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The betting money goes on Biden to be re-elected – politicalbetting.com

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  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 18,944
    Foxy said:

    Scott_xP said:

    Worst PM piece to camera I have seen. Hard to get through it. He somehow manages to combine May’s robotic delivery, with Johnson’s smarm, and Truss’s idiocy - all wrapped in patronising superiority.

    @IanDunt is right. This is gonna get really old, really quickly. ~AA


    https://twitter.com/BestForBritain/status/1613282652190085121
    https://twitter.com/rishisunak/status/1613249586503782402

    I've just watched that Sunak PPB. It really is shockingly awful, and I think he's done for - he makes Starmer look almost like a man of the people. It's all so fake.

    I was particularly impressed by how furious Sunak is that we are, after 13 years of Tory government, using taxpayers' money to put up 'illegal immigrants' in hotels. He seems genuinely shocked by the decisions his own party has made.
    The gaslighting over the NHS in that PPB is so extreme that it shreds the credibility of everything else in it.
    He gives the impression of having already fixed the fiscal problems the country faced - just like that. It's not exactly preparing people for an unprecedented squeeze on their living standards.
  • DJ41DJ41 Posts: 792
    edited January 2023
    What caused the computer problems that grounded all US domestic flights today?

    1. Russian action?
    2. US action?
    3. Third party action?
    4. Terrible coincidence as in a French farce, or similar to the "perfect storm" that a supplier told me today was the reason why it might take a fortnight for him to deliver something to me, not the usual 2-3 days? (The one thing in favour of "perfect storm" talk is that it's not quite so annoying as when someone says "going forward".)
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,320
    Boris really was an awful shit.
    The worst.
  • Playing Devil's Advocate re: verdicts just rendered on PB re: the PM's new PPS, can say with complete confidence (having NOT watched it) that there's strong possibility that his message FOR THE MOMENT is narrowly targeted to a minority of UK voters. Albeit one highly important for any Conservative Party campaign in the not-so-distant future.

    Specifically, swing voters who swing based on their views on immigration in general, and view concerning governmental action AND political rhetoric on immigration.

    Under this scenario, the howl of the woke rending their shoddy, gaudy garments, may (emphasis on the conditional) be music to the ears of Sunak strategists.
  • Southampton confounding form tonight with superb performance against City winning 2 - 0
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 49,195
    edited January 2023

    Southampton confounding form tonight with superb performance against City winning 2 - 0

    Against a pretty much first team from Man City.

    ? Newcastle to win the cup?
  • FlatlanderFlatlander Posts: 4,733

    Southampton confounding form tonight with superb performance against City winning 2 - 0

    Man City will be soooo disappointed not to have to play more games.
  • ydoethur said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Good evening

    I note that in addition to the hopes of an agreement on NIP, Sunak is having a get together with Macron in early March as relationship with the EU and France improve and of course Charles is going on his first state visit to France

    One thing that would upset the apple cart is if Sunak and Hunt move towards a more Norway style relationship with the EU and join the single market to address growth in the economy

    Sidelining the ERG and right of the conservative party is the way forward

    And restoring free movement sees working class Leavers still voting Tory shift en masse to RefUK and increase the likelihood of Boris replacing him as Tory leader again, so he won't
    Johnson is over

    Have you listened to ITV exposure of his comments tonight's

    He has no shame and he is embarrassing
    Well if you are proposing Sunak restore free movement and rejoining the single market in full which not even Theresa May dared try and get through the Tory Party, then you are offering him a quick opportunity of revival
    That's the problem for Sunak.

    He's behind in the polls, and there are various things he could do to bolster his appeal to the centre - soften on Brexit, fire BoJo into the heart of the Sun, that sort of thing.

    But he can't do those things without reviving the Faragist right even more.

    Two proverbs spring to mind, on the inadvisability of a) fighting a war on two fronts and b) riding tigers.
    Indeed. If Sunak proposed rejoining the EEA plus free movement I would expect figures at the next election something like Labour 40-45% RefUK 20% Conservative 15%.

    Starmer landslide and Farage ends up leader of the Opposition and Sunak might even lose his own seat
    Your right wing sympathies on full show there
    No, just reality. The Tories would be heading back to the 9% they got in the 2019 European elections (and remember I voted for May's Tories even then not Farage and his Brexit Party)
    How can you call yourself a Tory when you voted Remain like some Woke Socialist???
    David Cameron, John Major and Theresa May and William Hague all voted Remain too don't forget, all Tories.

    George Galloway backed Leave as did
    Mick Lynch, both Socialists
    True Socialists voted leave, to escape the capitalist hegemony of the EU and facilitate the implementation of a radical socialist agenda free from the undemocratic shackles of Brussels.
    This thread is getting very Edward VII. As we are all Remainers or Leavers, we are apparently all Socialists.
    "We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists." - Thomas Jefferson, inaugural address, 1801.
  • Northern_AlNorthern_Al Posts: 8,484

    Playing Devil's Advocate re: verdicts just rendered on PB re: the PM's new PPS, can say with complete confidence (having NOT watched it) that there's strong possibility that his message FOR THE MOMENT is narrowly targeted to a minority of UK voters. Albeit one highly important for any Conservative Party campaign in the not-so-distant future.

    Specifically, swing voters who swing based on their views on immigration in general, and view concerning governmental action AND political rhetoric on immigration.

    Under this scenario, the howl of the woke rending their shoddy, gaudy garments, may (emphasis on the conditional) be music to the ears of Sunak strategists.

    Far be it from me to give advice, but perhaps watching the said PPB may have added depth to the insight of your otherwise admirable effort to play devil's advocate?
  • Foxy said:

    Southampton confounding form tonight with superb performance against City winning 2 - 0

    Against a pretty much first team from Man City.

    ? Newcastle to win the cup?
    I expect Man Utd will have a say in that
  • Boris really was an awful shit.
    The worst.

    And if they dinnae ken then (and they did, really) the ken the noo.

    So... over to you Rishi.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,699

    Southampton confounding form tonight with superb performance against City winning 2 - 0

    Had a feeling on this one tonight and bagged an nice £8 profit. Brother in law, a Saints fan, thinks they will go down. Last time that happened they won the league cup…
    DYOR.
  • Scott_xP said:

    Worst PM piece to camera I have seen. Hard to get through it. He somehow manages to combine May’s robotic delivery, with Johnson’s smarm, and Truss’s idiocy - all wrapped in patronising superiority.

    @IanDunt is right. This is gonna get really old, really quickly. ~AA


    https://twitter.com/BestForBritain/status/1613282652190085121
    https://twitter.com/rishisunak/status/1613249586503782402

    I've just watched that Sunak PPB. It really is shockingly awful, and I think he's done for - he makes Starmer look almost like a man of the people. It's all so fake.

    I was particularly impressed by how furious Sunak is that we are, after 13 years of Tory government, using taxpayers' money to put up 'illegal immigrants' in hotels. He seems genuinely shocked by the decisions his own party has made.
    Not going to watch it, but the only explanations of the wheel change still are that his publicity peeps hate him, or that it is a deep fake
  • Foxy said:

    TimS said:

    TimS said:

    TimS said:

    tlg86 said:

    https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/jan/11/gwen-stefani-japanese-comments-allure-interview

    Gwen Stefani faces backlash over ‘I’m Japanese’ comment
    Singer and TV host, who is of Irish and Italian descent, made comment in interview promoting her beauty brand

    The 53-year-old described the influence Japanese culture had on her childhood, when her father, who is Italian American, worked for Yamaha and traveled between California and Japan.


    If Stefani identifies as Japanese, who’s to argue with her?

    Also, my dad worked for Yamaha, though he only got to go to HQ a couple of times. We have some Japanese dolls and a painting of a mountain. That wasn’t enough to make me feel Japanese.

    Never understand this American stuff in relation to Japan, including cultural
    appropriation. It’s one of the richest “western” countries in the world and a former imperial power. Nobody has ever colonised or subjected it. Culturally appropriating Japan is no more problematic than culturally appropriating Britain or Germany. If I said “I’m French” because my dad like baguettes nobody would bat an eyelid. I doubt the
    Japanese do either.
    While you make some worthy points, you appear unaware of a key factor in "American stuff in relation to Japan" is the existence of a sizable, significant, politically savvy Japanese American community in the United States.

    Numbering in 2020 over 1.5 million (at least) AND with a history of SERIOUS discrimination based on their racial, ethnic, national origin.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Americans
    This is probably exhibit A on why Europe should put swingeing import duties on US cultural hangups. It also shows the parochialism of this kind of thing. It reinforces difference.

    I’ve been a regular visitor to Japan for years (well, until Covid) and it’s fair to say they happily appropriate every bit of European or American cultural iconography going.
    "US cultural hangups" is a rather broooooooad term. To put it mildly!

    And to what degree, are many US cultural hangups, based on a solid foundation of European cultural hangups which we inherited?

    John 8.7.
    Well that is an interesting topic. Some are I think very new and uniquely American. Like gun rights, or designing life around the automobile. Others, like tipping and writing cheques, are feudal imports from Europe that almost disappeared in their source locations but linger on at the destination.
    Gun rights come from our 1689 Bill of Rights, albeit restricted to Protestants:

    "The Bill of Rights 1689 allowed Protestant citizens of England to "have Arms for their Defence suitable to their Conditions and as allowed by Law" and restricted the ability of the English Crown to have a standing army or to interfere with Protestants' right to bear arms "when Papists were both Armed and Imployed contrary to Law" and established that Parliament, not the Crown, could regulate the right to bear arms.[4][5]"

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_to_keep_and_bear_arms

    The phrase "Cruel and Unusual Punishment" comes from the same source.

    The purpose of 2nd amendment, was to put the right to bear arms beyond governmental-legislative dictate, by constitutional guarantee.

    This in wake (if not woke) of American Revolution, compelled in part (according to one view anyway) by Parliament's corruption, which compelled (ditto) the colonists to take up arms against royal/parliamentary tyranny.
  • Playing Devil's Advocate re: verdicts just rendered on PB re: the PM's new PPS, can say with complete confidence (having NOT watched it) that there's strong possibility that his message FOR THE MOMENT is narrowly targeted to a minority of UK voters. Albeit one highly important for any Conservative Party campaign in the not-so-distant future.

    Specifically, swing voters who swing based on their views on immigration in general, and view concerning governmental action AND political rhetoric on immigration.

    Under this scenario, the howl of the woke rending their shoddy, gaudy garments, may (emphasis on the conditional) be music to the ears of Sunak strategists.

    Far be it from me to give advice, but perhaps watching the said PPB may have added depth to the insight of your otherwise admirable effort to play devil's advocate?
    I feared it might color my views!
  • DJ41DJ41 Posts: 792
    edited January 2023

    Scott_xP said:

    Worst PM piece to camera I have seen. Hard to get through it. He somehow manages to combine May’s robotic delivery, with Johnson’s smarm, and Truss’s idiocy - all wrapped in patronising superiority.

