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Oh my God – politicalbetting.com

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    Sturgeon released without charge.

    Thread aged well then :lol:
    Being released without charge pending further investigation doesn't mean cleared by any means. Indeed, it would be unusual in this kind of fraud case to bring charges immediately. As with Murrell and Beattie (also released without charge) they'll assess the evidence when the investigation is complete and make charging decisions at that point.
  • Options
    Sturgeon released without charge pending further investigations.

    A reminder that once someone is charged, Polis Scotland can't question them further, so this may be a drawn out process until charges are laid.
  • Options
    theakestheakes Posts: 864
    Ladbrokes have Lib Dems 4-11 on, Cons 9-4 and Labour 12-1 for Mid Bedfordshire
  • Options
    RochdalePioneersRochdalePioneers Posts: 28,075
    kinabalu said:

    pigeon said:

    kinabalu said:

    kjh said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    ...

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    I’m sorry for being right about everything. I know it’s annoying


    We discussed this while you were busy posting your holiday photos.
    Nonetheless, I was right, wasn’t I? All those months and years ago, when I told you: IT CAME FROM THE LAB

    At one point I was the only person on PB voicing that opinion, to the derision of all others. Indeed I was about to give up, until @Gardenwalker - bless him - said “you know, you might be on to something”

    Think that was late 2020?
    Um, piss off. I most certainly did not deride anyone for theorising that it came from a lab. Once the lab's work and location were known, it was the only remotely sensible theory.
    How do you account for MERS? And the original SARS?
    I don't account for them. I don't know remotely enough about their origins to posit any sort of theory. This is whataboutery.
    It’s really not. It’s making the point that all known epidemics in the history of man have been natural in origin. That does not preclude covid being the result of genetic manipulation in the WIV but it makes it having a natural source eminently plausible, in the way all the others ones started by crossing species to man.
    Yes, in the absence of proof or near proof Natural is the default. For Lab to become favourite requires evidence compatible with Lab and incompatible with Natural. Just the first doesn't cut it.
    The overwhelming circumstantial evidence makes lab leak the default in this case. As it was from the start. A novel bat coronavirus with strange manipulations at the furin cleavage site making it more dangerous for humans emerges in the ONLY city in the world with a bio lab playing with novel bat coronaviruses, and doing so by manipulating the furin cleavage site to make the viruses more dangerous for humans?

    What are the odds on there being NO connection between these two things? About a thousand to
    one against

    So it’s the natural wet marketeers who have all the proving to do. And despite three years of strenuous effort what proof have they managed to find? None. Zero. Nil. Nada. Nuffink. Every paper that claims to find a link with the market has been savagely debunked soon after

    Meanwhile the evidence for a lab leak grows with more and more revelations of secrecy and cover up - to the extent that the Chinese themselves are now saying Hell yeah, it could be the lab

    At this point piously believing in a natural origin is a basic intelligence test. Which you have failed

    It is weird how this has become political. It is - generally - a few people on the left who are still desperate to believe it came from the market. As we see here. Why? Is it really coz trump said “lab leak” three years ago? Does he bother you that much?

    This is not politics. It’s basic logic. Get over yourselves. It almost certainly came from the lab

    You have talents but logical reasoning isn't one of them. It's more my thing. And I'm not desperate to believe either way. You otoh are enormously invested. To the point I'd worry for you if it went the 'wrong' way.
    Yeah but you’re GAY*

    (*I make this remark solely to please @kjh who is weirdly convinced I hurl this vile allegation when I get into an argument)

    On this point - lab leak - your determined stupidity is far more interesting than your gayness
    It is not a case of being weirdly convinced because you do, although only to @kinabalu. I mean the posts are there. When he has you rattled you accuse him of being gay. Not even sure why you think it is an insult. You aren't 5 years old or living in the 70s.

    The other two insults you go for when rattled are accusing people of being boring or claiming you are more intelligent. You are very predictable.
    VERY predictable, yes. And I'm not gay as it happens. I just have a soft feminine side.
    Oi! We're not all into poncey poetry and flowery dresses I'll have you know.

    You have been caught peddling lazy stereotypes about the fags and will therefore have to be cancelled. Sorry.
    No but also yes since Leon is guilty of exactly this. Because I have a soft feminine side that I'm unafraid to show he calls me gay. It's real 70s throwback stuff. Have we *really* come as far as we think? I'm not so sure sometimes.
    Leon rails against woke, and yet was happy to be a drag act polluting our fragile little minds with his deviance.
  • Options
    pigeonpigeon Posts: 4,490
    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    pigeon said:

    kinabalu said:

    kjh said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    ...

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    I’m sorry for being right about everything. I know it’s annoying


    We discussed this while you were busy posting your holiday photos.
    Nonetheless, I was right, wasn’t I? All those months and years ago, when I told you: IT CAME FROM THE LAB

    At one point I was the only person on PB voicing that opinion, to the derision of all others. Indeed I was about to give up, until @Gardenwalker - bless him - said “you know, you might be on to something”

    Think that was late 2020?
    Um, piss off. I most certainly did not deride anyone for theorising that it came from a lab. Once the lab's work and location were known, it was the only remotely sensible theory.
    How do you account for MERS? And the original SARS?
    I don't account for them. I don't know remotely enough about their origins to posit any sort of theory. This is whataboutery.
    It’s really not. It’s making the point that all known epidemics in the history of man have been natural in origin. That does not preclude covid being the result of genetic manipulation in the WIV but it makes it having a natural source eminently plausible, in the way all the others ones started by crossing species to man.
    Yes, in the absence of proof or near proof Natural is the default. For Lab to become favourite requires evidence compatible with Lab and incompatible with Natural. Just the first doesn't cut it.
    The overwhelming circumstantial evidence makes lab leak the default in this case. As it was from the start. A novel bat coronavirus with strange manipulations at the furin cleavage site making it more dangerous for humans emerges in the ONLY city in the world with a bio lab playing with novel bat coronaviruses, and doing so by manipulating the furin cleavage site to make the viruses more dangerous for humans?

    What are the odds on there being NO connection between these two things? About a thousand to
    one against

    So it’s the natural wet marketeers who have all the proving to do. And despite three years of strenuous effort what proof have they managed to find? None. Zero. Nil. Nada. Nuffink. Every paper that claims to find a link with the market has been savagely debunked soon after

    Meanwhile the evidence for a lab leak grows with more and more revelations of secrecy and cover up - to the extent that the Chinese themselves are now saying Hell yeah, it could be the lab

    At this point piously believing in a natural origin is a basic intelligence test. Which you have failed

    It is weird how this has become political. It is - generally - a few people on the left who are still desperate to believe it came from the market. As we see here. Why? Is it really coz trump said “lab leak” three years ago? Does he bother you that much?

    This is not politics. It’s basic logic. Get over yourselves. It almost certainly came from the lab

    You have talents but logical reasoning isn't one of them. It's more my thing. And I'm not desperate to believe either way. You otoh are enormously invested. To the point I'd worry for you if it went the 'wrong' way.
    Yeah but you’re GAY*

    (*I make this remark solely to please @kjh who is weirdly convinced I hurl this vile allegation when I get into an argument)

    On this point - lab leak - your determined stupidity is far more interesting than your gayness
    It is not a case of being weirdly convinced because you do, although only to @kinabalu. I mean the posts are there. When he has you rattled you accuse him of being gay. Not even sure why you think it is an insult. You aren't 5 years old or living in the 70s.

    The other two insults you go for when rattled are accusing people of being boring or claiming you are more intelligent. You are very predictable.
    VERY predictable, yes. And I'm not gay as it happens. I just have a soft feminine side.
    Oi! We're not all into poncey poetry and flowery dresses I'll have you know.

    You have been caught peddling lazy stereotypes about the fags and will therefore have to be cancelled. Sorry.
    No but also yes since Leon is guilty of exactly this. Because I have a soft feminine side that I'm unafraid to show he calls me gay. It's real 70s throwback stuff. Have we *really* come as far as we think? I'm not so sure sometimes.
    This is absolutely ridiculous. I have experimented with gayness and have openly admitted to being on the BDSM scene (D if you must know) - hence my spotting The Necklace

    The idea I would think “gay” is an insult is absurd. I’d be insulting myself

    The fact is I do pride myself in spotting personal traits and you made the odd ambiguous remark and I thought I’d test the waters and see if you had a gay side. Turns out you do. That’s it. That’s all it is. Get over yourself
    "soft feminine side" ≠ gay

    deployment of lazy stereotypes = cancellation :smile:
  • Options
    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,160
    Good evening, everyone.

    Just a flying visit, but quite the tumultous couple of days, with the imbecile's resignation and Sturgeon's arrest.

    Hopefully the Ukrainians manage to make significant headway.
  • Options
    MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 26,138
    ....
    Scott_xP said:

    @christiancalgie
    💥huge shock as Paul Scully fails to make the shortlist for Tory London mayor.

    Final three are Dan Korski, Susan Hall and Mozammel Hossain.

    Rishi scared of another by-election if Scully had won?

    @christopherhope
    This is a major shock. Paul Scully was a key Boris Johnson supporter.
    One Conservative MP close to Johnson tells me this is further evidence of a purge of Johnson supporters from a chance of getting a top job.

    In all honesty I suspect Scully was left off the list principally because he's an enormous knobend.
  • Options
    JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 39,786

    ....

    Scott_xP said:

    @christiancalgie
    💥huge shock as Paul Scully fails to make the shortlist for Tory London mayor.

    Final three are Dan Korski, Susan Hall and Mozammel Hossain.

    Rishi scared of another by-election if Scully had won?

    @christopherhope
    This is a major shock. Paul Scully was a key Boris Johnson supporter.
    One Conservative MP close to Johnson tells me this is further evidence of a purge of Johnson supporters from a chance of getting a top job.

    In all honesty I suspect Scully was left off the list principally because he's an enormous knobend.
    Someone should do a Venn diagram of Johnson supporters and enormous knobends... ;)
  • Options
    NigelbNigelb Posts: 64,598
    .
    Cicero said:

    FWIW, Reports of several significant Ukrainian advances along several axes. One looks like either a flanking movement on Donetsk or advance towards Mariupol, potentially both. Russian rail supply lines are down and when caught in the open, Russian forces have tended to disperse.

    Not a cake walk by any means and significant Ukrainian loses are reported, but the momentum is looking positive for the ZSU.

    Ukraine just conducted 2 crucial sabotage actions far behind enemy lines.

    A railway bridge was blown up in Yakymivka, stopping freight between Crimea and Zaporizhzhia.

    The only railway line leading to the Crimean bridge was also blown up in the Krimovsky district

    https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1667915595608645634
  • Options
    state_go_awaystate_go_away Posts: 5,568

    ....

    Scott_xP said:

    @christiancalgie
    💥huge shock as Paul Scully fails to make the shortlist for Tory London mayor.

    Final three are Dan Korski, Susan Hall and Mozammel Hossain.

    Rishi scared of another by-election if Scully had won?

    @christopherhope
    This is a major shock. Paul Scully was a key Boris Johnson supporter.
    One Conservative MP close to Johnson tells me this is further evidence of a purge of Johnson supporters from a chance of getting a top job.

    In all honesty I suspect Scully was left off the list principally because he's an enormous knobend.
    Someone should do a Venn diagram of Johnson supporters and enormous knobends... ;)
    sigh -this website was known once for its quality of debate and contributions
  • Options
    NigelbNigelb Posts: 64,598
    Grain train on non-electrified spur from Rossosh, Voronezh region, derails.

    Meanwhile, the 12 Rail Traction (Sub) Stations on the Liski-Rostov line & their multi-million-dollar transformers (which burn easily) remain untouched.

    This is the 🇷🇺 rail GLOC supplying the war in 🇺🇦!

    https://twitter.com/BruckenRuski/status/1667752664887705601
  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 93,627

    ....

    Scott_xP said:

    @christiancalgie
    💥huge shock as Paul Scully fails to make the shortlist for Tory London mayor.

    Final three are Dan Korski, Susan Hall and Mozammel Hossain.

    Rishi scared of another by-election if Scully had won?

    @christopherhope
    This is a major shock. Paul Scully was a key Boris Johnson supporter.
    One Conservative MP close to Johnson tells me this is further evidence of a purge of Johnson supporters from a chance of getting a top job.

    In all honesty I suspect Scully was left off the list principally because he's an enormous knobend.
    Someone should do a Venn diagram of Johnson supporters and enormous knobends... ;)
    sigh -this website was known once for its quality of debate and contributions
    Lead by example not meta commentary then.
  • Options
    SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 16,181
    Courthouse News Service - [US] Justices turn down ex-Trump official vying to join Mississippi commissioner race

    It's not enough to be born and bred in the Magnolia State; you have to have lived there for the last five years to run for certain types of office.

    The Supreme Court declined Friday to help a former Trump official skirt procedural hurdles keeping her from joining the Republican primary ballot for Mississippi public service commissioner.

    Mississippi’s public service commission has three members that are elected every four years from three districts. Those commissioners are required to be a citizen of Mississippi for five years before the general election.

    Amanda Gunasekara wanted to run for a seat on the commission but was blocked because of her tenure working for the federal government in Washington. She asked the high court for emergency relief. The application — submitted to Justice Samuel Alito and referred to the full court — was denied this morning without an explanation. There were no noted dissents.

    Born and raised in Mississippi, Gunasekara made the decision to move north to the nation's capital in 2010 after graduating from law school. Gunasekara began work in Congress — first in the House of Representatives and then the Senate — but ended up at the Environmental Protection Agency under the Trump administration.

    For eight years Gunasekara resided in Washington. While she says she never considered the city her home, she had no concrete plans to return to Mississippi during that time until the summer of 2018. Her parents purchased a home for her near their farm in Decatur, but she remained in Washington — even voting in the city for a friend running for an advisory neighborhood committee. . . .

    Gunasekara announced her intention to run for a position on the commission in 2022, only to have her qualifications come into question through a challenge from Matthew Barton, a candidate for Desoto district attorney.

    The Executive Committee of the Mississippi Republican Party initially denied Barton’s contest, certifying Gunasekara as a candidate, but a state court that reviewed the matter opted to disqualify her. The court found Gunasekara had maintained her Washington residence on Nov. 18, 2018 — the date she’d need to have be a Mississippi resident to meet the commissioner residency requirement.

    The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed Gunasekara’s disqualification without tackling her claim that the state-law residency requirement violated the 14th Amendment. . . . .

    Gunasekara argues the five-year citizen requirement should not bar her from running for office because she lived in the state for over two decades prior to her Washington residency. . . .

