Is it Leaflet Week - I have one from all 4 parties here (AI, Lab, Con, Reform) in the last 2-3 days?
You’ve had a leaflet from AI? So ChatGPT has become sentient, but has decided to take part in the democratic process instead of just oppressing all humans? There is hope for us all!
(I worked it out: Ashfield Independents.)
The AI leaflet also has an 18" long victim narrative from Zadrozny. The position he is taking is like Jonathon Aitken - infamy, infamy !
Personally, I am quite skeptical this time around. The tell for me is that he fought like Trump to delay and move the trial.
On topic, this article gives a more detailed picture suggesting that apart from Ohio and Arizona, the GOP have managed to select some more moderate candidates:
On the other side, Dems only have 2 unlikely pick up opportunities in Texas and Florida. There are also a couple of wildcards - Maryland, where the popular moderate Republican governor is running and New Jersey, where the current incumbent is mired in scandal.
I see that last night Ukraine hit a Russian oil refinery again.
Re-hit. One they have attacked before.
Russians are saying the new Ukrainian drones are much more difficult to impact with electronic warfare measures. As much as 16% of Russian refining capacity has already been hit. It is disproportionately located in western Russia, in range of drones able to travel over 1,000 km - seemingly without facing any meaningful air defences.
Shame the Severnaya Goldeneye satellite got blown up.
If they can do 1000km they are not far from being able sensibly to reach the fleet in St Petersburg.
Refineries have been hit near St Petersburg.
Refineries and airbases are probably higher value targets than the Baltic Fleet. Last I heard the Black Sea Fleet was still in hiding and refusing to leave port.
I'd like to see a report on the damage at Engels (sp?) Airbase from the most recent raid.
I understand why @rcs1000 was emotionally attached to the post about Brexit but it is not coherent either logically, practically or emotionally.
@RochdalePioneers (a Brexiter) has given us chapter and verse about some of the economic hurdles now in place. Two anecdotally and trivially from me are movements of horses to and from the EU and a very small luxury clothing business which now finds it too expensive to import from the EU.
But more important wrt the "decisions made closer to home" bullshit (soz) is that, in the words of that noble and fearless Brexiter David Davis, we were always s*v*r**gn. The tiniest number of things were subject to EU lawmaking (VAT on home energy and Droit de Suite for example and you have no idea what one of those is).
You guys keep bleating on about shoulda woulda coulda but you sound like all those mad communists still agitating for that system. A great idea just that no one has done it right.
And with that, we're back on topic. The "good idea, done badly, not gone far enough" is the sort of thing that devotees of St Jeremy The Martyr say as well.
The will of the people is pretty clearly that this isn't going well and is probably a mistake. There's not much enthusiasm for any alternative but the status quo is seen as rubbish. The only useful questions are what the British state does with that information and when?
It's now more than ever that we are expected to embrace our national motto: mustn't grumble.
If there is one thing Britons can unite around it is having a good moan. "Mustn't grumble" is superb British irony considering that is what we do most.
There being a lot more than usual to grumble about right now
Good morning
Oh I don't know about that. Things have been going to hell in a handcart for many years.
Well yes. I now look back fondly to the 2012 London Olympics as the Cool Britannia swansong. It has been all downhill ever since.
Yup. The interesting thing about the 2012 Olympics is that in many ways it was a huge nostalgiafest for a recent past that was already receding into the rearview mirror. Danny Boyle. The Spice Girls. David Beckham, Underworld.
Even the sporting excellence too, as it was the peak of lottery and government funding for sport. Laura Trott retiring is kind of one of the last of that generation of athletes whose talent delivered golds on an incredible scale because of funding and a setup that was streets ahead of other nations. If Rishi Sunak hopes for a gold rush in Paris this year he is likely to be disappointed.
Very much the epilogue to the New Labour years and something that had already gone rather than the start of something new.
Nobody really cares about the Olympics in any case. A bunch of unpopular sports thar few pay much attention too any other time, coupled with Mickey Mouse competitions in popular sports like golf, football and tennis.
Almost as boring as the Commonwealth games. Both disappearing up their own fundamentals as people / sponsors realise they are crap.
Indeed i alway though i was alone in hating olympics. Glad others agree.
I understand why @rcs1000 was emotionally attached to the post about Brexit but it is not coherent either logically, practically or emotionally.
@RochdalePioneers (a Brexiter) has given us chapter and verse about some of the economic hurdles now in place. Two anecdotally and trivially from me are movements of horses to and from the EU and a very small luxury clothing business which now finds it too expensive to import from the EU.
But more important wrt the "decisions made closer to home" bullshit (soz) is that, in the words of that noble and fearless Brexiter David Davis, we were always s*v*r**gn. The tiniest number of things were subject to EU lawmaking (VAT on home energy and Droit de Suite for example and you have no idea what one of those is).
You guys keep bleating on about shoulda woulda coulda but you sound like all those mad communists still agitating for that system. A great idea just that no one has done it right.
And with that, we're back on topic. The "good idea, done badly, not gone far enough" is the sort of thing that devotees of St Jeremy The Martyr say as well.
The will of the people is pretty clearly that this isn't going well and is probably a mistake. There's not much enthusiasm for any alternative but the status quo is seen as rubbish. The only useful questions are what the British state does with that information and when?
It's now more than ever that we are expected to embrace our national motto: mustn't grumble.
If there is one thing Britons can unite around it is having a good moan. "Mustn't grumble" is superb British irony considering that is what we do most.
There being a lot more than usual to grumble about right now
Good morning
Oh I don't know about that. Things have been going to hell in a handcart for many years.
Well yes. I now look back fondly to the 2012 London Olympics as the Cool Britannia swansong. It has been all downhill ever since.
But what about the wrong coloured flags on the kit in 2012? Surely that spoiled the whole thing.
On which topic next PM Penny Mordaunt is this morning showing she’s a serious politician for serious times:
I’m going to make myself unpopular on here but I loathe the flag of St George and its connotations. It’s as historically ridiculous to associate it with England as three lions. What the heck have lions got to do with this country? Nothing at all. Nor has the myth of a dragon-slaying Cappadocian. Worse still, it has all become wrapped up in Crusader English nationalism of a particular kind. Yuck.
And don’t get me started on our execrable ’national’ anthem. It was lovely to hear the Welsh lustily singing a great tune the other night and Flower of Scotland is magnificent: the tune possibly more than the odd dodgy line - like La Marseillaise.
Anti-English rant over. Please excuse me.
p.s. I don’t agree with nations, nationhood, or national flags. We’re a human race comprising a multiplicity of different ethnicities, cultures, languages, and histories but essential one race. And we need to learn to get along.
Perhaps we will if one of Sean’s alien spaceships lands here. That’s if they don’t eat us.
The three lions were Richard Coeur de Lion’s personal sigil. They’ve been a recognised symbol of England for some 850 years
He spent most of his reign in France. Would've voted remain.
No, he'd have sold off government assets to pay for war in the Middle East.
I see that last night Ukraine hit a Russian oil refinery again.
Re-hit. One they have attacked before.
Russians are saying the new Ukrainian drones are much more difficult to impact with electronic warfare measures. As much as 16% of Russian refining capacity has already been hit. It is disproportionately located in western Russia, in range of drones able to travel over 1,000 km - seemingly without facing any meaningful air defences.
Shame the Severnaya Goldeneye satellite got blown up.
If they can do 1000km they are not far from being able sensibly to reach the fleet in St Petersburg.
Refineries have been hit near St Petersburg.
Refineries and airbases are probably higher value targets than the Baltic Fleet. Last I heard the Black Sea Fleet was still in hiding and refusing to leave port.
Biden wont like this if it means higher gas prices though. Ukraine have got to be a bit careful.
I have been working very closely on advocacy around what is a pretty obscure piece of EU legislation (a regulation on the licensing of standard essential patents) for the last few months. I have worked on Brussels-related issues before, but this one has really shown just how dysfunctional the EU decision making process is and how prone it can be to deep pocket lobbying capture. Legislation that will run entirely counter to EU interests - technology, defence and economic - is in the process of being enacted at the behest of very wealthy Silicon Valley companies (Apple, basically) that do not like to pay royalties to use the connectivity inventions that are pivotal to their products. The UK, on the other hand, has taken an entirely different view and will not be making any changes to its own regime. This is very clearly a Brexit victory. But it's not one you are going to read about because it is not a sexy subject. My guess is that there are similar things happening in many other areas too.
I think it's only fair for me to say this as I am someone who has been very clear that the Brexit we chose to pursue was insane. I still hold that view but I am less persuaded than I was that Brexit in and of itself was a bad idea. My experience tells me there probably was a way to make it a success. But that collapsed as an option as soon as the government decided to go for a maximalist approach to sovereignty. It is going to take many years for us to recover from that blinkered act of self-harm.
That’s handily synchronised with Sir Keir’s ‘journey’ from rubbishing everything to do with Brexit and demanding another vote, to finding some positives now he is likely to be in charge
But now you’ve found a way to support a Labour government doing Brexity things instead of finding fault with anything a rival came up with.
...whereas you're still desperately trying to find any reason at all to support the Tories?
Do you think so? That’s a strange thing to say.
I have no intention of voting for them, and can’t remember trying to find a reason to, do you have any examples?