    @IanDunt is right. This is gonna get really old, really quickly. ~AA


    https://twitter.com/BestForBritain/status/1613282652190085121
    https://twitter.com/rishisunak/status/1613249586503782402

    I've just watched that Sunak PPB. It really is shockingly awful, and I think he's done for - he makes Starmer look almost like a man of the people. It's all so fake.

    I was particularly impressed by how furious Sunak is that we are, after 13 years of Tory government, using taxpayers' money to put up 'illegal immigrants' in hotels. He seems genuinely shocked by the decisions his own party has made.
    Has Sunak ever in his whole life won a vote against a competitor who put up a serious challenge?
  • Boris really was an awful shit.
    The worst.

    Are you vying to be named Poet Laureate? You'd get my vote, for both style AND substance.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,533
    edited January 2023
    More than 750,000 households are at risk of defaulting on their mortgages over the next two years as soaring borrowing costs make payments unaffordable, Britain's financial regulator has warned.

    The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said that over 200,000 households had already fallen behind on payments by the end of June 2022 - with bills overdue on around one in 40 home loans.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/01/11/750000-households-risk-mortgage-default/
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 49,195

    Foxy said:

    TimS said:

    TimS said:

    TimS said:

    tlg86 said:

    https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/jan/11/gwen-stefani-japanese-comments-allure-interview

    Gwen Stefani faces backlash over ‘I’m Japanese’ comment
    Singer and TV host, who is of Irish and Italian descent, made comment in interview promoting her beauty brand

    The 53-year-old described the influence Japanese culture had on her childhood, when her father, who is Italian American, worked for Yamaha and traveled between California and Japan.


    If Stefani identifies as Japanese, who’s to argue with her?

    Also, my dad worked for Yamaha, though he only got to go to HQ a couple of times. We have some Japanese dolls and a painting of a mountain. That wasn’t enough to make me feel Japanese.

    Never understand this American stuff in relation to Japan, including cultural
    appropriation. It’s one of the richest “western” countries in the world and a former imperial power. Nobody has ever colonised or subjected it. Culturally appropriating Japan is no more problematic than culturally appropriating Britain or Germany. If I said “I’m French” because my dad like baguettes nobody would bat an eyelid. I doubt the
    Japanese do either.
    While you make some worthy points, you appear unaware of a key factor in "American stuff in relation to Japan" is the existence of a sizable, significant, politically savvy Japanese American community in the United States.

    Numbering in 2020 over 1.5 million (at least) AND with a history of SERIOUS discrimination based on their racial, ethnic, national origin.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Americans
    This is probably exhibit A on why Europe should put swingeing import duties on US cultural hangups. It also shows the parochialism of this kind of thing. It reinforces difference.

    I’ve been a regular visitor to Japan for years (well, until Covid) and it’s fair to say they happily appropriate every bit of European or American cultural iconography going.
    "US cultural hangups" is a rather broooooooad term. To put it mildly!

    And to what degree, are many US cultural hangups, based on a solid foundation of European cultural hangups which we inherited?

    John 8.7.
    Well that is an interesting topic. Some are I think very new and uniquely American. Like gun rights, or designing life around the automobile. Others, like tipping and writing cheques, are feudal imports from Europe that almost disappeared in their source locations but linger on at the destination.
    Gun rights come from our 1689 Bill of Rights, albeit restricted to Protestants:

    "The Bill of Rights 1689 allowed Protestant citizens of England to "have Arms for their Defence suitable to their Conditions and as allowed by Law" and restricted the ability of the English Crown to have a standing army or to interfere with Protestants' right to bear arms "when Papists were both Armed and Imployed contrary to Law" and established that Parliament, not the Crown, could regulate the right to bear arms.[4][5]"

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_to_keep_and_bear_arms

    The phrase "Cruel and Unusual Punishment" comes from the same source.

    The purpose of 2nd amendment, was to put the right to bear arms beyond governmental-legislative dictate, by constitutional guarantee.

    This in wake (if not woke) of American Revolution, compelled in part (according to one view anyway) by Parliament's corruption, which compelled (ditto) the colonists to take up arms against royal/parliamentary tyranny.
    Sure, but the essence of the section on arms in the 1689 BoR is very much the idea of an armed citizenry as a protection of Liberty. That was expanded on by the US Constitution, but from that source. It isn't the only part of the US Constitution lifted from how the UK worked in the 18th Century.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,807
    edited January 2023
    Wtf was that PPB?

    "I know
    you're just not up to the job Sunak"
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 26,223

    More than 750,000 households are at risk of defaulting on their mortgages over the next two years as soaring borrowing costs make payments unaffordable, Britain's financial regulator has warned.

    The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said that over 200,000 households had already fallen behind on payments by the end of June 2022 - with bills overdue on around one in 40 home loans.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/01/11/750000-households-risk-mortgage-default/

    "If it goes to eight percent, it's Armageddon?"
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 36,109
    Legendary rock guitarist Jeff Beck has died https://twitter.com/jeffbeckmusic/status/1613294003398799360
  • Northern_AlNorthern_Al Posts: 8,484

    Playing Devil's Advocate re: verdicts just rendered on PB re: the PM's new PPS, can say with complete confidence (having NOT watched it) that there's strong possibility that his message FOR THE MOMENT is narrowly targeted to a minority of UK voters. Albeit one highly important for any Conservative Party campaign in the not-so-distant future.

    Specifically, swing voters who swing based on their views on immigration in general, and view concerning governmental action AND political rhetoric on immigration.

    Under this scenario, the howl of the woke rending their shoddy, gaudy garments, may (emphasis on the conditional) be music to the ears of Sunak strategists.

    Far be it from me to give advice, but perhaps watching the said PPB may have added depth to the insight of your otherwise admirable effort to play devil's advocate?
    I feared it might color my views!
    Fair enough (though what's this 'color' of which you speak?). My point was that actually only a bit of it's on immigration. The rest is utterly dire as well, to the point of embarrassment.
  • DJ41DJ41 Posts: 792
    edited January 2023
    deleted
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 49,195
    Sean_F said:

    I asked Chat GPT to write about Harry's frost bitten penis in the style of John Keats. This is what I got.

    "I weep for Harry's Penis—it is dead!
    Oh, weep for the frost-bitten penis! though our tears
    Thaw not the frost which binds so dear a head!
    And thou, sad Hour, selected from all years
    To mourn our loss, rouse thy obscure compeers,
    And teach them thine own sorrow, say: "With me
    Died Harry's Penis; till the Future dares
    Forget the Past, his fate and fame shall be
    An echo and a light unto eternity!"

    On a point of pedantry: the organ in question cannot be dead as it has sired 2 offspring.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 18,944
    DJ41 said:

    What caused the computer problems that grounded all US domestic flights today?

    1. Russian action?
    2. US action?
    3. Third party action?
    4. Terrible coincidence as in a French farce, or similar to the "perfect storm" that a supplier told me today was the reason why it might take a fortnight for him to deliver something to me, not the usual 2-3 days? (The one thing in favour of "perfect storm" talk is that it's not quite so annoying as when someone says "going forward".)

    At least 9 times out of 10 I'd expect this to be a snafu. Someone accidentally found a single point of failure that shouldn't exist, or they botched an upgrade, or one of many possible things went wrong.

    I don't know if you'd classify that as a terrible coincidence. Depends how many things went wrong at once. It might only have been one.
  • Northern_AlNorthern_Al Posts: 8,484
    Sean_F said:

    I asked Chat GPT to write about Harry's frost bitten penis in the style of John Keats. This is what I got.

    "I weep for Harry's Penis—it is dead!
    Oh, weep for the frost-bitten penis! though our tears
    Thaw not the frost which binds so dear a head!
    And thou, sad Hour, selected from all years
    To mourn our loss, rouse thy obscure compeers,
    And teach them thine own sorrow, say: "With me
    Died Harry's Penis; till the Future dares
    Forget the Past, his fate and fame shall be
    An echo and a light unto eternity!"

    Great, though you missed out the title.

    Ode to a Dick, I presume.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 49,195
    Scott_xP said:

    Legendary rock guitarist Jeff Beck has died https://twitter.com/jeffbeckmusic/status/1613294003398799360

    He's everywhere and nowhere baby...

    (Apparently hated that song, a staple of school discos in my youth)
  • DJ41 said:

    Scott_xP said:

    Worst PM piece to camera I have seen. Hard to get through it. He somehow manages to combine May’s robotic delivery, with Johnson’s smarm, and Truss’s idiocy - all wrapped in patronising superiority.

    @IanDunt is right. This is gonna get really old, really quickly. ~AA


    https://twitter.com/BestForBritain/status/1613282652190085121
    https://twitter.com/rishisunak/status/1613249586503782402

    I've just watched that Sunak PPB. It really is shockingly awful, and I think he's done for - he makes Starmer look almost like a man of the people. It's all so fake.

    I was particularly impressed by how furious Sunak is that we are, after 13 years of Tory government, using taxpayers' money to put up 'illegal immigrants' in hotels. He seems genuinely shocked by the decisions his own party has made.
    Has Sunak ever in his whole life won a vote against a competitor who put up a serious challenge?
    He must have been up against some impressive rivals to get the Richmond nomination...

    (Checks, maybe, maybe not...)

    Congratulations are in order for Rishi Sunak, who we hear has been selected this afternoon to succeed William Hague as the Conservative candidate for Richmond (Yorks). He defeated council group leader Robert Light, former chairman of the local party Wendy Morton and ex-soldier Chris Brannigan.

    Reporting on the selection previously, Mark Wallace described Mr Sunak thus:

    “A businessman who co-founded a large multinational investment firm and now invests in small and fast growing British businesses, Sunak is also a Governor of the East London Science School and runs Policy Exchange’s BME Research Unit. He went to Oxford and did an MBA at Stanford University, where he was a Fulbright Scholar. He recently came second in the Hertsmere selection.”


    https://conservativehome.com/2014/10/18/rishi-sunak-selected-for-richmond/

    In Hertsmere, he lost to Oliver blooming Dowden.
  • Sean_F said:

    I asked Chat GPT to write about Harry's frost bitten penis in the style of John Keats. This is what I got.

    "I weep for Harry's Penis—it is dead!
    Oh, weep for the frost-bitten penis! though our tears
    Thaw not the frost which binds so dear a head!
    And thou, sad Hour, selected from all years
    To mourn our loss, rouse thy obscure compeers,
    And teach them thine own sorrow, say: "With me
    Died Harry's Penis; till the Future dares
    Forget the Past, his fate and fame shall be
    An echo and a light unto eternity!"

    BUT in the 2nd Stanza

    "Hark! What wonder do these yearning eyes behold
    If only in my owns mind eye! And more reflected in
    The gleaming orbs of a dusky consort from a far-flunged
    Sun-kissed strand. Yea, the very squalls and squeals
    Of near-royal brats testify that the Princely Penis
    Is fully thawed, newly risen, greatly driven ever forward,
    Onward for Harry, St George and Santa Barbara!
  • TimSTimS Posts: 13,223
    It’s a shame the viewing figues for PPBs are so low. Sounds like it would have been very helpful for the opposition.
  • Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    TimS said:

    TimS said:

    TimS said:

    tlg86 said:

    https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/jan/11/gwen-stefani-japanese-comments-allure-interview

    Gwen Stefani faces backlash over ‘I’m Japanese’ comment
    Singer and TV host, who is of Irish and Italian descent, made comment in interview promoting her beauty brand

    The 53-year-old described the influence Japanese culture had on her childhood, when her father, who is Italian American, worked for Yamaha and traveled between California and Japan.


