Nice clear post with video illustrations attached below.
Since the media refuses to report on it, let me share what happens at a typical Trump speech:
1. He comes out to the playing of the “January 6 Anthem” song which he recorded with some of the most dangerous J6 rioters in jail.
2. He brags how his song with the J6 rioters gets more downloads than Taylor Swift (it does not)
3. He spends a few minutes talking about passing cognitive exams, and how the audience would not pass the exam, but because he is really smart (he is not) he is able to ace the exam.
4. He praises Viktor Orban, the leader of Hungary, who Trump says is the most respected leader in Europe (he is not).
5. He praises President Xi and says he is very strong and rules over 1 billion people with an iron fist and Hollywood couldn’t find an actor as tough as President Xi.
6. He praises Putin and says people say it’s a bad thing he gets along with Putin but he thinks it’s a good thing.
7. He makes weird noises reenacting lifting weights with a trans woman and he says “mommy I can’t do it. Mommy. Ughhh, uhh, mommy help me.”
8. He says he doesn’t like seeing President Biden at the beach and says he has a better body than Biden (he does not)
9. He talks about his hatred of windmills and his hatred of electric cars. He says he would rather be electrocuted than eaten by sharks however.
10. He praises the J6 insurrectionists and calls them hostages.
11. He whines about his court cases, attacks prosecutors, judges, and witnesses, and then praises “the great Alphonse Capone” and brags he was indicted more than Capone.
12. He quotes Hitler and says immigrants are poisoning the blood of our country.
13. He says he wants to be a dictator on day 1.
14. He plays QAnon music, audience members often make QAnon sign with their hands, and he talks about how America is a failing nation.
Oh god. This is what I was afraid of. Pivoting to the centre to win over independents.
Problem for Biden is that this sounds infinitely more amusing than 1 hour watching a tragic old Democrat cadaver pretend he’s not dead
This occurred to me earlier. Trump is fun. You can kind of like him in an ‘ironic’ way as well. But that may translate into actual votes
My hunch was that Biden would win a rematch with Trump because, economy. I am now much less certain, you can call it dementia or senility or whatever, does it matter? He obviously has it and it is deeply offputting and no one wants to watch it for another 4 years, it’s like being in a room with your decomposing Irish nan
It's not fun watching a mean-spirited narcissist bully and manipulate people. I hate it. There is just a tiny tiny part of me that's entertained as well as horrified but this is not an aspect of my brain chemistry I wish to encourage.
It'll be the same with you, I'm sure. The better part of you wants him gone, the worst part laps him up and wants him to win in November. For some reason it's that worst part which seems to animate a lot of your posts.
I have a spirit of devilry to be sure
I do genuinely want Trump to lose… but he is funny. Genuinely funny. Worse, he seems to feed off the negative embarrassed energy of his enemies, the more they flail the more animated he becomes
It’s quite strange
But. Sober hat on. Mature face adopted. The New York Times is right. Its time to get rid of Biden - however it happens, just do it it - and install anyone vaguely sane with a good VP choice
Biden is going to lose to Trump, as things stand
Yep. Been saying it for months. Trouble is now I think it is too late.
What happens if trump loses? I don’t think we’re thinking about that enough. Wanting to see him beaten is such an all encompassing wish that we’re a bit blind to the quite serious risks for American democracy even if he doesn’t win. If he lost the popular vote, 40 states and control of the house then perhaps we’d see the back of his movement. But unless Taylor Swift gets off her arse and runs, it’s likely to be close enough that he can cry foul and cause all sorts of trouble.
I’ve just realised. It should be Tubthumping. Chumbawumba
That is the greatest song ever for a raucous rugger crowd. Can you IMAGINE 100,000 drunk as fuck Englishmen BELLOWING “I get knocked down, but I get up again, you’re never gonna keep me down”
That is us. The English. You’re never gonna keep us down. And we do like a whisky drink. And then a lager drink
We’d win every single match if we adopted that as our anthem
I see that Chumbawumba are an anarcho-communist feminist punk ensemble from Lancashire and Yorkshire. That’s the perfect backstory. They are the people’s music
I see that Chumbawumba are an anarcho-communist feminist punk ensemble from Lancashire and Yorkshire. That’s the perfect backstory. They are the people’s music
I see that Chumbawumba are an anarcho-communist feminist punk ensemble from Lancashire and Yorkshire. That’s the perfect backstory. They are the people’s music
TUBTHUMPING it is. What an anthem
The video might be a Woke Problem.
Even better
“Pissing the night away, pissing the niiiiiight away”
That is us. It is perfect
I might actually start a small fascist party using that as an anthem
I’ve just realised. It should be Tubthumping. Chumbawumba
That is the greatest song ever for a raucous rugger crowd. Can you IMAGINE 100,000 drunk as fuck Englishmen BELLOWING “I get knocked down, but I get up again, you’re never gonna keep me down”
That is us. The English. You’re never gonna keep us down. And we do like a whisky drink. And then a lager drink
We’d win every single match if we adopted that as our anthem
Lyrically, “hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way” would be more accurate. A tough one for the crowd to sing, though.
'Donald Trump said on Saturday that as president, he warned Nato allies that he “would encourage” Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to countries that are “delinquent” as he ramped up his attacks on foreign aid and longstanding international alliances.'
Trump being re-elected is the end of NATO. Why would anyone want to be reliant on this man?
You could argue, of course, that this is not necessarily a bad thing and that NATO is well past its sell by date. But it would be the end.
I’m really not a Trump fan, but he has a point that Europe has for too long relied on the US for its own defence, and needs to step up.
If European countries start buying more American weapons, then Trump will be all in favour of keeping NATO alive. He’s a zero-sum type of guy.
Yes, he absolutely has a point. The free ride for Europe is coming to an end
Er, the point is that Trump isn't merely complaining about funding contributions. He's actively forming a partnership with Putin to invade Europe.
Putin is currently in no position to invade anything else.
Currently.
He's heading in to his 70s and has just had his military hollowed out. He wont be in a position to do anything much but bully a few small nations in the Caucuses
Russia had transitioned to a war economy. But it is also facing a demographic cliff edge which could put an end to Putin's geopolitical ambitions if he doesnt crack on. The window will close. He's an oldish man in a hurry.
I’ve just realised. It should be Tubthumping. Chumbawumba
That is the greatest song ever for a raucous rugger crowd. Can you IMAGINE 100,000 drunk as fuck Englishmen BELLOWING “I get knocked down, but I get up again, you’re never gonna keep me down”
That is us. The English. You’re never gonna keep us down. And we do like a whisky drink. And then a lager drink
We’d win every single match if we adopted that as our anthem
Lyrically, “hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way” would be more accurate. A tough one for the crowd to sing, though.
Great song. But we can play that at the end after we lose, along with the Smiths Please Please Please
But I honestly think we’d never lose if we had Tubthumping as our Twickers anthem. It would intimidate the fuck out of everyone. 100,000 voices. I get knocked down BUT I GET UP AGAIN
Nice clear post with video illustrations attached below.
Since the media refuses to report on it, let me share what happens at a typical Trump speech:
1. He comes out to the playing of the “January 6 Anthem” song which he recorded with some of the most dangerous J6 rioters in jail.
2. He brags how his song with the J6 rioters gets more downloads than Taylor Swift (it does not)
3. He spends a few minutes talking about passing cognitive exams, and how the audience would not pass the exam, but because he is really smart (he is not) he is able to ace the exam.
4. He praises Viktor Orban, the leader of Hungary, who Trump says is the most respected leader in Europe (he is not).
5. He praises President Xi and says he is very strong and rules over 1 billion people with an iron fist and Hollywood couldn’t find an actor as tough as President Xi.
6. He praises Putin and says people say it’s a bad thing he gets along with Putin but he thinks it’s a good thing.
7. He makes weird noises reenacting lifting weights with a trans woman and he says “mommy I can’t do it. Mommy. Ughhh, uhh, mommy help me.”
8. He says he doesn’t like seeing President Biden at the beach and says he has a better body than Biden (he does not)
9. He talks about his hatred of windmills and his hatred of electric cars. He says he would rather be electrocuted than eaten by sharks however.
10. He praises the J6 insurrectionists and calls them hostages.
11. He whines about his court cases, attacks prosecutors, judges, and witnesses, and then praises “the great Alphonse Capone” and brags he was indicted more than Capone.
12. He quotes Hitler and says immigrants are poisoning the blood of our country.
13. He says he wants to be a dictator on day 1.
14. He plays QAnon music, audience members often make QAnon sign with their hands, and he talks about how America is a failing nation.
Oh god. This is what I was afraid of. Pivoting to the centre to win over independents.
Problem for Biden is that this sounds infinitely more amusing than 1 hour watching a tragic old Democrat cadaver pretend he’s not dead
This occurred to me earlier. Trump is fun. You can kind of like him in an ‘ironic’ way as well. But that may translate into actual votes
My hunch was that Biden would win a rematch with Trump because, economy. I am now much less certain, you can call it dementia or senility or whatever, does it matter? He obviously has it and it is deeply offputting and no one wants to watch it for another 4 years, it’s like being in a room with your decomposing Irish nan
It's not fun watching a mean-spirited narcissist bully and manipulate people. I hate it. There is just a tiny tiny part of me that's entertained as well as horrified but this is not an aspect of my brain chemistry I wish to encourage.
It'll be the same with you, I'm sure. The better part of you wants him gone, the worst part laps him up and wants him to win in November. For some reason it's that worst part which seems to animate a lot of your posts.
I have a spirit of devilry to be sure
I do genuinely want Trump to lose… but he is funny. Genuinely funny. Worse, he seems to feed off the negative embarrassed energy of his enemies, the more they flail the more animated he becomes
It’s quite strange
But. Sober hat on. Mature face adopted. The New York Times is right. Its time to get rid of Biden - however it happens, just do it it - and install anyone vaguely sane with a good VP choice
Biden is going to lose to Trump, as things stand
Yep. Been saying it for months. Trouble is now I think it is too late.
What happens if trump loses? I don’t think we’re thinking about that enough. Wanting to see him beaten is such an all encompassing wish that we’re a bit blind to the quite serious risks for American democracy even if he doesn’t win. If he lost the popular vote, 40 states and control of the house then perhaps we’d see the back of his movement. But unless Taylor Swift gets off her arse and runs, it’s likely to be close enough that he can cry foul and cause all sorts of trouble.
You can only deal with what is in front of you at the time. Right now Trump would be a complete disaster for the US and for the world. And to be honest I am more concerned about the latter than the former.
Yes there will be consequences to a Trump loss but that would be the lesser of two evils.
Italy must have the world’s worst national anthem as a proportion of “possible national songs they could have chosen”
It's very marchy tin-pot Dictator stuff. But the dirge that is GSTK takes some beating in the sh!te stakes.
GSTK is fine. Not the best. But it’s really simple, highly memorable, nicely short, and you can really belt it out
Contrast La Marseillaise which is a fabulous tune but really hard to sing esp in chorus
We have often discussed this on PB. We usually conclude the Russians and the Welsh have the best anthems
I like the Star Spangled Banner. Suits my vocal range.
I have a soft spot for the Star Spangled Banner because I worked out how to play it on the tin whistle (though it's actually a pain in the arse on that instrument).
