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Why it’s becoming harder for a WH2024 Trump victory – politicalbetting.com

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Comments

  • .
    AlsoLei said:

    Sandpit said:

    FPT @CorrectHorseBat

    Beyond gay marriage which most Tories voted against, can somebody point to some policies that they've introduced that make life better for anyone under the age of 75?

    Of course there's many policies introduced for those under 75. All Governments have a mix of good and bad policies and this is no different.

    Biggest problem in the country is housing and on that there's been a mix of bad and good actions. A distinct lack of enough building and the sensible reforms on planning proposed were blocked. But some good policies have gone through.

    One of the best policies introduced in recent years is one I have never even seen mentioned on this site, nor on the media either. Indeed it doesn't seem to get any attention at all, that is a policy called Help To Buy Shared Equity. http://sharetobuy.com/

    Help To Buy was a completely different policy, which has been discussed here a lot, but this is a new scheme and completely different to what came before.

    For new build affordable homes, for people who don't own a property already and can't afford one through traditional means a share of a home can be bought (eg 25%) with the remaining share being bought by an firm like Legal & General. The share is bought just like buying a house normally, eg you can put down say a 10% deposit and get a mortgage on the rest and that then is your home. Rent is then paid to the investment scheme with the rest of the share of the property at a fixed and regulated rate. The homeowner has the right to buy the remaining shares when they are in a position to do so eg buying an additional 1% per annum, or remortgaging down the line in order to buy the rest of their property outright.

    So for buying say a flat in central London that is £600k rather than needing £60k for a 10% deposit, you can put down a 10% deposit (on a 25% share) for £15k
    Or for buying a 3 bed house in the North that is £200k then rather than needing £20k for a 10% deposit, you can put down a 10% deposit (on a 25% share) for £5k.

    The only reason I even heard about this scheme is someone in my family found it and did it. A relative in his 20s has managed to buy a flat in London without parental support and without an inheritance through this - and is now paying for mortgage and rent combined on a new build 2 bedroom flat about half the amount he'd have paid to a private landlord for a 1 bedroom flat. He's now on the property ladder, in Central London, from his own efforts - without this scheme he'd be paying much more in rent with no hope of getting on the ladder.

    I don't know why more hasn't been made about schemes like this? Never even heard it mentioned here or on the media. Its a very good idea though.

    We need to build lots and lots of more houses in this country and for anyone who can't afford their own home outright, I think this scheme or similar for many more new builds should be available for people to transition onto the property ladder easier.
    Interesting. I’ve never quite worked out how these schemes work, but that sounds like a good example - so long at the rent from the other commercial owner can’t be rebased to current interest rates.
    I went through the contracts with him to ensure there's no nasties like that, and no its all quite regulated and set by contracts from the onset.

    The rent is fixed at the start of the contract as the % of unowned property at the contracted exchange price, adjusted by CPI annually, which is a bit at the moment but still massively cheaper than renting through traditional means.

    So eg my relatives one the rent is 2.5% per annum on the unowned property share. If he 'staircases' any more shares then the rent goes down proportionately to match, though with interest rates as they are at the minute its probably cheaper not to do so for now.
    The problem with this is that there's a max household income limit of, I think, £90k - so it only really works for those in a fairly narrow range of salaries. If your household income is much below £80k in London, you're going to struggle to buy even with the help of a scheme like this.

    A few weeks ago, @HYUFD estimated that an income of £100k was needed in London to buy a property by the age of 40, which I think is about right (albeit with the caveat that you'd need to be on that at 30 in order to buy at 40) - so there's another awkward gap between £90 and £100k.

    I assume that, behind the scenes, this scheme is acting as a government guarantee to a commercial mortgage provider. I wonder how much more it would actually cost to raise the limit to, say, £120k - perhaps with some sort of taper in place?
    Yes this certainly isn't perfect but its better than nothing. It would be a good idea I think to raise the cap and other restrictions, though I guess the cap is there probably not as much as a a cost issue but because there's limited numbers and they wouldn't want them all snapped up by people who might be able to afford something by traditional means. An increase in construction and thus supply so this can be made available to more people would definitely be a good idea!

    The cheapest I can see in Greater London on this scheme is a 1 bed apartment in Croydon for a just under a £4k deposit (or less than £10k for 3 beds elsewhere) which presumably makes that minimum income needed much lower than it would be otherwise.
  • viewcode said:

    viewcode said:

    I suppose I could flounce and come back as Quantum_of_Solace..

    Come back as the best Bond film, SPECTRE.
    Please.

    On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
    Skyfall for me.
    I once bored @Taz stupid with a very lengthy rant about why Moonraker was severely underrated... :)
    Can I put in a word for Octopussy?
    No. There are limits.

    :):):):)

    Not even the auto-rickshaw chase with Indian tennis star Vijay Amritraj?
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 56,925
    If we're talking laptops, I'd like to put a word in for the new Lenovo Yoga Book 9i.

    It is not inexpensive, but it is by far best laptop I have ever owned.

    https://youtu.be/bGVVxFO01Ks
  • rcs1000 said:

    viewcode said:

    Miklosvar said:

    ...We need the nation to take this team to their hearts so that people will see the ludicrous nonsense of some 3rd division no hoper deciding that he is really Ethel and has been all along and being permitted to play against, or compete for a place on the team with, the lovely Alessia.

    This isn't the first time you've pointed this out (apart from your stiffy on the lovely Alessia). Do you really think people transition to get better scores in sports?

    I'm sure they don't.

    But the difference between male and female performance in sports is so extreme, that many sports would inevitably get dominated to by trans competitors.

    Let me give you an example. The US Women's World Cup team played Wrexham (who has just been promoted to the old fourth division!)

    This is 11 of the very best female players in the world, against a team that wouldn't be in the top 1,000 worldwide.

    Wrexham won 12-0.
    I agree.

    I've really enjoyed watching the Women's World Cup, but I am sure that there are some very good pub teams out there that would beat the Lionesses.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 27,575
    edited August 2023

    .

    Tres said:

    Off-topic, I hope for United's sake that Mason Greenwood is as good on his return as he was before his unfortunate idiocy. Imagine the excitement if he comes back and plays like Harry Maguire...

    This is dodgy ground surely.

    Greenwood hasn't been found guilty of anything, and AFAIK hasn't admitted any reprehensible behaviour. What he has been accused of is vile of course but don't we have to follow an 'innocent until proved guilty' approach?

    Maybe I'm missing something, but if 'his unfortunate idiocy' is the unproven accusation it can't be used to condemn him.
    go away, listen to the recordings, and come back and think about what you're defending.
    Here's a transcript.


    Whisky Tango Foxtrot!?

    How is that not going to court?
    She withdrew her co-operation and gave birth to his child last month.
    Which raises the question, if the woman concerned can forgive him, why shouldn't the MUFC board? Do we really want to live in a world where there is no chance of redemption?

    Otoh, common sense might suggest a transfer abroad.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 56,925

    I suppose I could flounce and come back as Quantum_of_Solace..

    You'd have to make all your posts very stylish but almost incomprehensible. Which is a lot of work.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,586
    Tres said:

    Off-topic, I hope for United's sake that Mason Greenwood is as good on his return as he was before his unfortunate idiocy. Imagine the excitement if he comes back and plays like Harry Maguire...

    This is dodgy ground surely.

