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Date of the general election – latest betting – politicalbetting.com

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  • Hmmm....

    The world's best cities for 2024 have been revealed and it's London that's number one followed by Paris and New York.

    That's according to an annual report by Resonance Consultancy, which ranks the top 100 from 270-plus cities with populations of more than one million.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-12774333/The-best-100-cities-planet-ranked-despite-Brexit-London-thats-No-1-followed-Paris-New-York-does-favourite-city-come-list.html

    Wait I thought the Daily Mail hated London.
    My brother against my cousin
    My cousin against my village
    My village against….
    Presumably the people who picked London as world #1 city missed the Muslim no go areas, ULEZ-based oppression, TB hotspots and all the other widespread phenomena that conspire to make Londonistan a hell hole for all true Englishmen.
  • biggles said:

    Sean_F said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Net migration going to come in around 700,000 people apparently. Now I know we do need immigration as a TFR < 2.2 & aging society but it seems a huge number.

    Migration is the only thing delivering anaemic growth.
    Without it, the UK would be in recession already.
    If immigration is delivering growth - but GDP *per head* isn't rising... Then you'd have a situation where people think the economy is in recession, personally, but the headline would say....

    Yes.
    Weirdly, overall population is only rising by about 200,000 a year. We know that deaths don't exceed births, so the only other explanation is that emigration is heavily undercounted.
    If you look at births and deaths they are more or less equal now (deaths>births in 2020, births>deaths in 2021), and based on trends in both (deaths trending up, births trending down) I'd imagine that we are moving into a situation where deaths do exceed births in the future. How depressing!
    I will show this post to my wife to try and talk her into bed.
    You old romantic.
  • HYUFD said:

    Sean_F said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Net migration going to come in around 700,000 people apparently. Now I know we do need immigration as a TFR < 2.2 & aging society but it seems a huge number.

    Migration is the only thing delivering anaemic growth.
    Without it, the UK would be in recession already.
    If immigration is delivering growth - but GDP *per head* isn't rising... Then you'd have a situation where people think the economy is in recession, personally, but the headline would say....

    Yes.
    Weirdly, overall population is only rising by about 200,000 a year. We know that deaths don't exceed births, so the only other explanation is that emigration is heavily undercounted.
    If you look at births and deaths they are more or less equal now (deaths>births in 2020, births>deaths in 2021), and based on trends in both (deaths trending up, births trending down) I'd imagine that we are moving into a situation where deaths do exceed births in the future. How depressing!
    Well birth rate is well below replacement level, so not that surprising
    Don't blame me I have 3 kids!
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 81,987
    edited November 2023

    Hmmm....

    The world's best cities for 2024 have been revealed and it's London that's number one followed by Paris and New York.

    That's according to an annual report by Resonance Consultancy, which ranks the top 100 from 270-plus cities with populations of more than one million.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-12774333/The-best-100-cities-planet-ranked-despite-Brexit-London-thats-No-1-followed-Paris-New-York-does-favourite-city-come-list.html

    Wait I thought the Daily Mail hated London.
    My brother against my cousin
    My cousin against my village
    My village against….
    Presumably the people who picked London as world #1 city missed the Muslim no go areas, ULEZ-based oppression, TB hotspots and all the other widespread phenomena that conspire to make Londonistan a hell hole for all true Englishmen.
    Well they do seem quite blind as they ranked San Francisco 7th...must have missed all the drug addicts, the homeless, the rampant crime....Seoul coming in below it.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,298
    biggles said:

    Sean_F said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Net migration going to come in around 700,000 people apparently. Now I know we do need immigration as a TFR < 2.2 & aging society but it seems a huge number.

    Migration is the only thing delivering anaemic growth.
    Without it, the UK would be in recession already.
    If immigration is delivering growth - but GDP *per head* isn't rising... Then you'd have a situation where people think the economy is in recession, personally, but the headline would say....

    Yes.
    Weirdly, overall population is only rising by about 200,000 a year. We know that deaths don't exceed births, so the only other explanation is that emigration is heavily undercounted.
    If you look at births and deaths they are more or less equal now (deaths>births in 2020, births>deaths in 2021), and based on trends in both (deaths trending up, births trending down) I'd imagine that we are moving into a situation where deaths do exceed births in the future. How depressing!
    I will show this post to my wife to try and talk her into bed.
    Wouldn’t be the first time a PBer has used this board to talk his wife into bed.

    Well, to sleep, anyway.
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 37,347

    Sean_F said:

    Roger said:

    Netanyahu says war will continue after hostages released

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel will continue its war against Hamas "until we achieve all our goals".

    In a video statement recorded before the cabinet met to discuss a possible hostage deal, he said "nonsense" was being spoken to the effect that the war would be stopped once the hostages were released.

    Netanyahu described the hostages' return as a "sacred and top goal".

    "In war there are phases and in returning the hostages there are phases but we will not stop until we have total victory, until we return all of them," he said. "That’s the holy duty of all of us."

    The elimination of Hamas was also a goal, he said, "and that there won't be anything in Gaza that threatens Israel again".

    Test:




    You continue to equate the murder of innocent men, women and children with unfortunate innocent casualties of war.

    You are despicable

    I'm not sure those killed or their relatives would recognise your subtle distinction
    Other people's lives seems cheap to a certain type of right wing ideologue, hence Johnson's "let the bodies pile high" and Sunak's similar statement quoted by Vallance yesterday.

