Talking of shite American things, the Gazette has just commissioned me to do a travel article on..... wait for it.... Cincinnati. Yes, the Newent of USA, the Wick of the Midwest, the Walsall of Jesus Christ Why There?
Can anyone cheer me up? Is there any remotely positive thing about Cincinnati that I can look forward to?
THIRD on its list of major attractions is "The American Sign Museum"
HELP
. .
There used to be a leather museum in Walsall, and a Jerome K Jerome one too. And the Walsall illuminations in the autumn, a bit like the Blackpool ones, only a lot smaller, and with no sea. I worked there for a bit. The leather museum was more horse than gimp orientated.
Jerome K Jerome was actually a genius, and came from Walsall. Maybe the only genius to do so.
His charm is that he never quite realised that his genius was a comic one, and tried for ages to be a proper novelist. These efforts are so terrible they are worse than unreadable. Try (or rather don't try) Paul Kelver or All Roads Lead to Calvary - which is even worse than the title sounds.
But Three Men in a Boat and the underrated Diary of a Pilgrimage are immortal.
(Curiously people tend not to remember that in TMIAB they find the dead body of a suicide. JKJ is a comic genius who is slightly odd. Maybe Walsall does that to people.)
I think "Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow" very good too. I am quite a fan.
Ian Martin on Ch4 News now virtually admitting that Brexit -which he supported -has turned out 'a huge mess'. Considering he was the guest speaking up for Brexit viewers will conclude it's turned out more of a disaster than their worst fears.
'Both sides lied their socks off' didn't help either. God help us! If that doesn't encourage SKS to stop bifucating on the fence nothing will
A huge mess is being kind ! It’s still hard though for some people to accept reality . Can someone name a single thing in the country which has improved because of Brexit?
Well, vaccines, for one. Honestly, when Remainers claim that there are *no* upsides to Brexit they just come across as deranged. For me, the benefits of Brexit still comfortably outweigh the costs. But I wouldn't claim that there are no costs. Amd it would be equally mad to claim there are no benefits.
Talking of shite American things, the Gazette has just commissioned me to do a travel article on..... wait for it.... Cincinnati. Yes, the Newent of USA, the Wick of the Midwest, the Walsall of Jesus Christ Why There?
Can anyone cheer me up? Is there any remotely positive thing about Cincinnati that I can look forward to?
THIRD on its list of major attractions is "The American Sign Museum"
HELP
. .
There used to be a leather museum in Walsall, and a Jerome K Jerome one too. And the Walsall illuminations in the autumn, a bit like the Blackpool ones, only a lot smaller, and with no sea. I worked there for a bit. The leather museum was more horse than gimp orientated.
Jerome K Jerome was actually a genius, and came from Walsall. Maybe the only genius to do so.
His charm is that he never quite realised that his genius was a comic one, and tried for ages to be a proper novelist. These efforts are so terrible they are worse than unreadable. Try (or rather don't try) Paul Kelver or All Roads Lead to Calvary - which is even worse than the title sounds.
But Three Men in a Boat and the underrated Diary of a Pilgrimage are immortal.
(Curiously people tend not to remember that in TMIAB they find the dead body of a suicide. JKJ is a comic genius who is slightly odd. Maybe Walsall does that to people.)
I think "Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow" very good too. I am quite a fan.
Yes. Quite a bit of the non-novel stuff is good. But like Wodehouse, outside his comic register his genius just falls down.
Depressing write up on BBC about Trump's town hall event. Basically that he will never stop saying 2020 was rigged, will pardon 6 Jan rioters, will definitely shift policy on Ukraine (though exactly how is unclear, but ending it in 24 hours as he suggests could only occur if he stopped ongoing support), and that the audience was eating out of the palm of his hand.
If they get the chance the party will pick him again and the representatives will fall in line.
Yes, not a good read. It's hard to see him winning the presidency back, with things as they are now, but it'd be better if he isn't on the ballot as the GOP candidate. If he gets the Nom he has to have a non-trivial chance just because of 'events', eg a Biden incident, a bank crash, something in Russia/Ukraine etc.