Star Spangled Banner was ruined for me when someone pointed out the break to We Wish You A Merry Christmas near the end and now I can't not hear it. Also, it is hard for even professional singers.
Any singer with decent range can do it.
Who’s the singer at the Superb Owl tonight? Usually there’s a market on how long the anthem will take to sing, with loads of analysis about whether the singer is likely to be fast or slow.
Contralto, and “country music icon” Reba McEntire.
Okay, well I have no idea who that is. The suggestion is that the under 90.5s is a good bet though. https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/super-bowl-national-anthem-prop-bets-2024-reba-mcentires-over-under-length-odds-and-more/ar-BB1i4i0T “McEntire has performed multiple National Anthems throughout her illustrious 40-year career, including a 78-second version at the 1985 National Finals Rodeo, a 66-second performance at the 1985 World Series in 1985, an 83-second rendition at the 1997 World Series, and a 90-second edition at a Cowboys game in 1999”
Such nonsense brings war. On Putin's logic, leaders anywhere can make endless claims to territory based on various interpretations of the past. That undoes the entire international order, based as it is upon legal borders between sovereign states
.. The second problem, after war, is genocide. After you decide a a country in the deep past is also somehow your country now, you then insist that the only true history is whatever seems to prove you right. The experiences of people who actually lived in the past and live in the present are "artificial" (to use one of Putin's favorite words).
In the interview, and in other speeches during the war, Putin depends on a false distinction between natural nations and artificial nations. Natural nations have a right to exist, artificial ones do not.
But there are no natural nations. All nations are made. The Russia of tomorrow is made by the actions of Russians today. If Russians fight a lawless war of destruction in Ukraine, that makes them a different people than they might have been. This is more important than anything that happened centuries ago. When a nation is called "artificial," this is justification for genocide. Genocidal language does not refer to the past; it changes the future.
Everyone who does not fit Putin's neat story (Russia is eternal, so Russians can do whatever they want) has to be removed, first from the narrative of the past, and then from those counted as human in present. On Putin's logic, it does not matter what people believe or how people understand their own past. It is he who decides which souls are bound to which other soul….
Isn't the seat being abolished come the election? Hence why the Labour candidate is the person originally adopted for a neighbouring seat.
If so, then actually I think he's sensible to say it that way. My experience of the people of Bristol is they don't like humbugs, but they respect honesty.
Nice clear post with video illustrations attached below.
Since the media refuses to report on it, let me share what happens at a typical Trump speech:
1. He comes out to the playing of the “January 6 Anthem” song which he recorded with some of the most dangerous J6 rioters in jail.
2. He brags how his song with the J6 rioters gets more downloads than Taylor Swift (it does not)
3. He spends a few minutes talking about passing cognitive exams, and how the audience would not pass the exam, but because he is really smart (he is not) he is able to ace the exam.
4. He praises Viktor Orban, the leader of Hungary, who Trump says is the most respected leader in Europe (he is not).
5. He praises President Xi and says he is very strong and rules over 1 billion people with an iron fist and Hollywood couldn’t find an actor as tough as President Xi.
6. He praises Putin and says people say it’s a bad thing he gets along with Putin but he thinks it’s a good thing.
7. He makes weird noises reenacting lifting weights with a trans woman and he says “mommy I can’t do it. Mommy. Ughhh, uhh, mommy help me.”
8. He says he doesn’t like seeing President Biden at the beach and says he has a better body than Biden (he does not)
9. He talks about his hatred of windmills and his hatred of electric cars. He says he would rather be electrocuted than eaten by sharks however.
10. He praises the J6 insurrectionists and calls them hostages.
11. He whines about his court cases, attacks prosecutors, judges, and witnesses, and then praises “the great Alphonse Capone” and brags he was indicted more than Capone.
12. He quotes Hitler and says immigrants are poisoning the blood of our country.
13. He says he wants to be a dictator on day 1.
14. He plays QAnon music, audience members often make QAnon sign with their hands, and he talks about how America is a failing nation.
Oh god. This is what I was afraid of. Pivoting to the centre to win over independents.
Problem for Biden is that this sounds infinitely more amusing than 1 hour watching a tragic old Democrat cadaver pretend he’s not dead
This occurred to me earlier. Trump is fun. You can kind of like him in an ‘ironic’ way as well. But that may translate into actual votes
My hunch was that Biden would win a rematch with Trump because, economy. I am now much less certain, you can call it dementia or senility or whatever, does it matter? He obviously has it and it is deeply offputting and no one wants to watch it for another 4 years, it’s like being in a room with your decomposing Irish nan
It's not fun watching a mean-spirited narcissist bully and manipulate people. I hate it. There is just a tiny tiny part of me that's entertained as well as horrified but this is not an aspect of my brain chemistry I wish to encourage.
It'll be the same with you, I'm sure. The better part of you wants him gone, the worst part laps him up and wants him to win in November. For some reason it's that worst part which seems to animate a lot of your posts.
I have a spirit of devilry to be sure
I do genuinely want Trump to lose… but he is funny. Genuinely funny. Worse, he seems to feed off the negative embarrassed energy of his enemies, the more they flail the more animated he becomes
It’s quite strange
But. Sober hat on. Mature face adopted. The New York Times is right. Its time to get rid of Biden - however it happens, just do it it - and install anyone vaguely sane with a good VP choice
Biden is going to lose to Trump, as things stand
Yep. Been saying it for months. Trouble is now I think it is too late.
What happens if trump loses? I don’t think we’re thinking about that enough. Wanting to see him beaten is such an all encompassing wish that we’re a bit blind to the quite serious risks for American democracy even if he doesn’t win. If he lost the popular vote, 40 states and control of the house then perhaps we’d see the back of his movement. But unless Taylor Swift gets off her arse and runs, it’s likely to be close enough that he can cry foul and cause all sorts of trouble.
You can only deal with what is in front of you at the time. Right now Trump would be a complete disaster for the US and for the world. And to be honest I am more concerned about the latter than the former.
Yes there will be consequences to a Trump loss but that would be the lesser of two evils.
The route to US gains that they've followed before is to sit on the sidelines, fund the conflict, and then, in the nick of time, intervene in a way to claim the victory, diminish everyone else, and keep the spoils. That seems to be Trump's long game.
I’ve just realised. It should be Tubthumping. Chumbawumba
That is the greatest song ever for a raucous rugger crowd. Can you IMAGINE 100,000 drunk as fuck Englishmen BELLOWING “I get knocked down, but I get up again, you’re never gonna keep me down”
That is us. The English. You’re never gonna keep us down. And we do like a whisky drink. And then a lager drink
We’d win every single match if we adopted that as our anthem
How many of us have this as a 7” single on the limited edition red vinyl? I’ll guess only me.
Also an interesting b-side, an anti-monarchist anthem called “Farewell to the Crown”. Went down well in Welsh discos in the late 1990s.
Nice clear post with video illustrations attached below.
Since the media refuses to report on it, let me share what happens at a typical Trump speech:
1. He comes out to the playing of the “January 6 Anthem” song which he recorded with some of the most dangerous J6 rioters in jail.
2. He brags how his song with the J6 rioters gets more downloads than Taylor Swift (it does not)
3. He spends a few minutes talking about passing cognitive exams, and how the audience would not pass the exam, but because he is really smart (he is not) he is able to ace the exam.
4. He praises Viktor Orban, the leader of Hungary, who Trump says is the most respected leader in Europe (he is not).
5. He praises President Xi and says he is very strong and rules over 1 billion people with an iron fist and Hollywood couldn’t find an actor as tough as President Xi.
6. He praises Putin and says people say it’s a bad thing he gets along with Putin but he thinks it’s a good thing.
7. He makes weird noises reenacting lifting weights with a trans woman and he says “mommy I can’t do it. Mommy. Ughhh, uhh, mommy help me.”
8. He says he doesn’t like seeing President Biden at the beach and says he has a better body than Biden (he does not)
9. He talks about his hatred of windmills and his hatred of electric cars. He says he would rather be electrocuted than eaten by sharks however.
10. He praises the J6 insurrectionists and calls them hostages.
11. He whines about his court cases, attacks prosecutors, judges, and witnesses, and then praises “the great Alphonse Capone” and brags he was indicted more than Capone.
12. He quotes Hitler and says immigrants are poisoning the blood of our country.
13. He says he wants to be a dictator on day 1.
14. He plays QAnon music, audience members often make QAnon sign with their hands, and he talks about how America is a failing nation.
Oh god. This is what I was afraid of. Pivoting to the centre to win over independents.
Problem for Biden is that this sounds infinitely more amusing than 1 hour watching a tragic old Democrat cadaver pretend he’s not dead
This occurred to me earlier. Trump is fun. You can kind of like him in an ‘ironic’ way as well. But that may translate into actual votes
My hunch was that Biden would win a rematch with Trump because, economy. I am now much less certain, you can call it dementia or senility or whatever, does it matter? He obviously has it and it is deeply offputting and no one wants to watch it for another 4 years, it’s like being in a room with your decomposing Irish nan
It's not fun watching a mean-spirited narcissist bully and manipulate people. I hate it. There is just a tiny tiny part of me that's entertained as well as horrified but this is not an aspect of my brain chemistry I wish to encourage.
It'll be the same with you, I'm sure. The better part of you wants him gone, the worst part laps him up and wants him to win in November. For some reason it's that worst part which seems to animate a lot of your posts.
I have a spirit of devilry to be sure
I do genuinely want Trump to lose… but he is funny. Genuinely funny. Worse, he seems to feed off the negative embarrassed energy of his enemies, the more they flail the more animated he becomes
It’s quite strange
But. Sober hat on. Mature face adopted. The New York Times is right. Its time to get rid of Biden - however it happens, just do it it - and install anyone vaguely sane with a good VP choice
Biden is going to lose to Trump, as things stand
Yep. Been saying it for months. Trouble is now I think it is too late.
What happens if trump loses? I don’t think we’re thinking about that enough. Wanting to see him beaten is such an all encompassing wish that we’re a bit blind to the quite serious risks for American democracy even if he doesn’t win. If he lost the popular vote, 40 states and control of the house then perhaps we’d see the back of his movement. But unless Taylor Swift gets off her arse and runs, it’s likely to be close enough that he can cry foul and cause all sorts of trouble.
You can only deal with what is in front of you at the time. Right now Trump would be a complete disaster for the US and for the world. And to be honest I am more concerned about the latter than the former.
Yes there will be consequences to a Trump loss but that would be the lesser of two evils.
It is beyond belief but it seems increasingly likely that Americans are going to re-elect Trump and then the West and the idea of democracy is in the absolutely shit.
Italy must have the world’s worst national anthem as a proportion of “possible national songs they could have chosen”
It's very marchy tin-pot Dictator stuff. But the dirge that is GSTK takes some beating in the sh!te stakes.