    The list of qualified candidates for commissioner is given to the state secretary of state on Friday, and the sample primary ballot is published on June 19.

    https://www.courthousenews.com/justices-turn-down-ex-trump-official-vying-to-join-mississippi-commissioner-race/
  • Options
    bigglesbiggles Posts: 5,278
    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    pigeon said:

    kinabalu said:

    kjh said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    ...

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    I’m sorry for being right about everything. I know it’s annoying


    We discussed this while you were busy posting your holiday photos.
    Nonetheless, I was right, wasn’t I? All those months and years ago, when I told you: IT CAME FROM THE LAB

    At one point I was the only person on PB voicing that opinion, to the derision of all others. Indeed I was about to give up, until @Gardenwalker - bless him - said “you know, you might be on to something”

    Think that was late 2020?
    Um, piss off. I most certainly did not deride anyone for theorising that it came from a lab. Once the lab's work and location were known, it was the only remotely sensible theory.
    How do you account for MERS? And the original SARS?
    I don't account for them. I don't know remotely enough about their origins to posit any sort of theory. This is whataboutery.
    It’s really not. It’s making the point that all known epidemics in the history of man have been natural in origin. That does not preclude covid being the result of genetic manipulation in the WIV but it makes it having a natural source eminently plausible, in the way all the others ones started by crossing species to man.
    Yes, in the absence of proof or near proof Natural is the default. For Lab to become favourite requires evidence compatible with Lab and incompatible with Natural. Just the first doesn't cut it.
    The overwhelming circumstantial evidence makes lab leak the default in this case. As it was from the start. A novel bat coronavirus with strange manipulations at the furin cleavage site making it more dangerous for humans emerges in the ONLY city in the world with a bio lab playing with novel bat coronaviruses, and doing so by manipulating the furin cleavage site to make the viruses more dangerous for humans?

    What are the odds on there being NO connection between these two things? About a thousand to
    one against

    So it’s the natural wet marketeers who have all the proving to do. And despite three years of strenuous effort what proof have they managed to find? None. Zero. Nil. Nada. Nuffink. Every paper that claims to find a link with the market has been savagely debunked soon after

    Meanwhile the evidence for a lab leak grows with more and more revelations of secrecy and cover up - to the extent that the Chinese themselves are now saying Hell yeah, it could be the lab

    At this point piously believing in a natural origin is a basic intelligence test. Which you have failed

    It is weird how this has become political. It is - generally - a few people on the left who are still desperate to believe it came from the market. As we see here. Why? Is it really coz trump said “lab leak” three years ago? Does he bother you that much?

    This is not politics. It’s basic logic. Get over yourselves. It almost certainly came from the lab

    You have talents but logical reasoning isn't one of them. It's more my thing. And I'm not desperate to believe either way. You otoh are enormously invested. To the point I'd worry for you if it went the 'wrong' way.
    Yeah but you’re GAY*

    (*I make this remark solely to please @kjh who is weirdly convinced I hurl this vile allegation when I get into an argument)

    On this point - lab leak - your determined stupidity is far more interesting than your gayness
    It is not a case of being weirdly convinced because you do, although only to @kinabalu. I mean the posts are there. When he has you rattled you accuse him of being gay. Not even sure why you think it is an insult. You aren't 5 years old or living in the 70s.

    The other two insults you go for when rattled are accusing people of being boring or claiming you are more intelligent. You are very predictable.
    VERY predictable, yes. And I'm not gay as it happens. I just have a soft feminine side.
    Oi! We're not all into poncey poetry and flowery dresses I'll have you know.

    You have been caught peddling lazy stereotypes about the fags and will therefore have to be cancelled. Sorry.
    No but also yes since Leon is guilty of exactly this. Because I have a soft feminine side that I'm unafraid to show he calls me gay. It's real 70s throwback stuff. Have we *really* come as far as we think? I'm not so sure sometimes.
    This is absolutely ridiculous. I have experimented with gayness and have openly admitted to being on the BDSM scene (D if you must know) - hence my spotting The Necklace

    The idea I would think “gay” is an insult is absurd. I’d be insulting myself

    The fact is I do pride myself in spotting personal traits and you made the odd ambiguous remark and I thought I’d test the waters and see if you had a gay side. Turns out you do. That’s it. That’s all it is. Get over yourself
    I am reminded of this:

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=i6wu81BEVBI
  • Options
    DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,036

    Courthouse News Service - [US] Justices turn down ex-Trump official vying to join Mississippi commissioner race

    It's not enough to be born and bred in the Magnolia State; you have to have lived there for the last five years to run for certain types of office.

    The Supreme Court declined Friday to help a former Trump official skirt procedural hurdles keeping her from joining the Republican primary ballot for Mississippi public service commissioner.

    Mississippi’s public service commission has three members that are elected every four years from three districts. Those commissioners are required to be a citizen of Mississippi for five years before the general election.

    Amanda Gunasekara wanted to run for a seat on the commission but was blocked because of her tenure working for the federal government in Washington. She asked the high court for emergency relief. The application — submitted to Justice Samuel Alito and referred to the full court — was denied this morning without an explanation. There were no noted dissents.

    Born and raised in Mississippi, Gunasekara made the decision to move north to the nation's capital in 2010 after graduating from law school. Gunasekara began work in Congress — first in the House of Representatives and then the Senate — but ended up at the Environmental Protection Agency under the Trump administration.

    For eight years Gunasekara resided in Washington. While she says she never considered the city her home, she had no concrete plans to return to Mississippi during that time until the summer of 2018. Her parents purchased a home for her near their farm in Decatur, but she remained in Washington — even voting in the city for a friend running for an advisory neighborhood committee. . . .

    Gunasekara announced her intention to run for a position on the commission in 2022, only to have her qualifications come into question through a challenge from Matthew Barton, a candidate for Desoto district attorney.

    The Executive Committee of the Mississippi Republican Party initially denied Barton’s contest, certifying Gunasekara as a candidate, but a state court that reviewed the matter opted to disqualify her. The court found Gunasekara had maintained her Washington residence on Nov. 18, 2018 — the date she’d need to have be a Mississippi resident to meet the commissioner residency requirement.

    The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed Gunasekara’s disqualification without tackling her claim that the state-law residency requirement violated the 14th Amendment. . . . .

    Gunasekara argues the five-year citizen requirement should not bar her from running for office because she lived in the state for over two decades prior to her Washington residency. . . .

    The list of qualified candidates for commissioner is given to the state secretary of state on Friday, and the sample primary ballot is published on June 19.

    https://www.courthousenews.com/justices-turn-down-ex-trump-official-vying-to-join-mississippi-commissioner-race/

    Denied the power,
    Republican's dreams shattered,
    Mississippi weeps.
  • Options
    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 54,783
    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    pigeon said:

    kinabalu said:

    kjh said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    ...

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    I’m sorry for being right about everything. I know it’s annoying


    We discussed this while you were busy posting your holiday photos.
    Nonetheless, I was right, wasn’t I? All those months and years ago, when I told you: IT CAME FROM THE LAB

    At one point I was the only person on PB voicing that opinion, to the derision of all others. Indeed I was about to give up, until @Gardenwalker - bless him - said “you know, you might be on to something”

    Think that was late 2020?
    Um, piss off. I most certainly did not deride anyone for theorising that it came from a lab. Once the lab's work and location were known, it was the only remotely sensible theory.
    How do you account for MERS? And the original SARS?
    I don't account for them. I don't know remotely enough about their origins to posit any sort of theory. This is whataboutery.
    It’s really not. It’s making the point that all known epidemics in the history of man have been natural in origin. That does not preclude covid being the result of genetic manipulation in the WIV but it makes it having a natural source eminently plausible, in the way all the others ones started by crossing species to man.
    Yes, in the absence of proof or near proof Natural is the default. For Lab to become favourite requires evidence compatible with Lab and incompatible with Natural. Just the first doesn't cut it.
    The overwhelming circumstantial evidence makes lab leak the default in this case. As it was from the start. A novel bat coronavirus with strange manipulations at the furin cleavage site making it more dangerous for humans emerges in the ONLY city in the world with a bio lab playing with novel bat coronaviruses, and doing so by manipulating the furin cleavage site to make the viruses more dangerous for humans?

    What are the odds on there being NO connection between these two things? About a thousand to
    one against

    So it’s the natural wet marketeers who have all the proving to do. And despite three years of strenuous effort what proof have they managed to find? None. Zero. Nil. Nada. Nuffink. Every paper that claims to find a link with the market has been savagely debunked soon after

    Meanwhile the evidence for a lab leak grows with more and more revelations of secrecy and cover up - to the extent that the Chinese themselves are now saying Hell yeah, it could be the lab

    At this point piously believing in a natural origin is a basic intelligence test. Which you have failed

    It is weird how this has become political. It is - generally - a few people on the left who are still desperate to believe it came from the market. As we see here. Why? Is it really coz trump said “lab leak” three years ago? Does he bother you that much?

    This is not politics. It’s basic logic. Get over yourselves. It almost certainly came from the lab

    You have talents but logical reasoning isn't one of them. It's more my thing. And I'm not desperate to believe either way. You otoh are enormously invested. To the point I'd worry for you if it went the 'wrong' way.
    Yeah but you’re GAY*

    (*I make this remark solely to please @kjh who is weirdly convinced I hurl this vile allegation when I get into an argument)

    On this point - lab leak - your determined stupidity is far more interesting than your gayness
    It is not a case of being weirdly convinced because you do, although only to @kinabalu. I mean the posts are there. When he has you rattled you accuse him of being gay. Not even sure why you think it is an insult. You aren't 5 years old or living in the 70s.

    The other two insults you go for when rattled are accusing people of being boring or claiming you are more intelligent. You are very predictable.
    VERY predictable, yes. And I'm not gay as it happens. I just have a soft feminine side.
    Oi! We're not all into poncey poetry and flowery dresses I'll have you know.

    You have been caught peddling lazy stereotypes about the fags and will therefore have to be cancelled. Sorry.
    No but also yes since Leon is guilty of exactly this. Because I have a soft feminine side that I'm unafraid to show he calls me gay. It's real 70s throwback stuff. Have we *really* come as far as we think? I'm not so sure sometimes.
    This is absolutely ridiculous. I have experimented with gayness and have openly admitted to being on the BDSM scene (D if you must know) - hence my spotting The Necklace

    The idea I would think “gay” is an insult is absurd. I’d be insulting myself

    The fact is I do pride myself in spotting personal traits and you made the odd ambiguous remark and I thought I’d test the waters and see if you had a gay side. Turns out you do. That’s it. That’s all it is. Get over yourself
    Democrat?
  • Options
    kjhkjh Posts: 10,926
    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    pigeon said:

    kinabalu said:

    kjh said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    ...

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    I’m sorry for being right about everything. I know it’s annoying


    We discussed this while you were busy posting your holiday photos.
    Nonetheless, I was right, wasn’t I? All those months and years ago, when I told you: IT CAME FROM THE LAB

    At one point I was the only person on PB voicing that opinion, to the derision of all others. Indeed I was about to give up, until @Gardenwalker - bless him - said “you know, you might be on to something”

    Think that was late 2020?
    Um, piss off. I most certainly did not deride anyone for theorising that it came from a lab. Once the lab's work and location were known, it was the only remotely sensible theory.
    How do you account for MERS? And the original SARS?
    I don't account for them. I don't know remotely enough about their origins to posit any sort of theory. This is whataboutery.
    It’s really not. It’s making the point that all known epidemics in the history of man have been natural in origin. That does not preclude covid being the result of genetic manipulation in the WIV but it makes it having a natural source eminently plausible, in the way all the others ones started by crossing species to man.
    Yes, in the absence of proof or near proof Natural is the default. For Lab to become favourite requires evidence compatible with Lab and incompatible with Natural. Just the first doesn't cut it.
    The overwhelming circumstantial evidence makes lab leak the default in this case. As it was from the start. A novel bat coronavirus with strange manipulations at the furin cleavage site making it more dangerous for humans emerges in the ONLY city in the world with a bio lab playing with novel bat coronaviruses, and doing so by manipulating the furin cleavage site to make the viruses more dangerous for humans?

    What are the odds on there being NO connection between these two things? About a thousand to
    one against

    So it’s the natural wet marketeers who have all the proving to do. And despite three years of strenuous effort what proof have they managed to find? None. Zero. Nil. Nada. Nuffink. Every paper that claims to find a link with the market has been savagely debunked soon after

    Meanwhile the evidence for a lab leak grows with more and more revelations of secrecy and cover up - to the extent that the Chinese themselves are now saying Hell yeah, it could be the lab

    At this point piously believing in a natural origin is a basic intelligence test. Which you have failed

    It is weird how this has become political. It is - generally - a few people on the left who are still desperate to believe it came from the market. As we see here. Why? Is it really coz trump said “lab leak” three years ago? Does he bother you that much?

    This is not politics. It’s basic logic. Get over yourselves. It almost certainly came from the lab

    You have talents but logical reasoning isn't one of them. It's more my thing. And I'm not desperate to believe either way. You otoh are enormously invested. To the point I'd worry for you if it went the 'wrong' way.
    Yeah but you’re GAY*

    (*I make this remark solely to please @kjh who is weirdly convinced I hurl this vile allegation when I get into an argument)

    On this point - lab leak - your determined stupidity is far more interesting than your gayness
    It is not a case of being weirdly convinced because you do, although only to @kinabalu. I mean the posts are there. When he has you rattled you accuse him of being gay. Not even sure why you think it is an insult. You aren't 5 years old or living in the 70s.

    The other two insults you go for when rattled are accusing people of being boring or claiming you are more intelligent. You are very predictable.
    VERY predictable, yes. And I'm not gay as it happens. I just have a soft feminine side.
    Oi! We're not all into poncey poetry and flowery dresses I'll have you know.

    You have been caught peddling lazy stereotypes about the fags and will therefore have to be cancelled. Sorry.
    No but also yes since Leon is guilty of exactly this. Because I have a soft feminine side that I'm unafraid to show he calls me gay. It's real 70s throwback stuff. Have we *really* come as far as we think? I'm not so sure sometimes.
    This is absolutely ridiculous. I have experimented with gayness and have openly admitted to being on the BDSM scene (D if you must know) - hence my spotting The Necklace

    The idea I would think “gay” is an insult is absurd. I’d be insulting myself

    The fact is I do pride myself in spotting personal traits and you made the odd ambiguous remark and I thought I’d test the waters and see if you had a gay side. Turns out you do. That’s it. That’s all it is. Get over yourself
    If memory serves me right you used it as an insult on more than one occasion.
  • Options
    MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 26,138
    edited June 2023

    ....