Most of all, I regret that people think Brexit is a cure all for problems that are essentially domestic: our insufficient household savings rate that causes our trade deficit, our inability to free up building regulation, our tax and benefits system that discourage lower skilled workers from finding employment, and most of all a vocational education system that is a pale shadow of those in Germany, Switzerland or Denmark.
My objections and opposition to Brexit were never primarily economic, but the economic effect of instituting trade barriers without largest trading partner was never going to improve trade.
I don't begin to understand any of the economic chutney nor do, I suspect, most of the people who argued for Brexit.
But you only have to look at the types who lined up to vote for it to assess the worth of the project.
As accurate and concise post as I've read on here.
It would be more accurate if he had actually spelt out his view these Untermenchen should be deprived of the right to vote...
You Christopher "Chris" Chope Mark Francois Bernie Ecclestone Joan Collins Roger Daltery Casino BartyBobs
And these people in Warrington...
Roger Daltrey on Brexit: " I was just a boy, giving it all away".
I may be completely out of my mind, but I suspect the average UK citizen hasn't really noticed any effects from Brexit, mainly due to Covid and the various wars and general global economic downturn. What effect Brexit really has had is that it's turned our already chaotic and outdated political system into a complete shitshow, with the government ripping itself apart trying to appease its various factions rather than running the country competently. The country is a bit knackered, but due entirely to the government, not Brexit.
Sorry, no.
On a very simple level, everyone who goes abroad now can see what a bloody pain in the ass it is. That’s c. 100 million trips per year and rising. Roughly 1/3rd of us will go abroad this summer alone.
And if you talk to anyone at all who has business dealings with Europe they are tearing their hair out.
Likewise, bringing goods in from Europe has become an absolute pain in the proverbial.
Then there is services and entertainment, brought to its knees by covid and brexit. We are chronically short of overseas workers and shunting Nigerian nurses into the NHS is not exactly what people had in mind when they voted for the bloody thing.
I could go on and on. Brexit is to blame for a large part of this country's cock ups.
I said the average person, not business. Most people, especially at the lower socio-economic end of things will have barely felt a ripple. That's not to say Brexit is done and successful, it hasn't been and isn't, it's just that covid and the general wankiness of life over the past decade has masked whatever great effect Brexit may have had.
The reverse is probably true though, in that the general wankiness of life is partly now put down to Brexit - or a failed political class inextricably linked with it. Sometimes fairly, sometimes unfairly.
If you look at polling, it's now extremely unpopular (even rejoin, which is obviously very difficult and comes with its own problems, posts healthy leads).
So what's happened? To oversimplify a bit. The third of the country who hated it still hate it - and it's broken some natural voting relationships. The third who were enthusiastic supporters by and large still support - with the exception of some in sectors or places that have taken a real hit - but many feel let down over stuff like immigration.
The middle third who weren't bothered either way but narrowly broke 'Leave' in the referendum out of frustration, now largely view Brexit as a fiasco that can be lumped in with other recent government failure.
The advantage that Leave had in the campaign - that you could link a status quo that people had become unsatisfied with to EU membership- one which meant Remain failed to realise until too late the need to make a positive case. But has now flipped, and the feeling of a crumbling country that's badly struggling gets linked to Brexit and the politicians who championed it as a cure.
I may be completely out of my mind, but I suspect the average UK citizen hasn't really noticed any effects from Brexit, mainly due to Covid and the various wars and general global economic downturn. What effect Brexit really has had is that it's turned our already chaotic and outdated political system into a complete shitshow, with the government ripping itself apart trying to appease its various factions rather than running the country competently. The country is a bit knackered, but due entirely to the government, not Brexit.
Sorry, no.
On a very simple level, everyone who goes abroad now can see what a bloody pain in the ass it is. That’s c. 100 million trips per year and rising. Roughly 1/3rd of us will go abroad this summer alone.
And if you talk to anyone at all who has business dealings with Europe they are tearing their hair out.
Likewise, bringing goods in from Europe has become an absolute pain in the proverbial.
Then there is services and entertainment, brought to its knees by covid and brexit. We are chronically short of overseas workers and shunting Nigerian nurses into the NHS is not exactly what people had in mind when they voted for the bloody thing.
I could go on and on. Brexit is to blame for a large part of this country's cock ups.
I fly via Schiphol - don’t think I’ve ever had any hassle getting through immigration - it’s 5 minutes max and was the same previously when I was flying on a weekly basis
I see that last night Ukraine hit a Russian oil refinery again.
Re-hit. One they have attacked before.
Russians are saying the new Ukrainian drones are much more difficult to impact with electronic warfare measures. As much as 16% of Russian refining capacity has already been hit. It is disproportionately located in western Russia, in range of drones able to travel over 1,000 km - seemingly without facing any meaningful air defences.
Shame the Severnaya Goldeneye satellite got blown up.
If they can do 1000km they are not far from being able sensibly to reach the fleet in St Petersburg.
Refineries have been hit near St Petersburg.
Refineries and airbases are probably higher value targets than the Baltic Fleet. Last I heard the Black Sea Fleet was still in hiding and refusing to leave port.
Biden wont like this if it means higher gas prices though. Ukraine have got to be a bit careful.
If Biden had helped Ukraine win the war in 2023 he could have had lower gas prices now.
Much as I hope for the best in terms of US support, Ukraine and Europe have to learn to do without it.
Biden fears that Russia will get Ukraine to surrender before November destroying his re-election chances. The US proxy war with over a million dead was totally preventable and Biden rejected peace in 2022. His legacy will be a wrecked Ukraine, the Gaza genocide and a bankrupt US.
Not really. Putin is in a strong position now. Always ask who benefits, the americans perhaps.
He's physically weak and politically in a state of confusion. He needs something dramatic.
He'll cock it up because he's incompetent, of course. Heck, he couldn't even beat the Ukrainians when 40% of them were on his side. But he's certainly capable of trying it.
Are you sure you don't mean Clarkson rather than Clarkman? Anyway your choice of name is of course up to you. However by way of advice to a newbie, Andrew Tate and Alex Jones are not generally considered 24 carat sources on pb.
Biden fears that Russia will get Ukraine to surrender before November destroying his re-election chances. The US proxy war with over a million dead was totally preventable and Biden rejected peace in 2022. His legacy will be a wrecked Ukraine, the Gaza genocide and a bankrupt US.
Are you sure you don't mean Clarkson rather than Clarkman? Anyway your choice of name is of course up to you. However by way of advice to a newbie, Andrew Tate and Alex Jones are not generally considered 24 carat sources on pb.
Just saying.
24 carat comedy gold though.
D'you reckon we'll get that one about BA pilots again before @PBModerator wields the ban hammer?
Biden fears that Russia will get Ukraine to surrender before November destroying his re-election chances. The US proxy war with over a million dead was totally preventable and Biden rejected peace in 2022. His legacy will be a wrecked Ukraine, the Gaza genocide and a bankrupt US.
Biden fears that Russia will get Ukraine to surrender before November destroying his re-election chances. The US proxy war with over a million dead was totally preventable and Biden rejected peace in 2022. His legacy will be a wrecked Ukraine, the Gaza genocide and a bankrupt US.
Biden fears that Russia will get Ukraine to surrender before November destroying his re-election chances. The US proxy war with over a million dead was totally preventable and Biden rejected peace in 2022. His legacy will be a wrecked Ukraine, the Gaza genocide and a bankrupt US.
What happened to Truman? He was by some distance the best Russian troll we've ever had. I'd hoped we would be allowed to keep him.
This one seems a right jerk.
Please!
A wrong jerk.
Actually, Truman was quite an interesting poster. Reminded me of DJ41. Sure, there was nonsense but it was intelligently written nonsense and engaged with the discussion. I was a bit sorry when it ended.
Biden fears that Russia will get Ukraine to surrender before November destroying his re-election chances. The US proxy war with over a million dead was totally preventable and Biden rejected peace in 2022. His legacy will be a wrecked Ukraine, the Gaza genocide and a bankrupt US.
Sad news about kate middleton too. Lots of young people getting cancer recently.
THERE IS A LINK BETWEEN TURBO CANCERS AND THE COVID VACCINES -
IT IS TIME THAT OUR GOVERNMENT AND ALL THE GOVERNMENTS THAT PUSHED THIS UNTESTED MEDICAL PROCEDURE ON IT’S PEOPLE THOROUGHLY LOOKED INTO IT AND INVESTIGATED THE MATTER.
Biden fears that Russia will get Ukraine to surrender before November destroying his re-election chances. The US proxy war with over a million dead was totally preventable and Biden rejected peace in 2022. His legacy will be a wrecked Ukraine, the Gaza genocide and a bankrupt US.
Sad news about kate middleton too. Lots of young people getting cancer recently.
THERE IS A LINK BETWEEN TURBO CANCERS AND THE COVID VACCINES -
IT IS TIME THAT OUR GOVERNMENT AND ALL THE GOVERNMENTS THAT PUSHED THIS UNTESTED MEDICAL PROCEDURE ON IT’S PEOPLE THOROUGHLY LOOKED INTO IT AND INVESTIGATED THE MATTER.
I missed this prediction competition for the GE as I was off air for a long time whilst travelling. Presumably the comp is still open until the day itself? @Benpointer
You all know my views on this, resolutely stated over the past couple of years. So I’ll punt for the number of Cons MPs to be 80-130 after the GE, which equates to I don’t know what in terms of a Labour majority. I guess around 250?
