists may well make me seem like an EU enthusiast when I never have been such. I was not in favour of joining Euro, and not in favour of "ever closer union", the latter which I think is mythological, as the French in particular have zero intention of being absorbed into a full-on union with Germany. I find British EU-phobia (as opposed to Eurosceptism) to be a pernicious and dangerously stupid ideology.
Being part of an organisation whose explicit aims - Ever Closer Union - we are opposed to on the basis that we hope other members will share our opposition seems - well - a little trusting for my tastes.
It is meaningless nonsense and is seen as such by many pro-Europeans. The only people who bang on about it are the rabid Euro-federalists, who are in reality a minority, and British EU-phobes.
Yeah, but the rabid Euro-federalists are in charge of the EU.
paulyork64 asked: "Question. Are Clark County, Washington and Clark County, Nevada named after the same person?"
Clark County, Washington is named after William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. (Reasonably enough, since the expedition came through there. If you are unfamliar with the third-most famous person in the expedition, look here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacagawea )
Clark County, Nevada was named after "William A. Clark, a Montana copper magnate and Democratic U.S. Senator".
(The second William Clark may have been named after the first.)
ahh many thanks. i wondered if the Lewis and Clark one was involved. I confess I had only heard of those and not Sacagawea. PB is an education as always.
For many years, for reasons today unknown, the habitual misspelling of the Washington county was "Clarke".
Until someone finally a) noticed the error; and b) cared enough to correct it!
Note that the seriously antiquated highway bridge over the Columbia River between Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington (county seat of Clark Co) has a plaque from it's dedication over a century ago that reads "Clarke".
Whether a deal has been done with Putin, or not, those scenes in Kherson are spellbinding. What is it about Liberation videos? They have the same power whether they come from France in 1944, or Ukraine in 2022
They must touch something primal and Freudian inside us. The beaten animal yearning to be free, the glorious overthrowing of the oppressor
Yes. And it puts much of what we worry about into perspective. 2nd May 1997 is perhaps our nearest equivalent in recent memory - but even to make such a comparison is absurd and slightly crass.
Very absurd and very crass
Yes. very crass. Actually offensive. For me, the closest comparison to the Kherson Liberation is Brexit Day, Friday 31st January, and the moment Boris won the GE in 2019, when we knew he would Ged Brexit Done
The hideous oppressor was expelled, and the tanks of free movement and the artillery of trade regulations fled across the Channel, like the soldiers across the Dnieper, and it was like having a baby as well
Even more absurdly crass. Only swiveleyed loons like you think the fools charter of Brexit is anything worth celebrating. "Ooo sovereinty sovereignty" we hear the brainwashed fuckwits cry. We already had our sovereignty you gullible thickheads.
I read your post yesterday about your Euroscepticism with some interest, but it makes your stridency about Brexit seem a bit artificial. Surely you must see arguments on both sides, even if on balance you favoured Remain or thought the disadvantages outweighed any advantages from pulling out?
If you're a William Hague-style Eurosceptic then you must think that the EU has done things and plans to do more things that we are better off steering clear of, but at the same time you are adamant that there are absolutely no benefits whatsoever from opting out of the whole lot. How can you be so sure that the line of what to opt in to was drawn in precisely the right place before 2016?
I am a right of centre pragmatist, though I must admit that my putdowns of the lunatic Brexit apologists may well make me seem like an EU enthusiast when I never have been such. I was not in favour of joining Euro, and not in favour of "ever closer union", the latter which I think is mythological, as the French in particular have zero intention of being absorbed into a full-on union with Germany. I find British EU-phobia (as opposed to Eurosceptism) to be a pernicious and dangerously stupid ideology.
It is obvious that the Euro was and is a statement of long term intent. As Scotland well knows you can't have a common currency and a common central bank without it having a long term significance for nationhood and statehood. As an 'ever closer union' step it cannot be mistaken except by those who wish not to see the obvious.
Our opt out was allowed as a pragmatic expedient.
Our correct position was and is EFTA/EEA.
A shocking fallacy, you go from "nationhood requires a common currency" to "a common currency requires nationhood."
Are you old enough to remember travelling round Europe with a molehill of cash losing 3% of its value with every border you crossed?
Interesting but more interesting is how decisions by Cameron May Johnson and Truss have done more damage to this country than any consecutive group of Prime Ministers in history. They have all but destroyed it. In every case they put personal aggrandisement above the good of the country. Cameron was slightly less culpable and Johnson slightly more but history will judge them equally. The sooner the country is shot of the whole Party -which the surely will-the sooner the reconstruction can start.
Item 1. rejoining the EU. On our knees if necessary
How has the country been "all but destroyed?"
"The worst economic performance since records began'. BBC 5 O'Clock News.
Supply chains 'Thanks to Brexit' the worst ever and Covid is NOT the major cause.
FYI, here's a chart of UK and German #GDP, updated to include today's Q3 data for the UK.
Since Q1 2016 (the quarter before the vote to leave the EU), the UK economy has grown by around 6.7% and the German economy by about 6.2%.
If this war ends soon (God willing) what are relations going to be like between Russia and Ukraine?
Hateful, I imagine. Ukrainians will HATE Russia and Russians for decades, maybe generations. So another byproduct of Putin's Crazy War has been to turn a neighbouring country with often warm, fraternal feelings towards Russia into a sworn enemy, of 40 million people, who will loathe Russia with every atom
Genius
Decades, generations, or maybe just a couple of years. Look at Germany, France and the low countries after the war. We humans have a remarkable capacity to get over dreadful experiences.
Whether a deal has been done with Putin, or not, those scenes in Kherson are spellbinding. What is it about Liberation videos? They have the same power whether they come from France in 1944, or Ukraine in 2022
They must touch something primal and Freudian inside us. The beaten animal yearning to be free, the glorious overthrowing of the oppressor
Yes. And it puts much of what we worry about into perspective. 2nd May 1997 is perhaps our nearest equivalent in recent memory - but even to make such a comparison is absurd and slightly crass.
Very absurd and very crass
Yes. very crass. Actually offensive. For me, the closest comparison to the Kherson Liberation is Brexit Day, Friday 31st January 2020, and the moment Boris won the GE in 2019, when we knew he would Get Brexit Done
The hideous oppressor was expelled, and the tanks of free movement and the artillery of trade regulations fled across the Channel, like the soldiers across the Dnieper, and it was like having a baby as well
Probably only Britons who experienced Brexit can understand exactly how the Khersonites feel today. Two proudly free peoples, saluting each other
The minor but obvious problem with your post being:
Brexit = Putin victory Ukraine = Putin defeat
The minor but obvious problem with your post being:
Brexit ≠ Putin victory...
Putin was very much in favour of Brexit and those who think he stood back and didn't try and influence it are naive in the extreme. Whether he was successful is open to conjecture, but it was odd how drastically the polls tightened. He obviously was not so successful with coercing the cany Scots into independence, but I suspect it is still on his grid of grievence.
Whether a deal has been done with Putin, or not, those scenes in Kherson are spellbinding. What is it about Liberation videos? They have the same power whether they come from France in 1944, or Ukraine in 2022
They must touch something primal and Freudian inside us. The beaten animal yearning to be free, the glorious overthrowing of the oppressor
Yes. And it puts much of what we worry about into perspective. 2nd May 1997 is perhaps our nearest equivalent in recent memory - but even to make such a comparison is absurd and slightly crass.
Very absurd and very crass
Yes. very crass. Actually offensive. For me, the closest comparison to the Kherson Liberation is Brexit Day, Friday 31st January, and the moment Boris won the GE in 2019, when we knew he would Ged Brexit Done
The hideous oppressor was expelled, and the tanks of free movement and the artillery of trade regulations fled across the Channel, like the soldiers across the Dnieper, and it was like having a baby as well
Even more absurdly crass. Only swiveleyed loons like you think the fools charter of Brexit is anything worth celebrating. "Ooo sovereinty sovereignty" we hear the brainwashed fuckwits cry. We already had our sovereignty you gullible thickheads.
I read your post yesterday about your Euroscepticism with some interest, but it makes your stridency about Brexit seem a bit artificial. Surely you must see arguments on both sides, even if on balance you favoured Remain or thought the disadvantages outweighed any advantages from pulling out?
If you're a William Hague-style Eurosceptic then you must think that the EU has done things and plans to do more things that we are better off steering clear of, but at the same time you are adamant that there are absolutely no benefits whatsoever from opting out of the whole lot. How can you be so sure that the line of what to opt in to was drawn in precisely the right place before 2016?
