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Lawyers are awesome, a continuing series – politicalbetting.com

13

Comments

  • TweedledeeTweedledee Posts: 1,405

    Foxy said:

    dixiedean said:

    Andy_JS said:

    MikeL said:

    CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP RULES (per The Sun!)

    - 10 MPs to be nominated
    - MP rounds of voting: Sept 4, 9, 10, 11
    - Final four make pitch at Conference
    - Further MP rounds of voting (to reduce to final two): Oct 9, 10
    - Postal vote of members: Oct 15 to Oct 31
    - Result: Nov 2

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/29395500/new-tory-leader-announced-nov-2/

    Why are they spinning out for so long?
    In the mistaken belief that it is a matter of the utmost national importance, and that it will command the fascination of the media and populace.
    Also, because they are totally incompetent and incapable of organising a piss-up in a brewery.
    I remember the Post Johnson leadership contest taking forever to whittle down the candidates to two, who then went to countrywide hustings.

    They wound up with Truss and Sunak, demonstrating that a long contest may not end well.
    This is the party that spent £700m on getting four people to volunteer to be flown to Rwanda.

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jul/22/failed-rwanda-deportation-scheme-cost-700m-says-yvette-cooper
    I would rather waste 700m quid than murder 100 000 civilians. Even brown ones
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    dixiedean said:

    Andy_JS said:

    MikeL said:

    CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP RULES (per The Sun!)

    - 10 MPs to be nominated
    - MP rounds of voting: Sept 4, 9, 10, 11
    - Final four make pitch at Conference
    - Further MP rounds of voting (to reduce to final two): Oct 9, 10
    - Postal vote of members: Oct 15 to Oct 31
    - Result: Nov 2

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/29395500/new-tory-leader-announced-nov-2/

    Why are they spinning out for so long?
    In the mistaken belief that it is a matter of the utmost national importance, and that it will command the fascination of the media and populace.
    Also, because they are totally incompetent and incapable of organising a piss-up in a brewery.
    I remember the Post Johnson leadership contest taking forever to whittle down the candidates to two, who then went to countrywide hustings.

    They wound up with Truss and Sunak, demonstrating that a long contest may not end well.
    Indeed thinking about it, the ascent of Kamala with near universal support across the party does make me think that the protracted rancor and expenditure on primaries and caucuses is not money well spent.

    A long contest only seems to damage and divide a party.
    So how else do you decide a candidate?
    Ideally via NON-protracted primaries (caucuses are crap IMHO).
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,083

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    dixiedean said:

    Andy_JS said:

    MikeL said:

    CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP RULES (per The Sun!)

    - 10 MPs to be nominated
    - MP rounds of voting: Sept 4, 9, 10, 11
    - Final four make pitch at Conference
    - Further MP rounds of voting (to reduce to final two): Oct 9, 10
    - Postal vote of members: Oct 15 to Oct 31
    - Result: Nov 2

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/29395500/new-tory-leader-announced-nov-2/

    Why are they spinning out for so long?
    In the mistaken belief that it is a matter of the utmost national importance, and that it will command the fascination of the media and populace.
    Also, because they are totally incompetent and incapable of organising a piss-up in a brewery.
    I remember the Post Johnson leadership contest taking forever to whittle down the candidates to two, who then went to countrywide hustings.

    They wound up with Truss and Sunak, demonstrating that a long contest may not end well.
    Indeed thinking about it, the ascent of Kamala with near universal support across the party does make me think that the protracted rancor and expenditure on primaries and caucuses is not money well spent.

    A long contest only seems to damage and divide a party.
    So how else do you decide a candidate?
    Fair point, behind closed doors wrangling does not exactly unite either in most places it happens, but all the same even if you have a primary approach the current methods do feel so, IDK, overblown and overdone. It feels like years of process just to get to the primaries, then months of convoluted further processes, and it's treated almost as sacrosanct as the actual elections, which is cool in a way but also so expensive and divisive.
  • Sarah Palin on ITV News accusing Harris of not having a strong CV. Oh my aching sides.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,663

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    dixiedean said:

    Andy_JS said:

    MikeL said:

    CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP RULES (per The Sun!)

    - 10 MPs to be nominated
    - MP rounds of voting: Sept 4, 9, 10, 11
    - Final four make pitch at Conference
    - Further MP rounds of voting (to reduce to final two): Oct 9, 10
    - Postal vote of members: Oct 15 to Oct 31
    - Result: Nov 2

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/29395500/new-tory-leader-announced-nov-2/

    Why are they spinning out for so long?
    In the mistaken belief that it is a matter of the utmost national importance, and that it will command the fascination of the media and populace.
    Also, because they are totally incompetent and incapable of organising a piss-up in a brewery.
    I remember the Post Johnson leadership contest taking forever to whittle down the candidates to two, who then went to countrywide hustings.

    They wound up with Truss and Sunak, demonstrating that a long contest may not end well.
    Indeed thinking about it, the ascent of Kamala with near universal support across the party does make me think that the protracted rancor and expenditure on primaries and caucuses is not money well spent.

    A long contest only seems to damage and divide a party.
    So how else do you decide a candidate?
    You could have a national candidate election. Qualification: elected Senator, House Rep or Governor. Electorate: paid up party members.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,643

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    dixiedean said:

    Andy_JS said:

    MikeL said:

    CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP RULES (per The Sun!)

    - 10 MPs to be nominated
    - MP rounds of voting: Sept 4, 9, 10, 11
    - Final four make pitch at Conference
    - Further MP rounds of voting (to reduce to final two): Oct 9, 10
    - Postal vote of members: Oct 15 to Oct 31
    - Result: Nov 2

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/29395500/new-tory-leader-announced-nov-2/

    Why are they spinning out for so long?
    In the mistaken belief that it is a matter of the utmost national importance, and that it will command the fascination of the media and populace.
    Also, because they are totally incompetent and incapable of organising a piss-up in a brewery.
    I remember the Post Johnson leadership contest taking forever to whittle down the candidates to two, who then went to countrywide hustings.

    They wound up with Truss and Sunak, demonstrating that a long contest may not end well.
    Indeed thinking about it, the ascent of Kamala with near universal support across the party does make me think that the protracted rancor and expenditure on primaries and caucuses is not money well spent.

    A long contest only seems to damage and divide a party.
    So how else do you decide a candidate?
    It's rare circumstances that allow a short contest, such as the rise of Kamala or post Truss Sunak, but a short contest may well be preferable. Or maybe that bad blood just needs to come out.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,277
    Foxy said:

    Oh dear.

    Jenrick is a more intellectual Truss.

    Like how Vance is a more intellectual Trump? Hardly heavy lifting in either case!
    To be fair, Vance is very intelligent. You don't get into Yale Law School on a nearly full scholarship otherwise.

    As has been demonstrated here many times, having a high IQ doesn't guarantee any degree of compassion or humanity.
    At least you finally admit I’m a lot fucking smarter than you. As for the compassion, perhaps you need brains to see it
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,083

    From Politico.com

    > 37m ago All Democratic governors fall in line to support Kamala Harris

    > 45m ago The Harris campaign announced it raised a record-breaking $81 million in its first 24 hours.

    Good start.

    Now we need to see that those who were drifting away from Biden, and the Independents, are to be drawn back by someone who not only is not a criminal aspiring autocrat (which they were already offered), but mentally and physically robust as well.
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559
    rcs1000 said:

    Oh dear.

    Jenrick is a more intellectual Truss.

    Like how Vance is a more intellectual Trump? Hardly heavy lifting in either case!
    Like him or not, Vance is obviously clever. Take your opponents seriously.
    Vance is clever, and he wrote an excellent book. And, while I'm no fan of Peter Thiel, he knows how to hire smart people.

    It's just a shame I can't have the Hillbilly Elegy Vance rather than the Putin shill Vance.
    While it makes some interesting, certainly debatable points, on the whole"Hillbilly Elegy" is dishonest and misleading.

    Like it's author.

    I do note, that Vance's book did for him, what "Dreams of My Father" did for Barack Obama.
  • FrankBoothFrankBooth Posts: 9,826
    kle4 said:

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    dixiedean said:

    Andy_JS said:

    MikeL said:

    CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP RULES (per The Sun!)

    - 10 MPs to be nominated
    - MP rounds of voting: Sept 4, 9, 10, 11
    - Final four make pitch at Conference
    - Further MP rounds of voting (to reduce to final two): Oct 9, 10
    - Postal vote of members: Oct 15 to Oct 31
    - Result: Nov 2

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/29395500/new-tory-leader-announced-nov-2/

    Why are they spinning out for so long?
    In the mistaken belief that it is a matter of the utmost national importance, and that it will command the fascination of the media and populace.
    Also, because they are totally incompetent and incapable of organising a piss-up in a brewery.
    I remember the Post Johnson leadership contest taking forever to whittle down the candidates to two, who then went to countrywide hustings.

    They wound up with Truss and Sunak, demonstrating that a long contest may not end well.
    Indeed thinking about it, the ascent of Kamala with near universal support across the party does make me think that the protracted rancor and expenditure on primaries and caucuses is not money well spent.

    A long contest only seems to damage and divide a party.
    So how else do you decide a candidate?
    Fair point, behind closed doors wrangling does not exactly unite either in most places it happens, but all the same even if you have a primary approach the current methods do feel so, IDK, overblown and overdone. It feels like years of process just to get to the primaries, then months of convoluted further processes, and it's treated almost as sacrosanct as the actual elections, which is cool in a way but also so expensive and divisive.
    Yes though simply anointing someone who did badly when she ran previously hardly seems like a better idea.
  • WillGWillG Posts: 2,366
    rcs1000 said:

    Oh dear.

    Jenrick is a more intellectual Truss.

    Like how Vance is a more intellectual Trump? Hardly heavy lifting in either case!
    Like him or not, Vance is obviously clever. Take your opponents seriously.
    Vance is clever, and he wrote an excellent book. And, while I'm no fan of Peter Thiel, he knows how to hire smart people.

    It's just a shame I can't have the Hillbilly Elegy Vance rather than the Putin shill Vance.
    This is the American conservative movement. They converted John McCain, the bipartisan campaign finance reformer into someone that chose Sarah Palin for the ticket. They converted Mitt Romney, a man that brought in Obamacare for Massachussetts into an arch-right winger that wanted 20% annual increases in the Pentagon's budget. It changed right of centre judges into people that have given Donald Trump free reign to commit crimes in office.

    The three most dangerous organizations to America are the Republican Party, the Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,083

    kle4 said:

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    dixiedean said:

    Andy_JS said:

    MikeL said:

    CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP RULES (per The Sun!)

    - 10 MPs to be nominated
    - MP rounds of voting: Sept 4, 9, 10, 11
    - Final four make pitch at Conference
    - Further MP rounds of voting (to reduce to final two): Oct 9, 10
    - Postal vote of members: Oct 15 to Oct 31
    - Result: Nov 2

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/29395500/new-tory-leader-announced-nov-2/

    Why are they spinning out for so long?
    In the mistaken belief that it is a matter of the utmost national importance, and that it will command the fascination of the media and populace.
    Also, because they are totally incompetent and incapable of organising a piss-up in a brewery.
    I remember the Post Johnson leadership contest taking forever to whittle down the candidates to two, who then went to countrywide hustings.