If the comp is still open then I'd also like to enter, but predicting a hung Parliament.
At this juncture a Labour landslide looks more probable, but I'm stubborn.
Why would the competition still be open? Predictions (usually) get easier the nearer you get to the event. A competition needs to have a deadline.
Oh well that’s a bugger. As I say, I was off air for some months. Bets don’t usually close until right before the event, but of course odds change.
I feel a tad miffed as I’ve been stating on here for a couple of years that I believe the number of Cons MPs will be around 100-150. Not that this is a done deal yet by any means. There’s still a long way to go and every leftie will be told the tale of 1992.
If it happens I will have to ride @Peter_the_Punter ’s coronation train with vicarious satisfaction.
Why not do a dummy entry? You can post it as evidence, and if it's accurate I expect TSE will give you some sort of consolation prize - maybe a warped Radiohead single, or a pizza with pineapple topping.,
Are you sure you don't mean Clarkson rather than Clarkman? Anyway your choice of name is of course up to you. However by way of advice to a newbie, Andrew Tate and Alex Jones are not generally considered 24 carat sources on pb.
Just saying.
24 carat comedy gold though.
D'you reckon we'll get that one about BA pilots again before @PBModerator wields the ban hammer?
This one appears to have adopted the quick fire 'six and out' approach, rather than the slow grind of the last one.
Sad news about kate middleton too. Lots of young people getting cancer recently.
THERE IS A LINK BETWEEN TURBO CANCERS AND THE COVID VACCINES -
IT IS TIME THAT OUR GOVERNMENT AND ALL THE GOVERNMENTS THAT PUSHED THIS UNTESTED MEDICAL PROCEDURE ON IT’S PEOPLE THOROUGHLY LOOKED INTO IT AND INVESTIGATED THE MATTER.
the #Biden regime is found to be involved in the terrorist mass murder underway in Moscow a virtual state of war between the super-powers will exist #Russia #USA #Moscow
Biden fears that Russia will get Ukraine to surrender before November destroying his re-election chances. The US proxy war with over a million dead was totally preventable and Biden rejected peace in 2022. His legacy will be a wrecked Ukraine, the Gaza genocide and a bankrupt US.
What happened to Truman? He was by some distance the best Russian troll we've ever had. I'd hoped we would be allowed to keep him.
This one seems a right jerk.
Please!
A wrong jerk.
Actually, Truman was quite an interesting poster. Reminded me of DJ41. Sure, there was nonsense but it was intelligently written nonsense and engaged with the discussion. I was a bit sorry when it ended.
DJ41 was more eloquent. Came at the pro-Putin thing from a left wing perspective which was a more novel approach. Truman seemed a bit ChatGPT.
Yawn, these Russian prats must think we are REALLY dumb. What is the aim here, can anyone explain?
In theory, it's to spread rancour and despondency. In practice, it's to give us all a good chuckle, except for those who somehow aren't in on the joke.
the #Biden regime is found to be involved in the terrorist mass murder underway in Moscow a virtual state of war between the super-powers will exist #Russia #USA #Moscow
Gosh. Are you really so useless you can't come up with *any* vaguely sane sources?
You'll be quoting Goebbels next.
Come on, make more of an effort.
At the moment whatever Putin is paying, you're not worth it.
Heck, even those losers at British Gas would give you the push. They can at least spell and punctuate, even if they can't lay out formal letters properly.
the #Biden regime is found to be involved in the terrorist mass murder underway in Moscow a virtual state of war between the super-powers will exist #Russia #USA #Moscow
Gosh. Are you really so useless you can't come up with *any* vaguely sane sources?
You'll be quoting Goebbels next.
Come on, make more of an effort.
At the moment whatever Putin is paying, you're not worth it.
Heck, even those losers at British Gas would give you the push. They can at least spell and punctuate, even if they can't lay out formal letters properly.
Yawn, these Russian prats must think we are REALLY dumb. What is the aim here, can anyone explain?
In theory, it's to spread rancour and despondency. In practice, it's to give us all a good chuckle, except for those who somehow aren't in on the joke.
Let's face it, we need a good chuckle.
Well, if it helps, this is Clarkman when his boss sees his efforts...
Most of all, I regret that people think Brexit is a cure all for problems that are essentially domestic: our insufficient household savings rate that causes our trade deficit, our inability to free up building regulation, our tax and benefits system that discourage lower skilled workers from finding employment, and most of all a vocational education system that is a pale shadow of those in Germany, Switzerland or Denmark.
My objections and opposition to Brexit were never primarily economic, but the economic effect of instituting trade barriers without largest trading partner was never going to improve trade.
I don't begin to understand any of the economic chutney nor do, I suspect, most of the people who argued for Brexit.
But you only have to look at the types who lined up to vote for it to assess the worth of the project.
As accurate and concise post as I've read on here.
It would be more accurate if he had actually spelt out his view these Untermenchen should be deprived of the right to vote...
You Christopher "Chris" Chope Mark Francois Bernie Ecclestone Joan Collins Roger Daltery Casino BartyBobs
And these people in Warrington...
The biggest factor was age.
.....and diet
Yes - let's sneer at people instead of perhaps being curious about them, their lives, why they are like this, what they want from life and so on. Sure - their dress sense is IMO appalling but one could say the same about a lot of very rich people, many of them in the arts, who are fawned over by the very same people who view these people in Warrington with distaste.
But so what: they have a vote and they have a stake - our ought to - in our society. And they may well have talents and capabilities too and they should not be ignored.
It's striking that someone who boasted about marching through London behind the Israeli flag now parades their compassionate side towards the obese.
Maybe Gazans don't float your boat in the same way Warringtonians do?
Yawn, these Russian prats must think we are REALLY dumb. What is the aim here, can anyone explain?
In theory, it's to spread rancour and despondency. In practice, it's to give us all a good chuckle, except for those who somehow aren't in on the joke.
Let's face it, we need a good chuckle.
Indeed ukraine getting spanked by russia is funny.
the #Biden regime is found to be involved in the terrorist mass murder underway in Moscow a virtual state of war between the super-powers will exist #Russia #USA #Moscow
the #Biden regime is found to be involved in the terrorist mass murder underway in Moscow a virtual state of war between the super-powers will exist #Russia #USA #Moscow
Gosh. Are you really so useless you can't come up with *any* vaguely sane sources?
You'll be quoting Goebbels next.
Come on, make more of an effort.
At the moment whatever Putin is paying, you're not worth it.
Heck, even those losers at British Gas would give you the push. They can at least spell and punctuate, even if they can't lay out formal letters properly.
Hes an mp in the british parliament.
Goebbels was an official of the German government. And a neo-Nazi crook, mad anti-Semite, serial rapist, and in the pay of many mad despots.
Galloway is, of course, different from this.
For a start, he has never been an official of the German government.
Yawn, these Russian prats must think we are REALLY dumb. What is the aim here, can anyone explain?
In theory, it's to spread rancour and despondency. In practice, it's to give us all a good chuckle, except for those who somehow aren't in on the joke.
Let's face it, we need a good chuckle.
Well, if it helps, this is Clarkman when his boss sees his efforts...
Yawn, these Russian prats must think we are REALLY dumb. What is the aim here, can anyone explain?
In theory, it's to spread rancour and despondency. In practice, it's to give us all a good chuckle, except for those who somehow aren't in on the joke.
Let's face it, we need a good chuckle.
Well, if it helps, this is Clarkman when his boss sees his efforts...
the #Biden regime is found to be involved in the terrorist mass murder underway in Moscow a virtual state of war between the super-powers will exist #Russia #USA #Moscow
Gosh. Are you really so useless you can't come up with *any* vaguely sane sources?
You'll be quoting Goebbels next.
Come on, make more of an effort.
At the moment whatever Putin is paying, you're not worth it.
Heck, even those losers at British Gas would give you the push. They can at least spell and punctuate, even if they can't lay out formal letters properly.
Hes an mp in the british parliament.
Goebbels was an official of the German government. And a neo-Nazi crook, mad anti-Semite, serial rapist, and in the pay of many mad despots.
Galloway is, of course, different from this.
For a start, he has never been an official of the German government.
Goebbels never dressed up as a cat on celebrity BB
Sad news about kate middleton too. Lots of young people getting cancer recently.
THERE IS A LINK BETWEEN TURBO CANCERS AND THE COVID VACCINES -
IT IS TIME THAT OUR GOVERNMENT AND ALL THE GOVERNMENTS THAT PUSHED THIS UNTESTED MEDICAL PROCEDURE ON IT’S PEOPLE THOROUGHLY LOOKED INTO IT AND INVESTIGATED THE MATTER.
Biden fears that Russia will get Ukraine to surrender before November destroying his re-election chances. The US proxy war with over a million dead was totally preventable and Biden rejected peace in 2022. His legacy will be a wrecked Ukraine, the Gaza genocide and a bankrupt US.
What happened to Truman? He was by some distance the best Russian troll we've ever had. I'd hoped we would be allowed to keep him.
This one seems a right jerk.
Please!
A wrong jerk.
Actually, Truman was quite an interesting poster. Reminded me of DJ41. Sure, there was nonsense but it was intelligently written nonsense and engaged with the discussion. I was a bit sorry when it ended.