GSTK is fine. Not the best. But it’s really simple, highly memorable, nicely short, and you can really belt it out
Contrast La Marseillaise which is a fabulous tune but really hard to sing esp in chorus
We have often discussed this on PB. We usually conclude the Russians and the Welsh have the best anthems
That is only in your mind
Well it sure ain’t Flower of Scotland
I dunno why countries insist on solemn boring turgid anthems
Waltzing Matilda is magnificent and miles better than ‘advance Australia fair’, gawd elp us
Molly malone is better than Ireland Ireland or whatever the fuck they sing
Loch Lomond thingy. Much better than flowers of Scotland
Waterloo sunset! Better than GSTK. Or boho rhapsody for the full anthemic 7 minutes where opposing teams will be forced to watch us do air guitar to the metal guitar bit, and the long closing croon woowooowooo
It could be like England’s haka
Waterloo Sunset is lovely; a moving evocation of home, and surprisingly forgiving to the amateur singer. It is specifically a London song rather than an England song. AIRI, it was Ray Davies's attempt to write a Penny Lane that meant something personal to him. I think it's better, personally.
I'm trying to think of something which is a moving evocation of home, but which applies to somewhere in L'Angleterre Profonde rather than London (or Liverpool). Best I have managed so far is Half Man Half Biscuit's "Oblong of Dreams", an uncharacteristically sincere declaration of love for the Wirral.
I still like Billy Connolley's suggestion that the anthem shold be the Archer's theme. Of course the problem is there are no words.
Waterloo Sunset is sublime. All he more so for referencing Terry and Julie.
Yes I think we should all get over the london reference. It’s the English. It’s Terry and Julie. They are in paradise. And it’s a marvellous, uplifting song
It was actually @kinabalu who suggested it as the new crowd anthem for Twickers. The RFU should adopt it forthwith
No. I said Sunny Afternoon not Waterloo Sunset. So sick of being misrepresented on here.
Italy must have the world’s worst national anthem as a proportion of “possible national songs they could have chosen”
It's very marchy tin-pot Dictator stuff. But the dirge that is GSTK takes some beating in the sh!te stakes.
GSTK is fine. Not the best. But it’s really simple, highly memorable, nicely short, and you can really belt it out
Contrast La Marseillaise which is a fabulous tune but really hard to sing esp in chorus
We have often discussed this on PB. We usually conclude the Russians and the Welsh have the best anthems
That is only in your mind
Well it sure ain’t Flower of Scotland
I dunno why countries insist on solemn boring turgid anthems
Waltzing Matilda is magnificent and miles better than ‘advance Australia fair’, gawd elp us
Molly malone is better than Ireland Ireland or whatever the fuck they sing
Loch Lomond thingy. Much better than flowers of Scotland
Waterloo sunset! Better than GSTK. Or boho rhapsody for the full anthemic 7 minutes where opposing teams will be forced to watch us do air guitar to the metal guitar bit, and the long closing croon woowooowooo
It could be like England’s haka
Waterloo Sunset is lovely; a moving evocation of home, and surprisingly forgiving to the amateur singer. It is specifically a London song rather than an England song. AIRI, it was Ray Davies's attempt to write a Penny Lane that meant something personal to him. I think it's better, personally.
I'm trying to think of something which is a moving evocation of home, but which applies to somewhere in L'Angleterre Profonde rather than London (or Liverpool). Best I have managed so far is Half Man Half Biscuit's "Oblong of Dreams", an uncharacteristically sincere declaration of love for the Wirral.
I still like Billy Connolley's suggestion that the anthem shold be the Archer's theme. Of course the problem is there are no words.
Waterloo Sunset is sublime. All he more so for referencing Terry and Julie.
Yes I think we should all get over the london reference. It’s the English. It’s Terry and Julie. They are in paradise. And it’s a marvellous, uplifting song
It was actually @kinabalu who suggested it as the new crowd anthem for Twickers. The RFU should adopt it forthwith
No. I said Sunny Afternoon not Waterloo Sunset. So sick of being misrepresented on here.
So, last night, before I went to bed, I read one of the most foolish comments I think I've ever seen on PB. In it, a poster named @Leon, mader the frankly ludicrous claim that the Carlson-Putin video had been an enormous success based on:
125 million Twitter impressions 13m YouTube views
Let's start with the first of those, shall we? It sounds immense, what a reach. But remember what it's measuring: people who saw the Tweet with the interview in. And Elon Musk himself retweeted it. That... errrr.. means that basically everyone who has used Twitter in the last five days has seen the Tweet, because the Twitter algorithm ensures that basically everyone sees Elon's Tweets.
But there's more. That's impressions. It's entirely possible for someone to see that Tweet 2, 3 even 20 times.
125 million impressions, on something retweeted by Elon Musk, isn't the sign of a success. It's a sign that Twitter's reach is really not that big anymore.
Let's be generous, though, shall we, and assume that 125 million impressions is 80 million unique users, and that 10% of those started watching. (And, for what it's worth, those are INSANELY generous assumptions for something that basically every Twitter user will have seen at least once.) Well, that's 8m people started watching the video.
I would be staggered if 10% of that made it to the 10 minute mark.
That makes the interview - on Twitter, and using very generous assumptions - about 10x more popular than my illegal immigration video on YouTube.
You know where the vast, vast majority of views have come from? YouTube.
Tucker Carlson - like every other video creator - has discovered that YouTube will deliver massively more revenue than any other distribution platform because: (a) you can actually watch it on your TV and (b) they know about their users, and can therefore monetize them well.
(Twitter being the exclusive place for Tucker Carlson content, it seems, has not lasted very long, has it?)
So... 13 million people started watching on YouTube. Good job Tucker. That's a decent result for political interview.
But that's also *started*. What proportion of people made it to the end? 10%? 5%?
Who here has watched more than 10 minutes of it? I mean, @Leon claims to. And @Harper definitely did (although he also derided it as boring.) Anyone else?
Isn't the seat being abolished come the election? Hence why the Labour candidate is the person originally adopted for a neighbouring seat.
If so, then actually I think he's sensible to say it that way. My experience of the people of Bristol is they don't like humbugs, but they respect honesty.
Yes, and it does actually say that in the story, but obviously past the part I read!
So, last night, before I went to bed, I read one of the most foolish comments I think I've ever seen on PB. In it, a poster named @Leon, mader the frankly ludicrous claim that the Carlson-Putin video had been an enormous success based on:
125 million Twitter impressions 13m YouTube views
Let's start with the first of those, shall we? It sounds immense, what a reach. But remember what it's measuring: people who saw the Tweet with the interview in. And Elon Musk himself retweeted it. That... errrr.. means that basically everyone who has used Twitter in the last five days has seen the Tweet, because the Twitter algorithm ensures that basically everyone sees Elon's Tweets.
But there's more. That's impressions. It's entirely possible for someone to see that Tweet 2, 3 even 20 times.
125 million impressions, on something retweeted by Elon Musk, isn't the sign of a success. It's a sign that Twitter's reach is really not that big anymore.
Let's be generous, though, shall we, and assume that 125 million impressions is 80 million unique users, and that 10% of those started watching. (And, for what it's worth, those are INSANELY generous assumptions for something that basically every Twitter user will have seen at least once.) Well, that's 8m people started watching the video.
I would be staggered if 10% of that made it to the 10 minute mark.
That makes the interview - on Twitter, and using very generous assumptions - about 10x more popular than my illegal immigration video on YouTube.
You know where the vast, vast majority of views have come from? YouTube.
Tucker Carlson - like every other video creator - has discovered that YouTube will deliver massively more revenue than any other distribution platform because: (a) you can actually watch it on your TV and (b) they know about their users, and can therefore monetize them well.
(Twitter being the exclusive place for Tucker Carlson content, it seems, has not lasted very long, has it?)
So... 13 million people started watching on YouTube. Good job Tucker. That's a decent result for political interview.
But that's also *started*. What proportion of people made it to the end? 10%? 5%?
Who here has watched more than 10 minutes of it? I mean, @Leon claims to. And @Harper definitely did (although he also derided it as boring.) Anyone else?
Yes that’s not anything remarkable BUT it is the first time I have recorded an entirely “normal” blood pressure in many years. And this is after 11 solid weeks of diet, fasting, exercise, minimal booze (by my standards), stupidly healthy food. I’ve lost over two stone and it stays lost. You’ve all endured my monomania as I’ve inflicted this on myself so Thankyou, sincerely. Sorry for calling you all “twats”
It’s been aided by the fact Cambodian food is madly healthy and delicious anyway. Seafood, noodles, greens, fruit
Nonetheless. A notable BP reading
I wish all the best to other PB dieters and health seekers
Weirdly, I have done almost exactly the same in the last two months:
- only drunk on a quarter of days - exercised pretty much every day - removed pretty much all junk from my diet - stopped eating after a certain point in the evening (early supper or no supper)
So, last night, before I went to bed, I read one of the most foolish comments I think I've ever seen on PB. In it, a poster named @Leon, mader the frankly ludicrous claim that the Carlson-Putin video had been an enormous success based on:
125 million Twitter impressions 13m YouTube views
Let's start with the first of those, shall we? It sounds immense, what a reach. But remember what it's measuring: people who saw the Tweet with the interview in. And Elon Musk himself retweeted it. That... errrr.. means that basically everyone who has used Twitter in the last five days has seen the Tweet, because the Twitter algorithm ensures that basically everyone sees Elon's Tweets.
But there's more. That's impressions. It's entirely possible for someone to see that Tweet 2, 3 even 20 times.
125 million impressions, on something retweeted by Elon Musk, isn't the sign of a success. It's a sign that Twitter's reach is really not that big anymore.
Let's be generous, though, shall we, and assume that 125 million impressions is 80 million unique users, and that 10% of those started watching. (And, for what it's worth, those are INSANELY generous assumptions for something that basically every Twitter user will have seen at least once.) Well, that's 8m people started watching the video.
I would be staggered if 10% of that made it to the 10 minute mark.
That makes the interview - on Twitter, and using very generous assumptions - about 10x more popular than my illegal immigration video on YouTube.
You know where the vast, vast majority of views have come from? YouTube.
Tucker Carlson - like every other video creator - has discovered that YouTube will deliver massively more revenue than any other distribution platform because: (a) you can actually watch it on your TV and (b) they know about their users, and can therefore monetize them well.
(Twitter being the exclusive place for Tucker Carlson content, it seems, has not lasted very long, has it?)
So... 13 million people started watching on YouTube. Good job Tucker. That's a decent result for political interview.
But that's also *started*. What proportion of people made it to the end? 10%? 5%?
Who here has watched more than 10 minutes of it? I mean, @Leon claims to. And @Harper definitely did (although he also derided it as boring.) Anyone else?
I only managed ten minutes or so.
Not me. Somebody told me the cake was stale, so I didn't eat any of it.
If he’s doing musical themed attacks he should call Biden “Cotton-eye Joe”. Much more fun. “If it hadn’t been for Cotton-eye Joe, I’d a been elected a long time ago. Where has his mind gone where did it go, why are you sleepy, Cotton eye Joe.”
So, last night, before I went to bed, I read one of the most foolish comments I think I've ever seen on PB. In it, a poster named @Leon, mader the frankly ludicrous claim that the Carlson-Putin video had been an enormous success based on:
125 million Twitter impressions 13m YouTube views
Let's start with the first of those, shall we? It sounds immense, what a reach. But remember what it's measuring: people who saw the Tweet with the interview in. And Elon Musk himself retweeted it. That... errrr.. means that basically everyone who has used Twitter in the last five days has seen the Tweet, because the Twitter algorithm ensures that basically everyone sees Elon's Tweets.
But there's more. That's impressions. It's entirely possible for someone to see that Tweet 2, 3 even 20 times.
