Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. Sign in or register to get started.

We need to talk about Trump’s age and faculties – politicalbetting.com

13567

Comments

  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,228
    MaxPB said:

    There needs to be a reckoning for the mainstream leftist media in the US who have helped cover up Biden's rate of decline over the last few years. It's been an open secret that his mental faculties have been declining but the white house staffers pressured a pliant media to not report the truth "for the greater good".

    The owners of these companies need to clean house and get rid of all of those journalists who helped the white house cover this up. All of those selectively reported events, copy pasted denials and complete lies they reported for the past two years has denied the American people a proper say on who should face Trump this year and it's likely going to result in a Trump victory.

    A journalist's responsibility should be to the facts, not some sense of "greater good". As soon as that moral compass is distorted this is the inevitable result.

    Exactly right

    “It’s just a stammer”

    No. It’s just his brain. As he said himself

    https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/biden-told-concerned-democratic-governors-sleep-sources/story?id=111678949
  • eekeek Posts: 28,362
    edited July 22

    eek said:

    stodge said:

    A perennial favourite on PB - the story that just doesn't quite add up or ring true, or could be changed by making a few different choices.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7209lk8x2wo

    "Software engineer Emma Harris earns £50,000 a year and said the cost of renting and bills takes up about two-thirds of her salary. "I am not likely to ever own a house and it’s just depressing," she said."

    We are not told what she is renting now. Is it a flat? Two bedroom house? Could she rent somewhere smaller?

    I don't know why you don't believe it unless you choose not to or you think it's been put up to push some kind of political agenda.

    £50,000 doesn't mean she has that amount as income so once she's paid tax, NI and perhaps contributed to a pension that will be reduced. As for renting, perhaps you'd prefer if she lived in a box by the side of the road and I confess I don't know renting prices in Birmingham but let's say £750 pm so that's £9k gone plus her other costs.

    I can believe it.
    3,230 after tax per month, the PAYE calculators say.... (no pension)

    so 2/3rds would be 2,150 a moth on housing and bills.

    If she is a renting house in Birmingham, that would be north of 1,250 for something non-shitty.
    + council tax £130 minimum, bills will add another £200.

    So minimum £1400 more likely to be £1700.

    Single person discount on the council tax, surely?
    That included the single person discount.. Band C is £1,852.23 and any city centre flat built post 2010 is going to be band D minimum (because of the facilities and lack of historic comparators).
  • EPGEPG Posts: 6,651
    MaxPB said:

    There needs to be a reckoning for the mainstream leftist media in the US who have helped cover up Biden's rate of decline over the last few years. It's been an open secret that his mental faculties have been declining but the white house staffers pressured a pliant media to not report the truth "for the greater good".

    The owners of these companies need to clean house and get rid of all of those journalists who helped the white house cover this up. All of those selectively reported events, copy pasted denials and complete lies they reported for the past two years has denied the American people a proper say on who should face Trump this year and it's likely going to result in a Trump victory.

    A journalist's responsibility should be to the facts, not some sense of "greater good". As soon as that moral compass is distorted this is the inevitable result.

    You're rattled because today this doesn't matter any more. Fine. But the evidence was out there for years. People on here were talking about it. Trump was running on it. So the cover up was simply that part of a free press took an editorial line you don't like.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,809

    stodge said:

    A perennial favourite on PB - the story that just doesn't quite add up or ring true, or could be changed by making a few different choices.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7209lk8x2wo

    "Software engineer Emma Harris earns £50,000 a year and said the cost of renting and bills takes up about two-thirds of her salary. "I am not likely to ever own a house and it’s just depressing," she said."

    We are not told what she is renting now. Is it a flat? Two bedroom house? Could she rent somewhere smaller?

    I don't know why you don't believe it unless you choose not to or you think it's been put up to push some kind of political agenda.

    £50,000 doesn't mean she has that amount as income so once she's paid tax, NI and perhaps contributed to a pension that will be reduced. As for renting, perhaps you'd prefer if she lived in a box by the side of the road and I confess I don't know renting prices in Birmingham but let's say £750 pm so that's £9k gone plus her other costs.

    I can believe it.
    I earn 50K a year more a less so I know what the take home is. If its 750 for rent and then 150 for council tax, add in electricity and gas and water and I think you should still be getting around 2000 a month to spend. I just find it odd that the story doesn't indicate or show the hovel she is forced to live in to get by.

    Many of us have lived in pretty small or crappy places before we were able to buy. Many of us were lucky to be gifted deposits. I know its not always easy, but this story is lacking some key details.
    They are always are, and it may not be that these are illegitimate details or make the person in question financially incontinent or making silly decisions. Dependents from previous relationships, pets, requirements to live somewhere to be nearer a family member you are caring for, need to run a car for various reasons, outstanding loan payments etc etc - these are all things that will reduce your disposable income or your options. The problem is we just get the headline, and you can draw very little from it.
    Student Loan Company payments would certainly be likely loan payments.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,031

    Leon said:

    Bless.

    Rachel Reeves is preparing to hand millions of public sector workers an above-inflation pay rise and attempt to blame the Conservatives for any tax rises needed to fund it

    https://x.com/thetimes/status/1815281019026567442

    So she'll accept the recommendations of the independent pay review bodies, rather than the previous approach of precipitating strikes by ignoring them.
    All she has to do now is fund it.

    And then all the coming recommendations from review bodies. 35% pay rise anyone ?
    Early signs from Labour are dreadful

    Fucking up the education system to please woke agendas

    Handing out money we don’t have to the public sector

    You either put it down to they have a steep learning curve and will wise up, or theyre going to be a crap government.

    Too early to say.
    There's also this.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7243n2xxpgo
    The government is due to explain why it has refused to give financial support to Harland and Wolff.
    The loss-making shipbuilder, which employs 1,500 people across the UK, had applied for a loan guarantee of up to £200m.
    On Friday it said its bid had been unsuccessful and that its chief executive had left his job.
    The company is in talks with its lender, Riverstone, and is hopeful of agreeing additional funding within days...
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 38,777
    EPG said:

    MaxPB said:

    There needs to be a reckoning for the mainstream leftist media in the US who have helped cover up Biden's rate of decline over the last few years. It's been an open secret that his mental faculties have been declining but the white house staffers pressured a pliant media to not report the truth "for the greater good".

    The owners of these companies need to clean house and get rid of all of those journalists who helped the white house cover this up. All of those selectively reported events, copy pasted denials and complete lies they reported for the past two years has denied the American people a proper say on who should face Trump this year and it's likely going to result in a Trump victory.

    A journalist's responsibility should be to the facts, not some sense of "greater good". As soon as that moral compass is distorted this is the inevitable result.

    You're rattled because today this doesn't matter any more. Fine. But the evidence was out there for years. People on here were talking about it. Trump was running on it. So the cover up was simply that part of a free press took an editorial line you don't like.
    Of course it matters because this stupidity and cover up has made Trump the favourite to win in November and against Harris I think he could get a landslide victory with Harris only picking up three or four coastal states.

    It's not an "editorial line" it was a pack of lies to do their friends in the white house a favour. An editorial line would have been to admit that Biden was struggling with his mental agility but say it's still better than the alternative, not to simply deny the obvious truth of it and push the white house agenda that he's all good and the doctors all say he's great etc... it's just lies.
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 17,207

    Bless.

    Rachel Reeves is preparing to hand millions of public sector workers an above-inflation pay rise and attempt to blame the Conservatives for any tax rises needed to fund it

    https://x.com/thetimes/status/1815281019026567442

    The bond markets will Trussify her if such cakeism continues.
    Good morning

    Sky are reporting Reeves is expected to move to abolish the 2 child benefit cap due to pressure from her left

    Sky showed a you gov poll yesterday that by 60%/28% the public support the cap

    Fiscal responsibility for Labour seems to be an optional choice depending on their politics

    I would expect the result of these inflationary moves will see interest rates remain high for much longer

    The cost of not paying salaries that enable you to recruit and retain teachers, nurses and others is far, far higher than the cost of doing so. The same applies to the two child policy. Short-termism guided by opinion polls has cost this country dear. It's about time it was consigned to the rubbish bin.

    Then you have the choice of higher taxes and interest rates
    Yes, the previous government left a disastrous legacy.

    Including 4p off NI rates that wasn't funded, isn't affordable and didn't even manage to buy many votes.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 12,983
    TOPPING said:

    Leon said:

    TOPPING said:

    Leon said:

    TOPPING said:

    Leon said:
    Really? Very clumsy and obvious. Surprised it elicits such admiration from you.
    It’s got at least 14m views so I’m not alone in finding it amusing

    It also cleverly references that INCREDIBLE gaffe when Biden called Pete Buttigieg “Senator Bootyjuice” which is so sublime it is significant evidence that we live in a Simulation
    Clips of dogs barking at televisions routinely get 200m views. I'm sure 13.89m of the views in this case are because it just popped up on peoples' feeds. And 0.11m of them were because someone on a social media platform said - you've got to look at this it's AMAZEBALLS.
    “Senator Bootyjuice”. He said that. Biden actually said that. When he meant “Pete Buttigieg”
    Hysterical.
    It is though pronounced not that differently from bootyjuice. More bootyjedge, but still.

    I met a Monsieur Buttigieg in France last year. He was from the local notaire’s office doing a valuation for us. I asked if he was any relation. It’s apparently a Maltese surname. Not common in France at all. Mayor Pete is presumably also of Maltese extraction.
  • eekeek Posts: 28,362
    MaxPB said:

    MaxPB said:

    Leon said:

    Bless.

    Rachel Reeves is preparing to hand millions of public sector workers an above-inflation pay rise and attempt to blame the Conservatives for any tax rises needed to fund it

    https://x.com/thetimes/status/1815281019026567442

    So she'll accept the recommendations of the independent pay review bodies, rather than the previous approach of precipitating strikes by ignoring them.
    All she has to do now is fund it.

    And then all the coming recommendations from review bodies. 35% pay rise anyone ?
    Early signs from Labour are dreadful

    Fucking up the education system to please woke agendas

    Handing out money we don’t have to the public sector

    IMF bailout in 2028, Labour has set us on the path to it already.

    How?

    Spending money we don't have. We saw what happened when Liz Truss tried to do that.
    It shows how much damage the lack of random cuts in Osbourne's first few years hurt us.

    Given the reports over the weekend that autism can be treated I do wonder how much of the current SEN bill can be pinned on the destruction of surestart which did give a lot of children a better start in live..

  • MattWMattW Posts: 23,116
    edited July 22
    Never mind. The UK has some of the safest roads in the world, and some accidents will always happen.

    Six people die in crash between car and motorbike

    Four adults and two children have died after a car and a motorbike crashed in West Yorkshire, police said.
    The Ford Focus car and motorcycle collided on the A61 Wakefield Road between Wakefield and Barnsley at about 15:55 BST.
    A man and a woman along with two girls who were travelling in the car were pronounced dead at the scene, West Yorkshire Police said.
    A man and a woman who were on the motorcycle were also confirmed dead at the scene.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c880j1mm2nlo

    /parody
  • TimSTimS Posts: 12,983
    edited July 22

    Bless.

    Rachel Reeves is preparing to hand millions of public sector workers an above-inflation pay rise and attempt to blame the Conservatives for any tax rises needed to fund it

    https://x.com/thetimes/status/1815281019026567442

    The bond markets will Trussify her if such cakeism continues.
    Good morning

    Sky are reporting Reeves is expected to move to abolish the 2 child benefit cap due to pressure from her left

    Sky showed a you gov poll yesterday that by 60%/28% the public support the cap

    Fiscal responsibility for Labour seems to be an optional choice depending on their politics

    I would expect the result of these inflationary moves will see interest rates remain high for much longer

    The cost of not paying salaries that enable you to recruit and retain teachers, nurses and others is far, far higher than the cost of doing so. The same applies to the two child policy. Short-termism guided by opinion polls has cost this country dear. It's about time it was consigned to the rubbish bin.

    Then you have the choice of higher taxes and interest rates
    Yes, the previous government left a disastrous legacy.

    Including 4p off NI rates that wasn't funded, isn't affordable and didn't even manage to buy many votes.
    More remarkably still, by the same government that only a year previously unveiled an increase in NI rates to pay for social care, to much fanfare.

    Reeves could announce a new “health and social care levy”, but make it payable by pensioners as well as workers.
  • MattW said:

    Never mind. The UK has some of the safest roads in the world, and some accidents will always happen.

    Six people die in crash between car and motorbike

    Four adults and two children have died after a car and a motorbike crashed in West Yorkshire, police said.

    The Ford Focus car and motorcycle collided on the A61 Wakefield Road between Wakefield and Barnsley at about 15:55 BST.

    A man and a woman along with two girls who were travelling in the car were pronounced dead at the scene, West Yorkshire Police said.

    A man and a woman who were on the motorcycle were also confirmed dead at the scene.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c880j1mm2nlo

    Compulsory 5mph speed limiters on all motor vehicles would sort it.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,546
    MattW said:

    Never mind. The UK has some of the safest roads in the world, and some accidents will always happen.

    Six people die in crash between car and motorbike

    Four adults and two children have died after a car and a motorbike crashed in West Yorkshire, police said.

    The Ford Focus car and motorcycle collided on the A61 Wakefield Road between Wakefield and Barnsley at about 15:55 BST.

    A man and a woman along with two girls who were travelling in the car were pronounced dead at the scene, West Yorkshire Police said.

    A man and a woman who were on the motorcycle were also confirmed dead at the scene.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c880j1mm2nlo

    /parody

    I'm unsure what point you're trying to make here...
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 26,173
    MaxPB said:

    EPG said:

    MaxPB said:

    There needs to be a reckoning for the mainstream leftist media in the US who have helped cover up Biden's rate of decline over the last few years. It's been an open secret that his mental faculties have been declining but the white house staffers pressured a pliant media to not report the truth "for the greater good".