DJ41 was more eloquent. Came at the pro-Putin thing from a left wing perspective which was a more novel approach. Truman seemed a bit ChatGPT.
DJ41 wasn’t a Russian troll, I had a bit of private correspondence with him about something we had in common. Just a person with a slightly different worldview than most.
the #Biden regime is found to be involved in the terrorist mass murder underway in Moscow a virtual state of war between the super-powers will exist #Russia #USA #Moscow
Gosh. Are you really so useless you can't come up with *any* vaguely sane sources?
You'll be quoting Goebbels next.
Come on, make more of an effort.
At the moment whatever Putin is paying, you're not worth it.
Heck, even those losers at British Gas would give you the push. They can at least spell and punctuate, even if they can't lay out formal letters properly.
Hes an mp in the british parliament.
Goebbels was an official of the German government. And a neo-Nazi crook, mad anti-Semite, serial rapist, and in the pay of many mad despots.
Galloway is, of course, different from this.
For a start, he has never been an official of the German government.
Galloway increasingly associates with the far right now on many isdues.
When a cult takes over a political party there is a tendency to tell existing supporters to go and vote for somebody else, we saw this with SKS who literally said if you don't like the direction I am taking the party there's the door.
Jezza never said anything of that nature and 12.9m voted for him in 2017
the #Biden regime is found to be involved in the terrorist mass murder underway in Moscow a virtual state of war between the super-powers will exist #Russia #USA #Moscow
Gosh. Are you really so useless you can't come up with *any* vaguely sane sources?
You'll be quoting Goebbels next.
Come on, make more of an effort.
At the moment whatever Putin is paying, you're not worth it.
Heck, even those losers at British Gas would give you the push. They can at least spell and punctuate, even if they can't lay out formal letters properly.
Hes an mp in the british parliament.
Goebbels was an official of the German government. And a neo-Nazi crook, mad anti-Semite, serial rapist, and in the pay of many mad despots.
Galloway is, of course, different from this.
For a start, he has never been an official of the German government.
Galloway increasingly associates with the far right now on many isdues.
Increasingly? He was a personal friend of Saddam Hussein!
the #Biden regime is found to be involved in the terrorist mass murder underway in Moscow a virtual state of war between the super-powers will exist #Russia #USA #Moscow
Gosh. Are you really so useless you can't come up with *any* vaguely sane sources?
You'll be quoting Goebbels next.
Come on, make more of an effort.
At the moment whatever Putin is paying, you're not worth it.
Heck, even those losers at British Gas would give you the push. They can at least spell and punctuate, even if they can't lay out formal letters properly.
I must admit I'm confused by the idea that leaving the EU would have any significant impact on economic growth.
As a business owner, there are some tiny positives and some tiny negatives, but the reality is that we could always sell to anyone in the world, and we can always buy from anyone in the world. Tariffs are no different for selling to the EU as previously, and paperwork is very mildly worse.
Of course, as most exports from the UK are services anyway, the impact is essentially negligible, especially as most EU countries have implemented legislation to allow cross recognition of professional standards.
What is the mechanism by which EU membership is supposed to either massively boost or massively hinder economic growth?
The big issues companies (and economies face) is the availability of skilled employees, tax and benefits systems. Almost all of those are national competences. Hence the fact that some EU countries have done pretty well, and some have not.
We did better than the EU when we were members, largely because we had a great legal system, were open to inward investment, speak English, and have a flexible labour market.
On the other hand, we have an economy dominated by consumption, due to insufficient household savings. And that number is entirely due to UK government policies.
I support Brexit because I think it's better that decisions are taken closer to people, and Brexit allows that. I support because small and nimble is usually best. I regret the lack of FoM, which has made sourcing skilled engineers slightly harder. But I also recognize that the UK benefits system is essentially incompatible with FoM. I am not displeased to have avoided EU AI regulation, but I also know a couple of European companies that are doing some amazing work there, especially in the medical space, so I doubt it'll have as much effect as people think.
I regret that people have become so wedded to their views that they are unwilling to recognize that almost everything contains positives and negatives. And that those calculations will be different to individual people.
Most of all, I regret that people think Brexit is a cure all for problems that are essentially domestic: our insufficient household savings rate that causes our trade deficit, our inability to free up building regulation, our tax and benefits system that discourage lower skilled workers from finding employment, and most of all a vocational education system that is a pale shadow of those in Germany, Switzerland or Denmark.
My oft-stated position was that Britain could be successful within or outside the EU. However, europhobes successfully sold the lie that the EU was seen as the reason for failures that were caused much closer to home. Leaving the EU has not fixed those issues, as they were not caused by the EU in the first place.
I can be argued that leaving the EU has made it easier for those issues to be solved. Perhaps. But they are not being, perhaps because of the central conceit that they were caused by the EU, not ourselves, is not being addressed.
It is always easier to blame others than to blame ourselves.
Actually many Brexiteers made the argument that the EU gave our national leaders false cover "would love to do something, can't sorry, Europe won't let us" and that Brexit means that now politicians have to take responsibility.
That doesn't mean our first post Brexit government can, should or will be perfect, of course that's not the case. Nor will the second or third. But we as voters can hold our elected politicians to account and kick them out when they fail, no hiding spaces.
I've always found that argument the most spurious straw grasping after any other 'benefits' have dissolved. Firstly and most obviously, it is a case itself of blaming the EU for failures in our own politics - in this case politicians not taking difficult decisions or making brave arguments about the importance of policies certain interests rage against.
Secondly, because of that, inevitably, the blame has just shifted. Brexit true believers or those so politically tied to it they can't admit it's been crap blame 'Remoaners', 'The Blob', the EU (still) and now the European Court of Human Rights - settled on as the latest bogeyman. While Remainers can blame Brexit and the uselessness of Brexiteers and imagine a land of milk and honey upon rejoining and kicking them out of office.
Take the immigration debate - it's quite obviously not resulted in it being addressed in a grown up way, with trade offs explained to the electorate, and with politicians working to find the most practical ways to stop undocumented crossings. Rather we've got exactly the same blame game but even more stupid and farcical than it was in the EU because there's no immediate requirement to make rhetoric work with partner nations.
It is undoubtedly true that the optimistic assumption that our political class would actually accept responsibility for their actions once the bogeyman of the EU was removed has not been borne out.
Well somewhere from 100-200 Tory MPs are about to find out the hard way what accountability looks like. So it’s all working as it should be.
Where do you get your numbers from?
It is now two to one on that the cull will exceed 200.
Sorry if that sounded a bit snotty, Sandpit, but I speak with considerable smugness in my voice.
In Benpointer's excellent competition, I predicted a Labour Majority of 254, which was 54 more than any other entry. I wondered at the time if I had overdone it a bit, but if I could resubmit I would make it more like 452.
As so many on here remarked, Sunak missed his last best chance when he passed over the May election option. It can surely only get worse for him now.
For Labour to have a majority of c 450 doesn’t that mean the Conservatives having 0 seats or very close to 0?
I mean, I know I’m keen on the notion of a sizeable Labour majority but that’s, erm, bold
Don't rule out the possibility, young Heath.
Topping was on here predicting the othert day that Sunak will hold on until Jan 2025. If he's right, zero is a very plausible number.
Wow.
Well, there’s a part of me which would love it just for the kicking it will give a Gov’t and party which I think deserve everything coming to them.
However, I do feel that our democratic process needs an effective Opposition in parliament? Starmer in this regard is probably a lot more trustworthy than Blair, who was smug even before he was elected.
Whilst not impossible, zero is of course highly unlikely but below 50 is not. (It was last matched on Betfair at 7.6).
Yes, I agree that an effective Opposition is an aid to good government, but a meltdown of that order would imply Sir Ed Davey as LOTO. One envisages PMQs of a very different kind from what we have been accustomerd to. They would certainly be much more polite, and who knows, maybe even more cerebral.
Biden fears that Russia will get Ukraine to surrender before November destroying his re-election chances. The US proxy war with over a million dead was totally preventable and Biden rejected peace in 2022. His legacy will be a wrecked Ukraine, the Gaza genocide and a bankrupt US.
What happened to Truman? He was by some distance the best Russian troll we've ever had. I'd hoped we would be allowed to keep him.
This one seems a right jerk.
Please!
A wrong jerk.
Actually, Truman was quite an interesting poster. Reminded me of DJ41. Sure, there was nonsense but it was intelligently written nonsense and engaged with the discussion. I was a bit sorry when it ended.
DJ41 was more eloquent. Came at the pro-Putin thing from a left wing perspective which was a more novel approach. Truman seemed a bit ChatGPT.
DJ41 wasn’t a Russian troll, I had a bit of private correspondence with him about something we had in common. Just a person with a slightly different worldview than most.
Sad news about kate middleton too. Lots of young people getting cancer recently.
THERE IS A LINK BETWEEN TURBO CANCERS AND THE COVID VACCINES -
IT IS TIME THAT OUR GOVERNMENT AND ALL THE GOVERNMENTS THAT PUSHED THIS UNTESTED MEDICAL PROCEDURE ON IT’S PEOPLE THOROUGHLY LOOKED INTO IT AND INVESTIGATED THE MATTER.
the #Biden regime is found to be involved in the terrorist mass murder underway in Moscow a virtual state of war between the super-powers will exist #Russia #USA #Moscow
Gosh. Are you really so useless you can't come up with *any* vaguely sane sources?