125 million impressions, on something retweeted by Elon Musk, isn't the sign of a success. It's a sign that Twitter's reach is really not that big anymore.
Let's be generous, though, shall we, and assume that 125 million impressions is 80 million unique users, and that 10% of those started watching. (And, for what it's worth, those are INSANELY generous assumptions for something that basically every Twitter user will have seen at least once.) Well, that's 8m people started watching the video.
I would be staggered if 10% of that made it to the 10 minute mark.
That makes the interview - on Twitter, and using very generous assumptions - about 10x more popular than my illegal immigration video on YouTube.
You know where the vast, vast majority of views have come from? YouTube.
Tucker Carlson - like every other video creator - has discovered that YouTube will deliver massively more revenue than any other distribution platform because: (a) you can actually watch it on your TV and (b) they know about their users, and can therefore monetize them well.
(Twitter being the exclusive place for Tucker Carlson content, it seems, has not lasted very long, has it?)
So... 13 million people started watching on YouTube. Good job Tucker. That's a decent result for political interview.
But that's also *started*. What proportion of people made it to the end? 10%? 5%?
Who here has watched more than 10 minutes of it? I mean, @Leon claims to. And @Harper definitely did (although he also derided it as boring.) Anyone else?
I only managed ten minutes or so.
Not me. Somebody told me the cake was stale, so I didn't eat any of it.
If he’s doing musical themed attacks he should call Biden “Cotton-eye Joe”. Much more fun. “If it hadn’t been for Cotton-eye Joe, I’d a been elected a long time ago. Where has his mind gone where did it go, why are you sleepy, Cotton eye Joe.”
I’ve just realised. It should be Tubthumping. Chumbawumba
That is the greatest song ever for a raucous rugger crowd. Can you IMAGINE 100,000 drunk as fuck Englishmen BELLOWING “I get knocked down, but I get up again, you’re never gonna keep me down”
That is us. The English. You’re never gonna keep us down. And we do like a whisky drink. And then a lager drink
We’d win every single match if we adopted that as our anthem
How many of us have this as a 7” single on the limited edition red vinyl? I’ll guess only me.
Also an interesting b-side, an anti-monarchist anthem called “Farewell to the Crown”. Went down well in Welsh discos in the late 1990s.
I recall a Welsh nationalist paraphrasing GSTQ as 'God help Mrs Battenburg".
'Donald Trump said on Saturday that as president, he warned Nato allies that he “would encourage” Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to countries that are “delinquent” as he ramped up his attacks on foreign aid and longstanding international alliances.'
Trump being re-elected is the end of NATO. Why would anyone want to be reliant on this man?
You could argue, of course, that this is not necessarily a bad thing and that NATO is well past its sell by date. But it would be the end.
Americans have been telling Europeans not to rely on them for decades now. Why does it take someone putting it as bluntly as Trump for the message to start to sink in?
Would Trump be so pro- Putin were it not for the provision of credit via Deutsche Bank and the video kompromat taken through a two way mirror in a Moscow Hotel? Hmmm.
He's not pro-Putin but pro-American. The people who don't get him just have a different understanding of what America is and are often stuck in a Cold War timewarp.
His version of pro-Americanism runs directly contrary to fundamental UK security and economic interests. You can put these first or want Trump to be US President.
The alternative version of America has hardly been pro-British.
It has upheld our security interests for the last 80 years.
Piss off it has. The US has flirted with and often backed any other side we've been in opposition to, in the Falklands, the Cod wars, Suez etc. Our loyal lapdog stance has got us absolutely nowhere except being the place that Joe Biden snarls at in favour of Ireland, Obama puts 'at the back of the queue', and John Kerry delivers lectures to on coal mining.
I see that Chumbawumba are an anarcho-communist feminist punk ensemble from Lancashire and Yorkshire. That’s the perfect backstory. They are the people’s music
'Donald Trump said on Saturday that as president, he warned Nato allies that he “would encourage” Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to countries that are “delinquent” as he ramped up his attacks on foreign aid and longstanding international alliances.'
Trump being re-elected is the end of NATO. Why would anyone want to be reliant on this man?
You could argue, of course, that this is not necessarily a bad thing and that NATO is well past its sell by date. But it would be the end.
Americans have been telling Europeans not to rely on them for decades now. Why does it take someone putting it as bluntly as Trump for the message to start to sink in?
Would Trump be so pro- Putin were it not for the provision of credit via Deutsche Bank and the video kompromat taken through a two way mirror in a Moscow Hotel? Hmmm.
He's not pro-Putin but pro-American. The people who don't get him just have a different understanding of what America is and are often stuck in a Cold War timewarp.
His version of pro-Americanism runs directly contrary to fundamental UK security and economic interests. You can put these first or want Trump to be US President.
The alternative version of America has hardly been pro-British.
It has upheld our security interests for the last 80 years.
Piss off it has. The US has flirted with and often backed any other side we've been in opposition to, in the Falklands, the Cod wars, Suez etc. Our loyal lapdog stance has got us absolutely nowhere except being the place that Joe Biden snarls at in favour of Ireland, Obama puts 'at the back of the queue', and John Kerry delivers lectures to on coal mining.
'Donald Trump said on Saturday that as president, he warned Nato allies that he “would encourage” Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to countries that are “delinquent” as he ramped up his attacks on foreign aid and longstanding international alliances.'
Trump being re-elected is the end of NATO. Why would anyone want to be reliant on this man?
You could argue, of course, that this is not necessarily a bad thing and that NATO is well past its sell by date. But it would be the end.
Americans have been telling Europeans not to rely on them for decades now. Why does it take someone putting it as bluntly as Trump for the message to start to sink in?
Would Trump be so pro- Putin were it not for the provision of credit via Deutsche Bank and the video kompromat taken through a two way mirror in a Moscow Hotel? Hmmm.
He's not pro-Putin but pro-American. The people who don't get him just have a different understanding of what America is and are often stuck in a Cold War timewarp.
His version of pro-Americanism runs directly contrary to fundamental UK security and economic interests. You can put these first or want Trump to be US President.
The alternative version of America has hardly been pro-British.
It has upheld our security interests for the last 80 years.
Piss off it has. The US has flirted with and often backed any other side we've been in opposition to, in the Falklands, the Cod wars, Suez etc. Our loyal lapdog stance has got us absolutely nowhere except being the place that Joe Biden snarls at in favour of Ireland, Obama puts 'at the back of the queue', and John Kerry delivers lectures to on coal mining.
I see that Chumbawumba are an anarcho-communist feminist punk ensemble from Lancashire and Yorkshire. That’s the perfect backstory. They are the people’s music
TUBTHUMPING it is. What an anthem
Christ, where’ve you been.
Danbert Nobacon from Chumbawamba famously threw a bucket of water over John Prescott at the Labour Party conference (because, I don't know, he wasn't left wing enough?). Quick as a flash, before the paps arrived, Prescott floored him. Later, he quipped "I knocked him down - and he didn't get up again."
PB has really gone downhill since @Leon started dominating each thread with utter crud about national anthems, thinly-disguised Putin-worship, aliens, and so on.
Our own Tissue Price getting stuck in. Calling Labour’s leader the nasty name too
If Sir Keir had really changed the Labour Party, he’d have withdrawn his support for you this morning. Others have [rightly] had the whip removed for less.
Off topic, but important: It's my impression that British-style ties were very common in the US years ago, but are no longer so. There has been a shift to much more casual dress even in offices; for example, almost all the employees at the local Google wear jeans. (Jeans are, for much of the year, a bad choice for the climate here. Cotton is not suited to cool and damp weather.)
I think this is -- to some extent -- unfortunate, that the more casual dress often goes with a more casual approach to serious matters.
I suspect the Google office example you have there is a tech company thing. The computing/tech/geek sector has long been more casually dressed (and able to get away with it).
Italy must have the world’s worst national anthem as a proportion of “possible national songs they could have chosen”
It's very marchy tin-pot Dictator stuff. But the dirge that is GSTK takes some beating in the sh!te stakes.
GSTK is fine. Not the best. But it’s really simple, highly memorable, nicely short, and you can really belt it out
Contrast La Marseillaise which is a fabulous tune but really hard to sing esp in chorus
We have often discussed this on PB. We usually conclude the Russians and the Welsh have the best anthems
That is only in your mind
Well it sure ain’t Flower of Scotland
I dunno why countries insist on solemn boring turgid anthems
Waltzing Matilda is magnificent and miles better than ‘advance Australia fair’, gawd elp us
Molly malone is better than Ireland Ireland or whatever the fuck they sing
Loch Lomond thingy. Much better than flowers of Scotland
Waterloo sunset! Better than GSTK. Or boho rhapsody for the full anthemic 7 minutes where opposing teams will be forced to watch us do air guitar to the metal guitar bit, and the long closing croon woowooowooo
It could be like England’s haka
Waterloo Sunset is lovely; a moving evocation of home, and surprisingly forgiving to the amateur singer. It is specifically a London song rather than an England song. AIRI, it was Ray Davies's attempt to write a Penny Lane that meant something personal to him. I think it's better, personally.
I'm trying to think of something which is a moving evocation of home, but which applies to somewhere in L'Angleterre Profonde rather than London (or Liverpool). Best I have managed so far is Half Man Half Biscuit's "Oblong of Dreams", an uncharacteristically sincere declaration of love for the Wirral.
I still like Billy Connolley's suggestion that the anthem shold be the Archer's theme. Of course the problem is there are no words.
Waterloo Sunset is sublime. All he more so for referencing Terry and Julie.
Yes I think we should all get over the london reference. It’s the English. It’s Terry and Julie. They are in paradise. And it’s a marvellous, uplifting song
It was actually @kinabalu who suggested it as the new crowd anthem for Twickers. The RFU should adopt it forthwith
No. I said Sunny Afternoon not Waterloo Sunset. So sick of being misrepresented on here.
The taxman’s taken all my dough…
Yes, problematical line. Then there's the "drunkenness and cruelty" misstep.
Our own Tissue Price getting stuck in. Calling Labour’s leader the nasty name too
If Sir Keir had really changed the Labour Party, he’d have withdrawn his support for you this morning. Others have [rightly] had the whip removed for less.
So, last night, before I went to bed, I read one of the most foolish comments I think I've ever seen on PB. In it, a poster named @Leon, mader the frankly ludicrous claim that the Carlson-Putin video had been an enormous success based on:
125 million Twitter impressions 13m YouTube views
Let's start with the first of those, shall we? It sounds immense, what a reach. But remember what it's measuring: people who saw the Tweet with the interview in. And Elon Musk himself retweeted it. That... errrr.. means that basically everyone who has used Twitter in the last five days has seen the Tweet, because the Twitter algorithm ensures that basically everyone sees Elon's Tweets.
But there's more. That's impressions. It's entirely possible for someone to see that Tweet 2, 3 even 20 times.
125 million impressions, on something retweeted by Elon Musk, isn't the sign of a success. It's a sign that Twitter's reach is really not that big anymore.
Let's be generous, though, shall we, and assume that 125 million impressions is 80 million unique users, and that 10% of those started watching. (And, for what it's worth, those are INSANELY generous assumptions for something that basically every Twitter user will have seen at least once.) Well, that's 8m people started watching the video.
I would be staggered if 10% of that made it to the 10 minute mark.
