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Starmer is expected to be better than Johnson et al – politicalbetting.com

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  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 22,827
    Andy_JS said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    This is NOT an AI post, this is an actual politics and betting post, relating to tech

    Check this fake video, made from one single virtual photo of a non existent human, and a three second clip of audio. Now from that Microsoft can make almost completely convincing fake video, saying whatever words they want her to say

    The next elections are going to be flooded with this tech, with deepfakes, with scenes of politicians saying shit they didn't say, or stuff they should have said, or Putin saying he sexually loves Ed Davey, and it will be entirely convincing (because, even if you can just spot the odd tiny glitch in this video, the tech is only going to get better and better)

    The first vid of the blonde woman is particularly WOW

    https://x.com/OrctonAI/status/1781333110681923781


    My takeaway from this, for politics and betting is that the side with the most credulous voters will gain. One suspects that is Trump voters in the USA

    And less developed countries.
    I am genuinely unsure that politics can continue, as we know it, in the context of this technology
    Maybe people will go back to using town hall meetings as their way of choosing which politicians to support.
    Why will we need politicians, surely the AI can do their jobs just like it can most others?
  • nico679nico679 Posts: 6,275
    edited April 19

    I await those who are complaining the police are wasting time investigating Rayner saying the same about Menzies... ;)

    "Lancashire Police have said they are reviewing information about allegations against suspended Tory MP Mark Menzies.

    Labour wrote to police on Friday morning calling for an investigation."

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68858604

    I expect even more cases will come to light. It’s going to be a very ugly election campaign . There seems to be more public sympathy for Rayner going off last nights QT where the consensus seemed to be it was the Tories smearing and attacking a working class woman . Menzies could pass for an accountant with a golf membership so was deemed persona non grata .
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 22,827

    Donkeys said:

    Sandpit said:

    Surely there’s some wider context to this piece of footage, and a Met Police sargeant didn’t actually threaten to arrest a man for “being openly Jewish in a public place”?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/04/19/police-threaten-jewish-man-arrest-palestine-protest-london/

    That is absolutely effing appalling. I can't believe I'd ever see anything like that in this country.

    Enough. This has to stop - and whatever you think about what's happening in Gaza (which has no relevance to the question) - it is time we all came together to oppose this upsurge in antisemitism in our own country.
    No. The dividing line should be accepted to be about Gaza. Here it is:

    Goodies: those who support the Palestinians against genocide, which includes many Jews.

    Baddies: those who support genocide against the Palestinians, which also includes many Jews.

    Jews aren't the issue. The Jewish supremacist regime that's carrying out the genocide is certainly the issue.

    You won't like this, @ThomasNashe, but the above way of looking at things directly implies "Don't hassle anyone for being Jewish".

    Of the Jews who support the Palestinians and oppose the existence of the supremacist regime, some organise putting their Jewish heritage up front, including some who are religious, some don't. All are welcome. See Neturei Karta for a religious group that, the last I heard, supported the IRM ("Hamas").
    Being Jewish very much is the issue as far as the Met is concerned. The message is if you’re Jewish don’t come into London when there is a demo happening.
    The police were unequivocally wrong to threaten arrest. However its not don't come into London, its dont try and walk through barracades to cross the street where people are marching. It would be the same if someone was trying to cross the street through barracades during the London marathon on Sunday.
  • isamisam Posts: 41,118
    Labour viral ads seem to be as poor as the Tories lame efforts

    https://x.com/uklabour/status/1781285090032509415?s=46&t=CW4pL-mMpTqsJXCdjW0Z6Q
  • MattWMattW Posts: 23,195
    edited April 19
    A couple of interesting points on the NY Trump trial.

    1 - If there is a hung jury (which requires just one juror not to be able to agree the other eleven), the Prosecutor is able to retry the trial. This is unusual (3-5%) but not unknown. Two retrials are known, but in NY that is the unwritten normally-accepted limit.

    https://www.hklaw.com/-/media/files/insights/publications/2022/05/law360--can-and-should-a-court-limit-repeated-retrials.pdf

    2 - If the defendant decides to testify, the prosecution can introduce a lot of information about past acts and offences - which have been identified to the Court before start of the trial, and judged acceptable disclosures by the judge. The list of the for Trump is very long and includes things such as past crimes, lying on oath etc etc etc - enough to sink his credibility.

    If the defendant does not testify, the list is much shorter.

    Therefore I suggest Trump will not testify.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,198
    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    The EU makes an apparently generous offer. A form of limited free movement for young people. Ok maybe the details need examining - but why not return the favour with some warm words? “This could potentially be very interesting. We need to see the small print but we want a good close relationship, repair the ill will of Brexit, blah blah”

    Instead BOTH parties dismiss it out of hand. “Fuck off”

    Apart from anything else it’s so utterly graceless and charmless. Starmer is going to be a disaster

    Could be me seeing what I want to see but I sense your Labour vote might be going astray?
    Every time you say this I become more determined to vote Starmer just to freak you out. He’s gonna win anyway and he’s bound to win in Camden. So if the only fun I can have is perturbing you I might as well
    I'm hoping you're jesting me - and I'm pretty sure you are - because it would rather freak me out. No way should you and I be voting the same way. Something has gone very wrong in our political system if that were to happen.

    There'll be a Reform candidate in Camden. Perhaps a non-joke one.
  • ToryJimToryJim Posts: 4,189

    I await those who are complaining the police are wasting time investigating Rayner saying the same about Menzies... ;)

    "Lancashire Police have said they are reviewing information about allegations against suspended Tory MP Mark Menzies.

    Labour wrote to police on Friday morning calling for an investigation."

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68858604

    The paying off bad people - at the police level he should be treated as a potential victim and it is worthy of an initial investigation. Not least for national security reasons.
    The campaign funds/medical bills - is that electoral commission or commons standards rather than police? I'd have thought so.
    It could also be an attempt to obtain money by deception if there were in fact no bad people etc.
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 22,827
    MattW said:

    A couple of interesting points on the NY Trump trial.

    1 - If there is a hung jury (which requires just one juror not to be able to agree the other eleven), the Prosecutor is able to retry the trial. This is unusual (3-5%) but not unknown. Two retrials are known, but in NY that is the unwritten limit:

    https://www.hklaw.com/-/media/files/insights/publications/2022/05/law360--can-and-should-a-court-limit-repeated-retrials.pdf

    2 - If the defendant decides to testify, the prosecution can introduce a lot of information about past acts and offences - which have been identified to the Court before start of the trial, and judged acceptable disclosures by the judge. The list of the for Trump is very long and includes things such as past crimes, lying on oath etc etc etc - enough to sink his credibility.

    If the defendant does not testify, the list is much shorter.

    Therefore I suggest Trump will not testify.

    He surely can't testify anyway? He would perjure himself and commit contempt of court countless times without even realising it.
  • ThomasNasheThomasNashe Posts: 5,331

    Donkeys said:

    Sandpit said:

    Surely there’s some wider context to this piece of footage, and a Met Police sargeant didn’t actually threaten to arrest a man for “being openly Jewish in a public place”?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/04/19/police-threaten-jewish-man-arrest-palestine-protest-london/

    That is absolutely effing appalling. I can't believe I'd ever see anything like that in this country.

    Enough. This has to stop - and whatever you think about what's happening in Gaza (which has no relevance to the question) - it is time we all came together to oppose this upsurge in antisemitism in our own country.
    No. The dividing line should be accepted to be about Gaza. Here it is:

    Goodies: those who support the Palestinians against genocide, which includes many Jews.

    Baddies: those who support genocide against the Palestinians, which also includes many Jews.

    Jews aren't the issue. The Jewish supremacist regime that's carrying out the genocide is certainly the issue.

    You won't like this, @ThomasNashe, but the above way of looking at things directly implies "Don't hassle anyone for being Jewish".

    Of the Jews who support the Palestinians and oppose the existence of the supremacist regime, some organise putting their Jewish heritage up front, including some who are religious, some don't. All are welcome. See Neturei Karta for a religious group that, the last I heard, supported the IRM ("Hamas").
    Being Jewish very much is the issue as far as the Met is concerned. The message is if you’re Jewish don’t come into London when there is a demo happening.
    The police were unequivocally wrong to threaten arrest. However its not don't come into London, its dont try and walk through barracades to cross the street where people are marching. It would be the same if someone was trying to cross the street through barracades during the London marathon on Sunday.
    He said ‘you’re obviously Jewish’. That was the problem as far as plod was concerned. As I said effing appalling.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,104

    Scott_xP said:

    @Phil_Lewis_

    Tesla is recalling all 3,878 Cybertrucks that it has shipped to date, due to a problem where the accelerator pedal can get stuck, putting drivers at risk of a crash

    I was thinking about getting a Cybertruck.
    Can they even be legally driven in this country?
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,104
    MattW said:

    A couple of interesting points on the NY Trump trial.

    1 - If there is a hung jury (which requires just one juror not to be able to agree the other eleven), the Prosecutor is able to retry the trial. This is unusual (3-5%) but not unknown. Two retrials are known, but in NY that is the unwritten normally-accepted limit.

    https://www.hklaw.com/-/media/files/insights/publications/2022/05/law360--can-and-should-a-court-limit-repeated-retrials.pdf

    2 - If the defendant decides to testify, the prosecution can introduce a lot of information about past acts and offences - which have been identified to the Court before start of the trial, and judged acceptable disclosures by the judge. The list of the for Trump is very long and includes things such as past crimes, lying on oath etc etc etc - enough to sink his credibility.

    If the defendant does not testify, the list is much shorter.

    Therefore I suggest Trump will not testify.

    It would have been inadvisable regardless I suspect.

    Just hammer home that the key witnesses are unreliable, that it is trivial, and that may itself be enough to get at least one.
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 22,827

    Donkeys said:

    Sandpit said:

    Surely there’s some wider context to this piece of footage, and a Met Police sargeant didn’t actually threaten to arrest a man for “being openly Jewish in a public place”?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/04/19/police-threaten-jewish-man-arrest-palestine-protest-london/

    That is absolutely effing appalling. I can't believe I'd ever see anything like that in this country.