The nomination is his to lose. Could he become president then? Of course, especially if the economic backdrop worsens, as seems likely.
Very scary on so many levels. Good for all the worst people (eg the MAGA goons and Putin) and bad for everyone else. If it were to happen my Big Short would turn into the worst single betting loss I've ever had and I can honestly hand-on-heart say I don't even think about that aspect. That's how bleak a prospect it is.
I'd give Trump about a 40% chance of winning, if he runs against Biden. That is far too close for comfort.
Share the sentiment but I rate it more a 25%.
On this subject, there is an interesting feature about PB. SFAICS there are several people/positions that have Zero support with PBers. These include: Trump, Xi, Putin, Assad, all sides in Sudan, North Korea, the Burmese government and so on.
Of these one leaps out as different. Trump has tens of millions of loyal supporters in a free market liberal democracy with a free press.
But not a word of support on PB (me included) ever, while Trump is 5/2 with Hills to be the next POTUS.
is this because: (a) the PB Overton window is actually quite small (b) because nearly half the USA really are as authoritarian fascistlike as Putin and co and Trump's position resembles 1930s Germany (c) something else. (What?)
An American PB equivalent might show more Trump support, I guess. There are things about the country we struggle to understand. Although tbh I think you're being a touch generous (to us) by saying 'not a word of support' for him on here ever. I recall a fair amount in the past, and ok there's very little now but still some. Plus there will be PBers who secretly have a soft spot and keep shtum to avoid a tongue lashing.
I have a soft spot for someone who is democratically elected by any given electorate so put me in the democracy not as bad as all the other systems column.
Yep. An elected President Trump is better than an unelected President Trump. However there's a risk the first leads to the second so it's best to play safe and have neither imo.
I really don't see that. Not that as we have seen we have been at the end of any kind of history but you are saying that the US is possibly headed towards autarchy I just don't believe.
Of course loathe the man but don't let that colour your usually razor-sharp assessment of the state of politics today.
Well he had to be dragged out last time, tried to rig the election, pulling rank to intimidate officials into conjuring up votes for him, tried to get his VP to quash the certification and allow States to override with slates for him to swing it and keep him in power. This is all on the record. It happened. It didn't work but he tried alright.
So, ok, a repeat and this time successful might be far from a given - but it's a definite possibility given another 4 years in control of the GOP and the Federal government, his foaming gullible base, the levers he could pull, stack the courts, stack the legislatures, placemen all over, the manipulations etc. Object: Trump/MAGA forever.
If you don't see at least a risk worth worrying about I'll have to put it down to you not following American politics that closely. Which I know you don't and it's fair enough. It's not everyone's cup of tea.
Trump/MAGA forever. He couldn't even get himself together to overturn the last election I think forever is a stretch.
But as you are such a close follower of US politics I will take heed and upgrade the probability of Trump/MAGA forever from 0.000001% to 0.000002%.
Thank you for your insight. I will bet accordingly.
No need to be quite so literal. 'Trump/MAGA forever' means achieving corruption on a scale that makes him/them very hard to dislodge by the conventional means of a free & fair election.
The risk of this is far higher than you have it there. You need to move the decimal point quite a way to the right. Course if he had managed it last time we wouldn't need to assess the risk, would we? It'd be 100%.
"...if he had managed..."
But he didn't and my point is I believe the system in the US is robust enough to see off any attempt to overthrow the government by force.
We have already discussed Jan 6th and agreed, those sane posters on PB have agreed, that is, that it was far from a coup attempt. If that's what you mean. Don't put yourself on the side of the insane posters by saying that Jan 6th was a coup.
Is there a list of which posters are sane or insane?
The police watchdog has launched an independent investigation after a police officer in Wales was filmed appearing to punch a man repeatedly in the head before arresting him.
Footage of the incident is circulating on social media and has caused considerable “public concern”, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said.