    They wound up with Truss and Sunak, demonstrating that a long contest may not end well.
    Indeed thinking about it, the ascent of Kamala with near universal support across the party does make me think that the protracted rancor and expenditure on primaries and caucuses is not money well spent.

    A long contest only seems to damage and divide a party.
    So how else do you decide a candidate?
    Fair point, behind closed doors wrangling does not exactly unite either in most places it happens, but all the same even if you have a primary approach the current methods do feel so, IDK, overblown and overdone. It feels like years of process just to get to the primaries, then months of convoluted further processes, and it's treated almost as sacrosanct as the actual elections, which is cool in a way but also so expensive and divisive.
    Yes though simply anointing someone who did badly when she ran previously hardly seems like a better idea.
    In the case of Harris I don't think there's a lot of choice - as the current VP she was nominally part of the Biden choice which millions did vote for, and with so little time left she's the easiest to get behind with as much unity as can be managed.

    Hopefully she will prove the doubters wrong after doing poorly when running for the gig initially.
  • WillGWillG Posts: 2,366

    kle4 said:

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    dixiedean said:

    Andy_JS said:

    MikeL said:

    CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP RULES (per The Sun!)

    - 10 MPs to be nominated
    - MP rounds of voting: Sept 4, 9, 10, 11
    - Final four make pitch at Conference
    - Further MP rounds of voting (to reduce to final two): Oct 9, 10
    - Postal vote of members: Oct 15 to Oct 31
    - Result: Nov 2

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/29395500/new-tory-leader-announced-nov-2/

    Why are they spinning out for so long?
    In the mistaken belief that it is a matter of the utmost national importance, and that it will command the fascination of the media and populace.
    Also, because they are totally incompetent and incapable of organising a piss-up in a brewery.
    I remember the Post Johnson leadership contest taking forever to whittle down the candidates to two, who then went to countrywide hustings.

    They wound up with Truss and Sunak, demonstrating that a long contest may not end well.
    Indeed thinking about it, the ascent of Kamala with near universal support across the party does make me think that the protracted rancor and expenditure on primaries and caucuses is not money well spent.

    A long contest only seems to damage and divide a party.
    So how else do you decide a candidate?
    Fair point, behind closed doors wrangling does not exactly unite either in most places it happens, but all the same even if you have a primary approach the current methods do feel so, IDK, overblown and overdone. It feels like years of process just to get to the primaries, then months of convoluted further processes, and it's treated almost as sacrosanct as the actual elections, which is cool in a way but also so expensive and divisive.
    Yes though simply anointing someone who did badly when she ran previously hardly seems like a better idea.
    She wasn't anointed. She is the sitting Vice President and part of a ticket that got tens of millions of votes. And in any campaign, people outside the top two are going to "do badly" because there is only so mych oxygen to go round. Her campaign was serious and competent.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,083
    The intermediary stage is an interesting addition - narrowing down to four, but still giving Members a chance to in some manner express a view, before narrowing down further for the actual vote.

    Nominations will open on Wednesday, with candidates needing a proposer, a seconder and eight nominations to pass the first round.

    MPs will choose the final four candidates, who will then have a chance to speak to party members at the Conservative conference.

    MPs will then whittle those down to the final two candidates, with the final winner chosen by Conservative Party members.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c6p24l5254xo
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,643
    edited July 22

    kle4 said:

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    dixiedean said:

    Andy_JS said:

    MikeL said:

    CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP RULES (per The Sun!)

    - 10 MPs to be nominated
    - MP rounds of voting: Sept 4, 9, 10, 11
    - Final four make pitch at Conference
    - Further MP rounds of voting (to reduce to final two): Oct 9, 10
    - Postal vote of members: Oct 15 to Oct 31
    - Result: Nov 2

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/29395500/new-tory-leader-announced-nov-2/

    Why are they spinning out for so long?
    In the mistaken belief that it is a matter of the utmost national importance, and that it will command the fascination of the media and populace.
    Also, because they are totally incompetent and incapable of organising a piss-up in a brewery.
    I remember the Post Johnson leadership contest taking forever to whittle down the candidates to two, who then went to countrywide hustings.

    They wound up with Truss and Sunak, demonstrating that a long contest may not end well.
    Indeed thinking about it, the ascent of Kamala with near universal support across the party does make me think that the protracted rancor and expenditure on primaries and caucuses is not money well spent.

    A long contest only seems to damage and divide a party.
    So how else do you decide a candidate?
    Fair point, behind closed doors wrangling does not exactly unite either in most places it happens, but all the same even if you have a primary approach the current methods do feel so, IDK, overblown and overdone. It feels like years of process just to get to the primaries, then months of convoluted further processes, and it's treated almost as sacrosanct as the actual elections, which is cool in a way but also so expensive and divisive.
    Yes though simply anointing someone who did badly when she ran previously hardly seems like a better idea.
    That's an experiment that we are yet to see the results of.

    Maybe picking a deputy leader the way Biden did, then standing down and endorsing them will be shown to be a good system.
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    dixiedean said:

    Andy_JS said:

    MikeL said:

    CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP RULES (per The Sun!)

    - 10 MPs to be nominated
    - MP rounds of voting: Sept 4, 9, 10, 11
    - Final four make pitch at Conference
    - Further MP rounds of voting (to reduce to final two): Oct 9, 10
    - Postal vote of members: Oct 15 to Oct 31
    - Result: Nov 2

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/29395500/new-tory-leader-announced-nov-2/

    Why are they spinning out for so long?
    In the mistaken belief that it is a matter of the utmost national importance, and that it will command the fascination of the media and populace.
    Also, because they are totally incompetent and incapable of organising a piss-up in a brewery.
    I remember the Post Johnson leadership contest taking forever to whittle down the candidates to two, who then went to countrywide hustings.

    They wound up with Truss and Sunak, demonstrating that a long contest may not end well.
    Indeed thinking about it, the ascent of Kamala with near universal support across the party does make me think that the protracted rancor and expenditure on primaries and caucuses is not money well spent.

    A long contest only seems to damage and divide a party.
    So how else do you decide a candidate?
    You could have a national candidate election. Qualification: elected Senator, House Rep or Governor. Electorate: paid up party members.
    NO! Especially that "paid up party members" bit, which is NOT a thing in US politics, thank God. Considering it is perhaps the WORST aspect of candidate selection in UK (also Canada).

    Note that Robert La Follette helped overthrow the tyranny of party bosses and bullies, big and small, by inventing the primary as we know it (in various forms) in USA.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,663

    Foxy said:

    dixiedean said:

    Andy_JS said:

    MikeL said:

    CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP RULES (per The Sun!)

    - 10 MPs to be nominated
    - MP rounds of voting: Sept 4, 9, 10, 11
    - Final four make pitch at Conference
    - Further MP rounds of voting (to reduce to final two): Oct 9, 10
    - Postal vote of members: Oct 15 to Oct 31
    - Result: Nov 2

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/29395500/new-tory-leader-announced-nov-2/

    Why are they spinning out for so long?
    In the mistaken belief that it is a matter of the utmost national importance, and that it will command the fascination of the media and populace.
    Also, because they are totally incompetent and incapable of organising a piss-up in a brewery.
    I remember the Post Johnson leadership contest taking forever to whittle down the candidates to two, who then went to countrywide hustings.

    They wound up with Truss and Sunak, demonstrating that a long contest may not end well.
    This is the party that spent £700m on getting four people to volunteer to be flown to Rwanda.

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jul/22/failed-rwanda-deportation-scheme-cost-700m-says-yvette-cooper
    I would rather waste 700m quid than murder 100 000 civilians. Even brown ones
    The Tories supported the Iraq war too.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,153

    It’s fair to say that Giorgia Meloni has better chemistry with Elon Musk than she has with Macron:

    https://x.com/iam_smx/status/1815203134299369825

    Well, she's a bit young for him.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,663
    Leon said:

    Foxy said:

    Oh dear.

    Jenrick is a more intellectual Truss.

    Like how Vance is a more intellectual Trump? Hardly heavy lifting in either case!
    To be fair, Vance is very intelligent. You don't get into Yale Law School on a nearly full scholarship otherwise.

    As has been demonstrated here many times, having a high IQ doesn't guarantee any degree of compassion or humanity.
    At least you finally admit I’m a lot fucking smarter than you. As for the compassion, perhaps you need brains to see it
    And as we can see, there are also dim people who lack compassion.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 23,148
    edited July 22
    This is *really* interesting - I'm hearing that farmers may be to get paid for new access footpaths for walking, cycling, riding across their land under the Sustainable Farming Initiative. It's been in the works for a long time with a lot of lobbying from many groups, but may be here.

    I should credit this as early this year, so under the Conservative Govt, though not Department for Transport.

    eg £~80 per 100m per annum for a walking path created on the field alongside a country road. Higher payments for cycling, bridleway, accessible paths. Including upgrading Rights of Way.

    Section 22b on here has a bit more, but it's a bit down a rabbtihole.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/agricultural-transition-plan-2021-to-2024/technical-annex-the-combined-environmental-land-management-offer#access-and-engagement

    Commentary from a cycling man, but I'll need to have a deeper dig for the rest:
    https://x.com/adamtranter/status/1815478923154612374

    Potential creation of separated modes of travel in the countryside, which is where a lot of KSIs happen. An easy win for - I think - everyone.
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559

    kle4 said:

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    dixiedean said:

    Andy_JS said:

    MikeL said:

    CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP RULES (per The Sun!)

    - 10 MPs to be nominated
    - MP rounds of voting: Sept 4, 9, 10, 11
    - Final four make pitch at Conference
    - Further MP rounds of voting (to reduce to final two): Oct 9, 10
    - Postal vote of members: Oct 15 to Oct 31
    - Result: Nov 2

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/29395500/new-tory-leader-announced-nov-2/

    Why are they spinning out for so long?
    In the mistaken belief that it is a matter of the utmost national importance, and that it will command the fascination of the media and populace.
    Also, because they are totally incompetent and incapable of organising a piss-up in a brewery.
    I remember the Post Johnson leadership contest taking forever to whittle down the candidates to two, who then went to countrywide hustings.

    They wound up with Truss and Sunak, demonstrating that a long contest may not end well.
    Indeed thinking about it, the ascent of Kamala with near universal support across the party does make me think that the protracted rancor and expenditure on primaries and caucuses is not money well spent.

    A long contest only seems to damage and divide a party.
    So how else do you decide a candidate?
    Fair point, behind closed doors wrangling does not exactly unite either in most places it happens, but all the same even if you have a primary approach the current methods do feel so, IDK, overblown and overdone. It feels like years of process just to get to the primaries, then months of convoluted further processes, and it's treated almost as sacrosanct as the actual elections, which is cool in a way but also so expensive and divisive.
    Yes though simply anointing someone who did badly when she ran previously hardly seems like a better idea.
    Saying that Kamala Harris "did badly" is not really correct; she lost to Biden, but she was NOT alone in that.