    The owners of these companies need to clean house and get rid of all of those journalists who helped the white house cover this up. All of those selectively reported events, copy pasted denials and complete lies they reported for the past two years has denied the American people a proper say on who should face Trump this year and it's likely going to result in a Trump victory.

    A journalist's responsibility should be to the facts, not some sense of "greater good". As soon as that moral compass is distorted this is the inevitable result.

    You're rattled because today this doesn't matter any more. Fine. But the evidence was out there for years. People on here were talking about it. Trump was running on it. So the cover up was simply that part of a free press took an editorial line you don't like.
    Of course it matters because this stupidity and cover up has made Trump the favourite to win in November and against Harris I think he could get a landslide victory with Harris only picking up three or four coastal states.

    It's not an "editorial line" it was a pack of lies to do their friends in the white house a favour. An editorial line would have been to admit that Biden was struggling with his mental agility but say it's still better than the alternative, not to simply deny the obvious truth of it and push the white house agenda that he's all good and the doctors all say he's great etc... it's just lies.
    If Trump does win comfortably, there will be some who say it was wrong of the media to call out Biden's poor performance in the debate.
  • eekeek Posts: 28,362
    MaxPB said:

    EPG said:

    MaxPB said:

    There needs to be a reckoning for the mainstream leftist media in the US who have helped cover up Biden's rate of decline over the last few years. It's been an open secret that his mental faculties have been declining but the white house staffers pressured a pliant media to not report the truth "for the greater good".

    The owners of these companies need to clean house and get rid of all of those journalists who helped the white house cover this up. All of those selectively reported events, copy pasted denials and complete lies they reported for the past two years has denied the American people a proper say on who should face Trump this year and it's likely going to result in a Trump victory.

    A journalist's responsibility should be to the facts, not some sense of "greater good". As soon as that moral compass is distorted this is the inevitable result.

    You're rattled because today this doesn't matter any more. Fine. But the evidence was out there for years. People on here were talking about it. Trump was running on it. So the cover up was simply that part of a free press took an editorial line you don't like.
    Of course it matters because this stupidity and cover up has made Trump the favourite to win in November and against Harris I think he could get a landslide victory with Harris only picking up three or four coastal states.

    It's not an "editorial line" it was a pack of lies to do their friends in the white house a favour. An editorial line would have been to admit that Biden was struggling with his mental agility but say it's still better than the alternative, not to simply deny the obvious truth of it and push the white house agenda that he's all good and the doctors all say he's great etc... it's just lies.
    It was a pack of lies to keep the White House happy because they need to keep the White House happy so they continued to get the access they needed for their job.
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 38,777
    eek said:

    MaxPB said:

    MaxPB said:

    Leon said:

    Bless.

    Rachel Reeves is preparing to hand millions of public sector workers an above-inflation pay rise and attempt to blame the Conservatives for any tax rises needed to fund it

    https://x.com/thetimes/status/1815281019026567442

    So she'll accept the recommendations of the independent pay review bodies, rather than the previous approach of precipitating strikes by ignoring them.
    All she has to do now is fund it.

    And then all the coming recommendations from review bodies. 35% pay rise anyone ?
    Early signs from Labour are dreadful

    Fucking up the education system to please woke agendas

    Handing out money we don’t have to the public sector

    IMF bailout in 2028, Labour has set us on the path to it already.

    How?

    Spending money we don't have. We saw what happened when Liz Truss tried to do that.
    It shows how much damage the lack of random cuts in Osbourne's first few years hurt us.

    Given the reports over the weekend that autism can be treated I do wonder how much of the current SEN bill can be pinned on the destruction of surestart which did give a lot of children a better start in live..

    If you read the report you will see the cure is almost entirely made up of dietary changes. I'm not sure what sure start would have done to remove gluten, dairy, UPFs etc... from children's diets for a period of 2 years plus.

    That autism is seemingly cured by this kind of dietary change implies that our current unhealthy diets are a huge factor in why there's been such a huge increase in autism among kids. I'm also not sure what sure start would have done to improve diets among pregnant women.
  • AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 25,392
    Nigelb said:

    Leon said:

    Bless.

    Rachel Reeves is preparing to hand millions of public sector workers an above-inflation pay rise and attempt to blame the Conservatives for any tax rises needed to fund it

    https://x.com/thetimes/status/1815281019026567442

    So she'll accept the recommendations of the independent pay review bodies, rather than the previous approach of precipitating strikes by ignoring them.
    All she has to do now is fund it.

    And then all the coming recommendations from review bodies. 35% pay rise anyone ?
    Early signs from Labour are dreadful

    Fucking up the education system to please woke agendas

    Handing out money we don’t have to the public sector

    You either put it down to they have a steep learning curve and will wise up, or theyre going to be a crap government.

    Too early to say.
    There's also this.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7243n2xxpgo
    The government is due to explain why it has refused to give financial support to Harland and Wolff.
    The loss-making shipbuilder, which employs 1,500 people across the UK, had applied for a loan guarantee of up to £200m.
    On Friday it said its bid had been unsuccessful and that its chief executive had left his job.
    The company is in talks with its lender, Riverstone, and is hopeful of agreeing additional funding within days...
    Reeves has got a load of businesses needing support and is claiming she is also going to renationalise lots of utilities. She has more demands than she has money. It may be quite a short honeymoon.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,874
    MattW said:

    Never mind. The UK has some of the safest roads in the world, and some accidents will always happen.

    Six people die in crash between car and motorbike

    Four adults and two children have died after a car and a motorbike crashed in West Yorkshire, police said.
    The Ford Focus car and motorcycle collided on the A61 Wakefield Road between Wakefield and Barnsley at about 15:55 BST.
    A man and a woman along with two girls who were travelling in the car were pronounced dead at the scene, West Yorkshire Police said.
    A man and a woman who were on the motorcycle were also confirmed dead at the scene.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c880j1mm2nlo

    /parody

    Yes accidents do happen and if someone was guilty and survived there is multiple legislation to prosecute dangerous and careless drivers and motorcyclists who kill or seriously injure
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,604

    If Harris gets the nomination and wins in November, I half-expect the current Supreme Court to find a 'constitutional' reason that a woman cannot be president...

    Don’t worry, Biden has immunity to have those justices executed.
  • If Harris gets the nomination and wins in November, I half-expect the current Supreme Court to find a 'constitutional' reason that a woman cannot be president...

    "The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. HE shall hold HIS Office during the Term of four Years" Article 2, section 1.

    It's an open and shut case.
  • StillWatersStillWaters Posts: 8,237
    Leon said:

    ydoethur said:

    Back in January I made a series of silly predictions. One was:

    'The Republican candidate will be somebody sane, and the Democratic candidate will be aged below 107.'

    Disconcerting to find that one of them came true.

    But - we still have the crazy candidates for both parts of the Republican ticket.

    Vance isn’t crazy.

    Scary - a proper fascist - yes, but not crazy
    He’s not a fascist. It’s ridic
    Study what Thiel and his acolytes believe in

  • eekeek Posts: 28,362

    Nigelb said:

    Leon said:

    Bless.

    Rachel Reeves is preparing to hand millions of public sector workers an above-inflation pay rise and attempt to blame the Conservatives for any tax rises needed to fund it

    https://x.com/thetimes/status/1815281019026567442

    So she'll accept the recommendations of the independent pay review bodies, rather than the previous approach of precipitating strikes by ignoring them.
    All she has to do now is fund it.

    And then all the coming recommendations from review bodies. 35% pay rise anyone ?
    Early signs from Labour are dreadful

    Fucking up the education system to please woke agendas

    Handing out money we don’t have to the public sector

    You either put it down to they have a steep learning curve and will wise up, or theyre going to be a crap government.

    Too early to say.
    There's also this.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7243n2xxpgo
    The government is due to explain why it has refused to give financial support to Harland and Wolff.
    The loss-making shipbuilder, which employs 1,500 people across the UK, had applied for a loan guarantee of up to £200m.
    On Friday it said its bid had been unsuccessful and that its chief executive had left his job.
    The company is in talks with its lender, Riverstone, and is hopeful of agreeing additional funding within days...
    Reeves has got a load of businesses needing support and is claiming she is also going to renationalise lots of utilities. She has more demands than she has money. It may be quite a short honeymoon.
    Where has it been said she is willingly going to renationalise a lot of utilities? GB Energy only has the money to co-invest, and the water companies are bankrupt from rent extraction...
  • StillWatersStillWaters Posts: 8,237
    Carnyx said:

    eek said:

    "Former minister David Davis to launch Lucy Letby probe after experts cast doubt

    David Davis will question the conviction of child-killer nurse Lucy Letby using parliamentary privilege from September"

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/lucy-letby-child-killer-nurse-b2583362.html

    Yet Parliament is in session for another 2 weeks
    How does parliamentary privilege help here?

    Unless he intends to accuse someone else of a crime
    Or incompetence falling well short of professional standards (conduct of a lawyer, or expert witness).

    (Also, there was a judicial ban on public discussion of certain aspects of the trial. I presume this is now moot with the verdict
    and sentencing, though.)
    Privilege mainly helps with libel

    Incompetence would have “justified belief” as a defence…

  • logical_songlogical_song Posts: 9,913
    'The Universe is set up for Trump to lose to a black woman" Anthony Scaramucci
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h09frb99DEQ 32 min in
  • Nope, it wasn't a dream, Max Verstappen moaning like a whore yesterday was better than sex Biden really has withdrawn from the White House race.

    DA DA DA, MAX VERSTAPPEN, DA DA DA, MAX VERSTAPPEN
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 27,846

    stodge said:

    A perennial favourite on PB - the story that just doesn't quite add up or ring true, or could be changed by making a few different choices.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7209lk8x2wo

    "Software engineer Emma Harris earns £50,000 a year and said the cost of renting and bills takes up about two-thirds of her salary. "I am not likely to ever own a house and it’s just depressing," she said."

    We are not told what she is renting now. Is it a flat? Two bedroom house? Could she rent somewhere smaller?

    I don't know why you don't believe it unless you choose not to or you think it's been put up to push some kind of political agenda.

    £50,000 doesn't mean she has that amount as income so once she's paid tax, NI and perhaps contributed to a pension that will be reduced. As for renting, perhaps you'd prefer if she lived in a box by the side of the road and I confess I don't know renting prices in Birmingham but let's say £750 pm so that's £9k gone plus her other costs.

    I can believe it.
    3,230 after tax per month, the PAYE calculators say.... (no pension)

    so 2/3rds would be 2,150 a moth on housing and bills.

    If she is a renting house in Birmingham, that would be north of 1,250 for something non-shitty.
    Student loan repayments must be a factor.
  • StillWatersStillWaters Posts: 8,237
    Pulpstar said:

    Leon said:

    On topic? Absolutely skewer the senile old bastard. We know Trump is doolally- his only saving grace was that he was less doolally than Biden. Now? Go for it.

    On Verstappen? A whiny boy who can’t handle not winning. GP calling him childish over the radio was *special*

    This is what so many Democrats want, as they'd enjoy the boot being on the other foot and the rich irony, but it won't happen.

    Trump is nothing like as senile and doddery as Biden was, and his image is set from his defiance of the assassination attempt.
    Isn’t he? An awful lot of the (rightful) abuse of Biden was him forgetting where he is, who or what he is talking about, rambling off at a tangent, being physically frail etc etc - and we have Trump doing all that.

    Added on top we have Trump’s obsession with shark vs electrocution and his endless whining about how his election was stolen - which wanders squarely into unhinged territory every single time.

    So the Harris camp only has to frame all of that content the exact same way that Trump did. Then add on the rest. Trump the criminal. Trump the fornicator. Trump the fraud. Trump the women-hater fronting a campaign to reduce women to chattel. Yes a republican tried to kill him. That doesn’t negate all the rest of his problems.

    Trump wants the campaign to be all about him. With the departure of Biden he gets his way. Won’t play out as he expects.
    All that would be true if Biden had quit the job of POTUS as well as the Nom. But he hasn’t. Throughout her campaign the Mad Biden will be the actual President, making her and her campaign look idiotic and bizarre

    The more I think about it the crazier it is
    Only if he is seen in public

    3.5 months to the election including 1.5 months of summer

    Well surely he's got to come out in public, preferably today. I know he's a big fan of Elon Musk but to not confirm such amonumental statement on TV, particularly for such an old school politician as Joe Biden really would be odd
    You can stage manage a statement to TV
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,392

    stodge said:

    A perennial favourite on PB - the story that just doesn't quite add up or ring true, or could be changed by making a few different choices.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7209lk8x2wo

    "Software engineer Emma Harris earns £50,000 a year and said the cost of renting and bills takes up about two-thirds of her salary. "I am not likely to ever own a house and it’s just depressing," she said."

    We are not told what she is renting now. Is it a flat? Two bedroom house? Could she rent somewhere smaller?

    I don't know why you don't believe it unless you choose not to or you think it's been put up to push some kind of political agenda.

    £50,000 doesn't mean she has that amount as income so once she's paid tax, NI and perhaps contributed to a pension that will be reduced. As for renting, perhaps you'd prefer if she lived in a box by the side of the road and I confess I don't know renting prices in Birmingham but let's say £750 pm so that's £9k gone plus her other costs.

    I can believe it.
    3,230 after tax per month, the PAYE calculators say.... (no pension)

    so 2/3rds would be 2,150 a moth on housing and bills.