    Scott_xP said:

    @christiancalgie
    💥huge shock as Paul Scully fails to make the shortlist for Tory London mayor.

    Final three are Dan Korski, Susan Hall and Mozammel Hossain.

    Rishi scared of another by-election if Scully had won?

    @christopherhope
    This is a major shock. Paul Scully was a key Boris Johnson supporter.
    One Conservative MP close to Johnson tells me this is further evidence of a purge of Johnson supporters from a chance of getting a top job.

    In all honesty I suspect Scully was left off the list principally because he's an enormous knobend.
    Someone should do a Venn diagram of Johnson supporters and enormous knobends... ;)
    Deleted on the grounds of peer group plagiarism.
  • Options
    bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 8,804
    Rob Ford on how Johnson was never that popular, and became less popular: https://swingometer.substack.com/p/hes-not-the-messiah-hes-a-very-naughty
  • Options
    DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,036
    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    pigeon said:

    kinabalu said:

    kjh said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    ...

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    I’m sorry for being right about everything. I know it’s annoying


    We discussed this while you were busy posting your holiday photos.
    Nonetheless, I was right, wasn’t I? All those months and years ago, when I told you: IT CAME FROM THE LAB

    At one point I was the only person on PB voicing that opinion, to the derision of all others. Indeed I was about to give up, until @Gardenwalker - bless him - said “you know, you might be on to something”

    Think that was late 2020?
    Um, piss off. I most certainly did not deride anyone for theorising that it came from a lab. Once the lab's work and location were known, it was the only remotely sensible theory.
    How do you account for MERS? And the original SARS?
    I don't account for them. I don't know remotely enough about their origins to posit any sort of theory. This is whataboutery.
    It’s really not. It’s making the point that all known epidemics in the history of man have been natural in origin. That does not preclude covid being the result of genetic manipulation in the WIV but it makes it having a natural source eminently plausible, in the way all the others ones started by crossing species to man.
    Yes, in the absence of proof or near proof Natural is the default. For Lab to become favourite requires evidence compatible with Lab and incompatible with Natural. Just the first doesn't cut it.
    The overwhelming circumstantial evidence makes lab leak the default in this case. As it was from the start. A novel bat coronavirus with strange manipulations at the furin cleavage site making it more dangerous for humans emerges in the ONLY city in the world with a bio lab playing with novel bat coronaviruses, and doing so by manipulating the furin cleavage site to make the viruses more dangerous for humans?

    What are the odds on there being NO connection between these two things? About a thousand to
    one against

    So it’s the natural wet marketeers who have all the proving to do. And despite three years of strenuous effort what proof have they managed to find? None. Zero. Nil. Nada. Nuffink. Every paper that claims to find a link with the market has been savagely debunked soon after

    Meanwhile the evidence for a lab leak grows with more and more revelations of secrecy and cover up - to the extent that the Chinese themselves are now saying Hell yeah, it could be the lab

    At this point piously believing in a natural origin is a basic intelligence test. Which you have failed

    It is weird how this has become political. It is - generally - a few people on the left who are still desperate to believe it came from the market. As we see here. Why? Is it really coz trump said “lab leak” three years ago? Does he bother you that much?

    This is not politics. It’s basic logic. Get over yourselves. It almost certainly came from the lab

    You have talents but logical reasoning isn't one of them. It's more my thing. And I'm not desperate to believe either way. You otoh are enormously invested. To the point I'd worry for you if it went the 'wrong' way.
    Yeah but you’re GAY*

    (*I make this remark solely to please @kjh who is weirdly convinced I hurl this vile allegation when I get into an argument)

    On this point - lab leak - your determined stupidity is far more interesting than your gayness
    It is not a case of being weirdly convinced because you do, although only to @kinabalu. I mean the posts are there. When he has you rattled you accuse him of being gay. Not even sure why you think it is an insult. You aren't 5 years old or living in the 70s.

    The other two insults you go for when rattled are accusing people of being boring or claiming you are more intelligent. You are very predictable.
    VERY predictable, yes. And I'm not gay as it happens. I just have a soft feminine side.
    Oi! We're not all into poncey poetry and flowery dresses I'll have you know.

    You have been caught peddling lazy stereotypes about the fags and will therefore have to be cancelled. Sorry.
    No but also yes since Leon is guilty of exactly this. Because I have a soft feminine side that I'm unafraid to show he calls me gay. It's real 70s throwback stuff. Have we *really* come as far as we think? I'm not so sure sometimes.
    This is absolutely ridiculous. I have experimented with gayness and have openly admitted to being on the BDSM scene (D if you must know) - hence my spotting The Necklace

    The idea I would think “gay” is an insult is absurd. I’d be insulting myself

    The fact is I do pride myself in spotting personal traits and you made the odd ambiguous remark and I thought I’d test the waters and see if you had a gay side. Turns out you do. That’s it. That’s all it is. Get over yourself
    Leon's words wander,
    Muddled tales and lost landmarks,
    Travel guide gone wrong.
  • Options
    bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 8,804
    DougSeal said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    pigeon said:

    kinabalu said:

    kjh said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    ...

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    I’m sorry for being right about everything. I know it’s annoying


    We discussed this while you were busy posting your holiday photos.
    Nonetheless, I was right, wasn’t I? All those months and years ago, when I told you: IT CAME FROM THE LAB

    At one point I was the only person on PB voicing that opinion, to the derision of all others. Indeed I was about to give up, until @Gardenwalker - bless him - said “you know, you might be on to something”

    Think that was late 2020?
    Um, piss off. I most certainly did not deride anyone for theorising that it came from a lab. Once the lab's work and location were known, it was the only remotely sensible theory.
    How do you account for MERS? And the original SARS?
    I don't account for them. I don't know remotely enough about their origins to posit any sort of theory. This is whataboutery.
    It’s really not. It’s making the point that all known epidemics in the history of man have been natural in origin. That does not preclude covid being the result of genetic manipulation in the WIV but it makes it having a natural source eminently plausible, in the way all the others ones started by crossing species to man.
    Yes, in the absence of proof or near proof Natural is the default. For Lab to become favourite requires evidence compatible with Lab and incompatible with Natural. Just the first doesn't cut it.
    The overwhelming circumstantial evidence makes lab leak the default in this case. As it was from the start. A novel bat coronavirus with strange manipulations at the furin cleavage site making it more dangerous for humans emerges in the ONLY city in the world with a bio lab playing with novel bat coronaviruses, and doing so by manipulating the furin cleavage site to make the viruses more dangerous for humans?

    What are the odds on there being NO connection between these two things? About a thousand to
    one against

    So it’s the natural wet marketeers who have all the proving to do. And despite three years of strenuous effort what proof have they managed to find? None. Zero. Nil. Nada. Nuffink. Every paper that claims to find a link with the market has been savagely debunked soon after

    Meanwhile the evidence for a lab leak grows with more and more revelations of secrecy and cover up - to the extent that the Chinese themselves are now saying Hell yeah, it could be the lab

    At this point piously believing in a natural origin is a basic intelligence test. Which you have failed

    It is weird how this has become political. It is - generally - a few people on the left who are still desperate to believe it came from the market. As we see here. Why? Is it really coz trump said “lab leak” three years ago? Does he bother you that much?

    This is not politics. It’s basic logic. Get over yourselves. It almost certainly came from the lab

    You have talents but logical reasoning isn't one of them. It's more my thing. And I'm not desperate to believe either way. You otoh are enormously invested. To the point I'd worry for you if it went the 'wrong' way.
    Yeah but you’re GAY*

    (*I make this remark solely to please @kjh who is weirdly convinced I hurl this vile allegation when I get into an argument)

    On this point - lab leak - your determined stupidity is far more interesting than your gayness
    It is not a case of being weirdly convinced because you do, although only to @kinabalu. I mean the posts are there. When he has you rattled you accuse him of being gay. Not even sure why you think it is an insult. You aren't 5 years old or living in the 70s.

    The other two insults you go for when rattled are accusing people of being boring or claiming you are more intelligent. You are very predictable.
    VERY predictable, yes. And I'm not gay as it happens. I just have a soft feminine side.
    Oi! We're not all into poncey poetry and flowery dresses I'll have you know.

    You have been caught peddling lazy stereotypes about the fags and will therefore have to be cancelled. Sorry.
    No but also yes since Leon is guilty of exactly this. Because I have a soft feminine side that I'm unafraid to show he calls me gay. It's real 70s throwback stuff. Have we *really* come as far as we think? I'm not so sure sometimes.
    This is absolutely ridiculous. I have experimented with gayness and have openly admitted to being on the BDSM scene (D if you must know) - hence my spotting The Necklace

    The idea I would think “gay” is an insult is absurd. I’d be insulting myself

    The fact is I do pride myself in spotting personal traits and you made the odd ambiguous remark and I thought I’d test the waters and see if you had a gay side. Turns out you do. That’s it. That’s all it is. Get over yourself
    Leon's words wander,
    Muddled tales and lost landmarks,
    Travel guide gone wrong.
    Are you using ChatGPT or some marine equivalent?
  • Options
    Northern_AlNorthern_Al Posts: 7,947
    Scott_xP said:
    Sturgeon: I know beyond doubt that I am in fact innocent of any wrongdoing.

    Quite surprised to see Nicola copying Boris's homework.
  • Options
    FarooqFarooq Posts: 12,172
    kjh said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    pigeon said:

    kinabalu said:

    kjh said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    ...

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    I’m sorry for being right about everything. I know it’s annoying


    We discussed this while you were busy posting your holiday photos.
    Nonetheless, I was right, wasn’t I? All those months and years ago, when I told you: IT CAME FROM THE LAB

    At one point I was the only person on PB voicing that opinion, to the derision of all others. Indeed I was about to give up, until @Gardenwalker - bless him - said “you know, you might be on to something”

    Think that was late 2020?
    Um, piss off. I most certainly did not deride anyone for theorising that it came from a lab. Once the lab's work and location were known, it was the only remotely sensible theory.
    How do you account for MERS? And the original SARS?
    I don't account for them. I don't know remotely enough about their origins to posit any sort of theory. This is whataboutery.
    It’s really not. It’s making the point that all known epidemics in the history of man have been natural in origin. That does not preclude covid being the result of genetic manipulation in the WIV but it makes it having a natural source eminently plausible, in the way all the others ones started by crossing species to man.
    Yes, in the absence of proof or near proof Natural is the default. For Lab to become favourite requires evidence compatible with Lab and incompatible with Natural. Just the first doesn't cut it.
    The overwhelming circumstantial evidence makes lab leak the default in this case. As it was from the start. A novel bat coronavirus with strange manipulations at the furin cleavage site making it more dangerous for humans emerges in the ONLY city in the world with a bio lab playing with novel bat coronaviruses, and doing so by manipulating the furin cleavage site to make the viruses more dangerous for humans?

    What are the odds on there being NO connection between these two things? About a thousand to
    one against

    So it’s the natural wet marketeers who have all the proving to do. And despite three years of strenuous effort what proof have they managed to find? None. Zero. Nil. Nada. Nuffink. Every paper that claims to find a link with the market has been savagely debunked soon after

    Meanwhile the evidence for a lab leak grows with more and more revelations of secrecy and cover up - to the extent that the Chinese themselves are now saying Hell yeah, it could be the lab

    At this point piously believing in a natural origin is a basic intelligence test. Which you have failed

    It is weird how this has become political. It is - generally - a few people on the left who are still desperate to believe it came from the market. As we see here. Why? Is it really coz trump said “lab leak” three years ago? Does he bother you that much?

    This is not politics. It’s basic logic. Get over yourselves. It almost certainly came from the lab

    You have talents but logical reasoning isn't one of them. It's more my thing. And I'm not desperate to believe either way. You otoh are enormously invested. To the point I'd worry for you if it went the 'wrong' way.
    Yeah but you’re GAY*

    (*I make this remark solely to please @kjh who is weirdly convinced I hurl this vile allegation when I get into an argument)

    On this point - lab leak - your determined stupidity is far more interesting than your gayness
    It is not a case of being weirdly convinced because you do, although only to @kinabalu. I mean the posts are there. When he has you rattled you accuse him of being gay. Not even sure why you think it is an insult. You aren't 5 years old or living in the 70s.

    The other two insults you go for when rattled are accusing people of being boring or claiming you are more intelligent. You are very predictable.
    VERY predictable, yes. And I'm not gay as it happens. I just have a soft feminine side.
    Oi! We're not all into poncey poetry and flowery dresses I'll have you know.

    You have been caught peddling lazy stereotypes about the fags and will therefore have to be cancelled. Sorry.
    No but also yes since Leon is guilty of exactly this. Because I have a soft feminine side that I'm unafraid to show he calls me gay. It's real 70s throwback stuff. Have we *really* come as far as we think? I'm not so sure sometimes.
    This is absolutely ridiculous. I have experimented with gayness and have openly admitted to being on the BDSM scene (D if you must know) - hence my spotting The Necklace

    The idea I would think “gay” is an insult is absurd. I’d be insulting myself

    The fact is I do pride myself in spotting personal traits and you made the odd ambiguous remark and I thought I’d test the waters and see if you had a gay side. Turns out you do. That’s it. That’s all it is. Get over yourself
    If memory serves me right you used it as an insult on more than one occasion.
    I was thinking that too
  • Options
    DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,036

    DougSeal said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    pigeon said:

    kinabalu said:

    kjh said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    ...

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    I’m sorry for being right about everything. I know it’s annoying


    We discussed this while you were busy posting your holiday photos.
    Nonetheless, I was right, wasn’t I? All those months and years ago, when I told you: IT CAME FROM THE LAB

    At one point I was the only person on PB voicing that opinion, to the derision of all others. Indeed I was about to give up, until @Gardenwalker - bless him - said “you know, you might be on to something”

    Think that was late 2020?
    Um, piss off. I most certainly did not deride anyone for theorising that it came from a lab. Once the lab's work and location were known, it was the only remotely sensible theory.
    How do you account for MERS? And the original SARS?
    I don't account for them. I don't know remotely enough about their origins to posit any sort of theory. This is whataboutery.
    It’s really not. It’s making the point that all known epidemics in the history of man have been natural in origin. That does not preclude covid being the result of genetic manipulation in the WIV but it makes it having a natural source eminently plausible, in the way all the others ones started by crossing species to man.
    Yes, in the absence of proof or near proof Natural is the default. For Lab to become favourite requires evidence compatible with Lab and incompatible with Natural. Just the first doesn't cut it.
    The overwhelming circumstantial evidence makes lab leak the default in this case. As it was from the start. A novel bat coronavirus with strange manipulations at the furin cleavage site making it more dangerous for humans emerges in the ONLY city in the world with a bio lab playing with novel bat coronaviruses, and doing so by manipulating the furin cleavage site to make the viruses more dangerous for humans?