    Note that George W. Bush also was a loser, to Ronald Reagan in 1980. Which strangely enough did NOT mean he was DOA running against Dukakis in 1988.

    Back in 2020, the overriding objective of the mass of Democratic voters, was to unite as quickly as possible around a POTUS nominee capable of uniting the party, appealing to swing voters AND (last by hardly least) beating Donald Trump.

    And we did it . . . with Kamala Harris playing a key role, in appealing to women AND helping boost Black voter turnout. The last despite denials by some, including PBers, that she actually ain't Black. Or Black enough. Pretty impressive!

    So yes she "lost to Biden" AND made also contributed to Biden's election.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,153

    Nigelb said:

    I’d have to politely decline, too.
    And am about as likely to be asked.

    “ Joe Manchin says he wouldn’t serve as Harris VP. “

    Has anyone checked whether Kyrsten Sinema is interested?
    NOT being a Democrat any more bit of a barrier, methinks.

    Also the fact that putting Sinema on the ticket, would be great way for Harris to ensure she loses Arizona.

    Reckon she's about as electable in AZ, as Sarah Palin proved to be in AK in 2022.
    Because my business is in Arizona (and because our continued success is in the gift of elected representatives), I met Ms Sinema a couple of times. And I came away pretty impressed: she was clearly smart, and hard working, and very determined.

    But she was also clearly... of a very fixed mind.

    As an entrepreneur, nothing kills a business as quickly as a fixed mind. My most oft repeated expression to my employees is "none of us is as smart as the market". In other words, you might thin you have a great idea (and I might think you have a great idea), but if people aren't actually buying the product... then then we have to listen to the market. Data beats brilliant analysis 10/10 times.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,070
    rcs1000 said:

    Nigelb said:

    I’d have to politely decline, too.
    And am about as likely to be asked.

    “ Joe Manchin says he wouldn’t serve as Harris VP. “

    Has anyone checked whether Kyrsten Sinema is interested?
    NOT being a Democrat any more bit of a barrier, methinks.

    Also the fact that putting Sinema on the ticket, would be great way for Harris to ensure she loses Arizona.

    Reckon she's about as electable in AZ, as Sarah Palin proved to be in AK in 2022.
    Because my business is in Arizona (and because our continued success is in the gift of elected representatives), I met Ms Sinema a couple of times. And I came away pretty impressed: she was clearly smart, and hard working, and very determined.

    But she was also clearly... of a very fixed mind.

    As an entrepreneur, nothing kills a business as quickly as a fixed mind. My most oft repeated expression to my employees is "none of us is as smart as the market". In other words, you might thin you have a great idea (and I might think you have a great idea), but if people aren't actually buying the product... then then we have to listen to the market. Data beats brilliant analysis 10/10 times.
    “Adjust your priors”.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,277

    Leon said:

    Foxy said:

    Oh dear.

    Jenrick is a more intellectual Truss.

    Like how Vance is a more intellectual Trump? Hardly heavy lifting in either case!
    To be fair, Vance is very intelligent. You don't get into Yale Law School on a nearly full scholarship otherwise.

    As has been demonstrated here many times, having a high IQ doesn't guarantee any degree of compassion or humanity.
    At least you finally admit I’m a lot fucking smarter than you. As for the compassion, perhaps you need brains to see it
    And as we can see, there are also dim people who lack compassion.
    By definition. Eg you. Lefties like you who are - let us be kind - of midwitted intellect cannot see that your virtue signalling attitude to things like immigration in the end makes everyone worse off
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,663

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    dixiedean said:

    Andy_JS said:

    MikeL said:

    CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP RULES (per The Sun!)

    - 10 MPs to be nominated
    - MP rounds of voting: Sept 4, 9, 10, 11
    - Final four make pitch at Conference
    - Further MP rounds of voting (to reduce to final two): Oct 9, 10
    - Postal vote of members: Oct 15 to Oct 31
    - Result: Nov 2

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/29395500/new-tory-leader-announced-nov-2/

    Why are they spinning out for so long?
    In the mistaken belief that it is a matter of the utmost national importance, and that it will command the fascination of the media and populace.
    Also, because they are totally incompetent and incapable of organising a piss-up in a brewery.
    I remember the Post Johnson leadership contest taking forever to whittle down the candidates to two, who then went to countrywide hustings.

    They wound up with Truss and Sunak, demonstrating that a long contest may not end well.
    Indeed thinking about it, the ascent of Kamala with near universal support across the party does make me think that the protracted rancor and expenditure on primaries and caucuses is not money well spent.

    A long contest only seems to damage and divide a party.
    So how else do you decide a candidate?
    You could have a national candidate election. Qualification: elected Senator, House Rep or Governor. Electorate: paid up party members.
    NO! Especially that "paid up party members" bit, which is NOT a thing in US politics, thank God. Considering it is perhaps the WORST aspect of candidate selection in UK (also Canada).

    Note that Robert La Follette helped overthrow the tyranny of party bosses and bullies, big and small, by inventing the primary as we know it (in various forms) in USA.
    I didn't say you should, I just said you could.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,075
    edited July 22

    It’s fair to say that Giorgia Meloni has better chemistry with Elon Musk than she has with Macron:

    https://x.com/iam_smx/status/1815203134299369825


    Famously Musk does not have sex with his baby mamas, preferring to inseminate them via artificial insemination (this is actually true)
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,663
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Foxy said:

    Oh dear.

    Jenrick is a more intellectual Truss.

    Like how Vance is a more intellectual Trump? Hardly heavy lifting in either case!
    To be fair, Vance is very intelligent. You don't get into Yale Law School on a nearly full scholarship otherwise.

    As has been demonstrated here many times, having a high IQ doesn't guarantee any degree of compassion or humanity.
    At least you finally admit I’m a lot fucking smarter than you. As for the compassion, perhaps you need brains to see it
    And as we can see, there are also dim people who lack compassion.
    By definition. Eg you. Lefties like you who are - let us be kind - of midwitted intellect cannot see that your virtue signalling attitude to things like immigration in the end makes everyone worse off
    My 'virtue signalling attitude to things like immigration' exists only in your twisted imagination. You have no idea what my attitude to immigration is, I have never expressed it on here.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,378

    kle4 said:

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    dixiedean said:

    Andy_JS said:

    MikeL said:

    CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP RULES (per The Sun!)

    - 10 MPs to be nominated
    - MP rounds of voting: Sept 4, 9, 10, 11
    - Final four make pitch at Conference
    - Further MP rounds of voting (to reduce to final two): Oct 9, 10
    - Postal vote of members: Oct 15 to Oct 31
    - Result: Nov 2

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/29395500/new-tory-leader-announced-nov-2/

    Why are they spinning out for so long?
    In the mistaken belief that it is a matter of the utmost national importance, and that it will command the fascination of the media and populace.
    Also, because they are totally incompetent and incapable of organising a piss-up in a brewery.
    I remember the Post Johnson leadership contest taking forever to whittle down the candidates to two, who then went to countrywide hustings.

    They wound up with Truss and Sunak, demonstrating that a long contest may not end well.
    Indeed thinking about it, the ascent of Kamala with near universal support across the party does make me think that the protracted rancor and expenditure on primaries and caucuses is not money well spent.

    A long contest only seems to damage and divide a party.
    So how else do you decide a candidate?
    Fair point, behind closed doors wrangling does not exactly unite either in most places it happens, but all the same even if you have a primary approach the current methods do feel so, IDK, overblown and overdone. It feels like years of process just to get to the primaries, then months of convoluted further processes, and it's treated almost as sacrosanct as the actual elections, which is cool in a way but also so expensive and divisive.
    Yes though simply anointing someone who did badly when she ran previously hardly seems like a better idea.
    Saying that Kamala Harris "did badly" is not really correct; she lost to Biden, but she was NOT alone in that.

    Note that George W. Bush also was a loser, to Ronald Reagan in 1980. Which strangely enough did NOT mean he was DOA running against Dukakis in 1988.

    As Starr said to Clinton…I think you have the wrong Bush.
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    dixiedean said:

    Andy_JS said:

    MikeL said:

    CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP RULES (per The Sun!)

    - 10 MPs to be nominated
    - MP rounds of voting: Sept 4, 9, 10, 11
    - Final four make pitch at Conference
    - Further MP rounds of voting (to reduce to final two): Oct 9, 10
    - Postal vote of members: Oct 15 to Oct 31
    - Result: Nov 2

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/29395500/new-tory-leader-announced-nov-2/

    Why are they spinning out for so long?
    In the mistaken belief that it is a matter of the utmost national importance, and that it will command the fascination of the media and populace.
    Also, because they are totally incompetent and incapable of organising a piss-up in a brewery.
    I remember the Post Johnson leadership contest taking forever to whittle down the candidates to two, who then went to countrywide hustings.

    They wound up with Truss and Sunak, demonstrating that a long contest may not end well.
    Indeed thinking about it, the ascent of Kamala with near universal support across the party does make me think that the protracted rancor and expenditure on primaries and caucuses is not money well spent.

    A long contest only seems to damage and divide a party.
    So how else do you decide a candidate?
    You could have a national candidate election. Qualification: elected Senator, House Rep or Governor. Electorate: paid up party members.
    NO! Especially that "paid up party members" bit, which is NOT a thing in US politics, thank God. Considering it is perhaps the WORST aspect of candidate selection in UK (also Canada).

    Note that Robert La Follette helped overthrow the tyranny of party bosses and bullies, big and small, by inventing the primary as we know it (in various forms) in USA.
    I didn't say you should, I just said you could.
    Back in the days of Franklin Roosevelt, a leading Democratic politico came to the White House for lunch, trying to persuade the President to adopt a somewhat crack-pot proposal. Unwilling to overtly disagree and also wishing to seem open minded, FDR's response was, "It's an idea".

    Eleanor Roosevelt was at the table, and interjected, "A very bad idea".
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,277
    viewcode said:

    It’s fair to say that Giorgia Meloni has better chemistry with Elon Musk than she has with Macron:

    https://x.com/iam_smx/status/1815203134299369825


    Famously Musk does not have sex with his baby mamas, preferring to inseminate them via artificial insemination (this is actually true)
    Er, is that, actually and, um, always, true??

    Not doubting you. Just quite surprised
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559
    ydoethur said:

    kle4 said:

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    dixiedean said:

    Andy_JS said:

    MikeL said:

    CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP RULES (per The Sun!)

    - 10 MPs to be nominated
    - MP rounds of voting: Sept 4, 9, 10, 11
    - Final four make pitch at Conference
    - Further MP rounds of voting (to reduce to final two): Oct 9, 10
    - Postal vote of members: Oct 15 to Oct 31
    - Result: Nov 2

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/29395500/new-tory-leader-announced-nov-2/

    Why are they spinning out for so long?
    In the mistaken belief that it is a matter of the utmost national importance, and that it will command the fascination of the media and populace.
    Also, because they are totally incompetent and incapable of organising a piss-up in a brewery.
    I remember the Post Johnson leadership contest taking forever to whittle down the candidates to two, who then went to countrywide hustings.