    If Stefani identifies as Japanese, who’s to argue with her?

    Also, my dad worked for Yamaha, though he only got to go to HQ a couple of times. We have some Japanese dolls and a painting of a mountain. That wasn’t enough to make me feel Japanese.

    Never understand this American stuff in relation to Japan, including cultural
    appropriation. It’s one of the richest “western” countries in the world and a former imperial power. Nobody has ever colonised or subjected it. Culturally appropriating Japan is no more problematic than culturally appropriating Britain or Germany. If I said “I’m French” because my dad like baguettes nobody would bat an eyelid. I doubt the
    Japanese do either.
    While you make some worthy points, you appear unaware of a key factor in "American stuff in relation to Japan" is the existence of a sizable, significant, politically savvy Japanese American community in the United States.

    Numbering in 2020 over 1.5 million (at least) AND with a history of SERIOUS discrimination based on their racial, ethnic, national origin.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Americans
    This is probably exhibit A on why Europe should put swingeing import duties on US cultural hangups. It also shows the parochialism of this kind of thing. It reinforces difference.

    I’ve been a regular visitor to Japan for years (well, until Covid) and it’s fair to say they happily appropriate every bit of European or American cultural iconography going.
    "US cultural hangups" is a rather broooooooad term. To put it mildly!

    And to what degree, are many US cultural hangups, based on a solid foundation of European cultural hangups which we inherited?

    John 8.7.
    Well that is an interesting topic. Some are I think very new and uniquely American. Like gun rights, or designing life around the automobile. Others, like tipping and writing cheques, are feudal imports from Europe that almost disappeared in their source locations but linger on at the destination.
    Gun rights come from our 1689 Bill of Rights, albeit restricted to Protestants:

    "The Bill of Rights 1689 allowed Protestant citizens of England to "have Arms for their Defence suitable to their Conditions and as allowed by Law" and restricted the ability of the English Crown to have a standing army or to interfere with Protestants' right to bear arms "when Papists were both Armed and Imployed contrary to Law" and established that Parliament, not the Crown, could regulate the right to bear arms.[4][5]"

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_to_keep_and_bear_arms

    The phrase "Cruel and Unusual Punishment" comes from the same source.

    The purpose of 2nd amendment, was to put the right to bear arms beyond governmental-legislative dictate, by constitutional guarantee.

    This in wake (if not woke) of American Revolution, compelled in part (according to one view anyway) by Parliament's corruption, which compelled (ditto) the colonists to take up arms against royal/parliamentary tyranny.
    Sure, but the essence of the section on arms in the 1689 BoR is very much the idea of an armed citizenry as a protection of Liberty. That was expanded on by the US Constitution, but from that source. It isn't the only part of the US Constitution lifted from how the UK worked in the 18th Century.
    Was agreeing with you. And do again.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,481
    Scott_xP said:

    Legendary rock guitarist Jeff Beck has died https://twitter.com/jeffbeckmusic/status/1613294003398799360

    That's vegetarianism for you.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,807

    DJ41 said:

    What caused the computer problems that grounded all US domestic flights today?

    1. Russian action?
    2. US action?
    3. Third party action?
    4. Terrible coincidence as in a French farce, or similar to the "perfect storm" that a supplier told me today was the reason why it might take a fortnight for him to deliver something to me, not the usual 2-3 days? (The one thing in favour of "perfect storm" talk is that it's not quite so annoying as when someone says "going forward".)

    At least 9 times out of 10 I'd expect this to be a snafu. Someone accidentally found a single point of failure that shouldn't exist, or they botched an upgrade, or one of many possible things went wrong.

    I don't know if you'd classify that as a terrible coincidence. Depends how many things went wrong at once. It might only have been one.
    Assuming it's not deliberate sabotage, these things are usually caused by two or more failures combining.

    I once worked for a twat who used to trot out the old chestnut "I don't believe in coincidence" in such situations, to which the obvious response is: "what, you don't believe two things can happen at the same time?"
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,481
    So. What was wrong with that PPB?
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,481
    Scott_xP said:

    Legendary rock guitarist Jeff Beck has died https://twitter.com/jeffbeckmusic/status/1613294003398799360

    Geoffrey Arnold Beck.
    Not a rock name.
  • eekeek Posts: 28,592

    zerohedge
    @zerohedge
    ·
    9m
    US To Hit Debt Ceiling One Week From Today, Starting Countdown To Epic Chaos

    Now it’s zerohedge but given the makeup of the senate things aren’t going to be easily or quickly fixed.
  • Chris said:

    The BBC reports that Michelle Donelan in an interview has insisted that the Elgin Marbles should not be returned to Greece, but doesn't explain why, except that it might lead to other exhibits being returned to other places.

    I just wondered whether anyone here had heard the whole interview and could say whether she attempted to justify her opinion beyond that.

    I listened to more or less the whole thing, ‘slippery slope’ was her oft repeated phrase re. the Elgin Marbles. It would of course be tragic if the return of the Marbles engendered a landslide of despoiled treasures being returned to their rightful owners.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,807
    dixiedean said:

    So. What was wrong with that PPB?

    Awful delivery, unconvincing content.

    "The government's priorities are your priorities" Er... shouldn't it be the other way round?
  • Northern_AlNorthern_Al Posts: 8,484
    edited January 2023
    dixiedean said:

    So. What was wrong with that PPB?

    See for yourself. It's only 3 minutes 40 seconds of your life that you'll never get back:

    https://twitter.com/RishiSunak/status/1613249586503782402?cxt=HHwWhMDUmfP8tOMsAAAA
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,807
    TimS said:

    It’s a shame the viewing figues for PPBs are so low. Sounds like it would have been very helpful for the opposition.

    In these days of social media it will get shared widely, for all the wrong reasons from HMG's point of view.
  • dixiedean said:

    Scott_xP said:

    Legendary rock guitarist Jeff Beck has died https://twitter.com/jeffbeckmusic/status/1613294003398799360

    Geoffrey Arnold Beck.
    Not a rock name.
    And he must have gone with "Jeff" instead of
    dixiedean said:

    Scott_xP said:

    Legendary rock guitarist Jeff Beck has died https://twitter.com/jeffbeckmusic/status/1613294003398799360

    That's vegetarianism for you.
    First Hitler, and now THIS tragedy.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 72,313

    Sean_F said:

    I asked Chat GPT to write about Harry's frost bitten penis in the style of John Keats. This is what I got.

    "I weep for Harry's Penis—it is dead!
    Oh, weep for the frost-bitten penis! though our tears
    Thaw not the frost which binds so dear a head!
    And thou, sad Hour, selected from all years
    To mourn our loss, rouse thy obscure compeers,
    And teach them thine own sorrow, say: "With me
    Died Harry's Penis; till the Future dares
    Forget the Past, his fate and fame shall be
    An echo and a light unto eternity!"

    BUT in the 2nd Stanza

    "Hark! What wonder do these yearning eyes behold
    If only in my owns mind eye! And more reflected in
    The gleaming orbs of a dusky consort from a far-flunged
    Sun-kissed strand. Yea, the very squalls and squeals
    Of near-royal brats testify that the Princely Penis
    Is fully thawed, newly risen, greatly driven ever forward,
    Onward for Harry, St George and Santa Barbara!
    The Count of Montecito.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 13,223
    eek said:


    zerohedge
    @zerohedge
    ·
    9m
    US To Hit Debt Ceiling One Week From Today, Starting Countdown To Epic Chaos

    Now it’s zerohedge but given the makeup of the senate things aren’t going to be easily or quickly fixed.

    Known Kremlin propagandist though.
  • Nigelb said:

    Sean_F said:

    I asked Chat GPT to write about Harry's frost bitten penis in the style of John Keats. This is what I got.

    "I weep for Harry's Penis—it is dead!
    Oh, weep for the frost-bitten penis! though our tears
    Thaw not the frost which binds so dear a head!
    And thou, sad Hour, selected from all years
    To mourn our loss, rouse thy obscure compeers,
    And teach them thine own sorrow, say: "With me
    Died Harry's Penis; till the Future dares
    Forget the Past, his fate and fame shall be
    An echo and a light unto eternity!"

    BUT in the 2nd Stanza

    "Hark! What wonder do these yearning eyes behold
    If only in my owns mind eye! And more reflected in
    The gleaming orbs of a dusky consort from a far-flunged
    Sun-kissed strand. Yea, the very squalls and squeals
    Of near-royal brats testify that the Princely Penis
    Is fully thawed, newly risen, greatly driven ever forward,
    Onward for Harry, St George and Santa Barbara!
    The Count of Montecito.
    Escaped from the Chateau w'TF?
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,683
    eek said:


    zerohedge
    @zerohedge
    ·
    9m
    US To Hit Debt Ceiling One Week From Today, Starting Countdown To Epic Chaos

    Now it’s zerohedge but given the makeup of the senate things aren’t going to be easily or quickly fixed.

    An article in a rather more credible source (Forbes) says the second half of 2023:



    It is also worth noting that the US Government has a number of options if it wishes to breach the debt ceiling legally, specifically it could mint a one trillion dollar coin.

    From Wikipedia:


  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 72,313
    Never mind Britain: Germany looks for US to lead the way on battle tanks to Ukraine
    https://www.politico.eu/article/britain-germany-us-battle-tanks-ukraine-war/
    Britain’s moves toward supplying Ukraine with battle tanks are a headache for Olaf Scholz — but it’s still unlikely that the German chancellor will overcome his reluctance to sending heavy German armor without taking his lead from Washington.

    Scholz’s spokesperson said Wednesday that plans by London to deliver British-made Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine won’t change the position of the German government, which has so far rejected growing calls for Berlin to hand powerful German Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv.

    Warsaw has proposed that the German-made Leopards could be delivered via a broader alliance of European countries. “A company of Leopard tanks for Ukraine will be transferred as part of international coalition building. Such a decision is already [taken] in Poland,” Polish President Andrzej Duda said in a tweet. The big obstacle to these transfers is that Berlin needs to give the green light for re-export of German-made weapons.??

    … Speaking on the condition of anonymity, two German officials said that Scholz’s position depended heavily on U.S. President Joe Biden, with whom the chancellor already closely coordinated when issuing a joint statement last week announcing the joint delivery of German and American infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,481
    edited January 2023

    dixiedean said:

    So. What was wrong with that PPB?

    See for yourself. It's only 3 minutes 40 seconds of your life that you'll never get back:

    https://twitter.com/RishiSunak/status/1613249586503782402?cxt=HHwWhMDUmfP8tOMsAAAA
    If you can't say anything nice.
    I try to be kind.
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 37,552

    Sean_F said:

    I asked Chat GPT to write about Harry's frost bitten penis in the style of John Keats. This is what I got.