    Enough. This has to stop - and whatever you think about what's happening in Gaza (which has no relevance to the question) - it is time we all came together to oppose this upsurge in antisemitism in our own country.
    No. The dividing line should be accepted to be about Gaza. Here it is:

    Goodies: those who support the Palestinians against genocide, which includes many Jews.

    Baddies: those who support genocide against the Palestinians, which also includes many Jews.

    Jews aren't the issue. The Jewish supremacist regime that's carrying out the genocide is certainly the issue.

    You won't like this, @ThomasNashe, but the above way of looking at things directly implies "Don't hassle anyone for being Jewish".

    Of the Jews who support the Palestinians and oppose the existence of the supremacist regime, some organise putting their Jewish heritage up front, including some who are religious, some don't. All are welcome. See Neturei Karta for a religious group that, the last I heard, supported the IRM ("Hamas").
    Being Jewish very much is the issue as far as the Met is concerned. The message is if you’re Jewish don’t come into London when there is a demo happening.
    The police were unequivocally wrong to threaten arrest. However its not don't come into London, its dont try and walk through barracades to cross the street where people are marching. It would be the same if someone was trying to cross the street through barracades during the London marathon on Sunday.
    He said ‘you’re obviously Jewish’. That was the problem as far as plod was concerned. As I said effing appalling.
    Agreed that part is appalling. I doubt that was the main problem, from the clip it looks like the guy wanted to cross a barricaded street during a march. Whether that is reasonable or not is probably up to the police to decide to keep the peace, same as it would be during the marathon. The environmental campaigners were threatening to disrupt last years marathon and police said would make arrests if it happened.
  • TazTaz Posts: 14,418
    edited April 19
    Sandpit said:

    Surely there’s some wider context to this piece of footage, and a Met Police sargeant didn’t actually threaten to arrest a man for “being openly Jewish in a public place”?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/04/19/police-threaten-jewish-man-arrest-palestine-protest-london/

    I have only seen a clip of this on twitter and it appears, on the surface, quite damning.

    However I guess we need to hear from the met and get the wider context.

    Have to say wouldn’t put anything past the met. They seem to openly favour the Palestinian protesters.

    https://www.jpost.com/international/article-791261
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,104

    MattW said:

    A couple of interesting points on the NY Trump trial.

    1 - If there is a hung jury (which requires just one juror not to be able to agree the other eleven), the Prosecutor is able to retry the trial. This is unusual (3-5%) but not unknown. Two retrials are known, but in NY that is the unwritten limit:

    https://www.hklaw.com/-/media/files/insights/publications/2022/05/law360--can-and-should-a-court-limit-repeated-retrials.pdf

    2 - If the defendant decides to testify, the prosecution can introduce a lot of information about past acts and offences - which have been identified to the Court before start of the trial, and judged acceptable disclosures by the judge. The list of the for Trump is very long and includes things such as past crimes, lying on oath etc etc etc - enough to sink his credibility.

    If the defendant does not testify, the list is much shorter.

    Therefore I suggest Trump will not testify.

    He surely can't testify anyway? He would perjure himself and commit contempt of court countless times without even realising it.
    If he were anyone else he'd probably already be locked up for interference with witnesses and potential jurors. He's pushed well past normally accepted defendant behaviour, I'm not sure how the judge - who by most accounts is a pretty by the book and firm judge - is going to be able to manage when everyone is still reluctant to feed Trump's martyr complex by jailing him, when what he says and does would often see that happen.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,104
    Taz said:

    Sandpit said:

    Surely there’s some wider context to this piece of footage, and a Met Police sargeant didn’t actually threaten to arrest a man for “being openly Jewish in a public place”?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/04/19/police-threaten-jewish-man-arrest-palestine-protest-london/

    I have only seen a clip of this on twitter and it appears, on the surface, quite damning.

    However I guess we need to hear from the met and get the wider context.

    Have to say wouldn’t put anything past the met. They seem to openly favour the Palestinian protesters.
    The general point about the Met is pretty significant. They are a badly run organisation with an institutional leadership that sees genuinely accepting wrongdoing as anathema, paying lip service if even that to serious problems, and more than their fair share of bad people. So it becomes very easy to believe just about anything.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,625
    edited April 19
    Times Radio on Youtube:

    "In 1770, British explorer James Cook made a significant discovery during his voyage in the Pacific Ocean. What notable landmass did Captain Cook first sight during this expedition?"

    The options:
    Hawaii
    New Zealand
    Tahaiti
    Australia.

    They think the correct answer is Australia...
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 41,978

    Scott_xP said:

    @RpsAgainstTrump

    BREAKING

    Donald Trump fell asleep in court at his hush money trial, Maggie Haberman reports.

    This is the third time #SleepyDon has fallen asleep in court this week.

    Don Snoreleone.
    Nominative determinism.


  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,559
    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    The EU makes an apparently generous offer. A form of limited free movement for young people. Ok maybe the details need examining - but why not return the favour with some warm words? “This could potentially be very interesting. We need to see the small print but we want a good close relationship, repair the ill will of Brexit, blah blah”

    Instead BOTH parties dismiss it out of hand. “Fuck off”

    Apart from anything else it’s so utterly graceless and charmless. Starmer is going to be a disaster

    Could be me seeing what I want to see but I sense your Labour vote might be going astray?
    Interesting to note that Starmer's vote in Holborn & St Pancras is predicted to only increase from 66% to 68% according to the Economist's new election forecast.

    https://www.economist.com/interactive/uk-general-election/forecast
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,306
    A

    Donkeys said:

    Sandpit said:

    Surely there’s some wider context to this piece of footage, and a Met Police sargeant didn’t actually threaten to arrest a man for “being openly Jewish in a public place”?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/04/19/police-threaten-jewish-man-arrest-palestine-protest-london/

    That is absolutely effing appalling. I can't believe I'd ever see anything like that in this country.

    Enough. This has to stop - and whatever you think about what's happening in Gaza (which has no relevance to the question) - it is time we all came together to oppose this upsurge in antisemitism in our own country.
    No. The dividing line should be accepted to be about Gaza. Here it is:

    Goodies: those who support the Palestinians against genocide, which includes many Jews.

    Baddies: those who support genocide against the Palestinians, which also includes many Jews.

    Jews aren't the issue. The Jewish supremacist regime that's carrying out the genocide is certainly the issue.

    You won't like this, @ThomasNashe, but the above way of looking at things directly implies "Don't hassle anyone for being Jewish".

    Of the Jews who support the Palestinians and oppose the existence of the supremacist regime, some organise putting their Jewish heritage up front, including some who are religious, some don't. All are welcome. See Neturei Karta for a religious group that, the last I heard, supported the IRM ("Hamas").
    Being Jewish very much is the issue as far as the Met is concerned. The message is if you’re Jewish don’t come into London when there is a demo happening.
    The police were unequivocally wrong to threaten arrest. However its not don't come into London, its dont try and walk through barracades to cross the street where people are marching. It would be the same if someone was trying to cross the street through barracades during the London marathon on Sunday.
    He said ‘you’re obviously Jewish’. That was the problem as far as plod was concerned. As I said effing appalling.
    During the latter stages of the Peace Process (TM) there was an issue with a school. A Catholic Primary School was located such that the way to school was down a road next to a Protestant area.

    Being offensively Catholic in front of Protestants put off the locals. Who threw things and shouted crap. There was full on rioting as well…

    The Police didn’t arrest the Catholic parents and their children for being Catholic in a built up area. Or for stepping on cracks in the pavement.

    They lined the road with armoured Land Rovers to form a protective wall. Then, the Chief Constable of Northern Ireland, in dress uniform*, led the group of parents and children to the school.

    Because, as he put it, “they were exercising their right to walk upon the Queens highway”

    That’s the stuff I pay my taxes for.

    *other ranks wore full riot gear, including fireproof boiler suits.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,167

    Times Radio on Youtube:

    "In 1770, British explorer James Cook made a significant discovery during his voyage in the Pacific Ocean. What notable landmass did Captain Cook first sight during this expedition?"

    The options:
    Hawaii
    New Zealand
    Tahaiti
    Australia.

    They think the correct answer is Australia...

    Everyone knows that the right answer is that he finally discovered his gender.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 51,662
    Looks like there’s been a self-immolation outside the Trump trial.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,306
    kle4 said:

    Scott_xP said:

    @Phil_Lewis_

    Tesla is recalling all 3,878 Cybertrucks that it has shipped to date, due to a problem where the accelerator pedal can get stuck, putting drivers at risk of a crash

    I was thinking about getting a Cybertruck.
    Can they even be legally driven in this country?
    Probably, if you have C1/D1 on your license.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,646
    kle4 said:

    Scott_xP said:

    @Phil_Lewis_

    Tesla is recalling all 3,878 Cybertrucks that it has shipped to date, due to a problem where the accelerator pedal can get stuck, putting drivers at risk of a crash

    I was thinking about getting a Cybertruck.
    Can they even be legally driven in this country?
    I'll get an exemption.
  • boulayboulay Posts: 5,486
    Taz said:

    Sandpit said:

    Surely there’s some wider context to this piece of footage, and a Met Police sargeant didn’t actually threaten to arrest a man for “being openly Jewish in a public place”?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/04/19/police-threaten-jewish-man-arrest-palestine-protest-london/

    I have only seen a clip of this on twitter and it appears, on the surface, quite damning.

    However I guess we need to hear from the met and get the wider context.

    Have to say wouldn’t put anything past the met. They seem to openly favour the Palestinian protesters.

    https://www.jpost.com/international/article-791261
    I’m very definitely pro-Israel (not happy with what Netanyahu has done however but don’t want to get back into that argument) and will reflexively stick up for Jews fiercely but I think this situation from the clip I’ve seen was the police acting correctly.