That makes the interview - on Twitter, and using very generous assumptions - about 10x more popular than my illegal immigration video on YouTube.
You know where the vast, vast majority of views have come from? YouTube.
Tucker Carlson - like every other video creator - has discovered that YouTube will deliver massively more revenue than any other distribution platform because: (a) you can actually watch it on your TV and (b) they know about their users, and can therefore monetize them well.
(Twitter being the exclusive place for Tucker Carlson content, it seems, has not lasted very long, has it?)
So... 13 million people started watching on YouTube. Good job Tucker. That's a decent result for political interview.
But that's also *started*. What proportion of people made it to the end? 10%? 5%?
Who here has watched more than 10 minutes of it? I mean, @Leon claims to. And @Harper definitely did (although he also derided it as boring.) Anyone else?
For context, BTS’s Butter had 108m youtube views a day after its release.
The Rochdale candidate should be suspended from the Labour Party. It’s a no-brainer.
Apparently it’s too late for Labour to put up another candidate. Well, so what?
Journalists should go around asking Labour MPs "would you vote for him?" If they say "no" they should be asked "why should the voters then?"
Starmer would gain far more from binning him than the seat is worth.
The downside here is that George Galloway wins Rochdale. Perhaps, in turn, the potential mobilisation of Muslim vote ends up costing Labour two or three seats in the GE.
So what.
The alternative is leaving open a line of attack for the Tories. A much more critical one, by the way, than the $28m pledge so needlessly sacrificed (several times) this week.
Off topic, but important: It's my impression that British-style ties were very common in the US years ago, but are no longer so. There has been a shift to much more casual dress even in offices; for example, almost all the employees at the local Google wear jeans. (Jeans are, for much of the year, a bad choice for the climate here. Cotton is not suited to cool and damp weather.)
I think this is -- to some extent -- unfortunate, that the more casual dress often goes with a more casual approach to serious matters.
I suspect the Google office example you have there is a tech company thing. The computing/tech/geek sector has long been more casually dressed (and able to get away with it).
The City gave up ties after the GFC as a disguise to save themselves from being lynched.
The Rochdale candidate should be suspended from the Labour Party. It’s a no-brainer.
Apparently it’s too late for Labour to put up another candidate. Well, so what?
It’s the sort of thing that makes waverers and don’t knows decide not to vote Labour. Despite the incompetents and nutters in the Tory party there is always a perception, rightly or wrongly, that Labour contain plenty of nasty coves with weird extremist positions. Starmer has done a very good job of party discipline and keeping a lid on the crazies but there is always the danger that floaters look at things like this and get put off.
If I could vote I would likely vote Tory because I have no imagination but if I could see a Starmer centrist gov with sensible economic policies I would be tempted but as soon as the “never kissed a Tory” mob, the hard left nuts or anti-Semitic voices pile up you realise that these people will have influence in government and whilst people like Nadine are not my cup of tea they are nothing like as mad.
Starmer will need a stonking majority so he can ignore the wilder voices because if it’s looking close and people look at who might have influence then it’s a different menace to re-electing the Tories.
Off topic, but important: It's my impression that British-style ties were very common in the US years ago, but are no longer so. There has been a shift to much more casual dress even in offices; for example, almost all the employees at the local Google wear jeans. (Jeans are, for much of the year, a bad choice for the climate here. Cotton is not suited to cool and damp weather.)
I think this is -- to some extent -- unfortunate, that the more casual dress often goes with a more casual approach to serious matters.
I suspect the Google office example you have there is a tech company thing. The computing/tech/geek sector has long been more casually dressed (and able to get away with it).
The City gave up ties after the GFC as a disguise to save themselves from being lynched.
Apart from weddings, funerals and such, I haven’t worn a tie in 30 years.
Our own Tissue Price getting stuck in. Calling Labour’s leader the nasty name too
If Sir Keir had really changed the Labour Party, he’d have withdrawn his support for you this morning. Others have [rightly] had the whip removed for less.
Italy must have the world’s worst national anthem as a proportion of “possible national songs they could have chosen”
It's very marchy tin-pot Dictator stuff. But the dirge that is GSTK takes some beating in the sh!te stakes.
GSTK is fine. Not the best. But it’s really simple, highly memorable, nicely short, and you can really belt it out
Contrast La Marseillaise which is a fabulous tune but really hard to sing esp in chorus
We have often discussed this on PB. We usually conclude the Russians and the Welsh have the best anthems
That is only in your mind
Well it sure ain’t Flower of Scotland
I dunno why countries insist on solemn boring turgid anthems
Waltzing Matilda is magnificent and miles better than ‘advance Australia fair’, gawd elp us
Molly malone is better than Ireland Ireland or whatever the fuck they sing
Loch Lomond thingy. Much better than flowers of Scotland
Waterloo sunset! Better than GSTK. Or boho rhapsody for the full anthemic 7 minutes where opposing teams will be forced to watch us do air guitar to the metal guitar bit, and the long closing croon woowooowooo
It could be like England’s haka
Waterloo Sunset is lovely; a moving evocation of home, and surprisingly forgiving to the amateur singer. It is specifically a London song rather than an England song. AIRI, it was Ray Davies's attempt to write a Penny Lane that meant something personal to him. I think it's better, personally.
I'm trying to think of something which is a moving evocation of home, but which applies to somewhere in L'Angleterre Profonde rather than London (or Liverpool). Best I have managed so far is Half Man Half Biscuit's "Oblong of Dreams", an uncharacteristically sincere declaration of love for the Wirral.
I still like Billy Connolley's suggestion that the anthem shold be the Archer's theme. Of course the problem is there are no words.
Waterloo Sunset is sublime. All he more so for referencing Terry and Julie.
Yes I think we should all get over the london reference. It’s the English. It’s Terry and Julie. They are in paradise. And it’s a marvellous, uplifting song
It was actually @kinabalu who suggested it as the new crowd anthem for Twickers. The RFU should adopt it forthwith
No. I said Sunny Afternoon not Waterloo Sunset. So sick of being misrepresented on here.
The taxman’s taken all my dough…
Yes, problematical line. Then there's the "drunkenness and cruelty" misstep.
Maybe Waterloo Sunset would be better.
I always found the line “millions of people, swarming like flies round Waterloo Underground” to slightly sour the overall effect.
Italy must have the world’s worst national anthem as a proportion of “possible national songs they could have chosen”
It's very marchy tin-pot Dictator stuff. But the dirge that is GSTK takes some beating in the sh!te stakes.
GSTK is fine. Not the best. But it’s really simple, highly memorable, nicely short, and you can really belt it out
Contrast La Marseillaise which is a fabulous tune but really hard to sing esp in chorus
We have often discussed this on PB. We usually conclude the Russians and the Welsh have the best anthems
That is only in your mind
Well it sure ain’t Flower of Scotland
I dunno why countries insist on solemn boring turgid anthems
Waltzing Matilda is magnificent and miles better than ‘advance Australia fair’, gawd elp us
Molly malone is better than Ireland Ireland or whatever the fuck they sing
Loch Lomond thingy. Much better than flowers of Scotland
Waterloo sunset! Better than GSTK. Or boho rhapsody for the full anthemic 7 minutes where opposing teams will be forced to watch us do air guitar to the metal guitar bit, and the long closing croon woowooowooo
It could be like England’s haka
Waterloo Sunset is lovely; a moving evocation of home, and surprisingly forgiving to the amateur singer. It is specifically a London song rather than an England song. AIRI, it was Ray Davies's attempt to write a Penny Lane that meant something personal to him. I think it's better, personally.
I'm trying to think of something which is a moving evocation of home, but which applies to somewhere in L'Angleterre Profonde rather than London (or Liverpool). Best I have managed so far is Half Man Half Biscuit's "Oblong of Dreams", an uncharacteristically sincere declaration of love for the Wirral.
I still like Billy Connolley's suggestion that the anthem shold be the Archer's theme. Of course the problem is there are no words.
Waterloo Sunset is sublime. All he more so for referencing Terry and Julie.
Yes I think we should all get over the london reference. It’s the English. It’s Terry and Julie. They are in paradise. And it’s a marvellous, uplifting song
It was actually @kinabalu who suggested it as the new crowd anthem for Twickers. The RFU should adopt it forthwith
No. I said Sunny Afternoon not Waterloo Sunset. So sick of being misrepresented on here.
The taxman’s taken all my dough…
Yes, problematical line. Then there's the "drunkenness and cruelty" misstep.
Maybe Waterloo Sunset would be better.
Surely drunkenness and cruelty would make Sunny Afternoon a perfect rugger anthem.
The Rochdale candidate should be suspended from the Labour Party. It’s a no-brainer.
Apparently it’s too late for Labour to put up another candidate. Well, so what?
Do we know the Rochdale Candidate is wrong? I have seen reports that Israel's front-line monitoring stations picked up and relayed back reports on Hamas preparations, and nothing seems to have been done.
The Rochdale candidate should be suspended from the Labour Party. It’s a no-brainer.
Apparently it’s too late for Labour to put up another candidate. Well, so what?
Journalists should go around asking Labour MPs "would you vote for him?" If they say "no" they should be asked "why should the voters then?"
Starmer would gain far more from binning him than the seat is worth.
I think this must be right. Starmer should change his mind and hang him out to dry. It feels as though Labour should suspend him from the party and renounce the election. Labour needs millions of normally Tory votes to win a general election. Those ex Tories had decided that Labour has renounced anti Semitism. This looks as if they are wrong. The chance of a few of these mishaps is why I think NOM is value for the GE.
The other issue, overlooked, is that people who wish to be our MPs need to be of a calibre so that they just don't fall into these sorts of trap they set for themselves.
The Rochdale candidate should be suspended from the Labour Party. It’s a no-brainer.
Apparently it’s too late for Labour to put up another candidate. Well, so what?
It’s the sort of thing that makes waverers and don’t knows decide not to vote Labour. Despite the incompetents and nutters in the Tory party there is always a perception, rightly or wrongly, that Labour contain plenty of nasty coves with weird extremist positions. Starmer has done a very good job of party discipline and keeping a lid on the crazies but there is always the danger that floaters look at things like this and get put off.
If I could vote I would likely vote Tory because I have no imagination but if I could see a Starmer centrist gov with sensible economic policies I would be tempted but as soon as the “never kissed a Tory” mob, the hard left nuts or anti-Semitic voices pile up you realise that these people will have influence in government and whilst people like Nadine are not my cup of tea they are nothing like as mad.
Starmer will need a stonking majority so he can ignore the wilder voices because if it’s looking close and people look at who might have influence then it’s a different menace to re-electing the Tories.
Strange that Nandy was campaigning with him this morning, long after the story broke
The Rochdale candidate should be suspended from the Labour Party. It’s a no-brainer.
Apparently it’s too late for Labour to put up another candidate. Well, so what?
Do we know the Rochdale Candidate is wrong? I have seen reports that Israel's front-line monitoring stations picked up and relayed back reports on Hamas preparations, and nothing seems to have been done.
If you read his words, he suggests the Israelis *deliberately* (as opposed to negligently) ignored warnings, in order to give themselves a free rein.
Unless he has facts we don’t have, that looks like a crazy islamo-nutter conspiracy theory to me, and renders him unfit to be a Labour MP.
The Rochdale candidate should be suspended from the Labour Party. It’s a no-brainer.