I am a right of centre pragmatist, though I must admit that my putdowns of the lunatic Brexit apologists may well make me seem like an EU enthusiast when I never have been such. I was not in favour of joining Euro, and not in favour of "ever closer union", the latter which I think is mythological, as the French in particular have zero intention of being absorbed into a full-on union with Germany. I find British EU-phobia (as opposed to Eurosceptism) to be a pernicious and dangerously stupid ideology.
It is obvious that the Euro was and is a statement of long term intent. As Scotland well knows you can't have a common currency and a common central bank without it having a long term significance for nationhood and statehood. As an 'ever closer union' step it cannot be mistaken except by those who wish not to see the obvious.
Our opt out was allowed as a pragmatic expedient.
Our correct position was and is EFTA/EEA.
It is where we will end up eventually and inevitably. The country can only hold it's collective heads in the sand for so long.
I hope you are right.
BTW an SNP position appears to be that being in the UK pound ties Scotland to England and the UK as a state (which of course it does) while being in the Euro magically doesn't do the same thing with regard to the EU.
Interesting but more interesting is how decisions by Cameron May Johnson and Truss have done more damage to this country than any consecutive group of Prime Ministers in history. They have all but destroyed it. In every case they put personal aggrandisement above the good of the country. Cameron was slightly less culpable and Johnson slightly more but history will judge them equally. The sooner the country is shot of the whole Party -which the surely will-the sooner the reconstruction can start.
Item 1. rejoining the EU. On our knees if necessary
Whether a deal has been done with Putin, or not, those scenes in Kherson are spellbinding. What is it about Liberation videos? They have the same power whether they come from France in 1944, or Ukraine in 2022
They must touch something primal and Freudian inside us. The beaten animal yearning to be free, the glorious overthrowing of the oppressor
Yes. And it puts much of what we worry about into perspective. 2nd May 1997 is perhaps our nearest equivalent in recent memory - but even to make such a comparison is absurd and slightly crass.
Very absurd and very crass
Yes. very crass. Actually offensive. For me, the closest comparison to the Kherson Liberation is Brexit Day, Friday 31st January 2020, and the moment Boris won the GE in 2019, when we knew he would Get Brexit Done
The hideous oppressor was expelled, and the tanks of free movement and the artillery of trade regulations fled across the Channel, like the soldiers across the Dnieper, and it was like having a baby as well
Probably only Britons who experienced Brexit can understand exactly how the Khersonites feel today. Two proudly free peoples, saluting each other
The minor but obvious problem with your post being:
Brexit = Putin victory Ukraine = Putin defeat
The minor but obvious problem with your post being:
Brexit ≠ Putin victory...
Putin was very much in favour of Brexit and those who think he stood back and didn't try and influence it are naive in the extreme. Whether he was successful is open to conjecture, but it was odd how drastically the polls tightened. He obviously was not so successful with coercing the cany Scots into independence, but I suspect it is still on his grid of grievence.
Even if your first sentence is true, Putin's aims aren't to win a vote one way or the other but to sow discord. Remainers spending years refusing to accept defeat, therefore, is Putin's victory.
Possibly quite important. This is Putin's favourite Russian philosopher
"Alexander Dugin directly blamed Putin for the retreat from Kherson. He stated that the power in Russia is almost autocratic, but if the tsar cannot save the people, then he will face the "king of the rains fate" (a man whose stomach was ritually torn open by his fellow tribesmen)"
States often don't allow any examination of ballots before election day. (Many party officials fear that knowing partial results before election day would allow the other party to try to tip the balance, if the election is close.)
Yes, that's not allowed in the UK either. But you can design the process to allow all the slow signature comparison to be done in advance and all the checked ballots put into a sealed ballot box for counting on election day -- which is what we do here.
paulyork64 - You're welcome. By the way there's a "Sacajawea dollar". The last time I visited Britain, I took a couple as gifts for two young relatives.
Turns out not giving Putin what he wanted lead to the liberation of Kherson and not nuclear holocaust.
I wonder how long we are back to "must given Putin what he wants".
The current story seems to be that he is getting what he wants. If this does turn into a full blown peace deal and includes Crimea remaining Russian-controlled, I look forward to the fuming denunciations of Biden that will no doubt ensue from PB's 'no quarter' armchair warrior contingent.
pm215 said: "I get the impression also that the postal voting system in at least some states is not designed for fast counting ? In the UK the postal vote must be received by close-of-polls, and preliminary checks are done as soon as the vote arrives, so counting a postal vote isn't much different from counting an in-person vote. I think I've read that for at least some states as long as the voter *sends* the vote on polling day it must be counted, which is inevitably going to make things slower."
Right. That's true, for example, in Washington state. This year ballots had to be postmarked by the 8th, or placed in a drop box before 8 PM on the 8th.
States often don't allow any examination of ballots before election day. (Many party officials fear that knowing partial results before election day would allow the other party to try to tip the balance, if the election is close.)
We used to trust postmarks - the classic example being the football pools companies would accept entries postmarked before match day - until some enterprising criminals with insiders within a sorting office tried to post a winning entry after the matches and fiddle the postmark…
The hideous oppressor was expelled, and the tanks of free movement and the artillery of trade regulations fled across the Channel, like the soldiers across the Dnieper, and it was like having a baby as well
It was like having a baby? I had no idea you were trans.
Whether a deal has been done with Putin, or not, those scenes in Kherson are spellbinding. What is it about Liberation videos? They have the same power whether they come from France in 1944, or Ukraine in 2022
They must touch something primal and Freudian inside us. The beaten animal yearning to be free, the glorious overthrowing of the oppressor
Yes. And it puts much of what we worry about into perspective. 2nd May 1997 is perhaps our nearest equivalent in recent memory - but even to make such a comparison is absurd and slightly crass.
Very absurd and very crass
Yes. very crass. Actually offensive. For me, the closest comparison to the Kherson Liberation is Brexit Day, Friday 31st January, and the moment Boris won the GE in 2019, when we knew he would Ged Brexit Done
The hideous oppressor was expelled, and the tanks of free movement and the artillery of trade regulations fled across the Channel, like the soldiers across the Dnieper, and it was like having a baby as well
Even more absurdly crass. Only swiveleyed loons like you think the fools charter of Brexit is anything worth celebrating. "Ooo sovereinty sovereignty" we hear the brainwashed fuckwits cry. We already had our sovereignty you gullible thickheads.
I read your post yesterday about your Euroscepticism with some interest, but it makes your stridency about Brexit seem a bit artificial. Surely you must see arguments on both sides, even if on balance you favoured Remain or thought the disadvantages outweighed any advantages from pulling out?
If you're a William Hague-style Eurosceptic then you must think that the EU has done things and plans to do more things that we are better off steering clear of, but at the same time you are adamant that there are absolutely no benefits whatsoever from opting out of the whole lot. How can you be so sure that the line of what to opt in to was drawn in precisely the right place before 2016?
I am a right of centre pragmatist, though I must admit that my putdowns of the lunatic Brexit apologists may well make me seem like an EU enthusiast when I never have been such. I was not in favour of joining Euro, and not in favour of "ever closer union", the latter which I think is mythological, as the French in particular have zero intention of being absorbed into a full-on union with Germany. I find British EU-phobia (as opposed to Eurosceptism) to be a pernicious and dangerously stupid ideology.
Being part of an organisation whose explicit aims - Ever Closer Union - we are opposed to on the basis that we hope other members will share our opposition seems - well - a little trusting for my tastes.
It is meaningless nonsense and is seen as such by many pro-Europeans. The only people who bang on about it are the rabid Euro-federalists, who are in reality a minority, and British EU-phobes.
That position could be held up to but not after the Euro was introduced. It is now an incredible and impossible position. Whether members think privately it was a mistake I do not know, but as a force it looks unstoppable.
(That it was and is a mistake to join nations with different defence alliances in a common currency is so obviously the case that only wilfulness gets in the way of seeing it.)
Whether a deal has been done with Putin, or not, those scenes in Kherson are spellbinding. What is it about Liberation videos? They have the same power whether they come from France in 1944, or Ukraine in 2022
They must touch something primal and Freudian inside us. The beaten animal yearning to be free, the glorious overthrowing of the oppressor
Yes. And it puts much of what we worry about into perspective. 2nd May 1997 is perhaps our nearest equivalent in recent memory - but even to make such a comparison is absurd and slightly crass.
