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.
If you view the EU - now or in the foreseeable - as being remotely like the USA you're in a world I simply don't recognize. Which is fine. How's the weather?
"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.
I like to think I tread the line, but every day is a new battle.
Note that the 600k remaining is the floor and NOT the ceiling. For on thing, some returned ballots not included in above numbers, for example challenged ballots that may (or may not) end up getting validated and counted.
Even so, turnout for THIS midterm will be way down, compared to 71.8% turnout in 2018 general.
Key races still undecided as of Thursday night:
> WA Secretary of State > US House of Representatives, 3rd congressional district > WA Legislature - two state senate seats & six state house seats
Despite fact it's Veterans Day, a public holiday in US, six of the largest counties in WA State will be processing ballots today AND reporting updated totals this evening.
SO think that situation in the ten races highlighted, will be a lot clearer by tonight - either decided OR really really close.
At moment, based on available numbers, am thinking Democrats are likely to win 7, 8 or even 9 of 10.
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.
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.
If you view the EU - now or in the foreseeable - as being remotely like the USA you're in a world I simply don't recognize. Which is fine. How's the weather?
The EU is the EU, not the USA. Australia is Australia, not the USA too. No two federations are the same.
Federal Europe, Federal Australia and Federal America are all very different. The EU is a nascent and evolving federation, just as 18thC USA and early 20thC Australia were, but it is an evolving one.
If its not remotely a federation why does it already have a Federal Government (the Commission), Federal Central Bank, Federal Taxes, Federal Parliament, Federal Laws and Federal Supreme Court?
"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.
I like to think I tread the line, but every day is a new battle.
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.
Yes, exactly (except fuller union of the core won't be anything like at 'full steam ahead', more like a snail's pace with long periods of stasis, if it ever happens at all). We'd have had the best of all possible positions: all the advantages of full EU membership, without the excessive bits. It is such an extraordinary tragedy that we, of our own volition, threw it away. As I predicted at the time, we'll spend at least a decade, perhaps longer, painfully trying to claw back some of the lost ground, but we'll never get back to such a favourable position as we had.
I wonder where Ukraine's next breakthrough attack will be? Kharkiv Oblast and Kherson west of the Dnipro river are now secure, which had been the focus for so long.
The length of the frontline seems to offer a few different options once the Ukraine army has regrouped from its latest victory.
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
Anything so you don't have rub shoulder at the airport with those horrid Tunisians...
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.
We agree, except that I would regard that as a good thing, whereas you would think it a bad thing.
I was wondering what was going on in Alaska's at-large congressional election. It was kind of funny that they had an election on August 16th and also now.
With the Democrat winning the run off 51.48 to 48.52, with some surprising comments that the system was unfair as 'clearly' Alaska wanted a Republican, demonstrably incorrect since given the choice of a specific Republican they rejected them.
Apparently at 80% reporting the results are currently, for the first round:
That's potentially a pretty decent change in a couple of months, and knowing nothing about him I assume Begich must really dislike Palin to once again make sure she doesn't get all the Republican votes.
I wonder where Ukraine's next breakthrough attack will be? Kharkiv Oblast and Kherson west of the Dnipro river are now secure, which had been the focus for so long.
The length of the frontline seems to offer a few different options once the Ukraine army has regrouped from its latest victory.
The one line that barely seems to have changed from pre-February is the one near Donetsk. Both sides must be dug in deep.
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.
I wonder where Ukraine's next breakthrough attack will be? Kharkiv Oblast and Kherson west of the Dnipro river are now secure, which had been the focus for so long.
The length of the frontline seems to offer a few different options once the Ukraine army has regrouped from its latest victory.
What's interesting is that the breakthroughs have occurred on memorable dates. Kharkiv fell on the same date the Queen died, Kherson fell on Remembrance Day.
The way this is going, expect Crimea to be liberated on Easter Sunday.
Good evening from the Empire Pool. Whilst I have a great view of the stage am amazed to see seats just a few rows in front that cannot see the stage at all due to the entry for the stairs up...
I wonder where Ukraine's next breakthrough attack will be? Kharkiv Oblast and Kherson west of the Dnipro river are now secure, which had been the focus for so long.
The length of the frontline seems to offer a few different options once the Ukraine army has regrouped from its latest victory.
What's interesting is that the breakthroughs have occurred on memorable dates. Kharkiv fell on the same date the Queen died, Kherson fell on Remembrance Day.
The way this is going, expect Crimea to be liberated on Easter Sunday.
I was wondering what was going on in Alaska's at-large congressional election. It was kind of funny that they had an election on August 16th and also now.
With the Democrat winning the run off 51.48 to 48.52, with some surprising comments that the system was unfair as 'clearly' Alaska wanted a Republican, demonstrably incorrect since given the choice of a specific Republican they rejected them.
Apparently at 80% reporting the results are currently, for the first round:
That's potentially a pretty decent change in a couple of months, and knowing nothing about him I assume Begich must really dislike Palin to once again make sure she doesn't get all the Republican votes.
LOTS of Alaskans dislike Sarah Palin these days. Many see her as a reverse carpetbagger. Thus many of the Begich votes would NOT automatically have gone to Palin in his absence.
Unless estimated 20% of the final votes still to be counted (for first preferences) are strongly skewed against incumbent US Rep. Mary Peltola, then reckon she's gonna win in the end.