    If she is a renting house in Birmingham, that would be north of 1,250 for something non-shitty.
    Student loan repayments must be a factor.
    The BBC loves a fact check on things it doesn't like - I'd like to see a fact check on this story.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,874
    edited July 22
    MaxPB said:

    EPG said:

    MaxPB said:

    There needs to be a reckoning for the mainstream leftist media in the US who have helped cover up Biden's rate of decline over the last few years. It's been an open secret that his mental faculties have been declining but the white house staffers pressured a pliant media to not report the truth "for the greater good".

    The owners of these companies need to clean house and get rid of all of those journalists who helped the white house cover this up. All of those selectively reported events, copy pasted denials and complete lies they reported for the past two years has denied the American people a proper say on who should face Trump this year and it's likely going to result in a Trump victory.

    A journalist's responsibility should be to the facts, not some sense of "greater good". As soon as that moral compass is distorted this is the inevitable result.

    You're rattled because today this doesn't matter any more. Fine. But the evidence was out there for years. People on here were talking about it. Trump was running on it. So the cover up was simply that part of a free press took an editorial line you don't like.
    Of course it matters because this stupidity and cover up has made Trump the favourite to win in November and against Harris I think he could get a landslide victory with Harris only picking up three or four coastal states.

    It's not an "editorial line" it was a pack of lies to do their friends in the white house a favour. An editorial line would have been to admit that Biden was struggling with his mental agility but say it's still better than the alternative, not to simply deny the obvious truth of it and push the white house agenda that he's all good and the doctors all say he's great etc... it's just lies.
    Harris will win California, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, Illinois and DC, New York and most of the North East and Illinois but yes has no certain wins beyond that. If as now seems likely the Democrats want to give Harris a coronation then Trump and Vance will likely sweep the rustbelt swing states and middle America
  • TweedledeeTweedledee Posts: 1,405

    Carnyx said:

    eek said:

    "Former minister David Davis to launch Lucy Letby probe after experts cast doubt

    David Davis will question the conviction of child-killer nurse Lucy Letby using parliamentary privilege from September"

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/lucy-letby-child-killer-nurse-b2583362.html

    Yet Parliament is in session for another 2 weeks
    How does parliamentary privilege help here?

    Unless he intends to accuse someone else of a crime
    Or incompetence falling well short of professional standards (conduct of a lawyer, or expert witness).

    (Also, there was a judicial ban on public discussion of certain aspects of the trial. I presume this is now moot with the verdict
    and sentencing, though.)
    Privilege mainly helps with libel

    Incompetence would have “justified belief” as a defence…
    We don't of course know what instructions she gave her team. It's possible she ruled out expert evidence on the grounds she was so obviously innocent it would be superfluous. This is a wacky conjecture but the whole thing is bloody odd
  • stodge said:

    A perennial favourite on PB - the story that just doesn't quite add up or ring true, or could be changed by making a few different choices.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7209lk8x2wo

    "Software engineer Emma Harris earns £50,000 a year and said the cost of renting and bills takes up about two-thirds of her salary. "I am not likely to ever own a house and it’s just depressing," she said."

    We are not told what she is renting now. Is it a flat? Two bedroom house? Could she rent somewhere smaller?

    I don't know why you don't believe it unless you choose not to or you think it's been put up to push some kind of political agenda.

    £50,000 doesn't mean she has that amount as income so once she's paid tax, NI and perhaps contributed to a pension that will be reduced. As for renting, perhaps you'd prefer if she lived in a box by the side of the road and I confess I don't know renting prices in Birmingham but let's say £750 pm so that's £9k gone plus her other costs.

    I can believe it.
    3,230 after tax per month, the PAYE calculators say.... (no pension)

    so 2/3rds would be 2,150 a moth on housing and bills.

    If she is a renting house in Birmingham, that would be north of 1,250 for something non-shitty.
    Student loan repayments must be a factor.
    The BBC loves a fact check on things it doesn't like - I'd like to see a fact check on this story.
    Surely she just needs to stop eating avocados, that's where we're going next right
  • stodgestodge Posts: 13,866

    stodge said:

    Taz said:

    Bless.

    Rachel Reeves is preparing to hand millions of public sector workers an above-inflation pay rise and attempt to blame the Conservatives for any tax rises needed to fund it

    https://x.com/thetimes/status/1815281019026567442

    Pointless having an independent pay review body if you ignore its findings.

    Secondly I reckon she easily have several years of playing the Tory blame game and it being effective. It's politics.
    One of the problems is what people think of as "public sector workers". Are we thinking central Government, local Government or both?

    The other side is the public sector needs professionally trained and qualified staff across a range of activities such as finance, property, legal, procurement, HR and the like. The competition with the private sector is intense and often all the public sector can do is take on trainees or newly-qualified and give them experience wheich they can tout to the big private sector firms. The ability to recruit and retain specialist professionals is and remains a huge issue.

    The public sector isn't just refuse collectors and social workers and although the "admin" side is often derided by those with little knowledge of how central or local Government actually functions (the analogy with a business isn't inexact) it's a key part of making it work so skilled admin staff are another prerequisite.

    I'd also argue (from some personal knowledge) many public sector workers especially in local Government have had years of below average or even no pay rise at all (and there have been significant job losses) so a little bit of "catch up" may not be unwelcome.

    Plenty on here are clearly not going to enjoy the next few months but the question simply is how did Conservatives and conservatives allow things to get to the point where they could barely muster a quarter of the vote in an election and were arguably the most unpopular and despised Government in generations?
    Covid and Ukraine. The government did not operate in a vacuum. The most significant impacts on peoples lives were from paying for covid and the energy shock from Ukraine. I really think people on PB have a blind spot on this. Incumbent governments around the world have suffered, yet in the UK its just because the Tories were incompetent? Well they were, a bit, but they were also given a really shit hand to play.
    It's convenient to forget the Conservatives didn't take power in 2019 after a decade of Labour Government - they took power in 2010 so they had a decade before Covid and a dozen years before Ukraine.

    Instead of trying to deal with the actual problems of the country which were obviously too much for them, they wasted a decade of time, energy, money and goodwill obsessing about whether we should be in the European Union.

    I condemn them for that as much as for what happened since 2019 - the almost criminal waste and self indulgence aided and abetted (it has to be said) by both main opposition parties having their own separate bouts of insanity suring that period.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,228
    Stereodog said:

    Leon said:

    Stereodog said:

    Leon said:

    Nigelb said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    The Dems still have a significant Biden problem. He’s too senile to stand again, but he’s just fine and dandy to be leader of the free world until November?

    Every gaffe he makes between now and then will remind voters that the Democrats were prepared, until the last moment, to foist a clearly-demented president on voters for a second term

    He really needs to step down from the job, as well

    Paradoxically, the thought of a doddery old has-been in the White House might harm Trump more than Kamala. (eta I agree Biden should step down.)
    I think this is gonna be a real issue for the Dems as the illogicality sinks in with voters. “OK we admit, he’s in grave cognitive decline, the debate showed the real Biden, he’s gaga. But he’s keeping the job and the nuclear codes til January 2025, he’ll be fine, stop worrying”

    This is unsustainable. It’s THE attack line for the GOP and they will surely use it, relentlessly

    “How can we trust anything you say when you kept an insane man in the White House, a man who is getting worse, daily, and by the way he’s STILL THERE”
    You can't see the difference between four more months, and four more years ?

    Biden's current capacity is a legitimate question, but yours is hardly a slam dunk argument.
    It’s unarguable. Biden is not gonna be the Dem candidate because we all saw his dementia in the debate. Biden himself has now admitted it - unless he’s quitting for some OTHER reason he hasn’t specified?

    Yet he’s absolutely ticketty boo to have the toughest most important job in the world til next
    year? Even tho he’s demented, and admits it?
    We all saw his AGE in the debate. Do you think there is no gradation in the very old between being exactly the same as they were 40 years ago and having dementia? My grandmother is about Biden's age and she occasionally repeats a story she told a few hours ago or forgets a name but she doesn't have dementia. I agree that he was too old to run but don't present your speculation as a fact.
    Biden thinks President Zelensky is President Putin. That’s why he has now admitted he’s not fit to stand again even tho a week ago he firmly told us he was absolutely fine, never better. How did he misjudge himself so badly? Is there something wrong with his brain, do you think?

    Anyway even tho he’s not standing because he’s thinks President Zelensky is President Putin he’s still absolutely fine to be President of the United
    States but it’s all ok because Hunter the crack addict will run everything until next January
    Of course he doesn't think Zelenski is Putin. He mixed up the name and then corrected himself. I'm not saying he's not showing signs of aging but it's different from dementia.

    When you reach his age you wouldn't be best pleased if your children carted you off to the nursing home just because you mix up names occasionally or ramble a bit when trying to tell a story. Let's face it you often fulfil the latter criteria already
    “It’s just my brain”
  • It's kind of fascinating to watch Trump's mental facilities decline almost identically to Biden's.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 27,846

    stodge said:

    A perennial favourite on PB - the story that just doesn't quite add up or ring true, or could be changed by making a few different choices.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7209lk8x2wo

    "Software engineer Emma Harris earns £50,000 a year and said the cost of renting and bills takes up about two-thirds of her salary. "I am not likely to ever own a house and it’s just depressing," she said."

    We are not told what she is renting now. Is it a flat? Two bedroom house? Could she rent somewhere smaller?

    I don't know why you don't believe it unless you choose not to or you think it's been put up to push some kind of political agenda.

    £50,000 doesn't mean she has that amount as income so once she's paid tax, NI and perhaps contributed to a pension that will be reduced. As for renting, perhaps you'd prefer if she lived in a box by the side of the road and I confess I don't know renting prices in Birmingham but let's say £750 pm so that's £9k gone plus her other costs.

    I can believe it.
    3,230 after tax per month, the PAYE calculators say.... (no pension)

    so 2/3rds would be 2,150 a moth on housing and bills.

    If she is a renting house in Birmingham, that would be north of 1,250 for something non-shitty.
    Student loan repayments must be a factor.
    The BBC loves a fact check on things it doesn't like - I'd like to see a fact check on this story.
    Why? Suppose Emma is secretly loaded. What about Jemima? It's like the War of Jennifer's Ear in that the specific case does not really matter. It is whether it resonates with those in similar situations. Tbh I'm more exercised by her earning at the start of her career what I was getting at the end of mine.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,392

    stodge said:

    A perennial favourite on PB - the story that just doesn't quite add up or ring true, or could be changed by making a few different choices.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7209lk8x2wo

    "Software engineer Emma Harris earns £50,000 a year and said the cost of renting and bills takes up about two-thirds of her salary. "I am not likely to ever own a house and it’s just depressing," she said."

    We are not told what she is renting now. Is it a flat? Two bedroom house? Could she rent somewhere smaller?

    I don't know why you don't believe it unless you choose not to or you think it's been put up to push some kind of political agenda.

    £50,000 doesn't mean she has that amount as income so once she's paid tax, NI and perhaps contributed to a pension that will be reduced. As for renting, perhaps you'd prefer if she lived in a box by the side of the road and I confess I don't know renting prices in Birmingham but let's say £750 pm so that's £9k gone plus her other costs.

    I can believe it.
    3,230 after tax per month, the PAYE calculators say.... (no pension)

    so 2/3rds would be 2,150 a moth on housing and bills.

    If she is a renting house in Birmingham, that would be north of 1,250 for something non-shitty.
    Student loan repayments must be a factor.
    The BBC loves a fact check on things it doesn't like - I'd like to see a fact check on this story.
    Surely she just needs to stop eating avocados, that's where we're going next right
    I'm not saying that. I just think there is an attention grabbing headline given without enough context to justify the headline.
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 38,777

    stodge said:

    A perennial favourite on PB - the story that just doesn't quite add up or ring true, or could be changed by making a few different choices.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7209lk8x2wo

    "Software engineer Emma Harris earns £50,000 a year and said the cost of renting and bills takes up about two-thirds of her salary. "I am not likely to ever own a house and it’s just depressing," she said."

    We are not told what she is renting now. Is it a flat? Two bedroom house? Could she rent somewhere smaller?

    I don't know why you don't believe it unless you choose not to or you think it's been put up to push some kind of political agenda.

    £50,000 doesn't mean she has that amount as income so once she's paid tax, NI and perhaps contributed to a pension that will be reduced. As for renting, perhaps you'd prefer if she lived in a box by the side of the road and I confess I don't know renting prices in Birmingham but let's say £750 pm so that's £9k gone plus her other costs.

    I can believe it.
    3,230 after tax per month, the PAYE calculators say.... (no pension)

    so 2/3rds would be 2,150 a moth on housing and bills.

    If she is a renting house in Birmingham, that would be north of 1,250 for something non-shitty.
    Student loan repayments must be a factor.
    The BBC loves a fact check on things it doesn't like - I'd like to see a fact check on this story.
    Why? Suppose Emma is secretly loaded. What about Jemima? It's like the War of Jennifer's Ear in that the specific case does not really matter. It is whether it resonates with those in similar situations. Tbh I'm more exercised by her earning at the start of her career what I was getting at the end of mine.
    £50k is the new £30k, it's not actually a high salary today. Our mid level analysts start on £65k.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,874
    Kerry was a prosecutor but it didn't help him in 2004 to win
  • stodge said:

    A perennial favourite on PB - the story that just doesn't quite add up or ring true, or could be changed by making a few different choices.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7209lk8x2wo

    "Software engineer Emma Harris earns £50,000 a year and said the cost of renting and bills takes up about two-thirds of her salary. "I am not likely to ever own a house and it’s just depressing," she said."

    We are not told what she is renting now. Is it a flat? Two bedroom house? Could she rent somewhere smaller?

    I don't know why you don't believe it unless you choose not to or you think it's been put up to push some kind of political agenda.