The incident occurred on Wednesday during the arrest of a 34-year-old man from the Pensyflog area of Porthmadog, north Wales, after officers were called to an address in relation to a domestic incident.
Bystanders filmed the interaction and video footage shows the suspect being pinned face down on the ground by a male and a female police officer.
The male officer then puts his arm around the man’s neck in a headlock and appears to punch him nine times in the side of the head.
The suspect can be seen struggling and groaning in pain as the female officer puts him in handcuffs.
In a second video clip, the man arrested appears to have a bloodied and swollen face as he is put in a police van. The video has been viewed more than 100,000 times on social media.
The IOPC said inquiries were under way to “establish whether the level of force used during the arrest was reasonable and proportionate in the circumstances”.
After being tagged in the post, Gareth Davies, the Conservative Senedd member for the Vale of Clwyd, tweeted to the North Wales police chief constable, Amanda Blakeman, and the home secretary, Suella Braverman: “This is police brutality. What are you doing? Surely we’re better than this?”
Ian Martin on Ch4 News now virtually admitting that Brexit -which he supported -has turned out 'a huge mess'. Considering he was the guest speaking up for Brexit viewers will conclude it's turned out more of a disaster than their worst fears.
'Both sides lied their socks off' didn't help either. God help us! If that doesn't encourage SKS to stop bifucating on the fence nothing will
A huge mess is being kind ! It’s still hard though for some people to accept reality . Can someone name a single thing in the country which has improved because of Brexit?
We get to see a lot more of JRM and IDS on the telly?
Ian Martin on Ch4 News now virtually admitting that Brexit -which he supported -has turned out 'a huge mess'. Considering he was the guest speaking up for Brexit viewers will conclude it's turned out more of a disaster than their worst fears.
'Both sides lied their socks off' didn't help either. God help us! If that doesn't encourage SKS to stop bifucating on the fence nothing will
'A huge mess' is how I describe my bedroom drawers. I'm not sure it quite covers post-Brexit Britain.
Talking of shite American things, the Gazette has just commissioned me to do a travel article on..... wait for it.... Cincinnati. Yes, the Newent of USA, the Wick of the Midwest, the Walsall of Jesus Christ Why There?
Can anyone cheer me up? Is there any remotely positive thing about Cincinnati that I can look forward to?
THIRD on its list of major attractions is "The American Sign Museum"
HELP
I once borrowed $20 from my then boss and still owe him the money?
The police watchdog has launched an independent investigation after a police officer in Wales was filmed appearing to punch a man repeatedly in the head before arresting him.
Footage of the incident is circulating on social media and has caused considerable “public concern”, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said.
The incident occurred on Wednesday during the arrest of a 34-year-old man from the Pensyflog area of Porthmadog, north Wales, after officers were called to an address in relation to a domestic incident.
Bystanders filmed the interaction and video footage shows the suspect being pinned face down on the ground by a male and a female police officer.
The male officer then puts his arm around the man’s neck in a headlock and appears to punch him nine times in the side of the head.
The suspect can be seen struggling and groaning in pain as the female officer puts him in handcuffs.
In a second video clip, the man arrested appears to have a bloodied and swollen face as he is put in a police van. The video has been viewed more than 100,000 times on social media.
The IOPC said inquiries were under way to “establish whether the level of force used during the arrest was reasonable and proportionate in the circumstances”.
After being tagged in the post, Gareth Davies, the Conservative Senedd member for the Vale of Clwyd, tweeted to the North Wales police chief constable, Amanda Blakeman, and the home secretary, Suella Braverman: “This is police brutality. What are you doing? Surely we’re better than this?”
So the female Labour MP who says she was sexually assaulted by a Shadow Cabinet member won’t take action because he’s “too popular”
If Sir Keir knows who it was, could this be his own Pincher moment?
At risk of being flippant, who on earth could be considered popular in the current shadow cabinet?