Very absurd and very crass
Yes. very crass. Actually offensive. For me, the closest comparison to the Kherson Liberation is Brexit Day, Friday 31st January 2020, and the moment Boris won the GE in 2019, when we knew he would Get Brexit Done
The hideous oppressor was expelled, and the tanks of free movement and the artillery of trade regulations fled across the Channel, like the soldiers across the Dnieper, and it was like having a baby as well
Probably only Britons who experienced Brexit can understand exactly how the Khersonites feel today. Two proudly free peoples, saluting each other
The minor but obvious problem with your post being:
Brexit = Putin victory Ukraine = Putin defeat
The minor but obvious problem with your post being:
Brexit ≠ Putin victory...
Putin was very much in favour of Brexit and those who think he stood back and didn't try and influence it are naive in the extreme. Whether he was successful is open to conjecture, but it was odd how drastically the polls tightened. He obviously was not so successful with coercing the cany Scots into independence, but I suspect it is still on his grid of grievence.
Even if your first sentence is true, Putin's aims aren't to win a vote one way or the other but to sow discord. Remainers spending years refusing to accept defeat, therefore, is Putin's victory.
It is a reasonable argument, fair play. I can't speak for others, but I have fully accepted the result, but it won't stop me taking the piss out of those that voted for it. What else would you have us do? We are a democracy (well sort of) after all, are we not, or should we prostrate ourselves on the floor and beg forgiveness for having been right all along?
Possibly quite important. This is Putin's favourite Russian philosopher
"Alexander Dugin directly blamed Putin for the retreat from Kherson. He stated that the power in Russia is almost autocratic, but if the tsar cannot save the people, then he will face the "king of the rains fate" (a man whose stomach was ritually torn open by his fellow tribesmen)"
Whether a deal has been done with Putin, or not, those scenes in Kherson are spellbinding. What is it about Liberation videos? They have the same power whether they come from France in 1944, or Ukraine in 2022
They must touch something primal and Freudian inside us. The beaten animal yearning to be free, the glorious overthrowing of the oppressor
Yes. And it puts much of what we worry about into perspective. 2nd May 1997 is perhaps our nearest equivalent in recent memory - but even to make such a comparison is absurd and slightly crass.
Very absurd and very crass
Yes. very crass. Actually offensive. For me, the closest comparison to the Kherson Liberation is Brexit Day, Friday 31st January, and the moment Boris won the GE in 2019, when we knew he would Ged Brexit Done
The hideous oppressor was expelled, and the tanks of free movement and the artillery of trade regulations fled across the Channel, like the soldiers across the Dnieper, and it was like having a baby as well
Even more absurdly crass. Only swiveleyed loons like you think the fools charter of Brexit is anything worth celebrating. "Ooo sovereinty sovereignty" we hear the brainwashed fuckwits cry. We already had our sovereignty you gullible thickheads.
I read your post yesterday about your Euroscepticism with some interest, but it makes your stridency about Brexit seem a bit artificial. Surely you must see arguments on both sides, even if on balance you favoured Remain or thought the disadvantages outweighed any advantages from pulling out?
If you're a William Hague-style Eurosceptic then you must think that the EU has done things and plans to do more things that we are better off steering clear of, but at the same time you are adamant that there are absolutely no benefits whatsoever from opting out of the whole lot. How can you be so sure that the line of what to opt in to was drawn in precisely the right place before 2016?
I am a right of centre pragmatist, though I must admit that my putdowns of the lunatic Brexit apologists may well make me seem like an EU enthusiast when I never have been such. I was not in favour of joining Euro, and not in favour of "ever closer union", the latter which I think is mythological, as the French in particular have zero intention of being absorbed into a full-on union with Germany. I find British EU-phobia (as opposed to Eurosceptism) to be a pernicious and dangerously stupid ideology.
Being part of an organisation whose explicit aims - Ever Closer Union - we are opposed to on the basis that we hope other members will share our opposition seems - well - a little trusting for my tastes.
It is meaningless nonsense and is seen as such by many pro-Europeans. The only people who bang on about it are the rabid Euro-federalists, who are in reality a minority, and British EU-phobes.
That position could be held up to but not after the Euro was introduced. It is now an incredible and impossible position. Whether members think privately it was a mistake I do not know, but as a force it looks unstoppable.
(That it was and is a mistake to join nations with different defence alliances in a common currency is so obviously the case that only wilfulness gets in the way of seeing it.)
I'm no Euro fan, but there are some European countries with histories of neutrality, and who seem to be relatively happy with the arrangement.
Whether a deal has been done with Putin, or not, those scenes in Kherson are spellbinding. What is it about Liberation videos? They have the same power whether they come from France in 1944, or Ukraine in 2022
They must touch something primal and Freudian inside us. The beaten animal yearning to be free, the glorious overthrowing of the oppressor
Yes. And it puts much of what we worry about into perspective. 2nd May 1997 is perhaps our nearest equivalent in recent memory - but even to make such a comparison is absurd and slightly crass.
Very absurd and very crass
Yes. very crass. Actually offensive. For me, the closest comparison to the Kherson Liberation is Brexit Day, Friday 31st January 2020, and the moment Boris won the GE in 2019, when we knew he would Get Brexit Done
The hideous oppressor was expelled, and the tanks of free movement and the artillery of trade regulations fled across the Channel, like the soldiers across the Dnieper, and it was like having a baby as well
Probably only Britons who experienced Brexit can understand exactly how the Khersonites feel today. Two proudly free peoples, saluting each other
The minor but obvious problem with your post being:
Brexit = Putin victory Ukraine = Putin defeat
The minor but obvious problem with your post being:
Brexit ≠ Putin victory...
Putin was very much in favour of Brexit and those who think he stood back and didn't try and influence it are naive in the extreme. Whether he was successful is open to conjecture, but it was odd how drastically the polls tightened. He obviously was not so successful with coercing the cany Scots into independence, but I suspect it is still on his grid of grievence.
Remember also that Johnson slipping his security detail whilst PM and visiting that Russian oligarch at his Italian villa remains unexplained…
The hideous oppressor was expelled, and the tanks of free movement and the artillery of trade regulations fled across the Channel, like the soldiers across the Dnieper, and it was like having a baby as well
It was like having a baby? I had no idea you were trans.
If this war ends soon (God willing) what are relations going to be like between Russia and Ukraine?
Hateful, I imagine. Ukrainians will HATE Russia and Russians for decades, maybe generations. So another byproduct of Putin's Crazy War has been to turn a neighbouring country with often warm, fraternal feelings towards Russia into a sworn enemy, of 40 million people, who will loathe Russia with every atom
Genius
Decades, generations, or maybe just a couple of years. Look at Germany, France and the low countries after the war. We humans have a remarkable capacity to get over dreadful experiences.
Yes, indeed, but as I have argued before, it was much easier to forgive Germany because Germany was utterly vanquished, its cities laid to waste, its regime brutally toppled, its women raped by the Red Army, and its people left starving (those that didn't die in firestorms). It is easier to forgive an enemy that has been bludgeoned into total submission
Post-war Russia will not be like that. Russia will seem largely untouched, even as Ukraine has to rebuild half of its cities and all of its infrastructure. So the hateful resentment will, I suggest, fester and ferment
Interesting but more interesting is how decisions by Cameron May Johnson and Truss have done more damage to this country than any consecutive group of Prime Ministers in history. They have all but destroyed it. In every case they put personal aggrandisement above the good of the country. Cameron was slightly less culpable and Johnson slightly more but history will judge them equally. The sooner the country is shot of the whole Party -which the surely will-the sooner the reconstruction can start.
Item 1. rejoining the EU. On our knees if necessary
How has the country been "all but destroyed?"
12 years of Tory mis-rule.
We drifted right through the core system...
"I work for the Tories, but don't let that bother you; I'm really an OK guy!"
"Control freak billionaire with sense of humour failure"
Does seem a bit like that. Twitter needs its light side imo. Still, I was thinking of the positives of his idea to have an overt role description in the account name. Eg it would become Dan "Serious Pundit" Hodges. No longer possible to mistake him for anything else.
That article would make sense if we were looking at a 60 year old Joe and wondering what he'd be like at 79. We know what he is like at 79. So pointing to other on the ball oldies is like Harold Shipman's defence team fielding hundreds of examples of non-murderer GPs to prove the implausibility of the case against him.