    £50,000 doesn't mean she has that amount as income so once she's paid tax, NI and perhaps contributed to a pension that will be reduced. As for renting, perhaps you'd prefer if she lived in a box by the side of the road and I confess I don't know renting prices in Birmingham but let's say £750 pm so that's £9k gone plus her other costs.

    I can believe it.
    3,230 after tax per month, the PAYE calculators say.... (no pension)

    so 2/3rds would be 2,150 a moth on housing and bills.

    If she is a renting house in Birmingham, that would be north of 1,250 for something non-shitty.
    Student loan repayments must be a factor.
    The BBC loves a fact check on things it doesn't like - I'd like to see a fact check on this story.
    Surely she just needs to stop eating avocados, that's where we're going next right
    I'm not saying that. I just think there is an attention grabbing headline given without enough context to justify the headline.
    We all know what you think anyway.
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 17,207
    edited July 22
    MaxPB said:

    eek said:

    MaxPB said:

    MaxPB said:

    Leon said:

    Bless.

    Rachel Reeves is preparing to hand millions of public sector workers an above-inflation pay rise and attempt to blame the Conservatives for any tax rises needed to fund it

    https://x.com/thetimes/status/1815281019026567442

    So she'll accept the recommendations of the independent pay review bodies, rather than the previous approach of precipitating strikes by ignoring them.
    All she has to do now is fund it.

    And then all the coming recommendations from review bodies. 35% pay rise anyone ?
    Early signs from Labour are dreadful

    Fucking up the education system to please woke agendas

    Handing out money we don’t have to the public sector

    IMF bailout in 2028, Labour has set us on the path to it already.

    How?

    Spending money we don't have. We saw what happened when Liz Truss tried to do that.
    It shows how much damage the lack of random cuts in Osbourne's first few years hurt us.

    Given the reports over the weekend that autism can be treated I do wonder how much of the current SEN bill can be pinned on the destruction of surestart which did give a lot of children a better start in live..

    If you read the report you will see the cure is almost entirely made up of dietary changes. I'm not sure what sure start would have done to remove gluten, dairy, UPFs etc... from children's diets for a period of 2 years plus.

    That autism is seemingly cured by this kind of dietary change implies that our current unhealthy diets are a huge factor in why there's been such a huge increase in autism among kids. I'm also not sure what sure start would have done to improve diets among pregnant women.
    Children's Centres are expected to provide:

    In centres in the 30% most disadvantaged areas: integrated early learning and childcare (early years provision) for a minimum of 10 hours a day, five days a week, 48 weeks a year; and support for a childminder network
    In centres in the 70% least disadvantaged areas, which do not elect to offer early years provision: drop-in activity sessions for children, such as stay and play sessions
    Family Support, including support and advice on parenting, information about services available in the area and access to specialist, targeted services; and Parental Outreach
    Child and Family Health Services, such as antenatal and postnatal support, information and guidance on breastfeeding, health and nutrition, smoking cessation support, and speech and language therapy and other specialist support
    Links with Jobcentre Plus to encourage and support parents and carers who wish to consider training and employment
    Quick and easy access to wider services


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sure_Start

    Children's Centres worked by being low-stigma and that made outreach on things like dietary advice effective. Not all that tangible, but it doesn't require much imagination to see how it would work. That doesn't automatically mean that they were worth the cost, but there's a case to be explored there.
  • BatteryCorrectHorseBatteryCorrectHorse Posts: 3,647
    edited July 22
    MaxPB said:

    £50k is the new £30k, it's not actually a high salary today. Our mid level analysts start on £65k.

    It depends where in the country you live. In London and the South East, correct
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,414
    HYUFD said:

    MaxPB said:

    EPG said:

    MaxPB said:

    There needs to be a reckoning for the mainstream leftist media in the US who have helped cover up Biden's rate of decline over the last few years. It's been an open secret that his mental faculties have been declining but the white house staffers pressured a pliant media to not report the truth "for the greater good".

    The owners of these companies need to clean house and get rid of all of those journalists who helped the white house cover this up. All of those selectively reported events, copy pasted denials and complete lies they reported for the past two years has denied the American people a proper say on who should face Trump this year and it's likely going to result in a Trump victory.

    A journalist's responsibility should be to the facts, not some sense of "greater good". As soon as that moral compass is distorted this is the inevitable result.

    You're rattled because today this doesn't matter any more. Fine. But the evidence was out there for years. People on here were talking about it. Trump was running on it. So the cover up was simply that part of a free press took an editorial line you don't like.
    Of course it matters because this stupidity and cover up has made Trump the favourite to win in November and against Harris I think he could get a landslide victory with Harris only picking up three or four coastal states.

    It's not an "editorial line" it was a pack of lies to do their friends in the white house a favour. An editorial line would have been to admit that Biden was struggling with his mental agility but say it's still better than the alternative, not to simply deny the obvious truth of it and push the white house agenda that he's all good and the doctors all say he's great etc... it's just lies.
    Harris will win California, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, Illinois and DC, New York and most of the North East and Illinois but yes has no certain wins beyond that. If as now seems likely the Democrats want to give Harris a coronation then Trump and Vance will likely sweep the rustbelt swing states and middle America
    I know you study this sort of thing, but I wonder if we’re going to see a gender effect, in that in the privacy of the voting booth, women are going to vote for a woman.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,031
    stodge said:

    stodge said:

    Taz said:

    Bless.

    Rachel Reeves is preparing to hand millions of public sector workers an above-inflation pay rise and attempt to blame the Conservatives for any tax rises needed to fund it

    https://x.com/thetimes/status/1815281019026567442

    Pointless having an independent pay review body if you ignore its findings.

    Secondly I reckon she easily have several years of playing the Tory blame game and it being effective. It's politics.
    One of the problems is what people think of as "public sector workers". Are we thinking central Government, local Government or both?

    The other side is the public sector needs professionally trained and qualified staff across a range of activities such as finance, property, legal, procurement, HR and the like. The competition with the private sector is intense and often all the public sector can do is take on trainees or newly-qualified and give them experience wheich they can tout to the big private sector firms. The ability to recruit and retain specialist professionals is and remains a huge issue.

    The public sector isn't just refuse collectors and social workers and although the "admin" side is often derided by those with little knowledge of how central or local Government actually functions (the analogy with a business isn't inexact) it's a key part of making it work so skilled admin staff are another prerequisite.

    I'd also argue (from some personal knowledge) many public sector workers especially in local Government have had years of below average or even no pay rise at all (and there have been significant job losses) so a little bit of "catch up" may not be unwelcome.

    Plenty on here are clearly not going to enjoy the next few months but the question simply is how did Conservatives and conservatives allow things to get to the point where they could barely muster a quarter of the vote in an election and were arguably the most unpopular and despised Government in generations?
    Covid and Ukraine. The government did not operate in a vacuum. The most significant impacts on peoples lives were from paying for covid and the energy shock from Ukraine. I really think people on PB have a blind spot on this. Incumbent governments around the world have suffered, yet in the UK its just because the Tories were incompetent? Well they were, a bit, but they were also given a really shit hand to play.
    It's convenient to forget the Conservatives didn't take power in 2019 after a decade of Labour Government - they took power in 2010 so they had a decade before Covid and a dozen years before Ukraine.

    Instead of trying to deal with the actual problems of the country which were obviously too much for them, they wasted a decade of time, energy, money and goodwill obsessing about whether we should be in the European Union.

    I condemn them for that as much as for what happened since 2019 - the almost criminal waste and self indulgence aided and abetted (it has to be said) by both main opposition parties having their own separate bouts of insanity suring that period.
    It's also a bit rich for all those who advocated and voted for Brexit, saying it was 'worth the economic pain', now to be complaining about the economic pain.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,392
    stodge said:

    stodge said:

    Taz said:

    Bless.

    Rachel Reeves is preparing to hand millions of public sector workers an above-inflation pay rise and attempt to blame the Conservatives for any tax rises needed to fund it

    https://x.com/thetimes/status/1815281019026567442

    Pointless having an independent pay review body if you ignore its findings.

    Secondly I reckon she easily have several years of playing the Tory blame game and it being effective. It's politics.
    One of the problems is what people think of as "public sector workers". Are we thinking central Government, local Government or both?

    The other side is the public sector needs professionally trained and qualified staff across a range of activities such as finance, property, legal, procurement, HR and the like. The competition with the private sector is intense and often all the public sector can do is take on trainees or newly-qualified and give them experience wheich they can tout to the big private sector firms. The ability to recruit and retain specialist professionals is and remains a huge issue.

    The public sector isn't just refuse collectors and social workers and although the "admin" side is often derided by those with little knowledge of how central or local Government actually functions (the analogy with a business isn't inexact) it's a key part of making it work so skilled admin staff are another prerequisite.

    I'd also argue (from some personal knowledge) many public sector workers especially in local Government have had years of below average or even no pay rise at all (and there have been significant job losses) so a little bit of "catch up" may not be unwelcome.

    Plenty on here are clearly not going to enjoy the next few months but the question simply is how did Conservatives and conservatives allow things to get to the point where they could barely muster a quarter of the vote in an election and were arguably the most unpopular and despised Government in generations?
    Covid and Ukraine. The government did not operate in a vacuum. The most significant impacts on peoples lives were from paying for covid and the energy shock from Ukraine. I really think people on PB have a blind spot on this. Incumbent governments around the world have suffered, yet in the UK its just because the Tories were incompetent? Well they were, a bit, but they were also given a really shit hand to play.
    It's convenient to forget the Conservatives didn't take power in 2019 after a decade of Labour Government - they took power in 2010 so they had a decade before Covid and a dozen years before Ukraine.

    Instead of trying to deal with the actual problems of the country which were obviously too much for them, they wasted a decade of time, energy, money and goodwill obsessing about whether we should be in the European Union.

    I condemn them for that as much as for what happened since 2019 - the almost criminal waste and self indulgence aided and abetted (it has to be said) by both main opposition parties having their own separate bouts of insanity suring that period.
    I absolutely accept that they didn't take power in 2019. They were in coalition from 2010 to 2015, then in a majority until 2017, then scrabbling around in a coalition again.

    Was it right to try to lance the boil of the EU membership? I think it has been cathartic, and necessary. It wouldn't have been needed quite so much if the people had been given a more regular chance to agree to what was happening re the EU, as most members peoples were. There is much that the Tories didn't do, and hopefully some of that damage will be undone. But we should be fair in our judgement. Was it fair to blame Brown for the 2008 crash? No. Was it fair to blame the Tories for covid and ukraine? No. But both happened.
  • StereodogStereodog Posts: 692
    Leon said:

    Stereodog said:

    Leon said:

    Stereodog said:

    Leon said:

    Nigelb said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    The Dems still have a significant Biden problem. He’s too senile to stand again, but he’s just fine and dandy to be leader of the free world until November?

    Every gaffe he makes between now and then will remind voters that the Democrats were prepared, until the last moment, to foist a clearly-demented president on voters for a second term

    He really needs to step down from the job, as well

    Paradoxically, the thought of a doddery old has-been in the White House might harm Trump more than Kamala. (eta I agree Biden should step down.)
    I think this is gonna be a real issue for the Dems as the illogicality sinks in with voters. “OK we admit, he’s in grave cognitive decline, the debate showed the real Biden, he’s gaga. But he’s keeping the job and the nuclear codes til January 2025, he’ll be fine, stop worrying”

    This is unsustainable. It’s THE attack line for the GOP and they will surely use it, relentlessly

    “How can we trust anything you say when you kept an insane man in the White House, a man who is getting worse, daily, and by the way he’s STILL THERE”
    You can't see the difference between four more months, and four more years ?

    Biden's current capacity is a legitimate question, but yours is hardly a slam dunk argument.
    It’s unarguable. Biden is not gonna be the Dem candidate because we all saw his dementia in the debate. Biden himself has now admitted it - unless he’s quitting for some OTHER reason he hasn’t specified?

    Yet he’s absolutely ticketty boo to have the toughest most important job in the world til next
    year? Even tho he’s demented, and admits it?
    We all saw his AGE in the debate. Do you think there is no gradation in the very old between being exactly the same as they were 40 years ago and having dementia? My grandmother is about Biden's age and she occasionally repeats a story she told a few hours ago or forgets a name but she doesn't have dementia. I agree that he was too old to run but don't present your speculation as a fact.
    Biden thinks President Zelensky is President Putin. That’s why he has now admitted he’s not fit to stand again even tho a week ago he firmly told us he was absolutely fine, never better. How did he misjudge himself so badly? Is there something wrong with his brain, do you think?

    Anyway even tho he’s not standing because he’s thinks President Zelensky is President Putin he’s still absolutely fine to be President of the United
    States but it’s all ok because Hunter the crack addict will run everything until next January
    Of course he doesn't think Zelenski is Putin. He mixed up the name and then corrected himself. I'm not saying he's not showing signs of aging but it's different from dementia.

    When you reach his age you wouldn't be best pleased if your children carted you off to the nursing home just because you mix up names occasionally or ramble a bit when trying to tell a story. Let's face it you often fulfil the latter criteria already
    “It’s just my brain”
    There's two separate questions that you and many of the other right wing posters on here are deliberately conflating.

    Firstly is it wise to have someone who is Biden's age (let alone in 4 years time) running the country? I think not because when you reach that age you begin to show signs of decline either physically or mentally to varying degrees. That's as true of Biden as it is Trump, McConnell or Feinstein.