    What are the odds on there being NO connection between these two things? About a thousand to
    one against

    So it’s the natural wet marketeers who have all the proving to do. And despite three years of strenuous effort what proof have they managed to find? None. Zero. Nil. Nada. Nuffink. Every paper that claims to find a link with the market has been savagely debunked soon after

    Meanwhile the evidence for a lab leak grows with more and more revelations of secrecy and cover up - to the extent that the Chinese themselves are now saying Hell yeah, it could be the lab

    At this point piously believing in a natural origin is a basic intelligence test. Which you have failed

    It is weird how this has become political. It is - generally - a few people on the left who are still desperate to believe it came from the market. As we see here. Why? Is it really coz trump said “lab leak” three years ago? Does he bother you that much?

    This is not politics. It’s basic logic. Get over yourselves. It almost certainly came from the lab

    You have talents but logical reasoning isn't one of them. It's more my thing. And I'm not desperate to believe either way. You otoh are enormously invested. To the point I'd worry for you if it went the 'wrong' way.
    Yeah but you’re GAY*

    (*I make this remark solely to please @kjh who is weirdly convinced I hurl this vile allegation when I get into an argument)

    On this point - lab leak - your determined stupidity is far more interesting than your gayness
    It is not a case of being weirdly convinced because you do, although only to @kinabalu. I mean the posts are there. When he has you rattled you accuse him of being gay. Not even sure why you think it is an insult. You aren't 5 years old or living in the 70s.

    The other two insults you go for when rattled are accusing people of being boring or claiming you are more intelligent. You are very predictable.
    VERY predictable, yes. And I'm not gay as it happens. I just have a soft feminine side.
    Oi! We're not all into poncey poetry and flowery dresses I'll have you know.

    You have been caught peddling lazy stereotypes about the fags and will therefore have to be cancelled. Sorry.
    No but also yes since Leon is guilty of exactly this. Because I have a soft feminine side that I'm unafraid to show he calls me gay. It's real 70s throwback stuff. Have we *really* come as far as we think? I'm not so sure sometimes.
    This is absolutely ridiculous. I have experimented with gayness and have openly admitted to being on the BDSM scene (D if you must know) - hence my spotting The Necklace

    The idea I would think “gay” is an insult is absurd. I’d be insulting myself

    The fact is I do pride myself in spotting personal traits and you made the odd ambiguous remark and I thought I’d test the waters and see if you had a gay side. Turns out you do. That’s it. That’s all it is. Get over yourself
    Leon's words wander,
    Muddled tales and lost landmarks,
    Travel guide gone wrong.
    Are you using ChatGPT or some marine equivalent?
    AI pens with grace,
    Haiku blooms from lines of code,
    Words crafted with care.
  • Options
    state_go_awaystate_go_away Posts: 5,568
    kle4 said:

    ....

    Scott_xP said:

    @christiancalgie
    💥huge shock as Paul Scully fails to make the shortlist for Tory London mayor.

    Final three are Dan Korski, Susan Hall and Mozammel Hossain.

    Rishi scared of another by-election if Scully had won?

    @christopherhope
    This is a major shock. Paul Scully was a key Boris Johnson supporter.
    One Conservative MP close to Johnson tells me this is further evidence of a purge of Johnson supporters from a chance of getting a top job.

    In all honesty I suspect Scully was left off the list principally because he's an enormous knobend.
    Someone should do a Venn diagram of Johnson supporters and enormous knobends... ;)
    sigh -this website was known once for its quality of debate and contributions
    Lead by example not meta commentary then.
    nobody can get a sensible word in edgeways between your "gay" debate with Leon and ridiculous juvenile venn diagrams that would look silly in a school playground
  • Options
    kjhkjh Posts: 10,926
    Leon said:

    kjh said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    ...

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    I’m sorry for being right about everything. I know it’s annoying


    We discussed this while you were busy posting your holiday photos.
    Nonetheless, I was right, wasn’t I? All those months and years ago, when I told you: IT CAME FROM THE LAB

    At one point I was the only person on PB voicing that opinion, to the derision of all others. Indeed I was about to give up, until @Gardenwalker - bless him - said “you know, you might be on to something”

    Think that was late 2020?
    Um, piss off. I most certainly did not deride anyone for theorising that it came from a lab. Once the lab's work and location were known, it was the only remotely sensible theory.
    How do you account for MERS? And the original SARS?
    I don't account for them. I don't know remotely enough about their origins to posit any sort of theory. This is whataboutery.
    It’s really not. It’s making the point that all known epidemics in the history of man have been natural in origin. That does not preclude covid being the result of genetic manipulation in the WIV but it makes it having a natural source eminently plausible, in the way all the others ones started by crossing species to man.
    Yes, in the absence of proof or near proof Natural is the default. For Lab to become favourite requires evidence compatible with Lab and incompatible with Natural. Just the first doesn't cut it.
    The overwhelming circumstantial evidence makes lab leak the default in this case. As it was from the start. A novel bat coronavirus with strange manipulations at the furin cleavage site making it more dangerous for humans emerges in the ONLY city in the world with a bio lab playing with novel bat coronaviruses, and doing so by manipulating the furin cleavage site to make the viruses more dangerous for humans?

    What are the odds on there being NO connection between these two things? About a thousand to
    one against

    So it’s the natural wet marketeers who have all the proving to do. And despite three years of strenuous effort what proof have they managed to find? None. Zero. Nil. Nada. Nuffink. Every paper that claims to find a link with the market has been savagely debunked soon after

    Meanwhile the evidence for a lab leak grows with more and more revelations of secrecy and cover up - to the extent that the Chinese themselves are now saying Hell yeah, it could be the lab

    At this point piously believing in a natural origin is a basic intelligence test. Which you have failed

    It is weird how this has become political. It is - generally - a few people on the left who are still desperate to believe it came from the market. As we see here. Why? Is it really coz trump said “lab leak” three years ago? Does he bother you that much?

    This is not politics. It’s basic logic. Get over yourselves. It almost certainly came from the lab

    You have talents but logical reasoning isn't one of them. It's more my thing. And I'm not desperate to believe either way. You otoh are enormously invested. To the point I'd worry for you if it went the 'wrong' way.
    Yeah but you’re GAY*

    (*I make this remark solely to please @kjh who is weirdly convinced I hurl this vile allegation when I get into an argument)

    On this point - lab leak - your determined stupidity is far more interesting than your gayness
    It is not a case of being weirdly convinced because you do, although only to @kinabalu. I mean the posts are there. When he has you rattled you accuse him of being gay. Not even sure why you think it is an insult. You aren't 5 years old or living in the 70s.

    The other two insults you go for when rattled are accusing people of being boring or claiming you are more intelligent. You are very predictable.
    A devastating critique. I’m actually thinking of retiring from PB now you’ve said that. You don’t know the power of your words
    I'm sorry to hear that and apologise if I have hurt your feelings, but sometimes one needs to hear the truth :wink:

    In fairness though you did manage to respond that time with sarcasm rather than suggesting I was boring, gay or stupid so maybe you are learning.
  • Options
    SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 16,181
    DougSeal said:

    Courthouse News Service - [US] Justices turn down ex-Trump official vying to join Mississippi commissioner race

    It's not enough to be born and bred in the Magnolia State; you have to have lived there for the last five years to run for certain types of office.

    The Supreme Court declined Friday to help a former Trump official skirt procedural hurdles keeping her from joining the Republican primary ballot for Mississippi public service commissioner.

    Mississippi’s public service commission has three members that are elected every four years from three districts. Those commissioners are required to be a citizen of Mississippi for five years before the general election.

    Amanda Gunasekara wanted to run for a seat on the commission but was blocked because of her tenure working for the federal government in Washington. She asked the high court for emergency relief. The application — submitted to Justice Samuel Alito and referred to the full court — was denied this morning without an explanation. There were no noted dissents.

    Born and raised in Mississippi, Gunasekara made the decision to move north to the nation's capital in 2010 after graduating from law school. Gunasekara began work in Congress — first in the House of Representatives and then the Senate — but ended up at the Environmental Protection Agency under the Trump administration.

    For eight years Gunasekara resided in Washington. While she says she never considered the city her home, she had no concrete plans to return to Mississippi during that time until the summer of 2018. Her parents purchased a home for her near their farm in Decatur, but she remained in Washington — even voting in the city for a friend running for an advisory neighborhood committee. . . .

    Gunasekara announced her intention to run for a position on the commission in 2022, only to have her qualifications come into question through a challenge from Matthew Barton, a candidate for Desoto district attorney.

    The Executive Committee of the Mississippi Republican Party initially denied Barton’s contest, certifying Gunasekara as a candidate, but a state court that reviewed the matter opted to disqualify her. The court found Gunasekara had maintained her Washington residence on Nov. 18, 2018 — the date she’d need to have be a Mississippi resident to meet the commissioner residency requirement.

    The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed Gunasekara’s disqualification without tackling her claim that the state-law residency requirement violated the 14th Amendment. . . . .

    Gunasekara argues the five-year citizen requirement should not bar her from running for office because she lived in the state for over two decades prior to her Washington residency. . . .

    The list of qualified candidates for commissioner is given to the state secretary of state on Friday, and the sample primary ballot is published on June 19.

    https://www.courthousenews.com/justices-turn-down-ex-trump-official-vying-to-join-mississippi-commissioner-race/

    Denied the power,
    Republican's dreams shattered,
    Mississippi weeps.
    Hardly shattered. As per Ballotpedia:

    Mississippi Public Service Commission - Northern District

    No candidates filed for the Democratic Party primary.

    Republican Party Primary candidates:
    Chris Brown
    Tanner Newman
    Did not make the ballot: Mandy Gunasekara

    https://ballotpedia.org/Mississippi_state_executive_official_elections,_2023
  • Options
    numbertwelvenumbertwelve Posts: 5,927
    edited June 2023

    Scott_xP said:
    Sturgeon: I know beyond doubt that I am in fact innocent of any wrongdoing.

    Quite surprised to see Nicola copying Boris's homework.
    They’re both rather similar in their whiny self-righteousness.
  • Options
    DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,036

    DougSeal said:

    Courthouse News Service - [US] Justices turn down ex-Trump official vying to join Mississippi commissioner race

    It's not enough to be born and bred in the Magnolia State; you have to have lived there for the last five years to run for certain types of office.

    The Supreme Court declined Friday to help a former Trump official skirt procedural hurdles keeping her from joining the Republican primary ballot for Mississippi public service commissioner.

    Mississippi’s public service commission has three members that are elected every four years from three districts. Those commissioners are required to be a citizen of Mississippi for five years before the general election.

    Amanda Gunasekara wanted to run for a seat on the commission but was blocked because of her tenure working for the federal government in Washington. She asked the high court for emergency relief. The application — submitted to Justice Samuel Alito and referred to the full court — was denied this morning without an explanation. There were no noted dissents.

    Born and raised in Mississippi, Gunasekara made the decision to move north to the nation's capital in 2010 after graduating from law school. Gunasekara began work in Congress — first in the House of Representatives and then the Senate — but ended up at the Environmental Protection Agency under the Trump administration.

    For eight years Gunasekara resided in Washington. While she says she never considered the city her home, she had no concrete plans to return to Mississippi during that time until the summer of 2018. Her parents purchased a home for her near their farm in Decatur, but she remained in Washington — even voting in the city for a friend running for an advisory neighborhood committee. . . .

    Gunasekara announced her intention to run for a position on the commission in 2022, only to have her qualifications come into question through a challenge from Matthew Barton, a candidate for Desoto district attorney.

    The Executive Committee of the Mississippi Republican Party initially denied Barton’s contest, certifying Gunasekara as a candidate, but a state court that reviewed the matter opted to disqualify her. The court found Gunasekara had maintained her Washington residence on Nov. 18, 2018 — the date she’d need to have be a Mississippi resident to meet the commissioner residency requirement.

    The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed Gunasekara’s disqualification without tackling her claim that the state-law residency requirement violated the 14th Amendment. . . . .

    Gunasekara argues the five-year citizen requirement should not bar her from running for office because she lived in the state for over two decades prior to her Washington residency. . . .

    The list of qualified candidates for commissioner is given to the state secretary of state on Friday, and the sample primary ballot is published on June 19.

    https://www.courthousenews.com/justices-turn-down-ex-trump-official-vying-to-join-mississippi-commissioner-race/

    Denied the power,
    Republican's dreams shattered,
    Mississippi weeps.
    Hardly shattered. As per Ballotpedia:

    Mississippi Public Service Commission - Northern District

    No candidates filed for the Democratic Party primary.

    Republican Party Primary candidates:
    Chris Brown
    Tanner Newman
    Did not make the ballot: Mandy Gunasekara

    https://ballotpedia.org/Mississippi_state_executive_official_elections,_2023
    Oh, Mandy
    Well, you came and you gave without taking
    But I sent you away
    Oh, Mandy
    Well, you kissed me and stopped me from shaking
    And I need you today
    Oh, Mandy
  • Options
    RochdalePioneersRochdalePioneers Posts: 28,075

    Scott_xP said:
    Sturgeon: I know beyond doubt that I am in fact innocent of any wrongdoing.

    Quite surprised to see Nicola copying Boris's homework.
    Nippy planning to fight on using the simple sword of truth and the trusty shield of British fair play
  • Options
    NigelbNigelb Posts: 64,598
    edited June 2023

    ....

    Scott_xP said:

    @christiancalgie
    💥huge shock as Paul Scully fails to make the shortlist for Tory London mayor.

    Final three are Dan Korski, Susan Hall and Mozammel Hossain.

    Rishi scared of another by-election if Scully had won?

    @christopherhope
    This is a major shock. Paul Scully was a key Boris Johnson supporter.
    One Conservative MP close to Johnson tells me this is further evidence of a purge of Johnson supporters from a chance of getting a top job.

    In all honesty I suspect Scully was left off the list principally because he's an enormous knobend.
    Someone should do a Venn diagram of Johnson supporters and enormous knobends... ;)
    Here's that Venn diagram.


    I’m sure there exist enormous knobends who are not Johnson supporters, so that needs redrawing.

    A smaller circle within the large one would do it.
  • Options
    RogerRoger Posts: 19,293
    edited June 2023
    Ch4 now.

    A bloke with a turban justifying his own honour and the one for Boris Johnson's hairdresser.

    It's hilarious!!
  • Options
    felixfelix Posts: 15,128

    Scott_xP said:
    Sturgeon: I know beyond doubt that I am in fact innocent of any wrongdoing.