    Greenwood hasn't been found guilty of anything, and AFAIK hasn't admitted any reprehensible behaviour. What he has been accused of is vile of course but don't we have to follow an 'innocent until proved guilty' approach?

    Maybe I'm missing something, but if 'his unfortunate idiocy' is the unproven accusation it can't be used to condemn him.
    go away, listen to the recordings, and come back and think about what you're defending.
    I wasn't defending it and haven't listened to the recordings. I've now seen transcript TSE has posted, and if that's definitely Greenwood that's way more than 'unfortunate idiocy'. United would surely do best to part company and let him find another club if he can, assuming that's a genuine recording.

    I wonder whether he denies it's him, tries to say it's some weird sex game his partner was complicit in (she's no longer pressing charges, I believe) or what? But if it's as it appears to be United would be crazy to stick with him.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,154

    viewcode said:

    I suppose I could flounce and come back as Quantum_of_Solace..

    Come back as the best Bond film, SPECTRE.
    Please.

    On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
    Skyfall for me.
    I once bored @Taz stupid with a very lengthy rant about why Moonraker was severely underrated... :)
    Can I put in a word for Octopussy? Look past the smutty title and its a whole lot of fun. TBF all of the John Glen era Bond films were fun.
    Octopussy is for your eyes only.
  • rcs1000 said:

    Umm:

    @AlsoLei is an old poster, but is not @Leon

    How exciting is this?

    OK. Not Leon. So @LadyG then or @eadric or @Byronic or @SeanT
    Oh shit, don't tell me someone recharged the batteries in JackW's pacemaker. :(
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,586
    edited August 2023
    rcs1000 said:

    I suppose I could flounce and come back as Quantum_of_Solace..

    You'd have to make all your posts very stylish but almost incomprehensible. Which is a lot of work.
    I don't know, he's halfway there already.

    Just the style to work on.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 21,794
    rcs1000 said:

    viewcode said:

    Miklosvar said:

    ...We need the nation to take this team to their hearts so that people will see the ludicrous nonsense of some 3rd division no hoper deciding that he is really Ethel and has been all along and being permitted to play against, or compete for a place on the team with, the lovely Alessia.

    This isn't the first time you've pointed this out (apart from your stiffy on the lovely Alessia). Do you really think people transition to get better scores in sports?

    I'm sure they don't.

    But the difference between male and female performance in sports is so extreme, that many sports would inevitably get dominated to by trans competitors.

    Let me give you an example. The US Women's World Cup team played Wrexham (who has just been promoted to the old fourth division!)

    This is 11 of the very best female players in the world, against a team that wouldn't be in the top 1,000 worldwide.

    Wrexham won 12-0.
    This I understand, I'm not disputing the rather large gulf in performance. My question was about motive attribution.

    When I was in purdah during my two-year exile (nobody missed me. Sob) I toyed with the idea on writing articles on trans as a political phenomenon, using it to describe how to measure the emergence of a new axis. It fell apart because things were moving faster than I could research, but text fragments and notes still exist.

    One of them was about shibboleths: gender-critical people rarely refer to trans people as people, preferring the term "trans activist" even when activism is absent. Another was the presumption of guilt: all trans people must be presumed to do things for nefarious purposes. As shibboleths are searchable terms, one can track them and hence map the rise and fall of popular stances over time (sadly my profession can be described as a perpetual effort to draw yet another graph).

    But time did not permit and I'm fully booked until after RSS2023... :(
  • .

    Tres said:

    Off-topic, I hope for United's sake that Mason Greenwood is as good on his return as he was before his unfortunate idiocy. Imagine the excitement if he comes back and plays like Harry Maguire...

    This is dodgy ground surely.

    Greenwood hasn't been found guilty of anything, and AFAIK hasn't admitted any reprehensible behaviour. What he has been accused of is vile of course but don't we have to follow an 'innocent until proved guilty' approach?

    Maybe I'm missing something, but if 'his unfortunate idiocy' is the unproven accusation it can't be used to condemn him.
    go away, listen to the recordings, and come back and think about what you're defending.
    Here's a transcript.


    Whisky Tango Foxtrot!?

    How is that not going to court?
    She withdrew her co-operation and gave birth to his child last month.
    Which raises the question, if the woman concerned can forgive him, why shouldn't the MUFC board? Do we really want to live in a world where there is no chance of redemption?

    Otoh, common sense might suggest a transfer abroad.
    Nope, that has been looked at and rejected. Given the state of the squad, and our finances, I am not surprised by the decision to reinstate him.

    Expect protests. Sorry, this is United. Expect *more* protests.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 51,578
    edited August 2023
    ydoethur said:

    I suppose I could flounce and come back as Quantum_of_Solace..

    Only to Die another Day?
    Tomorrow Is Not Enough!
    The World Never Dies
    A View To A Daylight
    The Living Kills
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 56,925

    rcs1000 said:

    viewcode said:

    Miklosvar said:

    ...We need the nation to take this team to their hearts so that people will see the ludicrous nonsense of some 3rd division no hoper deciding that he is really Ethel and has been all along and being permitted to play against, or compete for a place on the team with, the lovely Alessia.

    This isn't the first time you've pointed this out (apart from your stiffy on the lovely Alessia). Do you really think people transition to get better scores in sports?

    I'm sure they don't.

    But the difference between male and female performance in sports is so extreme, that many sports would inevitably get dominated to by trans competitors.

    Let me give you an example. The US Women's World Cup team played Wrexham (who has just been promoted to the old fourth division!)

    This is 11 of the very best female players in the world, against a team that wouldn't be in the top 1,000 worldwide.

    Wrexham won 12-0.
    I agree.

    I've really enjoyed watching the Women's World Cup, but I am sure that there are some very good pub teams out there that would beat the Lionesses.
    I am friends with the - errr... - management of Brighton. Who also manage Starlizard. A hundred person proprietary gambling business which @MaxPB almost took a job at.

    Starlizard has a pub team. Brighton has a Women's Super League team.

    Starlizard's team whupped the professional female soccer players of Brighton.
  • AlsoLeiAlsoLei Posts: 1,415
    rcs1000 said:

    Umm:

    @AlsoLei is an old poster, but is not @Leon

    How exciting is this?

    True. I first posted some time during the 2005 (or was it 2006?) tory leadership election, so I'm not really a newbie...

    Bloody hell, I was a vaguely-Cameroon optimist at that point. It's astonishing when you realise just how horribly the tories have shat their own beds since then.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,154

    ydoethur said:

    I suppose I could flounce and come back as Quantum_of_Solace..

    Only to Die another Day?
    Tomorrow Is Not Enough!
    The Word Never Dies
    A View To A Daylight
    The Living Kills
    Dr, no.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,586

    .

    Tres said:

    Off-topic, I hope for United's sake that Mason Greenwood is as good on his return as he was before his unfortunate idiocy. Imagine the excitement if he comes back and plays like Harry Maguire...

    This is dodgy ground surely.

    Greenwood hasn't been found guilty of anything, and AFAIK hasn't admitted any reprehensible behaviour. What he has been accused of is vile of course but don't we have to follow an 'innocent until proved guilty' approach?

    Maybe I'm missing something, but if 'his unfortunate idiocy' is the unproven accusation it can't be used to condemn him.
    go away, listen to the recordings, and come back and think about what you're defending.
    Here's a transcript.


    Whisky Tango Foxtrot!?