With Sarah Palin AND Donald Trump deserving most of the credit for the GOP (Grifters On Parade) pissing away yet another seat Republicans clearly could and should have won.
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.
Yes, exactly (except fuller union of the core won't be anything like at 'full steam ahead', more like a snail's pace with long periods of stasis, if it ever happens at all). We'd have had the best of all possible positions: all the advantages of full EU membership, without the excessive bits. It is such an extraordinary tragedy that we, of our own volition, threw it away. As I predicted at the time, we'll spend at least a decade, perhaps longer, painfully trying to claw back some of the lost ground, but we'll never get back to such a favourable position as we had.
Sounds like Dave's Deal was the best realistic combo of access, input, veto and staying out of anything disagreeable.
But as with "withdrawal but only as far as EEA", that wasn't enough for some people.
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
They only destroyed it for "real people" Roger...us unreal people think differently but then you would rather we don't count as to you we are lady parts
I see the good folk of Nevada still get the option to vote 'None of these candidates' in their races. I remember hearing about it being legally challenged around a decade ago and obviously must have failed.
Wiki says on a couple of occasions 'none of these candidates' has topped party primaries, with the result that the second place actual human got the nod.
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%.
Watch the Six o'clock news. We are the bottom of the G7 and the only one with deficit and if you compare the size of our economy with its pre Brexit size it has reduced significantly more than the other six. The cause is almost certainly Brexit according to Faisal Islam
Boebert definitely just scraping home as predicted earlier I see. I wonder if a close shave would lead to some self reflection.
That seat in Washington where the former incumbent was primaried out for voting to impeach Trump looks like a Dem gain.
IF the Democrat prevails in WA 3rd CD, yet another defeat for GOP snatched from jaws of victory, thanks to the Sage of Mar-a-Lardo. With able assist from SCOTUS.
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.
Impossible to predict and an odd reason to bail out imo. But fwiw - given you seem to buy it - was that the future YOU were hoping for when you voted Remain then? Us on the outer edge of a federal superstate? Or do you now prefer this - ie being outside even the outer edge? Like a kind of Pluto. I'd rather be back where we were, I must say. Third rock from the sun after Germany and France.
Looking at the results in so far for those House seats, it's just amazing how many are within 2 or 3%.
For all attempts at gerrymandering close contests cannot always be avoided (and as SeaShantyIrish2 notes, some places that should have been safe have ended up not being thanks to Trumpistas).
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.
Impossible to predict and an odd reason to bail out now imo. But fwiw - given you seem to buy it - was that the future you were hoping for when you voted Remain then? Us on the outer edge of a federal superstate? Or do now you prefer this - ie being outside even the outer edge? Like a kind of Pluto. I'd rather be back where were, I must say. Third rock from the sun after Germany and France.
I voted Remain as we were still outside the Eurozone, had Remain required us to join the Eurozone I would have voted Leave
I see the good folk of Nevada still get the option to vote 'None of these candidates' in their races. I remember hearing about it being legally challenged around a decade ago and obviously must have failed.
Wiki says on a couple of occasions 'none of these candidates' has topped party primaries, with the result that the second place actual human got the nod.
Notable impact on elections According to a report by then-Secretary of State Dean Heller, "None of These Candidates" has finished first on three other occasions: in a 1978 Republican congressional primary, a 1978 Republican Secretary of State primary and a 1986 Democratic Treasurer primary. Additionally, it happened again in the 2014 Democratic gubernatorial primary making it a grand total of five instances.[4]
The "None of These Candidates" option has possibly played a spoiler effect in close races, such as in the 1998 U.S. Senate election, in which Democratic incumbent Sen. Harry Reid defeated Republican challenger John Ensign by only 428 votes, while None of These Candidates drew 8,125 votes.[5]
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.
Stick to the betting.
Ok, Elon, I will put JOKE at the front of such comments in future.
Will Schryver continues to believe that all is going swimmingly for the Russians:
You do have to admire his consistency.
In the same way as admiring someone who is 'principled'?
I think more in the way of admiring the Kamikaze pilots of WW2. Completely mad and wasting their lives on a lost cause but undeniably committed in a way most of can't even begin to imagine.
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.
Fundamentally, our membership of such a bloc is dishonest.
I see the good folk of Nevada still get the option to vote 'None of these candidates' in their races. I remember hearing about it being legally challenged around a decade ago and obviously must have failed.
Wiki says on a couple of occasions 'none of these candidates' has topped party primaries, with the result that the second place actual human got the nod.
At University, Reopen Nominations (or Ron) was always an option. I had a couple of friends who tirelessly campaigned for Ron in pretty much every election going. On a number of occasions they succeed.
I never worked out what was in it for them, but they seemed to enjoy the campaigns very much.
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%.
Watch the Six o'clock news. We are the bottom of the G7 and the only one with deficit and if you compare the size of our economy with its pre Brexit size it has reduced significantly more than the other six. The cause is almost certainly Brexit according to Faisal Islam
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.
Stick to the betting.
Ok, Elon, I will put JOKE at the front of such comments in future.
(that House bet has bailed you out then, I note)
I've got my losses down to £95 (they were shocking at one point).
Will do pretty well on the House but my Senate bets have totally sunk me, and there's no way out.
On the bright side I'm pretty happy with my Presidential bets and looking forward to playing those over the next 23 months.
A security guard has admitted spying for Russia while working at the British Embassy in Berlin. ... Prosecutors said he was driven by an intense hatred for his country and angered by the flying of the Rainbow flag in support of the LGBT community.