    Quite surprised to see Nicola copying Boris's homework.
    You know I detest Sturgeon beyond almost all politicians for her political beliefs but on this particular matter I think I believe her.
  • Options
    FarooqFarooq Posts: 12,172
    felix said:

    Scott_xP said:
    Sturgeon: I know beyond doubt that I am in fact innocent of any wrongdoing.

    Quite surprised to see Nicola copying Boris's homework.
    You know I detest Sturgeon beyond almost all politicians for her political beliefs but on this particular matter I think I believe her.
    Why? What facts do you actually know?
  • Options
    LeonLeon Posts: 49,629
    felix said:

    Scott_xP said:
    Sturgeon: I know beyond doubt that I am in fact innocent of any wrongdoing.

    Quite surprised to see Nicola copying Boris's homework.
    You know I detest Sturgeon beyond almost all politicians for her political beliefs but on this particular matter I think I believe her.
    Her wording is strange “I know BEYOND DOUBT that I am IN FACT innocent of ANY WRONGDOING”

    Straining for effect. She’s guilty as fuck
  • Options
    numbertwelvenumbertwelve Posts: 5,927

    Scott_xP said:
    Sturgeon: I know beyond doubt that I am in fact innocent of any wrongdoing.

    Quite surprised to see Nicola copying Boris's homework.
    Nippy planning to fight on using the simple sword of truth and the trusty shield of British fair play
    Nah, she doesn’t do British.
  • Options
    SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 16,181

    Scott_xP said:
    Sturgeon: I know beyond doubt that I am in fact innocent of any wrongdoing.

    Quite surprised to see Nicola copying Boris's homework.
    Nippy planning to fight on using the simple sword of truth and the trusty shield of British fair play
    OR rather that old Scot's standby - "Not Proven".
  • Options
    NigelbNigelb Posts: 64,598

    Scott_xP said:
    Sturgeon: I know beyond doubt that I am in fact innocent of any wrongdoing.

    Quite surprised to see Nicola copying Boris's homework.
    A new chapter to David Owen’s book In Sickness and in Power is clearly required.
  • Options
    LeonLeon Posts: 49,629
    I’d just like to point out that I am so gay I just escootered past the enormous Pride flag hanging off the great erection that is the Washington Monument
  • Options
    Northern_AlNorthern_Al Posts: 7,947
    felix said:

    Scott_xP said:
    Sturgeon: I know beyond doubt that I am in fact innocent of any wrongdoing.

    Quite surprised to see Nicola copying Boris's homework.
    You know I detest Sturgeon beyond almost all politicians for her political beliefs but on this particular matter I think I believe her.
    Yes, so do I. I was merely being whimsical; it isn't a great sentence. I am convinced of my innocence would have sufficed.
  • Options
    FarooqFarooq Posts: 12,172
    Leon said:

    I’d just like to point out that I am so gay I just escootered past the enormous Pride flag hanging off the great erection that is the Washington Monument

    Can you stop? Please.
  • Options
    WhisperingOracleWhisperingOracle Posts: 8,716
    edited June 2023
    Re; the mention of Nick Pope, although a bureaucrat-outsider compared to Grusch, and often tending to the somewhat more skeptical side, even he is "bigging up" the David Grusch story today.

    There's apparently another interview on the way.

    https://twitter.com/nickpopemod/status/1667905338178420736

    "Today is a huge day for the UFO community."
  • Options
    Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 57,294
    HA!
  • Options
    BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 33,196

    kle4 said:

    ....

    Scott_xP said:

    @christiancalgie
    💥huge shock as Paul Scully fails to make the shortlist for Tory London mayor.

    Final three are Dan Korski, Susan Hall and Mozammel Hossain.

    Rishi scared of another by-election if Scully had won?

    @christopherhope
    This is a major shock. Paul Scully was a key Boris Johnson supporter.
    One Conservative MP close to Johnson tells me this is further evidence of a purge of Johnson supporters from a chance of getting a top job.

    In all honesty I suspect Scully was left off the list principally because he's an enormous knobend.
    Someone should do a Venn diagram of Johnson supporters and enormous knobends... ;)
    sigh -this website was known once for its quality of debate and contributions
    Lead by example not meta commentary then.
    nobody can get a sensible word in edgeways between your "gay" debate with Leon and ridiculous juvenile venn diagrams that would look silly in a school playground
    What, you're getting a 'server busy, please try again later' message?

    Or can you in fact post any comments you want on PB whenever you want?
  • Options
    NigelbNigelb Posts: 64,598
    after paying Dominion $780M Fox now has to cut off Trump and live fact check him about his election fraud lies
    https://twitter.com/WUTangKids/status/1667641303918604290
  • Options
    bigglesbiggles Posts: 5,278

    ....

    Scott_xP said:

    @christiancalgie
    💥huge shock as Paul Scully fails to make the shortlist for Tory London mayor.

    Final three are Dan Korski, Susan Hall and Mozammel Hossain.

    Rishi scared of another by-election if Scully had won?

    @christopherhope
    This is a major shock. Paul Scully was a key Boris Johnson supporter.
    One Conservative MP close to Johnson tells me this is further evidence of a purge of Johnson supporters from a chance of getting a top job.

    In all honesty I suspect Scully was left off the list principally because he's an enormous knobend.
    Someone should do a Venn diagram of Johnson supporters and enormous knobends... ;)
    Here's that Venn diagram.


    I hear they speak very highly of you.
  • Options
    felixfelix Posts: 15,128
    Farooq said:

    felix said:

    Scott_xP said:
    Sturgeon: I know beyond doubt that I am in fact innocent of any wrongdoing.

    Quite surprised to see Nicola copying Boris's homework.
    You know I detest Sturgeon beyond almost all politicians for her political beliefs but on this particular matter I think I believe her.
    Why? What facts do you actually know?
    Not a single one. Mainly I just don't see it as her style and the sums involved are all a bit petty to sacrifice an entire and very successful career for. Happy to be proven wrong.
  • Options
    felixfelix Posts: 15,128
    Leon said:

    felix said:

    Scott_xP said:
    Sturgeon: I know beyond doubt that I am in fact innocent of any wrongdoing.

    Quite surprised to see Nicola copying Boris's homework.
    You know I detest Sturgeon beyond almost all politicians for her political beliefs but on this particular matter I think I believe her.
    Her wording is strange “I know BEYOND DOUBT that I am IN FACT innocent of ANY WRONGDOING”

    Straining for effect. She’s guilty as fuck
    What do you know gay boy? 🤣😂😀
  • Options
    NigelbNigelb Posts: 64,598
    Just a reminder, this is the guy that delayed publication of the Mueller report, and downplayed its significance, allowing Trump months to attack it unchallenged, thus saving his bacon.

    Bill Barr: "Battle plans for an attack on another country or Defense Department documents about our capabilities are in no universe Donald J. Trump's personal documents."
    https://twitter.com/AccountableGOP/status/1667889853810311172
  • Options
    DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,036
    Leon said:

    I’d just like to point out that I am so gay I just escootered past the enormous Pride flag hanging off the great erection that is the Washington Monument

    Quick roundup of today's gayness, starting with the roads: The M70, the A3, the B664 and the A48(M), they are all gay as of midnight tonight. The gay elements are potassium, zinc, hydrogen, copper, and argon. A quick look at the world's walls: The Wailing Wall is gay, Hadrian's Wall is very gay, the Great Wall Of China, that's not gay, and the Old London Wall has also stopped being gay. Gay cars next, they're the same as last night: all Volkswagens registered between 1982 and 1985, they stay gay for another fortnight. And finally, the gay seas are the Caspian and the Mediterranean... so, see you there.
  • Options
    rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 59,414
    "In Georgia, at the Republican state convention, Kari Lake, who refused to concede the Arizona election for governor in 2022 and who is an ardent defender of Mr. Trump, emphasized that many of Mr. Trump’s supporters owned guns.

    “I have a message tonight for Merrick Garland and Jack Smith and Joe Biden — and the guys back there in the fake news media, you should listen up as well, this one is for you,” Ms. Lake said. “If you want to get to President Trump, you are going to have go through me, and you are going to have to go through 75 million Americans just like me. And I’m going to tell you, most of us are card-carrying members of the N.R.A.” "

    NY Times
  • Options
    darkagedarkage Posts: 4,929
    Leon said:

    algarkirk said:

    Leon said:

    FPT :

    algarkirk said:

    viewcode said:
    It’s all staring to get a bit silly now…
    I must say I think the reverse.

    There's so many named recent official sources, which is new.
    What counts is evidence which can be expertly examined and re-examined and reported on according to peer reviewed science standards. Adjectives and hearsay don't count. That which is merely unexplained visual phenomena doesn't count either. We can't explain lots of things - consciousness, the origin of the universe, the reason why the law of gravity is how it is and not different, why we see yellow as yellow and not green, how life began and so on - but we don't attribute it to aliens.

    As and when there is a real story it isn't going to be confined to websites no-one has heard of. There is a fortune out there for real scientists and accurate journalists, and they will get it if they can.

    The rest is noise.

    I wouldn't quite agree with this point of view. Much of the new information is already out there on mainstream news sources, for instance. What we have here, I think, is an entirely new situation where there are multiple current-serving or recently, named governmental officials making extraordinary claims, but for whom there seems to a great deal of legislation preventing them going further. So I would say still this seems to be primarily an issue about process, for the moment, rather than materials or evidence yet.

    This is why the focus in the U.S is shifting to new Congressional hearings, and possible changes in the law to make further whistleblowing on this topic more easy.

    And an awful lot more current serving or recent officials pouring scorn on the idea.

    It’s grift, pure and simple, and it’s conning people who want to believe.
    Well, let's do a little bit of a cut-and-paste of all the most credible recent sources, and do a sort of compilation of them, to see how they stack up.

    When I have some time in a a bit, I will nose about and put them all together.
    Kind of a problem when there are no credible sources, just grifters and lunatics.
    This is a good piece on the latest UFO flap, and why it is different from all others. It makes the point I have been making for many months (but maybe you will accept it from the NYT if not from me) - even if you discount any idea of actual non human intelligence, the level of disclosure is now so high and detailed and “legitimate” something really really WEIRD is happening in the US government. At the very least. And smart people should now pay attention to this story


    Indeed. What we have in fact is a completely new situation of multiple, current or near-current US official sources making UFO claims.

    That 's certainly very interesting, at the least.
    And when China is knocking on their door, they will regret deeply investing time and resources in creating such a frivolous ruse.
    Although we can't say for sure if it's any ruse, ofcourse. What strikes me as very interesting is how different Grusch's profile has been from the image of a the classic UFO claimant. Currently serving, or very recently serving, young and bushy-tailed and preciously promoted and bright, and deep inside a US intelligence agency. That's a very similar profile to Edward Snowden, and he even has some of his earnest expression.

    He may even be aware of the parallels, and is using him as his template. It's all very fascinating, and a story that bears following as it develops, I would say.

    Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. There is currently zero empirical evidence which has been tested according to the standards of science or evidence analysis. Keep calm, wait and see. This a 'McCann' story - anything apparently new sells media by the million.

    There are zillions of real scientists, experts and credible journalists who can make zillions out of the real story if there was any real story to relate.

    So: please explain the behaviour of multiple senior members of the entire US Establishment, from Obama down. Generals, senators, CIA heads, the head of NASA, top NYT journalists, airforce commanders, navy admirals - they are all saying “this is a real mystery. It’s not just balloons. Something is up there”

    And now the whistleblower

    How do you explain all THAT?

    I completely agree the actual evidence (photos, videos) is pitifully weak
    Our ancestors would have been unlikely to have had difficulty coming to terms with the idea that there is stuff going on in the world that has no explanation. But we seem determined to explain everything with our existing scientific worldview and have become intolerant of any degree of mystery. A lot of what a 'genes eye' view of evolution does is provide an easy explanation for everything, it cannot account for flying objects that defy the laws of physics, so people then panic and pivot to the other extreme: it must be aliens!
  • Options
    FarooqFarooq Posts: 12,172
    felix said:

    Farooq said:

    felix said:

    Scott_xP said:
    Sturgeon: I know beyond doubt that I am in fact innocent of any wrongdoing.

    Quite surprised to see Nicola copying Boris's homework.
    You know I detest Sturgeon beyond almost all politicians for her political beliefs but on this particular matter I think I believe her.
    Why? What facts do you actually know?
    Not a single one. Mainly I just don't see it as her style and the sums involved are all a bit petty to sacrifice an entire and very successful career for. Happy to be proven wrong.
    I think we need to be careful. My gut reaction was the same as yours, until I remembered that people with poise and presence can make very convincing liars and find a way with words. I'm impressed by the force of the denial, but all that shows is that Sturgeon is an impressive communicator. It's what an innocent Sturgeon would say, but it's also what a guilty Sturgeon would say.

    I personally recommend trying to reserve judgement. I like Sturgeon but I won't assume she's innocent until and unless due process has played out.
  • Options
    MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 26,138
    Leon said:

    I’d just like to point out that I am so gay I just escootered past the enormous Pride flag hanging off the great erection that is the Washington Monument

    Is "escootering" an act of sexual deviance that I am yet to learn about?
  • Options
    LeonLeon Posts: 49,629
    Farooq said:

    Leon said:

    I’d just like to point out that I am so gay I just escootered past the enormous Pride flag hanging off the great erection that is the Washington Monument

    Can you stop? Please.
    I am now immersed in rococo art
  • Options
    Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 57,294
    "Pride" seems a bit calmer and lower key this year than in recent ones; far less in your face.

    Maybe the corps got the memo.
  • Options
    CorrectHorseBatCorrectHorseBat Posts: 1,761

    "Pride" seems a bit calmer and lower key this year than in recent ones; far less in your face.

    Maybe the corps got the memo.

    Don't go to John Lewis.
  • Options
    MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 26,138
    Leon said:

    Farooq said:

    Leon said:

    I’d just like to point out that I am so gay I just escootered past the enormous Pride flag hanging off the great erection that is the Washington Monument

    Can you stop? Please.
    I am now immersed in rococo art
    Rococo Art. Is she a really game girl from Laguna Beach?
  • Options
    PhilPhil Posts: 2,003
    darkage said:

    Leon said:

    algarkirk said:

    Leon said:

    FPT :

    algarkirk said:

    viewcode said:
    It’s all staring to get a bit silly now…
    I must say I think the reverse.