    How is that not going to court?
    She withdrew her co-operation and gave birth to his child last month.
    Which raises the question, if the woman concerned can forgive him, why shouldn't the MUFC board? Do we really want to live in a world where there is no chance of redemption?

    Otoh, common sense might suggest a transfer abroad.
    Nope, that has been looked at and rejected. Given the state of the squad, and our finances, I am not surprised by the decision to reinstate him.

    Expect protests. Sorry, this is United. Expect *more* protests.
    Is it decided for sure?

    Also, with United commercial interests seem to count for more than the squad quality, sadly. I can't see a reinstatement helping their global commercial interests.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 27,575
    edited August 2023

    rcs1000 said:

    viewcode said:

    Miklosvar said:

    ...We need the nation to take this team to their hearts so that people will see the ludicrous nonsense of some 3rd division no hoper deciding that he is really Ethel and has been all along and being permitted to play against, or compete for a place on the team with, the lovely Alessia.

    This isn't the first time you've pointed this out (apart from your stiffy on the lovely Alessia). Do you really think people transition to get better scores in sports?

    I'm sure they don't.

    But the difference between male and female performance in sports is so extreme, that many sports would inevitably get dominated to by trans competitors.

    Let me give you an example. The US Women's World Cup team played Wrexham (who has just been promoted to the old fourth division!)

    This is 11 of the very best female players in the world, against a team that wouldn't be in the top 1,000 worldwide.

    Wrexham won 12-0.
    I agree.

    I've really enjoyed watching the Women's World Cup, but I am sure that there are some very good pub teams out there that would beat the Lionesses.
    That is true. But it is also true that, as Baddiel & Skinner had it, old (men's) football was rubbish. Emlyn Hughes was asked how his Liverpool side would have fared against today's. We'd give them a good game for about 20 minutes...
  • ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    I suppose I could flounce and come back as Quantum_of_Solace..

    Only to Die another Day?
    Tomorrow Is Not Enough!
    The World Never Dies
    A View To A Daylight
    The Living Kills
    Dr, no.
    Diamondfingers
    Gold is forever
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,586
    viewcode said:

    rcs1000 said:

    viewcode said:

    Miklosvar said:

    ...We need the nation to take this team to their hearts so that people will see the ludicrous nonsense of some 3rd division no hoper deciding that he is really Ethel and has been all along and being permitted to play against, or compete for a place on the team with, the lovely Alessia.

    This isn't the first time you've pointed this out (apart from your stiffy on the lovely Alessia). Do you really think people transition to get better scores in sports?

    I'm sure they don't.

    But the difference between male and female performance in sports is so extreme, that many sports would inevitably get dominated to by trans competitors.

    Let me give you an example. The US Women's World Cup team played Wrexham (who has just been promoted to the old fourth division!)

    This is 11 of the very best female players in the world, against a team that wouldn't be in the top 1,000 worldwide.

    Wrexham won 12-0.
    This I understand, I'm not disputing the rather large gulf in performance. My question was about motive attribution.

    When I was in purdah during my two-year exile (nobody missed me. Sob) I toyed with the idea on writing articles on trans as a political phenomenon, using it to describe how to measure the emergence of a new axis. It fell apart because things were moving faster than I could research, but text fragments and notes still exist.

    One of them was about shibboleths: gender-critical people rarely refer to trans people as people, preferring the term "trans activist" even when activism is absent. Another was the presumption of guilt: all trans people must be presumed to do things for nefarious purposes. As shibboleths are searchable terms, one can track them and hence map the rise and fall of popular stances over time (sadly my profession can be described as a perpetual effort to draw yet another graph).

    But time did not permit and I'm fully booked until after RSS2023... :(
    Wait. You left PB?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,154

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    I suppose I could flounce and come back as Quantum_of_Solace..

    Only to Die another Day?
    Tomorrow Is Not Enough!
    The World Never Dies
    A View To A Daylight
    The Living Kills
    Dr, no.
    Diamondfingers
    Gold is forever
    You're trying to do a good job, but this lot is definitely more an odd job.
  • rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    viewcode said:

    Miklosvar said:

    ...We need the nation to take this team to their hearts so that people will see the ludicrous nonsense of some 3rd division no hoper deciding that he is really Ethel and has been all along and being permitted to play against, or compete for a place on the team with, the lovely Alessia.

    This isn't the first time you've pointed this out (apart from your stiffy on the lovely Alessia). Do you really think people transition to get better scores in sports?

    I'm sure they don't.

    But the difference between male and female performance in sports is so extreme, that many sports would inevitably get dominated to by trans competitors.

    Let me give you an example. The US Women's World Cup team played Wrexham (who has just been promoted to the old fourth division!)

    This is 11 of the very best female players in the world, against a team that wouldn't be in the top 1,000 worldwide.

    Wrexham won 12-0.
    I agree.

    I've really enjoyed watching the Women's World Cup, but I am sure that there are some very good pub teams out there that would beat the Lionesses.
    I am friends with the - errr... - management of Brighton. Who also manage Starlizard. A hundred person proprietary gambling business which @MaxPB almost took a job at.

    Starlizard has a pub team. Brighton has a Women's Super League team.

    Starlizard's team whupped the professional female soccer players of Brighton.
    They probably would have done, but I'm sceptical the game would have been allowed. The risk of injury is just too great. Who'd want to explain to Tony Bloom why his star lady striker is out for the season?
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 21,794
    edited August 2023
    rcs1000 said:

    If we're talking laptops, I'd like to put a word in for the new Lenovo Yoga Book 9i.

    It is not inexpensive, but it is by far best laptop I have ever owned.

    https://youtu.be/bGVVxFO01Ks

    I wanted a Levovo X1 Fold, but instead of fixing the bugridden first version they improved it to death, and now I don't like it... :(

    https://youtu.be/W48PuUonFjg?t=505
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,154
    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    viewcode said:

    Miklosvar said:

    ...We need the nation to take this team to their hearts so that people will see the ludicrous nonsense of some 3rd division no hoper deciding that he is really Ethel and has been all along and being permitted to play against, or compete for a place on the team with, the lovely Alessia.

    This isn't the first time you've pointed this out (apart from your stiffy on the lovely Alessia). Do you really think people transition to get better scores in sports?

    I'm sure they don't.

    But the difference between male and female performance in sports is so extreme, that many sports would inevitably get dominated to by trans competitors.

    Let me give you an example. The US Women's World Cup team played Wrexham (who has just been promoted to the old fourth division!)

    This is 11 of the very best female players in the world, against a team that wouldn't be in the top 1,000 worldwide.

    Wrexham won 12-0.
    I agree.

    I've really enjoyed watching the Women's World Cup, but I am sure that there are some very good pub teams out there that would beat the Lionesses.
    I am friends with the - errr... - management of Brighton. Who also manage Starlizard. A hundred person proprietary gambling business which @MaxPB almost took a job at.

    Starlizard has a pub team. Brighton has a Women's Super League team.

    Starlizard's team whupped the professional female soccer players of Brighton.
    Really? Kinky.

    And if you don't mind telling us, what happened when they played football?
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,586
    rcs1000 said:

    If we're talking laptops, I'd like to put a word in for the new Lenovo Yoga Book 9i.

    It is not inexpensive, but it is by far best laptop I have ever owned.

    https://youtu.be/bGVVxFO01Ks

    Ffs you could get a proper Macbook for that.
  • FlatlanderFlatlander Posts: 4,598
    Andy_JS said:

    I suppose I could flounce and come back as Quantum_of_Solace..