    Likewise some of the generally rightward leaning armchair Generals on here, suggesting that collateral casualties (irrespective of number) are an acceptable feature of conflict, and justifying it by a "well their boys did it to our team on October 7th". It is the heartless language of Hamas. Aren't we, purporting to be from a civilized nation, better than that? I don't know, pick a side.
    I think that, in general, politicians do develop such indifference, and I think it's a part of the territory. People die, directly or indirectly, due to all manner of policy changes.
    There is a disturbing and stark disconnect between politicians and citizens when "phrases like "let people die" and "pile the bodies high" are so much as thought, let alone spoken. They weren't their "people", or their "bodies". It was the rest of us, you included, and we could go hang.

    Who has a mindset like that?
    Well, the average member of the public would say, “one death is too many.”

    The average minister or senior civil servant would say “that’s tough”, when they decide that some NHS treatments are too expensive, some services will have to be axed, some people can’t be granted asylum, some people are going to die in war, etc. Because, you’d go mad in such a job, if you did not have a very thick skin.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,298
    Is New Orleans on the list?

    I just landed, decided to spend Thanksgiving here.
  • I don't believe anything Hamas says.
    I don't believe anything the IDF says either.

    But most of all, I don't believe a word of the random tweets people on here link to from profoundly biased accounts claiming this, that, or the other.

    It's never been a better time for high-quality, on-the-spot, objective journalism. But that's virtually impossible in the heart of Gaza at the moment. So despite all claims to the contrary, we're pretty clueless as to what's going on.

    Sad to see on the BBC this evening that the Israelis are apparently making a point of targetting such 'on the ground' journalists on Southern Lebanon and dropping missiles on them.
    Despite all the flak they get, the BBC's reporting on the Middle East is pretty good. Jeremy Bowen is usually excellent.
    Spits out coffee.....the bloke who only the other day prattling on about well all those guns, grenades, explosives at the hospital, standard in the middle east for security guards to have them...nothing to see...move along.

    Oh, well there is a big tunnel, and oh there is a blast door at the end of it...what the Israelis have opened it and it leads to lots of other things...must be the security guards break room.
    Have they let any journalists down there to verify?
  • EndillionEndillion Posts: 4,976

    Endillion said:

    Endillion said:

    Endillion said:

    Roger said:

    Netanyahu says war will continue after hostages released

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel will continue its war against Hamas "until we achieve all our goals".

    In a video statement recorded before the cabinet met to discuss a possible hostage deal, he said "nonsense" was being spoken to the effect that the war would be stopped once the hostages were released.

    Netanyahu described the hostages' return as a "sacred and top goal".

    "In war there are phases and in returning the hostages there are phases but we will not stop until we have total victory, until we return all of them," he said. "That’s the holy duty of all of us."

    The elimination of Hamas was also a goal, he said, "and that there won't be anything in Gaza that threatens Israel again".

    Test:




    You continue to equate the murder of innocent men, women and children with unfortunate innocent casualties of war.

    You are despicable

    Excel's telling me that 91% of the victims of this war are Gazans.
    It is not a war it is a slaughter.
    Typically, under such circumstances, the side that's losing surrenders. You don't seem very keen on that, for some reason.
    Hamas are a death cult, they don't give a f*** either way. Not for. Israelis, not for Gazans.

    I don't know who wrote that post for you, but tell them from me, they are not the sharpest tool in the box.
    Hamas are a "death cult" who "don't give a f*** either way" about human life, including the people they are supposed to be governing...

    ... and therefore, what, exactly? Everyone should just leave them alone forever?
    Who suggested leaving Hamas alone forever? It certainly wasn't me. However, the price for eradicating Hamas, shouldn't be the eradication of ten thousand, or a hundred thousand , or a million Palestinian women and children.
    Obviously it "shouldn't". We do not, however, live in a perfect world.
    So how many collateral casualties are you comfortable with?
    You know that's a stupid question. Even the idea that there's an upper limit beyond which Israel should not be allowed to continue creates a perverse incentive for Hamas to try and get them there as fast as possible.

    The whole point of having rules of war is to disincentivise actions by participants that increase civilian casualties. One of Hamas's main strategies revolves around blurring that point, such that their deliberate endangerment of their own people becomes a weapon on the international stage. Don't fall for it.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,079
    biggles said:

    Sean_F said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Net migration going to come in around 700,000 people apparently. Now I know we do need immigration as a TFR < 2.2 & aging society but it seems a huge number.

    Migration is the only thing delivering anaemic growth.
    Without it, the UK would be in recession already.
    If immigration is delivering growth - but GDP *per head* isn't rising... Then you'd have a situation where people think the economy is in recession, personally, but the headline would say....

    Yes.
    Weirdly, overall population is only rising by about 200,000 a year. We know that deaths don't exceed births, so the only other explanation is that emigration is heavily undercounted.
    If you look at births and deaths they are more or less equal now (deaths>births in 2020, births>deaths in 2021), and based on trends in both (deaths trending up, births trending down) I'd imagine that we are moving into a situation where deaths do exceed births in the future. How depressing!
    I will show this post to my wife to try and talk her into bed.
    I suppose it would not help the argument to say the internet is cheering you on because the demographic stats were compelling.
  • Is New Orleans on the list?

    I just landed, decided to spend Thanksgiving here.

    #86....just below Birmingham.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,248

    Hmmm....

    The world's best cities for 2024 have been revealed and it's London that's number one followed by Paris and New York.

    That's according to an annual report by Resonance Consultancy, which ranks the top 100 from 270-plus cities with populations of more than one million.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-12774333/The-best-100-cities-planet-ranked-despite-Brexit-London-thats-No-1-followed-Paris-New-York-does-favourite-city-come-list.html

    Wait I thought the Daily Mail hated London.
    My brother against my cousin
    My cousin against my village
    My village against….
    Presumably the people who picked London as world #1 city missed the Muslim no go areas, ULEZ-based oppression, TB hotspots and all the other widespread phenomena that conspire to make Londonistan a hell hole for all true Englishmen.
    Pshaw! Twirls moustache.