I wonder where Ukraine's next breakthrough attack will be? Kharkiv Oblast and Kherson west of the Dnipro river are now secure, which had been the focus for so long.
The length of the frontline seems to offer a few different options once the Ukraine army has regrouped from its latest victory.
I'd be very cautious on the prospects for the next few months, if not longer. In the South the Russian are now digging in behind a stonking great river barrier, and it's very hard to see how the Ukrainians can dislodge them from that and cross the Dnipro. Meanwhile the Russians may simply revert to blasting the hell out of the civilian population, including Kherson itself (although there'd be a certain irony in them pulverising what they claim is part of Russia).
In the East, the Ukrainians might have more success, but it will be very tough going and in winter there's little cover. Probably not much will change there over the winter, although Ukraine has surprised us before.
In the spring things may develop more quickly, but I don't think anyone can really be too confident of how this is going to turn out.
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%.
Watch the Six o'clock news. We are the bottom of the G7 and the only one with deficit and if you compare the size of our economy with its pre Brexit size it has reduced significantly more than the other six. The cause is almost certainly Brexit according to Faisal Islam
"according to Faisal Islam"
He definitely wasn't listening because the idea that the UK is the only G7 nation with a deficit is laughable. Only Germany has got lower national debt and a lower deficit as a proportion of GDP than we do trailing 12 months. Even that looks like it will change in the next 5 years as UK debt continues to fall as a proportion of GDP.
Roger is a mysogynist as he supports Roman Polanksi who sodomized a 15 year old girl and dismisses it as hardly relevant
Roger is a racist as he dismisses tunisians as not real people
Waiting for his homophobia to surface next
He rails against people from hartlepool but I suspect he would disgust most people in hartlepool because of his views
What was the bible quote....remove the beam from your own eye first.
He's also lauded "vibrant Italy" a lot in the past, the same Italy that has just elected a nationalist government with the leading party formed out of the ashes of the Italian fascist party. He's gone quiet about "vibrant Italy" recently though.
I wonder where Ukraine's next breakthrough attack will be? Kharkiv Oblast and Kherson west of the Dnipro river are now secure, which had been the focus for so long.
The length of the frontline seems to offer a few different options once the Ukraine army has regrouped from its latest victory.
I'd be very cautious on the prospects for the next few months, if not longer. In the South the Russian are now digging in behind a stonking great river barrier, and it's very hard to see how the Ukrainians can dislodge them from that and cross the Dnipro. Meanwhile the Russians may simply revert to blasting the hell out of the civilian population, including Kherson itself (although there'd be a certain irony in them pulverising what they claim is part of Russia).
In the East, the Ukrainians might have more success, but it will be very tough going and in winter there's little cover. Probably not much will change there over the winter, although Ukraine has surprised us before.
In the Spring things may develop more quickly, but I don't think anyone can really be too confident of how this is going to turn out.
The logical next move might be to split the Russian-controlled territories in two by attacking the left bank from the north and heading for the Sea of Azov.
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.
After the IRA started targeting British forces and families in Germany in the early 80s, the MOD advised all British families to switch their numberplates from British to German to make it more difficult for them to be identified.
One interesting side effect of this was that after the switch, when the British drove their cars over the border into the Netherlands at the weekend, they would come back to find they had been keyed or smashed up. It never happened to their cars when they had British plates.
The Dutch did not quickly or easily forget or forgive the Germans.
Roger is a mysogynist as he supports Roman Polanksi who sodomized a 15 year old girl and dismisses it as hardly relevant
Roger is a racist as he dismisses tunisians as not real people
Waiting for his homophobia to surface next
He rails against people from hartlepool but I suspect he would disgust most people in hartlepool because of his views
What was the bible quote....remove the beam from your own eye first.
He's also lauded "vibrant Italy" a lot in the past, the same Italy that has just elected a nationalist government with the leading party formed out of the ashes of the Italian fascist party. He's gone quiet about "vibrant Italy" recently though.
Roger is everything he claims to despise but can't see it because he classes himself as left wing. The rest of us classify him as pond scum
As part of their Tribute to Veterans on Veterans Day, one el cheapo US broadcast TV channel now featuring "The Wackiest Ship in the Army" to be followed by "The Longest Day".
I wonder where Ukraine's next breakthrough attack will be? Kharkiv Oblast and Kherson west of the Dnipro river are now secure, which had been the focus for so long.
The length of the frontline seems to offer a few different options once the Ukraine army has regrouped from its latest victory.
I'd be very cautious on the prospects for the next few months, if not longer. In the South the Russian are now digging in behind a stonking great river barrier, and it's very hard to see how the Ukrainians can dislodge them from that and cross the Dnipro. Meanwhile the Russians may simply revert to blasting the hell out of the civilian population, including Kherson itself (although there'd be a certain irony in them pulverising what they claim is part of Russia).
In the East, the Ukrainians might have more success, but it will be very tough going and in winter there's little cover. Probably not much will change there over the winter, although Ukraine has surprised us before.
In the Spring things may develop more quickly, but I don't think anyone can really be too confident of how this is going to turn out.
The logical next move might be to split the Russian-controlled territories in two by attacking the left bank from the north and heading for the Sea of Azov.
Why is Prime now shitting all over programmes I select and watch with "free ads"?
I already pay monthly. If they continue to pull that shit I'll cancel.