    Come back as the best Bond film, SPECTRE.
    Please.

    On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
    Skyfall for me.
    What about Licence To Kill?
    A lot of the appeal is in the opening scene. For which I'd vote for Goldeneye.

    A high point for the Dangerous Sports Club.

    Shame about the rest of the film.
  • rcs1000 said:

    Umm:

    @AlsoLei is an old poster, but is not @Leon

    How exciting is this?

    This exciting, I reckon


  • Given that @Leon has well and truly flounced, I guess I could post some pics.

    Where is I? (Canary Wharf in the background is a clue!)


  • kle4kle4 Posts: 95,872


    Where is I? (Canary Wharf in the background is a clue!)


    England.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,586
    edited August 2023
    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    viewcode said:

    Miklosvar said:

    ...We need the nation to take this team to their hearts so that people will see the ludicrous nonsense of some 3rd division no hoper deciding that he is really Ethel and has been all along and being permitted to play against, or compete for a place on the team with, the lovely Alessia.

    This isn't the first time you've pointed this out (apart from your stiffy on the lovely Alessia). Do you really think people transition to get better scores in sports?

    I'm sure they don't.

    But the difference between male and female performance in sports is so extreme, that many sports would inevitably get dominated to by trans competitors.

    Let me give you an example. The US Women's World Cup team played Wrexham (who has just been promoted to the old fourth division!)

    This is 11 of the very best female players in the world, against a team that wouldn't be in the top 1,000 worldwide.

    Wrexham won 12-0.
    I agree.

    I've really enjoyed watching the Women's World Cup, but I am sure that there are some very good pub teams out there that would beat the Lionesses.
    I am friends with the - errr... - management of Brighton. Who also manage Starlizard. A hundred person proprietary gambling business which @MaxPB almost took a job at.

    Starlizard has a pub team. Brighton has a Women's Super League team.

    Starlizard's team whupped the professional female soccer players of Brighton.
    There's no dispute, which is why trans athletes should not be allowed to compete in biological women's sport.

    But I have enjoyed the Women's World Cup - some of the ball-skills, passing, movement, attacking play has been great. As others have noted it is generally played in a good spirit too, which I like.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 59,994

    I suppose I could flounce and come back as Quantum_of_Solace..

    Come back as the best Bond film, SPECTRE.
    Please.

    On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
    It would be were it not for Lazenby, who was weirdly dubbed for a third of it.
  • Given that @Leon has well and truly flounced, I guess I could post some pics.

    Where is I? (Canary Wharf in the background is a clue!)


    Near a station?
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 21,794

    Given that @Leon has well and truly flounced, I guess I could post some pics.

    Where is I? (Canary Wharf in the background is a clue!)


    You are within 5 miles of Canary Wharf, assuming you are not at height.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 56,925

    rcs1000 said:

    If we're talking laptops, I'd like to put a word in for the new Lenovo Yoga Book 9i.

    It is not inexpensive, but it is by far best laptop I have ever owned.

    https://youtu.be/bGVVxFO01Ks

    Ffs you could get a proper Macbook for that.
    And how many screens would that have?
  • I suppose I could flounce and come back as Quantum_of_Solace..

    Come back as the best Bond film, SPECTRE.
    Please.

    On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
    It would be were it not for Lazenby, who was weirdly dubbed for a third of it.
    An English actress dubbed the "Russian" lady (played by an Italian) for the entirety of From Russia With Love
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 59,994
    rcs1000 said:

    I suppose I could flounce and come back as Quantum_of_Solace..

    You'd have to make all your posts very stylish but almost incomprehensible. Which is a lot of work.
    Yes, maybe best to go for one of the Roger Moore films instead.
  • viewcode said:

    Given that @Leon has well and truly flounced, I guess I could post some pics.

    Where is I? (Canary Wharf in the background is a clue!)


    You are within 5 miles of Canary Wharf, assuming you are not at height.
    True, but a more precise location? Note the Citigroup and HSBC buildings are to the left of the original Canary Wharf.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,586
    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    If we're talking laptops, I'd like to put a word in for the new Lenovo Yoga Book 9i.

    It is not inexpensive, but it is by far best laptop I have ever owned.

    https://youtu.be/bGVVxFO01Ks

    Ffs you could get a proper Macbook for that.
    And how many screens would that have?
    Whatever... Windows
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 21,794
    edited August 2023

    viewcode said:

    rcs1000 said:

    viewcode said:

    Miklosvar said:

    ...We need the nation to take this team to their hearts so that people will see the ludicrous nonsense of some 3rd division no hoper deciding that he is really Ethel and has been all along and being permitted to play against, or compete for a place on the team with, the lovely Alessia.

    This isn't the first time you've pointed this out (apart from your stiffy on the lovely Alessia). Do you really think people transition to get better scores in sports?

    I'm sure they don't.

    But the difference between male and female performance in sports is so extreme, that many sports would inevitably get dominated to by trans competitors.

    Let me give you an example. The US Women's World Cup team played Wrexham (who has just been promoted to the old fourth division!)

    This is 11 of the very best female players in the world, against a team that wouldn't be in the top 1,000 worldwide.

    Wrexham won 12-0.
    This I understand, I'm not disputing the rather large gulf in performance. My question was about motive attribution.

    When I was in purdah during my two-year exile (nobody missed me. Sob) I toyed with the idea on writing articles on trans as a political phenomenon, using it to describe how to measure the emergence of a new axis. It fell apart because things were moving faster than I could research, but text fragments and notes still exist.

    One of them was about shibboleths: gender-critical people rarely refer to trans people as people, preferring the term "trans activist" even when activism is absent. Another was the presumption of guilt: all trans people must be presumed to do things for nefarious purposes. As shibboleths are searchable terms, one can track them and hence map the rise and fall of popular stances over time (sadly my profession can be described as a perpetual effort to draw yet another graph).

    But time did not permit and I'm fully booked until after RSS2023... :(
    Wait. You left PB?
    YES. AND NOBODY NOTICED. FOR TWO YEARS.

    [grits teeth]
  • viewcode said:

    Given that @Leon has well and truly flounced, I guess I could post some pics.

    Where is I? (Canary Wharf in the background is a clue!)


    You are within 5 miles of Canary Wharf, assuming you are not at height.
    Sunil is north of Canary Wharf. One of the Olympic sites? West Ham?
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,586
    viewcode said:

    viewcode said:

    rcs1000 said:

    viewcode said:

    Miklosvar said:

    ...We need the nation to take this team to their hearts so that people will see the ludicrous nonsense of some 3rd division no hoper deciding that he is really Ethel and has been all along and being permitted to play against, or compete for a place on the team with, the lovely Alessia.

    This isn't the first time you've pointed this out (apart from your stiffy on the lovely Alessia). Do you really think people transition to get better scores in sports?

    I'm sure they don't.

    But the difference between male and female performance in sports is so extreme, that many sports would inevitably get dominated to by trans competitors.

    Let me give you an example. The US Women's World Cup team played Wrexham (who has just been promoted to the old fourth division!)

    This is 11 of the very best female players in the world, against a team that wouldn't be in the top 1,000 worldwide.

    Wrexham won 12-0.
    This I understand, I'm not disputing the rather large gulf in performance. My question was about motive attribution.