    There was an angry march going past and some chap who was clearly identifying as Jewish wanted to cross through it. In an ideal world he should have been free to but we all know that it would have kicked off and then who knows how bad it would have got for him, marchers and the police.

    The police or stewards drag fans from rival teams out of seating areas at matches because that one person can cause a huge problem. This was really not so different.

    So again, in an ideal world he should have been allowed and been safe to go anywhere but I’m afraid I think he knew what he was doing and was trying to antagonise or make a point which wasn’t clever.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 23,195
    edited April 19

    Donkeys said:

    Sandpit said:

    Surely there’s some wider context to this piece of footage, and a Met Police sargeant didn’t actually threaten to arrest a man for “being openly Jewish in a public place”?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/04/19/police-threaten-jewish-man-arrest-palestine-protest-london/

    That is absolutely effing appalling. I can't believe I'd ever see anything like that in this country.

    Enough. This has to stop - and whatever you think about what's happening in Gaza (which has no relevance to the question) - it is time we all came together to oppose this upsurge in antisemitism in our own country.
    No. The dividing line should be accepted to be about Gaza. Here it is:

    Goodies: those who support the Palestinians against genocide, which includes many Jews.

    Baddies: those who support genocide against the Palestinians, which also includes many Jews.

    Jews aren't the issue. The Jewish supremacist regime that's carrying out the genocide is certainly the issue.

    You won't like this, @ThomasNashe, but the above way of looking at things directly implies "Don't hassle anyone for being Jewish".

    Of the Jews who support the Palestinians and oppose the existence of the supremacist regime, some organise putting their Jewish heritage up front, including some who are religious, some don't. All are welcome. See Neturei Karta for a religious group that, the last I heard, supported the IRM ("Hamas").
    Being Jewish very much is the issue as far as the Met is concerned. The message is if you’re Jewish don’t come into London when there is a demo happening.
    The police were unequivocally wrong to threaten arrest. However its not don't come into London, its dont try and walk through barracades to cross the street where people are marching. It would be the same if someone was trying to cross the street through barracades during the London marathon on Sunday.
    He said ‘you’re obviously Jewish’. That was the problem as far as plod was concerned. As I said effing appalling.
    I think the PC will be getting some words of advice, about how to be a little less forthcoming.

    Could he not have dealt with it as "an action likely to cause a breach of the peace" under common law? If I have it right, either party can be treated as a potential cause.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,104

    Looks like there’s been a self-immolation outside the Trump trial.

    Someone desperate to delay his trial for him, a loony anti-Trump protested, or unrelated person taking advantage of lots of attention nearby? Sad situation either way.
  • TazTaz Posts: 14,418
    kle4 said:

    Taz said:

    Sandpit said:

    Surely there’s some wider context to this piece of footage, and a Met Police sargeant didn’t actually threaten to arrest a man for “being openly Jewish in a public place”?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/04/19/police-threaten-jewish-man-arrest-palestine-protest-london/

    I have only seen a clip of this on twitter and it appears, on the surface, quite damning.

    However I guess we need to hear from the met and get the wider context.

    Have to say wouldn’t put anything past the met. They seem to openly favour the Palestinian protesters.
    The general point about the Met is pretty significant. They are a badly run organisation with an institutional leadership that sees genuinely accepting wrongdoing as anathema, paying lip service if even that to serious problems, and more than their fair share of bad people. So it becomes very easy to believe just about anything.
    The Met statement is unbelievably banal and meaningless.

    In a statement, the Met said they were aware of the video and "fully acknowledge the worry it has caused, not only to those featured, but also anyone who watches it".

    The force said: "We recognise the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues to be an issue of concern for many Londoners, and this includes the regular protests and marches in central London.

    "Everyone has the right to travel throughout the capital in safety."
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,625
    The Trump trial gets even more tragically bizarre:

    "Just moments ago, a young man doused himself in a liquid and lit himself on fire in the park in front of the courthouse, after throwing coloured pamphlets in the air."

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-us-canada-68841535
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,373

    kle4 said:

    Scott_xP said:

    @Phil_Lewis_

    Tesla is recalling all 3,878 Cybertrucks that it has shipped to date, due to a problem where the accelerator pedal can get stuck, putting drivers at risk of a crash

    I was thinking about getting a Cybertruck.
    Can they even be legally driven in this country?
    I'll get an exemption.
    I've not heard of those.

    You'd be better off with a Grenadier. As British as Napoleon and none of your electric wokery.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 18,373
    P

    A

    Donkeys said:

    Sandpit said:

    Surely there’s some wider context to this piece of footage, and a Met Police sargeant didn’t actually threaten to arrest a man for “being openly Jewish in a public place”?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/04/19/police-threaten-jewish-man-arrest-palestine-protest-london/

    That is absolutely effing appalling. I can't believe I'd ever see anything like that in this country.

    Enough. This has to stop - and whatever you think about what's happening in Gaza (which has no relevance to the question) - it is time we all came together to oppose this upsurge in antisemitism in our own country.
    No. The dividing line should be accepted to be about Gaza. Here it is:

    Goodies: those who support the Palestinians against genocide, which includes many Jews.

    Baddies: those who support genocide against the Palestinians, which also includes many Jews.

    Jews aren't the issue. The Jewish supremacist regime that's carrying out the genocide is certainly the issue.

    You won't like this, @ThomasNashe, but the above way of looking at things directly implies "Don't hassle anyone for being Jewish".

    Of the Jews who support the Palestinians and oppose the existence of the supremacist regime, some organise putting their Jewish heritage up front, including some who are religious, some don't. All are welcome. See Neturei Karta for a religious group that, the last I heard, supported the IRM ("Hamas").
    Being Jewish very much is the issue as far as the Met is concerned. The message is if you’re Jewish don’t come into London when there is a demo happening.
    The police were unequivocally wrong to threaten arrest. However its not don't come into London, its dont try and walk through barracades to cross the street where people are marching. It would be the same if someone was trying to cross the street through barracades during the London marathon on Sunday.
    He said ‘you’re obviously Jewish’. That was the problem as far as plod was concerned. As I said effing appalling.
    During the latter stages of the Peace Process (TM) there was an issue with a school. A Catholic Primary School was located such that the way to school was down a road next to a Protestant area.

    Being offensively Catholic in front of Protestants put off the locals. Who threw things and shouted crap. There was full on rioting as well…

    The Police didn’t arrest the Catholic parents and their children for being Catholic in a built up area. Or for stepping on cracks in the pavement.

    They lined the road with armoured Land Rovers to form a protective wall. Then, the Chief Constable of Northern Ireland, in dress uniform*, led the group of parents and children to the school.

    Because, as he put it, “they were exercising their right to walk upon the Queens highway”

    That’s the stuff I pay my taxes for.

    *other ranks wore full riot gear, including fireproof boiler suits.
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Cross_dispute

    This? No mention of the dress uniform...
  • No_Offence_AlanNo_Offence_Alan Posts: 4,521

    Times Radio on Youtube:

    "In 1770, British explorer James Cook made a significant discovery during his voyage in the Pacific Ocean. What notable landmass did Captain Cook first sight during this expedition?"

    The options:
    Hawaii
    New Zealand
    Tahaiti
    Australia.

    They think the correct answer is Australia...

    I have visited the Captain Cook museum in Whitby.
    Space is given to his expedition to Kamchatka, which is rarely mentioned in popular culture about him.
    Willaim Bligh served under him on this 3rd expedition.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,198

    kinabalu said:

    kinabalu said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Charlotte Henry
    Why do Lib Dems want to crack down on smoking but legalise cannabis?"

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-do-lib-dems-want-to-crack-down-on-smoking-but-legalise-cannabis/

    Quite a good question. I suppose the difference is that tobacco smoking is more harmful than cannabis, although I would have thought there wasn’t a lot of difference which burning vegetable smoke was inhaled.
    I hope the LibDems sort themselves out policy-wise well before the election! I’m still thinking I’ll have to hold my nose and vote for whoever’s got the best chance of beating the Tory.
    The damage from the smoke of a spliff is about the same as the damage from the smoke of a cigarette. However, nicotine is exceedingly addictive, so smokers typically smoke 40 a day. Regular cannabis users get through far, far fewer roll-ups. Thus, safer. Not that this is necessarily the answer to the question posed.
    Smokers typically smoke 40 a day? Evidence? I don't think so - only a small minority of chain smokers. 40 a day of normal fags would cost c. £210 a week, which is way beyond what many/most smokers can afford.
    Yes. Most heavy smokers go the "rollie" route, I'd have thought, to keep the cost down.
    My grandad used to smoke roll ups. He even had a little machine to do the rolling. Not a hint of a wokerati filter mind.
    I've had phases of them in my (long) smoking career too. Can be a satisfying ritual. And MUCH cheaper. Downsides are your fingers go yellow and you get tobacco caught in your teeth. You never saw that with Humphrey Bogart or Lauren Bacall, did you.
    Yes, my Grandad had yellow fingers and he died of cancer and heart disease, granted in his eighties and he'd been a career miner. I don't suppose the jeopardy of smoking is quite the same when one spent their days for forty years breathing in coal dust.
    Both mine were miners, smoked and got pneumoconiosis. Yet lived to be 89 and 92.

    So I should make 100.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,684

    MattW said:

    A couple of interesting points on the NY Trump trial.

    1 - If there is a hung jury (which requires just one juror not to be able to agree the other eleven), the Prosecutor is able to retry the trial. This is unusual (3-5%) but not unknown. Two retrials are known, but in NY that is the unwritten limit:

    https://www.hklaw.com/-/media/files/insights/publications/2022/05/law360--can-and-should-a-court-limit-repeated-retrials.pdf

    2 - If the defendant decides to testify, the prosecution can introduce a lot of information about past acts and offences - which have been identified to the Court before start of the trial, and judged acceptable disclosures by the judge. The list of the for Trump is very long and includes things such as past crimes, lying on oath etc etc etc - enough to sink his credibility.

    If the defendant does not testify, the list is much shorter.

    Therefore I suggest Trump will not testify.