    They wound up with Truss and Sunak, demonstrating that a long contest may not end well.
    Indeed thinking about it, the ascent of Kamala with near universal support across the party does make me think that the protracted rancor and expenditure on primaries and caucuses is not money well spent.

    A long contest only seems to damage and divide a party.
    So how else do you decide a candidate?
    Fair point, behind closed doors wrangling does not exactly unite either in most places it happens, but all the same even if you have a primary approach the current methods do feel so, IDK, overblown and overdone. It feels like years of process just to get to the primaries, then months of convoluted further processes, and it's treated almost as sacrosanct as the actual elections, which is cool in a way but also so expensive and divisive.
    Yes though simply anointing someone who did badly when she ran previously hardly seems like a better idea.
    Saying that Kamala Harris "did badly" is not really correct; she lost to Biden, but she was NOT alone in that.

    Note that George W. Bush also was a loser, to Ronald Reagan in 1980. Which strangely enough did NOT mean he was DOA running against Dukakis in 1988.

    As Starr said to Clinton…I think you have the wrong Bush.
    I stand corrected . . . no doubt NOT for the last time . . .
  • ohnotnowohnotnow Posts: 3,783
    Sorry if I missed this being covered, but not an easy read.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2q03ppzzz0o

    Woman died after begging GP for help - inquest

    ...

    The hearing in Exeter heard that she had told her GP, Dr Lucy Shenton, in June 2021: "Dear Dr Shenton, I know you are doing your best for me, but I really need help with feeding.

    "I do not understand why the hospital did not do anything to help when I went in. I am hungry, I want to eat."

    She continued: "I have been unable to sit up or chew since March and the only person helping me eat is my mum. I cannot get enough calories from a syringe.

    "Please help me get enough food to live."
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,153
    rcs1000 said:

    Nigelb said:

    I’d have to politely decline, too.
    And am about as likely to be asked.

    “ Joe Manchin says he wouldn’t serve as Harris VP. “

    Has anyone checked whether Kyrsten Sinema is interested?
    NOT being a Democrat any more bit of a barrier, methinks.

    Also the fact that putting Sinema on the ticket, would be great way for Harris to ensure she loses Arizona.

    Reckon she's about as electable in AZ, as Sarah Palin proved to be in AK in 2022.
    Because my business is in Arizona (and because our continued success is in the gift of elected representatives), I met Ms Sinema a couple of times. And I came away pretty impressed: she was clearly smart, and hard working, and very determined.

    But she was also clearly... of a very fixed mind.

    As an entrepreneur, nothing kills a business as quickly as a fixed mind. My most oft repeated expression to my employees is "none of us is as smart as the market". In other words, you might thin you have a great idea (and I might think you have a great idea), but if people aren't actually buying the product... then then we have to listen to the market. Data beats brilliant analysis 10/10 times.
    As an aside, the former Republican Governor of Arizona - Doug Ducey - would be at the top of my list for Republicans I would like to run the US: he was smart, honest, and did a fantastic job making Arizona a great place to do business. What a shame that the Republican Party is no longer filled with people like him.
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559
    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Nigelb said:

    I’d have to politely decline, too.
    And am about as likely to be asked.

    “ Joe Manchin says he wouldn’t serve as Harris VP. “

    Has anyone checked whether Kyrsten Sinema is interested?
    NOT being a Democrat any more bit of a barrier, methinks.

    Also the fact that putting Sinema on the ticket, would be great way for Harris to ensure she loses Arizona.

    Reckon she's about as electable in AZ, as Sarah Palin proved to be in AK in 2022.
    Because my business is in Arizona (and because our continued success is in the gift of elected representatives), I met Ms Sinema a couple of times. And I came away pretty impressed: she was clearly smart, and hard working, and very determined.

    But she was also clearly... of a very fixed mind.

    As an entrepreneur, nothing kills a business as quickly as a fixed mind. My most oft repeated expression to my employees is "none of us is as smart as the market". In other words, you might thin you have a great idea (and I might think you have a great idea), but if people aren't actually buying the product... then then we have to listen to the market. Data beats brilliant analysis 10/10 times.
    As an aside, the former Republican Governor of Arizona - Doug Ducey - would be at the top of my list for Republicans I would like to run the US: he was smart, honest, and did a fantastic job making Arizona a great place to do business. What a shame that the Republican Party is no longer filled with people like him.
    Any interactions with Sen. Mark Kelly? Who is reportedly a prospect for Kamala Harris running mate, and who IMHO would bring some potential advantages to her ticket in AZ and beyond.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,277
    I’m running out of France
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 51,821
    Leon said:

    I’m running out of France

    Eurostar was cancelled??
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 17,218

    Leon said:

    I’m running out of France

    Eurostar was cancelled??
    I assumed more like a Frenchified version of the sequence at the end of the Benny Hill Show. Yakkety Sax played on an accordion, that sort of thing.
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559
    AP - Harris claims most of the delegates she needs for the nomination, sets new fundraising record

    Vice President Kamala Harris won the backing of more than half the Democratic delegates she needs to become her party’s nominee and set a new fundraising record Monday in her first 24 hours as a presidential candidate, as top Democrats rallied to her in their bid to defeat Republican Donald Trump. . . .

    More than 1,200 pledged delegates have told The Associated Press or announced that they plan to support Harris at the convention — more than half the 1,976 benchmark set by Democratic National Committee rules [half of all pledge delegates, which excludes super-delegates].

    On Sunday afternoon, Biden’s campaign formally changed its name to Harris for President, reflecting that she is inheriting his political operation of more than 1,000 staffers and a war chest that stood at nearly $96 million at the end of June. She added $81 million to that total in the first 24 hours after Biden’s endorsement, her campaign said — a presidential fundraising record — with contributions from more than 888,000 donors.

    The campaign also saw a surge of interest after Harris took over, with more than 28,000 new volunteers registered since the announcement . . .

    Congressional Hispanic Caucus chairwoman Nanette Barragan, who emphasized that she was “all in” behind the vice president, said she spoke Sunday with Harris, who communicated that she preferred to forgo a virtual roll call for the nomination process and instead hold a process that adheres to regular order [in-person vote at the Democratic National Convention].
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,553
    Harris can win this election, there's no doubt about that. As long as she doesn't do a Hillary and insult 25% of the electorate.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 41,956
    Leon said:

    viewcode said:

    It’s fair to say that Giorgia Meloni has better chemistry with Elon Musk than she has with Macron:

    https://x.com/iam_smx/status/1815203134299369825


    Famously Musk does not have sex with his baby mamas, preferring to inseminate them via artificial insemination (this is actually true)
    Er, is that, actually and, um, always, true??

    Not doubting you. Just quite surprised
    It shows a certain delicacy about exposing the laydeez to the full Musk.


  • nico679nico679 Posts: 6,275
    Latest Morning Consult poll. Fieldwork 21 and 22 July .

    Trump 47
    Harris 45
  • ohnotnowohnotnow Posts: 3,783
    Leon said:

    I’m running out of France

    They have some very remote colonies with very limited internet access. I hear they're worth a visit.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,553
    Leon said:

    I’m running out of France

    Corsica?
  • NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,523
    WillG said:

    What a twat JD Vance is:

    Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick, said in 2021 that Vice President Kamala Harris is one of the “childless cat ladies” who is “miserable” with her life and has no direct stake in America because she is not a mom, the HuffPost reports.

    The Repulican lady interviewed on R4 this evening was derisive about that - said she was a single cat lady too.
  • FF43FF43 Posts: 17,208
    edited July 22
    Foxy said:

    Oh dear.

    Jenrick is a more intellectual Truss.

    Like how Vance is a more intellectual Trump? Hardly heavy lifting in either case!
    To be fair, Vance is very intelligent. You don't get into Yale Law School on a nearly full scholarship otherwise.

    As has been demonstrated here many times, having a high IQ doesn't guarantee any degree of compassion or humanity.
    Intelligent isn't the first word I would use to describe JD Vance, any more than for, say, Adolf Hitler. Actually mad is more like it.

    "Childless cat lady" wasn't a throwaway remark but an enduring belief that Vance has thought deeply about for years. This video is worth watching to understand the man

    https://www.foxnews.com/video/6265796735001
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559
    edited July 22

    WillG said:

    What a twat JD Vance is:

    Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick, said in 2021 that Vice President Kamala Harris is one of the “childless cat ladies” who is “miserable” with her life and has no direct stake in America because she is not a mom, the HuffPost reports.

    The Repulican lady interviewed on R4 this evening was derisive about that - said she was a single cat lady too.
    Meaning she was without spouse OR has just one cat?
  • nico679nico679 Posts: 6,275

    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Nigelb said:

    I’d have to politely decline, too.
    And am about as likely to be asked.

    “ Joe Manchin says he wouldn’t serve as Harris VP. “

    Has anyone checked whether Kyrsten Sinema is interested?
    NOT being a Democrat any more bit of a barrier, methinks.

    Also the fact that putting Sinema on the ticket, would be great way for Harris to ensure she loses Arizona.

    Reckon she's about as electable in AZ, as Sarah Palin proved to be in AK in 2022.
    Because my business is in Arizona (and because our continued success is in the gift of elected representatives), I met Ms Sinema a couple of times. And I came away pretty impressed: she was clearly smart, and hard working, and very determined.

    But she was also clearly... of a very fixed mind.

    As an entrepreneur, nothing kills a business as quickly as a fixed mind. My most oft repeated expression to my employees is "none of us is as smart as the market". In other words, you might thin you have a great idea (and I might think you have a great idea), but if people aren't actually buying the product... then then we have to listen to the market. Data beats brilliant analysis 10/10 times.
    As an aside, the former Republican Governor of Arizona - Doug Ducey - would be at the top of my list for Republicans I would like to run the US: he was smart, honest, and did a fantastic job making Arizona a great place to do business. What a shame that the Republican Party is no longer filled with people like him.
    Any interactions with Sen. Mark Kelly? Who is reportedly a prospect for Kamala Harris running mate, and who IMHO would bring some potential advantages to her ticket in AZ and beyond.
    I think he would be a good choice . Who doesn’t love an ex astronaut ? And winning twice in Arizona isn’t easy as a Democrat even though it’s become more of a purple state now . The added advantage is he would be replaced by a Dem until the next election .
  • nico679nico679 Posts: 6,275

    WillG said:

    What a twat JD Vance is:

    Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick, said in 2021 that Vice President Kamala Harris is one of the “childless cat ladies” who is “miserable” with her life and has no direct stake in America because she is not a mom, the HuffPost reports.