There aren't that many who most people have heard of. These are the only Labour politicians with over 50% name recognition:
1Tony Blair 96% 2 Gordon Brown 95% 3 Keir Starmer 94% 4 Jeremy Corbyn 94% 5 Sadiq Khan 90% 6 Ed Miliband 89% 7 David Miliband 85% 8 Ed Balls 85% 9 John Prescott 84% 10 Ken Livingstone 83% 11 Diane Abbott 81% 12 David Blunkett 78% 13 Alistair Darling 75% 14 Angela Rayner 74% 15 Harriet Harman 72% 16 Peter Mandelson 70% 17 Jack Straw 70% 18 Neil Kinnock 68% 19 Andy Burnham 67% 20 Yvette Cooper 63% 21 Margaret Beckett 61% 22 David Lammy 56% 23 Dennis Skinner 53% 24 Alan Johnson 52% 25 Hilary Benn 52%
Ian Martin on Ch4 News now virtually admitting that Brexit -which he supported -has turned out 'a huge mess'. Considering he was the guest speaking up for Brexit viewers will conclude it's turned out more of a disaster than their worst fears.
'Both sides lied their socks off' didn't help either. God help us! If that doesn't encourage SKS to stop bifucating on the fence nothing will
'A huge mess' is how I describe my bedroom drawers. I'm not sure it quite covers post-Brexit Britain.
Same with me. Brexit pales into insignificance by comparison with my domestic squalor. Maybe 'A little local difficulty' covers it. One needs to keep a sense of proportion. Like the entirely sane, likeable and balanced Alastair Campbell who did the humorous warmup.
Have to admit I did chuckle at a few of these, you'd almost believe it was a serious piece.
Meet the new swing voters - Demographics that will make a difference Boomer Brenda. Brenda was born in 1953 and has spent the last two decades telling people about life in World War Two. She lives in the village of Plumley-on-Len, which has been in a Conservative constituency for the last 897 years. Still, she is outraged with Rishi Sunak for not responding to her letters about her opposition to the cancer research laboratory which is being built two kilometres from her home and would force dog walkers to take a very slightly different route. She doesn’t own a dog.
'Substack Simon. Simon recently lost his job at the Times, or the Observer, or the Telegraph. He has spent decades basking in the glow of his smug centrism but now finds himself on the outside looking in. He thinks the Conservatives are “Toffs” and populists but he can’t quite forgive Labour for Corbyn. He might vote Lib Dem if they make the right noises about Ukraine and “the trans thing” but he really wants Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart to lead a march on Westminster.'
So the female Labour MP who says she was sexually assaulted by a Shadow Cabinet member won’t take action because he’s “too popular”
If Sir Keir knows who it was, could this be his own Pincher moment?
At risk of being flippant, who on earth could be considered popular in the current shadow cabinet?
There aren't that many who most people have heard of. These are the only Labour politicians with over 50% name recognition:
1Tony Blair 96% 2 Gordon Brown 95% 3 Keir Starmer 94% 4 Jeremy Corbyn 94% 5 Sadiq Khan 90% 6 Ed Miliband 89% 7 David Miliband 85% 8 Ed Balls 85% 9 John Prescott 84% 10 Ken Livingstone 83% 11 Diane Abbott 81% 12 David Blunkett 78% 13 Alistair Darling 75% 14 Angela Rayner 74% 15 Harriet Harman 72% 16 Peter Mandelson 70% 17 Jack Straw 70% 18 Neil Kinnock 68% 19 Andy Burnham 67% 20 Yvette Cooper 63% 21 Margaret Beckett 61% 22 David Lammy 56% 23 Dennis Skinner 53% 24 Alan Johnson 52% 25 Hilary Benn 52%
Interesting. No-one under 90 in that list. It's all golden oldies. Maybe the new lot really are as dull as they seem. Not even Wes Streeting?? Reeves??
Numerous reports in Russian channels about Ukrainian forces having begun a larger offensive in several directions. This follows reports of Wagner struggling in Bakhmut in the recent days. Current reports are very conflicting, some mention Ukrainians moving towards Russian border.… https://twitter.com/wartranslated/status/1656724729036775424
Maybe hoping the Russians are distracted watching Eurovision.