The blind spot exists in all Dem-friendly PBers too. They pretend it's a debate about whether the elderly should hold office, and it isn't, it's about whether an elderly Biden should hold the office of President. We all age differently.
Possibly quite important. This is Putin's favourite Russian philosopher
"Alexander Dugin directly blamed Putin for the retreat from Kherson. He stated that the power in Russia is almost autocratic, but if the tsar cannot save the people, then he will face the "king of the rains fate" (a man whose stomach was ritually torn open by his fellow tribesmen)"
Turns out not giving Putin what he wanted lead to the liberation of Kherson and not nuclear holocaust.
I wonder how long we are back to "must given Putin what he wants".
The current story seems to be that he is getting what he wants. If this does turn into a full blown peace deal and includes Crimea remaining Russian-controlled, I look forward to the fuming denunciations of Biden that will no doubt ensue from PB's 'no quarter' armchair warrior contingent.
Whether a deal has been done with Putin, or not, those scenes in Kherson are spellbinding. What is it about Liberation videos? They have the same power whether they come from France in 1944, or Ukraine in 2022
They must touch something primal and Freudian inside us. The beaten animal yearning to be free, the glorious overthrowing of the oppressor
Yes. And it puts much of what we worry about into perspective. 2nd May 1997 is perhaps our nearest equivalent in recent memory - but even to make such a comparison is absurd and slightly crass.
Very absurd and very crass
Yes. very crass. Actually offensive. For me, the closest comparison to the Kherson Liberation is Brexit Day, Friday 31st January 2020, and the moment Boris won the GE in 2019, when we knew he would Get Brexit Done
The hideous oppressor was expelled, and the tanks of free movement and the artillery of trade regulations fled across the Channel, like the soldiers across the Dnieper, and it was like having a baby as well
Probably only Britons who experienced Brexit can understand exactly how the Khersonites feel today. Two proudly free peoples, saluting each other
The minor but obvious problem with your post being:
Brexit = Putin victory Ukraine = Putin defeat
The minor but obvious problem with your post being:
Brexit ≠ Putin victory...
Putin was very much in favour of Brexit and those who think he stood back and didn't try and influence it are naive in the extreme. Whether he was successful is open to conjecture, but it was odd how drastically the polls tightened. He obviously was not so successful with coercing the cany Scots into independence, but I suspect it is still on his grid of grievence.
Even if your first sentence is true, Putin's aims aren't to win a vote one way or the other but to sow discord. Remainers spending years refusing to accept defeat, therefore, is Putin's victory.
It is a reasonable argument, fair play. I can't speak for others, but I have fully accepted the result, but it won't stop me taking the piss out of those that voted for it. What else would you have us do? We are a democracy (well sort of) after all, are we not, or should we prostrate ourselves on the floor and beg forgiveness for having been right all along?
I've answered that before: work to make the country better. That probably means EEA/EFTA. If Remainers as a whole had accepted defeat from day one and worked for EEA/EFTA, we'd probably be there by now.
Possibly quite important. This is Putin's favourite Russian philosopher
"Alexander Dugin directly blamed Putin for the retreat from Kherson. He stated that the power in Russia is almost autocratic, but if the tsar cannot save the people, then he will face the "king of the rains fate" (a man whose stomach was ritually torn open by his fellow tribesmen)"
Whether a deal has been done with Putin, or not, those scenes in Kherson are spellbinding. What is it about Liberation videos? They have the same power whether they come from France in 1944, or Ukraine in 2022
They must touch something primal and Freudian inside us. The beaten animal yearning to be free, the glorious overthrowing of the oppressor
Yes. And it puts much of what we worry about into perspective. 2nd May 1997 is perhaps our nearest equivalent in recent memory - but even to make such a comparison is absurd and slightly crass.
Very absurd and very crass
Yes. very crass. Actually offensive. For me, the closest comparison to the Kherson Liberation is Brexit Day, Friday 31st January 2020, and the moment Boris won the GE in 2019, when we knew he would Get Brexit Done
The hideous oppressor was expelled, and the tanks of free movement and the artillery of trade regulations fled across the Channel, like the soldiers across the Dnieper, and it was like having a baby as well
Probably only Britons who experienced Brexit can understand exactly how the Khersonites feel today. Two proudly free peoples, saluting each other
The minor but obvious problem with your post being:
Brexit = Putin victory Ukraine = Putin defeat
The minor but obvious problem with your post being:
Brexit ≠ Putin victory...
Putin was very much in favour of Brexit and those who think he stood back and didn't try and influence it are naive in the extreme. Whether he was successful is open to conjecture, but it was odd how drastically the polls tightened. He obviously was not so successful with coercing the cany Scots into independence, but I suspect it is still on his grid of grievence.
Possibly quite important. This is Putin's favourite Russian philosopher
"Alexander Dugin directly blamed Putin for the retreat from Kherson. He stated that the power in Russia is almost autocratic, but if the tsar cannot save the people, then he will face the "king of the rains fate" (a man whose stomach was ritually torn open by his fellow tribesmen)"
Whether a deal has been done with Putin, or not, those scenes in Kherson are spellbinding. What is it about Liberation videos? They have the same power whether they come from France in 1944, or Ukraine in 2022
They must touch something primal and Freudian inside us. The beaten animal yearning to be free, the glorious overthrowing of the oppressor
Yes. And it puts much of what we worry about into perspective. 2nd May 1997 is perhaps our nearest equivalent in recent memory - but even to make such a comparison is absurd and slightly crass.
Very absurd and very crass
Yes. very crass. Actually offensive. For me, the closest comparison to the Kherson Liberation is Brexit Day, Friday 31st January, and the moment Boris won the GE in 2019, when we knew he would Ged Brexit Done
The hideous oppressor was expelled, and the tanks of free movement and the artillery of trade regulations fled across the Channel, like the soldiers across the Dnieper, and it was like having a baby as well
Even more absurdly crass. Only swiveleyed loons like you think the fools charter of Brexit is anything worth celebrating. "Ooo sovereinty sovereignty" we hear the brainwashed fuckwits cry. We already had our sovereignty you gullible thickheads.
I read your post yesterday about your Euroscepticism with some interest, but it makes your stridency about Brexit seem a bit artificial. Surely you must see arguments on both sides, even if on balance you favoured Remain or thought the disadvantages outweighed any advantages from pulling out?
If you're a William Hague-style Eurosceptic then you must think that the EU has done things and plans to do more things that we are better off steering clear of, but at the same time you are adamant that there are absolutely no benefits whatsoever from opting out of the whole lot. How can you be so sure that the line of what to opt in to was drawn in precisely the right place before 2016?
I am a right of centre pragmatist, though I must admit that my putdowns of the lunatic Brexit apologists may well make me seem like an EU enthusiast when I never have been such. I was not in favour of joining Euro, and not in favour of "ever closer union", the latter which I think is mythological, as the French in particular have zero intention of being absorbed into a full-on union with Germany. I find British EU-phobia (as opposed to Eurosceptism) to be a pernicious and dangerously stupid ideology.
It is obvious that the Euro was and is a statement of long term intent. As Scotland well knows you can't have a common currency and a common central bank without it having a long term significance for nationhood and statehood. As an 'ever closer union' step it cannot be mistaken except by those who wish not to see the obvious.
Our opt out was allowed as a pragmatic expedient.
Our correct position was and is EFTA/EEA.
It is where we will end up eventually and inevitably. The country can only hold it's collective heads in the sand for so long.
I hope you are right.
BTW an SNP position appears to be that being in the UK pound ties Scotland to England and the UK as a state (which of course it does) while being in the Euro magically doesn't do the same thing with regard to the EU.
Whether a deal has been done with Putin, or not, those scenes in Kherson are spellbinding. What is it about Liberation videos? They have the same power whether they come from France in 1944, or Ukraine in 2022
They must touch something primal and Freudian inside us. The beaten animal yearning to be free, the glorious overthrowing of the oppressor
Yes. And it puts much of what we worry about into perspective. 2nd May 1997 is perhaps our nearest equivalent in recent memory - but even to make such a comparison is absurd and slightly crass.