    There's so many named recent official sources, which is new.
    What counts is evidence which can be expertly examined and re-examined and reported on according to peer reviewed science standards. Adjectives and hearsay don't count. That which is merely unexplained visual phenomena doesn't count either. We can't explain lots of things - consciousness, the origin of the universe, the reason why the law of gravity is how it is and not different, why we see yellow as yellow and not green, how life began and so on - but we don't attribute it to aliens.

    As and when there is a real story it isn't going to be confined to websites no-one has heard of. There is a fortune out there for real scientists and accurate journalists, and they will get it if they can.

    The rest is noise.

    I wouldn't quite agree with this point of view. Much of the new information is already out there on mainstream news sources, for instance. What we have here, I think, is an entirely new situation where there are multiple current-serving or recently, named governmental officials making extraordinary claims, but for whom there seems to a great deal of legislation preventing them going further. So I would say still this seems to be primarily an issue about process, for the moment, rather than materials or evidence yet.

    This is why the focus in the U.S is shifting to new Congressional hearings, and possible changes in the law to make further whistleblowing on this topic more easy.

    And an awful lot more current serving or recent officials pouring scorn on the idea.

    It’s grift, pure and simple, and it’s conning people who want to believe.
    Well, let's do a little bit of a cut-and-paste of all the most credible recent sources, and do a sort of compilation of them, to see how they stack up.

    When I have some time in a a bit, I will nose about and put them all together.
    Kind of a problem when there are no credible sources, just grifters and lunatics.
    This is a good piece on the latest UFO flap, and why it is different from all others. It makes the point I have been making for many months (but maybe you will accept it from the NYT if not from me) - even if you discount any idea of actual non human intelligence, the level of disclosure is now so high and detailed and “legitimate” something really really WEIRD is happening in the US government. At the very least. And smart people should now pay attention to this story


    Indeed. What we have in fact is a completely new situation of multiple, current or near-current US official sources making UFO claims.

    That 's certainly very interesting, at the least.
    And when China is knocking on their door, they will regret deeply investing time and resources in creating such a frivolous ruse.
    Although we can't say for sure if it's any ruse, ofcourse. What strikes me as very interesting is how different Grusch's profile has been from the image of a the classic UFO claimant. Currently serving, or very recently serving, young and bushy-tailed and preciously promoted and bright, and deep inside a US intelligence agency. That's a very similar profile to Edward Snowden, and he even has some of his earnest expression.

    He may even be aware of the parallels, and is using him as his template. It's all very fascinating, and a story that bears following as it develops, I would say.

    Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. There is currently zero empirical evidence which has been tested according to the standards of science or evidence analysis. Keep calm, wait and see. This a 'McCann' story - anything apparently new sells media by the million.

    There are zillions of real scientists, experts and credible journalists who can make zillions out of the real story if there was any real story to relate.

    So: please explain the behaviour of multiple senior members of the entire US Establishment, from Obama down. Generals, senators, CIA heads, the head of NASA, top NYT journalists, airforce commanders, navy admirals - they are all saying “this is a real mystery. It’s not just balloons. Something is up there”

    And now the whistleblower

    How do you explain all THAT?

    I completely agree the actual evidence (photos, videos) is pitifully weak
    Our ancestors would have been unlikely to have had difficulty coming to terms with the idea that there is stuff going on in the world that has no explanation. But we seem determined to explain everything with our existing scientific worldview and have become intolerant of any degree of mystery. A lot of what a 'genes eye' view of evolution does is provide an easy explanation for everything, it cannot account for flying objects that defy the laws of physics, so people then panic and pivot to the other extreme: it must be aliens!
    Every bit of “inexplicable” footage we’ve seen so far has been explained as either lens flares or some other artifact.
  • Options
    tlg86tlg86 Posts: 25,521
    John Rentoul not impressed with Sturgeon’s statement:

    https://twitter.com/JohnRentoul/status/1667954628552544256
  • Options
    JonathanJonathan Posts: 21,097
    If in 2019 after the GE you would have told me the Tories would collapse, Boris was out of the HoC and Sturgeon was helping the police with their enquiries I would not have believed you.
  • Options
    Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 57,294
    Jonathan said:

    If in 2019 after the GE you would have told me the Tories would collapse, Boris was out of the HoC and Sturgeon was helping the police with their enquiries I would not have believed you.

    Which is a sobering warning for those lauding the coming of the 30 year Starmer reich.

    You can be certain the political landscape will look very different in four years time.
  • Options
    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 54,783

    Leon said:

    Farooq said:

    Leon said:

    I’d just like to point out that I am so gay I just escootered past the enormous Pride flag hanging off the great erection that is the Washington Monument

    Can you stop? Please.
    I am now immersed in rococo art
    Rococo Art. Is she a really game girl from Laguna Beach?
    "Game" or "on the game"?
  • Options
    RazedabodeRazedabode Posts: 3,004
    Fingers crossed, with all the political drama this weekend, Ukraine look to be gaining momentum. I’ve no idea what response- if any - Putin has, but precarious times
  • Options
    JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 39,786
    Roger said:

    Ch4 now.

    A bloke with a turban justifying his own honour and the one for Boris Johnson's hairdresser.

    It's hilarious!!

    There's a chance that a nasty wrong occurs here.

    As far as I can tell, Kelly Dodge has been a hairdresser in parliament for many decades. She may have done Boris's haircuts, but she'll have done many, many others. A fair few backroom staff in parliament have had honours in the past.

    Just because Boris wanted her honoured, doesn't make the honour automatically bad.

    Here's a recent article about her.

    "Dodge started cutting hair in her summer holidays when she left school and “ended up staying” in the trade. After a brief stint hairdressing aboard cruise ships, she ended up in a salon in Hampstead. It was this salon that successfully applied to be Parliament’s first unisex hairdressers, and again, having moved into Westminster, Dodge ended up staying. She has now been working in Parliament for 27 years. "

    “If you’re a prime minister or if you’re a cleaner, I’ll treat you the same,” she says. “That’s what I think makes it work in here.”"

    https://www.politicshome.com/thehouse/article/parly-do-parliaments-hairdressers-institution
  • Options
    kinabalukinabalu Posts: 39,942
    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    pigeon said:

    kinabalu said:

    kjh said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    ...

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    I’m sorry for being right about everything. I know it’s annoying


    We discussed this while you were busy posting your holiday photos.
    Nonetheless, I was right, wasn’t I? All those months and years ago, when I told you: IT CAME FROM THE LAB

    At one point I was the only person on PB voicing that opinion, to the derision of all others. Indeed I was about to give up, until @Gardenwalker - bless him - said “you know, you might be on to something”

    Think that was late 2020?
    Um, piss off. I most certainly did not deride anyone for theorising that it came from a lab. Once the lab's work and location were known, it was the only remotely sensible theory.
    How do you account for MERS? And the original SARS?
    I don't account for them. I don't know remotely enough about their origins to posit any sort of theory. This is whataboutery.
    It’s really not. It’s making the point that all known epidemics in the history of man have been natural in origin. That does not preclude covid being the result of genetic manipulation in the WIV but it makes it having a natural source eminently plausible, in the way all the others ones started by crossing species to man.
    Yes, in the absence of proof or near proof Natural is the default. For Lab to become favourite requires evidence compatible with Lab and incompatible with Natural. Just the first doesn't cut it.
    The overwhelming circumstantial evidence makes lab leak the default in this case. As it was from the start. A novel bat coronavirus with strange manipulations at the furin cleavage site making it more dangerous for humans emerges in the ONLY city in the world with a bio lab playing with novel bat coronaviruses, and doing so by manipulating the furin cleavage site to make the viruses more dangerous for humans?

    What are the odds on there being NO connection between these two things? About a thousand to
    one against

    So it’s the natural wet marketeers who have all the proving to do. And despite three years of strenuous effort what proof have they managed to find? None. Zero. Nil. Nada. Nuffink. Every paper that claims to find a link with the market has been savagely debunked soon after

    Meanwhile the evidence for a lab leak grows with more and more revelations of secrecy and cover up - to the extent that the Chinese themselves are now saying Hell yeah, it could be the lab

    At this point piously believing in a natural origin is a basic intelligence test. Which you have failed

    It is weird how this has become political. It is - generally - a few people on the left who are still desperate to believe it came from the market. As we see here. Why? Is it really coz trump said “lab leak” three years ago? Does he bother you that much?

    This is not politics. It’s basic logic. Get over yourselves. It almost certainly came from the lab

    You have talents but logical reasoning isn't one of them. It's more my thing. And I'm not desperate to believe either way. You otoh are enormously invested. To the point I'd worry for you if it went the 'wrong' way.
    Yeah but you’re GAY*

    (*I make this remark solely to please @kjh who is weirdly convinced I hurl this vile allegation when I get into an argument)

    On this point - lab leak - your determined stupidity is far more interesting than your gayness
    It is not a case of being weirdly convinced because you do, although only to @kinabalu. I mean the posts are there. When he has you rattled you accuse him of being gay. Not even sure why you think it is an insult. You aren't 5 years old or living in the 70s.

    The other two insults you go for when rattled are accusing people of being boring or claiming you are more intelligent. You are very predictable.
    VERY predictable, yes. And I'm not gay as it happens. I just have a soft feminine side.
    Oi! We're not all into poncey poetry and flowery dresses I'll have you know.

    You have been caught peddling lazy stereotypes about the fags and will therefore have to be cancelled. Sorry.
    No but also yes since Leon is guilty of exactly this. Because I have a soft feminine side that I'm unafraid to show he calls me gay. It's real 70s throwback stuff. Have we *really* come as far as we think? I'm not so sure sometimes.
    This is absolutely ridiculous. I have experimented with gayness and have openly admitted to being on the BDSM scene (D if you must know) - hence my spotting The Necklace

    The idea I would think “gay” is an insult is absurd. I’d be insulting myself

    The fact is I do pride myself in spotting personal traits and you made the odd ambiguous remark and I thought I’d test the waters and see if you had a gay side. Turns out you do. That’s it. That’s all it is. Get over yourself
    Ok. It did reek of 70s throwback attitudes but your convoluted and fishy sounding explanation is warily accepted.
  • Options
    LeonLeon Posts: 49,629
    Phil said:

    darkage said:

    Leon said:

    algarkirk said:

    Leon said:

    FPT :

    algarkirk said:

    viewcode said:
    It’s all staring to get a bit silly now…
    I must say I think the reverse.

    There's so many named recent official sources, which is new.
    What counts is evidence which can be expertly examined and re-examined and reported on according to peer reviewed science standards. Adjectives and hearsay don't count. That which is merely unexplained visual phenomena doesn't count either. We can't explain lots of things - consciousness, the origin of the universe, the reason why the law of gravity is how it is and not different, why we see yellow as yellow and not green, how life began and so on - but we don't attribute it to aliens.

    As and when there is a real story it isn't going to be confined to websites no-one has heard of. There is a fortune out there for real scientists and accurate journalists, and they will get it if they can.

    The rest is noise.

    I wouldn't quite agree with this point of view. Much of the new information is already out there on mainstream news sources, for instance. What we have here, I think, is an entirely new situation where there are multiple current-serving or recently, named governmental officials making extraordinary claims, but for whom there seems to a great deal of legislation preventing them going further. So I would say still this seems to be primarily an issue about process, for the moment, rather than materials or evidence yet.

    This is why the focus in the U.S is shifting to new Congressional hearings, and possible changes in the law to make further whistleblowing on this topic more easy.

    And an awful lot more current serving or recent officials pouring scorn on the idea.

    It’s grift, pure and simple, and it’s conning people who want to believe.
    Well, let's do a little bit of a cut-and-paste of all the most credible recent sources, and do a sort of compilation of them, to see how they stack up.

    When I have some time in a a bit, I will nose about and put them all together.
    Kind of a problem when there are no credible sources, just grifters and lunatics.
    This is a good piece on the latest UFO flap, and why it is different from all others. It makes the point I have been making for many months (but maybe you will accept it from the NYT if not from me) - even if you discount any idea of actual non human intelligence, the level of disclosure is now so high and detailed and “legitimate” something really really WEIRD is happening in the US government. At the very least. And smart people should now pay attention to this story


    Indeed. What we have in fact is a completely new situation of multiple, current or near-current US official sources making UFO claims.

    That 's certainly very interesting, at the least.
    And when China is knocking on their door, they will regret deeply investing time and resources in creating such a frivolous ruse.
    Although we can't say for sure if it's any ruse, ofcourse. What strikes me as very interesting is how different Grusch's profile has been from the image of a the classic UFO claimant. Currently serving, or very recently serving, young and bushy-tailed and preciously promoted and bright, and deep inside a US intelligence agency. That's a very similar profile to Edward Snowden, and he even has some of his earnest expression.

    He may even be aware of the parallels, and is using him as his template. It's all very fascinating, and a story that bears following as it develops, I would say.

    Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. There is currently zero empirical evidence which has been tested according to the standards of science or evidence analysis. Keep calm, wait and see. This a 'McCann' story - anything apparently new sells media by the million.

    There are zillions of real scientists, experts and credible journalists who can make zillions out of the real story if there was any real story to relate.

    So: please explain the behaviour of multiple senior members of the entire US Establishment, from Obama down. Generals, senators, CIA heads, the head of NASA, top NYT journalists, airforce commanders, navy admirals - they are all saying “this is a real mystery. It’s not just balloons. Something is up there”

    And now the whistleblower

    How do you explain all THAT?

    I completely agree the actual evidence (photos, videos) is pitifully weak
    Our ancestors would have been unlikely to have had difficulty coming to terms with the idea that there is stuff going on in the world that has no explanation. But we seem determined to explain everything with our existing scientific worldview and have become intolerant of any degree of mystery. A lot of what a 'genes eye' view of evolution does is provide an easy explanation for everything, it cannot account for flying objects that defy the laws of physics, so people then panic and pivot to the other extreme: it must be aliens!
    Every bit of “inexplicable” footage we’ve seen so far has been explained as either lens flares or some other artifact.
    Not sure that’s true. The Calvine photo remains unexplained. Likewise the tic-tac. And a couple of others

    However it is an extraordinarily meagre haul if the world really is littered with crashed alien spacecraft

    The disconnect between what really senior officials are saying and what we are seeing is one of the most bizarre aspects of this whole bizarre story
  • Options
    dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 28,643
    DougSeal said:

    Leon said:

    I’d just like to point out that I am so gay I just escootered past the enormous Pride flag hanging off the great erection that is the Washington Monument

    Quick roundup of today's gayness, starting with the roads: The M70, the A3, the B664 and the A48(M), they are all gay as of midnight tonight. The gay elements are potassium, zinc, hydrogen, copper, and argon. A quick look at the world's walls: The Wailing Wall is gay, Hadrian's Wall is very gay, the Great Wall Of China, that's not gay, and the Old London Wall has also stopped being gay. Gay cars next, they're the same as last night: all Volkswagens registered between 1982 and 1985, they stay gay for another fortnight. And finally, the gay seas are the Caspian and the Mediterranean... so, see you there.
    The Straights of Gibraltar, Bosporus and Dardanelles would vehemently disagree
  • Options
    Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 57,294
    rcs1000 said:

    Jonathan said:

    If in 2019 after the GE you would have told me the Tories would collapse, Boris was out of the HoC and Sturgeon was helping the police with their enquiries I would not have believed you.