    Puts HMS Pinafore on the gramaphone.
  • Hmmm....

    The world's best cities for 2024 have been revealed and it's London that's number one followed by Paris and New York.

    That's according to an annual report by Resonance Consultancy, which ranks the top 100 from 270-plus cities with populations of more than one million.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-12774333/The-best-100-cities-planet-ranked-despite-Brexit-London-thats-No-1-followed-Paris-New-York-does-favourite-city-come-list.html

    Wait I thought the Daily Mail hated London.
    My brother against my cousin
    My cousin against my village
    My village against….
    Presumably the people who picked London as world #1 city missed the Muslim no go areas, ULEZ-based oppression, TB hotspots and all the other widespread phenomena that conspire to make Londonistan a hell hole for all true Englishmen.
    Brent Cross West station... must... have Brent Cross West...
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,079

    Is New Orleans on the list?

    I just landed, decided to spend Thanksgiving here.

    #86....just below Birmingham.
    Hated the place.

    Granted, that's based solely on only visiting the train station in Birmingham, and that they charged entry into the toilets when I was there, but I stand by the assessment and expect my own piece in the Mail.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,298

    Is New Orleans on the list?

    I just landed, decided to spend Thanksgiving here.

    #86....just below Birmingham.
    Ha, well I’ll be sure remind myself when I am knee-deep in po-boys and sazerac at Preservation Hall that I could be having a better time down Gas Street Basin.
  • I don't believe anything Hamas says.
    I don't believe anything the IDF says either.

    But most of all, I don't believe a word of the random tweets people on here link to from profoundly biased accounts claiming this, that, or the other.

    It's never been a better time for high-quality, on-the-spot, objective journalism. But that's virtually impossible in the heart of Gaza at the moment. So despite all claims to the contrary, we're pretty clueless as to what's going on.

    Sad to see on the BBC this evening that the Israelis are apparently making a point of targetting such 'on the ground' journalists on Southern Lebanon and dropping missiles on them.
    Despite all the flak they get, the BBC's reporting on the Middle East is pretty good. Jeremy Bowen is usually excellent.
    Spits out coffee.....the bloke who only the other day prattling on about well all those guns, grenades, explosives at the hospital, standard in the middle east for security guards to have them...nothing to see...move along.

    Oh, well there is a big tunnel, and oh there is a blast door at the end of it...what the Israelis have opened it and it leads to lots of other things...must be the security guards break room.
    Have they let any journalists down there to verify?
    I'm sure they'd love to let Al Jazeera down the tunnel to test for booby traps
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,368
    Roger said:

    Roger said:

    Roger said:

    Foxy said:

    nico679 said:

    DavidL said:

    Netanyahu says war will continue after hostages released

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel will continue its war against Hamas "until we achieve all our goals".

    In a video statement recorded before the cabinet met to discuss a possible hostage deal, he said "nonsense" was being spoken to the effect that the war would be stopped once the hostages were released.

    Netanyahu described the hostages' return as a "sacred and top goal".

    "In war there are phases and in returning the hostages there are phases but we will not stop until we have total victory, until we return all of them," he said. "That’s the holy duty of all of us."

    The elimination of Hamas was also a goal, he said, "and that there won't be anything in Gaza that threatens Israel again".

    Test:


    Well let’s assume for a moment that you can believe a single word Hamas says. What is it going to take to stop them from going on a murderous rampage again? That is the question.
    I think this was a one off and I don’t think the IDF will be quite so unprepared again . As for the casualties their figure is generally regarded as close to reality . Looking at the devastation it’s hard to think it’s that far off . Absolutely tragic news again that doctors are being killed, those who stayed behind to treat the injured are heroes . Too many innocent people have died .
    Hard to disagree with you last sentiments.

    Hamas are the cause of all this.
    The trigger maybe, but don't deny the IDF agency.
    I don’t, but you have to ask what else can they do? I do not believe IDF is deliberately killing Gazans. In contrast to terrorists who murdered for fun then took battered bodies back as trophies.
    If you are correct I think they've now had
    their pound of flesh and it's time to move on.
    Killing Gazans by the lorry load because
    they can will achieve nothing except pile
    odium on them throughout the world.
    So you didn’t look at the photos of the command centre they broke into today?


    No I didn't. Could you post a link
    Until the claims are unequivocally verified, colour me skeptical. Hamas may well have a network of tunnels under hospitals, but when the bearer of these tidings is Team Netanyahu, I remain unconvinced without third party confirmation.

    I listen most days to BBC WATO whilst having lunch in my car, and everyday Mark Regev gives an informed account of developments. Forgive me, but I wouldn't believe him if he told me "good morning".
    Mark Regev and Aylon Levy are totally discredited. No one believes a word that they say. Both are PR men who haven't the faintest idea how to do what they are paid to do which is make Israel look like they are behaving reasonably. They seem to think if if they bully and shout at their interviewers they'll get their message across.
    BBC R4 news seem to like Regev. He might as well present WATO. He's on every day.
  • Is New Orleans on the list?

    I just landed, decided to spend Thanksgiving here.

    Hope you have a fantastic time GW.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,558

    Some people on here have a bizarrely weird obsession with Gary Lineker.