Very absurd and very crass
Yes. very crass. Actually offensive. For me, the closest comparison to the Kherson Liberation is Brexit Day, Friday 31st January, and the moment Boris won the GE in 2019, when we knew he would Ged Brexit Done
The hideous oppressor was expelled, and the tanks of free movement and the artillery of trade regulations fled across the Channel, like the soldiers across the Dnieper, and it was like having a baby as well
Even more absurdly crass. Only swiveleyed loons like you think the fools charter of Brexit is anything worth celebrating. "Ooo sovereinty sovereignty" we hear the brainwashed fuckwits cry. We already had our sovereignty you gullible thickheads.
I read your post yesterday about your Euroscepticism with some interest, but it makes your stridency about Brexit seem a bit artificial. Surely you must see arguments on both sides, even if on balance you favoured Remain or thought the disadvantages outweighed any advantages from pulling out?
If you're a William Hague-style Eurosceptic then you must think that the EU has done things and plans to do more things that we are better off steering clear of, but at the same time you are adamant that there are absolutely no benefits whatsoever from opting out of the whole lot. How can you be so sure that the line of what to opt in to was drawn in precisely the right place before 2016?
I am a right of centre pragmatist, though I must admit that my putdowns of the lunatic Brexit apologists may well make me seem like an EU enthusiast when I never have been such. I was not in favour of joining Euro, and not in favour of "ever closer union", the latter which I think is mythological, as the French in particular have zero intention of being absorbed into a full-on union with Germany. I find British EU-phobia (as opposed to Eurosceptism) to be a pernicious and dangerously stupid ideology.
It is obvious that the Euro was and is a statement of long term intent. As Scotland well knows you can't have a common currency and a common central bank without it having a long term significance for nationhood and statehood. As an 'ever closer union' step it cannot be mistaken except by those who wish not to see the obvious.
Our opt out was allowed as a pragmatic expedient.
Our correct position was and is EFTA/EEA.
It is where we will end up eventually and inevitably. The country can only hold it's collective heads in the sand for so long.
I hope you are right.
BTW an SNP position appears to be that being in the UK pound ties Scotland to England and the UK as a state (which of course it does) while being in the Euro magically doesn't do the same thing with regard to the EU.
You should show the worm "turning" in the graphical image on Wiki:
Look, I'm telling ya, there's somethin' movin' and it ain't us! Tracker's off scale, man. They're all around us, man. Jesus!
Game over, man! Game over!
Trump's chances are dead alright!! Can I go now!??!
Sunil is a very tough hombre. He's packing state of the art firepower. There's nothing he can't handle.
Sunil, am I right ?
Sunil: Hey @Ishmael_Z, don't worry. Me and my squad of ultimate Labour Fans will protect you! Check it out! Independently targeting particle beam phalanx. Vwap! Fry half a Parliamentary constituency with this puppy. We got tactical smart missiles, phased plasma pulse rifles, RPGs, we got sonic electronic ball breakers! We got nukes, we got knives, sharp sticks...
Whether a deal has been done with Putin, or not, those scenes in Kherson are spellbinding. What is it about Liberation videos? They have the same power whether they come from France in 1944, or Ukraine in 2022
They must touch something primal and Freudian inside us. The beaten animal yearning to be free, the glorious overthrowing of the oppressor
Yes. And it puts much of what we worry about into perspective. 2nd May 1997 is perhaps our nearest equivalent in recent memory - but even to make such a comparison is absurd and slightly crass.
Very absurd and very crass
Yes. very crass. Actually offensive. For me, the closest comparison to the Kherson Liberation is Brexit Day, Friday 31st January, and the moment Boris won the GE in 2019, when we knew he would Ged Brexit Done
The hideous oppressor was expelled, and the tanks of free movement and the artillery of trade regulations fled across the Channel, like the soldiers across the Dnieper, and it was like having a baby as well
Even more absurdly crass. Only swiveleyed loons like you think the fools charter of Brexit is anything worth celebrating. "Ooo sovereinty sovereignty" we hear the brainwashed fuckwits cry. We already had our sovereignty you gullible thickheads.
I read your post yesterday about your Euroscepticism with some interest, but it makes your stridency about Brexit seem a bit artificial. Surely you must see arguments on both sides, even if on balance you favoured Remain or thought the disadvantages outweighed any advantages from pulling out?
If you're a William Hague-style Eurosceptic then you must think that the EU has done things and plans to do more things that we are better off steering clear of, but at the same time you are adamant that there are absolutely no benefits whatsoever from opting out of the whole lot. How can you be so sure that the line of what to opt in to was drawn in precisely the right place before 2016?
I am a right of centre pragmatist, though I must admit that my putdowns of the lunatic Brexit apologists may well make me seem like an EU enthusiast when I never have been such. I was not in favour of joining Euro, and not in favour of "ever closer union", the latter which I think is mythological, as the French in particular have zero intention of being absorbed into a full-on union with Germany. I find British EU-phobia (as opposed to Eurosceptism) to be a pernicious and dangerously stupid ideology.
Being part of an organisation whose explicit aims - Ever Closer Union - we are opposed to on the basis that we hope other members will share our opposition seems - well - a little trusting for my tastes.
It is meaningless nonsense and is seen as such by many pro-Europeans. The only people who bang on about it are the rabid Euro-federalists, who are in reality a minority, and British EU-phobes.
You need the political equivalent of the Hubble Telescope to see far enough into the future to detect a Federal Europe replacing the nation states.
If this war ends soon (God willing) what are relations going to be like between Russia and Ukraine?
Hateful, I imagine. Ukrainians will HATE Russia and Russians for decades, maybe generations. So another byproduct of Putin's Crazy War has been to turn a neighbouring country with often warm, fraternal feelings towards Russia into a sworn enemy, of 40 million people, who will loathe Russia with every atom
Genius
Decades, generations, or maybe just a couple of years. Look at Germany, France and the low countries after the war. We humans have a remarkable capacity to get over dreadful experiences.
Yes, indeed, but as I have argued before, it was much easier to forgive Germany because Germany was utterly vanquished, its cities laid to waste, its regime brutally toppled, its women raped by the Red Army, and its people left starving (those that didn't die in firestorms). It is easier to forgive an enemy that has been bludgeoned into total submission
Post-war Russia will not be like that. Russia will seem largely untouched, even as Ukraine has to rebuild half of its cities and all of its infrastructure. So the hateful resentment will, I suggest, fester and ferment
You might ask the Dutch if they forgave Germany easily and quickly.
Whether a deal has been done with Putin, or not, those scenes in Kherson are spellbinding. What is it about Liberation videos? They have the same power whether they come from France in 1944, or Ukraine in 2022
They must touch something primal and Freudian inside us. The beaten animal yearning to be free, the glorious overthrowing of the oppressor
Yes. And it puts much of what we worry about into perspective. 2nd May 1997 is perhaps our nearest equivalent in recent memory - but even to make such a comparison is absurd and slightly crass.
Very absurd and very crass
Yes. very crass. Actually offensive. For me, the closest comparison to the Kherson Liberation is Brexit Day, Friday 31st January, and the moment Boris won the GE in 2019, when we knew he would Ged Brexit Done
The hideous oppressor was expelled, and the tanks of free movement and the artillery of trade regulations fled across the Channel, like the soldiers across the Dnieper, and it was like having a baby as well
Even more absurdly crass. Only swiveleyed loons like you think the fools charter of Brexit is anything worth celebrating. "Ooo sovereinty sovereignty" we hear the brainwashed fuckwits cry. We already had our sovereignty you gullible thickheads.
I read your post yesterday about your Euroscepticism with some interest, but it makes your stridency about Brexit seem a bit artificial. Surely you must see arguments on both sides, even if on balance you favoured Remain or thought the disadvantages outweighed any advantages from pulling out?
If you're a William Hague-style Eurosceptic then you must think that the EU has done things and plans to do more things that we are better off steering clear of, but at the same time you are adamant that there are absolutely no benefits whatsoever from opting out of the whole lot. How can you be so sure that the line of what to opt in to was drawn in precisely the right place before 2016?
I am a right of centre pragmatist, though I must admit that my putdowns of the lunatic Brexit apologists may well make me seem like an EU enthusiast when I never have been such. I was not in favour of joining Euro, and not in favour of "ever closer union", the latter which I think is mythological, as the French in particular have zero intention of being absorbed into a full-on union with Germany. I find British EU-phobia (as opposed to Eurosceptism) to be a pernicious and dangerously stupid ideology.
Being part of an organisation whose explicit aims - Ever Closer Union - we are opposed to on the basis that we hope other members will share our opposition seems - well - a little trusting for my tastes.