    "I weep for Harry's Penis—it is dead!
    Oh, weep for the frost-bitten penis! though our tears
    Thaw not the frost which binds so dear a head!
    And thou, sad Hour, selected from all years
    To mourn our loss, rouse thy obscure compeers,
    And teach them thine own sorrow, say: "With me
    Died Harry's Penis; till the Future dares
    Forget the Past, his fate and fame shall be
    An echo and a light unto eternity!"

    BUT in the 2nd Stanza

    "Hark! What wonder do these yearning eyes behold
    If only in my owns mind eye! And more reflected in
    The gleaming orbs of a dusky consort from a far-flunged
    Sun-kissed strand. Yea, the very squalls and squeals
    Of near-royal brats testify that the Princely Penis
    Is fully thawed, newly risen, greatly driven ever forward,
    Onward for Harry, St George and Santa Barbara!
    Excellent stuff!

  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,683
    Sean_F said:

    Sean_F said:

    I asked Chat GPT to write about Harry's frost bitten penis in the style of John Keats. This is what I got.

    "I weep for Harry's Penis—it is dead!
    Oh, weep for the frost-bitten penis! though our tears
    Thaw not the frost which binds so dear a head!
    And thou, sad Hour, selected from all years
    To mourn our loss, rouse thy obscure compeers,
    And teach them thine own sorrow, say: "With me
    Died Harry's Penis; till the Future dares
    Forget the Past, his fate and fame shall be
    An echo and a light unto eternity!"

    BUT in the 2nd Stanza

    "Hark! What wonder do these yearning eyes behold
    If only in my owns mind eye! And more reflected in
    The gleaming orbs of a dusky consort from a far-flunged
    Sun-kissed strand. Yea, the very squalls and squeals
    Of near-royal brats testify that the Princely Penis
    Is fully thawed, newly risen, greatly driven ever forward,
    Onward for Harry, St George and Santa Barbara!
    Excellent stuff!

    ChatGPT is fantastic for creating silly poems / limericks / etc in the style of.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,683
    Oh Frostbite, thou bitter foe,
    Thy icy grip doth make us woe.
    Yet in thy icy grasp doth lie,
    A host of benefits, to our surprise.

    Thy numbness doth bring forth relief,
    From aches and pains, like a chief.
    Thy whiteness doth make us look fair,
    A natural whitening, beyond compare.

    Thy coldness doth bring forth calm,
    Like a winter breeze, free from qualm.
    Thy shrivelled state doth make us small,
    An instant diet, no gym at all.

    Thy stinging touch doth make us brave,
    For in thy face, we dare not waive.
    Thy frozen state doth make us strong,
    Like a glacier, we can plough along.

    So let us not despise thy power,
    For in thy cold embrace, doth flower,
    A host of benefits, we cannot ignore,
    Oh Frostbite, thou bitter foe, no more.
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216

    Boris really was an awful shit.
    The worst.

    Just finished Sebastian Payne’s book on Johnson - it was even worse than I recalled. He kept making the same mistakes again and again. It’s a good read.
  • rcs1000 said:

    Sean_F said:

    Sean_F said:

    I asked Chat GPT to write about Harry's frost bitten penis in the style of John Keats. This is what I got.

    "I weep for Harry's Penis—it is dead!
    Oh, weep for the frost-bitten penis! though our tears
    Thaw not the frost which binds so dear a head!
    And thou, sad Hour, selected from all years
    To mourn our loss, rouse thy obscure compeers,
    And teach them thine own sorrow, say: "With me
    Died Harry's Penis; till the Future dares
    Forget the Past, his fate and fame shall be
    An echo and a light unto eternity!"

    BUT in the 2nd Stanza

    "Hark! What wonder do these yearning eyes behold
    If only in my owns mind eye! And more reflected in
    The gleaming orbs of a dusky consort from a far-flunged
    Sun-kissed strand. Yea, the very squalls and squeals
    Of near-royal brats testify that the Princely Penis
    Is fully thawed, newly risen, greatly driven ever forward,
    Onward for Harry, St George and Santa Barbara!
    Excellent stuff!

    ChatGPT is fantastic for creating silly poems / limericks / etc in the style of.
    What's is ChatGPT? Relied on same old BS-BMe!
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 50,176
    rcs1000 said:

    Sean_F said:

    Sean_F said:

    I asked Chat GPT to write about Harry's frost bitten penis in the style of John Keats. This is what I got.

    "I weep for Harry's Penis—it is dead!
    Oh, weep for the frost-bitten penis! though our tears
    Thaw not the frost which binds so dear a head!
    And thou, sad Hour, selected from all years
    To mourn our loss, rouse thy obscure compeers,
    And teach them thine own sorrow, say: "With me
    Died Harry's Penis; till the Future dares
    Forget the Past, his fate and fame shall be
    An echo and a light unto eternity!"

    BUT in the 2nd Stanza

    "Hark! What wonder do these yearning eyes behold
    If only in my owns mind eye! And more reflected in
    The gleaming orbs of a dusky consort from a far-flunged
    Sun-kissed strand. Yea, the very squalls and squeals
    Of near-royal brats testify that the Princely Penis
    Is fully thawed, newly risen, greatly driven ever forward,
    Onward for Harry, St George and Santa Barbara!
    Excellent stuff!

    ChatGPT is fantastic for creating silly poems / limericks / etc in the style of.
    There once was a man from Cali,
    Whose posts on a betting site got quite silly,
    He'd argue with zeal
    For his political ideal,
    While cashing in on each political rally.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 13,223
    rcs1000 said:

    Sean_F said:

    Sean_F said:

    I asked Chat GPT to write about Harry's frost bitten penis in the style of John Keats. This is what I got.

    "I weep for Harry's Penis—it is dead!
    Oh, weep for the frost-bitten penis! though our tears
    Thaw not the frost which binds so dear a head!
    And thou, sad Hour, selected from all years
    To mourn our loss, rouse thy obscure compeers,
    And teach them thine own sorrow, say: "With me
    Died Harry's Penis; till the Future dares
    Forget the Past, his fate and fame shall be
    An echo and a light unto eternity!"

    BUT in the 2nd Stanza

    "Hark! What wonder do these yearning eyes behold
    If only in my owns mind eye! And more reflected in
    The gleaming orbs of a dusky consort from a far-flunged
    Sun-kissed strand. Yea, the very squalls and squeals
    Of near-royal brats testify that the Princely Penis
    Is fully thawed, newly risen, greatly driven ever forward,
    Onward for Harry, St George and Santa Barbara!
    Excellent stuff!

    ChatGPT is fantastic for creating silly poems / limericks / etc in the style of.
    This is its attempt at Meghan’s point of view in the style of Sylvia Plath:

    Golden bars, a cage
    A smile, a wave, a mirage
    Escape, the dream
    A prince, the key

    Shackles, unseen
    But felt, in every breath
    Freedom, a fight
    But love, the strength.

    Let them talk, let them stare
    We'll pave our own way
    Together, beyond compare
    A new life, ours to sway.
  • Nigelb said:

    Never mind Britain: Germany looks for US to lead the way on battle tanks to Ukraine
    https://www.politico.eu/article/britain-germany-us-battle-tanks-ukraine-war/
    Britain’s moves toward supplying Ukraine with battle tanks are a headache for Olaf Scholz — but it’s still unlikely that the German chancellor will overcome his reluctance to sending heavy German armor without taking his lead from Washington.

    Scholz’s spokesperson said Wednesday that plans by London to deliver British-made Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine won’t change the position of the German government, which has so far rejected growing calls for Berlin to hand powerful German Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv.

    Warsaw has proposed that the German-made Leopards could be delivered via a broader alliance of European countries. “A company of Leopard tanks for Ukraine will be transferred as part of international coalition building. Such a decision is already [taken] in Poland,” Polish President Andrzej Duda said in a tweet. The big obstacle to these transfers is that Berlin needs to give the green light for re-export of German-made weapons.??

    … Speaking on the condition of anonymity, two German officials said that Scholz’s position depended heavily on U.S. President Joe Biden, with whom the chancellor already closely coordinated when issuing a joint statement last week announcing the joint delivery of German and American infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine.

    I'm the US is carefully coordinating exactly what is given to Ukraine at what time. As I said at the beginning, it is in Western interests to arm Ukraine just enough to maintain a stalemate with Russia, no more and no less, and that is precisely what is happening. German tanks will go to Ukraine when and only when the US says so.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 51,209

    Nigelb said:

    FT confirm the tanks story.

    UK and Poland confirm plans to send modern heavy tanks to Ukraine
    https://www.ft.com/content/092b8894-4441-4747-bfd4-5b21a0c68709

    (Though calling our tanks modern is a slight stretch.)

    Aren't they going to need separate everything including ammo?

    When Ukraine wins, they might end up on plinths in small towns. Not likely to make the same contribution as the Leopards.
    Yes. Logistically, providing a handful of tanks that require unique ammunition is a nightmare, but if Germany and the US are more comfortable not being the first countries to provide tanks then worth it for that reason alone.
    It's possible that if only a few tanks are provided (such as 10 Challenger 2s), then they could be put somewhere where the action is not currently too hot (e.g. the Belarussian border), freeing up other tanks to go to the fronts. That would also give the crews more time to train and get used to them, and also mean logistics is easier if they are more static.

    That's not the case if the tanks' capability is a significant step-change over the ex-Soviet tanks the Ukrainians are using.
    I think I’ve worked out the plan

    The dozen Challenger 2 will be supplied with most of the ammunition stock for the entire fleet.

    Which means either :

    - they will have to activate the plan to get FN to make some more - they have the tooling I believe.

    - Or get cracking with Challenger 3 - move to smooth bore like everyone else.
    From what I've read (IANAE, etc), it's an interesting one. We have a load of Challenger 2s, and lots of ammunition for it. The C2s are due to be replaced by C3s, which uses different ammunition. We therefore need to get rid of all that ammunition eventually. But the CR2 is the only thing that uses it.

    So the answer should be simple: just give the Ukrainians loads of C2s and the ammo. Except we don't have C2s yet, and the C3s are modifications and updates of the C2s. And the C3s are not expected for five years.

    The whole C3 situation is a terrible mess.
    There isn’t that much ammunition - enough for the fleet at a rather low use rate. The war in Ukraine has shown (for the zillionth time) that ammunition expediter is always vastly higher than planned.

    The CR3 is a CR2 with a new turret - mainly. Giving all the CR2 would mean ending the CR3 program. There is no capability to build more.

    Given the FRES fuckups it’s time for something new. Give JCB a contract to build Merkeva X under license?
    That's not a bad idea. I wonder if you can still see the JCB test track from a nearby footpath?

    TimS said:

    tlg86 said:

    https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/jan/11/gwen-stefani-japanese-comments-allure-interview

    Gwen Stefani faces backlash over ‘I’m Japanese’ comment
    Singer and TV host, who is of Irish and Italian descent, made comment in interview promoting her beauty brand

    The 53-year-old described the influence Japanese culture had on her childhood, when her father, who is Italian c, worked for Yamaha and traveled between California and Japan.