You'll be quoting Goebbels next.
Come on, make more of an effort.
At the moment whatever Putin is paying, you're not worth it.
Heck, even those losers at British Gas would give you the push. They can at least spell and punctuate, even if they can't lay out formal letters properly.
Hes an mp in the british parliament.
One who famously saluted Saddam Hussein.
But stands up for the people of gaxa. A principled man.
Yawn, these Russian prats must think we are REALLY dumb. What is the aim here, can anyone explain?
In theory, it's to spread rancour and despondency. In practice, it's to give us all a good chuckle, except for those who somehow aren't in on the joke.
Let's face it, we need a good chuckle.
Indeed ukraine getting spanked by russia is funny.
Hardly. And even the reverse wouldn't be that funny; it's still humans suffering because of the addled fantasies of an increasingly decrepit despot.
Sad news about kate middleton too. Lots of young people getting cancer recently.
THERE IS A LINK BETWEEN TURBO CANCERS AND THE COVID VACCINES -
IT IS TIME THAT OUR GOVERNMENT AND ALL THE GOVERNMENTS THAT PUSHED THIS UNTESTED MEDICAL PROCEDURE ON IT’S PEOPLE THOROUGHLY LOOKED INTO IT AND INVESTIGATED THE MATTER.
the #Biden regime is found to be involved in the terrorist mass murder underway in Moscow a virtual state of war between the super-powers will exist #Russia #USA #Moscow
Gosh. Are you really so useless you can't come up with *any* vaguely sane sources?
You'll be quoting Goebbels next.
Come on, make more of an effort.
At the moment whatever Putin is paying, you're not worth it.
Heck, even those losers at British Gas would give you the push. They can at least spell and punctuate, even if they can't lay out formal letters properly.
Hes an mp in the british parliament.
One who famously saluted Saddam Hussein.
But stands up for the people of gaxa. A principled man.
I didn't know he had any people. Are they footballers like he was?
Biden fears that Russia will get Ukraine to surrender before November destroying his re-election chances. The US proxy war with over a million dead was totally preventable and Biden rejected peace in 2022. His legacy will be a wrecked Ukraine, the Gaza genocide and a bankrupt US.
What happened to Truman? He was by some distance the best Russian troll we've ever had. I'd hoped we would be allowed to keep him.
This one seems a right jerk.
Please!
A wrong jerk.
Actually, Truman was quite an interesting poster. Reminded me of DJ41. Sure, there was nonsense but it was intelligently written nonsense and engaged with the discussion. I was a bit sorry when it ended.
DJ41 was more eloquent. Came at the pro-Putin thing from a left wing perspective which was a more novel approach. Truman seemed a bit ChatGPT.
DJ41 wasn’t a Russian troll, I had a bit of private correspondence with him about something we had in common. Just a person with a slightly different worldview than most.
Sad news about kate middleton too. Lots of young people getting cancer recently.
THERE IS A LINK BETWEEN TURBO CANCERS AND THE COVID VACCINES -
IT IS TIME THAT OUR GOVERNMENT AND ALL THE GOVERNMENTS THAT PUSHED THIS UNTESTED MEDICAL PROCEDURE ON IT’S PEOPLE THOROUGHLY LOOKED INTO IT AND INVESTIGATED THE MATTER.
the #Biden regime is found to be involved in the terrorist mass murder underway in Moscow a virtual state of war between the super-powers will exist #Russia #USA #Moscow
Gosh. Are you really so useless you can't come up with *any* vaguely sane sources?
You'll be quoting Goebbels next.
Come on, make more of an effort.
At the moment whatever Putin is paying, you're not worth it.
Heck, even those losers at British Gas would give you the push. They can at least spell and punctuate, even if they can't lay out formal letters properly.
Hes an mp in the british parliament.
One who famously saluted Saddam Hussein.
But stands up for the people of gaxa. A principled man.
I didn't know he had any people. Are they footballers like he was?
All the anti semitic theories floating around must be driving people like you mad.
the #Biden regime is found to be involved in the terrorist mass murder underway in Moscow a virtual state of war between the super-powers will exist #Russia #USA #Moscow
Gosh. Are you really so useless you can't come up with *any* vaguely sane sources?
You'll be quoting Goebbels next.
Come on, make more of an effort.
At the moment whatever Putin is paying, you're not worth it.
Heck, even those losers at British Gas would give you the push. They can at least spell and punctuate, even if they can't lay out formal letters properly.
Hes an mp in the british parliament.
One who famously saluted Saddam Hussein.
But stands up for the people of gaxa. A principled man.
I didn't know he had any people. Are they footballers like he was?
All the anti semitic theories floating around must be driving people like you mad.
The large number of antisemites floating around annoys me.
The theories they espouse just mildly divert me from more useful things, like suing British Gas for swindling me.
Yawn, these Russian prats must think we are REALLY dumb. What is the aim here, can anyone explain?
In theory, it's to spread rancour and despondency. In practice, it's to give us all a good chuckle, except for those who somehow aren't in on the joke.
Let's face it, we need a good chuckle.
Indeed ukraine getting spanked by russia is funny.
Hardly. And even the reverse wouldn't be that funny; it's still humans suffering because of the addled fantasies of an increasingly decrepit despot.
Yawn, these Russian prats must think we are REALLY dumb. What is the aim here, can anyone explain?
In theory, it's to spread rancour and despondency. In practice, it's to give us all a good chuckle, except for those who somehow aren't in on the joke.
Let's face it, we need a good chuckle.
Indeed ukraine getting spanked by russia is funny.
Hardly. And even the reverse wouldn't be that funny; it's still humans suffering because of the addled fantasies of an increasingly decrepit despot.
Still, I'm sure you're doing very good work.
Indeed. Which is why peace is needed.
How about asking your boss to stop trying to prove his cock is more than an inch long, and withdraw?
Edit - 24 posts. Not too impressive.
That was a very inferior bot. Putin really must be panicking if he's sending out rubbish like that.
Or is he just offended by TSE's comments on his sexuality?
Scott Perry says Republicans should vote against this bill because it provides for 23,000 new Border Patrol Agents and 41,500 new detention facility beds, and this will give Democrats something to run on in the upcoming election. https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1771176087550070795
I must admit I'm confused by the idea that leaving the EU would have any significant impact on economic growth.
As a business owner, there are some tiny positives and some tiny negatives, but the reality is that we could always sell to anyone in the world, and we can always buy from anyone in the world. Tariffs are no different for selling to the EU as previously, and paperwork is very mildly worse.
Of course, as most exports from the UK are services anyway, the impact is essentially negligible, especially as most EU countries have implemented legislation to allow cross recognition of professional standards.
What is the mechanism by which EU membership is supposed to either massively boost or massively hinder economic growth?
The big issues companies (and economies face) is the availability of skilled employees, tax and benefits systems. Almost all of those are national competences. Hence the fact that some EU countries have done pretty well, and some have not.
We did better than the EU when we were members, largely because we had a great legal system, were open to inward investment, speak English, and have a flexible labour market.
On the other hand, we have an economy dominated by consumption, due to insufficient household savings. And that number is entirely due to UK government policies.
I support Brexit because I think it's better that decisions are taken closer to people, and Brexit allows that. I support because small and nimble is usually best. I regret the lack of FoM, which has made sourcing skilled engineers slightly harder. But I also recognize that the UK benefits system is essentially incompatible with FoM. I am not displeased to have avoided EU AI regulation, but I also know a couple of European companies that are doing some amazing work there, especially in the medical space, so I doubt it'll have as much effect as people think.
I regret that people have become so wedded to their views that they are unwilling to recognize that almost everything contains positives and negatives. And that those calculations will be different to individual people.
Most of all, I regret that people think Brexit is a cure all for problems that are essentially domestic: our insufficient household savings rate that causes our trade deficit, our inability to free up building regulation, our tax and benefits system that discourage lower skilled workers from finding employment, and most of all a vocational education system that is a pale shadow of those in Germany, Switzerland or Denmark.
My oft-stated position was that Britain could be successful within or outside the EU. However, europhobes successfully sold the lie that the EU was seen as the reason for failures that were caused much closer to home. Leaving the EU has not fixed those issues, as they were not caused by the EU in the first place.
I can be argued that leaving the EU has made it easier for those issues to be solved. Perhaps. But they are not being, perhaps because of the central conceit that they were caused by the EU, not ourselves, is not being addressed.
It is always easier to blame others than to blame ourselves.
Actually many Brexiteers made the argument that the EU gave our national leaders false cover "would love to do something, can't sorry, Europe won't let us" and that Brexit means that now politicians have to take responsibility.
That doesn't mean our first post Brexit government can, should or will be perfect, of course that's not the case. Nor will the second or third. But we as voters can hold our elected politicians to account and kick them out when they fail, no hiding spaces.
I've always found that argument the most spurious straw grasping after any other 'benefits' have dissolved. Firstly and most obviously, it is a case itself of blaming the EU for failures in our own politics - in this case politicians not taking difficult decisions or making brave arguments about the importance of policies certain interests rage against.