    The Repulican lady interviewed on R4 this evening was derisive about that - said she was a single cat lady too.
    That kind of comment is likely to go down badly . If Vance thinks trashing women who either choose not to have kids or can’t have them is a vote winner then he really is deluded .
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559
    Potential downside for astronaut candidates?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVhDsxTXgPU

    Note that Sen. John Glenn (D-OH) was unsuccessful in his own race for POTUS in 1984.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Glenn
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,083
    nico679 said:

    WillG said:

    What a twat JD Vance is:

    Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick, said in 2021 that Vice President Kamala Harris is one of the “childless cat ladies” who is “miserable” with her life and has no direct stake in America because she is not a mom, the HuffPost reports.

    The Repulican lady interviewed on R4 this evening was derisive about that - said she was a single cat lady too.
    That kind of comment is likely to go down badly . If Vance thinks trashing women who either choose not to have kids or can’t have them is a vote winner then he really is deluded .
    Wasn't it female voters who won it for Biden last time? I know he increased the Democrat share among white men, which was likely important too, but I seem to recall the gender gap was pretty large still.
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559
    nico679 said:

    WillG said:

    What a twat JD Vance is:

    Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick, said in 2021 that Vice President Kamala Harris is one of the “childless cat ladies” who is “miserable” with her life and has no direct stake in America because she is not a mom, the HuffPost reports.

    The Repulican lady interviewed on R4 this evening was derisive about that - said she was a single cat lady too.
    That kind of comment is likely to go down badly . If Vance thinks trashing women who either choose not to have kids or can’t have them is a vote winner then he really is deluded .
    Just one reason why his 2020 victory for US Senate was less than a landslide.
  • DumbosaurusDumbosaurus Posts: 795
    If anyone followed my back tory permanent leader starting in 2025 or later suggestion, with the new confirmed time table it is - avoiding black swans - clearly a confirmed loser. There is still a possibility of exiting it for not much of a loss - only cost me £4.80.
  • ohnotnowohnotnow Posts: 3,783

    WillG said:

    What a twat JD Vance is:

    Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick, said in 2021 that Vice President Kamala Harris is one of the “childless cat ladies” who is “miserable” with her life and has no direct stake in America because she is not a mom, the HuffPost reports.

    The Repulican lady interviewed on R4 this evening was derisive about that - said she was a single cat lady too.
    "To lose one cat-lady vote, Mr. Carlson, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness"
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,075
    edited July 22
    Leon said:

    viewcode said:

    It’s fair to say that Giorgia Meloni has better chemistry with Elon Musk than she has with Macron:

    https://x.com/iam_smx/status/1815203134299369825


    Famously Musk does not have sex with his baby mamas, preferring to inseminate them via artificial insemination (this is actually true)
    Er, is that, actually and, um, always, true??

    Not doubting you. Just quite surprised
    • Always? Doubtful: I assume he lost his virginity in the usual manner
    • Exclusively: probably not. Given his age, very poor build, drug use and general nerdy manner I'm not sure he enjoys sex, but I assume he's had penile-vaginal sex with his girlfriends/wives at least once each
    • Lately. Yes. He has many children and if the internet is correct (!!) the latter were produced by insemination.
    He is, as I'm sure you've noticed, rather odd. If you scurry off and find it's not true I apologise, but it's been remarked more than once.

    EDIT: Jeez, it's worse than I thought. Five of his sons were IVF and one of his daughters was by a surrogate.

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexzhavoronkov/2022/07/27/elon-musk-and-other-billionaires-make-their-babies-via-ivf-and-surrogatesis-it-a-future-of-reproduction/#

    EDIT 2: "...Did Musk use IVF to conceive his children? Yes, Musk used IVF to conceive five of his children with his first wife Justine, as were Musk's twins he had last year with his Neuralink employee, Shivon Zilis. His second and third children with Grimes were born through a surrogate...", see https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-children
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,714
    nico679 said:

    WillG said:

    What a twat JD Vance is:

    Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick, said in 2021 that Vice President Kamala Harris is one of the “childless cat ladies” who is “miserable” with her life and has no direct stake in America because she is not a mom, the HuffPost reports.

    The Repulican lady interviewed on R4 this evening was derisive about that - said she was a single cat lady too.
    That kind of comment is likely to go down badly . If Vance thinks trashing women who either choose not to have kids or can’t have them is a vote winner then he really is deluded .
    He also wants to force those who don't want to have kids to go through with pregnancy.

    Although I think he has been generous enough to allow a week's grace for rape.

    I guess Trump thinks Vance playing the total Rottweiler is good for the campaign, but I wonder.

    And to be honest I think Vance is actually a better person than this. He's trying too hard to be uber Trump cult member.

  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,075
    viewcode said:

    Leon said:

    viewcode said:

    It’s fair to say that Giorgia Meloni has better chemistry with Elon Musk than she has with Macron:

    https://x.com/iam_smx/status/1815203134299369825


    Famously Musk does not have sex with his baby mamas, preferring to inseminate them via artificial insemination (this is actually true)
    Er, is that, actually and, um, always, true??

    Not doubting you. Just quite surprised
    • Always? Doubtful: I assume he lost his virginity in the usual manner
    • Exclusively: probably not. Given his age, very poor build, drug use and general nerdy manner I'm not sure he enjoys sex, but I assume he's had penile-vaginal sex with his girlfriends/wives at least once each
    • Lately. Yes. He has many children and if the internet is correct (!!) the latter were produced by insemination.
    He is, as I'm sure you've noticed, rather odd. If you scurry off and find it's not true I apologise, but it's been remarked more than once.

    EDIT: Jeez, it's worse than I thought. Five of his sons were IVF and one of his daughters was by a surrogate.

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexzhavoronkov/2022/07/27/elon-musk-and-other-billionaires-make-their-babies-via-ivf-and-surrogatesis-it-a-future-of-reproduction/#

    EDIT 2: "...Did Musk use IVF to conceive his children? Yes, Musk used IVF to conceive five of his children with his first wife Justine, as were Musk's twins he had last year with his Neuralink employee, Shivon Zilis. His second and third children with Grimes were born through a surrogate...", see https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-children
    EDIT 3: "...Musk has relied on reproductive technologies in welcoming eight of his ten children. His family tree is nearly as complex as his portfolio. Five of Musk’s six children with ex-wife Justine Wilson were conceived via IVF. Musk fathered his next two children, X and Y, with girlfriend Claire Boucher–the first via surrogate who was born just a month after Musk welcomed twins conceived via IVF with employee Shivon Zilis...", see https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2023/08/90327/
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,153

    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Nigelb said:

    I’d have to politely decline, too.
    And am about as likely to be asked.

    “ Joe Manchin says he wouldn’t serve as Harris VP. “

    Has anyone checked whether Kyrsten Sinema is interested?
    NOT being a Democrat any more bit of a barrier, methinks.

    Also the fact that putting Sinema on the ticket, would be great way for Harris to ensure she loses Arizona.

    Reckon she's about as electable in AZ, as Sarah Palin proved to be in AK in 2022.
    Because my business is in Arizona (and because our continued success is in the gift of elected representatives), I met Ms Sinema a couple of times. And I came away pretty impressed: she was clearly smart, and hard working, and very determined.

    But she was also clearly... of a very fixed mind.

    As an entrepreneur, nothing kills a business as quickly as a fixed mind. My most oft repeated expression to my employees is "none of us is as smart as the market". In other words, you might thin you have a great idea (and I might think you have a great idea), but if people aren't actually buying the product... then then we have to listen to the market. Data beats brilliant analysis 10/10 times.
    As an aside, the former Republican Governor of Arizona - Doug Ducey - would be at the top of my list for Republicans I would like to run the US: he was smart, honest, and did a fantastic job making Arizona a great place to do business. What a shame that the Republican Party is no longer filled with people like him.
    Any interactions with Sen. Mark Kelly? Who is reportedly a prospect for Kamala Harris running mate, and who IMHO would bring some potential advantages to her ticket in AZ and beyond.
    Sadly I've never met him.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 13,793
    kle4 said:

    nico679 said:

    WillG said:

    What a twat JD Vance is:

    Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick, said in 2021 that Vice President Kamala Harris is one of the “childless cat ladies” who is “miserable” with her life and has no direct stake in America because she is not a mom, the HuffPost reports.

    The Repulican lady interviewed on R4 this evening was derisive about that - said she was a single cat lady too.
    That kind of comment is likely to go down badly . If Vance thinks trashing women who either choose not to have kids or can’t have them is a vote winner then he really is deluded .
    Wasn't it female voters who won it for Biden last time? I know he increased the Democrat share among white men, which was likely important too, but I seem to recall the gender gap was pretty large still.
    IIRC, the number of women now reaching the age of 45 without kids is about 25%. More pertinently, the number of these who have chosen not to have kids is about 3%.
    That we have contrived to arrange society thus is one of history's biggest failures.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,368
    ...
    Leon said:

    Foxy said:

    Oh dear.

    Jenrick is a more intellectual Truss.

    Like how Vance is a more intellectual Trump? Hardly heavy lifting in either case!
    To be fair, Vance is very intelligent. You don't get into Yale Law School on a nearly full scholarship otherwise.

    As has been demonstrated here many times, having a high IQ doesn't guarantee any degree of compassion or humanity.
    At least you finally admit I’m a lot fucking smarter than you. As for the compassion, perhaps you need brains to see it
    Is a high intelligence quotient a requirement for a cock whittling narcissist?
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559

    nico679 said:

    WillG said:

    What a twat JD Vance is:

    Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick, said in 2021 that Vice President Kamala Harris is one of the “childless cat ladies” who is “miserable” with her life and has no direct stake in America because she is not a mom, the HuffPost reports.

    The Repulican lady interviewed on R4 this evening was derisive about that - said she was a single cat lady too.
    That kind of comment is likely to go down badly . If Vance thinks trashing women who either choose not to have kids or can’t have them is a vote winner then he really is deluded .
    He also wants to force those who don't want to have kids to go through with pregnancy.

    Although I think he has been generous enough to allow a week's grace for rape.

    I guess Trump thinks Vance playing the total Rottweiler is good for the campaign, but I wonder.

    And to be honest I think Vance is actually a better person than this. He's trying too hard to be uber Trump cult member.

    Before he met Trump, J.D. Vance made his name & fame by branding his own kinfolk as White trash.

    Better person my rosy red rump.
  • MightyAlexMightyAlex Posts: 1,660
    viewcode said:

    Leon said:

    viewcode said:

    It’s fair to say that Giorgia Meloni has better chemistry with Elon Musk than she has with Macron:

    https://x.com/iam_smx/status/1815203134299369825


    Famously Musk does not have sex with his baby mamas, preferring to inseminate them via artificial insemination (this is actually true)
    Er, is that, actually and, um, always, true??

    Not doubting you. Just quite surprised
    • Always? Doubtful: I assume he lost his virginity in the usual manner
    • Exclusively: probably not. Given his age, very poor build, drug use and general nerdy manner I'm not sure he enjoys sex, but I assume he's had penile-vaginal sex with his girlfriends/wives at least once each
    • Lately. Yes. He has many children and if the internet is correct (!!) the latter were produced by insemination.
    He is, as I'm sure you've noticed, rather odd. If you scurry off and find it's not true I apologise, but it's been remarked more than once.