Have to admit I did chuckle at a few of these, you'd almost believe it was a serious piece.
Meet the new swing voters - Demographics that will make a difference Boomer Brenda. Brenda was born in 1953 and has spent the last two decades telling people about life in World War Two. She lives in the village of Plumley-on-Len, which has been in a Conservative constituency for the last 897 years. Still, she is outraged with Rishi Sunak for not responding to her letters about her opposition to the cancer research laboratory which is being built two kilometres from her home and would force dog walkers to take a very slightly different route. She doesn’t own a dog.
I think you’re right! It fits perfectly on the side of the handleless pan I’m currently cooking lardons in. Thanks, you might have saved me from burning my fingers..
Electric melon ball scoop? Device for upskirting? (This is now illegal) A dropped garden pea detector? Is it for blowing cool air on over heated potatoes? A suction driven mouse trap?
Have to admit I did chuckle at a few of these, you'd almost believe it was a serious piece.
Meet the new swing voters - Demographics that will make a difference Boomer Brenda. Brenda was born in 1953 and has spent the last two decades telling people about life in World War Two. She lives in the village of Plumley-on-Len, which has been in a Conservative constituency for the last 897 years. Still, she is outraged with Rishi Sunak for not responding to her letters about her opposition to the cancer research laboratory which is being built two kilometres from her home and would force dog walkers to take a very slightly different route. She doesn’t own a dog.
…Harri also claimed that Johnson described Sue Gray’s investigation into the Downing Street parties scandal as an “orgy of pain, abuse and humiliation”.
Unused to having someone around who saw through his bullshit, and could do something about it, I guess
Have to admit I did chuckle at a few of these, you'd almost believe it was a serious piece.
Meet the new swing voters - Demographics that will make a difference Boomer Brenda. Brenda was born in 1953 and has spent the last two decades telling people about life in World War Two. She lives in the village of Plumley-on-Len, which has been in a Conservative constituency for the last 897 years. Still, she is outraged with Rishi Sunak for not responding to her letters about her opposition to the cancer research laboratory which is being built two kilometres from her home and would force dog walkers to take a very slightly different route. She doesn’t own a dog.
'Substack Simon. Simon recently lost his job at the Times, or the Observer, or the Telegraph. He has spent decades basking in the glow of his smug centrism but now finds himself on the outside looking in. He thinks the Conservatives are “Toffs” and populists but he can’t quite forgive Labour for Corbyn. He might vote Lib Dem if they make the right noises about Ukraine and “the trans thing” but he really wants Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart to lead a march on Westminster.'
That article seems to be suggesting I should be calling people Nonces on Twitter.
I think you’re right! It fits perfectly on the side of the handleless pan I’m currently cooking lardons in. Thanks, you might have saved me from burning my fingers..
Earnings rising by 7% a year whilst house prices forecast to fall 5 or maybe 10%. If earnings rise 4-5% for another five years and house prices remain stable the ratio of prices to earnings* would go from 9:1 to about 6.5:1 - which I could live with.
*back of cigarette packet calculation.
If you have inflation at 10%, and house prices are going down by 10%, then the assets are falling in value in real terms by 20%. The other part of this is build cost inflation rises with general inflation. So it quickly becomes unviable to build anything outside of high land value areas, which isn't a good thing.
Comments
They're sound guys.
Caerphilly.
Because one egg is an Oeuf.
Honestly, when Remainers claim that there are *no* upsides to Brexit they just come across as deranged.
For me, the benefits of Brexit still comfortably outweigh the costs. But I wouldn't claim that there are no costs. Amd it would be equally mad to claim there are no benefits.
Because they are only Arfon.
The police watchdog has launched an independent investigation after a police officer in Wales was filmed appearing to punch a man repeatedly in the head before arresting him.
Footage of the incident is circulating on social media and has caused considerable “public concern”, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said.