    He surely can't testify anyway? He would perjure himself and commit contempt of court countless times without even realising it.
    Nailed on that he cannot resist the temptation!
  • MattWMattW Posts: 23,195
    edited April 19

    kle4 said:

    Scott_xP said:

    @Phil_Lewis_

    Tesla is recalling all 3,878 Cybertrucks that it has shipped to date, due to a problem where the accelerator pedal can get stuck, putting drivers at risk of a crash

    I was thinking about getting a Cybertruck.
    Can they even be legally driven in this country?
    Probably, if you have C1/D1 on your license.
    As I understand it Cybertrucks do not meet safety regulations.

    So you are under personal import / single vehicle approval regulations if that is even possible.

    if it's anything like a De Lorean, endless young boys will come and put fingerprints all over it.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,559
    edited April 19
    "Rolf Degen
    @DegenRolf

    Exposure to poor people reduces support for redistribution among the rich.

    https://twitter.com/DegenRolf/status/1781312855540687295
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,104
    kinabalu said:

    kinabalu said:

    kinabalu said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Charlotte Henry
    Why do Lib Dems want to crack down on smoking but legalise cannabis?"

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-do-lib-dems-want-to-crack-down-on-smoking-but-legalise-cannabis/

    Quite a good question. I suppose the difference is that tobacco smoking is more harmful than cannabis, although I would have thought there wasn’t a lot of difference which burning vegetable smoke was inhaled.
    I hope the LibDems sort themselves out policy-wise well before the election! I’m still thinking I’ll have to hold my nose and vote for whoever’s got the best chance of beating the Tory.
    The damage from the smoke of a spliff is about the same as the damage from the smoke of a cigarette. However, nicotine is exceedingly addictive, so smokers typically smoke 40 a day. Regular cannabis users get through far, far fewer roll-ups. Thus, safer. Not that this is necessarily the answer to the question posed.
    Smokers typically smoke 40 a day? Evidence? I don't think so - only a small minority of chain smokers. 40 a day of normal fags would cost c. £210 a week, which is way beyond what many/most smokers can afford.
    Yes. Most heavy smokers go the "rollie" route, I'd have thought, to keep the cost down.
    My grandad used to smoke roll ups. He even had a little machine to do the rolling. Not a hint of a wokerati filter mind.
    I've had phases of them in my (long) smoking career too. Can be a satisfying ritual. And MUCH cheaper. Downsides are your fingers go yellow and you get tobacco caught in your teeth. You never saw that with Humphrey Bogart or Lauren Bacall, did you.
    Yes, my Grandad had yellow fingers and he died of cancer and heart disease, granted in his eighties and he'd been a career miner. I don't suppose the jeopardy of smoking is quite the same when one spent their days for forty years breathing in coal dust.
    Both mine were miners, smoked and got pneumoconiosis. Yet lived to be 89 and 92.

    So I should make 100.
    Damn, none of my grandparents made it to 80, I'm probably screwed.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,198
    edited April 19
    Andy_JS said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    The EU makes an apparently generous offer. A form of limited free movement for young people. Ok maybe the details need examining - but why not return the favour with some warm words? “This could potentially be very interesting. We need to see the small print but we want a good close relationship, repair the ill will of Brexit, blah blah”

    Instead BOTH parties dismiss it out of hand. “Fuck off”

    Apart from anything else it’s so utterly graceless and charmless. Starmer is going to be a disaster

    Could be me seeing what I want to see but I sense your Labour vote might be going astray?
    Interesting to note that Starmer's vote in Holborn & St Pancras is predicted to only increase from 66% to 68% according to the Economist's new election forecast.

    https://www.economist.com/interactive/uk-general-election/forecast
    Yes, Labour are maxed out in seats like that. But this is good for them because it's part of their vote becoming more efficient.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,198
    kle4 said:

    kinabalu said:

    kinabalu said:

    kinabalu said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Charlotte Henry
    Why do Lib Dems want to crack down on smoking but legalise cannabis?"

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-do-lib-dems-want-to-crack-down-on-smoking-but-legalise-cannabis/

    Quite a good question. I suppose the difference is that tobacco smoking is more harmful than cannabis, although I would have thought there wasn’t a lot of difference which burning vegetable smoke was inhaled.
    I hope the LibDems sort themselves out policy-wise well before the election! I’m still thinking I’ll have to hold my nose and vote for whoever’s got the best chance of beating the Tory.
    The damage from the smoke of a spliff is about the same as the damage from the smoke of a cigarette. However, nicotine is exceedingly addictive, so smokers typically smoke 40 a day. Regular cannabis users get through far, far fewer roll-ups. Thus, safer. Not that this is necessarily the answer to the question posed.
    Smokers typically smoke 40 a day? Evidence? I don't think so - only a small minority of chain smokers. 40 a day of normal fags would cost c. £210 a week, which is way beyond what many/most smokers can afford.
    Yes. Most heavy smokers go the "rollie" route, I'd have thought, to keep the cost down.
    My grandad used to smoke roll ups. He even had a little machine to do the rolling. Not a hint of a wokerati filter mind.
    I've had phases of them in my (long) smoking career too. Can be a satisfying ritual. And MUCH cheaper. Downsides are your fingers go yellow and you get tobacco caught in your teeth. You never saw that with Humphrey Bogart or Lauren Bacall, did you.
    Yes, my Grandad had yellow fingers and he died of cancer and heart disease, granted in his eighties and he'd been a career miner. I don't suppose the jeopardy of smoking is quite the same when one spent their days for forty years breathing in coal dust.
    Both mine were miners, smoked and got pneumoconiosis. Yet lived to be 89 and 92.

    So I should make 100.
    Damn, none of my grandparents made it to 80, I'm probably screwed.
    No you'll also make 100.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,586
    kle4 said:

    Scott_xP said:

    @Phil_Lewis_

    Tesla is recalling all 3,878 Cybertrucks that it has shipped to date, due to a problem where the accelerator pedal can get stuck, putting drivers at risk of a crash

    I was thinking about getting a Cybertruck.
    Can they even be legally driven in this country?
    Most American trucks won’t pass European crash tests, so it’s unlikely to cross the pond officially. You might be able to get a Single Vehicle Approval for one as a private import, and there’s a few specialist dealers who do this with US stuff. It requires a few modifications, depending on the vehicle, such as to lights (rear indicators yellow, rear fog light, headlights pointing left etc) and instruments (speed in mph etc).

    Then there’s the question of whether you’d actually want to drive one in the UK - it’s blooming massive, bigger than even most US trucks such as the F150, and you’d have to placard the max weight down to 3.5t if you want to drive it on a car licence, which limits the loading capacity somewhat!
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,625
    Sandpit said:

    kle4 said:

    Scott_xP said:

    @Phil_Lewis_

    Tesla is recalling all 3,878 Cybertrucks that it has shipped to date, due to a problem where the accelerator pedal can get stuck, putting drivers at risk of a crash

    I was thinking about getting a Cybertruck.
    Can they even be legally driven in this country?
    Most American trucks won’t pass European crash tests, so it’s unlikely to cross the pond officially. You might be able to get a Single Vehicle Approval for one as a private import, and there’s a few specialist dealers who do this with US stuff. It requires a few modifications, depending on the vehicle, such as to lights (rear indicators yellow, rear fog light, headlights pointing left etc) and instruments (speed in mph etc).

    Then there’s the question of whether you’d actually want to drive one in the UK - it’s blooming massive, bigger than even most US trucks such as the F150, and you’d have to placard the max weight down to 3.5t if you want to drive it on a car licence, which limits the loading capacity somewhat!
    It's massive, but its load-bed is tiny.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,104
    kinabalu said:

    kle4 said:

    kinabalu said:

    kinabalu said:

    kinabalu said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Charlotte Henry
    Why do Lib Dems want to crack down on smoking but legalise cannabis?"

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-do-lib-dems-want-to-crack-down-on-smoking-but-legalise-cannabis/

    Quite a good question. I suppose the difference is that tobacco smoking is more harmful than cannabis, although I would have thought there wasn’t a lot of difference which burning vegetable smoke was inhaled.
    I hope the LibDems sort themselves out policy-wise well before the election! I’m still thinking I’ll have to hold my nose and vote for whoever’s got the best chance of beating the Tory.
    The damage from the smoke of a spliff is about the same as the damage from the smoke of a cigarette. However, nicotine is exceedingly addictive, so smokers typically smoke 40 a day. Regular cannabis users get through far, far fewer roll-ups. Thus, safer. Not that this is necessarily the answer to the question posed.
    Smokers typically smoke 40 a day? Evidence? I don't think so - only a small minority of chain smokers. 40 a day of normal fags would cost c. £210 a week, which is way beyond what many/most smokers can afford.
    Yes. Most heavy smokers go the "rollie" route, I'd have thought, to keep the cost down.
    My grandad used to smoke roll ups. He even had a little machine to do the rolling. Not a hint of a wokerati filter mind.
    I've had phases of them in my (long) smoking career too. Can be a satisfying ritual. And MUCH cheaper. Downsides are your fingers go yellow and you get tobacco caught in your teeth. You never saw that with Humphrey Bogart or Lauren Bacall, did you.
    Yes, my Grandad had yellow fingers and he died of cancer and heart disease, granted in his eighties and he'd been a career miner. I don't suppose the jeopardy of smoking is quite the same when one spent their days for forty years breathing in coal dust.
    Both mine were miners, smoked and got pneumoconiosis. Yet lived to be 89 and 92.

    So I should make 100.
    Damn, none of my grandparents made it to 80, I'm probably screwed.
    No you'll also make 100.
    Phew!
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,646
    Andy_JS said:

    "Rolf Degen
    @DegenRolf

    Exposure to poor people reduces support for redistribution among the rich.

    https://twitter.com/DegenRolf/status/1781312855540687295

    This is true.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,867

    HYUFD said:

    Starmer clearly does not enthuse voters as much as Blair but does not turn them off as much as Corbyn did either.

    Note only Cameron, Brown and Blair are seeing as better PMs than Starmer would be relative to how Starmer does against Sunak.