    EDIT: Jeez, it's worse than I thought. Five of his sons were IVF and one of his daughters was by a surrogate.

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexzhavoronkov/2022/07/27/elon-musk-and-other-billionaires-make-their-babies-via-ivf-and-surrogatesis-it-a-future-of-reproduction/#

    EDIT 2: "...Did Musk use IVF to conceive his children? Yes, Musk used IVF to conceive five of his children with his first wife Justine, as were Musk's twins he had last year with his Neuralink employee, Shivon Zilis. His second and third children with Grimes were born through a surrogate...", see https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-children
    Genetic screening?
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,075
    edited July 22
    viewcode said:

    viewcode said:

    Leon said:

    viewcode said:

    It’s fair to say that Giorgia Meloni has better chemistry with Elon Musk than she has with Macron:

    https://x.com/iam_smx/status/1815203134299369825


    Famously Musk does not have sex with his baby mamas, preferring to inseminate them via artificial insemination (this is actually true)
    Er, is that, actually and, um, always, true??

    Not doubting you. Just quite surprised
    • Always? Doubtful: I assume he lost his virginity in the usual manner
    • Exclusively: probably not. Given his age, very poor build, drug use and general nerdy manner I'm not sure he enjoys sex, but I assume he's had penile-vaginal sex with his girlfriends/wives at least once each
    • Lately. Yes. He has many children and if the internet is correct (!!) the latter were produced by insemination.
    He is, as I'm sure you've noticed, rather odd. If you scurry off and find it's not true I apologise, but it's been remarked more than once.

    EDIT: Jeez, it's worse than I thought. Five of his sons were IVF and one of his daughters was by a surrogate.

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexzhavoronkov/2022/07/27/elon-musk-and-other-billionaires-make-their-babies-via-ivf-and-surrogatesis-it-a-future-of-reproduction/#

    EDIT 2: "...Did Musk use IVF to conceive his children? Yes, Musk used IVF to conceive five of his children with his first wife Justine, as were Musk's twins he had last year with his Neuralink employee, Shivon Zilis. His second and third children with Grimes were born through a surrogate...", see https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-children
    EDIT 3: "...Musk has relied on reproductive technologies in welcoming eight of his ten children. His family tree is nearly as complex as his portfolio. Five of Musk’s six children with ex-wife Justine Wilson were conceived via IVF. Musk fathered his next two children, X and Y, with girlfriend Claire Boucher–the first via surrogate who was born just a month after Musk welcomed twins conceived via IVF with employee Shivon Zilis...", see https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2023/08/90327/
    EDIT 4:

    I don't want to go into this overmuch, but he has approx 12 children, a majority of which were either surrogacy or IVF. It might be that all of them were except his first (his first died of SIDS at less than six months).

    I can't really go into this further without names and dates and I'm sure the mods would hate that, but look at the links below.

    https://bing.com/search?q=Elon+Musk+children
    https://people.com/parents/everything-to-know-about-elon-musks-family-kids/
    https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/us/does-elon-musk-have-12-kids-heres-what-we-know-about-the-tesla-ceos-big-sized-family/articleshow/111239566.cms
    https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-61880709
    https://pagesix.com/article/elon-musk-children/
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,075

    viewcode said:

    Leon said:

    viewcode said:

    It’s fair to say that Giorgia Meloni has better chemistry with Elon Musk than she has with Macron:

    https://x.com/iam_smx/status/1815203134299369825


    Famously Musk does not have sex with his baby mamas, preferring to inseminate them via artificial insemination (this is actually true)
    Er, is that, actually and, um, always, true??

    Not doubting you. Just quite surprised
    • Always? Doubtful: I assume he lost his virginity in the usual manner
    • Exclusively: probably not. Given his age, very poor build, drug use and general nerdy manner I'm not sure he enjoys sex, but I assume he's had penile-vaginal sex with his girlfriends/wives at least once each
    • Lately. Yes. He has many children and if the internet is correct (!!) the latter were produced by insemination.
    He is, as I'm sure you've noticed, rather odd. If you scurry off and find it's not true I apologise, but it's been remarked more than once.

    EDIT: Jeez, it's worse than I thought. Five of his sons were IVF and one of his daughters was by a surrogate.

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexzhavoronkov/2022/07/27/elon-musk-and-other-billionaires-make-their-babies-via-ivf-and-surrogatesis-it-a-future-of-reproduction/#

    EDIT 2: "...Did Musk use IVF to conceive his children? Yes, Musk used IVF to conceive five of his children with his first wife Justine, as were Musk's twins he had last year with his Neuralink employee, Shivon Zilis. His second and third children with Grimes were born through a surrogate...", see https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-children
    Genetic screening?
    I don't know. Surprisingly, I am not Elon Musk :) It has probably multiple reasons, but I'd be inhuman to ignore the shock of his first child's death.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,075
    Leon said:

    I’m running out of France

    You need to turn the France bottle upside down and give it a good whack.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,075
    Cookie said:

    kle4 said:

    nico679 said:

    WillG said:

    What a twat JD Vance is:

    Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick, said in 2021 that Vice President Kamala Harris is one of the “childless cat ladies” who is “miserable” with her life and has no direct stake in America because she is not a mom, the HuffPost reports.

    The Repulican lady interviewed on R4 this evening was derisive about that - said she was a single cat lady too.
    That kind of comment is likely to go down badly . If Vance thinks trashing women who either choose not to have kids or can’t have them is a vote winner then he really is deluded .
    Wasn't it female voters who won it for Biden last time? I know he increased the Democrat share among white men, which was likely important too, but I seem to recall the gender gap was pretty large still.
    IIRC, the number of women now reaching the age of 45 without kids is about 25%. More pertinently, the number of these who have chosen not to have kids is about 3%.
    That we have contrived to arrange society thus is one of history's biggest failures.
    A rather horrible cooperation between the Conservative Party (stop paying poor people to have children!) and boomers (give me money, not my children!) led to an outcome neither side wanted. In fairness to them, the extended childhood ushered in by New Labour (everybody must go to University!) didn't help either.
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 4,587
    viewcode said:

    Leon said:

    I’m running out of France

    You need to turn the France bottle upside down and give it a good whack.
    Help! Stuck in Andorra!
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,553
    edited July 22
    I don't think this approach will be profitable for the GOP.

    https://x.com/willchamberlain/status/1815150185300759014

    "Will Chamberlain
    @willchamberlain

    Really simple, underdiscussed reason why Kamala Harris shouldn’t be President

    No children

    11:21 PM · Jul 21, 2024
    7.1M Views"
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,921
    Hillary was a lawyer, Biden was a lawyer, Kerry was a lawyer, Bill Clinton was a lawyer, Bob Dole was a lawyer, their records in presidential elections somewhat mixed
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,921
    Andy_JS said:

    I don't think this approach will be profitable for the GOP.

    https://x.com/willchamberlain/status/1815150185300759014

    "Will Chamberlain
    @willchamberlain

    Really simple, underdiscussed reason why Kamala Harris shouldn’t be President

    No children

    11:21 PM · Jul 21, 2024
    7.1M Views"

    Trump to be fair to him hasn't mentioned it
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,921
    edited July 22
    nico679 said:

    Latest Morning Consult poll. Fieldwork 21 and 22 July .

    Trump 47
    Harris 45

    Harris rises to Michael Dukakis levels.

    Dukakis got 45.6% in 1988, so she may yet beat him, McGovern and Mondale at least as having led the Democrats to their biggest defeat in the last half century or so
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,553
    Nate Silver urges us to be cautious about polling for the moment.

    "Nate Silver
    @NateSilver538
    The rule of thumb is that it's a huge mess. Yes, we'll turn the model back on before then, but I think people should be reasonably cautious about the polling until early August once things (maybe?) settle down a bit.
    Quote
    Benjy Sarlin
    @BenjySarlin
    ·
    1h
    . @NateSilver538 what’s your usual rule of thumb for determining how an overlapping change of candidate, convention bump, and assassination attempt affect short term vs medium term polling, I’m sure there’s a formula or poli sci paper somewhere right"

    https://x.com/NateSilver538/status/1815519460490379410
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,921

    Ooooh.

    The Tory leadership election will be an online vote for members.


    Next leader should be picked just before US election then, MPs will pick 4 candidates by the conference who will address members at conference then whittle down to 2 for members
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,921
    ydoethur said:

    GIN1138 said:

    ydoethur said:

    GIN1138 said:

    Robert Jenrick emerges as Tory leadership frontrunner in new poll
    Ballot finds 55 per cent of Conservative members list the former immigration minister as one of their top choices for next leader

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/07/22/robert-jenrick-emerges-tory-leadership-frontrunner-poll/ (£££)

    William Hague with hair?
    What have you got against William Hague?
    Nothing personally, but he didn't exactly have a successful run as LOTO from 1997 to 2001 did he?
    He'd be a fuckton more successful than Jenrick.
    Jenrick may end up just keeping the seat warm as LOTO for a Boris return, if Trump can comeback Boris will think he can too
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,553
    Astonishing to think this could happen wrt a UK prime minister.

    "Former PM Lord Wilson sold papers to help fund his care"

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cljy0jw4rwpo
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,921
    Andy_JS said:

    Astonishing to think this could happen wrt a UK prime minister.

    "Former PM Lord Wilson sold papers to help fund his care"

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cljy0jw4rwpo

    'But by July 1991, an alternative solution had been reached. The Trustees of the Wilson Archive had found anonymous donors, who would fund the Bodleian Library in Oxford buying the papers.

    The money would go to the trust set up for the Wilsons' benefit.'
  • theProletheProle Posts: 1,206
    edited July 22
    viewcode said:

    Cookie said:

    kle4 said:

    nico679 said:

    WillG said:

    What a twat JD Vance is:

    Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick, said in 2021 that Vice President Kamala Harris is one of the “childless cat ladies” who is “miserable” with her life and has no direct stake in America because she is not a mom, the HuffPost reports.

    The Repulican lady interviewed on R4 this evening was derisive about that - said she was a single cat lady too.
    That kind of comment is likely to go down badly . If Vance thinks trashing women who either choose not to have kids or can’t have them is a vote winner then he really is deluded .
    Wasn't it female voters who won it for Biden last time? I know he increased the Democrat share among white men, which was likely important too, but I seem to recall the gender gap was pretty large still.
    IIRC, the number of women now reaching the age of 45 without kids is about 25%. More pertinently, the number of these who have chosen not to have kids is about 3%.
    That we have contrived to arrange society thus is one of history's biggest failures.
    A rather horrible cooperation between the Conservative Party (stop paying poor people to have children!) and boomers (give me money, not my children!) led to an outcome neither side wanted. In fairness to them, the extended childhood ushered in by New Labour (everybody must go to University!) didn't help either.
    Isn't it more to do with housing and incomes than anything else?