    When I was in purdah during my two-year exile (nobody missed me. Sob) I toyed with the idea on writing articles on trans as a political phenomenon, using it to describe how to measure the emergence of a new axis. It fell apart because things were moving faster than I could research, but text fragments and notes still exist.

    One of them was about shibboleths: gender-critical people rarely refer to trans people as people, preferring the term "trans activist" even when activism is absent. Another was the presumption of guilt: all trans people must be presumed to do things for nefarious purposes. As shibboleths are searchable terms, one can track them and hence map the rise and fall of popular stances over time (sadly my profession can be described as a perpetual effort to draw yet another graph).

    But time did not permit and I'm fully booked until after RSS2023... :(
    Wait. You left PB?
    YES. AND NOBODY NOTICED. FOR TWO YEARS.

    [grits teeth]
    Not quite true. You noticed.
  • rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    If we're talking laptops, I'd like to put a word in for the new Lenovo Yoga Book 9i.

    It is not inexpensive, but it is by far best laptop I have ever owned.

    https://youtu.be/bGVVxFO01Ks

    Ffs you could get a proper Macbook for that.
    And how many screens would that have?
    Mine can support 4x 4k displays...
  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,825

    viewcode said:

    Given that @Leon has well and truly flounced, I guess I could post some pics.

    Where is I? (Canary Wharf in the background is a clue!)


    You are within 5 miles of Canary Wharf, assuming you are not at height.
    True, but a more precise location? Note the Citigroup and HSBC buildings are to the left of the original Canary Wharf.
    Within 5 miles, but beyond 1 mile. ;)
  • FF43FF43 Posts: 17,208
    rcs1000 said:

    If we're talking laptops, I'd like to put a word in for the new Lenovo Yoga Book 9i.

    It is not inexpensive, but it is by far best laptop I have ever owned.

    https://youtu.be/bGVVxFO01Ks

    Looks it would be great for online presentations
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,275
    edited August 2023
    stodge said:

    Evening all :)

    Grover Cleveland casts a long shadow over the US Presidency - the only man to win the Presidency, lose it and then win it back. It seems his first VP, one Thomas A. Hendricks, died after just 8 months in November 1885 and the office of VP was left vacant during the rest of Cleveland's first term.

    His VP in his second tenure was Adlai Stevenson's grandfather.

    The later Adlai Stevenson fought Eisenhower twice - in 1952 and 1956, the last time two candidates fought two successive Presidential elections.

    There were plenty of concerns about Eisenhower's health and many thought he would not run for a second term after his heart attack in 1955 but not only did he run, he won a second landslide over Stevenson increasing his majority in terms of votes and states in 1956.

    Inexact parallels perhaps (aren't they always?) but interesting to note.

    Also just to note Cleveland in 1888, like Samuel Tilden in 1876, Al Gore in 2000 and Hilary Clinton in 2016 won the popular vote (i.e: got more votes than the Republican opponent) but lost in the Electoral College.

    Has any Republican ever got more votes than the Democrat opponent and lost in the EC - I can't think of one?

    Nixon probably would have won the popular vote in 1960
    had Mayor Daley not found lots of dead voters in Chicago Illinois for Kennedy.

    Though the Kennedy-LBJ ticket would still have carried Texas and won the Electoral College
  • viewcode said:

    Given that @Leon has well and truly flounced, I guess I could post some pics.

    Where is I? (Canary Wharf in the background is a clue!)


    You are within 5 miles of Canary Wharf, assuming you are not at height.
    Sunil is north of Canary Wharf. One of the Olympic sites? West Ham?
    It is close to one of the Olympic sites, but much further out than West Ham!
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,586

    viewcode said:

    Given that @Leon has well and truly flounced, I guess I could post some pics.

    Where is I? (Canary Wharf in the background is a clue!)


    You are within 5 miles of Canary Wharf, assuming you are not at height.
    Sunil is north of Canary Wharf. One of the Olympic sites? West Ham?
    It is close to one of the Olympic sites, but much further out than West Ham!
    Is it Idontgiveafuckham?
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 21,794

    viewcode said:

    viewcode said:

    rcs1000 said:

    viewcode said:

    Miklosvar said:

    ...We need the nation to take this team to their hearts so that people will see the ludicrous nonsense of some 3rd division no hoper deciding that he is really Ethel and has been all along and being permitted to play against, or compete for a place on the team with, the lovely Alessia.

    This isn't the first time you've pointed this out (apart from your stiffy on the lovely Alessia). Do you really think people transition to get better scores in sports?

    I'm sure they don't.

    But the difference between male and female performance in sports is so extreme, that many sports would inevitably get dominated to by trans competitors.

    Let me give you an example. The US Women's World Cup team played Wrexham (who has just been promoted to the old fourth division!)

    This is 11 of the very best female players in the world, against a team that wouldn't be in the top 1,000 worldwide.

    Wrexham won 12-0.
    This I understand, I'm not disputing the rather large gulf in performance. My question was about motive attribution.

    When I was in purdah during my two-year exile (nobody missed me. Sob) I toyed with the idea on writing articles on trans as a political phenomenon, using it to describe how to measure the emergence of a new axis. It fell apart because things were moving faster than I could research, but text fragments and notes still exist.

    One of them was about shibboleths: gender-critical people rarely refer to trans people as people, preferring the term "trans activist" even when activism is absent. Another was the presumption of guilt: all trans people must be presumed to do things for nefarious purposes. As shibboleths are searchable terms, one can track them and hence map the rise and fall of popular stances over time (sadly my profession can be described as a perpetual effort to draw yet another graph).

    But time did not permit and I'm fully booked until after RSS2023... :(
    Wait. You left PB?
    YES. AND NOBODY NOTICED. FOR TWO YEARS.

    [grits teeth]
    Not quite true. You noticed.
    NOBODY ELSE
  • viewcode said:

    Given that @Leon has well and truly flounced, I guess I could post some pics.

    Where is I? (Canary Wharf in the background is a clue!)


    You are within 5 miles of Canary Wharf, assuming you are not at height.
    Sunil is north of Canary Wharf. One of the Olympic sites? West Ham?
    It is close to one of the Olympic sites, but much further out than West Ham!
    Is it Idontgiveafuckham?
    Hate to disappoint you, but sadly, no :lol:
  • viewcode said:

    viewcode said:

    viewcode said:

    rcs1000 said:

    viewcode said:

    Miklosvar said:

    ...We need the nation to take this team to their hearts so that people will see the ludicrous nonsense of some 3rd division no hoper deciding that he is really Ethel and has been all along and being permitted to play against, or compete for a place on the team with, the lovely Alessia.

    This isn't the first time you've pointed this out (apart from your stiffy on the lovely Alessia). Do you really think people transition to get better scores in sports?

    I'm sure they don't.

    But the difference between male and female performance in sports is so extreme, that many sports would inevitably get dominated to by trans competitors.

    Let me give you an example. The US Women's World Cup team played Wrexham (who has just been promoted to the old fourth division!)

    This is 11 of the very best female players in the world, against a team that wouldn't be in the top 1,000 worldwide.

    Wrexham won 12-0.
    This I understand, I'm not disputing the rather large gulf in performance. My question was about motive attribution.

    When I was in purdah during my two-year exile (nobody missed me. Sob) I toyed with the idea on writing articles on trans as a political phenomenon, using it to describe how to measure the emergence of a new axis. It fell apart because things were moving faster than I could research, but text fragments and notes still exist.