    Over a quarter of voters think Starmer would be a worse PM than Cameron too and nearly a third worse than Blair

    When running from a bear, you don't have to be fast, merely faster than someone else. People are worried about the possibility of another 5 years of the current shambles. They don't need to be enthusiastic about Starmer to vote Labour rather than the Tories.
    Nevertheless winning is supposed to be a means to an end, not the end in itself.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,646
    edited April 19
    This is why I couldn't vote Labour, this class warfare on struggling parents is grim as hell.

    Quarter of parents would quit private schools if VAT added to fees

    Survey casts doubt on Labour claim that policy would raise £1.6 billion to spend on state schools


    One in four wealthy parents plan to remove their children from private school if VAT is added to fees, a poll has found.

    Others plan to move house so children who are boarding can remain as day pupils, which can save more than £10,000 a year, or to be near a cheaper private school.

    The survey of 2,000 people with investable assets of more than £250,000 found that 71 per cent thought that rising school fees would have an impact on their choices around private schooling in the future.

    Labour intends to add 20 per cent VAT to independent school fees if it wins the next general election and estimates this will raise an extra £1.6 billion to spend on state schools. But some analysts say fewer parents will choose private education and the money raised could be far less than predicted.

    Data from a survey conducted to accompany the latest Saltus Wealth Index report found that 26 per cent of parents would have to remove their children from independent school if VAT was imposed.


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/quarter-of-parents-would-quit-private-schools-if-vat-added-to-fees-brcwxcnd6
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,306

    P

    A

    Donkeys said:

    Sandpit said:

    Surely there’s some wider context to this piece of footage, and a Met Police sargeant didn’t actually threaten to arrest a man for “being openly Jewish in a public place”?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/04/19/police-threaten-jewish-man-arrest-palestine-protest-london/

    That is absolutely effing appalling. I can't believe I'd ever see anything like that in this country.

    Enough. This has to stop - and whatever you think about what's happening in Gaza (which has no relevance to the question) - it is time we all came together to oppose this upsurge in antisemitism in our own country.
    No. The dividing line should be accepted to be about Gaza. Here it is:

    Goodies: those who support the Palestinians against genocide, which includes many Jews.

    Baddies: those who support genocide against the Palestinians, which also includes many Jews.

    Jews aren't the issue. The Jewish supremacist regime that's carrying out the genocide is certainly the issue.

    You won't like this, @ThomasNashe, but the above way of looking at things directly implies "Don't hassle anyone for being Jewish".

    Of the Jews who support the Palestinians and oppose the existence of the supremacist regime, some organise putting their Jewish heritage up front, including some who are religious, some don't. All are welcome. See Neturei Karta for a religious group that, the last I heard, supported the IRM ("Hamas").
    Being Jewish very much is the issue as far as the Met is concerned. The message is if you’re Jewish don’t come into London when there is a demo happening.
    The police were unequivocally wrong to threaten arrest. However its not don't come into London, its dont try and walk through barracades to cross the street where people are marching. It would be the same if someone was trying to cross the street through barracades during the London marathon on Sunday.
    He said ‘you’re obviously Jewish’. That was the problem as far as plod was concerned. As I said effing appalling.
    During the latter stages of the Peace Process (TM) there was an issue with a school. A Catholic Primary School was located such that the way to school was down a road next to a Protestant area.

    Being offensively Catholic in front of Protestants put off the locals. Who threw things and shouted crap. There was full on rioting as well…

    The Police didn’t arrest the Catholic parents and their children for being Catholic in a built up area. Or for stepping on cracks in the pavement.

    They lined the road with armoured Land Rovers to form a protective wall. Then, the Chief Constable of Northern Ireland, in dress uniform*, led the group of parents and children to the school.

    Because, as he put it, “they were exercising their right to walk upon the Queens highway”

    That’s the stuff I pay my taxes for.

    *other ranks wore full riot gear, including fireproof boiler suits.
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Cross_dispute

    This? No mention of the dress uniform...
    It was rather famous at the time, in NI.

    The Chief Constable leading the walk was a big item in the news.

    Something to remember about Wikipedia - because it is community edited, you get pages taken over by partisans of one side or another. For NI, I would always recommend getting information elsewhere - at least additionally.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,559
    "Who is Liz Truss kidding?
    She can't win hearts — or minds
    Kathleen Stock"

    https://unherd.com/2024/04/why-liz-truss-will-never-repent/
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 51,850

    Andy_JS said:

    "Rolf Degen
    @DegenRolf

    Exposure to poor people reduces support for redistribution among the rich.

    https://twitter.com/DegenRolf/status/1781312855540687295

    This is true.
    "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."
  • boulayboulay Posts: 5,486

    This is why I could vote Labour, this class warfare on struggling parents is grim as hell.

    Quarter of parents would quit private schools if VAT added to fees

    Survey casts doubt on Labour claim that policy would raise £1.6 billion to spend on state schools


    One in four wealthy parents plan to remove their children from private school if VAT is added to fees, a poll has found.

    Others plan to move house so children who are boarding can remain as day pupils, which can save more than £10,000 a year, or to be near a cheaper private school.

    The survey of 2,000 people with investable assets of more than £250,000 found that 71 per cent thought that rising school fees would have an impact on their choices around private schooling in the future.

    Labour intends to add 20 per cent VAT to independent school fees if it wins the next general election and estimates this will raise an extra £1.6 billion to spend on state schools. But some analysts say fewer parents will choose private education and the money raised could be far less than predicted.

    Data from a survey conducted to accompany the latest Saltus Wealth Index report found that 26 per cent of parents would have to remove their children from independent school if VAT was imposed.


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/quarter-of-parents-would-quit-private-schools-if-vat-added-to-fees-brcwxcnd6

    Is the fifth word a mistake in your post?
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,559

    Andy_JS said:

    "Rolf Degen
    @DegenRolf

    Exposure to poor people reduces support for redistribution among the rich.

    https://twitter.com/DegenRolf/status/1781312855540687295

    This is true.
    It's the opposite of what I thought before seeing the research.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,646
    boulay said:

    This is why I could vote Labour, this class warfare on struggling parents is grim as hell.

    Quarter of parents would quit private schools if VAT added to fees

    Survey casts doubt on Labour claim that policy would raise £1.6 billion to spend on state schools


    One in four wealthy parents plan to remove their children from private school if VAT is added to fees, a poll has found.

    Others plan to move house so children who are boarding can remain as day pupils, which can save more than £10,000 a year, or to be near a cheaper private school.

    The survey of 2,000 people with investable assets of more than £250,000 found that 71 per cent thought that rising school fees would have an impact on their choices around private schooling in the future.

    Labour intends to add 20 per cent VAT to independent school fees if it wins the next general election and estimates this will raise an extra £1.6 billion to spend on state schools. But some analysts say fewer parents will choose private education and the money raised could be far less than predicted.

    Data from a survey conducted to accompany the latest Saltus Wealth Index report found that 26 per cent of parents would have to remove their children from independent school if VAT was imposed.


    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/quarter-of-parents-would-quit-private-schools-if-vat-added-to-fees-brcwxcnd6

    Is the fifth word a mistake in your post?
    I am blaming tiredness autocorrect.
  • BlancheLivermoreBlancheLivermore Posts: 5,919
    I landed at 20:01

    I'm outside the airport at 20:17

    I don't think this ever happened before Brexit


  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,646
    Andy_JS said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Rolf Degen
    @DegenRolf

    Exposure to poor people reduces support for redistribution among the rich.

    https://twitter.com/DegenRolf/status/1781312855540687295

    This is true.
    It's the opposite of what I thought before seeing the research.
    Nah, you see what the plebs spends their money on with my tax contribution you become anti-redistribution.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,306
    Sandpit said:

    kle4 said:

    Scott_xP said:

    @Phil_Lewis_

    Tesla is recalling all 3,878 Cybertrucks that it has shipped to date, due to a problem where the accelerator pedal can get stuck, putting drivers at risk of a crash

    I was thinking about getting a Cybertruck.
    Can they even be legally driven in this country?
    Most American trucks won’t pass European crash tests, so it’s unlikely to cross the pond officially. You might be able to get a Single Vehicle Approval for one as a private import, and there’s a few specialist dealers who do this with US stuff. It requires a few modifications, depending on the vehicle, such as to lights (rear indicators yellow, rear fog light, headlights pointing left etc) and instruments (speed in mph etc).

    Then there’s the question of whether you’d actually want to drive one in the UK - it’s blooming massive, bigger than even most US trucks such as the F150, and you’d have to placard the max weight down to 3.5t if you want to drive it on a car licence, which limits the loading capacity somewhat!
    You can drive all kinds of vehicles on the roads - including a Centurion recovery vehicle and Saracen APCs.

    Those don’t have any modern safety features. What’s their loophole?
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,344
    Now tell me woke “isn’t a thing”. This thread. My god

    EXCLUSIVE: Leaked intelligence diversity docs tells spies: Stop displaying "alpha behaviours" including strength/urgency, look out for words “strong”/“grip” as they “reinforce dominant cultural patterns”, wear LGBT lanyards, learn from George Floyd death.

    https://x.com/stevenedginton/status/1781361239081296333?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw
  • boulayboulay Posts: 5,486
    Leon said:

    Now tell me woke “isn’t a thing”. This thread. My god

    EXCLUSIVE: Leaked intelligence diversity docs tells spies: Stop displaying "alpha behaviours" including strength/urgency, look out for words “strong”/“grip” as they “reinforce dominant cultural patterns”, wear LGBT lanyards, learn from George Floyd death.

    https://x.com/stevenedginton/status/1781361239081296333?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    I’m Bond, James Bond, they, them.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,306

    I landed at 20:01

    I'm outside the airport at 20:17

    I don't think this ever happened before Brexit


    Depends on the airport.