    Secondly does Biden have dementia which is an entirely separate thing. You don't know that and are only speculating but present it as a fact and arguing for a cover up based on that speculating.
  • The Tories are rapidly losing any sense in my mind that they will be able to get back in within five years. They seem intent on learning all the wrong lessons and choosing the wrong candidate. Why you would watch Labour in 2010 and 2015 and then do the same thing is beyond me.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,392

    stodge said:

    A perennial favourite on PB - the story that just doesn't quite add up or ring true, or could be changed by making a few different choices.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7209lk8x2wo

    "Software engineer Emma Harris earns £50,000 a year and said the cost of renting and bills takes up about two-thirds of her salary. "I am not likely to ever own a house and it’s just depressing," she said."

    We are not told what she is renting now. Is it a flat? Two bedroom house? Could she rent somewhere smaller?

    I don't know why you don't believe it unless you choose not to or you think it's been put up to push some kind of political agenda.

    £50,000 doesn't mean she has that amount as income so once she's paid tax, NI and perhaps contributed to a pension that will be reduced. As for renting, perhaps you'd prefer if she lived in a box by the side of the road and I confess I don't know renting prices in Birmingham but let's say £750 pm so that's £9k gone plus her other costs.

    I can believe it.
    3,230 after tax per month, the PAYE calculators say.... (no pension)

    so 2/3rds would be 2,150 a moth on housing and bills.

    If she is a renting house in Birmingham, that would be north of 1,250 for something non-shitty.
    Student loan repayments must be a factor.
    The BBC loves a fact check on things it doesn't like - I'd like to see a fact check on this story.
    Why? Suppose Emma is secretly loaded. What about Jemima? It's like the War of Jennifer's Ear in that the specific case does not really matter. It is whether it resonates with those in similar situations. Tbh I'm more exercised by her earning at the start of her career what I was getting at the end of mine.
    I'm not suggesting she is secretly loaded. I suspect she has chosen to live in a nice house etc and could make a choice to live in a slightly less nice one to save some money for a deposit.
  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 39,652
    MaxPB said:

    MaxPB said:

    Leon said:

    Bless.

    Rachel Reeves is preparing to hand millions of public sector workers an above-inflation pay rise and attempt to blame the Conservatives for any tax rises needed to fund it

    https://x.com/thetimes/status/1815281019026567442

    So she'll accept the recommendations of the independent pay review bodies, rather than the previous approach of precipitating strikes by ignoring them.
    All she has to do now is fund it.

    And then all the coming recommendations from review bodies. 35% pay rise anyone ?
    Early signs from Labour are dreadful

    Fucking up the education system to please woke agendas

    Handing out money we don’t have to the public sector

    IMF bailout in 2028, Labour has set us on the path to it already.

    How?

    Spending money we don't have. We saw what happened when Liz Truss tried to do that.

    You and I both know that markets are a lot more sophisticated than that. The issue is not borrowing it's having a credible plan to service the debt. That is what Truss lacked. With knobs on.

  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,392

    stodge said:

    A perennial favourite on PB - the story that just doesn't quite add up or ring true, or could be changed by making a few different choices.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7209lk8x2wo

    "Software engineer Emma Harris earns £50,000 a year and said the cost of renting and bills takes up about two-thirds of her salary. "I am not likely to ever own a house and it’s just depressing," she said."

    We are not told what she is renting now. Is it a flat? Two bedroom house? Could she rent somewhere smaller?

    I don't know why you don't believe it unless you choose not to or you think it's been put up to push some kind of political agenda.

    £50,000 doesn't mean she has that amount as income so once she's paid tax, NI and perhaps contributed to a pension that will be reduced. As for renting, perhaps you'd prefer if she lived in a box by the side of the road and I confess I don't know renting prices in Birmingham but let's say £750 pm so that's £9k gone plus her other costs.

    I can believe it.
    3,230 after tax per month, the PAYE calculators say.... (no pension)

    so 2/3rds would be 2,150 a moth on housing and bills.

    If she is a renting house in Birmingham, that would be north of 1,250 for something non-shitty.
    Student loan repayments must be a factor.
    The BBC loves a fact check on things it doesn't like - I'd like to see a fact check on this story.
    Surely she just needs to stop eating avocados, that's where we're going next right
    I'm not saying that. I just think there is an attention grabbing headline given without enough context to justify the headline.
    We all know what you think anyway.
    Oh good, I don't need to ever post again! What is it that I think?
  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 39,652
    Leon said:

    MaxPB said:

    Leon said:

    Bless.

    Rachel Reeves is preparing to hand millions of public sector workers an above-inflation pay rise and attempt to blame the Conservatives for any tax rises needed to fund it

    https://x.com/thetimes/status/1815281019026567442

    So she'll accept the recommendations of the independent pay review bodies, rather than the previous approach of precipitating strikes by ignoring them.
    All she has to do now is fund it.

    And then all the coming recommendations from review bodies. 35% pay rise anyone ?
    Early signs from Labour are dreadful

    Fucking up the education system to please woke agendas

    Handing out money we don’t have to the public sector

    IMF bailout in 2028, Labour has set us on the path to it already.
    Labour’s approach to the education system seems to be “make the state system so bad everyone has to go private” but “make the private sector so expensive no one can afford it”

    Yep, making it easier to recruit and retain teaching staff is an absolute disaster!

  • TweedledeeTweedledee Posts: 1,405
    Stereodog said:

    Leon said:

    Stereodog said:

    Leon said:

    Stereodog said:

    Leon said:

    Nigelb said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    The Dems still have a significant Biden problem. He’s too senile to stand again, but he’s just fine and dandy to be leader of the free world until November?

    Every gaffe he makes between now and then will remind voters that the Democrats were prepared, until the last moment, to foist a clearly-demented president on voters for a second term

    He really needs to step down from the job, as well

    Paradoxically, the thought of a doddery old has-been in the White House might harm Trump more than Kamala. (eta I agree Biden should step down.)
    I think this is gonna be a real issue for the Dems as the illogicality sinks in with voters. “OK we admit, he’s in grave cognitive decline, the debate showed the real Biden, he’s gaga. But he’s keeping the job and the nuclear codes til January 2025, he’ll be fine, stop worrying”

    This is unsustainable. It’s THE attack line for the GOP and they will surely use it, relentlessly

    “How can we trust anything you say when you kept an insane man in the White House, a man who is getting worse, daily, and by the way he’s STILL THERE”
    You can't see the difference between four more months, and four more years ?

    Biden's current capacity is a legitimate question, but yours is hardly a slam dunk argument.
    It’s unarguable. Biden is not gonna be the Dem candidate because we all saw his dementia in the debate. Biden himself has now admitted it - unless he’s quitting for some OTHER reason he hasn’t specified?

    Yet he’s absolutely ticketty boo to have the toughest most important job in the world til next
    year? Even tho he’s demented, and admits it?
    We all saw his AGE in the debate. Do you think there is no gradation in the very old between being exactly the same as they were 40 years ago and having dementia? My grandmother is about Biden's age and she occasionally repeats a story she told a few hours ago or forgets a name but she doesn't have dementia. I agree that he was too old to run but don't present your speculation as a fact.
    Biden thinks President Zelensky is President Putin. That’s why he has now admitted he’s not fit to stand again even tho a week ago he firmly told us he was absolutely fine, never better. How did he misjudge himself so badly? Is there something wrong with his brain, do you think?

    Anyway even tho he’s not standing because he’s thinks President Zelensky is President Putin he’s still absolutely fine to be President of the United
    States but it’s all ok because Hunter the crack addict will run everything until next January
    Of course he doesn't think Zelenski is Putin. He mixed up the name and then corrected himself. I'm not saying he's not showing signs of aging but it's different from dementia.

    When you reach his age you wouldn't be best pleased if your children carted you off to the nursing home just because you mix up names occasionally or ramble a bit when trying to tell a story. Let's face it you often fulfil the latter criteria already
    “It’s just my brain”
    There's two separate questions that you and many of the other right wing posters on here are deliberately conflating.

    Firstly is it wise to have someone who is Biden's age (let alone in 4 years time) running the country? I think not because when you reach that age you begin to show signs of decline either physically or mentally to varying degrees. That's as true of Biden as it is Trump, McConnell or Feinstein.

    Secondly does Biden have dementia which is an entirely separate thing. You don't know that and are only speculating but present it as a fact and arguing for a cover up based on that speculating.
    Just wrong. Nobody is overly fussed about your first point. On the second, I am speculating about whether Biden has dementia like I speculate about whether night follows day. He has dementia.
  • CiceroCicero Posts: 3,077
    TimS said:

    TOPPING said:

    Leon said:

    TOPPING said:

    Leon said:

    TOPPING said:

    Leon said:
    Really? Very clumsy and obvious. Surprised it elicits such admiration from you.
    It’s got at least 14m views so I’m not alone in finding it amusing

    It also cleverly references that INCREDIBLE gaffe when Biden called Pete Buttigieg “Senator Bootyjuice” which is so sublime it is significant evidence that we live in a Simulation
    Clips of dogs barking at televisions routinely get 200m views. I'm sure 13.89m of the views in this case are because it just popped up on peoples' feeds. And 0.11m of them were because someone on a social media platform said - you've got to look at this it's AMAZEBALLS.
    “Senator Bootyjuice”. He said that. Biden actually said that. When he meant “Pete Buttigieg”
    Hysterical.
    It is though pronounced not that differently from bootyjuice. More bootyjedge, but still.

    I met a Monsieur Buttigieg in France last year. He was from the local notaire’s office doing a valuation for us. I asked if he was any relation. It’s apparently a Maltese surname. Not common in France at all. Mayor Pete is presumably also of Maltese extraction.
    He is, and the name means "Chicken".
  • eekeek Posts: 28,362

    stodge said:

    A perennial favourite on PB - the story that just doesn't quite add up or ring true, or could be changed by making a few different choices.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7209lk8x2wo

    "Software engineer Emma Harris earns £50,000 a year and said the cost of renting and bills takes up about two-thirds of her salary. "I am not likely to ever own a house and it’s just depressing," she said."

    We are not told what she is renting now. Is it a flat? Two bedroom house? Could she rent somewhere smaller?

    I don't know why you don't believe it unless you choose not to or you think it's been put up to push some kind of political agenda.

    £50,000 doesn't mean she has that amount as income so once she's paid tax, NI and perhaps contributed to a pension that will be reduced. As for renting, perhaps you'd prefer if she lived in a box by the side of the road and I confess I don't know renting prices in Birmingham but let's say £750 pm so that's £9k gone plus her other costs.

    I can believe it.
    3,230 after tax per month, the PAYE calculators say.... (no pension)

    so 2/3rds would be 2,150 a moth on housing and bills.

    If she is a renting house in Birmingham, that would be north of 1,250 for something non-shitty.
    Student loan repayments must be a factor.
    The BBC loves a fact check on things it doesn't like - I'd like to see a fact check on this story.
    Why? Suppose Emma is secretly loaded. What about Jemima? It's like the War of Jennifer's Ear in that the specific case does not really matter. It is whether it resonates with those in similar situations. Tbh I'm more exercised by her earning at the start of her career what I was getting at the end of mine.
    I'm not suggesting she is secretly loaded. I suspect she has chosen to live in a nice house etc and could make a choice to live in a slightly less nice one to save some money for a deposit.
    Where is she going to rent that is going to allow her to save a decent amount of money. You clearly don't rent because if you did you would understand the cost involved.

  • I'm not suggesting she is secretly loaded. I suspect she has chosen to live in a nice house etc and could make a choice to live in a slightly less nice one to save some money for a deposit.

    In shocking news, what everyone thought you thought, is exactly what you think. With posts like these, it is not surprising the problem has gone unresolved for so long. "Doesn't exist."
  • eek said:

    Where is she going to rent that is going to allow her to save a decent amount of money. You clearly don't rent because if you did you would understand the cost involved.

    Just eat fewer avocados and have one less Espresso per day. That will do it.
  • eekeek Posts: 28,362

    Stereodog said:

    Leon said:

    Stereodog said:

    Leon said:

    Stereodog said:

    Leon said:

    Nigelb said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    The Dems still have a significant Biden problem. He’s too senile to stand again, but he’s just fine and dandy to be leader of the free world until November?

    Every gaffe he makes between now and then will remind voters that the Democrats were prepared, until the last moment, to foist a clearly-demented president on voters for a second term

    He really needs to step down from the job, as well

    Paradoxically, the thought of a doddery old has-been in the White House might harm Trump more than Kamala. (eta I agree Biden should step down.)
    I think this is gonna be a real issue for the Dems as the illogicality sinks in with voters. “OK we admit, he’s in grave cognitive decline, the debate showed the real Biden, he’s gaga. But he’s keeping the job and the nuclear codes til January 2025, he’ll be fine, stop worrying”

    This is unsustainable. It’s THE attack line for the GOP and they will surely use it, relentlessly

    “How can we trust anything you say when you kept an insane man in the White House, a man who is getting worse, daily, and by the way he’s STILL THERE”
    You can't see the difference between four more months, and four more years ?

    Biden's current capacity is a legitimate question, but yours is hardly a slam dunk argument.
    It’s unarguable. Biden is not gonna be the Dem candidate because we all saw his dementia in the debate. Biden himself has now admitted it - unless he’s quitting for some OTHER reason he hasn’t specified?

    Yet he’s absolutely ticketty boo to have the toughest most important job in the world til next
    year? Even tho he’s demented, and admits it?
    We all saw his AGE in the debate. Do you think there is no gradation in the very old between being exactly the same as they were 40 years ago and having dementia? My grandmother is about Biden's age and she occasionally repeats a story she told a few hours ago or forgets a name but she doesn't have dementia. I agree that he was too old to run but don't present your speculation as a fact.
    Biden thinks President Zelensky is President Putin. That’s why he has now admitted he’s not fit to stand again even tho a week ago he firmly told us he was absolutely fine, never better. How did he misjudge himself so badly? Is there something wrong with his brain, do you think?