Because, like most of us who have prime, the convenience of next day delivery is too much to give up. Although with the price rise it's not brilliant value any more and now that I've finished my Bond run through there's also not a lot left I want to watch on 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.
This is a classic example of the opinions are like arseholes genre.
Stick to the betting.
Ok, Elon, I will put JOKE at the front of such comments in future.
(that House bet has bailed you out then, I note)
I've got my losses down to £95 (they were shocking at one point).
Will do pretty well on the House but my Senate bets have totally sunk me, and there's no way out...
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%.
Watch the Six o'clock news. We are the bottom of the G7 and the only one with deficit and if you compare the size of our economy with its pre Brexit size it has reduced significantly more than the other six. The cause is almost certainly Brexit according to Faisal Islam
"according to Faisal Islam"
He definitely wasn't listening because the idea that the UK is the only G7 nation with a deficit is laughable. Only Germany has got lower national debt and a lower deficit as a proportion of GDP than we do trailing 12 months. Even that looks like it will change in the next 5 years as UK debt continues to fall as a proportion of GDP.
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%.
Watch the Six o'clock news. We are the bottom of the G7 and the only one with deficit and if you compare the size of our economy with its pre Brexit size it has reduced significantly more than the other six. The cause is almost certainly Brexit according to Faisal Islam
"according to Faisal Islam"
He definitely wasn't listening because the idea that the UK is the only G7 nation with a deficit is laughable. Only Germany has got lower national debt and a lower deficit as a proportion of GDP than we do trailing 12 months. Even that looks like it will change in the next 5 years as UK debt continues to fall as a proportion of GDP.
Canada beats us too, don't they?
Canada gave us justin bieber though a huge blot on a countries history
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%.
Watch the Six o'clock news. We are the bottom of the G7 and the only one with deficit and if you compare the size of our economy with its pre Brexit size it has reduced significantly more than the other six. The cause is almost certainly Brexit according to Faisal Islam
"according to Faisal Islam"
He definitely wasn't listening because the idea that the UK is the only G7 nation with a deficit is laughable. Only Germany has got lower national debt and a lower deficit as a proportion of GDP than we do trailing 12 months. Even that looks like it will change in the next 5 years as UK debt continues to fall as a proportion of GDP.
Canada beats us too, don't they?
Deficit maybe, don't think so on debt. Alas, my computer is now off until Monday so we'll never know.
I wonder where Ukraine's next breakthrough attack will be? Kharkiv Oblast and Kherson west of the Dnipro river are now secure, which had been the focus for so long.
The length of the frontline seems to offer a few different options once the Ukraine army has regrouped from its latest victory.
I'd be very cautious on the prospects for the next few months, if not longer. In the South the Russian are now digging in behind a stonking great river barrier, and it's very hard to see how the Ukrainians can dislodge them from that and cross the Dnipro. Meanwhile the Russians may simply revert to blasting the hell out of the civilian population, including Kherson itself (although there'd be a certain irony in them pulverising what they claim is part of Russia).
In the East, the Ukrainians might have more success, but it will be very tough going and in winter there's little cover. Probably not much will change there over the winter, although Ukraine has surprised us before.
In the spring things may develop more quickly, but I don't think anyone can really be too confident of how this is going to turn out.
I wonder where Ukraine's next breakthrough attack will be? Kharkiv Oblast and Kherson west of the Dnipro river are now secure, which had been the focus for so long.
The length of the frontline seems to offer a few different options once the Ukraine army has regrouped from its latest victory.
I'd be very cautious on the prospects for the next few months, if not longer. In the South the Russian are now digging in behind a stonking great river barrier, and it's very hard to see how the Ukrainians can dislodge them from that and cross the Dnipro. Meanwhile the Russians may simply revert to blasting the hell out of the civilian population, including Kherson itself (although there'd be a certain irony in them pulverising what they claim is part of Russia).
In the East, the Ukrainians might have more success, but it will be very tough going and in winter there's little cover. Probably not much will change there over the winter, although Ukraine has surprised us before.
In the spring things may develop more quickly, but I don't think anyone can really be too confident of how this is going to turn out.
Wouldn't the smart move for the Ukrainians be to just sit still and let the Russians perish through their own incompetence?
Why is Prime now shitting all over programmes I select and watch with "free ads"?
I already pay monthly. If they continue to pull that shit I'll cancel.
Because, like most of us who have prime, the convenience of next day delivery is too much to give up. Although with the price rise it's not brilliant value any more and now that I've finished my Bond run through there's also not a lot left I want to watch on it.
The Prime video selection is much better in the US.
I wonder where Ukraine's next breakthrough attack will be? Kharkiv Oblast and Kherson west of the Dnipro river are now secure, which had been the focus for so long.
The length of the frontline seems to offer a few different options once the Ukraine army has regrouped from its latest victory.
I'd be very cautious on the prospects for the next few months, if not longer. In the South the Russian are now digging in behind a stonking great river barrier, and it's very hard to see how the Ukrainians can dislodge them from that and cross the Dnipro. Meanwhile the Russians may simply revert to blasting the hell out of the civilian population, including Kherson itself (although there'd be a certain irony in them pulverising what they claim is part of Russia).
In the East, the Ukrainians might have more success, but it will be very tough going and in winter there's little cover. Probably not much will change there over the winter, although Ukraine has surprised us before.
In the spring things may develop more quickly, but I don't think anyone can really be too confident of how this is going to turn out.