Secondly, because of that, inevitably, the blame has just shifted. Brexit true believers or those so politically tied to it they can't admit it's been crap blame 'Remoaners', 'The Blob', the EU (still) and now the European Court of Human Rights - settled on as the latest bogeyman. While Remainers can blame Brexit and the uselessness of Brexiteers and imagine a land of milk and honey upon rejoining and kicking them out of office.
Take the immigration debate - it's quite obviously not resulted in it being addressed in a grown up way, with trade offs explained to the electorate, and with politicians working to find the most practical ways to stop undocumented crossings. Rather we've got exactly the same blame game but even more stupid and farcical than it was in the EU because there's no immediate requirement to make rhetoric work with partner nations.
It is undoubtedly true that the optimistic assumption that our political class would actually accept responsibility for their actions once the bogeyman of the EU was removed has not been borne out.
Well somewhere from 100-200 Tory MPs are about to find out the hard way what accountability looks like. So it’s all working as it should be.
Where do you get your numbers from?
It is now two to one on that the cull will exceed 200.
Sorry if that sounded a bit snotty, Sandpit, but I speak with considerable smugness in my voice.
In Benpointer's excellent competition, I predicted a Labour Majority of 254, which was 54 more than any other entry. I wondered at the time if I had overdone it a bit, but if I could resubmit I would make it more like 452.
As so many on here remarked, Sunak missed his last best chance when he passed over the May election option. It can surely only get worse for him now.
For Labour to have a majority of c 450 doesn’t that mean the Conservatives having 0 seats or very close to 0?
I mean, I know I’m keen on the notion of a sizeable Labour majority but that’s, erm, bold
Don't rule out the possibility, young Heath.
Topping was on here predicting the othert day that Sunak will hold on until Jan 2025. If he's right, zero is a very plausible number.
Wow.
Well, there’s a part of me which would love it just for the kicking it will give a Gov’t and party which I think deserve everything coming to them.
However, I do feel that our democratic process needs an effective Opposition in parliament? Starmer in this regard is probably a lot more trustworthy than Blair, who was smug even before he was elected.
Whilst not impossible, zero is of course highly unlikely but below 50 is not. (It was last matched on Betfair at 7.6).
Yes, I agree that an effective Opposition is an aid to good government, but a meltdown of that order would imply Sir Ed Davey as LOTO. One envisages PMQs of a very different kind from what we have been accustomerd to. They would certainly be much more polite, and who knows, maybe even more cerebral.
Just dreaming.
Definitely not a nightmare, that! Would be in some quarters, of course.
Looks like we’re currently breaking the all time renewables generation record. 6gw of solar power on a windy day, but cold enough for demand to be high. 25gw of combined solar and wind.
the #Biden regime is found to be involved in the terrorist mass murder underway in Moscow a virtual state of war between the super-powers will exist #Russia #USA #Moscow
Gosh. Are you really so useless you can't come up with *any* vaguely sane sources?
You'll be quoting Goebbels next.
Come on, make more of an effort.
At the moment whatever Putin is paying, you're not worth it.
Heck, even those losers at British Gas would give you the push. They can at least spell and punctuate, even if they can't lay out formal letters properly.
Hes an mp in the british parliament.
One who famously saluted Saddam Hussein.
But stands up for the people of gaxa. A principled man.
I didn't know he had any people. Are they footballers like he was?
All the anti semitic theories floating around must be driving people like you mad.
The large number of antisemites floating around annoys me.
The theories they espouse just mildly divert me from more useful things, like suing British Gas for swindling me.
They quietly added £4k to our bill last year and it was a few months before we noticed. It was eventually reversed after a somewhat tense correspondence, but there was never any explanation.
We plan to tiptoe away quietly to Octopus but we need to burn up our small credit with BG first, because we have heard they don't like making refunds.
the #Biden regime is found to be involved in the terrorist mass murder underway in Moscow a virtual state of war between the super-powers will exist #Russia #USA #Moscow
Gosh. Are you really so useless you can't come up with *any* vaguely sane sources?
You'll be quoting Goebbels next.
Come on, make more of an effort.
At the moment whatever Putin is paying, you're not worth it.
Heck, even those losers at British Gas would give you the push. They can at least spell and punctuate, even if they can't lay out formal letters properly.
Hes an mp in the british parliament.
One who famously saluted Saddam Hussein.
But stands up for the people of gaxa. A principled man.
I didn't know he had any people. Are they footballers like he was?
All the anti semitic theories floating around must be driving people like you mad.
The large number of antisemites floating around annoys me.
The theories they espouse just mildly divert me from more useful things, like suing British Gas for swindling me.
They quietly added £4k to our bill last year and it was a few months before we noticed. It was eventually reversed after a somewhat tense correspondence, but there was never any explanation.
We plan to tiptoe away quietly to Octopus but we need to burn up our small credit with BG first, because we have heard they don't like making refunds.
What an outfit.
You are correct. They're still swindling me on that, which I hope the judge will find of interest. And the regulator don't give a fuck either.
I have sent them a large bill for my time on a separate issue and sued them after they refused to pay. I am looking forward to seeing them in court.
I must admit I'm confused by the idea that leaving the EU would have any significant impact on economic growth.
As a business owner, there are some tiny positives and some tiny negatives, but the reality is that we could always sell to anyone in the world, and we can always buy from anyone in the world. Tariffs are no different for selling to the EU as previously, and paperwork is very mildly worse.
Of course, as most exports from the UK are services anyway, the impact is essentially negligible, especially as most EU countries have implemented legislation to allow cross recognition of professional standards.
What is the mechanism by which EU membership is supposed to either massively boost or massively hinder economic growth?
The big issues companies (and economies face) is the availability of skilled employees, tax and benefits systems. Almost all of those are national competences. Hence the fact that some EU countries have done pretty well, and some have not.
We did better than the EU when we were members, largely because we had a great legal system, were open to inward investment, speak English, and have a flexible labour market.
On the other hand, we have an economy dominated by consumption, due to insufficient household savings. And that number is entirely due to UK government policies.
I support Brexit because I think it's better that decisions are taken closer to people, and Brexit allows that. I support because small and nimble is usually best. I regret the lack of FoM, which has made sourcing skilled engineers slightly harder. But I also recognize that the UK benefits system is essentially incompatible with FoM. I am not displeased to have avoided EU AI regulation, but I also know a couple of European companies that are doing some amazing work there, especially in the medical space, so I doubt it'll have as much effect as people think.
I regret that people have become so wedded to their views that they are unwilling to recognize that almost everything contains positives and negatives. And that those calculations will be different to individual people.
Most of all, I regret that people think Brexit is a cure all for problems that are essentially domestic: our insufficient household savings rate that causes our trade deficit, our inability to free up building regulation, our tax and benefits system that discourage lower skilled workers from finding employment, and most of all a vocational education system that is a pale shadow of those in Germany, Switzerland or Denmark.
My oft-stated position was that Britain could be successful within or outside the EU. However, europhobes successfully sold the lie that the EU was seen as the reason for failures that were caused much closer to home. Leaving the EU has not fixed those issues, as they were not caused by the EU in the first place.
I can be argued that leaving the EU has made it easier for those issues to be solved. Perhaps. But they are not being, perhaps because of the central conceit that they were caused by the EU, not ourselves, is not being addressed.
It is always easier to blame others than to blame ourselves.
Actually many Brexiteers made the argument that the EU gave our national leaders false cover "would love to do something, can't sorry, Europe won't let us" and that Brexit means that now politicians have to take responsibility.
That doesn't mean our first post Brexit government can, should or will be perfect, of course that's not the case. Nor will the second or third. But we as voters can hold our elected politicians to account and kick them out when they fail, no hiding spaces.
I've always found that argument the most spurious straw grasping after any other 'benefits' have dissolved. Firstly and most obviously, it is a case itself of blaming the EU for failures in our own politics - in this case politicians not taking difficult decisions or making brave arguments about the importance of policies certain interests rage against.
Secondly, because of that, inevitably, the blame has just shifted. Brexit true believers or those so politically tied to it they can't admit it's been crap blame 'Remoaners', 'The Blob', the EU (still) and now the European Court of Human Rights - settled on as the latest bogeyman. While Remainers can blame Brexit and the uselessness of Brexiteers and imagine a land of milk and honey upon rejoining and kicking them out of office.
Take the immigration debate - it's quite obviously not resulted in it being addressed in a grown up way, with trade offs explained to the electorate, and with politicians working to find the most practical ways to stop undocumented crossings. Rather we've got exactly the same blame game but even more stupid and farcical than it was in the EU because there's no immediate requirement to make rhetoric work with partner nations.
It is undoubtedly true that the optimistic assumption that our political class would actually accept responsibility for their actions once the bogeyman of the EU was removed has not been borne out.
Well somewhere from 100-200 Tory MPs are about to find out the hard way what accountability looks like. So it’s all working as it should be.
Where do you get your numbers from?
It is now two to one on that the cull will exceed 200.
Sorry if that sounded a bit snotty, Sandpit, but I speak with considerable smugness in my voice.
In Benpointer's excellent competition, I predicted a Labour Majority of 254, which was 54 more than any other entry. I wondered at the time if I had overdone it a bit, but if I could resubmit I would make it more like 452.
As so many on here remarked, Sunak missed his last best chance when he passed over the May election option. It can surely only get worse for him now.
For Labour to have a majority of c 450 doesn’t that mean the Conservatives having 0 seats or very close to 0?