    If Stefani identifies as Japanese, who’s to argue with her?

    Also, my dad worked for Yamaha, though he only got to go to HQ a couple of times. We have some Japanese dolls and a painting of a mountain. That wasn’t enough to make me feel Japanese.

    Never understand this American stuff in relation to Japan, including cultural
    appropriation. It’s one of the richest “western” countries in the world and a former imperial power. Nobody has ever colonised or subjected it. Culturally appropriating Japan is no more problematic than culturally appropriating Britain or Germany. If I said “I’m French” because my dad like baguettes nobody would bat an eyelid. I doubt the
    Japanese do either.
    Occupied by the USA (and a much smaller contribution by the UK) from 1945 to 1952.
    What I find comic is the worship by some idiots of feudal Japan. Where demented levels of tax on the peasants paid for all the calligraphy, tea ceremonies and checking the swords were sharp on passing strangers….
    Some people really get into English royalty and "nobility". Including high-tea ceremonies and knights in shining armor. Also hearty Norman flogging, harrying (!), raping and robbing of slow-moving Saxons.

    Significant difference?
    Not much, apart from the Normans probably treating the villeins better. There was a revolt (somewhere) against the Shogunate every year of its existence.

    The cult of katanas etc is much more widespread, than the SCA types…
  • TimS said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Sean_F said:

    Sean_F said:

    I asked Chat GPT to write about Harry's frost bitten penis in the style of John Keats. This is what I got.

    "I weep for Harry's Penis—it is dead!
    Oh, weep for the frost-bitten penis! though our tears
    Thaw not the frost which binds so dear a head!
    And thou, sad Hour, selected from all years
    To mourn our loss, rouse thy obscure compeers,
    And teach them thine own sorrow, say: "With me
    Died Harry's Penis; till the Future dares
    Forget the Past, his fate and fame shall be
    An echo and a light unto eternity!"

    BUT in the 2nd Stanza

    "Hark! What wonder do these yearning eyes behold
    If only in my owns mind eye! And more reflected in
    The gleaming orbs of a dusky consort from a far-flunged
    Sun-kissed strand. Yea, the very squalls and squeals
    Of near-royal brats testify that the Princely Penis
    Is fully thawed, newly risen, greatly driven ever forward,
    Onward for Harry, St George and Santa Barbara!
    Excellent stuff!

    ChatGPT is fantastic for creating silly poems / limericks / etc in the style of.
    This is its attempt at Meghan’s point of view in the style of Sylvia Plath:

    Golden bars, a cage
    A smile, a wave, a mirage
    Escape, the dream
    A prince, the key

    Shackles, unseen
    But felt, in every breath
    Freedom, a fight
    But love, the strength.

    Let them talk, let them stare
    We'll pave our own way
    Together, beyond compare
    A new life, ours to sway.
    Translate that into French, then get AI to recreate the voice of Edith Piaf - think you'd REALLY have something!
  • eekeek Posts: 28,592
    rcs1000 said:

    eek said:


    zerohedge
    @zerohedge
    ·
    9m
    US To Hit Debt Ceiling One Week From Today, Starting Countdown To Epic Chaos

    Now it’s zerohedge but given the makeup of the senate things aren’t going to be easily or quickly fixed.

    An article in a rather more credible source (Forbes) says the second half of 2023:



    It is also worth noting that the US Government has a number of options if it wishes to breach the debt ceiling legally, specifically it could mint a one trillion dollar coin.

    From Wikipedia:


    One way to (technically) avoid any accusation that you were simply printing money

    I can see it being more likely than in the previous senate.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,683

    Nigelb said:

    Never mind Britain: Germany looks for US to lead the way on battle tanks to Ukraine
    https://www.politico.eu/article/britain-germany-us-battle-tanks-ukraine-war/
    Britain’s moves toward supplying Ukraine with battle tanks are a headache for Olaf Scholz — but it’s still unlikely that the German chancellor will overcome his reluctance to sending heavy German armor without taking his lead from Washington.

    Scholz’s spokesperson said Wednesday that plans by London to deliver British-made Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine won’t change the position of the German government, which has so far rejected growing calls for Berlin to hand powerful German Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv.

    Warsaw has proposed that the German-made Leopards could be delivered via a broader alliance of European countries. “A company of Leopard tanks for Ukraine will be transferred as part of international coalition building. Such a decision is already [taken] in Poland,” Polish President Andrzej Duda said in a tweet. The big obstacle to these transfers is that Berlin needs to give the green light for re-export of German-made weapons.??

    … Speaking on the condition of anonymity, two German officials said that Scholz’s position depended heavily on U.S. President Joe Biden, with whom the chancellor already closely coordinated when issuing a joint statement last week announcing the joint delivery of German and American infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine.

    I'm the US is carefully coordinating exactly what is given to Ukraine at what time. As I said at the beginning, it is in Western interests to arm Ukraine just enough to maintain a stalemate with Russia, no more and no less, and that is precisely what is happening. German tanks will go to Ukraine when and only when the US says so.
    I would have thought it was in Western interests to see the current Russian regime (which has funded plenty of extremists on both sides of the political spectrum) fall.
  • IanB2 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Sean_F said:

    Sean_F said:

    I asked Chat GPT to write about Harry's frost bitten penis in the style of John Keats. This is what I got.

    "I weep for Harry's Penis—it is dead!
    Oh, weep for the frost-bitten penis! though our tears
    Thaw not the frost which binds so dear a head!
    And thou, sad Hour, selected from all years
    To mourn our loss, rouse thy obscure compeers,
    And teach them thine own sorrow, say: "With me
    Died Harry's Penis; till the Future dares
    Forget the Past, his fate and fame shall be
    An echo and a light unto eternity!"

    BUT in the 2nd Stanza

    "Hark! What wonder do these yearning eyes behold
    If only in my owns mind eye! And more reflected in
    The gleaming orbs of a dusky consort from a far-flunged
    Sun-kissed strand. Yea, the very squalls and squeals
    Of near-royal brats testify that the Princely Penis
    Is fully thawed, newly risen, greatly driven ever forward,
    Onward for Harry, St George and Santa Barbara!
    Excellent stuff!

    ChatGPT is fantastic for creating silly poems / limericks / etc in the style of.
    There once was a man from Cali,
    Whose posts on a betting site got quite silly,
    He'd argue with zeal
    For his political ideal,
    While cashing in on each political rally.
    There once was an expat in El Lay
    Who was fleeing the old, cold UK
    He yearned to frolic free in the sun
    Filling his wallet, buttering his bun
    But instead he said, "rain, rain, go away!"
  • eek said:

    rcs1000 said:

    eek said:


    zerohedge
    @zerohedge
    ·
    9m
    US To Hit Debt Ceiling One Week From Today, Starting Countdown To Epic Chaos

    Now it’s zerohedge but given the makeup of the senate things aren’t going to be easily or quickly fixed.

    An article in a rather more credible source (Forbes) says the second half of 2023:



    It is also worth noting that the US Government has a number of options if it wishes to breach the debt ceiling legally, specifically it could mint a one trillion dollar coin.

    From Wikipedia:


    One way to (technically) avoid any accusation that you were simply printing money

    I can see it being more likely than in the previous senate.
    Believe the US House also gets a say in fiscal matters.

    Just as much as the Senate, as NOT talking about appointments or treaties ("advice and consent").
  • rcs1000 said:

    Nigelb said:

    Never mind Britain: Germany looks for US to lead the way on battle tanks to Ukraine
    https://www.politico.eu/article/britain-germany-us-battle-tanks-ukraine-war/
    Britain’s moves toward supplying Ukraine with battle tanks are a headache for Olaf Scholz — but it’s still unlikely that the German chancellor will overcome his reluctance to sending heavy German armor without taking his lead from Washington.

    Scholz’s spokesperson said Wednesday that plans by London to deliver British-made Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine won’t change the position of the German government, which has so far rejected growing calls for Berlin to hand powerful German Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv.

    Warsaw has proposed that the German-made Leopards could be delivered via a broader alliance of European countries. “A company of Leopard tanks for Ukraine will be transferred as part of international coalition building. Such a decision is already [taken] in Poland,” Polish President Andrzej Duda said in a tweet. The big obstacle to these transfers is that Berlin needs to give the green light for re-export of German-made weapons.??

    … Speaking on the condition of anonymity, two German officials said that Scholz’s position depended heavily on U.S. President Joe Biden, with whom the chancellor already closely coordinated when issuing a joint statement last week announcing the joint delivery of German and American infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine.

    I'm the US is carefully coordinating exactly what is given to Ukraine at what time. As I said at the beginning, it is in Western interests to arm Ukraine just enough to maintain a stalemate with Russia, no more and no less, and that is precisely what is happening. German tanks will go to Ukraine when and only when the US says so.
    I would have thought it was in Western interests to see the current Russian regime (which has funded plenty of extremists on both sides of the political spectrum) fall.
    Yes, and the safest way to achieve this is to keep Russia bogged down in a steady war of attrition. Go in too hard, and the risk of nuclear war starts to rise.
  • Sean_F said:

    I asked Chat GPT to write about Harry's frost bitten penis in the style of John Keats. This is what I got.

    "I weep for Harry's Penis—it is dead!
    Oh, weep for the frost-bitten penis! though our tears
    Thaw not the frost which binds so dear a head!
    And thou, sad Hour, selected from all years
    To mourn our loss, rouse thy obscure compeers,
    And teach them thine own sorrow, say: "With me
    Died Harry's Penis; till the Future dares
    Forget the Past, his fate and fame shall be
    An echo and a light unto eternity!"

    I comment only because this deserves repeating! - "so dear a head!" - indeed!
  • MoonRabbitMoonRabbit Posts: 13,650

    IanB2 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Sean_F said:

    Sean_F said:

    I asked Chat GPT to write about Harry's frost bitten penis in the style of John Keats. This is what I got.

    "I weep for Harry's Penis—it is dead!
    Oh, weep for the frost-bitten penis! though our tears
    Thaw not the frost which binds so dear a head!
    And thou, sad Hour, selected from all years
    To mourn our loss, rouse thy obscure compeers,
    And teach them thine own sorrow, say: "With me
    Died Harry's Penis; till the Future dares
    Forget the Past, his fate and fame shall be
    An echo and a light unto eternity!"

    BUT in the 2nd Stanza

    "Hark! What wonder do these yearning eyes behold
    If only in my owns mind eye! And more reflected in
    The gleaming orbs of a dusky consort from a far-flunged
    Sun-kissed strand. Yea, the very squalls and squeals
    Of near-royal brats testify that the Princely Penis
    Is fully thawed, newly risen, greatly driven ever forward,
    Onward for Harry, St George and Santa Barbara!
    Excellent stuff!