    Once did 5 minutes (approx) from the plane door to the airport front door, at Trujillo in Peru.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,344
    boulay said:

    Leon said:

    Now tell me woke “isn’t a thing”. This thread. My god

    EXCLUSIVE: Leaked intelligence diversity docs tells spies: Stop displaying "alpha behaviours" including strength/urgency, look out for words “strong”/“grip” as they “reinforce dominant cultural patterns”, wear LGBT lanyards, learn from George Floyd death.

    https://x.com/stevenedginton/status/1781361239081296333?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    I’m Bond, James Bond, they, them.
    It’s one of the bleakest threads I’ve ever read. Our entire establishment is captured by this poisonous corrosive ideology. This rancid fungus of racist shiteness
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,104
    Leon said:

    Now tell me woke “isn’t a thing”. This thread. My god

    EXCLUSIVE: Leaked intelligence diversity docs tells spies: Stop displaying "alpha behaviours" including strength/urgency, look out for words “strong”/“grip” as they “reinforce dominant cultural patterns”, wear LGBT lanyards, learn from George Floyd death.

    https://x.com/stevenedginton/status/1781361239081296333?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    Never mind that, what's this I'm hearing about Karahan Tepe instead of Gobekli Tepe?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEn6ZHtMECM
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,344
    I mean who wants their spies to be strong and urgent anyway? We need them to be more diversely lazy complacent weak and ineffectual and constantly thinking of the death of George Floyd
  • boulayboulay Posts: 5,486
    edited April 19
    Leon said:

    boulay said:

    Leon said:

    Now tell me woke “isn’t a thing”. This thread. My god

    EXCLUSIVE: Leaked intelligence diversity docs tells spies: Stop displaying "alpha behaviours" including strength/urgency, look out for words “strong”/“grip” as they “reinforce dominant cultural patterns”, wear LGBT lanyards, learn from George Floyd death.

    https://x.com/stevenedginton/status/1781361239081296333?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    I’m Bond, James Bond, they, them.
    It’s one of the bleakest threads I’ve ever read. Our entire establishment is captured by this poisonous corrosive ideology. This rancid fungus of racist shiteness
    Don’t worry too much, when the Chinese spy corners the British spy and is about to kill him/her and the British spy breaks down and tells the Chinese spy that they are both victims of the patriarchy and frankly if they had been able to change their genders at age 12 then all would be perfect. the Chinese spy will start crying and exclaim “you too brother-sister” and war will be averted and peace shall regain across Mother/Father Earth.

    Or alternatively Chinese spy will kill British spy and walk off thinking “what a completely wet Fanny.” And then help China take over the world and put all the people who want to soften the security services up against the wall first.

    There is truth is the quote “ people sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.”
  • stodgestodge Posts: 13,885
    Evening all :)

    Mixed polling from the Friday regulars - Techne has a 23 point Labour lead with the split 59-35 but We Think has a 59-37 split with the Conservatives at 26% (+2), their highest in a poll for a couple of weeks.

    The Conservative to Labour swing on We Think is 14.5% which is still well into landslide territory.

    We should have an Opinium this Sunday - they poll lower for Labour than most and their Conservative share comes out as 25-27%.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,559
    "The Race Taboo: How Liberalism Created Woke by Making Race Sacred. Woke is Liberalism Gone Amok
    Eric Kaufmann"

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu2X3lENy4I
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,684
    Leon said:

    I mean who wants their spies to be strong and urgent anyway? We need them to be more diversely lazy complacent weak and ineffectual and constantly thinking of the death of George Floyd

    Successful spies aren't noticed and blend into the background. Being "alpha" isn't the way to do it.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,586

    Sandpit said:

    kle4 said:

    Scott_xP said:

    @Phil_Lewis_

    Tesla is recalling all 3,878 Cybertrucks that it has shipped to date, due to a problem where the accelerator pedal can get stuck, putting drivers at risk of a crash

    I was thinking about getting a Cybertruck.
    Can they even be legally driven in this country?
    Most American trucks won’t pass European crash tests, so it’s unlikely to cross the pond officially. You might be able to get a Single Vehicle Approval for one as a private import, and there’s a few specialist dealers who do this with US stuff. It requires a few modifications, depending on the vehicle, such as to lights (rear indicators yellow, rear fog light, headlights pointing left etc) and instruments (speed in mph etc).

    Then there’s the question of whether you’d actually want to drive one in the UK - it’s blooming massive, bigger than even most US trucks such as the F150, and you’d have to placard the max weight down to 3.5t if you want to drive it on a car licence, which limits the loading capacity somewhat!
    You can drive all kinds of vehicles on the roads - including a Centurion recovery vehicle and Saracen APCs.

    Those don’t have any modern safety features. What’s their loophole?
    Grandfather rights mostly, and special military vehicle categories.

    You can get almost anything registered with a bit of ingenuity, even a sofa! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTgLnUgzZYk

    But the key word there is ‘you’. Ford can’t sell you a 1980s-era Fiesta, because it doesn’t meet modern standards for safety and emissions. But if you could find a factory in the third world that still make them, you could bring one back yourself and get it registered - although this is actually changing with the latest emissions regs, and it won’t be possible to do that any more.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,306
    Foxy said:

    Leon said:

    I mean who wants their spies to be strong and urgent anyway? We need them to be more diversely lazy complacent weak and ineffectual and constantly thinking of the death of George Floyd

    Successful spies aren't noticed and blend into the background. Being "alpha" isn't the way to do it.
    97% of people working for MI5/SIS will never be in danger of anything more than paper cuts.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,344
    Foxy said:

    Leon said:

    I mean who wants their spies to be strong and urgent anyway? We need them to be more diversely lazy complacent weak and ineffectual and constantly thinking of the death of George Floyd

    Successful spies aren't noticed and blend into the background. Being "alpha" isn't the way to do it.
    No, they need to be cowering in a corner, clutching their LGBTQ lanyards, earnestly weeping over an icon of Saint George Floyd the Martyr, as they avoid evil and difficult words like "status quo" and apologise for being white. That'll really stick it to Vladimir Putin
  • boulayboulay Posts: 5,486
    Foxy said:

    Leon said:

    I mean who wants their spies to be strong and urgent anyway? We need them to be more diversely lazy complacent weak and ineffectual and constantly thinking of the death of George Floyd

    Successful spies aren't noticed and blend into the background. Being "alpha" isn't the way to do it.
    What happens if you are a spy in a large part of the world where actually being alpha is normal and required. I’m guessing a British spy in Russia isn’t sitting there praising LGBTQ doctrine and our boys in South America aren’t turning down the asado and requesting a vegan option?

    A large, large part of the world is nasty, “old fashioned” and male-centric and so to tell people that it’s wrong is going to put them at a disadvantage. Unless of course you think they should “act” in which case it’s equally correct that you hire some un-woke spies and tell them to “act” when in Europe and similar civilised places.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,344
    And still people will deny that Wokeness even exists, let alone that it is a major fucking problem
  • boulayboulay Posts: 5,486
    Ah Mr Bond, it wasn’t the fact that you booked into the hotel using your name that gave you away, it’s the fact that when we laughed about Flea Bag being shit and we saw that tear in the corner of your eye that we knew you were a British trained agent.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,409
    Leon said:

    Foxy said:

    Leon said:

    I mean who wants their spies to be strong and urgent anyway? We need them to be more diversely lazy complacent weak and ineffectual and constantly thinking of the death of George Floyd

    Successful spies aren't noticed and blend into the background. Being "alpha" isn't the way to do it.
    No, they need to be cowering in a corner, clutching their LGBTQ lanyards, earnestly weeping over an icon of Saint George Floyd the Martyr, as they avoid evil and difficult words like "status quo" and apologise for being white. That'll really stick it to Vladimir Putin
    How do non-binary spies assassinate their enemies?
    They slash them.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 12,996
    boulay said:

    Leon said:

    boulay said:

    Leon said:

    Now tell me woke “isn’t a thing”. This thread. My god

    EXCLUSIVE: Leaked intelligence diversity docs tells spies: Stop displaying "alpha behaviours" including strength/urgency, look out for words “strong”/“grip” as they “reinforce dominant cultural patterns”, wear LGBT lanyards, learn from George Floyd death.

    https://x.com/stevenedginton/status/1781361239081296333?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    I’m Bond, James Bond, they, them.
    It’s one of the bleakest threads I’ve ever read. Our entire establishment is captured by this poisonous corrosive ideology. This rancid fungus of racist shiteness
    Don’t worry too much, when the Chinese spy corners the British spy and is about to kill him/her and the British spy breaks down and tells the Chinese spy that they are both victims of the patriarchy and frankly if they had been able to change their genders at age 12 then all would be perfect. the Chinese spy will start crying and exclaim “you too brother-sister” and war will be averted and peace shall regain across Mother/Father Earth.

    Or alternatively Chinese spy will kill British spy and walk off thinking “what a completely wet Fanny.” And then help China take over the world and put all the people who want to soften the security services up against the wall first.

    There is truth is the quote “ people sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.”
    It’s perfectly possible to avoid gendered language, think deeply about George Floyd and wear an LGBT allyship badge AND be capable of ruthlessly murdering an enemy of the state in cold blood.

    Indeed MAGA Americans are forever moaning about the violence of woke types.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,373
    edited April 19

    I await those who are complaining the police are wasting time investigating Rayner saying the same about Menzies... ;)

    "Lancashire Police have said they are reviewing information about allegations against suspended Tory MP Mark Menzies.

    Labour wrote to police on Friday morning calling for an investigation."