    What always amazes me is how many on here are simultaneously obsessed with him and unable to spell his name.
    Sir Keir “Kier” Starmer suffers under the same paradox
    We are watching the end of the Kier show?
  • Mr Hunt has also signed off an 8.5 per cent increase in the state pension, in line with the so-called 'triple lock', increasing the value of the new state pension by £17.33 a week – or more than £900 a year.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,368

    How many Hamas savages should survive this attack to save the innocents?

    What a ridiculous post.

    What about those Hamas Generals living the life of Riley in Doha penthouses? How many British ex-pats are you prepared to sacrifice by launching rockets at the condominiums they share with those Hamas leaders?
    They will be assassinated

    How many Hamas savages do you want to spare?
    I don't think I could be more unequivocal. I have throughout this thread agreed that Hamas are a perfectly legitimate target for Israel. I even accept that, unfortunately, there will be collateral casualties.

    It's the industrial scale arbitrary killing of civilians that concerns me
  • bigglesbiggles Posts: 6,051
    kle4 said:

    biggles said:

    Sean_F said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Net migration going to come in around 700,000 people apparently. Now I know we do need immigration as a TFR < 2.2 & aging society but it seems a huge number.

    Migration is the only thing delivering anaemic growth.
    Without it, the UK would be in recession already.
    If immigration is delivering growth - but GDP *per head* isn't rising... Then you'd have a situation where people think the economy is in recession, personally, but the headline would say....

    Yes.
    Weirdly, overall population is only rising by about 200,000 a year. We know that deaths don't exceed births, so the only other explanation is that emigration is heavily undercounted.
    If you look at births and deaths they are more or less equal now (deaths>births in 2020, births>deaths in 2021), and based on trends in both (deaths trending up, births trending down) I'd imagine that we are moving into a situation where deaths do exceed births in the future. How depressing!
    I will show this post to my wife to try and talk her into bed.
    I suppose it would not help the argument to say the internet is cheering you on because the demographic stats were compelling.
    There’s a joke to be had on swingometers.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,549

    Is New Orleans on the list?

    I just landed, decided to spend Thanksgiving here.

    #86....just below Birmingham.
    Ha, well I’ll be sure remind myself when I am knee-deep in po-boys and sazerac at Preservation Hall that I could be having a better time down Gas Street Basin.
    Birmingham is the greatest city in the world.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,298

    Is New Orleans on the list?

    I just landed, decided to spend Thanksgiving here.

    Hope you have a fantastic time GW.
    Thanks!

    My wife pretends she told me she was pregnant with our first while we here last. Actually, she called me from London the night before a pitch in Seattle, but this story is better.

    We have two kids in tow now so debauchery may be slightly lighter than last time…
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,368

    I don't believe anything Hamas says.
    I don't believe anything the IDF says either.

    But most of all, I don't believe a word of the random tweets people on here link to from profoundly biased accounts claiming this, that, or the other.

    It's never been a better time for high-quality, on-the-spot, objective journalism. But that's virtually impossible in the heart of Gaza at the moment. So despite all claims to the contrary, we're pretty clueless as to what's going on.

    Sad to see on the BBC this evening that the Israelis are apparently making a point of targetting such 'on the ground' journalists on Southern Lebanon and dropping missiles on them.
    Despite all the flak they get, the BBC's reporting on the Middle East is pretty good. Jeremy Bowen is usually excellent.
    Bowen is one of the last remaining beacons of light in the BBC darkness, and has often been criticised in the past for being pro-Palestinian. Indeed some years ago IDF operatives (IIRC) launched a rocket at his car killing his cameraman, meanwhile Israeli snipers tried to finish the job.

    The moral? Don't f*** with Bibi.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,079
    She's probably right (media are terrible with headlines and stats after all), but it feels like an intervention for a Cabinet Minister to spend their time. I know she's minister for women and equalities too, but still

  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,368
    Andy_JS said:

    Is New Orleans on the list?

    I just landed, decided to spend Thanksgiving here.

    #86....just below Birmingham.
    Ha, well I’ll be sure remind myself when I am knee-deep in po-boys and sazerac at Preservation Hall that I could be having a better time down Gas Street Basin.
    Birmingham is the greatest city in the world.
    Someone has indulged in far too many pints of Davenport's Dark Mild this evening, I fear.
  • EndillionEndillion Posts: 4,976

    I don't believe anything Hamas says.
    I don't believe anything the IDF says either.

    But most of all, I don't believe a word of the random tweets people on here link to from profoundly biased accounts claiming this, that, or the other.

    It's never been a better time for high-quality, on-the-spot, objective journalism. But that's virtually impossible in the heart of Gaza at the moment. So despite all claims to the contrary, we're pretty clueless as to what's going on.

    Sad to see on the BBC this evening that the Israelis are apparently making a point of targetting such 'on the ground' journalists on Southern Lebanon and dropping missiles on them.
    Despite all the flak they get, the BBC's reporting on the Middle East is pretty good. Jeremy Bowen is usually excellent.
    Bowen is one of the last remaining beacons of light in the BBC darkness, and has often been criticised in the past for being pro-Palestinian. Indeed some years ago IDF operatives (IIRC) launched a rocket at his car killing his cameraman, meanwhile Israeli snipers tried to finish the job.

    The moral? Don't f*** with Bibi.
    I think you have that backwards: all the accusations of bias stem from after that incident. And Wikipedia tells me it happened in 2000, so Netanyahu wasn't even in politics at the time, let alone office.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,079
    Endillion said:

    I don't believe anything Hamas says.
    I don't believe anything the IDF says either.

    But most of all, I don't believe a word of the random tweets people on here link to from profoundly biased accounts claiming this, that, or the other.