    One of them was about shibboleths: gender-critical people rarely refer to trans people as people, preferring the term "trans activist" even when activism is absent. Another was the presumption of guilt: all trans people must be presumed to do things for nefarious purposes. As shibboleths are searchable terms, one can track them and hence map the rise and fall of popular stances over time (sadly my profession can be described as a perpetual effort to draw yet another graph).

    But time did not permit and I'm fully booked until after RSS2023... :(
    Wait. You left PB?
    YES. AND NOBODY NOTICED. FOR TWO YEARS.

    [grits teeth]
    Not quite true. You noticed.
    NOBODY ELSE
    Except when you kept sending me VMs every now and again :)
  • AlsoLeiAlsoLei Posts: 1,415

    viewcode said:

    Given that @Leon has well and truly flounced, I guess I could post some pics.

    Where is I? (Canary Wharf in the background is a clue!)


    You are within 5 miles of Canary Wharf, assuming you are not at height.
    Sunil is north of Canary Wharf. One of the Olympic sites? West Ham?
    It is close to one of the Olympic sites, but much further out than West Ham!
    Beckton Park?
  • .
    rcs1000 said:

    viewcode said:

    Miklosvar said:

    ...We need the nation to take this team to their hearts so that people will see the ludicrous nonsense of some 3rd division no hoper deciding that he is really Ethel and has been all along and being permitted to play against, or compete for a place on the team with, the lovely Alessia.

    This isn't the first time you've pointed this out (apart from your stiffy on the lovely Alessia). Do you really think people transition to get better scores in sports?

    I'm sure they don't.

    But the difference between male and female performance in sports is so extreme, that many sports would inevitably get dominated to by trans competitors.

    Let me give you an example. The US Women's World Cup team played Wrexham (who has just been promoted to the old fourth division!)

    This is 11 of the very best female players in the world, against a team that wouldn't be in the top 1,000 worldwide.

    Wrexham won 12-0.
    Though that didn't actually happen.

    https://www.indy100.com/sport/us-women-lost-wreham-football-2660991488
  • sladeslade Posts: 2,023
    Progress. I have finally got to Winston Churchill level in Civ 6.
  • AlsoLei said:

    viewcode said:

    Given that @Leon has well and truly flounced, I guess I could post some pics.

    Where is I? (Canary Wharf in the background is a clue!)


    You are within 5 miles of Canary Wharf, assuming you are not at height.
    Sunil is north of Canary Wharf. One of the Olympic sites? West Ham?
    It is close to one of the Olympic sites, but much further out than West Ham!
    Beckton Park?
    Too far east, not northerly enough. The previous shot was actually zoomed in, here is a wider angle.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,586

    viewcode said:

    Given that @Leon has well and truly flounced, I guess I could post some pics.

    Where is I? (Canary Wharf in the background is a clue!)


    You are within 5 miles of Canary Wharf, assuming you are not at height.
    Sunil is north of Canary Wharf. One of the Olympic sites? West Ham?
    It is close to one of the Olympic sites, but much further out than West Ham!
    Is it Idontgiveafuckham?
    Hate to disappoint you, but sadly, no :lol:
    Have you spotted Leon yet?
  • viewcode said:

    Given that @Leon has well and truly flounced, I guess I could post some pics.

    Where is I? (Canary Wharf in the background is a clue!)


    You are within 5 miles of Canary Wharf, assuming you are not at height.
    Sunil is north of Canary Wharf. One of the Olympic sites? West Ham?
    It is close to one of the Olympic sites, but much further out than West Ham!
    Is it Idontgiveafuckham?
    Hate to disappoint you, but sadly, no :lol:
    Have you spotted Leon yet?
    Didn't you get the memo? I am @Leon!
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,586


    Where is I? (Canary Wharf in the background is a clue!)


    Sat in front of your laptop/PC/tablet/smartphone?
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,586

    viewcode said:

    Given that @Leon has well and truly flounced, I guess I could post some pics.

    Where is I? (Canary Wharf in the background is a clue!)


    You are within 5 miles of Canary Wharf, assuming you are not at height.
    Sunil is north of Canary Wharf. One of the Olympic sites? West Ham?
    It is close to one of the Olympic sites, but much further out than West Ham!
    Is it Idontgiveafuckham?
    Hate to disappoint you, but sadly, no :lol:
    Have you spotted Leon yet?
    Didn't you get the memo? I am @Leon!
    No, I'm Leon!
  • OK, clue. Where was the 2012 Olympics cycle training centre?
  • viewcode said:

    Given that @Leon has well and truly flounced, I guess I could post some pics.

    Where is I? (Canary Wharf in the background is a clue!)


    You are within 5 miles of Canary Wharf, assuming you are not at height.
    Sunil is north of Canary Wharf. One of the Olympic sites? West Ham?
    It is close to one of the Olympic sites, but much further out than West Ham!
    Is it Idontgiveafuckham?
    Hate to disappoint you, but sadly, no :lol:
    Have you spotted Leon yet?
    Didn't you get the memo? I am @Leon!
    No, I'm Leon!
    I'm Leon and so's my wife!
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,586

    OK, clue. Where was the 2012 Olympics cycle training centre?

    I know this one! It was in the UK.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 59,994
    viewcode said:

    viewcode said:

    viewcode said:

    rcs1000 said:

    viewcode said:

    Miklosvar said:

    ...We need the nation to take this team to their hearts so that people will see the ludicrous nonsense of some 3rd division no hoper deciding that he is really Ethel and has been all along and being permitted to play against, or compete for a place on the team with, the lovely Alessia.

    This isn't the first time you've pointed this out (apart from your stiffy on the lovely Alessia). Do you really think people transition to get better scores in sports?

    I'm sure they don't.

    But the difference between male and female performance in sports is so extreme, that many sports would inevitably get dominated to by trans competitors.

    Let me give you an example. The US Women's World Cup team played Wrexham (who has just been promoted to the old fourth division!)

    This is 11 of the very best female players in the world, against a team that wouldn't be in the top 1,000 worldwide.

    Wrexham won 12-0.
    This I understand, I'm not disputing the rather large gulf in performance. My question was about motive attribution.

    When I was in purdah during my two-year exile (nobody missed me. Sob) I toyed with the idea on writing articles on trans as a political phenomenon, using it to describe how to measure the emergence of a new axis. It fell apart because things were moving faster than I could research, but text fragments and notes still exist.

    One of them was about shibboleths: gender-critical people rarely refer to trans people as people, preferring the term "trans activist" even when activism is absent. Another was the presumption of guilt: all trans people must be presumed to do things for nefarious purposes. As shibboleths are searchable terms, one can track them and hence map the rise and fall of popular stances over time (sadly my profession can be described as a perpetual effort to draw yet another graph).

    But time did not permit and I'm fully booked until after RSS2023... :(
    Wait. You left PB?
    YES. AND NOBODY NOTICED. FOR TWO YEARS.

    [grits teeth]
    Not quite true. You noticed.
    NOBODY ELSE
    NOBODY DOES IT BETTER
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 70,513
    Sandpit said:

    ChinaBank is missing payments on investment products.

    https://youtube.com/watch?v=ANAZaWPimRQ

    Sinostocks trending down, a potential massive contagion coming down the line.

    Deflation can be disastrous in an economy with high debt sectors.
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,637
    Another 2 broken pledges from SKS Party today. No reduction in student charges and a watering down of the promised workers rights.