    Because the policies of successive governments have created a lack of housing, and because the demand curve for housing is very inelastic, people end up putting everything they can possibly afford into housing. Combine this with powerful government incentives to get women into the workplace (lots more tax revenue), and suddenly for many people there is a whole second income to hose at the housing market. And like magic, because demand remains constant, but we've nearly doubled the availabile money chasing those same houses, house prices double too.

    In turn, this means that buying a house requires two incomes for most families. That means it's way harder for a woman to take the time to have kids.

    There are other issues, but I think this is probably the biggest single driver of modern childlessness.

    The bad news is that it will take more than just abolishing planning permission to fix this mess, if for no other reason than that build costs driven by miriads of well intentioned building regs are unpleasantly close to the current unaffordable market prices for large chunks of the country.

    There is also the little matter that we've importing 3/4 million people a year as part of the immigration ponzi scheme, and they need about the same amount of housing a year as the system currently builds in total.
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 4,587
    Andy_JS said:

    Astonishing to think this could happen wrt a UK prime minister.

    "Former PM Lord Wilson sold papers to help fund his care"

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cljy0jw4rwpo

    The £5000 increase in the pension mentioned is £12000 in today's money. But it doesn't say what the pension actually was.

    This appears to be the act:

    https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1991/787/made/data.pdf
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,921
    theProle said:

    viewcode said:

    Cookie said:

    kle4 said:

    nico679 said:

    WillG said:

    What a twat JD Vance is:

    Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick, said in 2021 that Vice President Kamala Harris is one of the “childless cat ladies” who is “miserable” with her life and has no direct stake in America because she is not a mom, the HuffPost reports.

    The Repulican lady interviewed on R4 this evening was derisive about that - said she was a single cat lady too.
    That kind of comment is likely to go down badly . If Vance thinks trashing women who either choose not to have kids or can’t have them is a vote winner then he really is deluded .
    Wasn't it female voters who won it for Biden last time? I know he increased the Democrat share among white men, which was likely important too, but I seem to recall the gender gap was pretty large still.
    IIRC, the number of women now reaching the age of 45 without kids is about 25%. More pertinently, the number of these who have chosen not to have kids is about 3%.
    That we have contrived to arrange society thus is one of history's biggest failures.
    A rather horrible cooperation between the Conservative Party (stop paying poor people to have children!) and boomers (give me money, not my children!) led to an outcome neither side wanted. In fairness to them, the extended childhood ushered in by New Labour (everybody must go to University!) didn't help either.
    Isn't it more to do with housing and incomes than anything else?

    Because the policies of successive governments have created a lack of housing, and because the demand curve for housing is very inelastic, people end up putting everything they can possibly afford into housing. Combine this with powerful government incentives to get women into the workplace (lots more tax revenue), and suddenly for many people there is a whole second income to hose at the housing market. And like magic, because demand remains constant, but we've nearly doubled the availabile money chasing those same houses, house prices double too.

    In turn, this means that buying a house requires two incomes for most families. That means it's way harder for a woman to take the time to have kids.

    There are other issues, but I think this is probably the biggest single driver of modern childlessness.

    The bad news is that it will take more than just abolishing planning permission to fix this mess, if for no other reason than that build costs driven by miriads of well intentioned building regs are unpleasantly close to the current unaffordable market prices for large chunks of the country.

    There is also the little matter that we've importing 3/4 million people a year as part of the immigration ponzi scheme, and they need about the same amount of housing a year as the system currently builds in total.
    Yes more affordable homes needed as well as controlled immigration and more tax breaks for marriage and subsidies for mothers
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 4,587
    Looks like, at that time, the pension was 50% of prime minister's salary for life, so he would have been receiving £62000 in today's money, plus the £12000 increase.
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559
    Andy_JS said:

    Nate Silver urges us to be cautious about polling for the moment.

    "Nate Silver
    @NateSilver538
    The rule of thumb is that it's a huge mess. Yes, we'll turn the model back on before then, but I think people should be reasonably cautious about the polling until early August once things (maybe?) settle down a bit.
    Quote
    Benjy Sarlin
    @BenjySarlin
    ·
    1h
    . @NateSilver538 what’s your usual rule of thumb for determining how an overlapping change of candidate, convention bump, and assassination attempt affect short term vs medium term polling, I’m sure there’s a formula or poli sci paper somewhere right"

    https://x.com/NateSilver538/status/1815519460490379410

    Obviously Nate Silver has NOT sought psephological let alone spiritual guidance from PB all-knowing Vicar.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,921

    I think Harris is value for election winner right now. It'll be at least a week or so before we can get useful information from the polling.

    Normally the side that's having the most fun is winning, and all of a sudden the Dem side is having fun.

    They had more fun with McGovern than Republicans did with Nixon too, Nixon still won a landslide
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559
    Andy_JS said:

    I don't think this approach will be profitable for the GOP.

    https://x.com/willchamberlain/status/1815150185300759014

    "Will Chamberlain
    @willchamberlain

    Really simple, underdiscussed reason why Kamala Harris shouldn’t be President

    No children

    11:21 PM · Jul 21, 2024
    7.1M Views"

    For a minute, thought this pissant was WiLT Chamberlain!
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,075
    viewcode said:

    viewcode said:

    viewcode said:

    Leon said:

    viewcode said:

    It’s fair to say that Giorgia Meloni has better chemistry with Elon Musk than she has with Macron:

    https://x.com/iam_smx/status/1815203134299369825


    Famously Musk does not have sex with his baby mamas, preferring to inseminate them via artificial insemination (this is actually true)
    Er, is that, actually and, um, always, true??

    Not doubting you. Just quite surprised
    • Always? Doubtful: I assume he lost his virginity in the usual manner
    • Exclusively: probably not. Given his age, very poor build, drug use and general nerdy manner I'm not sure he enjoys sex, but I assume he's had penile-vaginal sex with his girlfriends/wives at least once each
    • Lately. Yes. He has many children and if the internet is correct (!!) the latter were produced by insemination.
    He is, as I'm sure you've noticed, rather odd. If you scurry off and find it's not true I apologise, but it's been remarked more than once.

    EDIT: Jeez, it's worse than I thought. Five of his sons were IVF and one of his daughters was by a surrogate.

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexzhavoronkov/2022/07/27/elon-musk-and-other-billionaires-make-their-babies-via-ivf-and-surrogatesis-it-a-future-of-reproduction/#

    EDIT 2: "...Did Musk use IVF to conceive his children? Yes, Musk used IVF to conceive five of his children with his first wife Justine, as were Musk's twins he had last year with his Neuralink employee, Shivon Zilis. His second and third children with Grimes were born through a surrogate...", see https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-children
    EDIT 3: "...Musk has relied on reproductive technologies in welcoming eight of his ten children. His family tree is nearly as complex as his portfolio. Five of Musk’s six children with ex-wife Justine Wilson were conceived via IVF. Musk fathered his next two children, X and Y, with girlfriend Claire Boucher–the first via surrogate who was born just a month after Musk welcomed twins conceived via IVF with employee Shivon Zilis...", see https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2023/08/90327/
    EDIT 4:

    I don't want to go into this overmuch, but he has approx 12 children, a majority of which were either surrogacy or IVF. It might be that all of them were except his first (his first died of SIDS at less than six months).

    I can't really go into this further without names and dates and I'm sure the mods would hate that, but look at the links below.

    https://bing.com/search?q=Elon+Musk+children
    https://people.com/parents/everything-to-know-about-elon-musks-family-kids/
    https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/us/does-elon-musk-have-12-kids-heres-what-we-know-about-the-tesla-ceos-big-sized-family/articleshow/111239566.cms
    https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-61880709
    https://pagesix.com/article/elon-musk-children/
    EDIT 5:
    ...and famously, one of them is trans.

    https://nitter.poast.org/CollinRugg/status/1815496170334204202#m
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559
    Reckon that this "Kamala Harris has no children" line is NOT only a whopper of a lie, it's a highly TOXIC lie for Trump-Vance.

    Undercover operatives for Democrats burrowing from in, suckering GOP suckers stupid enough to be parroting this obvious BS?
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559
    viewcode said:

    viewcode said:

    viewcode said:

    viewcode said:

    Leon said:

    viewcode said:

    It’s fair to say that Giorgia Meloni has better chemistry with Elon Musk than she has with Macron:

    https://x.com/iam_smx/status/1815203134299369825


    Famously Musk does not have sex with his baby mamas, preferring to inseminate them via artificial insemination (this is actually true)
    Er, is that, actually and, um, always, true??

    Not doubting you. Just quite surprised
    • Always? Doubtful: I assume he lost his virginity in the usual manner
    • Exclusively: probably not. Given his age, very poor build, drug use and general nerdy manner I'm not sure he enjoys sex, but I assume he's had penile-vaginal sex with his girlfriends/wives at least once each
    • Lately. Yes. He has many children and if the internet is correct (!!) the latter were produced by insemination.
    He is, as I'm sure you've noticed, rather odd. If you scurry off and find it's not true I apologise, but it's been remarked more than once.

    EDIT: Jeez, it's worse than I thought. Five of his sons were IVF and one of his daughters was by a surrogate.

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexzhavoronkov/2022/07/27/elon-musk-and-other-billionaires-make-their-babies-via-ivf-and-surrogatesis-it-a-future-of-reproduction/#

    EDIT 2: "...Did Musk use IVF to conceive his children? Yes, Musk used IVF to conceive five of his children with his first wife Justine, as were Musk's twins he had last year with his Neuralink employee, Shivon Zilis. His second and third children with Grimes were born through a surrogate...", see https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-children
    EDIT 3: "...Musk has relied on reproductive technologies in welcoming eight of his ten children. His family tree is nearly as complex as his portfolio. Five of Musk’s six children with ex-wife Justine Wilson were conceived via IVF. Musk fathered his next two children, X and Y, with girlfriend Claire Boucher–the first via surrogate who was born just a month after Musk welcomed twins conceived via IVF with employee Shivon Zilis...", see https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2023/08/90327/
    EDIT 4:

    I don't want to go into this overmuch, but he has approx 12 children, a majority of which were either surrogacy or IVF. It might be that all of them were except his first (his first died of SIDS at less than six months).

    I can't really go into this further without names and dates and I'm sure the mods would hate that, but look at the links below.

    https://bing.com/search?q=Elon+Musk+children
    https://people.com/parents/everything-to-know-about-elon-musks-family-kids/
    https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/us/does-elon-musk-have-12-kids-heres-what-we-know-about-the-tesla-ceos-big-sized-family/articleshow/111239566.cms
    https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-61880709
    https://pagesix.com/article/elon-musk-children/
    EDIT 5:
    ...and famously, one of them is trans.

    https://nitter.poast.org/CollinRugg/status/1815496170334204202#m
    Got a "this website is suspect" warning for this link!
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559

    I think Harris is value for election winner right now. It'll be at least a week or so before we can get useful information from the polling.

    Normally the side that's having the most fun is winning, and all of a sudden the Dem side is having fun.

    Way less "having fun" and far more feeling relief AND gaining hope.