    ChatGPT is fantastic for creating silly poems / limericks / etc in the style of.
    There once was a man from Cali,
    Whose posts on a betting site got quite silly,
    He'd argue with zeal
    For his political ideal,
    While cashing in on each political rally.
    There once was an expat in El Lay
    Who was fleeing the old, cold UK
    He yearned to frolic free in the sun
    Filling his wallet, buttering his bun
    But instead he said, "rain, rain, go away!"
    A young psychic midget named Marge
    Went to jail on a serious charge.
    But despite lock and key
    The lady broke free
    And the News said "Small Medium at Large"
  • IanB2 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Sean_F said:

    Sean_F said:

    I asked Chat GPT to write about Harry's frost bitten penis in the style of John Keats. This is what I got.

    "I weep for Harry's Penis—it is dead!
    Oh, weep for the frost-bitten penis! though our tears
    Thaw not the frost which binds so dear a head!
    And thou, sad Hour, selected from all years
    To mourn our loss, rouse thy obscure compeers,
    And teach them thine own sorrow, say: "With me
    Died Harry's Penis; till the Future dares
    Forget the Past, his fate and fame shall be
    An echo and a light unto eternity!"

    BUT in the 2nd Stanza

    "Hark! What wonder do these yearning eyes behold
    If only in my owns mind eye! And more reflected in
    The gleaming orbs of a dusky consort from a far-flunged
    Sun-kissed strand. Yea, the very squalls and squeals
    Of near-royal brats testify that the Princely Penis
    Is fully thawed, newly risen, greatly driven ever forward,
    Onward for Harry, St George and Santa Barbara!
    Excellent stuff!

    ChatGPT is fantastic for creating silly poems / limericks / etc in the style of.
    There once was a man from Cali,
    Whose posts on a betting site got quite silly,
    He'd argue with zeal
    For his political ideal,
    While cashing in on each political rally.
    There once was an expat in El Lay
    Who was fleeing the old, cold UK
    He yearned to frolic free in the sun
    Filling his wallet, buttering his bun
    But instead he said, "rain, rain, go away!"
    A young psychic midget named Marge
    Went to jail on a serious charge.
    But despite lock and key
    The lady broke free
    And the News said "Small Medium at Large"
    An emigre motor insurer
    Once told a young girl from Ventura
    How much he lusted
    To make love con usted
    Now tell me: what could be impurer?
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,719
    Scott_xP said:

    Legendary rock guitarist Jeff Beck has died https://twitter.com/jeffbeckmusic/status/1613294003398799360

    Saying everything is groovy, when your tyres are flat and it's ...
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 51,209

    rcs1000 said:

    Nigelb said:

    Never mind Britain: Germany looks for US to lead the way on battle tanks to Ukraine
    https://www.politico.eu/article/britain-germany-us-battle-tanks-ukraine-war/
    Britain’s moves toward supplying Ukraine with battle tanks are a headache for Olaf Scholz — but it’s still unlikely that the German chancellor will overcome his reluctance to sending heavy German armor without taking his lead from Washington.

    Scholz’s spokesperson said Wednesday that plans by London to deliver British-made Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine won’t change the position of the German government, which has so far rejected growing calls for Berlin to hand powerful German Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv.

    Warsaw has proposed that the German-made Leopards could be delivered via a broader alliance of European countries. “A company of Leopard tanks for Ukraine will be transferred as part of international coalition building. Such a decision is already [taken] in Poland,” Polish President Andrzej Duda said in a tweet. The big obstacle to these transfers is that Berlin needs to give the green light for re-export of German-made weapons.??

    … Speaking on the condition of anonymity, two German officials said that Scholz’s position depended heavily on U.S. President Joe Biden, with whom the chancellor already closely coordinated when issuing a joint statement last week announcing the joint delivery of German and American infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine.

    I'm the US is carefully coordinating exactly what is given to Ukraine at what time. As I said at the beginning, it is in Western interests to arm Ukraine just enough to maintain a stalemate with Russia, no more and no less, and that is precisely what is happening. German tanks will go to Ukraine when and only when the US says so.
    I would have thought it was in Western interests to see the current Russian regime (which has funded plenty of extremists on both sides of the political spectrum) fall.
    Yes, and the safest way to achieve this is to keep Russia bogged down in a steady war of attrition. Go in too hard, and the risk of nuclear war starts to rise.
    As pointed out in the article quoted above, the pattern has been the same throughout, with supplying arms by Germany

    - Its impossible
    - No one has asked for this
    - We are considering it
    - We are still considering it
    - No one has asked for this
    - Oh, all right then.

    Complete with accounts of how, from inside the German Governement, that after supplying something is agreed, it is repeatedly put on hold by Sholtz.

    Biden has been trying to keep NATO united by not simply bulldozing Sholtz.
  • MoonRabbitMoonRabbit Posts: 13,650

    IanB2 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Sean_F said:

    Sean_F said:

    I asked Chat GPT to write about Harry's frost bitten penis in the style of John Keats. This is what I got.

    "I weep for Harry's Penis—it is dead!
    Oh, weep for the frost-bitten penis! though our tears
    Thaw not the frost which binds so dear a head!
    And thou, sad Hour, selected from all years
    To mourn our loss, rouse thy obscure compeers,
    And teach them thine own sorrow, say: "With me
    Died Harry's Penis; till the Future dares
    Forget the Past, his fate and fame shall be
    An echo and a light unto eternity!"

    BUT in the 2nd Stanza

    "Hark! What wonder do these yearning eyes behold
    If only in my owns mind eye! And more reflected in
    The gleaming orbs of a dusky consort from a far-flunged
    Sun-kissed strand. Yea, the very squalls and squeals
    Of near-royal brats testify that the Princely Penis
    Is fully thawed, newly risen, greatly driven ever forward,
    Onward for Harry, St George and Santa Barbara!
    Excellent stuff!

    ChatGPT is fantastic for creating silly poems / limericks / etc in the style of.
    There once was a man from Cali,
    Whose posts on a betting site got quite silly,
    He'd argue with zeal
    For his political ideal,
    While cashing in on each political rally.
    There once was an expat in El Lay
    Who was fleeing the old, cold UK
    He yearned to frolic free in the sun
    Filling his wallet, buttering his bun
    But instead he said, "rain, rain, go away!"
    There was a man from Pittsfield, Mass
    whose testicles were made out of brass
    When he banged them together
    they played “Stormy Weather”
    and lightning shot out of his ass.
  • NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,572
    rcs1000 said:



    I would have thought it was in Western interests to see the current Russian regime (which has funded plenty of extremists on both sides of the political spectrum) fall.

    I think we'd be uncertain about it - not really in our interest to have Russia fall into warring factions, or to end up controlled by even more erratic types. The idea that stirring regime change will produce an agreeable pro-Western regime is probably illusory at this point.
  • rcs1000 said:

    Nigelb said:

    Never mind Britain: Germany looks for US to lead the way on battle tanks to Ukraine
    https://www.politico.eu/article/britain-germany-us-battle-tanks-ukraine-war/
    Britain’s moves toward supplying Ukraine with battle tanks are a headache for Olaf Scholz — but it’s still unlikely that the German chancellor will overcome his reluctance to sending heavy German armor without taking his lead from Washington.

    Scholz’s spokesperson said Wednesday that plans by London to deliver British-made Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine won’t change the position of the German government, which has so far rejected growing calls for Berlin to hand powerful German Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv.

    Warsaw has proposed that the German-made Leopards could be delivered via a broader alliance of European countries. “A company of Leopard tanks for Ukraine will be transferred as part of international coalition building. Such a decision is already [taken] in Poland,” Polish President Andrzej Duda said in a tweet. The big obstacle to these transfers is that Berlin needs to give the green light for re-export of German-made weapons.??

    … Speaking on the condition of anonymity, two German officials said that Scholz’s position depended heavily on U.S. President Joe Biden, with whom the chancellor already closely coordinated when issuing a joint statement last week announcing the joint delivery of German and American infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine.

    I'm the US is carefully coordinating exactly what is given to Ukraine at what time. As I said at the beginning, it is in Western interests to arm Ukraine just enough to maintain a stalemate with Russia, no more and no less, and that is precisely what is happening. German tanks will go to Ukraine when and only when the US says so.
    I would have thought it was in Western interests to see the current Russian regime (which has funded plenty of extremists on both sides of the political spectrum) fall.
    Yes, and the safest way to achieve this is to keep Russia bogged down in a steady war of attrition. Go in too hard, and the risk of nuclear war starts to rise.
    As pointed out in the article quoted above, the pattern has been the same throughout, with supplying arms by Germany

    - Its impossible
    - No one has asked for this
    - We are considering it
    - We are still considering it
    - No one has asked for this
    - Oh, all right then.

    Complete with accounts of how, from inside the German Governement, that after supplying something is agreed, it is repeatedly put on hold by Sholtz.

    Biden has been trying to keep NATO united by not simply bulldozing Sholtz.
    The highlighted quote from the article is "two German officials said that Scholz’s position depended heavily on U.S. President Joe Biden". I don't see how that can be interpreted any other way than Germany is waiting for instructions from the US. It doesn't imply to me that Germany is being awkward in any way.
  • NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,572

    dixiedean said:

    So. What was wrong with that PPB?

    See for yourself. It's only 3 minutes 40 seconds of your life that you'll never get back:

    https://twitter.com/RishiSunak/status/1613249586503782402?cxt=HHwWhMDUmfP8tOMsAAAA
    Yes, that's quite odd. He doesn't stutter, but the speech pattern is stilted and the whole thing feels even more staged than usual.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,320
    edited January 2023

    dixiedean said:

    So. What was wrong with that PPB?

    See for yourself. It's only 3 minutes 40 seconds of your life that you'll never get back:

    https://twitter.com/RishiSunak/status/1613249586503782402?cxt=HHwWhMDUmfP8tOMsAAAA
    Yes, that's quite odd. He doesn't stutter, but the speech pattern is stilted and the whole thing feels even more staged than usual.
    It’s astonishingly bad.
    In my opinion, its worse than Truss.
    He conveys the impression that he has no emotional or mental connection to the lines he is mouthing.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,972
    Royal Mail's computer system for foreign parcels has crashed. Not just American airlines having computer problems.
  • StillWatersStillWaters Posts: 8,476

    Playing Devil's Advocate re: verdicts just rendered on PB re: the PM's new PPS, can say with complete confidence (having NOT watched it) that there's strong possibility that his message FOR THE MOMENT is narrowly targeted to a minority of UK voters. Albeit one highly important for any Conservative Party campaign in the not-so-distant future.

    Specifically, swing voters who swing based on their views on immigration in general, and view concerning governmental action AND political rhetoric on immigration.

    Under this scenario, the howl of the woke rending their shoddy, gaudy garments, may (emphasis on the conditional) be music to the ears of Sunak strategists.

    Far be it from me to give advice, but perhaps watching the said PPB may have added depth to the insight of your otherwise admirable effort to play devil's advocate?
    Facts can interfere with objectivity though

  • StillWatersStillWaters Posts: 8,476

    IanB2 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Sean_F said:

    Sean_F said:

    I asked Chat GPT to write about Harry's frost bitten penis in the style of John Keats. This is what I got.