    SKS fans suck it up.
  • OK, I'll tell you, I was standing near this roundabout on the Redbridge/Havering borderlands, looking southwest:

    https://www.google.com/maps/@51.6020957,0.1379096,3a,75y,205.98h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1spWc7ijLyd6YhDtaKmIoOYw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en&entry=ttu

    It was just a "normal" field a couple of summers ago, but now it's full of sunflowers! Redbridge Cycling Centre, used a training facility in 2012, is just a couple of hundred yards to the north.
  • Another 2 broken pledges from SKS Party today. No reduction in student charges and a watering down of the promised workers rights.

    SKS fans suck it up.

    Greens down to 4% in Redfield. BJO fans suck it up :p
  • Jim_MillerJim_Miller Posts: 2,958
    That GB/UA badge may be a small opportunity for a UK entrepreneur. Import some from Ukraine and sell them on Amazon. And you don't have to sell just badges. You could extend the design to bumper stickers, yard signs, and so forth.

    (For my own small political protest, I ordered three 'Free Tibet" bumper stickers, and have begun offering them to people who I think should have them. Oddly enough, Apple CEO Tim Cook has not yet responded to my letter, offering him one -- if he will display it prominently.)

  • Another 2 broken pledges from SKS Party today. No reduction in student charges and a watering down of the promised workers rights.

    SKS fans suck it up.

    FIVE votes for the crank left. I would say suck it up, but there are so few of you that it would be unfair.
  • MiklosvarMiklosvar Posts: 1,855

    viewcode said:

    Given that @Leon has well and truly flounced, I guess I could post some pics.

    Where is I? (Canary Wharf in the background is a clue!)


    You are within 5 miles of Canary Wharf, assuming you are not at height.
    Sunil is north of Canary Wharf. One of the Olympic sites? West Ham?
    It is close to one of the Olympic sites, but much further out than West Ham!
    Is it Idontgiveafuckham?
    Certainly it's not easy to imagine an answer which would have me going OMG I had no idea, what are the odds?

    My answer is, somewhere boring with boring sunflowers where you can see boring City skyscrapers from, amirite?
  • nico679nico679 Posts: 6,200
    edited August 2023
    u

    Another 2 broken pledges from SKS Party today. No reduction in student charges and a watering down of the promised workers rights.

    SKS fans suck it up.

    I’m not a big fan of Starmer and think Labour seem to have become too obsessed with looking fiscally sound when the Tories are likely to find loads of money in the run up to the next GE .

    The Tories need to be removed even if Labour are somewhat underwhelming. In my area that means voting Lib Dem , ordinarily I would vote Labour even if currently that would be with little enthusiasm .
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 28,231

    viewcode said:

    I suppose I could flounce and come back as Quantum_of_Solace..

    Come back as the best Bond film, SPECTRE.
    Please.

    On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
    Skyfall for me.
    I once bored @Taz stupid with a very lengthy rant about why Moonraker was severely underrated... :)
    Can I put in a word for Octopussy? Look past the smutty title and its a whole lot of fun. TBF all of the John Glen era Bond films were fun.
    Agreed. Actually quite a good Cold War plot too. Great shame they didn't insist the theme song contained 'Octopussy' within the lyrics though.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 70,513
    Credit Suisse Failed to Fully Investigate Nazi-Linked Accounts, Full Report Confirms
    Newly unredacted records obtained by the Senate Budget Committee reveal additional details about the bank’s obstruction amid forensic review of Nazi ties
    https://www.budget.senate.gov/chairman/newsroom/press/credit-suisse-failed-to-fully-investigate-nazi-linked-accounts-full-report-confirms
  • Jim_MillerJim_Miller Posts: 2,958
    The best answer to who won the popular vote in the 1960 US presidential election is: No one knows, but Nixon has a better claim than Kennedy. (And the Democrats have a better claim than the Repupblicans.)

    The situation in Alabama was strange. The Democratic Party ran 11 electors, 5 of whom voted for Kennedy, and 6 of whom voted for Strom Thurmond. I have been unable to think of a completely satisfactory way to "adjust" the popular vote in Alabama. But the most obvious ones would give Nixon the win in the popular vote.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960_United_States_presidential_election_in_Alabama

  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 56,925

    viewcode said:

    I suppose I could flounce and come back as Quantum_of_Solace..

    Come back as the best Bond film, SPECTRE.
    Please.

    On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
    Skyfall for me.
    I once bored @Taz stupid with a very lengthy rant about why Moonraker was severely underrated... :)
    Can I put in a word for Octopussy? Look past the smutty title and its a whole lot of fun. TBF all of the John Glen era Bond films were fun.
    Agreed. Actually quite a good Cold War plot too. Great shame they didn't insist the theme song contained 'Octopussy' within the lyrics though.
    I love the wonderfully demented Steven Berkoff portrayal of General Orloff.
  • Jim_MillerJim_Miller Posts: 2,958
    Adlai Stevenson also came up with this line: "In America, any small boy can become president. And that's just the chance he has to take." (from memory)
  • jamesdoylejamesdoyle Posts: 790
    rcs1000 said:

    viewcode said:

    Miklosvar said:

    ...We need the nation to take this team to their hearts so that people will see the ludicrous nonsense of some 3rd division no hoper deciding that he is really Ethel and has been all along and being permitted to play against, or compete for a place on the team with, the lovely Alessia.

    This isn't the first time you've pointed this out (apart from your stiffy on the lovely Alessia). Do you really think people transition to get better scores in sports?

    I'm sure they don't.

    But the difference between male and female performance in sports is so extreme, that many sports would inevitably get dominated to by trans competitors.

    Let me give you an example. The US Women's World Cup team played Wrexham (who has just been promoted to the old fourth division!)

    This is 11 of the very best female players in the world, against a team that wouldn't be in the top 1,000 worldwide.

    Wrexham won 12-0.
    You have cited this one case (which has been debunked elsewhere), but there are other counterexamples. Lia Thomas, the US swimmer, didn't set women's swimming on fire when she transitioned - she became the 17th fastest woman at her event, and in swimming 17th is nowhere. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/lia-thomas-trans-swimmer-ron-desantis-b2091218.html

    And from the other side, if trans athletes are only allowed to compete in their birth gender, you get situations like Mack Beggs, who as an ftm trans athlete, dominated girls wrestling in Texas.

    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/feb/25/transgender-wrestler-mack-beggs-wins-texas-girls-title
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,480
    edited August 2023
    Nigelb said:

    Sandpit said:

    ChinaBank is missing payments on investment products.

    https://youtube.com/watch?v=ANAZaWPimRQ

    Sinostocks trending down, a potential massive contagion coming down the line.

    Deflation can be disastrous in an economy with high debt sectors.
    China hasn't had a proper recession/slump in the modern era, outside covid. Sooner or later it is going to have one, and it will have massive effects on the region and world trade.

    People are very tolerant of dictators when they are prospering, but that will wear thin when that is no longer the case. Xi is on borrowed time.
  • MiklosvarMiklosvar Posts: 1,855

    Oh, and in other "news", yesterday I managed to do the connection from National Rail onto the Swanage Railway near Wareham. The Swanage laid on a heritage diesel multiple unit (class 117 and Class 121 for four carriages total), and they run to/from Wareham on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays up until the 9th September. I caught the 1005 from Waterloo, reaching Wareham by 1230, then caught the diesel at 1305 as far as Corfe Castle, reaching the latter at 1325, then returned from there at 1445 reaching Wareham by 1509. Returned to London on the 1528.