    Unlike some on this board, was actually around when George McGovern was running for president, pre-convention and post-convention.

    Do NOT recall oodles of fun. ESPECIALLY after the Eagleton affair!

    The REAL fun happened after Election Day, when it became evident that Richard Nixon's criminal activities as Commander-in-Chief were destroying his Presidency, and shredding his reputation for eternity.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,075

    viewcode said:

    viewcode said:

    viewcode said:

    viewcode said:

    Leon said:

    viewcode said:

    It’s fair to say that Giorgia Meloni has better chemistry with Elon Musk than she has with Macron:

    https://x.com/iam_smx/status/1815203134299369825


    Famously Musk does not have sex with his baby mamas, preferring to inseminate them via artificial insemination (this is actually true)
    Er, is that, actually and, um, always, true??

    Not doubting you. Just quite surprised
    • Always? Doubtful: I assume he lost his virginity in the usual manner
    • Exclusively: probably not. Given his age, very poor build, drug use and general nerdy manner I'm not sure he enjoys sex, but I assume he's had penile-vaginal sex with his girlfriends/wives at least once each
    • Lately. Yes. He has many children and if the internet is correct (!!) the latter were produced by insemination.
    He is, as I'm sure you've noticed, rather odd. If you scurry off and find it's not true I apologise, but it's been remarked more than once.

    EDIT: Jeez, it's worse than I thought. Five of his sons were IVF and one of his daughters was by a surrogate.

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexzhavoronkov/2022/07/27/elon-musk-and-other-billionaires-make-their-babies-via-ivf-and-surrogatesis-it-a-future-of-reproduction/#

    EDIT 2: "...Did Musk use IVF to conceive his children? Yes, Musk used IVF to conceive five of his children with his first wife Justine, as were Musk's twins he had last year with his Neuralink employee, Shivon Zilis. His second and third children with Grimes were born through a surrogate...", see https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-children
    EDIT 3: "...Musk has relied on reproductive technologies in welcoming eight of his ten children. His family tree is nearly as complex as his portfolio. Five of Musk’s six children with ex-wife Justine Wilson were conceived via IVF. Musk fathered his next two children, X and Y, with girlfriend Claire Boucher–the first via surrogate who was born just a month after Musk welcomed twins conceived via IVF with employee Shivon Zilis...", see https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2023/08/90327/
    EDIT 4:

    I don't want to go into this overmuch, but he has approx 12 children, a majority of which were either surrogacy or IVF. It might be that all of them were except his first (his first died of SIDS at less than six months).

    I can't really go into this further without names and dates and I'm sure the mods would hate that, but look at the links below.

    https://bing.com/search?q=Elon+Musk+children
    https://people.com/parents/everything-to-know-about-elon-musks-family-kids/
    https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/us/does-elon-musk-have-12-kids-heres-what-we-know-about-the-tesla-ceos-big-sized-family/articleshow/111239566.cms
    https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-61880709
    https://pagesix.com/article/elon-musk-children/
    EDIT 5:
    ...and famously, one of them is trans.

    https://nitter.poast.org/CollinRugg/status/1815496170334204202#m
    Got a "this website is suspect" warning for this link!
    Does the original help? https://x.com/CollinRugg/status/1815496170334204202#m
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,553

    I think Harris is value for election winner right now. It'll be at least a week or so before we can get useful information from the polling.

    Normally the side that's having the most fun is winning, and all of a sudden the Dem side is having fun.

    Agree 100%, I think the polls will move in her direction over the coming weeks. Trump has blundered quite badly by selecting Vance with his views on abortion. (His previous incarnation would have been okay, as rcs1000 said earlier).
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559
    viewcode said:

    viewcode said:

    viewcode said:

    viewcode said:

    viewcode said:

    Leon said:

    viewcode said:

    It’s fair to say that Giorgia Meloni has better chemistry with Elon Musk than she has with Macron:

    https://x.com/iam_smx/status/1815203134299369825


    Famously Musk does not have sex with his baby mamas, preferring to inseminate them via artificial insemination (this is actually true)
    Er, is that, actually and, um, always, true??

    Not doubting you. Just quite surprised
    • Always? Doubtful: I assume he lost his virginity in the usual manner
    • Exclusively: probably not. Given his age, very poor build, drug use and general nerdy manner I'm not sure he enjoys sex, but I assume he's had penile-vaginal sex with his girlfriends/wives at least once each
    • Lately. Yes. He has many children and if the internet is correct (!!) the latter were produced by insemination.
    He is, as I'm sure you've noticed, rather odd. If you scurry off and find it's not true I apologise, but it's been remarked more than once.

    EDIT: Jeez, it's worse than I thought. Five of his sons were IVF and one of his daughters was by a surrogate.

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexzhavoronkov/2022/07/27/elon-musk-and-other-billionaires-make-their-babies-via-ivf-and-surrogatesis-it-a-future-of-reproduction/#

    EDIT 2: "...Did Musk use IVF to conceive his children? Yes, Musk used IVF to conceive five of his children with his first wife Justine, as were Musk's twins he had last year with his Neuralink employee, Shivon Zilis. His second and third children with Grimes were born through a surrogate...", see https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-children
    EDIT 3: "...Musk has relied on reproductive technologies in welcoming eight of his ten children. His family tree is nearly as complex as his portfolio. Five of Musk’s six children with ex-wife Justine Wilson were conceived via IVF. Musk fathered his next two children, X and Y, with girlfriend Claire Boucher–the first via surrogate who was born just a month after Musk welcomed twins conceived via IVF with employee Shivon Zilis...", see https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2023/08/90327/
    EDIT 4:

    I don't want to go into this overmuch, but he has approx 12 children, a majority of which were either surrogacy or IVF. It might be that all of them were except his first (his first died of SIDS at less than six months).

    I can't really go into this further without names and dates and I'm sure the mods would hate that, but look at the links below.

    https://bing.com/search?q=Elon+Musk+children
    https://people.com/parents/everything-to-know-about-elon-musks-family-kids/
    https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/us/does-elon-musk-have-12-kids-heres-what-we-know-about-the-tesla-ceos-big-sized-family/articleshow/111239566.cms
    https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-61880709
    https://pagesix.com/article/elon-musk-children/
    EDIT 5:
    ...and famously, one of them is trans.

    https://nitter.poast.org/CollinRugg/status/1815496170334204202#m
    Got a "this website is suspect" warning for this link!
    Does the original help? https://x.com/CollinRugg/status/1815496170334204202#m
    No as "something went wrong". But don't worry about it, was just gonna make a pretty obvious joke, about Musko refusing to share a bathroom with his pride & joy.
  • mwadamsmwadams Posts: 3,591
    HYUFD said:

    nico679 said:

    Latest Morning Consult poll. Fieldwork 21 and 22 July .

    Trump 47
    Harris 45

    Harris rises to Michael Dukakis levels.

    Dukakis got 45.6% in 1988, so she may yet beat him, McGovern and Mondale at least as having led the Democrats to their biggest defeat in the last half century or so
    Trump is polling a a couple of points lower than. McCain's peak for late July 2008.

    It's almost like these comparisons are meaningless.
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559
    mwadams said:

    HYUFD said:

    nico679 said:

    Latest Morning Consult poll. Fieldwork 21 and 22 July .

    Trump 47
    Harris 45

    Harris rises to Michael Dukakis levels.

    Dukakis got 45.6% in 1988, so she may yet beat him, McGovern and Mondale at least as having led the Democrats to their biggest defeat in the last half century or so
    Trump is polling a a couple of points lower than. McCain's peak for late July 2008.

    It's almost like these comparisons are meaningless.
    No good polls for Abraham Lincoln at this stage in 1860 or 1864.

    Maybe because there were ZERO polls back then?

    Though it IS true, that in the summer of 1864, Abe and just about everybody else though he was a goner. That is, until two things happened - both game changers.

    > Democratic National Convention, August 29-31, nominated former top Union Gen. George B. McClellan, a "War Democrat" but saddled him with a "Peace Democrat" platform that was even more sympathetic to Jeff Davis, than Trump & Vance are today toward Vladimir Putin.

    > Fall of Atlanta, September 2, which broke previous military stalemate, denied Confederacy key railroad hub, and kicked off Sherman's "March to the Sea" across Georgia.

    from wiki

    The fall of Atlanta was especially noteworthy for its political ramifications. In the 1864 election, former Union General George B. McClellan, a Democrat, ran against President Lincoln, although he repudiated his own party's platform, calling for an armistice with the Confederacy. The capture of Atlanta and Hood's burning of military facilities as he evacuated were extensively covered by Northern newspapers, significantly boosting Northern morale, and Lincoln was re-elected by a significant margin.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Atlanta
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,553
    "With Biden out, Vance may be the wrong pick for Trump

    The former president has an electability problem among women, and his pick for vice president only compounds it."

    https://www.politico.eu/article/joe-biden-out-jd-vance-wrong-pick-vice-president-donald-trump-us-election-2024/
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,075
    Our protectors are working hard to make sure we don't do things that they disapprove of. I feel so much better now I am being protected from myself

    https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/jul/21/labour-urged-to-follow-through-on-tories-promised-100m-gambling-levy
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,070
    Andy_JS said:

    Harris can win this election, there's no doubt about that. As long as she doesn't do a Hillary and insult 25% of the electorate.

    JDV gave the Republicans a head start on that.

    Personally I (and most of Taiwan) feel that childless cat ladies make strong presidents.
    https://x.com/lnachman32/status/1815443229787254940
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,070
    Andy_JS said:

    Nate Silver urges us to be cautious about polling for the moment.

    "Nate Silver
    @NateSilver538
    The rule of thumb is that it's a huge mess. Yes, we'll turn the model back on before then, but I think people should be reasonably cautious about the polling until early August once things (maybe?) settle down a bit.
    Quote
    Benjy Sarlin
    @BenjySarlin
    ·
    1h
    . @NateSilver538 what’s your usual rule of thumb for determining how an overlapping change of candidate, convention bump, and assassination attempt affect short term vs medium term polling, I’m sure there’s a formula or poli sci paper somewhere right"

    https://x.com/NateSilver538/status/1815519460490379410

    Pete Thiel's pollster cautious about Pete Thiel's candidate's prospects.

    Still, the venture cap guys are used to having to write off high risk/return investments.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,553
    edited July 23
    O/T

    Survey on what percentage of UK women would rather be stuck in a forest with a bear than a man, by age.

    18-29: 53%
    30-39: 37%
    40-49: 31%
    50-59: 24%
    60+: 20%

    At 7 mins 16 secs.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQGbpLMHn98
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,070
    Interesting.

    It's been a busy newsweek, but let's not miss this story:

    China has demonstrated the first commercial-scale passive cooling of a high temperature nuclear reactor with a pebble bed module.

    They intentionally turned off the cooling and the reactor cooled itself down, no problem.

    https://x.com/cremieuxrecueil/status/1815520928056344669
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,553
    "Kamala Harris hits out at Trump: 'I know Donald Trump's type'"

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYoTgapReYc
This discussion has been closed.