I wonder where Ukraine's next breakthrough attack will be? Kharkiv Oblast and Kherson west of the Dnipro river are now secure, which had been the focus for so long.
The length of the frontline seems to offer a few different options once the Ukraine army has regrouped from its latest victory.
I'd be very cautious on the prospects for the next few months, if not longer. In the South the Russian are now digging in behind a stonking great river barrier, and it's very hard to see how the Ukrainians can dislodge them from that and cross the Dnipro...
They won’t bother, If they continue the offensive, they’ll come down from the north.
Roger is a mysogynist as he supports Roman Polanksi who sodomized a 15 year old girl and dismisses it as hardly relevant
Roger is a racist as he dismisses tunisians as not real people
Waiting for his homophobia to surface next
He rails against people from hartlepool but I suspect he would disgust most people in hartlepool because of his views
What was the bible quote....remove the beam from your own eye first.
He's also lauded "vibrant Italy" a lot in the past, the same Italy that has just elected a nationalist government with the leading party formed out of the ashes of the Italian fascist party. He's gone quiet about "vibrant Italy" recently though.
Roger is everything he claims to despise but can't see it because he classes himself as left wing. The rest of us classify him as pond scum
Bit strong.
He's just a prejudiced left-wing snob.
When you filter everything through that he's sort of harmless and amusing.
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.
I don't mean what he wanted out of the invasion, that would be ridiculous. I mean what he wants now.
Roger is a mysogynist as he supports Roman Polanksi who sodomized a 15 year old girl and dismisses it as hardly relevant
Roger is a racist as he dismisses tunisians as not real people
Waiting for his homophobia to surface next
He rails against people from hartlepool but I suspect he would disgust most people in hartlepool because of his views
What was the bible quote....remove the beam from your own eye first.
He's also lauded "vibrant Italy" a lot in the past, the same Italy that has just elected a nationalist government with the leading party formed out of the ashes of the Italian fascist party. He's gone quiet about "vibrant Italy" recently though.
Roger is everything he claims to despise but can't see it because he classes himself as left wing. The rest of us classify him as pond scum
Bit strong.
He's just a prejudiced left-wing snob.
When you filter everything through that he's sort of harmless and amusing.
Would you excuse anyone else for blatant mysogyny and racism? I don't know anyone else on this board that is such a blatant arsehole
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.
Yes, exactly (except fuller union of the core won't be anything like at 'full steam ahead', more like a snail's pace with long periods of stasis, if it ever happens at all). We'd have had the best of all possible positions: all the advantages of full EU membership, without the excessive bits. It is such an extraordinary tragedy that we, of our own volition, threw it away. As I predicted at the time, we'll spend at least a decade, perhaps longer, painfully trying to claw back some of the lost ground, but we'll never get back to such a favourable position as we had.
And all of it easily avoided if the arrogant clueless europhiles had only given the British people a vote on earlier moments of integration - as they so often promised, yet failed to do
This constant fraudulence led inexorably to the fatal rupture of total Brexit. Consider this
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.
Stick to the betting.
Ok, Elon, I will put JOKE at the front of such comments in future.
(that House bet has bailed you out then, I note)
I've got my losses down to £95 (they were shocking at one point).
Will do pretty well on the House but my Senate bets have totally sunk me, and there's no way out...
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.
Stick to the betting.
Ok, Elon, I will put JOKE at the front of such comments in future.
(that House bet has bailed you out then, I note)
I've got my losses down to £95 (they were shocking at one point).
Will do pretty well on the House but my Senate bets have totally sunk me, and there's no way out...
Just one or two random uncoordinated musings from me.
I thought the best news of the week was the slackening in US inflation. The markets loved it suggesting inflation rates would be peaking at or not far above current levels. I'm loath to suggest a brief period of interest rate normality will be followed by a return to the post-GFC financial methodone but perhaps we will find ourselves in a period of low inflation and low interest rates (though presumably the new normal on oil is $90 per barrel).
As for "identity", I've only had limited contact with Americans but my impression is they see themselves as Americans first and Texans/Hoosiers/Californians second which is the reverse of the situation in Europe where historical regional identity means so much. I suspect we'll never see a United States of Europe but a very loose European Confederation - maybe.
Interesting to hear people rant (mainly) about the M25 protesters. As someone on here pointed out, if we do nothing because we think nothing we do matters, it won't but it makes pressuring China and India and others more difficult. As to the rest of the world, the word "reparations" carries so much historical baggage as to be useless - there's an argument for utilising our money and technology to ensure the developing world moves to prosperity with the minimum of environmental degradation. I fear a lot of damage has already been done and we will be living the rest of our lives (and those of our children and grandchildren) with the impact of what we have already done.
There's a wider question around those who take action which proves disruptive. Sometimes disruptive equals effective if it either keeps the dispute in the public eye or forces negotiation and/or compromise. Not always and the temptation is for Governments to proscribe disruptive industrial action or protest but rendering such protests mute or ineffective won't make the sense of grievance go away.
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.
After the IRA started targeting British forces and families in Germany in the early 80s, the MOD advised all British families to switch their numberplates from British to German to make it more difficult for them to be identified.
One interesting side effect of this was that after the switch, when the British drove their cars over the border into the Netherlands at the weekend, they would come back to find they had been keyed or smashed up. It never happened to their cars when they had British plates.
The Dutch did not quickly or easily forget or forgive the Germans.
That used to happen to German cars in the Czech Republic. Not sure if it still does
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%.