I mean, I know I’m keen on the notion of a sizeable Labour majority but that’s, erm, bold
Don't rule out the possibility, young Heath.
Topping was on here predicting the othert day that Sunak will hold on until Jan 2025. If he's right, zero is a very plausible number.
Wow.
Well, there’s a part of me which would love it just for the kicking it will give a Gov’t and party which I think deserve everything coming to them.
However, I do feel that our democratic process needs an effective Opposition in parliament? Starmer in this regard is probably a lot more trustworthy than Blair, who was smug even before he was elected.
Whilst not impossible, zero is of course highly unlikely but below 50 is not. (It was last matched on Betfair at 7.6).
Yes, I agree that an effective Opposition is an aid to good government, but a meltdown of that order would imply Sir Ed Davey as LOTO. One envisages PMQs of a very different kind from what we have been accustomerd to. They would certainly be much more polite, and who knows, maybe even more cerebral.
Just dreaming.
Definitely not a nightmare, that! Would be in some quarters, of course.
The Tory replacement image is very amusing, but nature abhors a vacuum. I'm afraid that the loopy populist hard right is going to end up stronger than ever at the end of all this, whether that's achieved by walking over the prone corpse of the Conservative Party or through a takeover.
The drugs newly approved for obesity appear to have relative benefits for cognition compared to other diabetes treatments.. Expect a lot more trials like this.
Comparing major and mild cognitive impairment risks in older type-2 diabetic patients: a Danish register-based study on dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors vs. glucagon-like peptide-1 analogues https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00415-024-12300-9
Just want to say that recently I was mocked by the brilliant and much-missed @truman for investing a hefty chunk of unexpected capital in tech shares, especially the American giants. He accused me of buying at the end of a bull-run and, in particular, at the top of the Big Tech bubble
I replied he had a point, but where else can one invest with hope for growth? My main argument was that AI is surely going to prolong the bull run in tech, and that the Big 7 companies are now so large they will just buy AI rivals and talent, ensuring their success. They are very hard to topple
I see that last night Ukraine hit a Russian oil refinery again.
Re-hit. One they have attacked before.
Russians are saying the new Ukrainian drones are much more difficult to impact with electronic warfare measures. As much as 16% of Russian refining capacity has already been hit. It is disproportionately located in western Russia, in range of drones able to travel over 1,000 km - seemingly without facing any meaningful air defences.
Shame the Severnaya Goldeneye satellite got blown up.
If they can do 1000km they are not far from being able sensibly to reach the fleet in St Petersburg.
Refineries have been hit near St Petersburg.
Refineries and airbases are probably higher value targets than the Baltic Fleet. Last I heard the Black Sea Fleet was still in hiding and refusing to leave port.
Biden wont like this if it means higher gas prices though. Ukraine have got to be a bit careful.
If Biden had helped Ukraine win the war in 2023 he could have had lower gas prices now.
Much as I hope for the best in terms of US support, Ukraine and Europe have to learn to do without it.
How? Russia being driven out of Ukraine would not necessarily have returned them to the bossom of the West and turned the gas taps back on.
I must admit I'm confused by the idea that leaving the EU would have any significant impact on economic growth.
As a business owner, there are some tiny positives and some tiny negatives, but the reality is that we could always sell to anyone in the world, and we can always buy from anyone in the world. Tariffs are no different for selling to the EU as previously, and paperwork is very mildly worse.
Of course, as most exports from the UK are services anyway, the impact is essentially negligible, especially as most EU countries have implemented legislation to allow cross recognition of professional standards.
What is the mechanism by which EU membership is supposed to either massively boost or massively hinder economic growth?
The big issues companies (and economies face) is the availability of skilled employees, tax and benefits systems. Almost all of those are national competences. Hence the fact that some EU countries have done pretty well, and some have not.
We did better than the EU when we were members, largely because we had a great legal system, were open to inward investment, speak English, and have a flexible labour market.
On the other hand, we have an economy dominated by consumption, due to insufficient household savings. And that number is entirely due to UK government policies.
I support Brexit because I think it's better that decisions are taken closer to people, and Brexit allows that. I support because small and nimble is usually best. I regret the lack of FoM, which has made sourcing skilled engineers slightly harder. But I also recognize that the UK benefits system is essentially incompatible with FoM. I am not displeased to have avoided EU AI regulation, but I also know a couple of European companies that are doing some amazing work there, especially in the medical space, so I doubt it'll have as much effect as people think.
I regret that people have become so wedded to their views that they are unwilling to recognize that almost everything contains positives and negatives. And that those calculations will be different to individual people.
Most of all, I regret that people think Brexit is a cure all for problems that are essentially domestic: our insufficient household savings rate that causes our trade deficit, our inability to free up building regulation, our tax and benefits system that discourage lower skilled workers from finding employment, and most of all a vocational education system that is a pale shadow of those in Germany, Switzerland or Denmark.
That’s a verbose way of saying ‘yeah Brexit was won on a torrent of bullshit and this isn’t necessarily the Brexit I voted for but SOVEREIGNTEE!!!!’
I’m still fucking livid I’ve lost my EU citizenship. I’m still fucking livid I’ve lost my FoM. I’m still fucking livid that the Tory EU-phobic psychodrama has turned me into a second class citizen on my own continent. I’m fucking livid that it has reduced the Tory Party to the fucking right-wing culture war mess it is, and the baleful impact that has had on this country with policies designed to appeal to the basest impulses of the worst part of our population.
The main impact for me isn’t the economic impact - and though I don’t pretend to understand economics the most superficial google will bring you up reams of analysis of the massively detrimental impact of leaving the EU, particularly on small and medium businesses - including musicians who contribute so much to our economy - thanks in large part to new paperwork whose impact seems to be much larger than ‘very mildly worse’.
I’m fucking livid that really, Brexit isn’t about economics. It’s a project designed to make us a more Conservative country, a more right-wing country. A smaller state country. That’s what its funders want, that’s what the Tories want. They sold Brexit on a pack of lies, on mutually exclusive torrents of horseshit, and by tipping a nod and a wink to the most reactionary parts of this country that all their prayers would be answered. And your ‘regret’, quite frankly, boils my piss.
Then stop fucking moaning, you stupid Remoaner twat, and persuade Starmer to call a Rejoin election. You will never get a better chance. He will have a stonking majority, the polls will be all in his favour, he can turn around and sadly say “things are so bad we need to do this”, his honeymooning voters will forgive him, and besides 70% of them will agree with him. So this is it - this year - after the election, you can actually stop Remoaning and do it. Rejoin. The chance will not come again - ask Blair
Except Starmer won’t do this. Why? BECAUSE he’s a Remoaner like you, and he’s terrified people will remember that he was Second Voter, he literally wanted to cancel democracy and annul the biggest democratic mandate in UK history. So he won’t go there and all you will do is carry on moaning. Cause you’re a Remoaner. It’s all you guys do
There should be a word for Beyond Pathetic: that’s you
Just want to say that recently I was mocked by the brilliant and much-missed @truman for investing a hefty chunk of unexpected capital in tech shares, especially the American giants. He accused me of buying at the end of a bull-run and, in particular, at the top of the Big Tech bubble
I replied he had a point, but where else can one invest with hope for growth? My main argument was that AI is surely going to prolong the bull run in tech, and that the Big 7 companies are now so large they will just buy AI rivals and talent, ensuring their success. They are very hard to topple
I understand why @rcs1000 was emotionally attached to the post about Brexit but it is not coherent either logically, practically or emotionally.
@RochdalePioneers (a Brexiter) has given us chapter and verse about some of the economic hurdles now in place. Two anecdotally and trivially from me are movements of horses to and from the EU and a very small luxury clothing business which now finds it too expensive to import from the EU.
But more important wrt the "decisions made closer to home" bullshit (soz) is that, in the words of that noble and fearless Brexiter David Davis, we were always s*v*r**gn. The tiniest number of things were subject to EU lawmaking (VAT on home energy and Droit de Suite for example and you have no idea what one of those is).
You guys keep bleating on about shoulda woulda coulda but you sound like all those mad communists still agitating for that system. A great idea just that no one has done it right.
And with that, we're back on topic. The "good idea, done badly, not gone far enough" is the sort of thing that devotees of St Jeremy The Martyr say as well.
The will of the people is pretty clearly that this isn't going well and is probably a mistake. There's not much enthusiasm for any alternative but the status quo is seen as rubbish. The only useful questions are what the British state does with that information and when?
It's now more than ever that we are expected to embrace our national motto: mustn't grumble.
If there is one thing Britons can unite around it is having a good moan. "Mustn't grumble" is superb British irony considering that is what we do most.
There being a lot more than usual to grumble about right now
Good morning
Oh I don't know about that. Things have been going to hell in a handcart for many years.
Well yes. I now look back fondly to the 2012 London Olympics as the Cool Britannia swansong. It has been all downhill ever since.
But what about the wrong coloured flags on the kit in 2012? Surely that spoiled the whole thing.
On which topic next PM Penny Mordaunt is this morning showing she’s a serious politician for serious times:
I’m going to make myself unpopular on here but I loathe the flag of St George and its connotations. It’s as historically ridiculous to associate it with England as three lions. What the heck have lions got to do with this country? Nothing at all. Nor has the myth of a dragon-slaying Cappadocian. Worse still, it has all become wrapped up in Crusader English nationalism of a particular kind. Yuck.