Apparently it’s too late for Labour to put up another candidate. Well, so what?
The fact that it he hasn't been suspended already is a sign that Starmer is frit.
Or the claim by the Corbynites that anti semitism was weaponised to get rid of him and others Starmer and co did not like. Whatever the truth of it this is really poor from labour. This candidate should be toast.
Meanwhile the Green Party acted quickly with their candidate.
The Rochdale candidate should be suspended from the Labour Party. It’s a no-brainer.
Apparently it’s too late for Labour to put up another candidate. Well, so what?
Do we know the Rochdale Candidate is wrong? I have seen reports that Israel's front-line monitoring stations picked up and relayed back reports on Hamas preparations, and nothing seems to have been done.
That is slightly the wrong question. The truth of all sorts of things in conflicts is unclear, not known for years, sometimes never known. The job of senior politicians such as MPs is to be the sort of people who speak with care and caution about contestable facts. They all have be diplomats in how they speak. This was crass.
So the issue is not 'Do we know he was wrong?'. The issue is 'Did he speak of what he was certain, verified and clear about?' No.
The Rochdale candidate should be suspended from the Labour Party. It’s a no-brainer.
Apparently it’s too late for Labour to put up another candidate. Well, so what?
Do we know the Rochdale Candidate is wrong? I have seen reports that Israel's front-line monitoring stations picked up and relayed back reports on Hamas preparations, and nothing seems to have been done.
If you read his words, he suggests the Israelis *deliberately* (as opposed to negligently) ignored warnings, in order to give themselves a free rein.
Unless he has facts we don’t have, that looks like a crazy islamo-nutter conspiracy theory to me, and renders him unfit to be a Labour MP.
Exactly. It's like the steel beams don't melt, thermite, preplanted explosives, empty planes, holograms, Jews took the day off work — it was all an inside job — 9/11 Truther nonsense.
The Rochdale candidate should be suspended from the Labour Party. It’s a no-brainer.
Apparently it’s too late for Labour to put up another candidate. Well, so what?
Do we know the Rochdale Candidate is wrong? I have seen reports that Israel's front-line monitoring stations picked up and relayed back reports on Hamas preparations, and nothing seems to have been done.
I suppose the thing that counts against the candidates comments is that Netenyahu had always portrayed himself as the PM to keep the population safe . Also I can’t imagine there not being some leak if the security forces essentially let this massacre happen.
If Labour are going to suspend Ali from the party they should do it quickly .
The Rochdale candidate should be suspended from the Labour Party. It’s a no-brainer.
Apparently it’s too late for Labour to put up another candidate. Well, so what?
Do we know the Rochdale Candidate is wrong? I have seen reports that Israel's front-line monitoring stations picked up and relayed back reports on Hamas preparations, and nothing seems to have been done.
I suppose the thing that counts against the candidates comments is that Netenyahu had always portrayed himself as the PM to keep the population safe . Also I can’t imagine there not being some leak if the security forces essentially let this massacre happen.
If Labour are going to suspend Ali from the party they should do it quickly .
There are plenty of justifiable thing that can be said to condemn Netanyahu. Resorting to conspiracy theories says something pretty bad about the guy.
I expect the right wing press to go to town on the Ali story . There’s no other major news to take away attention from that . And of course if Labour suspend Ali then the Tories have a good chance to take the seat .
The Rochdale candidate should be suspended from the Labour Party. It’s a no-brainer.
Apparently it’s too late for Labour to put up another candidate. Well, so what?
The fact that it he hasn't been suspended already is a sign that Starmer is frit.
Or the claim by the Corbynites that anti semitism was weaponised to get rid of him and others Starmer and co did not like. Whatever the truth of it this is really poor from labour. This candidate should be toast.
Meanwhile the Green Party acted quickly with their candidate.
There have been countless tenuous expulsions and deselections of lefties over the last few years. Not to do the same for such comments is absurdly partisan.
'Important new evidence has recently been presented in court raising fresh questions over the Home Office’s decision to make a blanket accusation of cheating against more than 35,000 students, which led to thousands being thrown off their courses and forced out of the country.'
'But the Home Office’s readiness to accept evidence from ETS that 97% of all tests taken were suspicious has been repeatedly questioned. During its investigations, ETS used voice recognition technology to review the recordings of students’ voices during the spoken section of the exam and identified cases where the same voice appeared on multiple test recordings; it classified those tests as fraudulent [...]'
Former Deputy Supreme Commander of NATO says he is "100% certain" that Trump will withdraw from the organization. "Europe should be smashing the glass on the fire alarm" and prepare to "fight without American support." https://twitter.com/eeldenden/status/1754493706906870114
The Rochdale candidate should be suspended from the Labour Party. It’s a no-brainer.
Apparently it’s too late for Labour to put up another candidate. Well, so what?
Do we know the Rochdale Candidate is wrong? I have seen reports that Israel's front-line monitoring stations picked up and relayed back reports on Hamas preparations, and nothing seems to have been done.
"They were Israel's 'eyes on the border' - but their Hamas warnings went unheard"
Italy must have the world’s worst national anthem as a proportion of “possible national songs they could have chosen”
It's very marchy tin-pot Dictator stuff. But the dirge that is GSTK takes some beating in the sh!te stakes.
GSTK is fine. Not the best. But it’s really simple, highly memorable, nicely short, and you can really belt it out
Contrast La Marseillaise which is a fabulous tune but really hard to sing esp in chorus
We have often discussed this on PB. We usually conclude the Russians and the Welsh have the best anthems
That is only in your mind
Well it sure ain’t Flower of Scotland
I dunno why countries insist on solemn boring turgid anthems
Waltzing Matilda is magnificent and miles better than ‘advance Australia fair’, gawd elp us
Molly malone is better than Ireland Ireland or whatever the fuck they sing
Loch Lomond thingy. Much better than flowers of Scotland
Waterloo sunset! Better than GSTK. Or boho rhapsody for the full anthemic 7 minutes where opposing teams will be forced to watch us do air guitar to the metal guitar bit, and the long closing croon woowooowooo
It could be like England’s haka
Waterloo Sunset is lovely; a moving evocation of home, and surprisingly forgiving to the amateur singer. It is specifically a London song rather than an England song. AIRI, it was Ray Davies's attempt to write a Penny Lane that meant something personal to him. I think it's better, personally.
I'm trying to think of something which is a moving evocation of home, but which applies to somewhere in L'Angleterre Profonde rather than London (or Liverpool). Best I have managed so far is Half Man Half Biscuit's "Oblong of Dreams", an uncharacteristically sincere declaration of love for the Wirral.
I still like Billy Connolley's suggestion that the anthem shold be the Archer's theme. Of course the problem is there are no words.
Waterloo Sunset is sublime. All he more so for referencing Terry and Julie.
Yes I think we should all get over the london reference. It’s the English. It’s Terry and Julie. They are in paradise. And it’s a marvellous, uplifting song
It was actually @kinabalu who suggested it as the new crowd anthem for Twickers. The RFU should adopt it forthwith
No. I said Sunny Afternoon not Waterloo Sunset. So sick of being misrepresented on here.
The taxman’s taken all my dough…
Yes, problematical line. Then there's the "drunkenness and cruelty" misstep.
Maybe Waterloo Sunset would be better.
Surely drunkenness and cruelty would make Sunny Afternoon a perfect rugger anthem.
They've started belting out various anthems at Twickenham during time outs, must be a new thing, I can't remember that last year.
Yesterday we had 80,000 people singing Hey Jude, and later Wonderwall. It's a great innovation, I wish they'd do a set of uplifting singalong classics through half-time instead of the acid-house / garage / DJ music or whatever the f*ck it was.
I expect the right wing press to go to town on the Ali story . There’s no other major news to take away attention from that . And of course if Labour suspend Ali then the Tories have a good chance to take the seat .
Nah, opposition to Labour will be split between Galloway, UKRef and the Tories. Labour will win, Ali will be suspended and they'll be a different winning Labour candidate come the GE>
The Rochdale candidate should be suspended from the Labour Party. It’s a no-brainer.
Apparently it’s too late for Labour to put up another candidate. Well, so what?
The fact that it he hasn't been suspended already is a sign that Starmer is frit.
Or the claim by the Corbynites that anti semitism was weaponised to get rid of him and others Starmer and co did not like. Whatever the truth of it this is really poor from labour. This candidate should be toast.
Meanwhile the Green Party acted quickly with their candidate.
There have been countless tenuous expulsions and deselections of lefties over the last few years. Not to do the same for such comments is absurdly partisan.
Yet there are plenty on the labour right, including here, who thought Driscoll deserved it. He made it clear it was about films and Loach had filmed another film in the north east.
Driscoll would not have beaten the preferred candidate anyway.
Former Deputy Supreme Commander of NATO says he is "100% certain" that Trump will withdraw from the organization. "Europe should be smashing the glass on the fire alarm" and prepare to "fight without American support." https://twitter.com/eeldenden/status/1754493706906870114
It shows how effective Trump is.
US presidents have been telling Europe to pull its finger out for decades, but all it took was one campaign speech from Trump for the message to get through.
Former Deputy Supreme Commander of NATO says he is "100% certain" that Trump will withdraw from the organization. "Europe should be smashing the glass on the fire alarm" and prepare to "fight without American support." https://twitter.com/eeldenden/status/1754493706906870114
Time for the EU and the UK to realize that it’s time to forget about the USA and look after their own security .
Ironically a Trump win is the worst thing for those who have an unhinged hatred of the EU . With the orange psychopath in the WH the UK and EU are likely to become much closer .
Former Deputy Supreme Commander of NATO says he is "100% certain" that Trump will withdraw from the organization. "Europe should be smashing the glass on the fire alarm" and prepare to "fight without American support." https://twitter.com/eeldenden/status/1754493706906870114
It shows how effective Trump is.
US presidents have been telling Europe to pull its finger out for decades, but all it took was one campaign speech from Trump for the message to get through.
Effective at generating the first serious doubt in over half a century over the US commitment to its allies, sure.
The Rochdale candidate should be suspended from the Labour Party. It’s a no-brainer.
Apparently it’s too late for Labour to put up another candidate. Well, so what?
Do we know the Rochdale Candidate is wrong? I have seen reports that Israel's front-line monitoring stations picked up and relayed back reports on Hamas preparations, and nothing seems to have been done.
If you read his words, he suggests the Israelis *deliberately* (as opposed to negligently) ignored warnings, in order to give themselves a free rein.
Unless he has facts we don’t have, that looks like a crazy islamo-nutter conspiracy theory to me, and renders him unfit to be a Labour MP.
It doesn't to me. The Israelis might just have underestimated the threat. Sometimes it is better to let the enemy attack before taking action.
Off topic, but important: It's my impression that British-style ties were very common in the US years ago, but are no longer so. There has been a shift to much more casual dress even in offices; for example, almost all the employees at the local Google wear jeans. (Jeans are, for much of the year, a bad choice for the climate here. Cotton is not suited to cool and damp weather.)
I think this is -- to some extent -- unfortunate, that the more casual dress often goes with a more casual approach to serious matters.
I suspect the Google office example you have there is a tech company thing. The computing/tech/geek sector has long been more casually dressed (and able to get away with it).
The City gave up ties after the GFC as a disguise to save themselves from being lynched.