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68858604

    Labour reporting Menzies is as big a crock as Daly reporting Rayner. That said I would have thought the Conservative Association well within it's rights to ask Plod to investigate where it's money has gone.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 12,996
    UK and US intelligence seems by all accounts to have been extremely effective recently.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,344
    edited April 19
    The Tories must shoulder some of the blame for this. They have been in power for 14 years and they've had ample opportunity to extirpate this vile, damaging Woke nonsense, to drive it out of public life and to punish those that proselytise it. Instead they have actively let it spread, it has got worse, to the extent that we now refuse to deport known sex offenders back to Afghanistan, because they might suffer for being sex offenders, and so they rape and murder British people instead. That is where we are. That is what the Tories have allowed to flourish, that level of insanity

    The only way we retrieve the situation is something close to revolution. An entire class of people needs to be exiled from power forever, and a grotesque ideology needs to be forcibly eliminated. We need the Labour party to fuck up massively and a proper right wing party to assume power

    Either that or let the machines take over
  • boulayboulay Posts: 5,486
    TimS said:

    boulay said:

    Leon said:

    boulay said:

    Leon said:

    Now tell me woke “isn’t a thing”. This thread. My god

    EXCLUSIVE: Leaked intelligence diversity docs tells spies: Stop displaying "alpha behaviours" including strength/urgency, look out for words “strong”/“grip” as they “reinforce dominant cultural patterns”, wear LGBT lanyards, learn from George Floyd death.

    https://x.com/stevenedginton/status/1781361239081296333?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    I’m Bond, James Bond, they, them.
    It’s one of the bleakest threads I’ve ever read. Our entire establishment is captured by this poisonous corrosive ideology. This rancid fungus of racist shiteness
    Don’t worry too much, when the Chinese spy corners the British spy and is about to kill him/her and the British spy breaks down and tells the Chinese spy that they are both victims of the patriarchy and frankly if they had been able to change their genders at age 12 then all would be perfect. the Chinese spy will start crying and exclaim “you too brother-sister” and war will be averted and peace shall regain across Mother/Father Earth.

    Or alternatively Chinese spy will kill British spy and walk off thinking “what a completely wet Fanny.” And then help China take over the world and put all the people who want to soften the security services up against the wall first.

    There is truth is the quote “ people sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.”
    It’s perfectly possible to avoid gendered language, think deeply about George Floyd and wear an LGBT allyship badge AND be capable of ruthlessly murdering an enemy of the state in cold blood.

    Indeed MAGA Americans are forever moaning about the violence of woke types.
    Absolutely, it is not just perfectly possible but true however it shouldn’t be a doctrine. If you have someone you can send into some hell hole and they don’t conform to the “right way” of thinking but would do a great job that’s more important than losing them before you can use them because they didn’t conform to the doctrine.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,625
    Leon said:

    I mean who wants their spies to be strong and urgent anyway? We need them to be more diversely lazy complacent weak and ineffectual and constantly thinking of the death of George Floyd

    The key to being a spy is not appearing to be a spy; to fit in, be normal. Whatever combination of MICE are motivating you should not be too visible. Also, spraying bullets about Bond-style is not fitting in.

    Who is the most successful criminal ever? Someone you have never heard of. ;)
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,559
    Leon said:

    The Tories must shoulder some of the blame for this. They have been in power for 14 years and they've had ample opportunity to extirpate this vile, damaging Woke nonsense, to drive it out of public life and to punish those that proselytise it. Instead they have actively let it spread, it has got worse, to the extent that we now refuse to deport known sex offenders back to Afghanistan, because they might suffer for being sex offenders, and so they rape and murder British people instead. That is where we are. That is what the Tories have allowed to flourish, that level of insanity

    The only way we retrieve the situation is something close to revolution. An entire class of people needs to be exiled from power forever, and a grotesque ideology needs to be forcibly eliminated. We need the Labour party to fuck up massively and a proper right wing party to assume power

    Either that or let the machines take over

    That's why RefUK are only about 5% behind them according to some pollsters.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 12,996
    boulay said:

    TimS said:

    boulay said:

    Leon said:

    boulay said:

    Leon said:

    Now tell me woke “isn’t a thing”. This thread. My god

    EXCLUSIVE: Leaked intelligence diversity docs tells spies: Stop displaying "alpha behaviours" including strength/urgency, look out for words “strong”/“grip” as they “reinforce dominant cultural patterns”, wear LGBT lanyards, learn from George Floyd death.

    https://x.com/stevenedginton/status/1781361239081296333?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    I’m Bond, James Bond, they, them.
    It’s one of the bleakest threads I’ve ever read. Our entire establishment is captured by this poisonous corrosive ideology. This rancid fungus of racist shiteness
    Don’t worry too much, when the Chinese spy corners the British spy and is about to kill him/her and the British spy breaks down and tells the Chinese spy that they are both victims of the patriarchy and frankly if they had been able to change their genders at age 12 then all would be perfect. the Chinese spy will start crying and exclaim “you too brother-sister” and war will be averted and peace shall regain across Mother/Father Earth.

    Or alternatively Chinese spy will kill British spy and walk off thinking “what a completely wet Fanny.” And then help China take over the world and put all the people who want to soften the security services up against the wall first.

    There is truth is the quote “ people sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.”
    It’s perfectly possible to avoid gendered language, think deeply about George Floyd and wear an LGBT allyship badge AND be capable of ruthlessly murdering an enemy of the state in cold blood.

    Indeed MAGA Americans are forever moaning about the violence of woke types.
    Absolutely, it is not just perfectly possible but true however it shouldn’t be a doctrine. If you have someone you can send into some hell hole and they don’t conform to the “right way” of thinking but would do a great job that’s more important than losing them before you can use them because they didn’t conform to the doctrine.
    I assume the training was about how they work together with their colleagues.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,625
    I sometimes wonder if the James Bond mythology has been an advantage to Britain's security services, or a millstone around their neck.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,373
    Leon said:

    And still people will deny that Wokeness even exists, let alone that it is a major fucking problem

    Wokeness seems to pass me by, but then I live in ruffty tuffty Cowbridge rather than genteel Primrose Hill.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,344
    The next James Bond will be brilliant. The first ten minutes will be a transsexual genderfluid Jemelia Bond draped in a Pride flag and wearing vegan sandals and a tofu hat and sobbing over a nine metre high knitted photo of George Floyd, sobbing so violently that them doesn't notice the Chinese spy behind they that kills she-they. Roll credits
  • boulayboulay Posts: 5,486

    Leon said:

    I mean who wants their spies to be strong and urgent anyway? We need them to be more diversely lazy complacent weak and ineffectual and constantly thinking of the death of George Floyd

    The key to being a spy is not appearing to be a spy; to fit in, be normal. Whatever combination of MICE are motivating you should not be too visible. Also, spraying bullets about Bond-style is not fitting in.

    Who is the most successful criminal ever? Someone you have never heard of. ;)
    This is the whole point, most of the places we need spies aren’t woke, lovely, fluffy, LGBtQ friendly etc and so if you’ve deterred or refused employment to spies because they didn’t confirm to the new orthodoxy then you send the ones who fit in at the BBC to Belarus and they start crying when people start misgendering people, eating kittens, shooting people for shits and gigs, they are going to be spotted really quickly.

    We don’t really need to do a lot of spying in like-minded countries. When they send you to spy in Iran and you get dragged to a jolly where they hang a gay person off a crane if you are so indoctrinated by being lovely and fluffy it’s not going to work.
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559

    Times Radio on Youtube:

    "In 1770, British explorer James Cook made a significant discovery during his voyage in the Pacific Ocean. What notable landmass did Captain Cook first sight during this expedition?"

    The options:
    Hawaii
    New Zealand
    Tahaiti
    Australia.

    They think the correct answer is Australia...

    According to wiki Captain Cook on his first Pacific voyage sighted

    Tahiti - April 1769
    New Zealand - October 1769
    Australia - April 1770

    Do agree the question is poorly written, as the ACTUAL question asked does NOT mention "1770" though the leadup does.
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 28,459
    Leon said:

    The next James Bond will be brilliant. The first ten minutes will be a transsexual genderfluid Jemelia Bond draped in a Pride flag and wearing vegan sandals and a tofu hat and sobbing over a nine metre high knitted photo of George Floyd, sobbing so violently that them doesn't notice the Chinese spy behind they that kills she-they. Roll credits

    The rumour is that Barbara Broccoli is waiting so long to announce a new film and a new Bond because she's hoping for woke to fuck off. Potentially if Trump gets in there will be at least be alternative voices. At the moment a Bond film would be even more piss poor than the last effort.
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 28,459

    I sometimes wonder if the James Bond mythology has been an advantage to Britain's security services, or a millstone around their neck.

    I can't think why it should have affected them at all.
  • state_go_awaystate_go_away Posts: 5,813
    its not a value political bet but a value snooker bet - bet365 and skybet both offer 3 or more 147s at the world champs at 50/1 .Given they offer 1 147 at 6/4 and 2 at 8/1 then I fail to see why 3 OR MORE is as big as 50/1. IF anything if 1 is scored then more becomes more likely than normal (given the pockets may be loose) . There was a 147 at last years champs as well so its not as if 6/4 is tight
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,625

    Times Radio on Youtube:

    "In 1770, British explorer James Cook made a significant discovery during his voyage in the Pacific Ocean. What notable landmass did Captain Cook first sight during this expedition?"

    The options:
    Hawaii
    New Zealand
    Tahaiti
    Australia.

    They think the correct answer is Australia...

    According to wiki Captain Cook on his first Pacific voyage sighted

    Tahiti - April 1769
    New Zealand - October 1769
    Australia - April 1770

    Do agree the question is poorly written, as the ACTUAL question asked does NOT mention "1770" though the leadup does.
    Australia was discovered by the Dutch. Cook discovered the eastern/northeastern coast; but they knew *something* was in that rough area. So he did "first sight" Australia's eastern coast, but he did not discover Australia. A badly-written question, even leaving aside the existence of indigenous Australians.

    https://www.nla.gov.au/faq/who-was-the-first-european-to-land-on-australia#
  • boulayboulay Posts: 5,486

    Leon said:

    The next James Bond will be brilliant. The first ten minutes will be a transsexual genderfluid Jemelia Bond draped in a Pride flag and wearing vegan sandals and a tofu hat and sobbing over a nine metre high knitted photo of George Floyd, sobbing so violently that them doesn't notice the Chinese spy behind they that kills she-they. Roll credits

    The rumour is that Barbara Broccoli is waiting so long to announce a new film and a new Bond because she's hoping for woke to fuck off. Potentially if Trump gets in there will be at least be alternative voices. At the moment a Bond film would be even more piss poor than the last effort.
    The crazy thing is that she could make billions by having a Marvel type universe of spin-offs where they have a Black 005 film series, a female 008 series and a gay 00 etc but credit to her she is very protective over what Bond “is”.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 12,996
    boulay said:

    Leon said:

    I mean who wants their spies to be strong and urgent anyway? We need them to be more diversely lazy complacent weak and ineffectual and constantly thinking of the death of George Floyd

    The key to being a spy is not appearing to be a spy; to fit in, be normal. Whatever combination of MICE are motivating you should not be too visible. Also, spraying bullets about Bond-style is not fitting in.