    "I weep for Harry's Penis—it is dead!
    Oh, weep for the frost-bitten penis! though our tears
    Thaw not the frost which binds so dear a head!
    And thou, sad Hour, selected from all years
    To mourn our loss, rouse thy obscure compeers,
    And teach them thine own sorrow, say: "With me
    Died Harry's Penis; till the Future dares
    Forget the Past, his fate and fame shall be
    An echo and a light unto eternity!"

    BUT in the 2nd Stanza

    "Hark! What wonder do these yearning eyes behold
    If only in my owns mind eye! And more reflected in
    The gleaming orbs of a dusky consort from a far-flunged
    Sun-kissed strand. Yea, the very squalls and squeals
    Of near-royal brats testify that the Princely Penis
    Is fully thawed, newly risen, greatly driven ever forward,
    Onward for Harry, St George and Santa Barbara!
    Excellent stuff!

    ChatGPT is fantastic for creating silly poems / limericks / etc in the style of.
    There once was a man from Cali,
    Whose posts on a betting site got quite silly,
    He'd argue with zeal
    For his political ideal,
    While cashing in on each political rally.
    There once was an expat in El Lay
    Who was fleeing the old, cold UK
    He yearned to frolic free in the sun
    Filling his wallet, buttering his bun
    But instead he said, "rain, rain, go away!"
    I am currently in SF. It’s just been compared to Seattle…
  • DJ41DJ41 Posts: 792
    edited January 2023
    Don't you just love it when a major newspaper - here, the Telegraph - changes an article but keeps the same URL:

    11.39pm, 10th Jan: "Terror police investigate after uranium found in package at Heathrow airport": "The intended destination of the parcel is unknown."

    9pm, 11th Jan: "Uranium found at Heathrow ‘could have been part of dry run by Iranian terrorists’ "


  • RobDRobD Posts: 60,046
    DJ41 said:

    Don't you just love it when a major newspaper - here, the Telegraph - changes an article but keeps the same URL:

    11.39pm, 10th Jan: "Terror police investigate after uranium found in package at Heathrow airport": "The intended destination of the parcel is unknown."

    9pm, 11th Jan: "Uranium found at Heathrow ‘could have been part of dry run by Iranian terrorists’ "


    BBC gets around it by giving all their articles a simple number.
  • TimS said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Sean_F said:

    Sean_F said:

    I asked Chat GPT to write about Harry's frost bitten penis in the style of John Keats. This is what I got.

    "I weep for Harry's Penis—it is dead!
    Oh, weep for the frost-bitten penis! though our tears
    Thaw not the frost which binds so dear a head!
    And thou, sad Hour, selected from all years
    To mourn our loss, rouse thy obscure compeers,
    And teach them thine own sorrow, say: "With me
    Died Harry's Penis; till the Future dares
    Forget the Past, his fate and fame shall be
    An echo and a light unto eternity!"

    BUT in the 2nd Stanza

    "Hark! What wonder do these yearning eyes behold
    If only in my owns mind eye! And more reflected in
    The gleaming orbs of a dusky consort from a far-flunged
    Sun-kissed strand. Yea, the very squalls and squeals
    Of near-royal brats testify that the Princely Penis
    Is fully thawed, newly risen, greatly driven ever forward,
    Onward for Harry, St George and Santa Barbara!
    Excellent stuff!

    ChatGPT is fantastic for creating silly poems / limericks / etc in the style of.
    This is its attempt at Meghan’s point of view in the style of Sylvia Plath:

    Golden bars, a cage
    A smile, a wave, a mirage
    Escape, the dream
    A prince, the key

    Shackles, unseen
    But felt, in every breath
    Freedom, a fight
    But love, the strength.

    Let them talk, let them stare
    We'll pave our own way
    Together, beyond compare
    A new life, ours to sway.
    Translate that into French, then get AI to recreate the voice of Edith Piaf - think you'd REALLY have something!

    Barres d'or, une cage
    Un sourire, une vague, un mirage
    L'évasion, le rêve
    Un prince, la clé

    Chaînes, invisibles
    Mais ressenti, à chaque respiration
    La liberté, un combat
    Mais l'amour, la force.

    Laisse-les parler, laisse-les regarder
    Nous tracerons notre propre chemin
    Ensemble, au-delà de toute comparaison
    Une nouvelle vie, à nous d'influencer.
  • Just listened to Rishi's blurb. Personally think it's ok, or at least NOT as bad as most on here (so far) are saying.

    I like his speaking voice, would guess (for what it's worth) most Americans would agree. He was somewhat monotone, however his voice does have a nice timbre (if that's the word) wee bit of vibrato (ditto) to it.

    Did NOT like the sound-track, was pretty cheesy and made me feel as though I was being rushed somewhere.

    As for the script, as I said earlier reckon it's aimed at voters especially concerned with immigration. Did NOT seem to me to be especially outrageous or over-the-top, certainly NOT when compared with the Braverman "take no prisoners on land or lifeboats to sea" message.
  • IanB2 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Sean_F said:

    Sean_F said:

    I asked Chat GPT to write about Harry's frost bitten penis in the style of John Keats. This is what I got.

    "I weep for Harry's Penis—it is dead!
    Oh, weep for the frost-bitten penis! though our tears
    Thaw not the frost which binds so dear a head!
    And thou, sad Hour, selected from all years
    To mourn our loss, rouse thy obscure compeers,
    And teach them thine own sorrow, say: "With me
    Died Harry's Penis; till the Future dares
    Forget the Past, his fate and fame shall be
    An echo and a light unto eternity!"

    BUT in the 2nd Stanza

    "Hark! What wonder do these yearning eyes behold
    If only in my owns mind eye! And more reflected in
    The gleaming orbs of a dusky consort from a far-flunged
    Sun-kissed strand. Yea, the very squalls and squeals
    Of near-royal brats testify that the Princely Penis
    Is fully thawed, newly risen, greatly driven ever forward,
    Onward for Harry, St George and Santa Barbara!
    Excellent stuff!

    ChatGPT is fantastic for creating silly poems / limericks / etc in the style of.
    There once was a man from Cali,
    Whose posts on a betting site got quite silly,
    He'd argue with zeal
    For his political ideal,
    While cashing in on each political rally.
    There once was an expat in El Lay
    Who was fleeing the old, cold UK
    He yearned to frolic free in the sun
    Filling his wallet, buttering his bun
    But instead he said, "rain, rain, go away!"
    I am currently in SF. It’s just been compared to Seattle…
    Was a beautiful, sunny (mostly), spring-like day here in Seattle. BUT sun has gone down . . . and forecast to start raining later tonight . . .
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 43,515

    rcs1000 said:



    I would have thought it was in Western interests to see the current Russian regime (which has funded plenty of extremists on both sides of the political spectrum) fall.

    I think we'd be uncertain about it - not really in our interest to have Russia fall into warring factions, or to end up controlled by even more erratic types. The idea that stirring regime change will produce an agreeable pro-Western regime is probably illusory at this point.
    Neither is it in our interests to see Russia continue what it is doing, and taking over Ukraine and (at least) the Baltic states, interfering more in our internal politics, and poisoning people on our shores with radiological and nerve agents.

    Yes, we cannot be sure what would replace Putin. But that does not mean that the potential fall of Putin should stop us from doing it. We cannot appease evil for fear of what lurks behind that evil.
  • WillGWillG Posts: 2,366

    rcs1000 said:



    I would have thought it was in Western interests to see the current Russian regime (which has funded plenty of extremists on both sides of the political spectrum) fall.

    I think we'd be uncertain about it - not really in our interest to have Russia fall into warring factions, or to end up controlled by even more erratic types. The idea that stirring regime change will produce an agreeable pro-Western regime is probably illusory at this point.
    Neither is it in our interests to see Russia continue what it is doing, and taking over Ukraine and (at least) the Baltic states, interfering more in our internal politics, and poisoning people on our shores with radiological and nerve agents.

    Yes, we cannot be sure what would replace Putin. But that does not mean that the potential fall of Putin should stop us from doing it. We cannot appease evil for fear of what lurks behind that evil.
    Most of Russia is just a source of extraction for Muscovite corruption. The imperial state breaking down could actually end up with more stable smaller countries.
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216
    edited January 2023
    Interesting thread:

    🧵🇨🇳🇷🇺
    Does China distance itself from Russia because of war against Ukraine? A terrific @FT piece helps to understand how Beijing wants its policy towards Moscow to be seen in Western capitals. Spoiler alert: the real policy might be very different. Let me help to unpack it. 1/


    https://twitter.com/AlexGabuev/status/1612891083419095053
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216
    edited January 2023
    Dear Minister [Badenoch]

    I am writing regarding the Government’s failure to respond to e-petition 623243, entitled “Update the Equality Act to make clear the characteristic “sex” is biological sex”.

    The standards for responding to e-petitions, which have been agreed between the Petitions Committee and Leader of the House, state that Government responses should be provided within 14 days and no later than 21 days.

    A response to this petition was first requested on 3 November 2022, and the Government’s response is now over six weeks late.


    https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/33459/documents/181842/default/
  • kamskikamski Posts: 5,208

    rcs1000 said:

    Nigelb said:

    Never mind Britain: Germany looks for US to lead the way on battle tanks to Ukraine
    https://www.politico.eu/article/britain-germany-us-battle-tanks-ukraine-war/
    Britain’s moves toward supplying Ukraine with battle tanks are a headache for Olaf Scholz — but it’s still unlikely that the German chancellor will overcome his reluctance to sending heavy German armor without taking his lead from Washington.

    Scholz’s spokesperson said Wednesday that plans by London to deliver British-made Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine won’t change the position of the German government, which has so far rejected growing calls for Berlin to hand powerful German Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv.

    Warsaw has proposed that the German-made Leopards could be delivered via a broader alliance of European countries. “A company of Leopard tanks for Ukraine will be transferred as part of international coalition building. Such a decision is already [taken] in Poland,” Polish President Andrzej Duda said in a tweet. The big obstacle to these transfers is that Berlin needs to give the green light for re-export of German-made weapons.??

    … Speaking on the condition of anonymity, two German officials said that Scholz’s position depended heavily on U.S. President Joe Biden, with whom the chancellor already closely coordinated when issuing a joint statement last week announcing the joint delivery of German and American infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine.

    I'm the US is carefully coordinating exactly what is given to Ukraine at what time. As I said at the beginning, it is in Western interests to arm Ukraine just enough to maintain a stalemate with Russia, no more and no less, and that is precisely what is happening. German tanks will go to Ukraine when and only when the US says so.
    I would have thought it was in Western interests to see the current Russian regime (which has funded plenty of extremists on both sides of the political spectrum) fall.
    Yes, and the safest way to achieve this is to keep Russia bogged down in a steady war of attrition. Go in too hard, and the risk of nuclear war starts to rise.
    As pointed out in the article quoted above, the pattern has been the same throughout, with supplying arms by Germany

    - Its impossible
    - No one has asked for this
    - We are considering it
    - We are still considering it
    - No one has asked for this
    - Oh, all right then.

    Complete with accounts of how, from inside the German Governement, that after supplying something is agreed, it is repeatedly put on hold by Sholtz.