It is meaningless nonsense and is seen as such by many pro-Europeans. The only people who bang on about it are the rabid Euro-federalists, who are in reality a minority, and British EU-phobes.
You need the political equivalent of the Hubble Telescope to see far enough into the future to detect a Federal Europe replacing the nation states.
The good thing is that this no longer really matters. We can wish the continent well with its political endeavours and take no more than a neighbourly interest.
Turns out not giving Putin what he wanted lead to the liberation of Kherson and not nuclear holocaust.
I wonder how long we are back to "must given Putin what he wants".
The current story seems to be that he is getting what he wants. If this does turn into a full blown peace deal and includes Crimea remaining Russian-controlled, I look forward to the fuming denunciations of Biden that will no doubt ensue from PB's 'no quarter' armchair warrior contingent.
Crimea is essentially useless to Russia now. Under that sort of peace deal, and with the weaponry Ukraine has / would get, the Black Sea fleet (or what remains of it) plus the Kerch Bridge would be under effective fire control. Russia also has a much diminished Black Sea fleet, far inferior to Turkey's and with the chances the Ukrainian side gets beefed up.
Having 2029 as the date at which negotiations can start again is also interesting - it's effectively saying when Putin dies.
Whether a deal has been done with Putin, or not, those scenes in Kherson are spellbinding. What is it about Liberation videos? They have the same power whether they come from France in 1944, or Ukraine in 2022
They must touch something primal and Freudian inside us. The beaten animal yearning to be free, the glorious overthrowing of the oppressor
Yes. And it puts much of what we worry about into perspective. 2nd May 1997 is perhaps our nearest equivalent in recent memory - but even to make such a comparison is absurd and slightly crass.
Very absurd and very crass
Yes. very crass. Actually offensive. For me, the closest comparison to the Kherson Liberation is Brexit Day, Friday 31st January, and the moment Boris won the GE in 2019, when we knew he would Ged Brexit Done
The hideous oppressor was expelled, and the tanks of free movement and the artillery of trade regulations fled across the Channel, like the soldiers across the Dnieper, and it was like having a baby as well
Even more absurdly crass. Only swiveleyed loons like you think the fools charter of Brexit is anything worth celebrating. "Ooo sovereinty sovereignty" we hear the brainwashed fuckwits cry. We already had our sovereignty you gullible thickheads.
I read your post yesterday about your Euroscepticism with some interest, but it makes your stridency about Brexit seem a bit artificial. Surely you must see arguments on both sides, even if on balance you favoured Remain or thought the disadvantages outweighed any advantages from pulling out?
If you're a William Hague-style Eurosceptic then you must think that the EU has done things and plans to do more things that we are better off steering clear of, but at the same time you are adamant that there are absolutely no benefits whatsoever from opting out of the whole lot. How can you be so sure that the line of what to opt in to was drawn in precisely the right place before 2016?
I am a right of centre pragmatist, though I must admit that my putdowns of the lunatic Brexit apologists may well make me seem like an EU enthusiast when I never have been such. I was not in favour of joining Euro, and not in favour of "ever closer union", the latter which I think is mythological, as the French in particular have zero intention of being absorbed into a full-on union with Germany. I find British EU-phobia (as opposed to Eurosceptism) to be a pernicious and dangerously stupid ideology.
Being part of an organisation whose explicit aims - Ever Closer Union - we are opposed to on the basis that we hope other members will share our opposition seems - well - a little trusting for my tastes.
It is meaningless nonsense and is seen as such by many pro-Europeans. The only people who bang on about it are the rabid Euro-federalists, who are in reality a minority, and British EU-phobes.
You need the political equivalent of the Hubble Telescope to see far enough into the future to detect a Federal Europe replacing the nation states.
Its already happening.
The states won't vanish, but neither have states in the USA. But the EU already has a federal currency, federal Central Bank, federal Parliament, federal Court and federal Commission.
The idea that "the French won't cease to be French" is an anti-Federalist argument can only be said by someone who has never met a Texan.
Whether a deal has been done with Putin, or not, those scenes in Kherson are spellbinding. What is it about Liberation videos? They have the same power whether they come from France in 1944, or Ukraine in 2022
They must touch something primal and Freudian inside us. The beaten animal yearning to be free, the glorious overthrowing of the oppressor
Yes. And it puts much of what we worry about into perspective. 2nd May 1997 is perhaps our nearest equivalent in recent memory - but even to make such a comparison is absurd and slightly crass.
Very absurd and very crass
Yes. very crass. Actually offensive. For me, the closest comparison to the Kherson Liberation is Brexit Day, Friday 31st January, and the moment Boris won the GE in 2019, when we knew he would Ged Brexit Done
The hideous oppressor was expelled, and the tanks of free movement and the artillery of trade regulations fled across the Channel, like the soldiers across the Dnieper, and it was like having a baby as well
Even more absurdly crass. Only swiveleyed loons like you think the fools charter of Brexit is anything worth celebrating. "Ooo sovereinty sovereignty" we hear the brainwashed fuckwits cry. We already had our sovereignty you gullible thickheads.
I read your post yesterday about your Euroscepticism with some interest, but it makes your stridency about Brexit seem a bit artificial. Surely you must see arguments on both sides, even if on balance you favoured Remain or thought the disadvantages outweighed any advantages from pulling out?
If you're a William Hague-style Eurosceptic then you must think that the EU has done things and plans to do more things that we are better off steering clear of, but at the same time you are adamant that there are absolutely no benefits whatsoever from opting out of the whole lot. How can you be so sure that the line of what to opt in to was drawn in precisely the right place before 2016?
I am a right of centre pragmatist, though I must admit that my putdowns of the lunatic Brexit apologists may well make me seem like an EU enthusiast when I never have been such. I was not in favour of joining Euro, and not in favour of "ever closer union", the latter which I think is mythological, as the French in particular have zero intention of being absorbed into a full-on union with Germany. I find British EU-phobia (as opposed to Eurosceptism) to be a pernicious and dangerously stupid ideology.
Being part of an organisation whose explicit aims - Ever Closer Union - we are opposed to on the basis that we hope other members will share our opposition seems - well - a little trusting for my tastes.
It is meaningless nonsense and is seen as such by many pro-Europeans. The only people who bang on about it are the rabid Euro-federalists, who are in reality a minority, and British EU-phobes.
You need the political equivalent of the Hubble Telescope to see far enough into the future to detect a Federal Europe replacing the nation states.
The good thing is that this no longer really matters. We can wish the continent well with its political endeavours and take no more than a neighbourly interest.
Time for you to sign up to a crash course on British foreign policy through the centuries, imho.
Vladimir Putin has been offered surrender terms by the West, a respected Russian policy expert said today, as Moscow's troops were forced to withdraw from the city of Kherson in yet another humiliating defeat.
Professor Valery Solovey, formerly at Moscow's prestigious Institute of International Relations and who claims to have connections in the Kremlin, said the surrender would see Russia give up all territory in Ukraine with the exception of Crimea which would become a demilitarized zone and its status not discussed again until 2029.
In return, Putin and his cronies would avoid criminal charges over the war and be allowed to remain in power, Solovey claimed. He said the proposal had been discussed between Kyiv and its Western allies before being presented to Putin's inner circle - who had reacted positively to the idea.
Possibly quite important. This is Putin's favourite Russian philosopher
"Alexander Dugin directly blamed Putin for the retreat from Kherson. He stated that the power in Russia is almost autocratic, but if the tsar cannot save the people, then he will face the "king of the rains fate" (a man whose stomach was ritually torn open by his fellow tribesmen)"
Calling Dugin a "philosopher" is akin to calling Trump a "statesman".
It's because he has a bushy grey beard. But in truth that doesn't mean much. I've met plenty of guys with bushy grey beards who aren't remotely philosophical.
Turns out not giving Putin what he wanted lead to the liberation of Kherson and not nuclear holocaust.
I wonder how long we are back to "must given Putin what he wants".
The current story seems to be that he is getting what he wants. If this does turn into a full blown peace deal and includes Crimea remaining Russian-controlled, I look forward to the fuming denunciations of Biden that will no doubt ensue from PB's 'no quarter' armchair warrior contingent.
On what planet is Putin "getting what he wants"?
He would have to be into extreme S&M with no safe words to see the past six months as anything he could ever want.