And don’t get me started on our execrable ’national’ anthem. It was lovely to hear the Welsh lustily singing a great tune the other night and Flower of Scotland is magnificent: the tune possibly more than the odd dodgy line - like La Marseillaise.
Anti-English rant over. Please excuse me.
p.s. I don’t agree with nations, nationhood, or national flags. We’re a human race comprising a multiplicity of different ethnicities, cultures, languages, and histories but essential one race. And we need to learn to get along.
Perhaps we will if one of Sean’s alien spaceships lands here. That’s if they don’t eat us.
The three lions were Richard Coeur de Lion’s personal sigil. They’ve been a recognised symbol of England for some 850 years
He spent most of his reign in France. Would've voted remain.
What is now considered France. Was his kingdom then, as well as England. But you’re right; wouldn’t have thought of England (at least) as other than closely linked to Europe. Western Europe, anyway!
Remainers: "Leavers are all backward-looking people obsessed with an idealised version of the 1950s that never existed."
Also Remainers: "Richard the Lionheart, 12th century monarch of the Angevin Empire, would have voted Remain."
Perhaps we should do all the UK monarchs. The Scottish ones would generally be for remain - "Auld Alliance" and all that.
In fact, most of the English medieval ones were trying to develop European unions too.
Comments
Personally, I am quite skeptical this time around. The tell for me is that he fought like Trump to delay and move the trial.
https://1ft.io/proxy?q=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/22/opinion/senate-republicans-trump.html
I would be betting on the GOP to take the senate as this is a very hard cycle for the Dems.
They start with 51 seats. West Virginia is a nailed on loss with Manchin quitting.
Therefore, the GOP only have to take one of the following for control:
Ohio
Montana
Pennsylvania
Michigan
Nevada
Arizona
Wisconsin
On the other side, Dems only have 2 unlikely pick up opportunities in Texas and Florida. There are also a couple of wildcards - Maryland, where the popular moderate Republican governor is running and New Jersey, where the current incumbent is mired in scandal.
That's a narrowing majority.
I have no intention of voting for them, and can’t remember trying to find a reason to, do you have any examples?
Oh.
ISIS is back after a ten year sleep. Musta been tired I guess.
Totally believable.
Btw… guess who ISIS really are?
https://x.com/Cobratate/status/1771359295902253168?s=20
ISIS has taken responsibility of the Moscow terrorist attacks.
Who did Trump say was the founder and the co-founder of ISIS?
Who has been making international trips lately?
Who benefits from this attack?
https://x.com/ShadowofEzra/status/1771290880919368138?s=20
If you look at polling, it's now extremely unpopular (even rejoin, which is obviously very difficult and comes with its own problems, posts healthy leads).
So what's happened? To oversimplify a bit. The third of the country who hated it still hate it - and it's broken some natural voting relationships. The third who were enthusiastic supporters by and large still support - with the exception of some in sectors or places that have taken a real hit - but many feel let down over stuff like immigration.
The middle third who weren't bothered either way but narrowly broke 'Leave' in the referendum out of frustration, now largely view Brexit as a fiasco that can be lumped in with other recent government failure.
The advantage that Leave had in the campaign - that you could link a status quo that people had become unsatisfied with to EU membership- one which meant Remain failed to realise until too late the need to make a positive case. But has now flipped, and the feeling of a crumbling country that's badly struggling gets linked to Brexit and the politicians who championed it as a cure.
They're almost as bad at acting as Pamela Anderson.
The CIA cut out ISIS takes responsibility for terrorist attack in Moscow weeks after Ukraine threatened terror strikes on Russia
https://x.com/RealAlexJones/status/1771300890357461351?s=20
This one doesn't even realise how everyone in the West knows what a small-cocked cuck Jones is.
Almost as useless as Putin himself.
I'm disappointed, really disappointed. We deserve better than this.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/mar/22/jasmin-paris-completes-barkley-marathons-tennessee
With 99 seconds to spare.
Much as I hope for the best in terms of US support, Ukraine and Europe have to learn to do without it.
https://x.com/KimDotcom/status/1771418281435599317?s=20
He'll cock it up because he's incompetent, of course. Heck, he couldn't even beat the Ukrainians when 40% of them were on his side. But he's certainly capable of trying it.
Just saying.
JUST IN: Russia officially adds the LGBTQ movement to its list of tеrrоrist and extremist organizations.
https://x.com/BRICSinfo/status/1771187277185634766?s=20
D'you reckon we'll get that one about BA pilots again before @PBModerator wields the ban hammer?
This one seems a right jerk.
A wrong jerk.
Actually, Truman was quite an interesting poster. Reminded me of DJ41. Sure, there was nonsense but it was intelligently written nonsense and engaged with the discussion. I was a bit sorry when it ended.
THERE IS A LINK BETWEEN TURBO CANCERS AND THE COVID VACCINES -
IT IS TIME THAT OUR GOVERNMENT AND ALL THE GOVERNMENTS THAT PUSHED THIS UNTESTED MEDICAL PROCEDURE ON IT’S PEOPLE THOROUGHLY LOOKED INTO IT AND INVESTIGATED THE MATTER.
https://x.com/JohnMappin/status/1771242898027082116?s=20
KimDotcom ? Really ?
Pfffffft
By the way, you do know Putin was the one world leader to use untested vaccines, don't you?
And with that good night.
the #Biden regime is found to be involved in the terrorist mass murder underway in Moscow a virtual state of war between the super-powers will exist #Russia #USA #Moscow
https://x.com/georgegalloway/status/1771250046605856856?s=20
Let's face it, we need a good chuckle.
Biden campaign tests Trump’s name-calling strategy with ‘Broke Don’
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4550498-biden-campaign-tests-trumps-name-calling-strategy-with-broke-don/
It's quite a strong stance to take in his circs.
You'll be quoting Goebbels next.
Come on, make more of an effort.
At the moment whatever Putin is paying, you're not worth it.
Heck, even those losers at British Gas would give you the push. They can at least spell and punctuate, even if they can't lay out formal letters properly.
https://youtu.be/EGLE9XtvdH0?si=9IQBUqYe9Bhp7iGa
Maybe Gazans don't float your boat in the same way Warringtonians do?
AI needs to up its game.
(Hope the good people of Rochdale are enjoying their new MPs rhetoric).
Galloway is, of course, different from this.
For a start, he has never been an official of the German government.
This video was not taken on a bench outside at Windsor Castle.
It has clearly been done with a green screen.
Look at the lighting on the bench?
The flowers and blossom don't move at all.
The outdoor noises don't sound natural.
This isn't rocket science.
https://x.com/UnityNewsNet/status/1771495760921579771?s=20
Sayonara.
When a cult takes over a political party there is a tendency to tell existing supporters to go and vote for somebody else, we saw this with SKS who literally said if you don't like the direction I am taking the party there's the door.
Jezza never said anything of that nature and 12.9m voted for him in 2017
Yes, I agree that an effective Opposition is an aid to good government, but a meltdown of that order would imply Sir Ed Davey as LOTO. One envisages PMQs of a very different kind from what we have been accustomerd to. They would certainly be much more polite, and who knows, maybe even more cerebral.
Just dreaming.
Still, I'm sure you're doing very good work.
The theories they espouse just mildly divert me from more useful things, like suing British Gas for swindling me.
Edit - 24 posts. Not too impressive.
That was a very inferior bot. Putin really must be panicking if he's sending out rubbish like that.
Or is he just offended by TSE's comments on his sexuality?
Scott Perry says Republicans should vote against this bill because it provides for 23,000 new Border Patrol Agents and 41,500 new detention facility beds, and this will give Democrats something to run on in the upcoming election.
https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1771176087550070795
Helpful of them to say it out loud.
There was an unexpectedly good essay on Radio 4 about this topic yesterday evening:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07vwr08
Would be in some quarters, of course.
https://grid.energynumbers.info/
We plan to tiptoe away quietly to Octopus but we need to burn up our small credit with BG first, because we have heard they don't like making refunds.
What an outfit.
I have sent them a large bill for my time on a separate issue and sued them after they refused to pay. I am looking forward to seeing them in court.
Expect a lot more trials like this.
Comparing major and mild cognitive impairment risks in older type-2 diabetic patients: a Danish register-based study on dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors vs. glucagon-like peptide-1 analogues
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00415-024-12300-9
I replied he had a point, but where else can one invest with hope for growth? My main argument was that AI is surely going to prolong the bull run in tech, and that the Big 7 companies are now so large they will just buy AI rivals and talent, ensuring their success. They are very hard to topple
This morning:
HOW BIG TECH IS WINNING THE AI WAR
So, where are you now, eh @truman???
24 posts in 45 mins (active from 11.16 to 12.01).
Except Starmer won’t do this. Why? BECAUSE he’s a Remoaner like you, and he’s terrified people will remember that he was Second Voter, he literally wanted to cancel democracy and annul the biggest democratic mandate in UK history. So he won’t go there and all you will do is carry on moaning. Cause you’re a Remoaner. It’s all you guys do
There should be a word for Beyond Pathetic: that’s you
Btw, does anyone know why these trolls always turn up on Saturday morning? Does Vlad recruit them down the pub on a Friday night?
In fact, most of the English medieval ones were trying to develop European unions too.