    Anyway even tho he’s not standing because he’s thinks President Zelensky is President Putin he’s still absolutely fine to be President of the United
    States but it’s all ok because Hunter the crack addict will run everything until next January
    Of course he doesn't think Zelenski is Putin. He mixed up the name and then corrected himself. I'm not saying he's not showing signs of aging but it's different from dementia.

    When you reach his age you wouldn't be best pleased if your children carted you off to the nursing home just because you mix up names occasionally or ramble a bit when trying to tell a story. Let's face it you often fulfil the latter criteria already
    “It’s just my brain”
    There's two separate questions that you and many of the other right wing posters on here are deliberately conflating.

    Firstly is it wise to have someone who is Biden's age (let alone in 4 years time) running the country? I think not because when you reach that age you begin to show signs of decline either physically or mentally to varying degrees. That's as true of Biden as it is Trump, McConnell or Feinstein.

    Secondly does Biden have dementia which is an entirely separate thing. You don't know that and are only speculating but present it as a fact and arguing for a cover up based on that speculating.
    Just wrong. Nobody is overly fussed about your first point. On the second, I am speculating about whether Biden has dementia like I speculate about whether night follows day. He has dementia.
    And you are such a world expert that you can diagnose it from a few minutes of TV clips...
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 17,207

    MaxPB said:

    £50k is the new £30k, it's not actually a high salary today. Our mid level analysts start on £65k.

    It depends where in the country you live. In London and the South East, correct
    Which loops us back to the earlier bit of the conversation about public sector pay.

    There are plenty of good reasons why public sector pay is somewhat lower than in the private sector. Pension, warm fuzzies of doing something seen as worthwhile, some aspects of working conditions. But "somewhat" only gets you so far. If you want (for example) maths and physics grads in schools, their pay has to have some contact with their market value for doing other things. And increasingly it doesn't.

    If those funding the education system decide that they are unwilling/unable to pay for the current numbers of teachers, then the honourable answer is to rearrange things so that you don't need so many of them. Good luck with that.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,031
    Stephen Miller whining about the GOP having spent millions on campaigning against Biden.
    https://x.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1815186790422032871

    I don't think they do refunds.
  • What Biden is or isn't is all irrelevant now. He has the mental facility to stand down.

    So, let's discuss why Trump is still standing when he shows the same (arguably worse) mental decline and why all those people that said Biden should stand down, will not support Trump going?

    Could it be political, by any chance?
  • TweedledeeTweedledee Posts: 1,405
    eek said:

    Stereodog said:

    Leon said:

    Stereodog said:

    Leon said:

    Stereodog said:

    Leon said:

    Nigelb said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    The Dems still have a significant Biden problem. He’s too senile to stand again, but he’s just fine and dandy to be leader of the free world until November?

    Every gaffe he makes between now and then will remind voters that the Democrats were prepared, until the last moment, to foist a clearly-demented president on voters for a second term

    He really needs to step down from the job, as well

    Paradoxically, the thought of a doddery old has-been in the White House might harm Trump more than Kamala. (eta I agree Biden should step down.)
    I think this is gonna be a real issue for the Dems as the illogicality sinks in with voters. “OK we admit, he’s in grave cognitive decline, the debate showed the real Biden, he’s gaga. But he’s keeping the job and the nuclear codes til January 2025, he’ll be fine, stop worrying”

    This is unsustainable. It’s THE attack line for the GOP and they will surely use it, relentlessly

    “How can we trust anything you say when you kept an insane man in the White House, a man who is getting worse, daily, and by the way he’s STILL THERE”
    You can't see the difference between four more months, and four more years ?

    Biden's current capacity is a legitimate question, but yours is hardly a slam dunk argument.
    It’s unarguable. Biden is not gonna be the Dem candidate because we all saw his dementia in the debate. Biden himself has now admitted it - unless he’s quitting for some OTHER reason he hasn’t specified?

    Yet he’s absolutely ticketty boo to have the toughest most important job in the world til next
    year? Even tho he’s demented, and admits it?
    We all saw his AGE in the debate. Do you think there is no gradation in the very old between being exactly the same as they were 40 years ago and having dementia? My grandmother is about Biden's age and she occasionally repeats a story she told a few hours ago or forgets a name but she doesn't have dementia. I agree that he was too old to run but don't present your speculation as a fact.
    Biden thinks President Zelensky is President Putin. That’s why he has now admitted he’s not fit to stand again even tho a week ago he firmly told us he was absolutely fine, never better. How did he misjudge himself so badly? Is there something wrong with his brain, do you think?

    Anyway even tho he’s not standing because he’s thinks President Zelensky is President Putin he’s still absolutely fine to be President of the United
    States but it’s all ok because Hunter the crack addict will run everything until next January
    Of course he doesn't think Zelenski is Putin. He mixed up the name and then corrected himself. I'm not saying he's not showing signs of aging but it's different from dementia.

    When you reach his age you wouldn't be best pleased if your children carted you off to the nursing home just because you mix up names occasionally or ramble a bit when trying to tell a story. Let's face it you often fulfil the latter criteria already
    “It’s just my brain”
    There's two separate questions that you and many of the other right wing posters on here are deliberately conflating.

    Firstly is it wise to have someone who is Biden's age (let alone in 4 years time) running the country? I think not because when you reach that age you begin to show signs of decline either physically or mentally to varying degrees. That's as true of Biden as it is Trump, McConnell or Feinstein.

    Secondly does Biden have dementia which is an entirely separate thing. You don't know that and are only speculating but present it as a fact and arguing for a cover up based on that speculating.
    Just wrong. Nobody is overly fussed about your first point. On the second, I am speculating about whether Biden has dementia like I speculate about whether night follows day. He has dementia.
    And you are such a world expert that you can diagnose it from a few minutes of TV clips...
    Can you tell whether someone is asleep? Drunk? Tired? Happy? I can. The expertise is just being human.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 60,401

    MaxPB said:

    MaxPB said:

    Leon said:

    Bless.

    Rachel Reeves is preparing to hand millions of public sector workers an above-inflation pay rise and attempt to blame the Conservatives for any tax rises needed to fund it

    https://x.com/thetimes/status/1815281019026567442

    So she'll accept the recommendations of the independent pay review bodies, rather than the previous approach of precipitating strikes by ignoring them.
    All she has to do now is fund it.

    And then all the coming recommendations from review bodies. 35% pay rise anyone ?
    Early signs from Labour are dreadful

    Fucking up the education system to please woke agendas

    Handing out money we don’t have to the public sector

    IMF bailout in 2028, Labour has set us on the path to it already.

    How?

    Spending money we don't have. We saw what happened when Liz Truss tried to do that.

    You and I both know that markets are a lot more sophisticated than that. The issue is not borrowing it's having a credible plan to service the debt. That is what Truss lacked. With knobs on.

    So did Gordon Brown.

    But then, we know you are football-fan Labour.
  • StereodogStereodog Posts: 692
    eek said:

    Stereodog said:

    Leon said:

    Stereodog said:

    Leon said:

    Stereodog said:

    Leon said:

    Nigelb said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    The Dems still have a significant Biden problem. He’s too senile to stand again, but he’s just fine and dandy to be leader of the free world until November?

    Every gaffe he makes between now and then will remind voters that the Democrats were prepared, until the last moment, to foist a clearly-demented president on voters for a second term

    He really needs to step down from the job, as well

    Paradoxically, the thought of a doddery old has-been in the White House might harm Trump more than Kamala. (eta I agree Biden should step down.)
    I think this is gonna be a real issue for the Dems as the illogicality sinks in with voters. “OK we admit, he’s in grave cognitive decline, the debate showed the real Biden, he’s gaga. But he’s keeping the job and the nuclear codes til January 2025, he’ll be fine, stop worrying”

    This is unsustainable. It’s THE attack line for the GOP and they will surely use it, relentlessly

    “How can we trust anything you say when you kept an insane man in the White House, a man who is getting worse, daily, and by the way he’s STILL THERE”
    You can't see the difference between four more months, and four more years ?

    Biden's current capacity is a legitimate question, but yours is hardly a slam dunk argument.
    It’s unarguable. Biden is not gonna be the Dem candidate because we all saw his dementia in the debate. Biden himself has now admitted it - unless he’s quitting for some OTHER reason he hasn’t specified?

    Yet he’s absolutely ticketty boo to have the toughest most important job in the world til next
    year? Even tho he’s demented, and admits it?
    We all saw his AGE in the debate. Do you think there is no gradation in the very old between being exactly the same as they were 40 years ago and having dementia? My grandmother is about Biden's age and she occasionally repeats a story she told a few hours ago or forgets a name but she doesn't have dementia. I agree that he was too old to run but don't present your speculation as a fact.
    Biden thinks President Zelensky is President Putin. That’s why he has now admitted he’s not fit to stand again even tho a week ago he firmly told us he was absolutely fine, never better. How did he misjudge himself so badly? Is there something wrong with his brain, do you think?

    Anyway even tho he’s not standing because he’s thinks President Zelensky is President Putin he’s still absolutely fine to be President of the United
    States but it’s all ok because Hunter the crack addict will run everything until next January
    Of course he doesn't think Zelenski is Putin. He mixed up the name and then corrected himself. I'm not saying he's not showing signs of aging but it's different from dementia.

    When you reach his age you wouldn't be best pleased if your children carted you off to the nursing home just because you mix up names occasionally or ramble a bit when trying to tell a story. Let's face it you often fulfil the latter criteria already
    “It’s just my brain”
    There's two separate questions that you and many of the other right wing posters on here are deliberately conflating.

    Firstly is it wise to have someone who is Biden's age (let alone in 4 years time) running the country? I think not because when you reach that age you begin to show signs of decline either physically or mentally to varying degrees. That's as true of Biden as it is Trump, McConnell or Feinstein.

    Secondly does Biden have dementia which is an entirely separate thing. You don't know that and are only speculating but present it as a fact and arguing for a cover up based on that speculating.
    Just wrong. Nobody is overly fussed about your first point. On the second, I am speculating about whether Biden has dementia like I speculate about whether night follows day. He has dementia.
    And you are such a world expert that you can diagnose it from a few minutes of TV clips...
    Exactly! No one on this forum is remotely able to say for sure that he has dementia. He might do but it's just wrong to suggest it's a fact or that his acceptance that he doesn't have the ability to serve another term is a tacit admittance that he has dementia.
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,775
    Mr. Max, ha. Should've been an analyst (looking for writing work, if anyone is seeking a writer).
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,775
    Mr. Romford, on public sector perks, you missed out guaranteed jobs for most roles and guaranteed pensions. That's pretty huge.

    I would guess AI is less likely to eat most roles as well.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,031
    Leon said:

    Nigelb said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    The Dems still have a significant Biden problem. He’s too senile to stand again, but he’s just fine and dandy to be leader of the free world until November?

    Every gaffe he makes between now and then will remind voters that the Democrats were prepared, until the last moment, to foist a clearly-demented president on voters for a second term

    He really needs to step down from the job, as well

    Paradoxically, the thought of a doddery old has-been in the White House might harm Trump more than Kamala. (eta I agree Biden should step down.)
    I think this is gonna be a real issue for the Dems as the illogicality sinks in with voters. “OK we admit, he’s in grave cognitive decline, the debate showed the real Biden, he’s gaga. But he’s keeping the job and the nuclear codes til January 2025, he’ll be fine, stop worrying”

    This is unsustainable. It’s THE attack line for the GOP and they will surely use it, relentlessly

    “How can we trust anything you say when you kept an insane man in the White House, a man who is getting worse, daily, and by the way he’s STILL THERE”
    You can't see the difference between four more months, and four more years ?

    Biden's current capacity is a legitimate question, but yours is hardly a slam dunk argument.
    It’s unarguable. Biden is not gonna be the Dem candidate because we all saw his dementia in the debate. Biden himself has now admitted it - unless he’s quitting for some OTHER reason he hasn’t specified?...
    It's pretty clear that what tipped the balance was the polls which showed he had no chance of winning.
    I guess you missed that, in the same way I missed his admission of dementia ?
  • RogerRoger Posts: 19,883
    Leon said:
    Creative writing course for twelve year olds
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,060
    Leon said:

    The Dems still have a significant Biden problem. He’s too senile to stand again, but he’s just fine and dandy to be leader of the free world until November?

    Every gaffe he makes between now and then will remind voters that the Democrats were prepared, until the last moment, to foist a clearly-demented president on voters for a second term

    He really needs to step down from the job, as well

    Every gaffe he makes between now and then

    They'll do what they did in 2020, and what they have been doing this past year: limit his public appearances as much as possible. They only have to keep him out of sight until November, anyway. Tweets and taped appearances will be enough

    "My fellow Americans..." (cut to another angle) "...I would like to speak to you today..." (cut to another shot) "...about the deficit..."
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 60,401
    Leon said:

    Bless.

    Rachel Reeves is preparing to hand millions of public sector workers an above-inflation pay rise and attempt to blame the Conservatives for any tax rises needed to fund it

    https://x.com/thetimes/status/1815281019026567442

    So she'll accept the recommendations of the independent pay review bodies, rather than the previous approach of precipitating strikes by ignoring them.
    All she has to do now is fund it.

    And then all the coming recommendations from review bodies. 35% pay rise anyone ?
    Early signs from Labour are dreadful

    Fucking up the education system to please woke agendas

    Handing out money we don’t have to the public sector

    Labour will ruin a wonderful legacy in Education.