    It's never been a better time for high-quality, on-the-spot, objective journalism. But that's virtually impossible in the heart of Gaza at the moment. So despite all claims to the contrary, we're pretty clueless as to what's going on.

    Sad to see on the BBC this evening that the Israelis are apparently making a point of targetting such 'on the ground' journalists on Southern Lebanon and dropping missiles on them.
    Despite all the flak they get, the BBC's reporting on the Middle East is pretty good. Jeremy Bowen is usually excellent.
    Bowen is one of the last remaining beacons of light in the BBC darkness, and has often been criticised in the past for being pro-Palestinian. Indeed some years ago IDF operatives (IIRC) launched a rocket at his car killing his cameraman, meanwhile Israeli snipers tried to finish the job.

    The moral? Don't f*** with Bibi.
    I think you have that backwards: all the accusations of bias stem from after that incident. And Wikipedia tells me it happened in 2000, so Netanyahu wasn't even in politics at the time, let alone office.
    Wasn't Netanyahu Prime Minister in the late 90s?

    I know nothing of this incident being referred to, but I assume he didn't just give up politics immediately by 2000 before coming back later.
  • CatManCatMan Posts: 3,058
    kle4 said:

    She's probably right (media are terrible with headlines and stats after all), but it feels like an intervention for a Cabinet Minister to spend their time. I know she's minister for women and equalities too, but still

    Alarmist? Does she think Black Women are going to use their DeLorean's to go back in time or something?
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,070
    kle4 said:

    She's probably right (media are terrible with headlines and stats after all), but it feels like an intervention for a Cabinet Minister to spend their time. I know she's minister for women and equalities too, but still

    Bring back "Points of View".

    "Dear BBC. Why oh why did you..."

    Signed Kemi, aged 36 and 3/4
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,079
    CatMan said:

    kle4 said:

    She's probably right (media are terrible with headlines and stats after all), but it feels like an intervention for a Cabinet Minister to spend their time. I know she's minister for women and equalities too, but still

    Alarmist? Does she think Black Women are going to use their DeLorean's to go back in time or something?
    I assume she feels misrepresenting facts along racial lines stokes a sense of difference or grievance, but if she's trying to get some attention in doing so (and why else tweet about it) she needs to be much more over the top with it.
  • Endillion said:

    I don't believe anything Hamas says.
    I don't believe anything the IDF says either.

    But most of all, I don't believe a word of the random tweets people on here link to from profoundly biased accounts claiming this, that, or the other.

    It's never been a better time for high-quality, on-the-spot, objective journalism. But that's virtually impossible in the heart of Gaza at the moment. So despite all claims to the contrary, we're pretty clueless as to what's going on.

    Sad to see on the BBC this evening that the Israelis are apparently making a point of targetting such 'on the ground' journalists on Southern Lebanon and dropping missiles on them.
    Despite all the flak they get, the BBC's reporting on the Middle East is pretty good. Jeremy Bowen is usually excellent.
    Bowen is one of the last remaining beacons of light in the BBC darkness, and has often been criticised in the past for being pro-Palestinian. Indeed some years ago IDF operatives (IIRC) launched a rocket at his car killing his cameraman, meanwhile Israeli snipers tried to finish the job.

    The moral? Don't f*** with Bibi.
    I think you have that backwards: all the accusations of bias stem from after that incident. And Wikipedia tells me it happened in 2000, so Netanyahu wasn't even in politics at the time, let alone office.
    He was in politics at the time. He was PM 1996 to 1999.
  • EndillionEndillion Posts: 4,976

    Endillion said:

    I don't believe anything Hamas says.
    I don't believe anything the IDF says either.

    But most of all, I don't believe a word of the random tweets people on here link to from profoundly biased accounts claiming this, that, or the other.

    It's never been a better time for high-quality, on-the-spot, objective journalism. But that's virtually impossible in the heart of Gaza at the moment. So despite all claims to the contrary, we're pretty clueless as to what's going on.

    Sad to see on the BBC this evening that the Israelis are apparently making a point of targetting such 'on the ground' journalists on Southern Lebanon and dropping missiles on them.
    Despite all the flak they get, the BBC's reporting on the Middle East is pretty good. Jeremy Bowen is usually excellent.
    Bowen is one of the last remaining beacons of light in the BBC darkness, and has often been criticised in the past for being pro-Palestinian. Indeed some years ago IDF operatives (IIRC) launched a rocket at his car killing his cameraman, meanwhile Israeli snipers tried to finish the job.

    The moral? Don't f*** with Bibi.
    I think you have that backwards: all the accusations of bias stem from after that incident. And Wikipedia tells me it happened in 2000, so Netanyahu wasn't even in politics at the time, let alone office.
    He was in politics at the time. He was PM 1996 to 1999.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Netanyahu

    Netanyahu and Likud were heavily defeated in the 1999 election by Ehud Barak's One Israel alliance; and Netanyahu chose to retire from politics entirely, entering the private sector.
  • theProletheProle Posts: 1,206
    Sean_F said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Net migration going to come in around 700,000 people apparently. Now I know we do need immigration as a TFR < 2.2 & aging society but it seems a huge number.

    Migration is the only thing delivering anaemic growth.
    Without it, the UK would be in recession already.
    If immigration is delivering growth - but GDP *per head* isn't rising... Then you'd have a situation where people think the economy is in recession, personally, but the headline would say....

    Yes.
    Weirdly, overall population is only rising by about 200,000 a year. We know that deaths don't exceed births, so the only other explanation is that emigration is heavily undercounted.
    Or that we're not very good at counting the total population.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,549

    Pulpstar said:

    Net migration going to come in around 700,000 people apparently. Now I know we do need immigration as a TFR < 2.2 & aging society but it seems a huge number.