Apart from weddings, funerals and such, I haven’t worn a tie in 30 years.
When I was 30 I felt the need to dress up a bit in front of 50-year-old clients in the hope of looking serious. Nowadays I have to dress down in the hope of looking frivolous. Miraculously the clients haven't aged at all. Was it a poet or an emperor who lamented that while he had become an old man the crowd on the Appian Way remained the same?
Former Deputy Supreme Commander of NATO says he is "100% certain" that Trump will withdraw from the organization. "Europe should be smashing the glass on the fire alarm" and prepare to "fight without American support." https://twitter.com/eeldenden/status/1754493706906870114
Time for the EU and the UK to realize that it’s time to forget about the USA and look after their own security .
Ironically a Trump win is the worst thing for those who have an unhinged hatred of the EU . With the orange psychopath in the WH the UK and EU are likely to become much closer .
The strange thing is Trump seems to think NATO is akin to a neighbourhood protection racket on the Lower East Side. You'll get "protection" if you pay enough - if you don't, you won't.
Time to ask ourselves some serious questions - do we need NATO any longer? It's been arguably the most successful military alliance in history but it was primarily set up as an ideological counter weight to an expansionost revolutionary ideology. The truth now is Russia isn't the Warsaw Pact and China may be a threat to the US in the Pacific but not militarily to Europe.
Maintaining our independent nuclear deterrent and the French Force de Frappe still makes for a formidable defence and were we to align with the growing military power of Poland we would be in a better place but it begs the question - NATO stands for collective defence, an attack on one is an attack on all but is that a reasonable doctrine in a multipolar world? To what extent and in what way should be acting as a guarantor for the defence of Latvia or Finland?
Former Deputy Supreme Commander of NATO says he is "100% certain" that Trump will withdraw from the organization. "Europe should be smashing the glass on the fire alarm" and prepare to "fight without American support." https://twitter.com/eeldenden/status/1754493706906870114
It shows how effective Trump is.
US presidents have been telling Europe to pull its finger out for decades, but all it took was one campaign speech from Trump for the message to get through.
Effective at generating the first serious doubt in over half a century over the US commitment to its allies, sure.
Anyone who thinks that a good thing is a fool.
You think that it's sustainable to spend below the agreed amount on the military while relying on the US?
If it took someone as blunt as Trump for the message to be heard, European countries only have themselves to blame.
The Nation Chair of the Jewish Labour Movement has tweeted (echoing what I said this morning.)
Azhar Ali’s comments are totally reprehensible. But this close to polling day, electoral law says he will be Labour’s candidate, whatever Starmer says or does now.
Ali’s destroyed his past record of allyship with the Jewish community and has a mountain to climb to repair it.
Fact is, alternative in Rochdale is George Galloway. Giving him a parliamentary platform to spew hate & sow division will harm the Jewish community far more than electing Ali. Handing election to Galloway will be a Pyrrhic victory for those calling on Labour to go further now
JLM won't campaign in Rochdale. But we know how far the Party has come under Keir Starmer in tackling antisemitism and that the Party, from Starmer down, is as shocked and disgusted by Ali's comments as we are. This proves there is still much work to do.
Nice clear post with video illustrations attached below.
Since the media refuses to report on it, let me share what happens at a typical Trump speech:
1. He comes out to the playing of the “January 6 Anthem” song which he recorded with some of the most dangerous J6 rioters in jail.
2. He brags how his song with the J6 rioters gets more downloads than Taylor Swift (it does not)
3. He spends a few minutes talking about passing cognitive exams, and how the audience would not pass the exam, but because he is really smart (he is not) he is able to ace the exam.
4. He praises Viktor Orban, the leader of Hungary, who Trump says is the most respected leader in Europe (he is not).
5. He praises President Xi and says he is very strong and rules over 1 billion people with an iron fist and Hollywood couldn’t find an actor as tough as President Xi.
6. He praises Putin and says people say it’s a bad thing he gets along with Putin but he thinks it’s a good thing.
7. He makes weird noises reenacting lifting weights with a trans woman and he says “mommy I can’t do it. Mommy. Ughhh, uhh, mommy help me.”
8. He says he doesn’t like seeing President Biden at the beach and says he has a better body than Biden (he does not)
9. He talks about his hatred of windmills and his hatred of electric cars. He says he would rather be electrocuted than eaten by sharks however.
10. He praises the J6 insurrectionists and calls them hostages.
11. He whines about his court cases, attacks prosecutors, judges, and witnesses, and then praises “the great Alphonse Capone” and brags he was indicted more than Capone.
12. He quotes Hitler and says immigrants are poisoning the blood of our country.
13. He says he wants to be a dictator on day 1.
14. He plays QAnon music, audience members often make QAnon sign with their hands, and he talks about how America is a failing nation.
Oh god. This is what I was afraid of. Pivoting to the centre to win over independents.
Problem for Biden is that this sounds infinitely more amusing than 1 hour watching a tragic old Democrat cadaver pretend he’s not dead
This occurred to me earlier. Trump is fun. You can kind of like him in an ‘ironic’ way as well. But that may translate into actual votes
My hunch was that Biden would win a rematch with Trump because, economy. I am now much less certain, you can call it dementia or senility or whatever, does it matter? He obviously has it and it is deeply offputting and no one wants to watch it for another 4 years, it’s like being in a room with your decomposing Irish nan
It's not fun watching a mean-spirited narcissist bully and manipulate people. I hate it. There is just a tiny tiny part of me that's entertained as well as horrified but this is not an aspect of my brain chemistry I wish to encourage.
It'll be the same with you, I'm sure. The better part of you wants him gone, the worst part laps him up and wants him to win in November. For some reason it's that worst part which seems to animate a lot of your posts.
I have a spirit of devilry to be sure
I do genuinely want Trump to lose… but he is funny. Genuinely funny. Worse, he seems to feed off the negative embarrassed energy of his enemies, the more they flail the more animated he becomes
It’s quite strange
But. Sober hat on. Mature face adopted. The New York Times is right. Its time to get rid of Biden - however it happens, just do it it - and install anyone vaguely sane with a good VP choice
Biden is going to lose to Trump, as things stand
Yep. Been saying it for months. Trouble is now I think it is too late.
What happens if trump loses? I don’t think we’re thinking about that enough. Wanting to see him beaten is such an all encompassing wish that we’re a bit blind to the quite serious risks for American democracy even if he doesn’t win. If he lost the popular vote, 40 states and control of the house then perhaps we’d see the back of his movement. But unless Taylor Swift gets off her arse and runs, it’s likely to be close enough that he can cry foul and cause all sorts of trouble.
Ignoring @Leon's goonery, that last question is interesting.
If the Democrats win, what is the future of the Republicans? Having followed a Charlie Chaplin villain off the cliff of sanity, what happens to USA politics? Do we get a second party not dwelling on planet Zarg from somewhere?
If Trump makes it, whither Five Eyes? Do we suspend the USA for the duration, and see what of the West is left standing?
Former Deputy Supreme Commander of NATO says he is "100% certain" that Trump will withdraw from the organization. "Europe should be smashing the glass on the fire alarm" and prepare to "fight without American support." https://twitter.com/eeldenden/status/1754493706906870114
It shows how effective Trump is.
US presidents have been telling Europe to pull its finger out for decades, but all it took was one campaign speech from Trump for the message to get through.
Effective at generating the first serious doubt in over half a century over the US commitment to its allies, sure.
Anyone who thinks that a good thing is a fool.
You think that it's sustainable to spend below the agreed amount on the military while relying on the US?
If it took someone as blunt as Trump for the message to be heard, European countries only have themselves to blame.
That will be something to console yourself with when we're all under Putin's yoke.
Former Deputy Supreme Commander of NATO says he is "100% certain" that Trump will withdraw from the organization. "Europe should be smashing the glass on the fire alarm" and prepare to "fight without American support." https://twitter.com/eeldenden/status/1754493706906870114
Time for the EU and the UK to realize that it’s time to forget about the USA and look after their own security .
Ironically a Trump win is the worst thing for those who have an unhinged hatred of the EU . With the orange psychopath in the WH the UK and EU are likely to become much closer .
The strange thing is Trump seems to think NATO is akin to a neighbourhood protection racket on the Lower East Side. You'll get "protection" if you pay enough - if you don't, you won't.
Time to ask ourselves some serious questions - do we need NATO any longer? It's been arguably the most successful military alliance in history but it was primarily set up as an ideological counter weight to an expansionost revolutionary ideology. The truth now is Russia isn't the Warsaw Pact and China may be a threat to the US in the Pacific but not militarily to Europe.
Maintaining our independent nuclear deterrent and the French Force de Frappe still makes for a formidable defence and were we to align with the growing military power of Poland we would be in a better place but it begs the question - NATO stands for collective defence, an attack on one is an attack on all but is that a reasonable doctrine in a multipolar world? To what extent and in what way should be acting as a guarantor for the defence of Latvia or Finland?
How independent of the US is our nuclear deterrent?
Former Deputy Supreme Commander of NATO says he is "100% certain" that Trump will withdraw from the organization. "Europe should be smashing the glass on the fire alarm" and prepare to "fight without American support." https://twitter.com/eeldenden/status/1754493706906870114
It shows how effective Trump is.
US presidents have been telling Europe to pull its finger out for decades, but all it took was one campaign speech from Trump for the message to get through.
Effective at generating the first serious doubt in over half a century over the US commitment to its allies, sure.
Anyone who thinks that a good thing is a fool.
You think that it's sustainable to spend below the agreed amount on the military while relying on the US?
If it took someone as blunt as Trump for the message to be heard, European countries only have themselves to blame.
That will be something to console yourself with when we're all under Putin's yoke.
Talk me through your logic. How will Europe spending more on defence lead to us ending up under Putin's yoke?
As usual with elections the result is 52-48, or near enough - Alexander Stubb becomes Finnish president. (btw his wife is Welsh and his daughter is at school in London)
Former Deputy Supreme Commander of NATO says he is "100% certain" that Trump will withdraw from the organization. "Europe should be smashing the glass on the fire alarm" and prepare to "fight without American support." https://twitter.com/eeldenden/status/1754493706906870114
Time for the EU and the UK to realize that it’s time to forget about the USA and look after their own security .
Ironically a Trump win is the worst thing for those who have an unhinged hatred of the EU . With the orange psychopath in the WH the UK and EU are likely to become much closer .
The strange thing is Trump seems to think NATO is akin to a neighbourhood protection racket on the Lower East Side. You'll get "protection" if you pay enough - if you don't, you won't.
Time to ask ourselves some serious questions - do we need NATO any longer? It's been arguably the most successful military alliance in history but it was primarily set up as an ideological counter weight to an expansionost revolutionary ideology. The truth now is Russia isn't the Warsaw Pact and China may be a threat to the US in the Pacific but not militarily to Europe.
Maintaining our independent nuclear deterrent and the French Force de Frappe still makes for a formidable defence and were we to align with the growing military power of Poland we would be in a better place but it begs the question - NATO stands for collective defence, an attack on one is an attack on all but is that a reasonable doctrine in a multipolar world? To what extent and in what way should be acting as a guarantor for the defence of Latvia or Finland?
Those are are fair enough legitimate questions, more especially if say Russia hadn’t invaded Ukraine in 2014 when it took Crimea and then subsequently went a step further. The issue now is Trumps words and possibly deeds come at a time when the west needs to remain united .