"Control freak billionaire with sense of humour failure"
Does seem a bit like that. Twitter needs its light side imo. Still, I was thinking of the positives of his idea to have an overt role description in the account name. Eg it would become Dan "Serious Pundit" Hodges. No longer possible to mistake him for anything else.
He already includes '"Worst political pundit in the West" in his description, albeit as something Greenwald apparently said about him.
"When, in early october, President Joe Biden remarked that the risk of nuclear “Armageddon” was now at its highest since the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, he faced considerable skepticism and pushback. Yet senior U.S. officials appear to be taking the risk of an escalation involving nuclear weapons in Ukraine deadly seriously..."
Whether a deal has been done with Putin, or not, those scenes in Kherson are spellbinding. What is it about Liberation videos? They have the same power whether they come from France in 1944, or Ukraine in 2022
They must touch something primal and Freudian inside us. The beaten animal yearning to be free, the glorious overthrowing of the oppressor
Yes. And it puts much of what we worry about into perspective. 2nd May 1997 is perhaps our nearest equivalent in recent memory - but even to make such a comparison is absurd and slightly crass.
This is a classic example of the opinions are like arseholes genre.
"Control freak billionaire with sense of humour failure"
Does seem a bit like that. Twitter needs its light side imo. Still, I was thinking of the positives of his idea to have an overt role description in the account name. Eg it would become Dan "Serious Pundit" Hodges. No longer possible to mistake him for anything else.
He already includes '"Worst political pundit in the West" in his description, albeit as something Greenwald apparently said about him.
Ah, touch of self-deprecating humour. That goes a long way in life. Unless you overdo it, then it becomes perversely smug.
"When, in early october, President Joe Biden remarked that the risk of nuclear “Armageddon” was now at its highest since the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, he faced considerable skepticism and pushback. Yet senior U.S. officials appear to be taking the risk of an escalation involving nuclear weapons in Ukraine deadly seriously..."
"When, in early october, President Joe Biden remarked that the risk of nuclear “Armageddon” was now at its highest since the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, he faced considerable skepticism and pushback. Yet senior U.S. officials appear to be taking the risk of an escalation involving nuclear weapons in Ukraine deadly seriously..."
Whether a deal has been done with Putin, or not, those scenes in Kherson are spellbinding. What is it about Liberation videos? They have the same power whether they come from France in 1944, or Ukraine in 2022
They must touch something primal and Freudian inside us. The beaten animal yearning to be free, the glorious overthrowing of the oppressor
Yes. And it puts much of what we worry about into perspective. 2nd May 1997 is perhaps our nearest equivalent in recent memory - but even to make such a comparison is absurd and slightly crass.
Very absurd and very crass
Yes. very crass. Actually offensive. For me, the closest comparison to the Kherson Liberation is Brexit Day, Friday 31st January, and the moment Boris won the GE in 2019, when we knew he would Ged Brexit Done
The hideous oppressor was expelled, and the tanks of free movement and the artillery of trade regulations fled across the Channel, like the soldiers across the Dnieper, and it was like having a baby as well
Even more absurdly crass. Only swiveleyed loons like you think the fools charter of Brexit is anything worth celebrating. "Ooo sovereinty sovereignty" we hear the brainwashed fuckwits cry. We already had our sovereignty you gullible thickheads.
I read your post yesterday about your Euroscepticism with some interest, but it makes your stridency about Brexit seem a bit artificial. Surely you must see arguments on both sides, even if on balance you favoured Remain or thought the disadvantages outweighed any advantages from pulling out?
If you're a William Hague-style Eurosceptic then you must think that the EU has done things and plans to do more things that we are better off steering clear of, but at the same time you are adamant that there are absolutely no benefits whatsoever from opting out of the whole lot. How can you be so sure that the line of what to opt in to was drawn in precisely the right place before 2016?
I am a right of centre pragmatist, though I must admit that my putdowns of the lunatic Brexit apologists may well make me seem like an EU enthusiast when I never have been such. I was not in favour of joining Euro, and not in favour of "ever closer union", the latter which I think is mythological, as the French in particular have zero intention of being absorbed into a full-on union with Germany. I find British EU-phobia (as opposed to Eurosceptism) to be a pernicious and dangerously stupid ideology.
Being part of an organisation whose explicit aims - Ever Closer Union - we are opposed to on the basis that we hope other members will share our opposition seems - well - a little trusting for my tastes.
It is meaningless nonsense and is seen as such by many pro-Europeans. The only people who bang on about it are the rabid Euro-federalists, who are in reality a minority, and British EU-phobes.
You need the political equivalent of the Hubble Telescope to see far enough into the future to detect a Federal Europe replacing the nation states.
Most at the top in Brussels are ideologically committed to an EU superstate able to match the US and China and, in time, India.
The EU as Bart says already has its own Parliament, currency, court, executive commission and President. It will soon have its own army too and be a superstate in all but name.
It is certainly no longer just the trading block we joined the Common Market for. Even had we voted Remain in due course we would have ended up on the outer edge with non Eurozone Sweden, Denmark and Poland and Hungary while the rest moved full steam ahead to federal union.
Whether a deal has been done with Putin, or not, those scenes in Kherson are spellbinding. What is it about Liberation videos? They have the same power whether they come from France in 1944, or Ukraine in 2022
They must touch something primal and Freudian inside us. The beaten animal yearning to be free, the glorious overthrowing of the oppressor
Yes. And it puts much of what we worry about into perspective. 2nd May 1997 is perhaps our nearest equivalent in recent memory - but even to make such a comparison is absurd and slightly crass.
Very absurd and very crass
Yes. very crass. Actually offensive. For me, the closest comparison to the Kherson Liberation is Brexit Day, Friday 31st January, and the moment Boris won the GE in 2019, when we knew he would Ged Brexit Done
The hideous oppressor was expelled, and the tanks of free movement and the artillery of trade regulations fled across the Channel, like the soldiers across the Dnieper, and it was like having a baby as well
Even more absurdly crass. Only swiveleyed loons like you think the fools charter of Brexit is anything worth celebrating. "Ooo sovereinty sovereignty" we hear the brainwashed fuckwits cry. We already had our sovereignty you gullible thickheads.
I read your post yesterday about your Euroscepticism with some interest, but it makes your stridency about Brexit seem a bit artificial. Surely you must see arguments on both sides, even if on balance you favoured Remain or thought the disadvantages outweighed any advantages from pulling out?
If you're a William Hague-style Eurosceptic then you must think that the EU has done things and plans to do more things that we are better off steering clear of, but at the same time you are adamant that there are absolutely no benefits whatsoever from opting out of the whole lot. How can you be so sure that the line of what to opt in to was drawn in precisely the right place before 2016?
I am a right of centre pragmatist, though I must admit that my putdowns of the lunatic Brexit apologists may well make me seem like an EU enthusiast when I never have been such. I was not in favour of joining Euro, and not in favour of "ever closer union", the latter which I think is mythological, as the French in particular have zero intention of being absorbed into a full-on union with Germany. I find British EU-phobia (as opposed to Eurosceptism) to be a pernicious and dangerously stupid ideology.
Being part of an organisation whose explicit aims - Ever Closer Union - we are opposed to on the basis that we hope other members will share our opposition seems - well - a little trusting for my tastes.
It is meaningless nonsense and is seen as such by many pro-Europeans. The only people who bang on about it are the rabid Euro-federalists, who are in reality a minority, and British EU-phobes.
You need the political equivalent of the Hubble Telescope to see far enough into the future to detect a Federal Europe replacing the nation states.
The good thing is that this no longer really matters. We can wish the continent well with its political endeavours and take no more than a neighbourly interest.
Time for you to sign up to a crash course on British foreign policy through the centuries, imho.
Not forgetting that Ireland is also part of the EU. And that wasn't 'foreign' policy, at least for much of the time.
Turns out not giving Putin what he wanted lead to the liberation of Kherson and not nuclear holocaust.
I wonder how long we are back to "must given Putin what he wants".
The current story seems to be that he is getting what he wants. If this does turn into a full blown peace deal and includes Crimea remaining Russian-controlled, I look forward to the fuming denunciations of Biden that will no doubt ensue from PB's 'no quarter' armchair warrior contingent.
On what planet is Putin "getting what he wants"?
He would have to be into extreme S&M with no safe words to see the past six months as anything he could ever want.
If all he wanted was Crimea the 2022 invasion would never have happened.