    Migration is the only thing delivering anaemic growth.
    Without it, the UK would be in recession already.
    Economic growth is not the most important thing in life.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,079
    Endillion said:

    Endillion said:

    I don't believe anything Hamas says.
    I don't believe anything the IDF says either.

    But most of all, I don't believe a word of the random tweets people on here link to from profoundly biased accounts claiming this, that, or the other.

    It's never been a better time for high-quality, on-the-spot, objective journalism. But that's virtually impossible in the heart of Gaza at the moment. So despite all claims to the contrary, we're pretty clueless as to what's going on.

    Sad to see on the BBC this evening that the Israelis are apparently making a point of targetting such 'on the ground' journalists on Southern Lebanon and dropping missiles on them.
    Despite all the flak they get, the BBC's reporting on the Middle East is pretty good. Jeremy Bowen is usually excellent.
    Bowen is one of the last remaining beacons of light in the BBC darkness, and has often been criticised in the past for being pro-Palestinian. Indeed some years ago IDF operatives (IIRC) launched a rocket at his car killing his cameraman, meanwhile Israeli snipers tried to finish the job.

    The moral? Don't f*** with Bibi.
    I think you have that backwards: all the accusations of bias stem from after that incident. And Wikipedia tells me it happened in 2000, so Netanyahu wasn't even in politics at the time, let alone office.
    He was in politics at the time. He was PM 1996 to 1999.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Netanyahu

    Netanyahu and Likud were heavily defeated in the 1999 election by Ehud Barak's One Israel alliance; and Netanyahu chose to retire from politics entirely, entering the private sector.
    Sounds shortlived

    With the fall of the Barak government in late 2000, Netanyahu expressed his desire to return to politics

    And was back in office by 2002. Still, makes for a longer 'retirement' than Ben-Gurion by the looks of it.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,298
    Andy_JS said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Net migration going to come in around 700,000 people apparently. Now I know we do need immigration as a TFR < 2.2 & aging society but it seems a huge number.

    Migration is the only thing delivering anaemic growth.
    Without it, the UK would be in recession already.
    Economic growth is not the most important thing in life.
    It’s quite nice if you want public services and a first world quality of life, though.
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,307
    kle4 said:

    CatMan said:

    kle4 said:

    She's probably right (media are terrible with headlines and stats after all), but it feels like an intervention for a Cabinet Minister to spend their time. I know she's minister for women and equalities too, but still

    Alarmist? Does she think Black Women are going to use their DeLorean's to go back in time or something?
    I assume she feels misrepresenting facts along racial lines stokes a sense of difference or grievance, but if she's trying to get some attention in doing so (and why else tweet about it) she needs to be much more over the top with it.
    If she has the time to do this, she has the time to deal with the Post Office, which is far far more important than this.

  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,079
    edited November 2023
    Cyclefree said:

    kle4 said:

    CatMan said:

    kle4 said:

    She's probably right (media are terrible with headlines and stats after all), but it feels like an intervention for a Cabinet Minister to spend their time. I know she's minister for women and equalities too, but still

    Alarmist? Does she think Black Women are going to use their DeLorean's to go back in time or something?
    I assume she feels misrepresenting facts along racial lines stokes a sense of difference or grievance, but if she's trying to get some attention in doing so (and why else tweet about it) she needs to be much more over the top with it.
    If she has the time to do this, she has the time to deal with the Post Office, which is far far more important than this.

    Nah, this is how politicians operate.


    https://xkcd.com/386/

    When they should leave that to underutilised amateur spods.
  • Endillion said:

    Endillion said:

    I don't believe anything Hamas says.
    I don't believe anything the IDF says either.

    But most of all, I don't believe a word of the random tweets people on here link to from profoundly biased accounts claiming this, that, or the other.

    It's never been a better time for high-quality, on-the-spot, objective journalism. But that's virtually impossible in the heart of Gaza at the moment. So despite all claims to the contrary, we're pretty clueless as to what's going on.

    Sad to see on the BBC this evening that the Israelis are apparently making a point of targetting such 'on the ground' journalists on Southern Lebanon and dropping missiles on them.
    Despite all the flak they get, the BBC's reporting on the Middle East is pretty good. Jeremy Bowen is usually excellent.
    Bowen is one of the last remaining beacons of light in the BBC darkness, and has often been criticised in the past for being pro-Palestinian. Indeed some years ago IDF operatives (IIRC) launched a rocket at his car killing his cameraman, meanwhile Israeli snipers tried to finish the job.

    The moral? Don't f*** with Bibi.
    I think you have that backwards: all the accusations of bias stem from after that incident. And Wikipedia tells me it happened in 2000, so Netanyahu wasn't even in politics at the time, let alone office.
    He was in politics at the time. He was PM 1996 to 1999.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Netanyahu

    Netanyahu and Likud were heavily defeated in the 1999 election by Ehud Barak's One Israel alliance; and Netanyahu chose to retire from politics entirely, entering the private sector.
    In January 2020, Netanyahu publicly supported Trump's Israeli-Palestinian peace plan.[292] After the peace proposal failed, Trump said Netanyahu "never wanted peace" with the Palestinians.[293][294][295][296]

    Former United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson stated that on 22 May 2017, Netanyahu showed Donald Trump a fake and altered video of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas calling for the killing of children. This was at a time when Trump was considering if Israel was the obstacle to peace. Netanyahu had showed Trump the fake video to change his position in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.[297]
  • Seeing adverts for tools to escape from submerged cars!
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,079
    Andy_JS said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Net migration going to come in around 700,000 people apparently. Now I know we do need immigration as a TFR < 2.2 & aging society but it seems a huge number.