The incident occurred on Wednesday during the arrest of a 34-year-old man from the Pensyflog area of Porthmadog, north Wales, after officers were called to an address in relation to a domestic incident.
Bystanders filmed the interaction and video footage shows the suspect being pinned face down on the ground by a male and a female police officer.
The male officer then puts his arm around the man’s neck in a headlock and appears to punch him nine times in the side of the head.
The suspect can be seen struggling and groaning in pain as the female officer puts him in handcuffs.
In a second video clip, the man arrested appears to have a bloodied and swollen face as he is put in a police van. The video has been viewed more than 100,000 times on social media.
The IOPC said inquiries were under way to “establish whether the level of force used during the arrest was reasonable and proportionate in the circumstances”.
After being tagged in the post, Gareth Davies, the Conservative Senedd member for the Vale of Clwyd, tweeted to the North Wales police chief constable, Amanda Blakeman, and the home secretary, Suella Braverman: “This is police brutality. What are you doing? Surely we’re better than this?”
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/may/11/police-officer-filmed-appearing-to-punch-man-repeatedly-in-head-during-arrest-in-wales?utm_term=Autofeed&CMP=twt_gu&utm_medium&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1683831725
...
Oh, hang on...
If Sir Keir knows who it was, could this be his own Pincher moment?
Some of those jokes are mine!
You can tell by their awesomeness and subtlety.
1Tony Blair 96%
2 Gordon Brown 95%
3 Keir Starmer 94%
4 Jeremy Corbyn 94%
5 Sadiq Khan 90%
6 Ed Miliband 89%
7 David Miliband 85%
8 Ed Balls 85%
9 John Prescott 84%
10 Ken Livingstone 83%
11 Diane Abbott 81%
12 David Blunkett 78%
13 Alistair Darling 75%
14 Angela Rayner 74%
15 Harriet Harman 72%
16 Peter Mandelson 70%
17 Jack Straw 70%
18 Neil Kinnock 68%
19 Andy Burnham 67%
20 Yvette Cooper 63%
21 Margaret Beckett 61%
22 David Lammy 56%
23 Dennis Skinner 53%
24 Alan Johnson 52%
25 Hilary Benn 52%
https://yougov.co.uk/ratings/politics/fame/labour-politicians/all
I'm not sure you've thought this through.
Doctor-Have you had a check-up?
Welsh girl-No. It was a lad from Abergavenny
'Substack Simon. Simon recently lost his job at the Times, or the Observer, or the Telegraph. He has spent decades basking in the glow of his smug centrism but now finds himself on the outside looking in. He thinks the Conservatives are “Toffs” and populists but he can’t quite forgive Labour for Corbyn. He might vote Lib Dem if they make the right noises about Ukraine and “the trans thing” but he really wants Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart to lead a march on Westminster.'
Interesting in how Starmer and labour deal with it
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/may/11/female-labour-mp-accuses-shadow-minister-of-sexual-assault?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
Numerous reports in Russian channels about Ukrainian forces having begun a larger offensive in several directions. This follows reports of Wagner struggling in Bakhmut in the recent days. Current reports are very conflicting, some mention Ukrainians moving towards Russian border.…
https://twitter.com/wartranslated/status/1656724729036775424
Maybe hoping the Russians are distracted watching Eurovision.
BBC News - Met Police will not investigate sexual assault claim against Labour shadow minister
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-65563918
If it was she'd quote it in good solid British miles, not those ugly napoleonic things.
Device for upskirting? (This is now illegal)
A dropped garden pea detector?
Is it for blowing cool air on over heated potatoes?
A suction driven mouse trap?
I n a factional manner ie he will protect the right wing perp
Oh and they look OK
NEW THREAD
I am on Finland at 3/1 far too short really
Wa-hey! That sounds INCREDIBLY rude!
The other part of this is build cost inflation rises with general inflation.
So it quickly becomes unviable to build anything outside of high land value areas, which isn't a good thing.
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Grill+pan+handle