    Which is a sobering warning for those lauding the coming of the 30 year Starmer reich.

    You can be certain the political landscape will look very different in four years time.
    I don't think very many people are actually looking forward to a Starmer administration. I think they mostly just think it's time for a change.
    That's exactly what it is. And, once that change takes place, they will rapidly turn their ire on it.
  • Options
    Northern_AlNorthern_Al Posts: 7,947
    Jonathan said:

    If in 2019 after the GE you would have told me the Tories would collapse, Boris was out of the HoC and Sturgeon was helping the police with their enquiries I would not have believed you.

    Every single leader of a 'significant' GB party (including PC, Greens, Change UK, Brexit Party) that stood in GE 2019 has now resigned or been removed. I think a couple in NI are still around (SF and Alliance). It's quite an extraordinary change in a mere four years.
  • Options
    MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 26,138
    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    Farooq said:

    Leon said:

    I’d just like to point out that I am so gay I just escootered past the enormous Pride flag hanging off the great erection that is the Washington Monument

    Can you stop? Please.
    I am now immersed in rococo art
    Rococo Art. Is she a really game girl from Laguna Beach?
    "Game" or "on the game"?
    With Leon's well documented back story she could be the one or the other. But now you mention it, with a name like Rococo Art I am minded towards a transgender convert hooker.
  • Options
    kinabalukinabalu Posts: 39,942
    Nigelb said:

    Former Trump AG Bill Barr on Trump's federal indictment: "If even half of it is true, then he's toast. I mean, it's a very detailed indictment, and it's very, very damning. This idea of presenting Trump as a victim here -- a victim of a witch hunt -- is ridiculous."
    https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1667896395804622848

    There's a certain Federal establishment he's more likely to be 'rooming' in than the White House imo.
  • Options
    JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 39,786

    Jonathan said:

    If in 2019 after the GE you would have told me the Tories would collapse, Boris was out of the HoC and Sturgeon was helping the police with their enquiries I would not have believed you.

    Which is a sobering warning for those lauding the coming of the 30 year Starmer reich.

    You can be certain the political landscape will look very different in four years time.
    I'm probably going to vote Labour. Not through any love of Starmer, as I don't think he'll be a good MP, but because the current Conservative Party is barely functional and has run out of any positive ideas. I actually prefer Sunak to Starmer.

    And yes, the political landscape will look very different in four years time. But 'different' does not preclude 'better'.

    (The Lib Dems are probably out as they're running the local council poorly. My actual vote will depend on the Labour and Lib Dem candidates at election time.)
  • Options
    NigelbNigelb Posts: 64,598

    Nigelb said:

    ....

    Scott_xP said:

    @christiancalgie
    💥huge shock as Paul Scully fails to make the shortlist for Tory London mayor.

    Final three are Dan Korski, Susan Hall and Mozammel Hossain.

    Rishi scared of another by-election if Scully had won?

    @christopherhope
    This is a major shock. Paul Scully was a key Boris Johnson supporter.
    One Conservative MP close to Johnson tells me this is further evidence of a purge of Johnson supporters from a chance of getting a top job.

    In all honesty I suspect Scully was left off the list principally because he's an enormous knobend.
    Someone should do a Venn diagram of Johnson supporters and enormous knobends... ;)
    Here's that Venn diagram.


    I’m sure there exist enormous knobends who are not Johnson supporters, so that needs redrawing.

    A smaller circle within the large one would do it.
    One can tell this is a site predominantly manned by earnest academics, when a gag is marked and corrected for its factual rather than comedic value.
    The college which sent me down, twice, would be amused by the description of earnest academic.
  • Options
    JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 39,786

    Jonathan said:

    If in 2019 after the GE you would have told me the Tories would collapse, Boris was out of the HoC and Sturgeon was helping the police with their enquiries I would not have believed you.

    Every single leader of a 'significant' GB party (including PC, Greens, Change UK, Brexit Party) that stood in GE 2019 has now resigned or been removed. I think a couple in NI are still around (SF and Alliance). It's quite an extraordinary change in a mere four years.
    Wasn't there a time post-2016 when it looked as though every major party could have a female leader? And Labour was the only exception?
  • Options
    CorrectHorseBatCorrectHorseBat Posts: 1,761

    Jonathan said:

    If in 2019 after the GE you would have told me the Tories would collapse, Boris was out of the HoC and Sturgeon was helping the police with their enquiries I would not have believed you.

    Which is a sobering warning for those lauding the coming of the 30 year Starmer reich.

    You can be certain the political landscape will look very different in four years time.
    I am currently betting on the assumption Labour is in power for 5 years the max
  • Options
    WestieWestie Posts: 426


    Phillips P. OBrien
    @PhillipsPOBrien
    ·
    53m
    Sometimes we need to take a breath and realize what we are seeing here. The Ukrainians, using NATO equipment for only a few months, and without air superiority, are trying (and maybe succeeding) in driving back what was considered to be one of the world's greatest militaries.

    The Vietcong and the Taliban won without NATO equipment.
  • Options
    dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 28,643

    Roger said:

    Ch4 now.

    A bloke with a turban justifying his own honour and the one for Boris Johnson's hairdresser.

    It's hilarious!!

    There's a chance that a nasty wrong occurs here.

    As far as I can tell, Kelly Dodge has been a hairdresser in parliament for many decades. She may have done Boris's haircuts, but she'll have done many, many others. A fair few backroom staff in parliament have had honours in the past.

    Just because Boris wanted her honoured, doesn't make the honour automatically bad.

    Here's a recent article about her.

    "Dodge started cutting hair in her summer holidays when she left school and “ended up staying” in the trade. After a brief stint hairdressing aboard cruise ships, she ended up in a salon in Hampstead. It was this salon that successfully applied to be Parliament’s first unisex hairdressers, and again, having moved into Westminster, Dodge ended up staying. She has now been working in Parliament for 27 years. "

    “If you’re a prime minister or if you’re a cleaner, I’ll treat you the same,” she says. “That’s what I think makes it work in here.”"

    https://www.politicshome.com/thehouse/article/parly-do-parliaments-hairdressers-institution
    To be fair, to be in the H of L being Dodge is a great qualification.
  • Options
    SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 16,181
    DougSeal said:

    DougSeal said:

    Courthouse News Service - [US] Justices turn down ex-Trump official vying to join Mississippi commissioner race

    It's not enough to be born and bred in the Magnolia State; you have to have lived there for the last five years to run for certain types of office.

    The Supreme Court declined Friday to help a former Trump official skirt procedural hurdles keeping her from joining the Republican primary ballot for Mississippi public service commissioner.

    Mississippi’s public service commission has three members that are elected every four years from three districts. Those commissioners are required to be a citizen of Mississippi for five years before the general election.

    Amanda Gunasekara wanted to run for a seat on the commission but was blocked because of her tenure working for the federal government in Washington. She asked the high court for emergency relief. The application — submitted to Justice Samuel Alito and referred to the full court — was denied this morning without an explanation. There were no noted dissents.

    Born and raised in Mississippi, Gunasekara made the decision to move north to the nation's capital in 2010 after graduating from law school. Gunasekara began work in Congress — first in the House of Representatives and then the Senate — but ended up at the Environmental Protection Agency under the Trump administration.

    For eight years Gunasekara resided in Washington. While she says she never considered the city her home, she had no concrete plans to return to Mississippi during that time until the summer of 2018. Her parents purchased a home for her near their farm in Decatur, but she remained in Washington — even voting in the city for a friend running for an advisory neighborhood committee. . . .

    Gunasekara announced her intention to run for a position on the commission in 2022, only to have her qualifications come into question through a challenge from Matthew Barton, a candidate for Desoto district attorney.

    The Executive Committee of the Mississippi Republican Party initially denied Barton’s contest, certifying Gunasekara as a candidate, but a state court that reviewed the matter opted to disqualify her. The court found Gunasekara had maintained her Washington residence on Nov. 18, 2018 — the date she’d need to have be a Mississippi resident to meet the commissioner residency requirement.

    The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed Gunasekara’s disqualification without tackling her claim that the state-law residency requirement violated the 14th Amendment. . . . .

    Gunasekara argues the five-year citizen requirement should not bar her from running for office because she lived in the state for over two decades prior to her Washington residency. . . .

    The list of qualified candidates for commissioner is given to the state secretary of state on Friday, and the sample primary ballot is published on June 19.

    https://www.courthousenews.com/justices-turn-down-ex-trump-official-vying-to-join-mississippi-commissioner-race/

    Denied the power,
    Republican's dreams shattered,
    Mississippi weeps.
    Hardly shattered. As per Ballotpedia:

    Mississippi Public Service Commission - Northern District

    No candidates filed for the Democratic Party primary.

    Republican Party Primary candidates:
    Chris Brown
    Tanner Newman
    Did not make the ballot: Mandy Gunasekara

    https://ballotpedia.org/Mississippi_state_executive_official_elections,_2023
    Oh, Mandy
    Well, you came and you gave without taking
    But I sent you away
    Oh, Mandy
    Well, you kissed me and stopped me from shaking
    And I need you today
    Oh, Mandy
    Don't cry for me, Mississippi
    The truth is, I really left you
    All through my Trump days
    My MAGA existence
    I was more than willing
    To keep my distance
  • Options
    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 118,281

    Jonathan said:

    If in 2019 after the GE you would have told me the Tories would collapse, Boris was out of the HoC and Sturgeon was helping the police with their enquiries I would not have believed you.

    Which is a sobering warning for those lauding the coming of the 30 year Starmer reich.

    You can be certain the political landscape will look very different in four years time.
    I am currently betting on the assumption Labour is in power for 5 years the max
    It all depends on the economy, if Starmer and Reeves run it well like Blair and Brown did in their first 2 terms then they will likely be re elected. If not, and inflation and cost of living remains high, taxes go up and there are still frequent strikes, the likelihood is they may well lose office
  • Options
    WillGWillG Posts: 2,225
    Westie said:


    Phillips P. OBrien
    @PhillipsPOBrien
    ·
    53m
    Sometimes we need to take a breath and realize what we are seeing here. The Ukrainians, using NATO equipment for only a few months, and without air superiority, are trying (and maybe succeeding) in driving back what was considered to be one of the world's greatest militaries.

    The Vietcong and the Taliban won without NATO equipment.
    The Vietcong and the Taliban were on the other side of the world from the armies they defeated.
  • Options
    EPGEPG Posts: 6,390
    darkage said:

    Leon said:

    algarkirk said:

    Leon said:

    FPT :

    algarkirk said:

    viewcode said:
    It’s all staring to get a bit silly now…
    I must say I think the reverse.

    There's so many named recent official sources, which is new.
    What counts is evidence which can be expertly examined and re-examined and reported on according to peer reviewed science standards. Adjectives and hearsay don't count. That which is merely unexplained visual phenomena doesn't count either. We can't explain lots of things - consciousness, the origin of the universe, the reason why the law of gravity is how it is and not different, why we see yellow as yellow and not green, how life began and so on - but we don't attribute it to aliens.

    As and when there is a real story it isn't going to be confined to websites no-one has heard of. There is a fortune out there for real scientists and accurate journalists, and they will get it if they can.

    The rest is noise.

    I wouldn't quite agree with this point of view. Much of the new information is already out there on mainstream news sources, for instance. What we have here, I think, is an entirely new situation where there are multiple current-serving or recently, named governmental officials making extraordinary claims, but for whom there seems to a great deal of legislation preventing them going further. So I would say still this seems to be primarily an issue about process, for the moment, rather than materials or evidence yet.

    This is why the focus in the U.S is shifting to new Congressional hearings, and possible changes in the law to make further whistleblowing on this topic more easy.

    And an awful lot more current serving or recent officials pouring scorn on the idea.

    It’s grift, pure and simple, and it’s conning people who want to believe.
    Well, let's do a little bit of a cut-and-paste of all the most credible recent sources, and do a sort of compilation of them, to see how they stack up.

    When I have some time in a a bit, I will nose about and put them all together.
    Kind of a problem when there are no credible sources, just grifters and lunatics.
    This is a good piece on the latest UFO flap, and why it is different from all others. It makes the point I have been making for many months (but maybe you will accept it from the NYT if not from me) - even if you discount any idea of actual non human intelligence, the level of disclosure is now so high and detailed and “legitimate” something really really WEIRD is happening in the US government. At the very least. And smart people should now pay attention to this story


    Indeed. What we have in fact is a completely new situation of multiple, current or near-current US official sources making UFO claims.

    That 's certainly very interesting, at the least.
    And when China is knocking on their door, they will regret deeply investing time and resources in creating such a frivolous ruse.
    Although we can't say for sure if it's any ruse, ofcourse. What strikes me as very interesting is how different Grusch's profile has been from the image of a the classic UFO claimant. Currently serving, or very recently serving, young and bushy-tailed and preciously promoted and bright, and deep inside a US intelligence agency. That's a very similar profile to Edward Snowden, and he even has some of his earnest expression.

    He may even be aware of the parallels, and is using him as his template. It's all very fascinating, and a story that bears following as it develops, I would say.

    Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. There is currently zero empirical evidence which has been tested according to the standards of science or evidence analysis. Keep calm, wait and see. This a 'McCann' story - anything apparently new sells media by the million.

    There are zillions of real scientists, experts and credible journalists who can make zillions out of the real story if there was any real story to relate.

    So: please explain the behaviour of multiple senior members of the entire US Establishment, from Obama down. Generals, senators, CIA heads, the head of NASA, top NYT journalists, airforce commanders, navy admirals - they are all saying “this is a real mystery. It’s not just balloons. Something is up there”

    And now the whistleblower

    How do you explain all THAT?

    I completely agree the actual evidence (photos, videos) is pitifully weak
    Our ancestors would have been unlikely to have had difficulty coming to terms with the idea that there is stuff going on in the world that has no explanation. But we seem determined to explain everything with our existing scientific worldview and have become intolerant of any degree of mystery. A lot of what a 'genes eye' view of evolution does is provide an easy explanation for everything, it cannot account for flying objects that defy the laws of physics, so people then panic and pivot to the other extreme: it must be aliens!
    They had explanations - but not ones widely accepted today.
  • Options
    Northern_AlNorthern_Al Posts: 7,947

    rcs1000 said:

    Jonathan said:

    If in 2019 after the GE you would have told me the Tories would collapse, Boris was out of the HoC and Sturgeon was helping the police with their enquiries I would not have believed you.