    What is the top, castle on a hill photo?

  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,637

    Another 2 broken pledges from SKS Party today. No reduction in student charges and a watering down of the promised workers rights.

    SKS fans suck it up.

    FIVE votes for the crank left. I would say suck it up, but there are so few of you that it would be unfair.
    Crank crank crank
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 4,488
    Miklosvar said:

    Oh, and in other "news", yesterday I managed to do the connection from National Rail onto the Swanage Railway near Wareham. The Swanage laid on a heritage diesel multiple unit (class 117 and Class 121 for four carriages total), and they run to/from Wareham on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays up until the 9th September. I caught the 1005 from Waterloo, reaching Wareham by 1230, then caught the diesel at 1305 as far as Corfe Castle, reaching the latter at 1325, then returned from there at 1445 reaching Wareham by 1509. Returned to London on the 1528.




    What is the top, castle on a hill photo?

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corfe_Castle

    Loved it as a child, when we stayed at Swanage.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 21,794
    edited August 2023
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,637
    viewcode said:
    I have swapped horses to the Green one
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,637

    Another 2 broken pledges from SKS Party today. No reduction in student charges and a watering down of the promised workers rights.

    SKS fans suck it up.

    FIVE votes for the crank left. I would say suck it up, but there are so few of you that it would be unfair.
    Crank crank crank
    +2
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 49,586
    rcs1000 said:

    viewcode said:

    I suppose I could flounce and come back as Quantum_of_Solace..

    Come back as the best Bond film, SPECTRE.
    Please.

    On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
    Skyfall for me.
    I once bored @Taz stupid with a very lengthy rant about why Moonraker was severely underrated... :)
    Can I put in a word for Octopussy? Look past the smutty title and its a whole lot of fun. TBF all of the John Glen era Bond films were fun.
    Agreed. Actually quite a good Cold War plot too. Great shame they didn't insist the theme song contained 'Octopussy' within the lyrics though.
    I love the wonderfully demented Steven Berkoff portrayal of General Orloff.
    Now, there was a man you’d follow through Ukraine.

    One of the great project proposals -

    https://youtu.be/x99njmZxaMA
  • MiklosvarMiklosvar Posts: 1,855

    rcs1000 said:

    viewcode said:

    Miklosvar said:

    ...We need the nation to take this team to their hearts so that people will see the ludicrous nonsense of some 3rd division no hoper deciding that he is really Ethel and has been all along and being permitted to play against, or compete for a place on the team with, the lovely Alessia.

    This isn't the first time you've pointed this out (apart from your stiffy on the lovely Alessia). Do you really think people transition to get better scores in sports?

    I'm sure they don't.

    But the difference between male and female performance in sports is so extreme, that many sports would inevitably get dominated to by trans competitors.

    Let me give you an example. The US Women's World Cup team played Wrexham (who has just been promoted to the old fourth division!)

    This is 11 of the very best female players in the world, against a team that wouldn't be in the top 1,000 worldwide.

    Wrexham won 12-0.
    You have cited this one case (which has been debunked elsewhere), but there are other counterexamples. Lia Thomas, the US swimmer, didn't set women's swimming on fire when she transitioned - she became the 17th fastest woman at her event, and in swimming 17th is nowhere. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/lia-thomas-trans-swimmer-ron-desantis-b2091218.html

    And from the other side, if trans athletes are only allowed to compete in their birth gender, you get situations like Mack Beggs, who as an ftm trans athlete, dominated girls wrestling in Texas.

    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/feb/25/transgender-wrestler-mack-beggs-wins-texas-girls-title
    Only a complete arse would transition m to f and then think hey, thank god my life is so much better in the round that I am also going to compete against proper female athletes on a level playing field, honest. And as for someone explicitly calling themselves James, cheering them on ...
  • Jim_MillerJim_Miller Posts: 2,958
    Off topic, but important: "Authorities in Canada are racing to evacuate nearly 20,000 residents from the territorial capital, Yellowknife, in the Northwest Territories by Friday as a raging wildfire nears the city.

    With the blaze threatening to reach the city in the coming days, firefighters have tried to ward off flames that have come close to Yellowknife, officials said."
    source$: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/08/17/canada-wildfires-yellowknife-evacuation/

    That's the entire population -- and Yellowknife is the only city in the entire Northwest Territories, which together have an "area of approximately 1,144,000 km2 (442,000 sq mi)".
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Territories

    (Has the Canadian government failed on fire prevention? Possibly.)
  • Another 2 broken pledges from SKS Party today. No reduction in student charges and a watering down of the promised workers rights.

    SKS fans suck it up.

    FIVE votes for the crank left. I would say suck it up, but there are so few of you that it would be unfair.
    Crank crank crank
    +2
    You don't need to do +2. We know you are a crank. We just don't know if you are Jimmie or the other one.
  • "Vote Conservative"
  • Very much off topic, why is my Facebook feed full of testicle products? Apparently I should be shaving them and then encasing them in special pants with compartments.

    Allegedly this is based on web searches. It isn't. Some of this stuff I didn't know existed until I saw it on Facebook...
  • Northern_AlNorthern_Al Posts: 8,314

    Tres said:

    Off-topic, I hope for United's sake that Mason Greenwood is as good on his return as he was before his unfortunate idiocy. Imagine the excitement if he comes back and plays like Harry Maguire...

    This is dodgy ground surely.

    Greenwood hasn't been found guilty of anything, and AFAIK hasn't admitted any reprehensible behaviour. What he has been accused of is vile of course but don't we have to follow an 'innocent until proved guilty' approach?

    Maybe I'm missing something, but if 'his unfortunate idiocy' is the unproven accusation it can't be used to condemn him.
    go away, listen to the recordings, and come back and think about what you're defending.
    Here's a transcript.


    That’s no way to talk to his mother.
    And that's a pretty obnoxious comment.
  • The more that BJO insults Starmer, the more I think maybe I should feel safe to vote for his party afterall rather than Lib Dems.

    If disenchanted Tory voters like myself vote Labour, while disenchanted Corbynistas vote Green, then that is a very positive net result for Starmer.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 95,872
    Foxy said:

    Nigelb said:

    Sandpit said:

    ChinaBank is missing payments on investment products.

    https://youtube.com/watch?v=ANAZaWPimRQ

    Sinostocks trending down, a potential massive contagion coming down the line.

    Deflation can be disastrous in an economy with high debt sectors.
    China hasn't had a proper recession/slump in the modern era, outside covid. Sooner or later it is going to have one, and it will have massive effects on the region and world trade.

    People are very tolerant of dictators when they are prospering, but that will wear thin when that is no longer the case. Xi is on borrowed time.
    He might be, but what about the system? They are certainly giving it their best to stamp down on things with all the tools of the modern era in an effort to futureproof it, hopefully they will not succeed.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 70,513
    Does ‘long illness’ refer to the distance between the fourteenth and ground floors ?

    Russian general reportedly dismissed for failings in Ukraine dies from “long illness” at age 58

    Army Gen. Gennady Zhidko, who took over the leadership of Russian forces in Ukraine after Moscow abandoned its attempt to take over Kyiv, died at 58 – CNN

    https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1692294634515431737
This discussion has been closed.