Watch the Six o'clock news. We are the bottom of the G7 and the only one with deficit and if you compare the size of our economy with its pre Brexit size it has reduced significantly more than the other six. The cause is almost certainly Brexit according to Faisal Islam
"according to Faisal Islam"
He definitely wasn't listening because the idea that the UK is the only G7 nation with a deficit is laughable. Only Germany has got lower national debt and a lower deficit as a proportion of GDP than we do trailing 12 months. Even that looks like it will change in the next 5 years as UK debt continues to fall as a proportion of GDP.
Canada beats us too, don't they?
Deficit maybe, don't think so on debt. Alas, my computer is now off until Monday so we'll never know.
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.
Yes, exactly (except fuller union of the core won't be anything like at 'full steam ahead', more like a snail's pace with long periods of stasis, if it ever happens at all). We'd have had the best of all possible positions: all the advantages of full EU membership, without the excessive bits. It is such an extraordinary tragedy that we, of our own volition, threw it away. As I predicted at the time, we'll spend at least a decade, perhaps longer, painfully trying to claw back some of the lost ground, but we'll never get back to such a favourable position as we had.
And all of it easily avoided if the arrogant clueless europhiles had only given the British people a vote on earlier moments of integration - as they so often promised, yet failed to do
This constant fraudulence led inexorably to the fatal rupture of total Brexit. Consider this
Yes, the EU as it was circa 2005 almost everybody could have lived with*. A halfway house, fine. Had Cameron tried that little bit harder to achieve such a thing, and to sell it he would have carried the day. Sadly, he thought all he had to was reject the Eurosceptics. Inasmuch as he thought about Euroscepticism, he thought it was confined to a fringe of his own party and an even smaller fringe of the far left. He thought that the country thought like Witney. But given Lisbon we had no way to trust that we wouldn't be dragged in further. Blair wanted to be at the heart of Europe, remember, and wanted to join the Euro. Why would we trust our political classes on Europe? So in a forced choice of wholly in or wholly out, out wins.
*Not me. I was a leaver long before it was unfashionable. But even I was a soft Brexiteer.
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.
Yes, exactly (except fuller union of the core won't be anything like at 'full steam ahead', more like a snail's pace with long periods of stasis, if it ever happens at all). We'd have had the best of all possible positions: all the advantages of full EU membership, without the excessive bits. It is such an extraordinary tragedy that we, of our own volition, threw it away. As I predicted at the time, we'll spend at least a decade, perhaps longer, painfully trying to claw back some of the lost ground, but we'll never get back to such a favourable position as we had.
And all of it easily avoided if the arrogant clueless europhiles had only given the British people a vote on earlier moments of integration - as they so often promised, yet failed to do
This constant fraudulence led inexorably to the fatal rupture…
Roger is a mysogynist as he supports Roman Polanksi who sodomized a 15 year old girl and dismisses it as hardly relevant
Roger is a racist as he dismisses tunisians as not real people
Waiting for his homophobia to surface next
He rails against people from hartlepool but I suspect he would disgust most people in hartlepool because of his views
What was the bible quote....remove the beam from your own eye first.
He's also lauded "vibrant Italy" a lot in the past, the same Italy that has just elected a nationalist government with the leading party formed out of the ashes of the Italian fascist party. He's gone quiet about "vibrant Italy" recently though.
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.
And yet the clear movement for the first 16 years of the century was ever closer union. When something is both an explicit aim of the organisation and is visibly happening, you can forgive people for thinking Ever Closer Union is a thing.
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%.
Watch the Six o'clock news. We are the bottom of the G7 and the only one with deficit and if you compare the size of our economy with its pre Brexit size it has reduced significantly more than the other six. The cause is almost certainly Brexit according to Faisal Islam
"according to Faisal Islam"
He definitely wasn't listening because the idea that the UK is the only G7 nation with a deficit is laughable. Only Germany has got lower national debt and a lower deficit as a proportion of GDP than we do trailing 12 months. Even that looks like it will change in the next 5 years as UK debt continues to fall as a proportion of GDP.
Canada beats us too, don't they?
Deficit maybe, don't think so on debt. Alas, my computer is now off until Monday so we'll never know.
Both Roger and (if he is quoting him correctly) Islam are talking rubbish.
G7 debt as % GDP End 2021 according to the IMF
Germany 69.3% UK 95.1% (Latest figure for September 2022 is 98%) Canada 112.8% France 113% USA 137% Italy 151% Japan 266%
G7 Deficits end 2021 as % GDP again from IMF
Germany 3.7% Canada 4.7% UK 6% France 6.5% Italy 7.2% Japan 12.6% USA 16.7%
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%.
Watch the Six o'clock news. We are the bottom of the G7 and the only one with deficit and if you compare the size of our economy with its pre Brexit size it has reduced significantly more than the other six. The cause is almost certainly Brexit according to Faisal Islam
"according to Faisal Islam"
He definitely wasn't listening because the idea that the UK is the only G7 nation with a deficit is laughable. Only Germany has got lower national debt and a lower deficit as a proportion of GDP than we do trailing 12 months. Even that looks like it will change in the next 5 years as UK debt continues to fall as a proportion of GDP.
Canada beats us too, don't they?
Deficit maybe, don't think so on debt. Alas, my computer is now off until Monday so we'll never know.
Both Roger and (if he is quoting him correctly) Islam are talking rubbish.