    Biden has been trying to keep NATO united by not simply bulldozing Sholtz.
    The highlighted quote from the article is "two German officials said that Scholz’s position depended heavily on U.S. President Joe Biden". I don't see how that can be interpreted any other way than Germany is waiting for instructions from the US. It doesn't imply to me that Germany is being awkward in any way.
    Is correct. Germany has consistently indicated that it won't deliver MBTs without US involvement. That may be disppointing, but I haven't seen any evidence whatsoever except in the imagination of Malmesbury that Biden wanted to send tanks but didn't in order to not "bulldoze Sholtz" (or Scholz as he is called by anyone with a little bit of knowledge of Germany).
  • TazTaz Posts: 15,062
    Jeff Beck. Great guitar player best known for a party song, Hi Ho Silver Lining, has left us.

    https://twitter.com/jeffbeckmusic/status/1613294003398799360?s=61&t=lVnJyklCkJ_LFxhDhZ8aAw
  • kamskikamski Posts: 5,208
    kamski said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Nigelb said:

    Never mind Britain: Germany looks for US to lead the way on battle tanks to Ukraine
    https://www.politico.eu/article/britain-germany-us-battle-tanks-ukraine-war/
    Britain’s moves toward supplying Ukraine with battle tanks are a headache for Olaf Scholz — but it’s still unlikely that the German chancellor will overcome his reluctance to sending heavy German armor without taking his lead from Washington.

    Scholz’s spokesperson said Wednesday that plans by London to deliver British-made Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine won’t change the position of the German government, which has so far rejected growing calls for Berlin to hand powerful German Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv.

    Warsaw has proposed that the German-made Leopards could be delivered via a broader alliance of European countries. “A company of Leopard tanks for Ukraine will be transferred as part of international coalition building. Such a decision is already [taken] in Poland,” Polish President Andrzej Duda said in a tweet. The big obstacle to these transfers is that Berlin needs to give the green light for re-export of German-made weapons.??

    … Speaking on the condition of anonymity, two German officials said that Scholz’s position depended heavily on U.S. President Joe Biden, with whom the chancellor already closely coordinated when issuing a joint statement last week announcing the joint delivery of German and American infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine.

    I'm the US is carefully coordinating exactly what is given to Ukraine at what time. As I said at the beginning, it is in Western interests to arm Ukraine just enough to maintain a stalemate with Russia, no more and no less, and that is precisely what is happening. German tanks will go to Ukraine when and only when the US says so.
    I would have thought it was in Western interests to see the current Russian regime (which has funded plenty of extremists on both sides of the political spectrum) fall.
    Yes, and the safest way to achieve this is to keep Russia bogged down in a steady war of attrition. Go in too hard, and the risk of nuclear war starts to rise.
    As pointed out in the article quoted above, the pattern has been the same throughout, with supplying arms by Germany

    - Its impossible
    - No one has asked for this
    - We are considering it
    - We are still considering it
    - No one has asked for this
    - Oh, all right then.

    Complete with accounts of how, from inside the German Governement, that after supplying something is agreed, it is repeatedly put on hold by Sholtz.

    Biden has been trying to keep NATO united by not simply bulldozing Sholtz.
    The highlighted quote from the article is "two German officials said that Scholz’s position depended heavily on U.S. President Joe Biden". I don't see how that can be interpreted any other way than Germany is waiting for instructions from the US. It doesn't imply to me that Germany is being awkward in any way.
    Is correct. Germany has consistently indicated that it won't deliver MBTs without US involvement. That may be disppointing, but I haven't seen any evidence whatsoever except in the imagination of Malmesbury that Biden wanted to send tanks but didn't in order to not "bulldoze Sholtz" (or Scholz as he is called by anyone with a little bit of knowledge of Germany).
    Perhaps relevant quote from Blinken on December 5th:

    "Our focus is on continuing to do what we’ve been doing, which is to make sure that Ukraine has in its hands what it needs to defend itself, what it needs to push back against the Russian aggression, to take back territory that’s been seized from it since February 24th, to make sure as well that it has the support economically and on a humanitarian basis to withstand what’s happening in the country every single day."

    "to take back territory that’s been seized from it since February 24th"

    Later when pushed he says it's up the Ukrainians how far they want to go, but says

    "Fundamentally they have to make these decisions and they have to make sure that they’re making informed decisions based on what their capacity is, what it can be, to achieve their objectives."


    https://www.state.gov/secretary-antony-j-blinken-with-editor-in-chief-matt-murray-at-the-wall-street-journal-ceo-council-summit/
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 72,313
    Climate regulations ‘could trigger banking crisis worse than 2008’
    Report from climate activist groups says City is unprepared for potential collapse in value of fossil fuel assets
    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jan/12/climate-regulations-could-trigger-banking-crisis-worse-than-2008

    Some of the figures quoted are probably worst case scenarios, but would you for example want to be a bank which had recently made long term loans for building coal fired power stations ?
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 72,313
    kamski said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Nigelb said:

    Never mind Britain: Germany looks for US to lead the way on battle tanks to Ukraine
    https://www.politico.eu/article/britain-germany-us-battle-tanks-ukraine-war/
    Britain’s moves toward supplying Ukraine with battle tanks are a headache for Olaf Scholz — but it’s still unlikely that the German chancellor will overcome his reluctance to sending heavy German armor without taking his lead from Washington.

    Scholz’s spokesperson said Wednesday that plans by London to deliver British-made Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine won’t change the position of the German government, which has so far rejected growing calls for Berlin to hand powerful German Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv.

    Warsaw has proposed that the German-made Leopards could be delivered via a broader alliance of European countries. “A company of Leopard tanks for Ukraine will be transferred as part of international coalition building. Such a decision is already [taken] in Poland,” Polish President Andrzej Duda said in a tweet. The big obstacle to these transfers is that Berlin needs to give the green light for re-export of German-made weapons.??

    … Speaking on the condition of anonymity, two German officials said that Scholz’s position depended heavily on U.S. President Joe Biden, with whom the chancellor already closely coordinated when issuing a joint statement last week announcing the joint delivery of German and American infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine.

    I'm the US is carefully coordinating exactly what is given to Ukraine at what time. As I said at the beginning, it is in Western interests to arm Ukraine just enough to maintain a stalemate with Russia, no more and no less, and that is precisely what is happening. German tanks will go to Ukraine when and only when the US says so.
    I would have thought it was in Western interests to see the current Russian regime (which has funded plenty of extremists on both sides of the political spectrum) fall.
    Yes, and the safest way to achieve this is to keep Russia bogged down in a steady war of attrition. Go in too hard, and the risk of nuclear war starts to rise.
    As pointed out in the article quoted above, the pattern has been the same throughout, with supplying arms by Germany

    - Its impossible
    - No one has asked for this
    - We are considering it
    - We are still considering it
    - No one has asked for this
    - Oh, all right then.

    Complete with accounts of how, from inside the German Governement, that after supplying something is agreed, it is repeatedly put on hold by Sholtz.

    Biden has been trying to keep NATO united by not simply bulldozing Sholtz.
    The highlighted quote from the article is "two German officials said that Scholz’s position depended heavily on U.S. President Joe Biden". I don't see how that can be interpreted any other way than Germany is waiting for instructions from the US. It doesn't imply to me that Germany is being awkward in any way.
    Is correct. Germany has consistently indicated that it won't deliver MBTs without US involvement. That may be disppointing, but I haven't seen any evidence whatsoever except in the imagination of Malmesbury that Biden wanted to send tanks but didn't in order to not "bulldoze Sholtz" (or Scholz as he is called by anyone with a little bit of knowledge of Germany).
    That's probably current. It doesn't though really address the point that Germany is also blocking other European allies sending Leopards to Ukraine.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 60,728
    Rishi is a much more natural communicator in person rather than in doing set pieces to camera.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 43,515

    Interesting thread:

    🧵🇨🇳🇷🇺
    Does China distance itself from Russia because of war against Ukraine? A terrific @FT piece helps to understand how Beijing wants its policy towards Moscow to be seen in Western capitals. Spoiler alert: the real policy might be very different. Let me help to unpack it. 1/


    https://twitter.com/AlexGabuev/status/1612891083419095053

    That's an interesting thread, thanks.

    One point I'd mention, though: although Xi is all-powerful, it would not surprise me if various parts of the regime had very different attitudes towards Moscow, the US and the EU. Different parts of the regime might be sending different signals without the leadership's full approval.

    In addition, it appears Xi has been weakened by his Covid policies and an economy that is not showing its previous stellar growth.

    Interesting times.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 13,787
    edited January 2023

    Rishi is a much more natural communicator in person rather than in doing set pieces to camera.

    He should get a market stall flogging five quid wellies rather than being fucking PM then.
  • NerysHughesNerysHughes Posts: 3,375
    Obviously this is not good news

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64246608
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,683

    Obviously this is not good news

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64246608

    Doesn't look that bad to me :smile:

  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 55,046

    DJ41 said:

    What caused the computer problems that grounded all US domestic flights today?

    1. Russian action?
    2. US action?
    3. Third party action?
    4. Terrible coincidence as in a French farce, or similar to the "perfect storm" that a supplier told me today was the reason why it might take a fortnight for him to deliver something to me, not the usual 2-3 days? (The one thing in favour of "perfect storm" talk is that it's not quite so annoying as when someone says "going forward".)

    At least 9 times out of 10 I'd expect this to be a snafu. Someone accidentally found a single point of failure that shouldn't exist, or they botched an upgrade, or one of many possible things went wrong.

    I don't know if you'd classify that as a terrible coincidence. Depends how many things went wrong at once. It might only have been one.
    It appears to have been a database corruption, which for some reason also affected the backup system and couldn’t easily be rolled back. In other words they had no actual redundancy, and it’s a wonder how it’s never crashed before!

    https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/faa-ground-stop-causes/index.html
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 72,313

    Interesting thread:

    🧵🇨🇳🇷🇺
    Does China distance itself from Russia because of war against Ukraine? A terrific @FT piece helps to understand how Beijing wants its policy towards Moscow to be seen in Western capitals. Spoiler alert: the real policy might be very different. Let me help to unpack it. 1/


    https://twitter.com/AlexGabuev/status/1612891083419095053

    That's an interesting thread, thanks.

    One point I'd mention, though: although Xi is all-powerful, it would not surprise me if various parts of the regime had very different attitudes towards Moscow, the US and the EU. Different parts of the regime might be sending different signals without the leadership's full approval.

    In addition, it appears Xi has been weakened by his Covid policies and an economy that is not showing its previous stellar growth.

    Interesting times.
    Seems unlikely that Chinese policy will change much whatever happens to Xi.

    And German Fernostpolitic seems to be following their failed Ostpolitik model.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 43,441
    Morning all - O/T piece in the Graun, which nevertheless seems to say something profound, or at least deep, about modern life and social media (though I don't know what @JosiasJessop or @Malmesbury will think).

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/12/tiktok-is-in-love-with-simulated-shipwrecks
This discussion has been closed.