Comments
I’ve just realised. It should be Tubthumping. Chumbawumba
That is the greatest song ever for a raucous rugger crowd. Can you IMAGINE 100,000 drunk as fuck Englishmen BELLOWING “I get knocked down, but I get up again, you’re never gonna keep me down”
That is us. The English. You’re never gonna keep us down. And we do like a whisky drink. And then a lager drink
We’d win every single match if we adopted that as our anthem
And then some more next week.
Both lines that you've covered, of course.
The Tory candidate in the Kingswood by-election said he would only do the job for a “few months” and would “absolutely not” stand at the next election.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/tory-by-election-candidate-says-he-will-only-do-the-job-for-a-year/ar-BB1i5vhG
At least pretend you are serious!
TUBTHUMPING it is. What an anthem
“Pissing the night away, pissing the niiiiiight away”
That is us. It is perfect
I might actually start a small fascist party using that as an anthem
A tough one for the crowd to sing, though.
How very Death Korp of Krieg.
But I honestly think we’d never lose if we had Tubthumping as our Twickers anthem. It would intimidate the fuck out of everyone. 100,000 voices. I get knocked down BUT I GET UP AGAIN
Yes there will be consequences to a Trump loss but that would be the lesser of two evils.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/super-bowl-national-anthem-prop-bets-2024-reba-mcentires-over-under-length-odds-and-more/ar-BB1i4i0T
“McEntire has performed multiple National Anthems throughout her illustrious 40-year career, including a 78-second version at the 1985 National Finals Rodeo, a 66-second performance at the 1985 World Series in 1985, an 83-second rendition at the 1997 World Series, and a 90-second edition at a Cowboys game in 1999”
The foolishness of fascism, revealed in the Carlson interview
https://snyder.substack.com/p/putins-genocidal-myth
.. Putin has read about various realms in the past. By calling them “Russia,” he claims their territories for the Russian Federation he rules today.
Such nonsense brings war. On Putin's logic, leaders anywhere can make endless claims to territory based on various interpretations of the past. That undoes the entire international order, based as it is upon legal borders between sovereign states
.. The second problem, after war, is genocide. After you decide a a country in the deep past is also somehow your country now, you then insist that the only true history is whatever seems to prove you right. The experiences of people who actually lived in the past and live in the present are "artificial" (to use one of Putin's favorite words).
In the interview, and in other speeches during the war, Putin depends on a false distinction between natural nations and artificial nations. Natural nations have a right to exist, artificial ones do not.
But there are no natural nations. All nations are made. The Russia of tomorrow is made by the actions of Russians today. If Russians fight a lawless war of destruction in Ukraine, that makes them a different people than they might have been. This is more important than anything that happened centuries ago. When a nation is called "artificial," this is justification for genocide. Genocidal language does not refer to the past; it changes the future.
Everyone who does not fit Putin's neat story (Russia is eternal, so Russians can do whatever they want) has to be removed, first from the narrative of the past, and then from those counted as human in present. On Putin's logic, it does not matter what people believe or how people understand their own past. It is he who decides which souls are bound to which other soul….
If so, then actually I think he's sensible to say it that way. My experience of the people of Bristol is they don't like humbugs, but they respect honesty.
Perhaps starmer should adopt it as his version of Things Can Only Get Better
Also an interesting b-side, an anti-monarchist anthem called “Farewell to the Crown”. Went down well in Welsh discos in the late 1990s.
125 million Twitter impressions
13m YouTube views
Let's start with the first of those, shall we? It sounds immense, what a reach. But remember what it's measuring: people who saw the Tweet with the interview in. And Elon Musk himself retweeted it. That... errrr.. means that basically everyone who has used Twitter in the last five days has seen the Tweet, because the Twitter algorithm ensures that basically everyone sees Elon's Tweets.
But there's more. That's impressions. It's entirely possible for someone to see that Tweet 2, 3 even 20 times.
125 million impressions, on something retweeted by Elon Musk, isn't the sign of a success. It's a sign that Twitter's reach is really not that big anymore.
Let's be generous, though, shall we, and assume that 125 million impressions is 80 million unique users, and that 10% of those started watching. (And, for what it's worth, those are INSANELY generous assumptions for something that basically every Twitter user will have seen at least once.) Well, that's 8m people started watching the video.
I would be staggered if 10% of that made it to the 10 minute mark.
That makes the interview - on Twitter, and using very generous assumptions - about 10x more popular than my illegal immigration video on YouTube.
You know where the vast, vast majority of views have come from? YouTube.
Tucker Carlson - like every other video creator - has discovered that YouTube will deliver massively more revenue than any other distribution platform because: (a) you can actually watch it on your TV and (b) they know about their users, and can therefore monetize them well.
(Twitter being the exclusive place for Tucker Carlson content, it seems, has not lasted very long, has it?)
So... 13 million people started watching on YouTube. Good job Tucker. That's a decent result for political interview.
But that's also *started*. What proportion of people made it to the end? 10%? 5%?
Who here has watched more than 10 minutes of it? I mean, @Leon claims to. And @Harper definitely did (although he also derided it as boring.) Anyone else?
@FrankLuntz
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@FrankLuntz
In my professional life, I’ve never seen a candidate reject a message that even his own voters are sending him so loudly and so clearly.
Democratic strategists are committing professional malpractice if they dismiss it as well.
👉🏻 https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/poll-americans-on-biden-age/story?id=107126589
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/111913990846366079
- only drunk on a quarter of days
- exercised pretty much every day
- removed pretty much all junk from my diet
- stopped eating after a certain point in the evening (early supper or no supper)
Biden's obvious unfitness for running.
Do you know how many people talked about the interview?
None
If Sir Keir had really changed the Labour Party, he’d have withdrawn his support for you this morning. Others have [rightly] had the whip removed for less.
Instead he sent a spokesman out to equivocate.
https://x.com/aaronbell4nul/status/1756686610068836712?s=46&t=CW4pL-mMpTqsJXCdjW0Z6Q
Apparently it’s too late for Labour to put up another candidate. Well, so what?
Maybe Waterloo Sunset would be better.
Starmer would gain far more from binning him than the seat is worth.
So what.
The alternative is leaving open a line of attack for the Tories. A much more critical one, by the way, than the $28m pledge so needlessly sacrificed (several times) this week.
If I could vote I would likely vote Tory because I have no imagination but if I could see a Starmer centrist gov with sensible economic policies I would be tempted but as soon as the “never kissed a Tory” mob, the hard left nuts or anti-Semitic voices pile up you realise that these people will have influence in government and whilst people like Nadine are not my cup of tea they are nothing like as mad.
Starmer will need a stonking majority so he can ignore the wilder voices because if it’s looking close and people look at who might have influence then it’s a different menace to re-electing the Tories.
The other issue, overlooked, is that people who wish to be our MPs need to be of a calibre so that they just don't fall into these sorts of trap they set for themselves.
https://x.com/edinburghcastle/status/1756256840436895911?s=61&t=LYVEHh2mqFy1oUJAdCfe-Q
Unless he has facts we don’t have, that looks like a crazy islamo-nutter conspiracy theory to me, and renders him unfit to be a Labour MP.
Meanwhile the Green Party acted quickly with their candidate.
https://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/155089/rochdale-byelection-green-party-candidate-no-longer-endorsed-by-party-just-weeks-before-voters-go-to-the-polls
So the issue is not 'Do we know he was wrong?'. The issue is 'Did he speak of what he was certain, verified and clear about?' No.
If Labour are going to suspend Ali from the party they should do it quickly .
Resorting to conspiracy theories says something pretty bad about the guy.
Driscoll was removed from the mayoral long list for 'sharing a platform with ken loach'.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-65808600
There have been countless tenuous expulsions and deselections of lefties over the last few years. Not to do the same for such comments is absurdly partisan.
HO: Hold my beer.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/feb/11/english-test-scandal-students-renew-fight-to-clear-names-after-10-years
'Important new evidence has recently been presented in court raising fresh questions over the Home Office’s decision to make a blanket accusation of cheating against more than 35,000 students, which led to thousands being thrown off their courses and forced out of the country.'
'But the Home Office’s readiness to accept evidence from ETS that 97% of all tests taken were suspicious has been repeatedly questioned. During its investigations, ETS used voice recognition technology to review the recordings of students’ voices during the spoken section of the exam and identified cases where the same voice appeared on multiple test recordings; it classified those tests as fraudulent [...]'
https://twitter.com/eeldenden/status/1754493706906870114
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-67958260
Yesterday we had 80,000 people singing Hey Jude, and later Wonderwall. It's a great innovation, I wish they'd do a set of uplifting singalong classics through half-time instead of the acid-house / garage / DJ music or whatever the f*ck it was.
Driscoll would not have beaten the preferred candidate anyway.
US presidents have been telling Europe to pull its finger out for decades, but all it took was one campaign speech from Trump for the message to get through.
Sadly there are now news reports of a rape involving 4 boys aged 12 to 14 last night in a car park.
Ironically a Trump win is the worst thing for those who have an unhinged hatred of the EU . With the orange psychopath in the WH the UK and EU are likely to become much closer .
4 boys aged 12-14 accused of rape.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-68269292
Anyone who thinks that a good thing is a fool.
Time to ask ourselves some serious questions - do we need NATO any longer? It's been arguably the most successful military alliance in history but it was primarily set up as an ideological counter weight to an expansionost revolutionary ideology. The truth now is Russia isn't the Warsaw Pact and China may be a threat to the US in the Pacific but not militarily to Europe.
Maintaining our independent nuclear deterrent and the French Force de Frappe still makes for a formidable defence and were we to align with the growing military power of Poland we would be in a better place but it begs the question - NATO stands for collective defence, an attack on one is an attack on all but is that a reasonable doctrine in a multipolar world? To what extent and in what way should be acting as a guarantor for the defence of Latvia or Finland?
If it took someone as blunt as Trump for the message to be heard, European countries only have themselves to blame.
Azhar Ali’s comments are totally reprehensible. But this close to polling day, electoral law says he will be Labour’s candidate, whatever Starmer says or does now.
Ali’s destroyed his past record of allyship with the Jewish community and has a mountain to climb to repair it.
Fact is, alternative in Rochdale is George Galloway. Giving him a parliamentary platform to spew hate & sow division will harm the Jewish community far more than electing Ali. Handing election to Galloway will be a Pyrrhic victory for those calling on Labour to go further now
JLM won't campaign in Rochdale. But we know how far the Party has come under Keir Starmer in tackling antisemitism and that the Party, from Starmer down, is as shocked and disgusted by Ali's comments as we are. This proves there is still much work to do.
https://twitter.com/mikekatz/status/1756753678353002618
If the Democrats win, what is the future of the Republicans? Having followed a Charlie Chaplin villain off the cliff of sanity, what happens to USA politics? Do we get a second party not dwelling on planet Zarg from somewhere?
If Trump makes it, whither Five Eyes? Do we suspend the USA for the duration, and see what of the West is left standing?
(btw his wife is Welsh and his daughter is at school in London)
Trump hints that the United States might not defend Taiwan if China attacks, citing that Taiwan "took our business away"
https://twitter.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/1756485037359309159
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/live-updates-morrisons-car-park-28612344