G7 debt as % GDP End 2021 according to the IMF
Germany 69.3% UK 95.1% (Latest figure for September 2022 is 98%) Canada 112.8% France 113% USA 137% Italy 151% Japan 266%
G7 Deficits end 2021 as % GDP again from IMF
Germany 3.7% Canada 4.7% UK 6% France 6.5% Italy 7.2% Japan 12.6% USA 16.7%
The IMF numbers for Canada include local government debt, but do not for everywhere else. Why, I don't know.
And their US numbers are gross: if you include the numbers the US government owes to itself (i.e. a US government entity owns US government bonds), then the debt-to-GDP numbers come down considerably (although they are still well above the UK).
It's always seemed to me strange that so many large organisations became so reliant on Twitter for their communications, despite having no control over it.
Roger is a mysogynist as he supports Roman Polanksi who sodomized a 15 year old girl and dismisses it as hardly relevant
Roger is a racist as he dismisses tunisians as not real people
Waiting for his homophobia to surface next
He rails against people from hartlepool but I suspect he would disgust most people in hartlepool because of his views
What was the bible quote....remove the beam from your own eye first.
He's also lauded "vibrant Italy" a lot in the past, the same Italy that has just elected a nationalist government with the leading party formed out of the ashes of the Italian fascist party. He's gone quiet about "vibrant Italy" recently though.
Getting basic facts wrong while disparagingly referring to an "official rationale" that we are invited to distrust is not good journalism.
Faisal says that, "While the EU is more physically dependent on actual supplies of Russian gas, the UK is more dependent on imported gas full stop," but this isn't true. The EU's gas import dependency ratio is over 80% while the UK's is around 50%.
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.
And yet the clear movement for the first 16 years of the century was ever closer union. When something is both an explicit aim of the organisation and is visibly happening, you can forgive people for thinking Ever Closer Union is a thing.
It is amusing that the Europhiles try to deny it when it is literally written at the start of the founding document and remains the stated aim of the organisation.
Comments
You do have to admire his consistency.
(Shit, overshot)
The interesting question is, who will Walker accept help from?
Will he have rallies headlined by Former President Trump, or by Governor DeSantis?
IF estimate is correct, then final voter turnout will = 60.2% of 4.8 million active registered voters.
https://results.vote.wa.gov/results/20221108/turnout.html
Note that the 600k remaining is the floor and NOT the ceiling. For on thing, some returned ballots not included in above numbers, for example challenged ballots that may (or may not) end up getting validated and counted.
Even so, turnout for THIS midterm will be way down, compared to 71.8% turnout in 2018 general.
Key races still undecided as of Thursday night:
> WA Secretary of State
> US House of Representatives, 3rd congressional district
> WA Legislature - two state senate seats & six state house seats
Despite fact it's Veterans Day, a public holiday in US, six of the largest counties in WA State will be processing ballots today AND reporting updated totals this evening.
SO think that situation in the ten races highlighted, will be a lot clearer by tonight - either decided OR really really close.
At moment, based on available numbers, am thinking Democrats are likely to win 7, 8 or even 9 of 10.
Federal Europe, Federal Australia and Federal America are all very different. The EU is a nascent and evolving federation, just as 18thC USA and early 20thC Australia were, but it is an evolving one.
If its not remotely a federation why does it already have a Federal Government (the Commission), Federal Central Bank, Federal Taxes, Federal Parliament, Federal Laws and Federal Supreme Court?
The length of the frontline seems to offer a few different options once the Ukraine army has regrouped from its latest victory.
Yes?
In August it was
First round
Democrat - Peltola - 39.66%
Republican - Palin - 30.92%
Republican - Begich - 27.84%
Write in - 1.58%
With the Democrat winning the run off 51.48 to 48.52, with some surprising comments that the system was unfair as 'clearly' Alaska wanted a Republican, demonstrably incorrect since given the choice of a specific Republican they rejected them.
Apparently at 80% reporting the results are currently, for the first round:
Democrat - Peltola - 47.3%
Republican - Palin - 26.6%
Republican - Begich - 24.2%
Libertarian - Bye - 1.7%
Write ins - 0.3%
That's potentially a pretty decent change in a couple of months, and knowing nothing about him I assume Begich must really dislike Palin to once again make sure she doesn't get all the Republican votes.
As star running back, he's seen crapped-out old quarterback (at least one) benched in favor of rising new QB with better aim.
https://edition.cnn.com/election/2022/results/house?election-data-id=2022-HG&election-painting-mode=projection&filter-key-races=false&filter-flipped=false
The way this is going, expect Crimea to be liberated on Easter Sunday.
That seat in Washington where the former incumbent was primaried out for voting to impeach Trump looks like a Dem gain.
Unless estimated 20% of the final votes still to be counted (for first preferences) are strongly skewed against incumbent US Rep. Mary Peltola, then reckon she's gonna win in the end.
With Sarah Palin AND Donald Trump deserving most of the credit for the GOP (Grifters On Parade) pissing away yet another seat Republicans clearly could and should have won.
But as with "withdrawal but only as far as EEA", that wasn't enough for some people.
The whiff of power does funny things to people
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11416705/Indigo-Rumbelow-Globe-trotting-farmers-daughter-lectures-public-saving-planet.html
Wiki says on a couple of occasions 'none of these candidates' has topped party primaries, with the result that the second place actual human got the nod.