    One thing the Tories got right, even if teachers pay was a bit tight and more capex could have gone into the buildings.
  • BatteryCorrectHorseBatteryCorrectHorse Posts: 3,647
    edited July 22

    Mr. Max, ha. Should've been an analyst (looking for writing work, if anyone is seeking a writer).

    You'd need to understand how to use quotes
  • TweedledeeTweedledee Posts: 1,405

    What Biden is or isn't is all irrelevant now. He has the mental facility to stand down.

    So, let's discuss why Trump is still standing when he shows the same (arguably worse) mental decline and why all those people that said Biden should stand down, will not support Trump going?

    Could it be political, by any chance?

    I want Trump to remain in place because I want Harris to beat him. Same reason as I wanted Biden to go. Of course it is political but not in the playground way you think. I would also like him to be demented.
  • Richard_TyndallRichard_Tyndall Posts: 32,507
    Morning folks,

    LOL. Love the hat.
  • BatteryCorrectHorseBatteryCorrectHorse Posts: 3,647
    edited July 22
    As somebody who finished school during the Tories (bit ago now which makes me feel old), I can say for a categorical fact that all of their changes made education worse.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,228

    Leon said:

    MaxPB said:

    Leon said:

    Bless.

    Rachel Reeves is preparing to hand millions of public sector workers an above-inflation pay rise and attempt to blame the Conservatives for any tax rises needed to fund it

    https://x.com/thetimes/status/1815281019026567442

    So she'll accept the recommendations of the independent pay review bodies, rather than the previous approach of precipitating strikes by ignoring them.
    All she has to do now is fund it.

    And then all the coming recommendations from review bodies. 35% pay rise anyone ?
    Early signs from Labour are dreadful

    Fucking up the education system to please woke agendas

    Handing out money we don’t have to the public sector

    IMF bailout in 2028, Labour has set us on the path to it already.
    Labour’s approach to the education system seems to be “make the state system so bad everyone has to go private” but “make the private sector so expensive no one can afford it”

    Yep, making it easier to recruit and retain teaching staff is an absolute disaster!

    I’m talking about their new “no exclusions” absurdity
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,368
    Stereodog said:

    Leon said:

    Stereodog said:

    Leon said:

    Stereodog said:

    Leon said:

    Nigelb said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    The Dems still have a significant Biden problem. He’s too senile to stand again, but he’s just fine and dandy to be leader of the free world until November?

    Every gaffe he makes between now and then will remind voters that the Democrats were prepared, until the last moment, to foist a clearly-demented president on voters for a second term

    He really needs to step down from the job, as well

    Paradoxically, the thought of a doddery old has-been in the White House might harm Trump more than Kamala. (eta I agree Biden should step down.)
    I think this is gonna be a real issue for the Dems as the illogicality sinks in with voters. “OK we admit, he’s in grave cognitive decline, the debate showed the real Biden, he’s gaga. But he’s keeping the job and the nuclear codes til January 2025, he’ll be fine, stop worrying”

    This is unsustainable. It’s THE attack line for the GOP and they will surely use it, relentlessly

    “How can we trust anything you say when you kept an insane man in the White House, a man who is getting worse, daily, and by the way he’s STILL THERE”
    You can't see the difference between four more months, and four more years ?

    Biden's current capacity is a legitimate question, but yours is hardly a slam dunk argument.
    It’s unarguable. Biden is not gonna be the Dem candidate because we all saw his dementia in the debate. Biden himself has now admitted it - unless he’s quitting for some OTHER reason he hasn’t specified?

    Yet he’s absolutely ticketty boo to have the toughest most important job in the world til next
    year? Even tho he’s demented, and admits it?
    We all saw his AGE in the debate. Do you think there is no gradation in the very old between being exactly the same as they were 40 years ago and having dementia? My grandmother is about Biden's age and she occasionally repeats a story she told a few hours ago or forgets a name but she doesn't have dementia. I agree that he was too old to run but don't present your speculation as a fact.
    Biden thinks President Zelensky is President Putin. That’s why he has now admitted he’s not fit to stand again even tho a week ago he firmly told us he was absolutely fine, never better. How did he misjudge himself so badly? Is there something wrong with his brain, do you think?

    Anyway even tho he’s not standing because he’s thinks President Zelensky is President Putin he’s still absolutely fine to be President of the United
    States but it’s all ok because Hunter the crack addict will run everything until next January
    Of course he doesn't think Zelenski is Putin. He mixed up the name and then corrected himself. I'm not saying he's not showing signs of aging but it's different from dementia.

    When you reach his age you wouldn't be best pleased if your children carted you off to the nursing home just because you mix up names occasionally or ramble a bit when trying to tell a story. Let's face it you often fulfil the latter criteria already
    “It’s just my brain”
    There's two separate questions that you and many of the other right wing posters on here are deliberately conflating.

    Firstly is it wise to have someone who is Biden's age (let alone in 4 years time) running the country? I think not because when you reach that age you begin to show signs of decline either physically or mentally to varying degrees. That's as true of Biden as it is Trump, McConnell or Feinstein.

    Secondly does Biden have dementia which is an entirely separate thing. You don't know that and are only speculating but present it as a fact and arguing for a cover up based on that speculating.
    I suspect, from my own family experience, Biden quite possibly has Parkinson's. The shuffling, the word slurring. His decision making capability on the other hand is probably fine. The decline has been rapid, so for how long can he continue as POTUS before mobility becomes problematic? Probably to January, but another four years, maybe not.

  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,060
    ...
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 27,846

    stodge said:

    A perennial favourite on PB - the story that just doesn't quite add up or ring true, or could be changed by making a few different choices.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7209lk8x2wo

    "Software engineer Emma Harris earns £50,000 a year and said the cost of renting and bills takes up about two-thirds of her salary. "I am not likely to ever own a house and it’s just depressing," she said."

    We are not told what she is renting now. Is it a flat? Two bedroom house? Could she rent somewhere smaller?

    I don't know why you don't believe it unless you choose not to or you think it's been put up to push some kind of political agenda.

    £50,000 doesn't mean she has that amount as income so once she's paid tax, NI and perhaps contributed to a pension that will be reduced. As for renting, perhaps you'd prefer if she lived in a box by the side of the road and I confess I don't know renting prices in Birmingham but let's say £750 pm so that's £9k gone plus her other costs.

    I can believe it.
    3,230 after tax per month, the PAYE calculators say.... (no pension)

    so 2/3rds would be 2,150 a moth on housing and bills.

    If she is a renting house in Birmingham, that would be north of 1,250 for something non-shitty.
    Student loan repayments must be a factor.
    The BBC loves a fact check on things it doesn't like - I'd like to see a fact check on this story.
    Why? Suppose Emma is secretly loaded. What about Jemima? It's like the War of Jennifer's Ear in that the specific case does not really matter. It is whether it resonates with those in similar situations. Tbh I'm more exercised by her earning at the start of her career what I was getting at the end of mine.
    I'm not suggesting she is secretly loaded. I suspect she has chosen to live in a nice house etc and could make a choice to live in a slightly less nice one to save some money for a deposit.
    Could well be. Or maybe she borrowed lots as a student and has large repayments. The point is that it does not really matter. The question is whether there are lots of young people with good jobs who cannot afford to buy a home, or whether Emma is an outlier.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,031

    Leon said:

    Bless.

    Rachel Reeves is preparing to hand millions of public sector workers an above-inflation pay rise and attempt to blame the Conservatives for any tax rises needed to fund it

    https://x.com/thetimes/status/1815281019026567442

    So she'll accept the recommendations of the independent pay review bodies, rather than the previous approach of precipitating strikes by ignoring them.
    All she has to do now is fund it.

    And then all the coming recommendations from review bodies. 35% pay rise anyone ?
    Early signs from Labour are dreadful

    Fucking up the education system to please woke agendas

    Handing out money we don’t have to the public sector

    Labour will ruin a wonderful legacy in Education.

    One thing the Tories got right, even if teachers pay was a bit tight and more capex could have gone into the buildings.
    You clearly haven't talked to many teachers over the last half decade.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,228
    Stereodog said:

    eek said:

    Stereodog said:

    Leon said:

    Stereodog said:

    Leon said:

    Stereodog said:

    Leon said:

    Nigelb said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    The Dems still have a significant Biden problem. He’s too senile to stand again, but he’s just fine and dandy to be leader of the free world until November?

    Every gaffe he makes between now and then will remind voters that the Democrats were prepared, until the last moment, to foist a clearly-demented president on voters for a second term

    He really needs to step down from the job, as well

    Paradoxically, the thought of a doddery old has-been in the White House might harm Trump more than Kamala. (eta I agree Biden should step down.)
    I think this is gonna be a real issue for the Dems as the illogicality sinks in with voters. “OK we admit, he’s in grave cognitive decline, the debate showed the real Biden, he’s gaga. But he’s keeping the job and the nuclear codes til January 2025, he’ll be fine, stop worrying”

    This is unsustainable. It’s THE attack line for the GOP and they will surely use it, relentlessly

    “How can we trust anything you say when you kept an insane man in the White House, a man who is getting worse, daily, and by the way he’s STILL THERE”
    You can't see the difference between four more months, and four more years ?

    Biden's current capacity is a legitimate question, but yours is hardly a slam dunk argument.
    It’s unarguable. Biden is not gonna be the Dem candidate because we all saw his dementia in the debate. Biden himself has now admitted it - unless he’s quitting for some OTHER reason he hasn’t specified?

    Yet he’s absolutely ticketty boo to have the toughest most important job in the world til next
    year? Even tho he’s demented, and admits it?
    We all saw his AGE in the debate. Do you think there is no gradation in the very old between being exactly the same as they were 40 years ago and having dementia? My grandmother is about Biden's age and she occasionally repeats a story she told a few hours ago or forgets a name but she doesn't have dementia. I agree that he was too old to run but don't present your speculation as a fact.
    Biden thinks President Zelensky is President Putin. That’s why he has now admitted he’s not fit to stand again even tho a week ago he firmly told us he was absolutely fine, never better. How did he misjudge himself so badly? Is there something wrong with his brain, do you think?

    Anyway even tho he’s not standing because he’s thinks President Zelensky is President Putin he’s still absolutely fine to be President of the United
    States but it’s all ok because Hunter the crack addict will run everything until next January
    Of course he doesn't think Zelenski is Putin. He mixed up the name and then corrected himself. I'm not saying he's not showing signs of aging but it's different from dementia.

    When you reach his age you wouldn't be best pleased if your children carted you off to the nursing home just because you mix up names occasionally or ramble a bit when trying to tell a story. Let's face it you often fulfil the latter criteria already
    “It’s just my brain”
    There's two separate questions that you and many of the other right wing posters on here are deliberately conflating.

    Firstly is it wise to have someone who is Biden's age (let alone in 4 years time) running the country? I think not because when you reach that age you begin to show signs of decline either physically or mentally to varying degrees. That's as true of Biden as it is Trump, McConnell or Feinstein.

    Secondly does Biden have dementia which is an entirely separate thing. You don't know that and are only speculating but present it as a fact and arguing for a cover up based on that speculating.
    Just wrong. Nobody is overly fussed about your first point. On the second, I am speculating about whether Biden has dementia like I speculate about whether night follows day. He has dementia.
    And you are such a world expert that you can diagnose it from a few minutes of TV clips...
    Exactly! No one on this forum is remotely able to say for sure that he has dementia. He might do but it's just wrong to suggest it's a fact or that his acceptance that he doesn't have the ability to serve another term is a tacit admittance that he has dementia.
    How come he believed and told us he was absolutely fine one minute and never better (as many journalists agreed) and then the next day he was suddenly unfit to serve again? Did he go into a massive cognitive decline in 24 hours? Is that what happened????

    He was quite definite about “being fine” so I can only presume he got Alzheimer’s during lunch
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,651
    edited July 22

    Mr. Max, ha. Should've been an analyst (looking for writing work, if anyone is seeking a writer).

    You'd need to understand how to use quotes
    Yes, it's a really irritating affectation by Morris. He often makes what might be a good response but I can't be arsed to trawl through to find out what he was responding to.

    Suspect he may be a good writer that no one is reading.
  • TweedledeeTweedledee Posts: 1,405
    Stereodog said:

    eek said:

    Stereodog said:

    Leon said:

    Stereodog said:

    Leon said:

    Stereodog said:

    Leon said:

    Nigelb said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    The Dems still have a significant Biden problem. He’s too senile to stand again, but he’s just fine and dandy to be leader of the free world until November?

    Every gaffe he makes between now and then will remind voters that the Democrats were prepared, until the last moment, to foist a clearly-demented president on voters for a second term

    He really needs to step down from the job, as well

    Paradoxically, the thought of a doddery old has-been in the White House might harm Trump more than Kamala. (eta I agree Biden should step down.)
    I think this is gonna be a real issue for the Dems as the illogicality sinks in with voters. “OK we admit, he’s in grave cognitive decline, the debate showed the real Biden, he’s gaga. But he’s keeping the job and the nuclear codes til January 2025, he’ll be fine, stop worrying”

    This is unsustainable. It’s THE attack line for the GOP and they will surely use it, relentlessly

    “How can we trust anything you say when you kept an insane man in the White House, a man who is getting worse, daily, and by the way he’s STILL THERE”
    You can't see the difference between four more months, and four more years ?

    Biden's current capacity is a legitimate question, but yours is hardly a slam dunk argument.
    It’s unarguable. Biden is not gonna be the Dem candidate because we all saw his dementia in the debate. Biden himself has now admitted it - unless he’s quitting for some OTHER reason he hasn’t specified?