    Migration is the only thing delivering anaemic growth.
    Without it, the UK would be in recession already.
    Economic growth is not the most important thing in life.
    You would find a welcome home in the Green Party in that case.

    And no, of course it's not the most important thing in life, people are willing to make choices that may on paper not be the best case economically, but sustained lack of growth can lead to many problems, which will then be griped about.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,070

    Seeing adverts for tools to escape from submerged cars!

    Is there one for a white Lotus Esprit, 1977 model, registration "JB 007"?
  • theProletheProle Posts: 1,206
    edited November 2023
    Pulpstar said:

    Net migration going to come in around 700,000 people apparently. Now I know we do need immigration as a TFR < 2.2 & aging society but it seems a huge number.

    So with just over 200k houses completed last year, let's hope they like living 3.5 to a house, as that's what it takes to stand still. Also, when discussing the effects of immigration on GDP we should be offsetting the entire cost of the domestic construction sector as a direct cost of immigration.

    The thing I don't understand is why the government is wibbling on about 50k odd small boat travelling illegals, when it appears to be letting in 12x as many legally, mostly in an attempt to keep wages in the social care sector at minimum wage. Do they think we're stupid or something?

  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,067
    .
    Cyclefree said:

    kle4 said:

    CatMan said:

    kle4 said:

    She's probably right (media are terrible with headlines and stats after all), but it feels like an intervention for a Cabinet Minister to spend their time. I know she's minister for women and equalities too, but still

    Alarmist? Does she think Black Women are going to use their DeLorean's to go back in time or something?
    I assume she feels misrepresenting facts along racial lines stokes a sense of difference or grievance, but if she's trying to get some attention in doing so (and why else tweet about it) she needs to be much more over the top with it.
    If she has the time to do this, she has the time to deal with the Post Office, which is far far more important than this.

    Time isn't the issue, clearly.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,067

    Roger said:

    Roger said:

    Roger said:

    Foxy said:

    nico679 said:

    DavidL said:

    Netanyahu says war will continue after hostages released

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel will continue its war against Hamas "until we achieve all our goals".

    In a video statement recorded before the cabinet met to discuss a possible hostage deal, he said "nonsense" was being spoken to the effect that the war would be stopped once the hostages were released.

    Netanyahu described the hostages' return as a "sacred and top goal".

    "In war there are phases and in returning the hostages there are phases but we will not stop until we have total victory, until we return all of them," he said. "That’s the holy duty of all of us."

    The elimination of Hamas was also a goal, he said, "and that there won't be anything in Gaza that threatens Israel again".

    Test:


    Well let’s assume for a moment that you can believe a single word Hamas says. What is it going to take to stop them from going on a murderous rampage again? That is the question.
    I think this was a one off and I don’t think the IDF will be quite so unprepared again . As for the casualties their figure is generally regarded as close to reality . Looking at the devastation it’s hard to think it’s that far off . Absolutely tragic news again that doctors are being killed, those who stayed behind to treat the injured are heroes . Too many innocent people have died .
    Hard to disagree with you last sentiments.

    Hamas are the cause of all this.
    The trigger maybe, but don't deny the IDF agency.
    I don’t, but you have to ask what else can they do? I do not believe IDF is deliberately killing Gazans. In contrast to terrorists who murdered for fun then took battered bodies back as trophies.
    If you are correct I think they've now had
    their pound of flesh and it's time to move on.
    Killing Gazans by the lorry load because
    they can will achieve nothing except pile
    odium on them throughout the world.
    So you didn’t look at the photos of the command centre they broke into today?


    No I didn't. Could you post a link
    Until the claims are unequivocally verified, colour me skeptical. Hamas may well have a network of tunnels under hospitals, but when the bearer of these tidings is Team Netanyahu, I remain unconvinced without third party confirmation.

    I listen most days to BBC WATO whilst having lunch in my car, and everyday Mark Regev gives an informed account of developments. Forgive me, but I wouldn't believe him if he told me "good morning".
    Mark Regev and Aylon Levy are totally discredited. No one believes a word that they say. Both are PR men who haven't the faintest idea how to do what they are paid to do which is make Israel look like they are behaving reasonably. They seem to think if if they bully and shout at their interviewers they'll get their message across.
    BBC R4 news seem to like Regev. He might as well present WATO. He's on every day.
    He was a regular guest even before he was ambassador, which is a while back.
    He's one of the more determined ignore the question and push the government line (whether it's true or not) types.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,067
    viewcode said:

    Seeing adverts for tools to escape from submerged cars!

    Is there one for a white Lotus Esprit, 1977 model, registration "JB 007"?
    No, it's this.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-67485456
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,070
    Nigelb said:

    viewcode said:

    Seeing adverts for tools to escape from submerged cars!

    Is there one for a white Lotus Esprit, 1977 model, registration "JB 007"?
    No, it's this.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-67485456
    Dammit. I didn't know that. My light-hearted joke now looks sick and tawdry in context. Major apols.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,549
    edited November 2023
    O/T

    Starting to get slightly irritated by the number of YouTube videos whose subtitles have clearly been written by someone who didn't have anything to do with making the video. (How does that come about? Outsourcing subtitles?) Because every time an unusual word comes up in the video, they often get it wrong, which is arguably worse than nothing. (These are not computer-generated subtitles. They make slightly different types of mistakes).
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,582
    Andy_JS said:

    O/T

    Starting to get slightly irritated by the number of YouTube videos whose subtitles have clearly been written by someone who didn't have anything to do with making the video. (How does that come about? Outsourcing subtitles?) Because every time an unusual word comes up in the video, they often get it wrong, which is arguably worse than nothing. (These are not computer-generated subtitles. They make slightly different types of mistakes).