    Which is a sobering warning for those lauding the coming of the 30 year Starmer reich.

    You can be certain the political landscape will look very different in four years time.
    I don't think very many people are actually looking forward to a Starmer administration. I think they mostly just think it's time for a change.
    That's exactly what it is. And, once that change takes place, they will rapidly turn their ire on it.
    Some people aren't even waiting for the change to take place before they turn their ire on this appalling Labour government.
  • Options
    MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 26,138
    rcs1000 said:

    Jonathan said:

    If in 2019 after the GE you would have told me the Tories would collapse, Boris was out of the HoC and Sturgeon was helping the police with their enquiries I would not have believed you.

    Which is a sobering warning for those lauding the coming of the 30 year Starmer reich.

    You can be certain the political landscape will look very different in four years time.
    I don't think very many people are actually looking forward to a Starmer administration. I think they mostly just think it's time for a change.

    May, Johnson, Truss and to date, Sunak have underwhelmed to such an extent he doesn't have to be particularly overwhelming to appear to be vastly better than his predecessors
  • Options
    turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 15,986
    Leon said:

    Phil said:

    darkage said:

    Leon said:

    algarkirk said:

    Leon said:

    FPT :

    algarkirk said:

    viewcode said:
    It’s all staring to get a bit silly now…
    I must say I think the reverse.

    There's so many named recent official sources, which is new.
    What counts is evidence which can be expertly examined and re-examined and reported on according to peer reviewed science standards. Adjectives and hearsay don't count. That which is merely unexplained visual phenomena doesn't count either. We can't explain lots of things - consciousness, the origin of the universe, the reason why the law of gravity is how it is and not different, why we see yellow as yellow and not green, how life began and so on - but we don't attribute it to aliens.

    As and when there is a real story it isn't going to be confined to websites no-one has heard of. There is a fortune out there for real scientists and accurate journalists, and they will get it if they can.

    The rest is noise.

    I wouldn't quite agree with this point of view. Much of the new information is already out there on mainstream news sources, for instance. What we have here, I think, is an entirely new situation where there are multiple current-serving or recently, named governmental officials making extraordinary claims, but for whom there seems to a great deal of legislation preventing them going further. So I would say still this seems to be primarily an issue about process, for the moment, rather than materials or evidence yet.

    This is why the focus in the U.S is shifting to new Congressional hearings, and possible changes in the law to make further whistleblowing on this topic more easy.

    And an awful lot more current serving or recent officials pouring scorn on the idea.

    It’s grift, pure and simple, and it’s conning people who want to believe.
    Well, let's do a little bit of a cut-and-paste of all the most credible recent sources, and do a sort of compilation of them, to see how they stack up.

    When I have some time in a a bit, I will nose about and put them all together.
    Kind of a problem when there are no credible sources, just grifters and lunatics.
    This is a good piece on the latest UFO flap, and why it is different from all others. It makes the point I have been making for many months (but maybe you will accept it from the NYT if not from me) - even if you discount any idea of actual non human intelligence, the level of disclosure is now so high and detailed and “legitimate” something really really WEIRD is happening in the US government. At the very least. And smart people should now pay attention to this story


    Indeed. What we have in fact is a completely new situation of multiple, current or near-current US official sources making UFO claims.

    That 's certainly very interesting, at the least.
    And when China is knocking on their door, they will regret deeply investing time and resources in creating such a frivolous ruse.
    Although we can't say for sure if it's any ruse, ofcourse. What strikes me as very interesting is how different Grusch's profile has been from the image of a the classic UFO claimant. Currently serving, or very recently serving, young and bushy-tailed and preciously promoted and bright, and deep inside a US intelligence agency. That's a very similar profile to Edward Snowden, and he even has some of his earnest expression.

    He may even be aware of the parallels, and is using him as his template. It's all very fascinating, and a story that bears following as it develops, I would say.

    Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. There is currently zero empirical evidence which has been tested according to the standards of science or evidence analysis. Keep calm, wait and see. This a 'McCann' story - anything apparently new sells media by the million.

    There are zillions of real scientists, experts and credible journalists who can make zillions out of the real story if there was any real story to relate.

    So: please explain the behaviour of multiple senior members of the entire US Establishment, from Obama down. Generals, senators, CIA heads, the head of NASA, top NYT journalists, airforce commanders, navy admirals - they are all saying “this is a real mystery. It’s not just balloons. Something is up there”

    And now the whistleblower

    How do you explain all THAT?

    I completely agree the actual evidence (photos, videos) is pitifully weak
    Our ancestors would have been unlikely to have had difficulty coming to terms with the idea that there is stuff going on in the world that has no explanation. But we seem determined to explain everything with our existing scientific worldview and have become intolerant of any degree of mystery. A lot of what a 'genes eye' view of evolution does is provide an easy explanation for everything, it cannot account for flying objects that defy the laws of physics, so people then panic and pivot to the other extreme: it must be aliens!
    Every bit of “inexplicable” footage we’ve seen so far has been explained as either lens flares or some other artifact.
    Not sure that’s true. The Calvine photo remains unexplained. Likewise the tic-tac. And a couple of others

    However it is an extraordinarily meagre haul if the world really is littered with crashed alien spacecraft

    The disconnect between what really senior officials are saying and what we are seeing is one of the most bizarre aspects of this whole bizarre story
    Calvine would be more impressive if there were the alleged other photos to see plus the negatives and the two chefs who allegedly took the shots.
  • Options
    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 118,281


    Phillips P. OBrien
    @PhillipsPOBrien
    ·
    53m
    Sometimes we need to take a breath and realize what we are seeing here. The Ukrainians, using NATO equipment for only a few months, and without air superiority, are trying (and maybe succeeding) in driving back what was considered to be one of the world's greatest militaries.

    True, albeit it must be remembered the Ukraine military is not small either. Even before the Russian invasion Ukraine had the third highest number of active troops in Europe after Russia and Turkey
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_military_and_paramilitary_personnel
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    TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 40,759
    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    pigeon said:

    kinabalu said:

    kjh said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    ...

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    I’m sorry for being right about everything. I know it’s annoying


    We discussed this while you were busy posting your holiday photos.
    Nonetheless, I was right, wasn’t I? All those months and years ago, when I told you: IT CAME FROM THE LAB

    At one point I was the only person on PB voicing that opinion, to the derision of all others. Indeed I was about to give up, until @Gardenwalker - bless him - said “you know, you might be on to something”

    Think that was late 2020?
    Um, piss off. I most certainly did not deride anyone for theorising that it came from a lab. Once the lab's work and location were known, it was the only remotely sensible theory.
    How do you account for MERS? And the original SARS?
    I don't account for them. I don't know remotely enough about their origins to posit any sort of theory. This is whataboutery.
    It’s really not. It’s making the point that all known epidemics in the history of man have been natural in origin. That does not preclude covid being the result of genetic manipulation in the WIV but it makes it having a natural source eminently plausible, in the way all the others ones started by crossing species to man.
    Yes, in the absence of proof or near proof Natural is the default. For Lab to become favourite requires evidence compatible with Lab and incompatible with Natural. Just the first doesn't cut it.
    The overwhelming circumstantial evidence makes lab leak the default in this case. As it was from the start. A novel bat coronavirus with strange manipulations at the furin cleavage site making it more dangerous for humans emerges in the ONLY city in the world with a bio lab playing with novel bat coronaviruses, and doing so by manipulating the furin cleavage site to make the viruses more dangerous for humans?

    What are the odds on there being NO connection between these two things? About a thousand to
    one against

    So it’s the natural wet marketeers who have all the proving to do. And despite three years of strenuous effort what proof have they managed to find? None. Zero. Nil. Nada. Nuffink. Every paper that claims to find a link with the market has been savagely debunked soon after

    Meanwhile the evidence for a lab leak grows with more and more revelations of secrecy and cover up - to the extent that the Chinese themselves are now saying Hell yeah, it could be the lab

    At this point piously believing in a natural origin is a basic intelligence test. Which you have failed

    It is weird how this has become political. It is - generally - a few people on the left who are still desperate to believe it came from the market. As we see here. Why? Is it really coz trump said “lab leak” three years ago? Does he bother you that much?

    This is not politics. It’s basic logic. Get over yourselves. It almost certainly came from the lab

    You have talents but logical reasoning isn't one of them. It's more my thing. And I'm not desperate to believe either way. You otoh are enormously invested. To the point I'd worry for you if it went the 'wrong' way.
    Yeah but you’re GAY*

    (*I make this remark solely to please @kjh who is weirdly convinced I hurl this vile allegation when I get into an argument)

    On this point - lab leak - your determined stupidity is far more interesting than your gayness
    It is not a case of being weirdly convinced because you do, although only to @kinabalu. I mean the posts are there. When he has you rattled you accuse him of being gay. Not even sure why you think it is an insult. You aren't 5 years old or living in the 70s.

    The other two insults you go for when rattled are accusing people of being boring or claiming you are more intelligent. You are very predictable.
    VERY predictable, yes. And I'm not gay as it happens. I just have a soft feminine side.
    Oi! We're not all into poncey poetry and flowery dresses I'll have you know.

    You have been caught peddling lazy stereotypes about the fags and will therefore have to be cancelled. Sorry.
    No but also yes since Leon is guilty of exactly this. Because I have a soft feminine side that I'm unafraid to show he calls me gay. It's real 70s throwback stuff. Have we *really* come as far as we think? I'm not so sure sometimes.
    This is absolutely ridiculous. I have experimented with gayness and have openly admitted to being on the BDSM scene (D if you must know) - hence my spotting The Necklace

    The idea I would think “gay” is an insult is absurd. I’d be insulting myself

    The fact is I do pride myself in spotting personal traits and you made the odd ambiguous remark and I thought I’d test the waters and see if you had a gay side. Turns out you do. That’s it. That’s all it is. Get over yourself
    Ok. It did reek of 70s throwback attitudes but your convoluted and fishy sounding explanation is warily accepted.
    When I riffle through my immaculately curated memory banks Istr Leon's experiments with gayness consisted of a pal begging him to put it up his bum but he just couldn't get lead in his Staedtler. I accept this is a worthy attempt but it's hardly Querelle of Brest.
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    Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 57,294

    Jonathan said:

    If in 2019 after the GE you would have told me the Tories would collapse, Boris was out of the HoC and Sturgeon was helping the police with their enquiries I would not have believed you.

    Which is a sobering warning for those lauding the coming of the 30 year Starmer reich.

    You can be certain the political landscape will look very different in four years time.
    I'm probably going to vote Labour. Not through any love of Starmer, as I don't think he'll be a good MP, but because the current Conservative Party is barely functional and has run out of any positive ideas. I actually prefer Sunak to Starmer.

    And yes, the political landscape will look very different in four years time. But 'different' does not preclude 'better'.

    (The Lib Dems are probably out as they're running the local council poorly. My actual vote will depend on the Labour and Lib Dem candidates at election time.)
    And, if you do, you'll be making a big mistake.

    Like many others, you'll look back on the last 24 months of administration under Sunak and realise it was much better and your vote was purely a process of catharsis and not a rational one.
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    RogerRoger Posts: 19,293

    Roger said:

    Ch4 now.

    A bloke with a turban justifying his own honour and the one for Boris Johnson's hairdresser.

    It's hilarious!!

    There's a chance that a nasty wrong occurs here.

    As far as I can tell, Kelly Dodge has been a hairdresser in parliament for many decades. She may have done Boris's haircuts, but she'll have done many, many others. A fair few backroom staff in parliament have had honours in the past.

    Just because Boris wanted her honoured, doesn't make the honour automatically bad.

    Here's a recent article about her.

    "Dodge started cutting hair in her summer holidays when she left school and “ended up staying” in the trade. After a brief stint hairdressing aboard cruise ships, she ended up in a salon in Hampstead. It was this salon that successfully applied to be Parliament’s first unisex hairdressers, and again, having moved into Westminster, Dodge ended up staying. She has now been working in Parliament for 27 years. "

    “If you’re a prime minister or if you’re a cleaner, I’ll treat you the same,” she says. “That’s what I think makes it work in here.”"

    https://www.politicshome.com/thehouse/article/parly-do-parliaments-hairdressers-institution
    That is the harrowing tale of nearly every hairdresser who made a career out of hairdressing.

    Get a grip!

    He'll be giving a title to his wife's dog walker next.
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    NigelbNigelb Posts: 64,598


    Phillips P. OBrien
    @PhillipsPOBrien
    ·
    53m
    Sometimes we need to take a breath and realize what we are seeing here. The Ukrainians, using NATO equipment for only a few months, and without air superiority, are trying (and maybe succeeding) in driving back what was considered to be one of the world's greatest militaries.

    Note that, outside of the US, there’s no NATO member with the capacity to undertake such a combined arms operation.
  • Options
    Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 57,294

    Jonathan said:

    If in 2019 after the GE you would have told me the Tories would collapse, Boris was out of the HoC and Sturgeon was helping the police with their enquiries I would not have believed you.

    Which is a sobering warning for those lauding the coming of the 30 year Starmer reich.

    You can be certain the political landscape will look very different in four years time.
    I am currently betting on the assumption Labour is in power for 5 years the max
    To be honest, I really don't know what's going to happen.

    All I know is that nothing is certain and you simply can't just take today's trends and extrapolate them confidently into the future.
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    MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 45,662
    felix said:

    Farooq said:

    felix said:

    Scott_xP said:
    Sturgeon: I know beyond doubt that I am in fact innocent of any wrongdoing.

    Quite surprised to see Nicola copying Boris's homework.
    You know I detest Sturgeon beyond almost all politicians for her political beliefs but on this particular matter I think I believe her.
    Why? What facts do you actually know?
    Not a single one. Mainly I just don't see it as her style and the sums involved are all a bit petty to sacrifice an entire and very successful career for. Happy to be proven wrong.
    All she needs now is to announce that she is suing for slander and will be vindicated by the sword of truth.

    The facts that are know defy rational explanation. Other than, say, Nicola Sturgeon is actually Graf von Schwabing, hired by MI6 to discredit… herself.
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    solarflaresolarflare Posts: 3,634

    To be honest, being known as having been Boris Johnson’s hairdresser wouldn’t be the best business recommendation you could have.

    Tbf it takes skill to make it look that intentionally dishevelled.
This discussion has been closed.