    Yet he’s absolutely ticketty boo to have the toughest most important job in the world til next
    year? Even tho he’s demented, and admits it?
    We all saw his AGE in the debate. Do you think there is no gradation in the very old between being exactly the same as they were 40 years ago and having dementia? My grandmother is about Biden's age and she occasionally repeats a story she told a few hours ago or forgets a name but she doesn't have dementia. I agree that he was too old to run but don't present your speculation as a fact.
    Biden thinks President Zelensky is President Putin. That’s why he has now admitted he’s not fit to stand again even tho a week ago he firmly told us he was absolutely fine, never better. How did he misjudge himself so badly? Is there something wrong with his brain, do you think?

    Anyway even tho he’s not standing because he’s thinks President Zelensky is President Putin he’s still absolutely fine to be President of the United
    States but it’s all ok because Hunter the crack addict will run everything until next January
    Of course he doesn't think Zelenski is Putin. He mixed up the name and then corrected himself. I'm not saying he's not showing signs of aging but it's different from dementia.

    When you reach his age you wouldn't be best pleased if your children carted you off to the nursing home just because you mix up names occasionally or ramble a bit when trying to tell a story. Let's face it you often fulfil the latter criteria already
    “It’s just my brain”
    There's two separate questions that you and many of the other right wing posters on here are deliberately conflating.

    Firstly is it wise to have someone who is Biden's age (let alone in 4 years time) running the country? I think not because when you reach that age you begin to show signs of decline either physically or mentally to varying degrees. That's as true of Biden as it is Trump, McConnell or Feinstein.

    Secondly does Biden have dementia which is an entirely separate thing. You don't know that and are only speculating but present it as a fact and arguing for a cover up based on that speculating.
    Just wrong. Nobody is overly fussed about your first point. On the second, I am speculating about whether Biden has dementia like I speculate about whether night follows day. He has dementia.
    And you are such a world expert that you can diagnose it from a few minutes of TV clips...
    Exactly! No one on this forum is remotely able to say for sure that he has dementia. He might do but it's just wrong to suggest it's a fact or that his acceptance that he doesn't have the ability to serve another term is a tacit admittance that he has dementia.
    Jesus, this brings a whole new meaning to "rearguard action." He is demented, I am a good 3 figures richer as a result of betting on him being demented, trump has a whole raft of problems in front of him with sleepy Joe out of the running. Rejoice.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,809
    edited July 22

    Mr. Romford, on public sector perks, you missed out guaranteed jobs for most roles and guaranteed pensions. That's pretty huge.

    I would guess AI is less likely to eat most roles as well.

    Guaranteed jobs? Not so much so these decades, with perpetual restructuring and a lot of the grunt work outsourced to contractors (not talking about high end folk like what work on PB*, but bin lorries and so on).

    *Of course we have contractors at all other levels too. For instance posties too, but are they now public or private sector?
  • Starmer will today vow to “turn the page” on Britain’s reliance on foreign workers.

    PM will declare he is “not content just to pull the easy lever on importing skills”.

    “All too often young people in our country have been let down — not given access to the right opportunities or training in their community.

    “That’s created an over-reliance in our economy on higher and higher levels of migration.”

    Sir Keir will say training “home-grown talent” is vital to ­controlling legal migration after a push last week on tackling illegal migration.

    https://x.com/MrHarryCole/status/1815256755435196914

    Let's see.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,228
    Apropos of nothing but I have used what3words four or five times on this French trip and it has been very useful

    Just sayin’
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,651
    eek said:

    Leon said:

    Bless.

    Rachel Reeves is preparing to hand millions of public sector workers an above-inflation pay rise and attempt to blame the Conservatives for any tax rises needed to fund it

    https://x.com/thetimes/status/1815281019026567442

    So she'll accept the recommendations of the independent pay review bodies, rather than the previous approach of precipitating strikes by ignoring them.
    All she has to do now is fund it.

    And then all the coming recommendations from review bodies. 35% pay rise anyone ?
    Early signs from Labour are dreadful

    Fucking up the education system to please woke agendas

    Handing out money we don’t have to the public sector

    Labour will ruin a wonderful legacy in Education.

    One thing the Tories got right, even if teachers pay was a bit tight and more capex could have gone into the buildings.
    What wonderful legacy?

    Given that you have decided that the state education system wasn't good enough for your children you can hardly say that the current system is any good when you are desperately trying to not have to use it.
    He's probably talking about the legacy private school system.
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 17,207

    Mr. Romford, on public sector perks, you missed out guaranteed jobs for most roles and guaranteed pensions. That's pretty huge.

    I would guess AI is less likely to eat most roles as well.

    Though the reason for the guaranteed jobs is that there are so few candidates. Which goes back to the supply-demand graph.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 13,768

    Mr. Max, ha. Should've been an analyst (looking for writing work, if anyone is seeking a writer).

    You'd need to understand how to use quotes
    Yes, it's a really irritating affectation by Morris. He often makes what might be a good response but I can't be arsed to trawl through to find out what he was responding to.

    Suspect he may be a good writer that no one is reading.
    It's part of the charm of the site, Ben. We all have our affectations and his is a good deal less annoying than many.
  • FF43FF43 Posts: 17,208
    More by trial and error than good judgment I suspect, Joe Biden has ensured an excellent legacy for himself. He was probably the only available Democrat who could beat Trump in 2020, for which the world should be grateful. He ran one of the most effective presidencies in recent years, vastly better than his predecessor's. He then retired at the point he could no longer be effective.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,949
    edited July 22
    Leon said:

    Apropos of nothing but I have used what3words four or five times on this French trip and it has been very useful

    Just sayin’

    magnifique.zut.alors
  • rkrkrkrkrkrk Posts: 8,284
    How have people's books been faring?

    I've taken a hammering on Biden pulling out. If it's Harris, and she wins in November I'll come out ahead. But if its Harris and she loses ill be down about £500. And if its Michelle... eek.

    For those who have been heavily betting against Michelle you can partially reduce exposure by laying her for VP pick also.
  • geoffwgeoffw Posts: 8,707
    Leon said:

    TOPPING said:

    Leon said:

    TOPPING said:

    Leon said:
    Really? Very clumsy and obvious. Surprised it elicits such admiration from you.
    It’s got at least 14m views so I’m not alone in finding it amusing

    It also cleverly references that INCREDIBLE gaffe when Biden called Pete Buttigieg “Senator Bootyjuice” which is so sublime it is significant evidence that we live in a Simulation
    Clips of dogs barking at televisions routinely get 200m views. I'm sure 13.89m of the views in this case are because it just popped up on peoples' feeds. And 0.11m of them were because someone on a social media platform said - you've got to look at this it's AMAZEBALLS.
    “Senator Bootyjuice”. He said that. Biden actually said that. When he meant “Pete Buttigieg”
    Rashid Sanook was good. It's Stanley Unwin (look him up) updated

  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,546
    Leon said:

    Stereodog said:

    eek said:

    Stereodog said:

    Leon said:

    Stereodog said:

    Leon said:

    Stereodog said:

    Leon said:

    Nigelb said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    The Dems still have a significant Biden problem. He’s too senile to stand again, but he’s just fine and dandy to be leader of the free world until November?

    Every gaffe he makes between now and then will remind voters that the Democrats were prepared, until the last moment, to foist a clearly-demented president on voters for a second term

    He really needs to step down from the job, as well

    Paradoxically, the thought of a doddery old has-been in the White House might harm Trump more than Kamala. (eta I agree Biden should step down.)
    I think this is gonna be a real issue for the Dems as the illogicality sinks in with voters. “OK we admit, he’s in grave cognitive decline, the debate showed the real Biden, he’s gaga. But he’s keeping the job and the nuclear codes til January 2025, he’ll be fine, stop worrying”

    This is unsustainable. It’s THE attack line for the GOP and they will surely use it, relentlessly

    “How can we trust anything you say when you kept an insane man in the White House, a man who is getting worse, daily, and by the way he’s STILL THERE”
    You can't see the difference between four more months, and four more years ?

    Biden's current capacity is a legitimate question, but yours is hardly a slam dunk argument.
    It’s unarguable. Biden is not gonna be the Dem candidate because we all saw his dementia in the debate. Biden himself has now admitted it - unless he’s quitting for some OTHER reason he hasn’t specified?

    Yet he’s absolutely ticketty boo to have the toughest most important job in the world til next
    year? Even tho he’s demented, and admits it?
    We all saw his AGE in the debate. Do you think there is no gradation in the very old between being exactly the same as they were 40 years ago and having dementia? My grandmother is about Biden's age and she occasionally repeats a story she told a few hours ago or forgets a name but she doesn't have dementia. I agree that he was too old to run but don't present your speculation as a fact.
    Biden thinks President Zelensky is President Putin. That’s why he has now admitted he’s not fit to stand again even tho a week ago he firmly told us he was absolutely fine, never better. How did he misjudge himself so badly? Is there something wrong with his brain, do you think?

    Anyway even tho he’s not standing because he’s thinks President Zelensky is President Putin he’s still absolutely fine to be President of the United
    States but it’s all ok because Hunter the crack addict will run everything until next January
    Of course he doesn't think Zelenski is Putin. He mixed up the name and then corrected himself. I'm not saying he's not showing signs of aging but it's different from dementia.

    When you reach his age you wouldn't be best pleased if your children carted you off to the nursing home just because you mix up names occasionally or ramble a bit when trying to tell a story. Let's face it you often fulfil the latter criteria already
    “It’s just my brain”
    There's two separate questions that you and many of the other right wing posters on here are deliberately conflating.

    Firstly is it wise to have someone who is Biden's age (let alone in 4 years time) running the country? I think not because when you reach that age you begin to show signs of decline either physically or mentally to varying degrees. That's as true of Biden as it is Trump, McConnell or Feinstein.

    Secondly does Biden have dementia which is an entirely separate thing. You don't know that and are only speculating but present it as a fact and arguing for a cover up based on that speculating.
    Just wrong. Nobody is overly fussed about your first point. On the second, I am speculating about whether Biden has dementia like I speculate about whether night follows day. He has dementia.
    And you are such a world expert that you can diagnose it from a few minutes of TV clips...
    Exactly! No one on this forum is remotely able to say for sure that he has dementia. He might do but it's just wrong to suggest it's a fact or that his acceptance that he doesn't have the ability to serve another term is a tacit admittance that he has dementia.
    How come he believed and told us he was absolutely fine one minute and never better (as many journalists agreed) and then the next day he was suddenly unfit to serve again? Did he go into a massive cognitive decline in 24 hours? Is that what happened????

    He was quite definite about “being fine” so I can only presume he got Alzheimer’s during lunch
    I love the way, amongst all your other 'skills', you can now diagnose 100% accurately conditions such as Alzheimer's without any contact from the patient. I'm sure the NHS would love you to train up doctors. :)

    Biden said nothing about standing down because of illness. It might just be that he has realised that there was little chance of politically coming back from the position he was in, and it was best for the party and country to let someone else take on Trump.
  • TweedledeeTweedledee Posts: 1,405
    Leon said:

    Apropos of nothing but I have used what3words four or five times on this French trip and it has been very useful

    Just sayin’

    Good huitres and araignee at ///landings.abiding.positioned yesterday.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 27,846
    Leon said:

    Apropos of nothing but I have used what3words four or five times on this French trip and it has been very useful

    Just sayin’

    What3words hasn't got you to Paris which is where the most newsworthy event in years is taking place.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,687
    rkrkrk said:

    How have people's books been faring?

    I've taken a hammering on Biden pulling out. If it's Harris, and she wins in November I'll come out ahead. But if its Harris and she loses ill be down about £500. And if its Michelle... eek.

    For those who have been heavily betting against Michelle you can partially reduce exposure by laying her for VP pick also.

    I'm very happy with my book. I bet last year on various Biden replacements including Harris, not really expecting him to pull out but aware of the age issue and the bets looked like value given his age etc.

    Good times!!!
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,651
    edited July 22
    MaxPB said:

    EPG said:

    MaxPB said:

    There needs to be a reckoning for the mainstream leftist media in the US who have helped cover up Biden's rate of decline over the last few years. It's been an open secret that his mental faculties have been declining but the white house staffers pressured a pliant media to not report the truth "for the greater good".

    The owners of these companies need to clean house and get rid of all of those journalists who helped the white house cover this up. All of those selectively reported events, copy pasted denials and complete lies they reported for the past two years has denied the American people a proper say on who should face Trump this year and it's likely going to result in a Trump victory.

    A journalist's responsibility should be to the facts, not some sense of "greater good". As soon as that moral compass is distorted this is the inevitable result.

    You're rattled because today this doesn't matter any more. Fine. But the evidence was out there for years. People on here were talking about it. Trump was running on it. So the cover up was simply that part of a free press took an editorial line you don't like.
    Of course it matters because this stupidity and cover up has made Trump the favourite to win in November and against Harris I think he could get a landslide victory with Harris only picking up three or four coastal states.

    It's not an "editorial line" it was a pack of lies to do their friends in the white house a favour. An editorial line would have been to admit that Biden was struggling with his mental agility but say it's still better than the alternative, not to simply deny the obvious truth of it and push the white house agenda that he's all good and the doctors all say he's great etc... it's just lies.
    I am bemused by your inability to spot that EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED after yesterday.

    No one is gonna give a shit what went before, Harris v. Trump is all that matters now. Harris will win comfortably in November.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,097
    Nigelb said:

    Stephen Miller whining about the GOP having spent millions on campaigning against Biden.
    https://x.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1815186790422032871

    I don't think they do refunds.

    "They tricked us! It's against the Constitution! Biden should be forced to stand!"

    Perhaps they could give that a whirl at the Supreme Court? Must have half a chance.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,604
    HYUFD said:

    Kerry was a prosecutor but it didn't help him in 2004 to win

    George W. Bush wasn’t a criminal.
This discussion has been closed.