I think its possible that some people would criticise the West or Zelensky if Ukraine signed a deal which included, say, Crimea alone (though personally I never thought they'd be able to get it back, and hope to be wrong), but how many? And there is a big difference in various western bods pushing Ukraine to cede territory such as the Donbas, and wanting to stop helping them if they try, and the Ukrainians deciding it is the best that can be managed right now.
I also find 'armchair' warrior/pundit etc to be an overdone criticism. Yes, it's meant as a takedown of people being overly bold in rhetoric without a genuine stake in things, but the implication is no one who is not on the frontline of a war or at the forefront of an issue can comment or have any valid opinions, and that's nonsense. It doesn't make every tom, dick or harry an instant expert ub geopolitics, but it's no more likely to be virtue signalling than some simplistic faux realism.
Comments
First, let me repeat that most American states take days or even hours, so your question should be rephrased as follows: Why do some American states take weeks to count votes while most states count votes in days, or even hours?
And the answer is, usually, because the slow states have longer and more complex ballots, and use mail ballots for all, or a large fraction, of their ballots. Counting mail ballots takes longer, since, among other things, vote counters have to compare signatures, with the signatures on file.
(It's also my impression that few other nations allow write-in votes, which add still another layer of complexity to the counting.
"few doubt that Speaker Nancy Pelosi, at age 82, is still at the top of her game"
Here she is, at the top of her game at COP 27
https://twitter.com/Kefalonitissa/status/1591077968448667648?s=20&t=r5Z3kLi1fgufFpNAj8LJjQ
Meanwhile, the GOP money men, Fox News, and the NY Post, have all decided that DeSantis is the future, and Trump is yesterday’s man.
Just noting that the argument for his running is being put out there.
I'm still not quite sure which way to bet on this. Fortunately I'm green on the market, so can just sit back and wait for opportunities to trade. For now I can't work out whether anyone is mispriced (as Buttigieg was a while back).
Supply chains 'Thanks to Brexit' the worst ever and Covid is NOT the major cause.
Usual economic update. Cafes, restos and pubs everywhere I have been visiting remain ram packed. Predictions of economic woe seem, yet again, wide of the mark....
As for Leon's original point of abject stupidity: the only parallel between Putin's invasion and Brexit is that both were emotionally driven acts of pointlessness that have resulted in varying degrees of self harm for the main actor
"... the Antonovskiy Bridge - the main crossing over the Dnipro River on the west of the city [of Kherson] ..."
Why not just look at a map if you don't know?
Clark County, Washington is named after William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. (Reasonably enough, since the expedition came through there. If you are unfamliar with the third-most famous person in the expedition, look here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacagawea )
Clark County, Nevada was named after "William A. Clark, a Montana copper magnate and Democratic U.S. Senator".
(The second William Clark may have been named after the first.)
Our opt out was allowed as a pragmatic expedient.
Our correct position was and is EFTA/EEA.
Here some numbers by county, first is estimated number of ballots remaining to be counted; second is current % for Democratic candidate Marie Gluesenkamp Perez; third is each counties share of estimated ballots remaining:
Clark 45,000 0.5653 0.7827
Cowlitz 6,500 0.4541 0.1131
Lewis 380 0.3503 0.0066
Pacific 2,386 0.5225 0.0415
Skamania 125 0.4680 0.0022
Thurston 3,000 0.3768 0.0522
Wahkiakum 100 0.4398 0.0017
WA CD03 57,491 0.5085 1.0000
So over 80% of remaining ballots are from counties were MGP is currently leading over JK.
Note that it is Veterans Day holiday in US, and most election offices in WA will NOT be releasing numbers today; however, Clark and Cowlitz are both exceptions, so picture should be clearer this evening.
"21 Oct and 23 Oct Shoigu phoned Lloyd Austin. Russia was desperate for negotiations with "No preconditions". The US suggested it to Kyiv.
Putin wanted to give Kherson without a fight and get Crimea.
Instead Kyiv have liberated Kherson and will liberate Crimea"
Brexit = Putin victory
Ukraine = Putin defeat
Right. That's true, for example, in Washington state. This year ballots had to be postmarked by the 8th, or placed in a drop box before 8 PM on the 8th.
States often don't allow any examination of ballots before election day. (Many party officials fear that knowing partial results before election day would allow the other party to try to tip the balance, if the election is close.)
Possible.
Brexit ≠ Putin victory...
Does Big Ron go and stump for Walker in the run-off?
Until someone finally a) noticed the error; and b) cared enough to correct it!
Note that the seriously antiquated highway bridge over the Columbia River between Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington (county seat of Clark Co) has a plaque from it's dedication over a century ago that reads "Clarke".
Are you old enough to remember travelling round Europe with a molehill of cash losing 3% of its value with every border you crossed?
Since Q1 2016 (the quarter before the vote to leave the EU), the UK economy has grown by around 6.7% and the German economy by about 6.2%.
#BrexitReality
https://twitter.com/julianHjessop/status/1591036294494576640
BTW an SNP position appears to be that being in the UK pound ties Scotland to England and the UK as a state (which of course it does) while being in the Euro magically doesn't do the same thing with regard to the EU.
"Alexander Dugin directly blamed Putin for the retreat from Kherson. He stated that the power in Russia is almost autocratic, but if the tsar cannot save the people, then he will face the "king of the rains fate" (a man whose stomach was ritually torn open by his fellow tribesmen)"
https://twitter.com/NOELreports/status/1591114586891194368?s=20&t=zsv7SZfUZ3ijJnL0TIpY4g
(That it was and is a mistake to join nations with different defence alliances in a common currency is so obviously the case that only wilfulness gets in the way of seeing it.)
Post-war Russia will not be like that. Russia will seem largely untouched, even as Ukraine has to rebuild half of its cities and all of its infrastructure. So the hateful resentment will, I suggest, fester and ferment
Sunil, am I right ?
It may be significant that Dugin is turning on his leader
Ishmael_Z: Knock it off, Sunil.
I've decided not to take the bet at short odds.
https://u24.gov.ua/navaldrones
Having 2029 as the date at which negotiations can start again is also interesting - it's effectively saying when Putin dies.
The states won't vanish, but neither have states in the USA. But the EU already has a federal currency, federal Central Bank, federal Parliament, federal Court and federal Commission.
The idea that "the French won't cease to be French" is an anti-Federalist argument can only be said by someone who has never met a Texan.
It's much better than I thought he'd accept and puts Ukraine in the best position since 2014, and makes Crimea neutral without prejudicing a decision.
A UN supervised referendum in 2029 could resolve its status.
He would have to be into extreme S&M with no safe words to see the past six months as anything he could ever want.
"When, in early october, President Joe Biden remarked that the risk of nuclear “Armageddon” was now at its highest since the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, he faced considerable skepticism and pushback. Yet senior U.S. officials appear to be taking the risk of an escalation involving nuclear weapons in Ukraine deadly seriously..."
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/11/russia-putin-nuclear-escalation-ukraine-war/672082/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=the-atlantic&utm_content=edit-promo&utm_term=2022-11-11T12:00:56
TL;DR: Putin isn't going anywhere, he still thinks he can win, and if he believes he is losing badly, he could easily go nuclear
Stick to the betting.
TL;DR Putin is sabre rattling so Biden is reminding the world that he has a sabre too. So Putin can't easily go nuclear.
The EU as Bart says already has its own Parliament, currency, court, executive commission and President. It will soon have its own army too and be a superstate in all but name.
It is certainly no longer just the trading block we joined the Common Market for. Even had we voted Remain in due course we would have ended up on the outer edge with non Eurozone Sweden, Denmark and Poland and Hungary while the rest moved full steam ahead to federal union.
I think its possible that some people would criticise the West or Zelensky if Ukraine signed a deal which included, say, Crimea alone (though personally I never thought they'd be able to get it back, and hope to be wrong), but how many? And there is a big difference in various western bods pushing Ukraine to cede territory such as the Donbas, and wanting to stop helping them if they try, and the Ukrainians deciding it is the best that can be managed right now.
I also find 'armchair' warrior/pundit etc to be an overdone criticism. Yes, it's meant as a takedown of people being overly bold in rhetoric without a genuine stake in things, but the implication is no one who is not on the frontline of a war or at the forefront of an issue can comment or have any valid opinions, and that's nonsense. It doesn't make every tom, dick or harry an instant expert ub geopolitics, but it's no more likely to be virtue signalling than some simplistic faux realism.