    Who is the most successful criminal ever? Someone you have never heard of. ;)
    This is the whole point, most of the places we need spies aren’t woke, lovely, fluffy, LGBtQ friendly etc and so if you’ve deterred or refused employment to spies because they didn’t confirm to the new orthodoxy then you send the ones who fit in at the BBC to Belarus and they start crying when people start misgendering people, eating kittens, shooting people for shits and gigs, they are going to be spotted really quickly.

    We don’t really need to do a lot of spying in like-minded countries. When they send you to spy in Iran and you get dragged to a jolly where they hang a gay person off a crane if you are so indoctrinated by being lovely and fluffy it’s not going to work.
    I think everyone’s been watching too much Bond. Most intelligence services employees work at desks, in Britain.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,625

    I sometimes wonder if the James Bond mythology has been an advantage to Britain's security services, or a millstone around their neck.

    I can't think why it should have affected them at all.
    People assuming that joining the security services involved sleeping with loads of women and shooting people.

    Instead of travelling the enemy's country to study the spires of cathedrals...
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,625

    Leon said:

    The next James Bond will be brilliant. The first ten minutes will be a transsexual genderfluid Jemelia Bond draped in a Pride flag and wearing vegan sandals and a tofu hat and sobbing over a nine metre high knitted photo of George Floyd, sobbing so violently that them doesn't notice the Chinese spy behind they that kills she-they. Roll credits

    The rumour is that Barbara Broccoli is waiting so long to announce a new film and a new Bond because she's hoping for woke to fuck off. Potentially if Trump gets in there will be at least be alternative voices. At the moment a Bond film would be even more piss poor than the last effort.
    Sources for this rumour... ?
  • BlancheLivermoreBlancheLivermore Posts: 5,919
    There's a man playing bagpipes outside the cathedral


  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,344
    edited April 19

    Times Radio on Youtube:

    "In 1770, British explorer James Cook made a significant discovery during his voyage in the Pacific Ocean. What notable landmass did Captain Cook first sight during this expedition?"

    The options:
    Hawaii
    New Zealand
    Tahaiti
    Australia.

    They think the correct answer is Australia...

    According to wiki Captain Cook on his first Pacific voyage sighted

    Tahiti - April 1769
    New Zealand - October 1769
    Australia - April 1770

    Do agree the question is poorly written, as the ACTUAL question asked does NOT mention "1770" though the leadup does.
    Australia was discovered by the Dutch. Cook discovered the eastern/northeastern coast; but they knew *something* was in that rough area. So he did "first sight" Australia's eastern coast, but he did not discover Australia. A badly-written question, even leaving aside the existence of indigenous Australians.

    https://www.nla.gov.au/faq/who-was-the-first-european-to-land-on-australia#
    It was "discovered" long before the Dutch by Muslim and Indonesian sailors trading sea cucumbers. They are depicted in the rock art of Arnhemland
  • boulayboulay Posts: 5,486
    TimS said:

    boulay said:

    Leon said:

    I mean who wants their spies to be strong and urgent anyway? We need them to be more diversely lazy complacent weak and ineffectual and constantly thinking of the death of George Floyd

    The key to being a spy is not appearing to be a spy; to fit in, be normal. Whatever combination of MICE are motivating you should not be too visible. Also, spraying bullets about Bond-style is not fitting in.

    Who is the most successful criminal ever? Someone you have never heard of. ;)
    This is the whole point, most of the places we need spies aren’t woke, lovely, fluffy, LGBtQ friendly etc and so if you’ve deterred or refused employment to spies because they didn’t confirm to the new orthodoxy then you send the ones who fit in at the BBC to Belarus and they start crying when people start misgendering people, eating kittens, shooting people for shits and gigs, they are going to be spotted really quickly.

    We don’t really need to do a lot of spying in like-minded countries. When they send you to spy in Iran and you get dragged to a jolly where they hang a gay person off a crane if you are so indoctrinated by being lovely and fluffy it’s not going to work.
    I think everyone’s been watching too much Bond. Most intelligence services employees work at desks, in Britain.
    They do indeed, and they have to manage and collecitvely are responsible for a few people doing scary shit for us in places that aren’t nice so if the people in the not nice place need help they don’t need a lecture on crap and to be worried about saying and doing the “right things” from someone at a nice safe desk in Cheltenham or London.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 41,978
    Foxy said:

    Leon said:

    I mean who wants their spies to be strong and urgent anyway? We need them to be more diversely lazy complacent weak and ineffectual and constantly thinking of the death of George Floyd

    Successful spies aren't noticed and blend into the background. Being "alpha" isn't the way to do it.
    I fear some folk will collapse if they find out James Bond isn't a documentary.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,306

    Leon said:

    The next James Bond will be brilliant. The first ten minutes will be a transsexual genderfluid Jemelia Bond draped in a Pride flag and wearing vegan sandals and a tofu hat and sobbing over a nine metre high knitted photo of George Floyd, sobbing so violently that them doesn't notice the Chinese spy behind they that kills she-they. Roll credits

    The rumour is that Barbara Broccoli is waiting so long to announce a new film and a new Bond because she's hoping for woke to fuck off. Potentially if Trump gets in there will be at least be alternative voices. At the moment a Bond film would be even more piss poor than the last effort.
    Personally, I like Quentin Tarantino’s suggestion. Re boot to the 1950s/60s, when the books were set. Bond in a Bentley Blower - all guarantees from Bentley lost when his gets the supercharger fitted.
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 28,459

    Leon said:

    The next James Bond will be brilliant. The first ten minutes will be a transsexual genderfluid Jemelia Bond draped in a Pride flag and wearing vegan sandals and a tofu hat and sobbing over a nine metre high knitted photo of George Floyd, sobbing so violently that them doesn't notice the Chinese spy behind they that kills she-they. Roll credits

    The rumour is that Barbara Broccoli is waiting so long to announce a new film and a new Bond because she's hoping for woke to fuck off. Potentially if Trump gets in there will be at least be alternative voices. At the moment a Bond film would be even more piss poor than the last effort.
    Sources for this rumour... ?
    Bond Youtube fan community. I've not given it any more credence than suggesting it's a rumour so I won't be providing citations if it's all the same to you.
  • Pagan2Pagan2 Posts: 9,872
    kle4 said:

    kinabalu said:

    kinabalu said:

    kinabalu said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Charlotte Henry
    Why do Lib Dems want to crack down on smoking but legalise cannabis?"

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-do-lib-dems-want-to-crack-down-on-smoking-but-legalise-cannabis/

    Quite a good question. I suppose the difference is that tobacco smoking is more harmful than cannabis, although I would have thought there wasn’t a lot of difference which burning vegetable smoke was inhaled.
    I hope the LibDems sort themselves out policy-wise well before the election! I’m still thinking I’ll have to hold my nose and vote for whoever’s got the best chance of beating the Tory.
    The damage from the smoke of a spliff is about the same as the damage from the smoke of a cigarette. However, nicotine is exceedingly addictive, so smokers typically smoke 40 a day. Regular cannabis users get through far, far fewer roll-ups. Thus, safer. Not that this is necessarily the answer to the question posed.
    Smokers typically smoke 40 a day? Evidence? I don't think so - only a small minority of chain smokers. 40 a day of normal fags would cost c. £210 a week, which is way beyond what many/most smokers can afford.
    Yes. Most heavy smokers go the "rollie" route, I'd have thought, to keep the cost down.
    My grandad used to smoke roll ups. He even had a little machine to do the rolling. Not a hint of a wokerati filter mind.
    I've had phases of them in my (long) smoking career too. Can be a satisfying ritual. And MUCH cheaper. Downsides are your fingers go yellow and you get tobacco caught in your teeth. You never saw that with Humphrey Bogart or Lauren Bacall, did you.
    Yes, my Grandad had yellow fingers and he died of cancer and heart disease, granted in his eighties and he'd been a career miner. I don't suppose the jeopardy of smoking is quite the same when one spent their days for forty years breathing in coal dust.
    Both mine were miners, smoked and got pneumoconiosis. Yet lived to be 89 and 92.

    So I should make 100.
    Damn, none of my grandparents made it to 80, I'm probably screwed.
    My father made it past 80 so probably screwed
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,098

    Leon said:

    The next James Bond will be brilliant. The first ten minutes will be a transsexual genderfluid Jemelia Bond draped in a Pride flag and wearing vegan sandals and a tofu hat and sobbing over a nine metre high knitted photo of George Floyd, sobbing so violently that them doesn't notice the Chinese spy behind they that kills she-they. Roll credits

    The rumour is that Barbara Broccoli is waiting so long to announce a new film and a new Bond because she's hoping for woke to fuck off. Potentially if Trump gets in there will be at least be alternative voices. At the moment a Bond film would be even more piss poor than the last effort.
    The Broccolis have total control over the Bond process and don't have to satisfy anyone but themselves. I think the delay is more their advancing age and lack of an obvious candidate, although I do like the ATJ rumours
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 28,459

    I sometimes wonder if the James Bond mythology has been an advantage to Britain's security services, or a millstone around their neck.

    I can't think why it should have affected them at all.
    People assuming that joining the security services involved sleeping with loads of women and shooting people.

    Instead of travelling the enemy's country to study the spires of cathedrals...
    Sources for anyone assuming that... ?
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