Notable impact on elections
According to a report by then-Secretary of State Dean Heller, "None of These Candidates" has finished first on three other occasions: in a 1978 Republican congressional primary, a 1978 Republican Secretary of State primary and a 1986 Democratic Treasurer primary. Additionally, it happened again in the 2014 Democratic gubernatorial primary making it a grand total of five instances.[4]
The "None of These Candidates" option has possibly played a spoiler effect in close races, such as in the 1998 U.S. Senate election, in which Democratic incumbent Sen. Harry Reid defeated Republican challenger John Ensign by only 428 votes, while None of These Candidates drew 8,125 votes.[5]
(that House bet has bailed you out then, I note)
Seriously, the dude is always paired up in interviews.
https://twitter.com/rafaelshimunov/status/1591133819918114816?t=q1KCyh03qvRouLithRkD3w&s=19
I never worked out what was in it for them, but they seemed to enjoy the campaigns very much.
https://twitter.com/yarotrof/status/1591100046635929608
Will do pretty well on the House but my Senate bets have totally sunk me, and there's no way out.
On the bright side I'm pretty happy with my Presidential bets and looking forward to playing those over the next 23 months.
A security guard has admitted spying for Russia while working at the British Embassy in Berlin. ...
Prosecutors said he was driven by an intense hatred for his country and angered by the flying of the Rainbow flag in support of the LGBT community.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63602000
In the East, the Ukrainians might have more success, but it will be very tough going and in winter there's little cover. Probably not much will change there over the winter, although Ukraine has surprised us before.
In the spring things may develop more quickly, but I don't think anyone can really be too confident of how this is going to turn out.
Roger is a racist as he dismisses tunisians as not real people
Waiting for his homophobia to surface next
He rails against people from hartlepool but I suspect he would disgust most people in hartlepool because of his views
What was the bible quote....remove the beam from your own eye first.
I already pay monthly. If they continue to pull that shit I'll cancel.
Real people like Roger having to spend time in Tunisian's company will mean that he probably now has Covid.
One interesting side effect of this was that after the switch, when the British drove their cars over the border into the Netherlands at the weekend, they would come back to find they had been keyed or smashed up. It never happened to their cars when they had British plates.
The Dutch did not quickly or easily forget or forgive the Germans.
Democrats are on the doorstep of control, despite a series of obstacles. And they couldn’t have done it without Republicans blowing winnable races.
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/11/11/republicans-senate-majority-00066009
This wasn’t entirely unpredictable before the vote.
(Though I’ll admit I was pretty relieved with the way a couple of the races turned out.)
If they continue the offensive, they’ll come down from the north.
He's just a prejudiced left-wing snob.
When you filter everything through that he's sort of harmless and amusing.
This constant fraudulence led inexorably to the fatal rupture of total Brexit. Consider this
This only happened because I got arrogant and flipped my positions as the very earliest results came in (which mean nothing in America).
I'd actually laid Republican Majority in the Senate to start with, and had a good position.
We’ve all been there.
Just one or two random uncoordinated musings from me.
I thought the best news of the week was the slackening in US inflation. The markets loved it suggesting inflation rates would be peaking at or not far above current levels. I'm loath to suggest a brief period of interest rate normality will be followed by a return to the post-GFC financial methodone but perhaps we will find ourselves in a period of low inflation and low interest rates (though presumably the new normal on oil is $90 per barrel).
As for "identity", I've only had limited contact with Americans but my impression is they see themselves as Americans first and Texans/Hoosiers/Californians second which is the reverse of the situation in Europe where historical regional identity means so much. I suspect we'll never see a United States of Europe but a very loose European Confederation - maybe.
Interesting to hear people rant (mainly) about the M25 protesters. As someone on here pointed out, if we do nothing because we think nothing we do matters, it won't but it makes pressuring China and India and others more difficult. As to the rest of the world, the word "reparations" carries so much historical baggage as to be useless - there's an argument for utilising our money and technology to ensure the developing world moves to prosperity with the minimum of environmental degradation. I fear a lot of damage has already been done and we will be living the rest of our lives (and those of our children and grandchildren) with the impact of what we have already done.
There's a wider question around those who take action which proves disruptive. Sometimes disruptive equals effective if it either keeps the dispute in the public eye or forces negotiation and/or compromise. Not always and the temptation is for Governments to proscribe disruptive industrial action or protest but rendering such protests mute or ineffective won't make the sense of grievance go away.
*Not me. I was a leaver long before it was unfashionable. But even I was a soft Brexiteer.
G7 debt as % GDP End 2021 according to the IMF
Germany 69.3%
UK 95.1% (Latest figure for September 2022 is 98%)
Canada 112.8%
France 113%
USA 137%
Italy 151%
Japan 266%
G7 Deficits end 2021 as % GDP again from IMF
Germany 3.7%
Canada 4.7%
UK 6%
France 6.5%
Italy 7.2%
Japan 12.6%
USA 16.7%
https://kingcounty.gov/depts/elections/about-us/security-and-accountability/watch-us-in-action.aspx
And their US numbers are gross: if you include the numbers the US government owes to itself (i.e. a US government entity owns US government bonds), then the debt-to-GDP numbers come down considerably (although they are still well above the UK).
Faisal says that, "While the EU is more physically dependent on actual supplies of Russian gas, the UK is more dependent on imported gas full stop," but this isn't true. The EU's gas import dependency ratio is over 80% while the UK's is around 50%.
Maybe they think they are lying?