    Most of the subtitles you see are auto-generated by Youtube themselves using a primitive AI - from a system they developed originally for content moderation and flagging unsuitable videos. That it makes different mistakes, is the same as you asking ChatGPT the same question three times and getting three different answers, which we know happens.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,582
    Changpeng Zhao agrees to step down as CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, and the company pay $4.3bn in fines to the US regulator for breaches of anti-money-laundering laws. https://www.wsj.com/finance/currencies/binance-ceo-changpeng-zhao-step-down-plead-guilty-01f72a40

    Who would have thought Crypto was a big scam useful only to criminals?
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 4,578
    Pollster Chris Curtis, now running as a Labour candidate, getting raked over the coals in the replies here:

    https://x.com/mklabourparty/status/1726936644148703718
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,368
    Endillion said:

    Endillion said:

    Endillion said:

    Endillion said:

    Roger said:

    Netanyahu says war will continue after hostages released

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel will continue its war against Hamas "until we achieve all our goals".

    In a video statement recorded before the cabinet met to discuss a possible hostage deal, he said "nonsense" was being spoken to the effect that the war would be stopped once the hostages were released.

    Netanyahu described the hostages' return as a "sacred and top goal".

    "In war there are phases and in returning the hostages there are phases but we will not stop until we have total victory, until we return all of them," he said. "That’s the holy duty of all of us."

    The elimination of Hamas was also a goal, he said, "and that there won't be anything in Gaza that threatens Israel again".

    Test:




    You continue to equate the murder of innocent men, women and children with unfortunate innocent casualties of war.

    You are despicable

    Excel's telling me that 91% of the victims of this war are Gazans.
    It is not a war it is a slaughter.
    Typically, under such circumstances, the side that's losing surrenders. You don't seem very keen on that, for some reason.
    Hamas are a death cult, they don't give a f*** either way. Not for. Israelis, not for Gazans.

    I don't know who wrote that post for you, but tell them from me, they are not the sharpest tool in the box.
    Hamas are a "death cult" who "don't give a f*** either way" about human life, including the people they are supposed to be governing...

    ... and therefore, what, exactly? Everyone should just leave them alone forever?
    Who suggested leaving Hamas alone forever? It certainly wasn't me. However, the price for eradicating Hamas, shouldn't be the eradication of ten thousand, or a hundred thousand , or a million Palestinian women and children.
    Obviously it "shouldn't". We do not, however, live in a perfect world.
    So how many collateral casualties are you comfortable with?
    You know that's a stupid question. Even the idea that there's an upper limit beyond which Israel should not be allowed to continue creates a perverse incentive for Hamas to try and get them there as fast as possible.

    The whole point of having rules of war is to disincentivise actions by participants that increase civilian casualties. One of Hamas's main strategies revolves around blurring that point, such that their deliberate endangerment of their own people becomes a weapon on the international stage. Don't fall for it.
    Of course it's a legitimate question.

    You have introduced "the rules of war" and they insist civilian casualties are to be minimised. Hamas don't operate to the rules of war, they are a prescribed terrorist organisation, Israel on the other hand is obliged to conform to UN conventions.

    What have I fallen for?
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,582
    Really interesting long form interview between Joe Rogan and Mike Baker, who’s an ex-CIA type - on current geopolitics, war and peace, Israel, Gaza, Ukraine and all that stuff. Well worth a couple of hours.
    https://open.spotify.com/episode/4o99bPJErwHqhjVRGWPS79?si=lXjIuzMoS3OAq9M4owP3-w
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,582
    carnforth said:

    Pollster Chris Curtis, now running as a Labour candidate, getting raked over the coals in the replies here:

    https://x.com/mklabourparty/status/1726936644148703718

    LOL. There’s a good opportunity for a friendly Tory MP to plant a question at PMQs. “Should Milton Keynes be a nuclear-free zone?”

    Someone like Chris Curtis should respect himself enough to be above that sort of posturing.
  • TazTaz Posts: 14,372
    Israel’s cabinet approves a ceasefire to get the hostages released. the ceasefire which the Scottish Parliament demanded yesterday.

    Anas Sarwar, this is your victory !!

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-middle-east-67481139
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,582
    On topic, back both the May window at 23% (7/2 ish), and the October window at 58% (4/9 ish). It’s going to be one or the other, unless massive events intervene.

    2019 was the anomoly, as Parliament was deadlocked and couldn’t pass wind, something had to be done to sort the problem. No-one wants to campaign either in the dark of winter, or in the summer when everyone’s on holiday. It’s spring or autumn, and my favourite date is still 23rd October.
  • TazTaz Posts: 14,372
    carnforth said:

    Pollster Chris Curtis, now running as a Labour candidate, getting raked over the coals in the replies here:

    https://x.com/mklabourparty/status/1726936644148703718

    Were the evil Tories planning to dump nuclear waste in Milton Keynes or is this copied form the Lib Dem playbook.
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 4,578
    Taz said:

    carnforth said:

    Pollster Chris Curtis, now running as a Labour candidate, getting raked over the coals in the replies here:

    https://x.com/mklabourparty/status/1726936644148703718

    Were the evil Tories planning to dump nuclear waste in Milton Keynes or is this copied form the Lib Dem playbook.
    Some of the quote tweets suggest it's a mailing-list-building technique.
This discussion has been closed.